Chapter Fifteen - Oliver

Oliver City
Oliver
Skye March, Federated Commonwealth
14 November 3053

In the three months since he’d gotten the order to move off of Carlisle, Joshua had been secretly hoping that he would find Lisa here. He knew she had been here, and in an attempt to trap her on-world, he had closed their joint bank account. Now he searched, taking nearly every moment of his free time since arriving on Oliver to search. But there had been no sign of her.

Joshua tried to remain undeterred, but his hopes were faltering. Those same failing hopes were not helped by the scenery. Oliver was hands-down the ugliest planet he had ever seen. Lacking any indigenous life of any kind, the planet was essentially a great rock with an atmosphere. It was a planet barely inhabitable by human life. It would likely have long ago been abandoned were it not for two things. One, it was a planet of vast mineral resources, particularly iron. Two was the mech factory, built here during the Star League years to take advantage of Oliver’s great mineral wealth.
But with so much iron in the air, the water, the soil, the whole world was one color and that was red. One quickly got sick of it. Even the native people had a strange red tinge to their skin and hair that Joshua thought might have been attractive on another world, one that wasn’t so monochromatic.

To make the world habitable, it was dotted with a number of artificial lakes. During the era of the “iceship,” huge icebergs were transported from water-rich worlds via space to Oliver and melted into giant ferrocrete basins for storage, some hundreds of kilometers long. Evaporation and use quickly claimed large quantities of that water, requiring regular refils from other planets.

Oliver’s cities were much the same as a city on a more pleasant world, save for the giant domes that encased them. The shields kept the potentially lethal iron particles from damaging person or structure when whipped up by a windstorm.

“The lengths to which man will go to support its greed.” Mused Joshua bitterly to himself. He hated this place. He hated how it mocked him in his search.

Oliver City was the planet’s capital city, home to its government. Like many planetary capitals, it took its name from the planet itself. The few people who traveled here, usually for family or business, never for the usual “tourist” reasons, came through here. Joshua had scoured the city up and down looking for Lisa, and had finally discovered a lead. A hotel owner recognized her picture, and noted that she had checked out of the hotel barely a week before the Star Swords had grounded on-planet.

The trail was very cold, but it was the first sign Joshua had gotten other than the bank statement that showed Lisa making a withdrawal here on Oliver. She had been here. Now he was determined to find a clue as to where she might have gone from here. He played with the numbers in his head. How much could she afford, given her last withdrawal? Could she afford passage off-world? Would she be stranded here, as Joshua hoped? Or had she found a way to move on?

Joshua was a block from the hotel when he turned the corner and nearly ran into Daisaku. Joshua was surprised to see his officer and friend here in the city, instead of outside the dome at the Star Swords base of operations.

“Enjoying a day away from base?” asked Joshua casually.

“As you have done since we arrived.” Pointed out Daisaku. “You’ve not found her yet, have you?”

“What makes you think I’m looking for Lisa?”

“What else would make you so obsessed as to nearly completely neglect your duties to the Swords? There are over 2500 known inhabited worlds in human space. Why would you think she would come to a place as horrid as this?”

“She was here.”

“You know that for certain?”

“I do. Financial records place her here. The hotel manager,” Joshua pointed down the block behind him, “recognized her face. I’m close, Daisaku.”

“Is this why you brought us here?”

“Victor ordered us here.” Corrected Joshua.

“On your suggestion.” Added Daisaku. He could barely mask his anger. “The Star Swords are not your plaything, Joshua.”

“They fight for me.”

“Only because you champion their causes. They fight for you because you promised them their home and then you delivered it. What promise are you fulfilling here? What reason have all these Carlisle natives to fight for this rock?”

“The hope of a better galaxy. The Clans don’t just threaten one world or one people and you know it. This Conspiracy stands to undo our best hope for finally defeating the Clans and throwing them back from whence they came.”

“Your actions do not match your rhetoric.”

“And you, why do you fight for me?”

“Because you are my friend and my Khan. And as your friend, your brother as Lisa so strongly reminded us all those months ago, I think this stands as the most reckless foolish thing you’ve done yet. This isn’t about the Conspiracy. This isn’t about saving the Star Alliance with House Kurita. This is another Garrison. There it was your pride that brought us nearly to ruin. Here it is your guilt, and I pray for all our sakes that we do not see the same consequences from your folly.”

