TBntG-3 Chpt 29

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 29 - Book III - The Clan Invasion==
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==Raids and Nightmares==
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===Mission Briefing===
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It wasn't the damage Wolf's Raid did that changed the war.
It was what they found. 
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======================================================================================================
From: UMC Command
 
To: Colonel Jaime Wolf
 
RE: Composition of Task Force 17.
 
The following ships are attached to your force:
 
New Syrtis Class Carriers: New Syrtis, Arcturus
 
Fast Cruisers: Tharkad City, Avalon City
 
Escort craft:
 
DE Squadron 1 - (Carson River, James Inlet, Cooper's Creek)
 
DE Squadron 2 - (Jack's Inlet, Potomac, Colorado River)
DE Squadron 3 - (Stygia, Mississippi, Nile)
Fast troop carriers: General Sherman, Lord Lovat, General José de San Martín
 
Parasite warships and troop carriers detailed in the attachment, including support and resupply ships.
======================================================================================================
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Wolf shook his head as he stared at the document. Even in the days of the Star League that wouldn't be an insignificant force, and now…Well the Dracs wouldn't be happy, especially since by every account, they were busily slaughtering anyone who was even slightly disoloyal, which included some of Theodore's best commanders.
 
But now to have his meeting. The Wolf's Dragoons forces, five regiments strong were mounted in a mixture of their own dropships and the first "high threat combat landing" craft coming out of the shipyards at Taurus and Terra.
 
Mixed with there forces were the two mech infantry regiments, and there was Captain Steiner-Davion, sitting next to her CO.
 
"So last comments?" He asked.
 
"Seems like you are a bit worried," one of the mech battalion commanders said. "These ain't the clans."
 
Some of Wolf's people tensed, but Wolf didn't take the bait. The rumors had moved from the Dragoons being secret Clan plans, to being cowards. It didn't help that the Seventh and Third regiments had learned their skills the hard way, with very little OpFor training.
 
"No, they're the Dracs, and the Dracs have been pulling out nukes." Jaime said. "Ljugarn has a population of about 175 million people, a lot of it rural and a good deal of support for Theodore. We hit them, we do two things. First of all, make the Combine look week. That's why I'm sending our entire force. This isn't about winning a bunch of fights—it's about ensuring that the fights we get into are hopeless—for the other side. Also, because the Combine is using nukes and we are forbidden it, we cannot risk spreading our forces. We need to be able to conduct a defense in depth." He glanced around. "Lastly, while Theodore knew about the fast charge system, given the chaos in their military, we can hope that not everyone knows what that means. That's why I showed off to the Dracs in two systems—they may assume we are in a recharge cycle." He turned to the mech-infantry commanders. "You won't be with us. I'll take the main body and punch the capital's face in, but I want you raiding. Police stations, transmission units, everything that lets a dictatorship function. You'll have UMC intel with you, in order to grab information about how they're dealing with resistance, but do not promise immediate aid, even if you run into someone who wants it."
 
"And if we meet individuals who need evac?"
 
Wolf shook his head. "This is a long-range raid. We don't have enough room, which is why you are to avoid anything that might convince the locals they're about to be liberated. Also, keep in mind that sacrificing yourself for the Dragon is a big part of their ethos—some of those civilians may be packing bombs. Remember. We want to make noise, distract people and make the Black Dragons' worry. It's not honorable, it's not "clanlike"" he glanced at the critic, "but ideally, we want a string of battles where we land on individual Combine battalions with seven regiments."
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===Reflections on Ljugarn Mission===
If you're asking for a fair fight, you're in the wrong business.
 
Mechanized Infantry Operations during the Combine Conflict:
 
Katherine Steiner Davion 
 
 
Ljugarn on paper had a strong garrison, of a Battlemech regiment (mostly made up of militia and noble forces), twenty infantry and armor regiments, and nearly a hundred regiments made up of the "Loyal Talons of the Dragon." In other words, citizens who had either done their duty to the Dragon and were now reserves…or citizens given a week's training and handed a rifle or SRM inferno launcher.
 
In practice, the coup had shattered much of the planetary defenses. Over 40 percent of officers had been "invited to explain their failures to the Dragon" and the rest were laboring under political officers who had been appointed, first and foremost, to root out any loyalty to the former Coordinator. Of the thirty Aerospace fighters and twelve dropships (many of them converted civilian units), none had their full crews from before the coup. Given time, maybe that could have been rectified, but given that the aerospace forces were disproportionately made up of newly elevated lower class Combine citizens, it is doubtful that the BDS would have been willing to continue those policies.
 
Regardless, when Task Force 17 jumped in, the intelligent thing to do would have been to go to ground, to preserve the forces that could do little to stop the oncoming juggernaut.
 
But that would have been defeatist. So thirty aerospace fighters and twelve Dropships were sent out to engage nearly 400 fighters, nine escorts, two carriers, and two fast cruisers, to say nothing of their escorts.
 
