TOW17

==Chapter 17 - The Other War==
07/18/3060 Location – Eden, Pentagon Worlds
Star Colonel Zigfried Ravenwater hung out the side door of his Anhur VTOL as it veered away from the black smoke rising from the former W-5 Factory complex. The Wolf factory had been traded to the Hell's Horses earlier this year as part of the ongoing 'contracting' of the Hell's Horses to the Wolves. It had been led to nothing but trouble since and had only just started producing again after retooling at Wolf expense to make the workhorse Pouncer instead of the scout Phantom; which was phased out by Khan Ward for political reasons.
The Star Colonel slung his Mauser (IIC) over the shoulder where it rested gently on his heavy armor jacket and hopped out before the Anhur touched tarmac. Laborers from the nearby fire service wearing silvered fire-fighting suits followed him and ran towards the flames desperately trying to save as much as they could of the factory. Hell’s Horses Patrolmen in heavy armor with gas masks on stood guard over the helipad or were in the process of clearing the complex of hostiles and inspecting it for sabotage.
Zigfried ordered the guards to aid the Patrolmen and walked toward the command post where a sleek Ares Light Tank was parked. The vehicle was covered in mud and sticks that blended in perfectly with its forest camouflage. Warriors inside popped the hatches and saluted him before returning to their duties. Within the command post was a young Tank Warrior whose Nova was assigned to this sector’s security but who had been out on patrol when the attack came. “Nova Captain Murphy. This is the third attack this year.”
He turned and looked up at the imposing Elemental before him. “Aff, Sir. We are already searching them out. We got here as soon as we heard the call from the local Patrol. The Dee-Forty Comm-sat was jammed from a ground station so we were not able to respond faster.”
The Nova Captain shifted his SMG to the other shoulder in order to key the remote, “Earlier this morning this facility was attacked by a Star of Hovertanks,” The video screen in the Command Post came on and displayed security footage from one of the damaged turrets that surrounded the complex added after the first attack. Ten fast hovertanks come into view and fired on the security teams using tear gas missiles from a turret mounted launcher and the 5cm laser next to it.
“These tanks are either Harriers from a Brian Cache or new construction based on them. They are fast and powerful with a rear mounted flamer that is responsible for much of the structural damage and the wildfire out front. We can tell that these tanks were armed with the old intermediate weapons developed during the Golden Century based on initial BDA.
The Bandits swept through damaging the heavy weapon turrets and disabling the Patrol’s machine gun emplacements.” The mysterious OD painted tanks broke off and were followed by smaller hover vehicles that slowed down and opened their roofs to deploy squads of troops equipped with jump capable PALs which proceeded to clear the concrete and earthwork wall surrounding the factory. “and were followed by these six transports which are obviously based on the Maultier.”
Nova Captain Murphy zoomed in on one of the hostile troops taking in the detail of the PAL (Power Armor Light) obviously based on the Nighthawk used by SLDF Special Forces and still in use by some Clan Watch Special Groups principally within the Hell's Horses and Steel Vipers with large infantry forces.
The video then went inside the complex where the PAL troops engaged the Hell's Horse Security Team in close range combat including hand to hand. The lightly equipped Security force was cut down and the gates opened allowing the tanks, transports, and 4 BFFL Heavy Hovertrucks with their attached flatbed sleds access.
Murphy stopped the video again zooming in on one of the PAL troopers with spiderweb styled decoration on their suit along with the glyph for the Bandit group known as The Shamblers. “Same people, better equipment than past attacks. They were using Nine-Sixty Mausers with frag and inferno grenades.”
“We will find them and hunt them down. What did they take this time?”
The video returned with the PAL troops standing upon the flatbed hover sleds now loaded down with equipment. “Eight unarmed Pouncers, crates of Small Arms, Ammo, Power Packs, and Explosives for my unit. There are some missing Laborers and Techs, so they were likely kidnapped if not traitors.”
“Thank You Nova Captain. I will get a Rhino Star and some heavier units assigned to this facility. Clearly fortifications and weapons emplacements are not going to be enough if they keep upping their forces we will have to do the same. I will join you in the field after we are assured the complex is secure.”
“Aff Star Colonel, The Command Post is yours.” The Nova Captain grabbed his helmet from the table and walked out. Moments later the Ares powered up and sped off in the direction of ‘The Minotaur Shatters’. A vast and tangled marshland created in the wake of a Warship’s (The SLS Minotaur) orbital bombardment during the Pentagon Civil War. Zigfried took a moment to rewind the video back towards one of the PAL troopers as they stabbed one of his Patrolmen with the Mauser’s bayonet.
He slammed his fist down denting the desk, “How many times do we have to squash you bugs?”
The Star Colonel called in his cards to get the heavier equipment from the depot at Petrograd Bay. He was currently the highest-ranking Warrior on the planet that was once one of the most productive Pentagon worlds and a major asset to the four Clans that shared it.
That had changed in the past year as the Smoke Jaguar enclaves on world were rapidly seized by the Horses, Wolves, and Falcons with their few Warriors and many Civilians sent toward the Inner Sphere or relocated to the Kerensky Cluster. Whole enclaves became ghost towns overnight as the three Hell’s Horses Potemkin Troop Cruisers started down the Exodus road from Eden with their drop collars and cargo bays fully loaded. The strain of it all in the same year was so significant that it was causing the whole carefully balanced economy of Clanspace to sputter and die out in some parts.
While the Warriors were away the Bandits came out to prey upon and scavenge the bones of the weak. Last year had been rough with the Burrock Absorption but this year was shaping up to be just as active despite the 40th Mechanized and Horse Patrol raiding Dark Caste settlements shutting down illegal mines and blowing up their equipment. More just appeared as if by magic or treachery and they were no closer to finding the smugglers.
Zigfried carried his weapon at the ready as he surveyed the battle damage. Widowmaker styled graffiti had been painted on the walls of the factory complex insulting 'The Pony Boys.' He could still catch a whiff of the CS gas used to disable his soldiers even after hours of exposure to the elements. It would be expensive to equip the whole Patrol force with gas masks but this time it was only an irritant next time it could be something more potent.
He ascended the ramparts of the earthen wall that the Combat Engineers had erected and thought of what it would take to disable another hovertank strike. The factory was built in the middle of a vast open field with a small portion of it paved over with Ferrocrete for dropships to land and takeoff without putting a giant crater in the ground with their thrusters.
Angled steel obstacles might help but now they had battlemechs and it would be difficult to range them with the fixed weapon emplacements already installed. One of the double Flak Fives (LBX5) was completely melted away from laser fire and that was the best weapon to use against a hovertank. It wasn't a popular one with Mechwarriors that always got first pick of equipment and his factory particularly since it had been damaged several times would be low on the list of priorities for Khan Fletcher.
As far as the eye could see the grass was blackened by the ongoing wildfire caused by the hovertanks and he felt a grim sense of emptiness. “Chaos is the currency of ambition. Choose your paths wisely my Khans or we will end broken. Seyla”
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