Joshua’s personal communicator chirped with an incoming message. Joshua pulled it off his belt and answered it. He looked at Daisaku.

“We shall see. Conspiracy dropships detected inbound. They’re here.”

---

 “Enemy forces have an ETA of 0300 hours tomorrow morning.” reported Mechlanthon to Joshua as he gazed out over the desolate plains bordering the Swords headquarters.

“Flat land, Mechlanthon.” commented Joshua. “Victor chose well when he assigned us to guard this planet.”

“Its only redeeming quality.” Said Daisaku. He clearly shared Joshua’s disdain for this ugly world.

“So was Twycross, and your primitive Inner Sphere mechs defeated the Falcon Guards, one of our best units, there.” Stated the former Jade Falcon flatly. “And most of planet’s key sites are located in rugged or mountainous terrain. Our range will not help us unless this Steiner is particularly stupid.”
“He’s not.” Said Daisaku flatly. “He no doubt knows he faces us.”

“You’re not usually one to be pessimistic, Mechlanthon.” Said Erik.

“This Conspiracy is another prime example of the foolish in-fighting that led to the end of the Star League. They disgust me, but I know their type. They are fanatics and fanatics fight like no other foe.” He looked at Joshua. “But they are prone to make foolish mistakes.”

Daisaku noticed the glance. “Even Mechlanthon thinks our presence here is a mistake.”

“This is not a mistake.” Retorted Joshua. “Here on this soil, we bring justice to these traitors.”

“Let’s hope the new troop reorganization holds. Without a full battalion, we are still under-strength.” Reminded Ryan.

“We still have the NAIS cadre to assist us.” Responded Mechlanthon. “Do not forget that. You were once a student, Ryan, and a good one from what I hear. Do not underestimate the skills of these underlings as well.”

“I’m leery of placing such importance on these ‘underlings.’” Said Ryan. “Yes, we were once students and pretty good. But we also lost our first battles.”

“That’s enough.” Said Daisaku. “All that matters now is that we are here and we have a job to do. If we keep second-guessing ourselves, our strength, our strategic situation, the troops are going to pick up on it. Keep your doubts and suspicions to yourselves. Is that clear?”

The group of officers nodded in the affirmative.

“Good. We’ve got less than 24 hours to make ready. I suggest we get to work.” The group split up and headed off to their assigned duties. Soon, only Joshua and Daisaku remained.

“After our conversation this afternoon, I’m a bit surprised to hear so vehement of defense from you.” Commented Joshua.

“What I said is true. We’re here and we’ve got a job to do. And if by my part I can keep this from becoming the disaster it portends to be, then so be it.”

First Conspiracy Regiment Dropship Betrayal, Drop Orbit
Oliver
Skye March, Federated Commonwealth
15 November 3053

“Battle drop completed. Planet Oliver. Ambient temperature 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Primary terrain: Desert.”

“Fun place.” commented Jason Matthews.

Ryan Steiner chuckled. “This world was a great prize twenty five years ago, one of the best worlds Katrina Steiner claimed for the Lyran Commonwealth from Marik. Now it shall be ours. What irony it must be for us to retake it with mechs given to us by the Free Worlds League.”

The First Conspiracy Regiment had grown in size and potency since its first combat on Dieron almost a year before. Now, thanks to the secret agreement with Houses Marik and Liao, it had been upgraded to full regiment status; Filled with brand new mech designs, the likes of which no one in the Federated Commonwealth had ever seen.

As always, the 1st Conspiracy was filled with some of the most potent fighters from the best of the Conspiracy-loyal F-C units. The unit’s command lance was no exception. Ryan Steiner was no mechwarrior, so he delegated field command of the unit to his cousin, Richard. Richard Steiner piloted the lethal new Grand Titan, a 100 monstrosity of firepower.

Also in the command lance was Jason Mathews, top of the Class of ‘52 at Saglimore Academy. Although better known for its aerospace pilot program, Saglimore did put out a number of good mechwarriors. He piloted a Huron Warrior.