The conflict merited one sentence in Colonel Wolf's diary.
 
"They didn't last very long."
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===Taking Count of the Dead===
Katherine sat in her coffin. The coffin was more comfortable than the ones they'd used before, and this time, she wasn't in a victory fighter.
 
The Swamp Fox class infantry transport was just over 3,000 tons, an aerodyne Dropship designed to get its infantry to the dropsite, drop them off, and survive anything that got in its way. No fighters, just a pair of evacuation small craft, no entertainment facilities, just something to keep you alive until you to to the drop zone.
 
If it had to pick you up and there were no recovery small craft…
 
Well, pilots were chosen for insanity.
 
But it was comfortable and had the endurance that let them deploy well before they got into the combat range.
 
"Cap-ship missiles on the world. Escorts prepare to interdict."
 
Katherine said nothing. This wasn't her problem.
 
Buzzz, buzzz. The AMS was firing off. Something had gotten through.
 
<<"Launch sites neutralized—negative, negative, designate Target Tango as a submarine. We cannot confirm it's destruction.">>
 
"Understood. Charlie Squadron, assume position over it's last location."
 
<<"Roger.">>
 
"Coming up on drop…"
 
Katherine took a deep breath, made certain her mouth piece was ready.
 
"On four, three, two, one, drop, drop, drop!"
 
And then she and the rest of her company were launched from the big Dropships, her visor projecting where the other's were. They were going to be divided, unlike Wolf's crew who were right now hitting the capital.
 
And putting out a lot of old-code messages about securing the dropport for the future invasion.
 
Wolf was sneaky.
 
"Coming up on ground, no fire…"
 
"Don't get over confident," Katherine said.
 
"Yes, Gimpy."
 
I will not murder them. People probably frowned on that in a CO. Still, there was a tiny bit of pride. She was CO, and it had nothing to do with her parents…and oddly, Katherine was coming to sympathize with Victor. There was nothing more grating than hearing someone congratulate you on your rank the way they congratulated you on the new ground car you got. The one you didn't pay for.
 
The coffin exploded, a cool million C-bills dying for the trooper inside, and Katherine expertly checked her velocity before landing behind a low hill. The rest were coming down, their beacons showing that except for the newbies, they were where they were supposed to be. The newbies weren't that bad either, thought the woman who had yet to hit 24.
 
"Right, first target is Dragon's Crown," she said. "You've got your maps. Assumption is that they're likely to break, this was one of the places where support for the old regime was strong, according to Intel."
 
"So we're gonna face a ton of fanatical Drac's driving Daishis?"
 
"Cancel the Wit, please. Let's move."
 
Fifteen minutes later, they were in position to pop a drone. The ECM you could generate with fusion power was such that most small drones had to be line of sight, and bigger ones painted a nice "murder me" sign on you. But now they were close…
 
"The hell?"
 
"What is it?"
 
"Town's cold."
 
"What?"
 
"It was what, 40 degrees last night? I'm not reading very many hotspots at all." 
 
"Maybe they're conserving fuel for the Dragon?"
 
"Let me see," Katherine said. The hotspots were… then the visual came up. Burned up police station, burned up phone exchange… The Combine loved centralized phone exchanges, nothing like knowing who was doing what, and being able to turn it off.
 
And bodies in the street. Couldn't forget those.
 
"Right, first platoon, on me, second and third, take up positions here, get the heavy weapons ready."
 
With that, they moved down into the little valley, and moments later, their CBERN sensors started going off, an urgent buzzing in her ears.
 
"Doc?"
 
"Sensors… K12. Non-persistant. We're getting the leavings, but it shouldn't be dangerous now."
 
"Lethal?"
 
"For the first thirty minutes? Very fucking so."
 
"Let's go. Watch your suit seals.
 
With that, they moved into the dead town.
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===Ruins of the Capital===
The Shadow Hawk collapsed like a doll with the strings cut, as Wolf maneuvered his forces through the city. They fought, and there had been several attempts at human wave attacks, but…
 
Well. That what flamers were for. And that was why the Clans were right. It wasn't the place of Laborer or Merchant Castes to fight—and those who forced them to do so deserved everything they got.
"We've broken into the government building. Big mass grave out back. Someone's been busy."
 
"Understood, Natasha. Get everything you can and then burn the rest. I dont' want any usable records when we leave."
 
"Aff." Kerensky responded.
 
"Colonel?"
 
"Yes?"
 
"First Mech Infantry is reporting in. Evidently there was resistance on the part of the former Coordinator."
 
"Understood. Status?" Wolf asked
 
"Dead."
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===Survivors of a dragon's wrath===
"GODDAMMIT NEWBIE, DO YOU WANT TO DIE!" Katherine rounded on the man who had just opened his helmet and was barfing. "That's what the internal bag and vacuum are for!"
 
"Sorry—I—"
 
"None of us have seen this," Diplomat said. "But you should secure your helmet."
 