Then there was Dinah Phillips, a raving psychopath when inside a battlemech. She was one of Steiner’s loyal LIC operatives, a personal assassin for all intents and purposes. She could fight unarmed, melee, firearms, or in a mech, all equally well. Steiner kept her within his command lance for no other reason than to keep an eye on her. Her mech was a Hercules.

Lastly, there was Jafar. No other name did he offer. He was an unknown quantity. Sketchy reports placed his origins within the Capellan Confederation, making Duke Ryan convinced he was a Maskirovka operative sent to spy on the Conspiracy. He had a unique talent of turning any conflict into a battle for Allah, a jihad. His religious fanaticism made him a perfect warrior versus any foe. Now he brought that same fervor to the Conspiracy. His mech was a light mech called a Jackal.
“Enemy Battlemech detected.” warned Steiner’s computer.

“So it begins.” Said Steiner. “Advance force consists of light and medium Inner Sphere designs. First Battalion advance and attack. That’s the NAIS cadre. They’ll be our easiest pickings of the day.” Steiner paused. “Command lance, engage at will.”

Jafar and Matthews charged forward, their faster mechs meeting the enemy head on. Jafar unleashed a blast of PPC fire, something the target Locust did not expect from a 30 ton mech. The PPC boiled through the light armor of the Locust’s leg, bringing it down. Jafar ran past it to another target.

Matthews painted his crosshairs onto a Phoenix Hawk. He triggered a gauss rifle and large laser, both blows smashing into the unsuspecting mech. It crashed over onto its back. As it tried to stand, Matthews hammered it again with another gauss shot. That finished it.

Dinah became a whirlwind of destruction; she chose her targets from among the lightest armored of opponents. The formidable firepower of her Hercules blasted NAIS mechs to powder. She fired her PPC into a nearby Commando, while at the same time tapping a Locust with her Class 10 autocannon. Both mechs were too fragile to handle firepower of that magnitude and they blew apart under the impacts of those heavy weapons.

“This is almost a turkey shoot.” commented Matthews.

“Can the chatter, Matthews. Just kill things.” said Richard Steiner. He pressed a series of switches on his console.

“Firings TICs configured.” said his computer.

“Let them have it.” he said with a grin.

Two large pulses sprayed across the battlefield, along with a spread of nearly 30 missiles, a mix of LRMs and SRMs. His suppressing fire slammed into a number of NAIS mechs and drove them back to range, where Steiner’s new mechs had the advantage.

“Enemy appears to be in full retreat, sir.” reported Dinah.

“Pursue and destroy. Destroy them all.”

“New contacts sir.” said Matthews. “It’s the Swords.”

“Then let them be witnesses to what happens to those who oppose us.” said Steiner, crushing the crippled Locust Jafar had tagged under his foot.

“Initiate Operation Trap Door Spider.” ordered Steiner. “All forces, finish off the NAIS cadre and begin moving at top speed towards Eric’s Canyon.”

Dinah responded. “Battlearmor forces report 75% complete. ETC of 0330 hours.
”
“That’s ten minutes. Let’s hope we’re potent enough to hold out against the Swords for that long.”
Eric’s Canyon was one of the planet’s artificial water basins. It had gained a refill just two weeks before, so it remained largely full. Destroying the dams that contained the water at either end would make life difficult for the inhabitants of the planet, as well as their defenders.

“Water is worth more than gold on this world. Let’s see how well they like it if we rob it from them.” Said Ryan Steiner from the safety of his field headquarters.

---

Ryan Smith led the Swords forces in his Mad Cat. The NAIS attack was meant to be a hit-and-fade attack, a harassment tactic meant to get the Conspiracy forces to waste ammo. What happened was a wholesale slaughter of the NAIS troops.

“What did we do wrong?” asked Ryan to no one in particular. “How lethal is this enemy unit?”

Flashbacks of Twycross filled everyone’s minds. Witnessing the Steel Vipers simply slaughtering the 9th Federated Commonwealth had shaken the Swords, but then fired them on to vengeance against the Clanners. Although many of the Swords were infuriated by what they saw now, Ryan himself was staggered by the thought that he’d ordered those young men and women to their deaths.

That pause was all the Conspiracy needed to put some distance between them and the incoming Swords mechs.

“They’re heading for Eric’s Canyon.” reported Kelly Perrens. “Do we pursue, Kommandant Smith?”

“Yes, pursue. Kill those bastards.” snarled Ryan, anger finally coming to him. “Charlie Lance, remain behind and search for survivors.”

“Proceeding to Eric’s Canyon.” responded Amanda. Her Loki marched forward.

“Charlie lance proceeding to assist NAIS cadre.”

Ryan keyed a tightbeam code into his mech’s communicator. “I wish you wouldn’t be so eager, my dear.”

“Stop worrying,” replied Amanda on a channel only the two of them could hear. “I was a mechwarrior before I was your wife.”

“You carry two lives with you, remember?”

“It is a bit hard for me to forget.” Said Amanda. She glanced down at her belly, bulging out from under her cooling vest. “Our daughter will be safe, as will I.”

“Still think this was folly for you to remain on active duty in your third trimester.”

“We lost a lot of good people with Juan’s defection. I can still pilot while pregnant. Now get your mind on the task at hand.”

The Swords battalion split, the majority of the mechs heading for Eric’s Canyon. Aside from its strategic value, the canyon had something else to offer the Conspiracy forces. Its enclosed walls would force the Star Swords to fight them at short range.

“You know the drill, Swords. The canyon on Skye. Hit ‘em from the sides. Don’t go down the canyon into their fire corridor.” ordered Ryan.

His Mad Cat cleared the edge of the canyon to see the assembled horde of Conspiracy mechs below. The canyon walls were not all that steep, so it was not difficult to descend. He opened up with his twin PPCs into a Conspiracy Wolverine, blasting large holes into the enemy mech. Immediately after the arrival of the Star Swords, the enemy force split in two, with one half headed north up the canyon and the other south.

“The enemy force is splitting up.” said Kelly Perrens. “Some going towards the dam, the rest away.”
“I noticed.” said Ryan. “Watch for double envelopment. These canyon walls are also easy for them to ascend, meaning we could get trapped up here.” He let loose another blast of PPC fire into a nearby mech, one he didn’t recognize.

“Half these bogeys don’t register.” commented a random Swords mechwarrior.

“I noticed that too. Looks like the Conspiracy’s got one hell of a friend.” said Ryan. “Must be Marik or Liao. No way could they be fielding brand new mechs of this quantity from their own factories this early.”

“Odd that we didn’t know Marik had this many new mechs in the field.” said Kelly.

“Since when has LIC and DMI told us everything they know.” said Amanda. “The enemy force has split down the middle. Each group is going up and down the canyon, no attempts to exit it via the slopes.”

“What are they up to?” said Ryan to himself out-loud. “Command Lance, Perrens company, and Smith company with me. The rest pursue down the canyon. Either way, we don’t want them to reach the city of Eric. Now go.”

Ryan’s Mad Cat went into a run, heading towards the dam across the lip of the canyon wall. Close behind him was Amanda’s Loki, Kelly’s Grendel, and the rest of the mechs Ryan had ordered along.

“I’m detecting battle armor ahead.” said Kelly. “Mince meat.” she added with a grin. Her Grendel was outfitted in Jade Falcon style as an anti-infantry mech.

“The enemy mechs have reached the dam.” reported Amanda. “They can’t go anywhere.”

“They might blow the damn.” Said Ryan.

“Not while standing in front of it.” Said Kelly. “That would be suicide.”

“Make sure. Kelly, use your beagle probe. Scan for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Roger. Cover me.” Kelly fired her jump jets and rocketed down into the canyon. Ryan and Amanda opened up with their mechs, drawing fire away from the Grendel.

But even as PPC and autocannon fire tore into the Conspiracy mechs, they fired off their own jump jets and launched into the air.

“Enemy mechs are jumping.” reported Amanda. “All of them.”

Ryan tracked an enemy mech and cut loose with his LRMs. “Why?” he said to himself as the machine was battered apart in mid-air by dozens of missile strikes.

“Confirming presence of enemy explosives at the dam’s base.” said Kelly.

“Kelly, get out of there!” screamed Ryan.

A massive explosion rocked the canyon. The dam blasted outward, releasing a massive wall of rust-colored water.

“Dear lord....” said Ryan.