"Uh…yeah." soldier mumbles
 
The street was choked with corpses. K12 was a nerve agent that killed both via direct action and muscle spasms, strong enough to break bones. People were lying around, contorted into impossible poses. The ones in the street were surrounded by the birds who had come down for a feast—and stayed. The rest of the wildlife was staying away, although some rats were already filtering in.
 
The ones in the street had been fleeing. No sign of ground attack, so Katherine could imagine the little popping sounds of the shells.
 
The town provided little and taking it would have been difficult. This was easier.
 
The street was bad enough, but the houses… They did a sweep and saw homes, windows shattered from the first shells—blast to do just that. Inside were people, dead people holding tape and cardboard, or pillows, things they were going to use to try to keep the death out in a pathetic hope they might live.
 
They had failed She glanced at one family, mother and father dead by the window, a teenage daughter holding a toddler that her arms had crushed to her chest. A dog lay by her, similarly contorted.
 
Katherine was struck by the hope that the toddler had died from the gas first, that the girl hadn't died knowing she had crushed her brother.
 
There was nothing here. Nothing but death and they'd already collected some spent shells for analysis. It might come in handy, but K12 wasn't something that was useful against troops. It was…
 
She blinked. "Unit, hold."
 
"What is it?"
 
"Over there. That house. Saw something. Follow me." Her old squad, now part of her command unit, followed. The house wasn't different but… What had…
 
Then she realized what it was. The two people, a man and a woman were dead. Dead at the far side.
 
Dead where they had been using tape to block off a door from the outside. 
 
"What's the read on the K12?"
 
"Safe. You could run around in your underwear."
 
"Understood. They were…"
 
Smart. If you had a room, and you blocked it, you might keep yourself alive until the gas degraded.
 
Granted if there was a ceiling vent…
 
"Got anything?"
 
"Hot spot. Warm bodies."
 
"Stand by." Katherine gestured, and they moved to either side of the door. Then Diplomat knocked on it, and in Flawless Japanese, spoke.
 
"Hello. We are not here to harm you. Can we open the door?", Diplomat asked.
 
There was a silence. "Are you with the Black Dragons?" the voice was young.
 
"No."
 
"We can't open the door, but you can come in."
 
"I understand." Diplomat glanced around and made a gesture. For a moment Katherine didn't… right. Another order and the bodies were covered by the curtains.
 
Then the door was open. Katherine looked in, and they flinched back. Now she and Diplomat broke regs and opened their helmets.
 
"Hello," Diplomat. "Have you eaten?"
 
"No. We had some food, but that was three days ago," the leader, a girl who looked about thirteen said. "But we're more thirsty."
 
"That we can solve. But first we should get you to safety."
 
"Right, twelve kids," Katherine said.
 
"And Omi and her kittens!"
 
"What?" I had to have heard wrong. Diplomat's the one who is good at Japanese.
 
"Oh?"
 
"We brought her in, and she was scared by all the shouting." The cat looked up and yowled.
 
Goddammit, how am I going to…what the hell, I'm already breaking the orders. Meanwhile Diplomat was assuring them that she was a fine cat, but they should put her and her kittens in a bag so she wouldn't be afraid.
"Yes, I said…" Katherine glanced at the kids and decided they could wait with the explanations. "Twelve high value prisoners who have vital information along with…" she stared at the yowling bag. "One member of royalty, evidently named after Omi Kurita and her family. Now I want a shuttle down here. Now would be acceptable." I am going to pay for that…
 
"Captain, this is third platoon. We found a listening post."
 
"What?"
 
"Some of the survivors went into the countryside. We have four prisoners who were here to… watch for anyone who might come back for food or shelter."
 
"Do they know anything?"
 
"Don't look like it. Just following orders."
 
Katherine frowned, then nodded. "No you don't."
 
"Ma'am?"
 
"Prisoners. I'm certain all good Kuritans who serve the Black Dragons would fight to the death."
 
"I… understand, Ma'am."
 
"Good."
 
Maybe they had been drafted, maybe they were trying to save their lives… but they had sat up there, watching as the gas drifted down.
 
So she really couldn't give a damn about them.
 
And then the shuttle was descending, the down jets whipping up little duststorms and ruffling the clothes of the dead, as it came for the 12 survivors of a town of eight thousand.
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As the full savagery of the BDS became apparent, both from the stories from the refugees that had made it out and the findings of raids by both Clan and UMC forces, the attitudes among the rest of the Sphere hardened.And ironically, the fear of the Combine's military waned. A military that would do this to their own people would do it to their enemies, and all waiting did was give them more time to prepare. A last-ditch attempt by Candace Liao to broker an arrangement was met with mockery from the Combine.The short delay suited both Mary Cheng and Frederick well, as they were in the final stages of organizing what would be the largest offensives since the First Succession War.Slaying the Dragon, the Last Four Years of the Combine. - University of Luthien Press. 3120
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