Kelly smashed her hand down onto her jump jet trigger, but her jets had not finished their recycle from the jump that had brought her into the canyon. As such, there was a momentary delay before they fired. The delay was costly. Her mech rocketed up into the sky, but the wall of water slammed into her Grendel’s feet. The impact spun her mech out of control, tossing it out of the canyon like a disliked toy. It struck the ground head first, rolling head over heels for 100 meters before exploding.
“Kelly!” screamed Ryan. But there was no answer. There couldn’t be.

Amanda came to her senses. “All Star Sword mechs, clear the canyon now!” she screamed into her headset communicator.

----

“What the hell was that?” said Leftenant Paul Britt, head of Charlie lance. His expedition found woefully few survivors among the NAIS mechs.

“There was an explosion by the dam. I think it’s collapsed.”

“My God, and our mechs were down there.” He tapped his communications console. “Lt. Britt to HQ, we have a problem. General Messer, please come in.”

“General Messer here, what’s wrong?”

“Eric’s dam was just destroyed. I think most of First Battalion was caught in it, along with the Conspiracy battalion.”

“Dear God. Immediately proceed to Eric’s Canyon and recon. Search for any survivors. Use caution. This smells like some sort of Conspiracy trap.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Aerospace forces will be with you shortly to assist.”

“Roger that.”

---

Richard Steiner braced himself for the water’s impact. By the time it had reached his position at the bottom of the canyon, it had lost most of its force, but was still potent enough to knock even his 100 ton mech off its feet. The water slammed into the line of Sword mechs in front of him, plowing through them into his Conspiracy forces. The only difference was the Conspiracy mechs were ready for it. Not that it mattered much, every mech the water hit was knocked over, some thrown by the force of the water. That fate befell most of the mechs lighter than 45 tons, Swords or Conspiracy. Jafar’s tiny Jackal was smashed to pieces against the canyon wall. “Oh, well.” thought Steiner callously. “He died fighting for Allah.”

Steiner forced his mech back to his feet, firing as he went. His shots landed into a handful of staggering Swords mechs. The rest of the Conspiracy mechs stood and followed suit. Still disoriented, the Swords barely even put up token resistance.

“Destroy them.” ordered Steiner. “Destroy them all.”

That would not take much, although the company of Swords mechs standing before them were nearly all heavy and assault class Battlemechs.

“I have new contacts, sir.” said Matthews. “Enemy aerospace fighters.”

“Damn!” swore Steiner, cursing the Swords. He was about to close the trap, but he knew that within the canyon, his forces would be helpless against fighter strafing. If he stayed and finished the Swords, it would cost him more than he cared to pay. “All forces retreat to the rendezvous point. Let’s get out of this canyon before those fighters butcher us.”

---

Ryan and his forces made their way down the canyon to where the Swords mechs were now recovering from the impact of the flood waters. Ryan made a quick scan of the mechs below. He registered roughly a half dozen machines battered into scrap, but most were still functional. “That could have been a lot worse.” He mused.

“We lost Kelly.” Reminded Amanda. “No way anyone could have survived that.”

“Find survivors and get the salvage teams up here.” Said Ryan as he saw Leftenant Britt’s lance coming up from the plain. “This is just a taste of what they have in store for us.”

Brigadier Corporation factory
Oliver
Skye March, Federated Commonwealth
15 November 3053

As dawn came to the planet, the search began for survivors of 1st Battalion. It not just the dawn of the sun, but also the dawn of the true battle, as a battalion of the new 2nd Conspiracy regiment struck at the Quikscell Company’s Tank factory. It was garrisoned by the rest of the NAIS cadre, its 2nd Battalion.

The rest of the 2nd Conspiracy struck the Brigadier Corporation’s mech factory at 0700 that morning. Its defenders consisted of most of the Swords’ 3rd Battalion. The rest of 3rd Battalion remained untouched at Oliver’s capital city, where the Swords HQ was located.

Daisaku maneuvered his lithe Vixen into position. “Two battalions versus our two companies.” He mused. “This is already ugly. Two days into this battle and he’s already put two full battalions out-of-action. Steiner’s fighting dirty. It’s time to do the same to him.”

“Okay, troops, listen up. After what these bastards did to us yesterday, it’s time to rethink how we fight these creeps. We treat them as a Clan opponent, which means we pull out all the stops. All mechs move into position and power down. We want the Conspiracy to think we’ve withdrawn.”

---

“Colonel, we’ve no sign of the Swords garrison at the factory.”

“They’ve abandoned it?” said the 2nd Conspiracy commander. “They’re hiding.”

“Plenty of places to do that.” Responded the aide. “This mountainous terrain here is too large to recon with scout mechs.”

“So we send in the aerospace fighters. Launch patrols at once.”

---

“First rule of air combat against the great Erik Iolair,” said Erik arrogantly. “Don’t attempt aerial recon when I have control of the skies. Rogue squadron, attack that airstrip. Knight squadron, take down the patrol.”

Erik banked his Stingray and dove down towards the Brigadier mountains. Behind him came his two squadrons.

The sudden appearance of the Swords fighters sent the Conspiracy camp into chaos. Leftenant Jennifer Brockton dropped her sights onto the Conspiracy patrol fighter just now clearing the runway. The light SL-21 Sholagar fighter tried to evade the missile lock from the Swords Scytha A, but had insufficient airspeed to do so. The Sholagar had a circular wing, a construction that was unstable in atmosphere at low speeds, making the ship hard to maneuver when it was not moving at full cruising speed.

“Eat LRM.” Said Jennifer. She remembered well the last time she’d been part of an attack like this. Her fighter had been shot down on Garrison by a Falcon Ryoken. Before ejecting, she managed to crash the ship into a line of enemy mechs. That had gotten her captured in the end, but she was later freed when Garrison was retaken in Operation: Counterstrike. She’d been back with the Swords ever since.

Twenty LRMs roared out of the ship’s nose and tore into the light fighter. Already somewhat shaky with its unusual wing, the blow unbalanced the ship completely and it plowed into the red rust-sand before exploding.

The other Conspiracy fighter punched its afterburners in an attempt to escape. This one, an F-10 Cheetah, had no inherent problems with instability.

“Wilson, engage the second craft. Knight group, get set up for bombing runs. While General Iolair destroys the airstrip, we’re going mech-hunting.”

Jennifer and her squadron flew over the airstrip, already burning fiercely from destroyed fighters and fuel depots. “Good hunting, Jennifer.” Said Erik as her group moved over them.

“You know the drill, folks. Search out their Rifleman and Jagermechs. Destroy them first.” She dropped her bomb crosshair onto an enemy barracks. It pulsed red and she squeezed the trigger. The four ton laser-guided bomb hurled forward from her left wing and smashed into the barracks. The small pre-fab building exploded like a box of toothpicks.

Without hesitation she switched targets to the single surviving fuel depot and fired another laser guided bomb. It went up in a fiery explosion  Conspiracy technicians and infantry were running about in total chaos as other Swords craft strafed the runway with laser and autocannon fire.

“What a horrible sight this is.” She thought as she pulled around for another pass. “They never stood a chance. No wonder they’ve resorted to such tactics as flooding out our troops.”

“Brockton to Iolair. The strip is destroyed.”

“Roger that, Jennifer. Daisaku, you copy that?”

“Aff. Now the Conspiracy forces are blind. Can you manage a flyby over their heads. I want them to know we just robbed them of their air support.”

“Psyche warfare. Roger that. ETA in 3 minutes.”

Erik’s Stingray was leading the pack as the Swords fighters roared over the Conspiracy battalion are extremely low altitude. The wash from the aerospace fighters kicked up a huge cloud of rust-colored dust as they passed. Empty of bombs and ammunition, most of the fighters simply flew past, but Erik and two others broke off and came around again.

“Acquire target. Lock onto that big assault mech in the center of them. I’ll bet anything it’s the unit commander.”

“Roger, General Iolair.”

Erik pressed down on his trigger and watched as his lasers cut through the dust to tear into the armor of the massive mech. Behind him, the other two also fired salvos into it. Staggered by the damage, it fell to the ground.

Dismayed and angered that their commander’s mech was down, the Conspiracy forces opened fire on the fighters. Although their fire was inaccurate, they threw so much flak up against the three ships that one of Erik’s wingmen took severe damage. His engine aflame, the pilot tried desperately to keep his fighter aloft, but it was impossible. The pilot punched out just before his ship plowed into the ground and exploded.

“Track that ejection pod.” Ordered Erik as he banked his fighter around the Conspiracy mechs, dodging anti-aircraft fire all the way.

“Don’t worry, Erik, we’ll get him.” Said Daisaku. Although dust still obscured the battlefield from the fighters’ flyby, Erik could see the bright flashes of laser and PPC fire through it. Daisaku’s battalion had taken advantage of Erik’s distraction to close and attack.

Daisaku halted his troops 600 meters short of the Conspiracy forces, out of range for all but a few weapons. “Encircle and attack at range.” He ordered. “We want to frustrate them into a critical mistake, not destroy them outright. Watch out for an attempted breakout.”

Daisaku’s light Vixen had only its pulse laser to fight with at this range, but with a top speed of nearly 150 kph, he could close and pull back with ease. Harried, the confused Conspiracy forces began to rush both the factory complex and the mountains, desperate to get out of the open valley were they were now trapped. It was the critical error Daisaku had been waiting for.

“Protect the factory!” ordered Daisaku. His well trained troops immediately abandoned any attack on the ones fleeing back towards the mountains and tore into those who had run towards their original target.

Being struck in the rear by the determined Swords forces only increased the panic of the Conspiracy forces. Daisaku’s Vixen charged up on a light mech, a design he didn’t recognize, and tore into it with his lasers. It turned and turned fire with its lasers. Daisaku noted the missile tubes on its shoulders, five count each. That meant LRMs, making the mech woefully outmatched in a short range contest.

A signal blast from his pulse laser and a flash of sparks flew off of the enemy mech. It toppled over like a rag doll. Daisaku scanned about the battlefield, looking for another target.

“Kommandant?” queried a junior officer.

“Report.” Ordered Daisaku.

“The enemy forces that withdrew towards the factory have been destroyed, sir.”

“And the rest?”

“Continuing their withdrawal into the mountains.”

“Let them go for now. Order the salvage teams to the field. I want a look at these new machines the Conspiracy is using.” He switched his communications console to widebeam. “Good job everyone. This is payback for 1st Battalion.”

Star Sword Headquarters, Oliver City
Oliver
Skye March, Federated Commonwealth
16 November 3053

“How are we doing?” asked Joshua to Mechlanthon.

“3rd Battalion is giving the 2nd Conspiracy hell from the reports I have heard so far.” Mechlanthon grinned devilishly, and then darkened. “A suitable vengeance.”

“Go, Daisaku.” Joshua said quietly. “Status report on 1st Battalion?”

“Casualties were minor. Most of the mechs were recovered. I believe we are down roughly six machines and four mechwarriors. Most of the other mechs should be battle ready in a few hours.”
“Thank God. That little stratagem could have turned out a lot worse.”

“General,” said Mechlanthon softly. “I should mention that one of the KIAs is Kelly Perrens.”

“Kelly?”

“I know she and Kommandant Miranda were close.”

“Yeah, they were.” Said Joshua mournfully. “First casualty of this ‘foolish’ endeavor, as Daisaku considers it. Maybe he’s right Maybe I have done it again and led people to their deaths for my own selfish causes.”

“I should feel no pity for him.” Said Mechlanthon coldly. “He is a traitor. And he should be punished. But her death was not what I had in mind. This is…regrettable.”

“I want to go out there, Mechlanthon. Meet Steiner’s forces when they’re on the move.”

“Is that wise?”

“The Star Swords need to know that their leader is willing to bleed for them.”

“You have proven that time and again.”

“Even you have your doubts about why we are here. It’s time I laid those doubts to rest. What’s our tactical situation?”

“The First Conspiracy is nearby, although we have been unable to track their movements over the last eight hours.”

“They’re coming here. That puts them somewhere between Eric’s Canyon and the capital.”

“That is a great deal of territory. And we are without Erik’s pilots to be our eyes. He is indisposed elsewhere.”

“True, but the territory between here and there is very rugged. There are only a select number of routes Steiner can take if he hopes to move so large a force on the capital.”

“When do we leave?”

“Soon.”

---

Joshua’s Ryoken marched at the lead of the his attack force. “Recon, do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, General. My magnetic sensors have picked up a number of enemy mechs heading your way. Looks like two full battalions. I’d like to get a closer look, but I’d really rather not draw attention to myself. This Uller C doesn’t have much in the way of firepower.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mitchell. You’ve found them, that’s all that matters. Now get your ass back here.”

“Roger that.”

“Mitchell, do you detect any command vehicles of any sort?”

“Actually, yes I do. It seems there is a command van in the rear of the force.”

“Excellent. Command out.” Joshua switched his comm over to widebeam so as to communicate with all his units. “All right, men, you know the plan. A quick hit-and-fade. From what we’ve accessed, their little trap in the canyon cost them a good number of their light mechs, so they’re definitely lacking in the speed category. Hit what lights remain. We reduce those numbers further.”

“Hopefully, this will make them stop, correct?” asked Miranda MacLeod.

“Correct, Miranda.” Miranda had been one of the members of Fourth Battalion Juan had to lock in the brig. Now she was supporting Joshua in his command lance, using an old Phoenix Hawk, not too unlike the one she lost on Carlisle eighteen months before.

“Then we hit their command center and blind them further.”

“Without eyes, they’ll be reluctant to approach the city. That will buy us the time we need to pull back the forces from the factories.”

“You predict a quick victory there, then?” said Mechlanthon, cutting in via tightbeam so as not to broadcast his questioning to the others. Joshua switched over to reply.

“I have faith in Daisaku, Mechlanthon. Right now, he’s our best chance of pulling anything out of this.”

“Understood.”

“Okay, Swords, let’s move out.”

---

Steiner’s force was closing on a large suspension bridge over one of Oliver’s narrow and deep canyons. They approached cautiously, as if anticipating an attack.

Joshua’s forces popped up on the other side of the bridge. Seeing only a handful of enemy forces, Steiner’s light mechs dashed across to engage. It was precisely what Joshua had wanted them to do.
Down below, in the river bed, Joshua raised the stunted weapon in his right arm, an Arrow IV artillery system, and fired. The five missiles from the cannon slammed into the bridge from underneath.

“That was for the dam, Steiner.” snarled Joshua on widebeam.

The bridge collapsed. A handful of Conspiracy lights tried to fire their jump jets to escape, only to be picked off by Swan’s Company. The rest fell into the chasm, smashing to bits on the hard iron-rich rocks below.

---

“Brilliant attack, Messer. Now we’ll have to maneuver around to cross the chasm. Damn, I should have seen this one coming.” Snarled Duke Ryan.

“He didn’t become the hero of the Clan War for nothing.” commented Dinah. “We should have expected him to be a little on the angry side after the debacle at the dam.”

“If the plan had succeeded, he’d be even more angry. They’re smashing us at every turn. Our massacre of the NAIS Battalion might prove to be all we’ll show for this. Damn. This is what I get for trusting incompetents and novices against crack battle-hardened troops. Second regiment’s in pieces after trying to take the Brigadier factory. Damn, he defends the city with barely a company and he’s not going to back down. Because he knows.” Steiner paused. “We make camp. Send Delta Lance to scout north.”

----

With the assistance of his elementals, Joshua quickly had the Arrow IV removed and replaced with its usual gauss rifle. “So far, it’s working brilliantly. We wait until nightfall to initiate the next part.”

“I still believe the elementals should go alone.” said Mechlanthon. “You are being impulsive, Joshua.”

“My troops are dying out there and many of them question for what reason.”

“This will not give them their answer.”

“Besides, using mechs will allow us to move the elementals into position faster. Tactically it’s a smarter move.”

“It need not be you and I who do it.”

“I take the risks along with my troops.”

“We will risk detection.”

“Always the good XO, Mechlanthon. An argument for everything.” Joshua gave his aide an affectionate pat on the shoulder. “I want speed over stealth this time, Mechlanthon. Trust me on this one. I want Steiner and his boys to know exactly who did this to them. If I drive their morale down, we come closer to winning. Remember how we nailed the Clanners in Edinburgh? They were so frustrated by the end that they didn’t even want to fight anymore. That’s what I want to do to Steiner’s boys.”

“Very well. We leave when the sun sets.