Interlide: The Battle of Dunalban

Colonel Lani Wetere wasn't too certain about this. She and Eighth Guards had been pulled off the line to support John Davies and Ninth Guards in taking the former Planetary Capital of Dunalban. They were expecting light resistance, militia, and armed police, but Colonel Wetere had a bad feeling about this in the pit of her stomach. She'd voiced that a number of times only for Colonel Davies to brush her off. John Davies was a fatalistic sort, to him, whether Lani's bad feeling was a problem or not was immaterial. They had to take the city regardless, since the very reasons for Colonel Wetere's bad feelings, namely the presence of vital industry and infrastructure requiring a proper garrison to defend, also meant that the city was too valuable to leave in enemy hands.

Colonel Wetere couldn't really argue that point, so the attack would go forward as planned instead of waiting for reinforcements from the main battles on-world around Dadaocheng City and the defensive lines there. Colonel Wetere would just have to stay on guard and hope that whatever surprises were waiting for them in Dunalban were able to be weathered. At the very least, it was dryer here than in the surrounding countryside. The surrounding lowlands were a marshy area, with many of the towns effectively being built as artificial islands and stilt houses in the middle of the wetlands. It had made moving to Dunalban from the lines around Dadaocheng City a pain. If not for the Fleet's Automated mech repair bays, it would have taken weeks due to maintenance alone.

Supposedly, the wetlands drained into the Sinclair River, which in turn emptied into the Deas Muir Ocean at Kennedy Beach, but the Lone Hills and Dunalban weren't anywhere near there. That was a shame since Lani was an avid surfer and would have liked to have tried the waves on another planet, but she supposed she wouldn't have had the time anyway, what with being a Colonel in the middle of a war. Perhaps she'd check it out once all was said and done here? At the very least, she'd have some leave time coming to her after going to war. At the moment, however, she was busy leading Eighth Guards into Dunalban from the South. Colonel Davies and Ninth Guards had come at the City from the North, and the goal was to hit any forces in the City in a pincer that would, hopefully, throw them off their game. Hopefully, it would work well enough to minimize losses.

"Colonel, scanner's picking up something near that building over there." Commed over Captain Witi Rata, leader of Delta Company, Delta Battalion. His Hipparchs had been given scouting dutied regularly by Colonel Wetere, and he knew his business well by now. His Command Hipparch had been fitted with one of the reverse-engineered Star League-Era sensor packages that helped him scan for ambushes that couldn't be detected by the sort of sensors that most Inner Sphere Forces used.

"What reading are you getting?" Questioned Colonel Wetere.

"Seems like mech engines on low output. Can't be too sure, it's coming from underground. That's a lot of reinforced concrete to scan through." Answered Captain Rata.

"All right, pull back for now. I'll take Alpha Company in with the Rampages and see if we can't spring the trap." Ordered Colonel Wetere.

"Roger, Colonel. Pulling back." Confirmed Captain Rata.

With that, the Hipparchs began pulling back. They'd already suffered casualties on Oberon Six, so pulling them back was the smart play. They were Eighth Guards' eyes and ears, after all. If they got wiped out in combat, the Regiment would be struck deaf and blind and you couldn't fight a war that way. As the Hipparchs pulled back, Colonel Wetere urged her Rampage Assault Mech forward, along with those of Alpha Company, Alpha Battalion. There were few things in the whole Sphere that could deal with the Rampages, so if there was an ambush up ahead, this was the best way to spring it. Of course, if the enemy had eyes on them, they would realize that and stay down in whatever hole they were hidden in, likely some underground car park or something. That meant that to spring the trap, they'd have to get. . .provocative.

Fortunately, Captain Rata had gone ahead and linked his sensor data to Colonel Wetere's Mech. She sent it over to every Rampage in Alpha Company with an order to put a few Gauss Rounds into the street in the direction of the sensor pings. If that didn't get the enemy rushing out of whatever hidden spot they were lying in wait in, Colonel Wetere didn't know what would. As she got affirmative responses from the various Mechwarriors of Alpha Company, Colonel Wetere raised her own Gauss Rifle and readied herself for another explosive round of high-intensity combat.

"Here goes nothing." She muttered under her breath.

Then Alpha Company began firing and all doubts fled from her mind. . .

XXXX

Colonel Anders Drask sat deep in the hidden bunker of Fort MacGregor. The Fortress was an Old Rim Worlds Republic base that was dug into the stone of the Lone Hills under the City of Dunalban. It had been just barely completed and staffed by the time of the Amaris Coup, having been rushed to completion. That meant that the command center, medical bay, and various other facilities in the fort had been forced to make do with second or even third-line models. That hadn't been the case for the Mechs, Infantry Equipment, and Combat Vehicles that had been stored in here, and there had been an ample supply of spare parts, but those had long since been plundered by the Grimms and stored away in hidden depots that only Hendrik Grimm and his family truly knew the locations of.

That didn't mean that Fort MacGregor was useless, however. The equipment that had been left after the Grimms had gone in and taken everything might have been second or third-line gear, but it was still Star League Era equipment, which meant that it was very good by the standards of the Periphery and decent by the standards of the Inner Sphere. A lot of this stuff wouldn't be out of place in various bases that housed regular formations of the militaries of the Successor States. That made the fortress an ideal choice to command the defense of Dunalban from. Its subterranean nature also meant that it could be used to shuffle troops around the City undetected by the various forces facing them. The corridors of the fortress were built with a number of hidden vehicle hangars and weapons emplacements.

Colonel Drask had decided to make use of Fort MacGregor the lynchpin of his defense and it had paid off so far. Hidden weapons emplacements and combat vehicles sallying from hidden hangars in the North of the City had already inflicted casualties on the Enemy Regiment attacking from the North. They'd driven the enemy back with a surprise attack that had left a number of enemy mechs and combat vehicles damaged or wrecked as the enemy withdrew. Mind you, some of the weapon emplacements had been destroyed in the fighting and his combat vehicle battalion from Taran's World had taken a beating in the process. Major Cox warned that his Battalion needed repairs and consolidation before being sent out again.

Colonel Drask smirked as he recalled the conversation. Actually what Major Cox had said was that he'd rather be forced to sit through ten million hours of bad Holoshows like Immortal Warrior before going out again without having his Battalion repaired. Given how much Major Cox seemed to despise the lead actor of Immortal Warrior, and really anything to do with the show, that was saying something. The Man was a fan of the Solaris Games and constantly complained about how unrealistic Immortal Warrior was to anyone who would listen. Colonel Drask found it hard to blame the Major for that. He had his own interests that were just as consuming, though his tended to have money involved. He was something of a gambler, after all.

This particular gamble seemed to pay off with having beat off the Northern Enemy Pincer, though. At least that was what Colonel Drask had thought right up until he got a comms call from Captain Wiczak of Delta Company of the Mech Battalion telling him that they were under fire while still in their ambush position. That didn't seem possible, but the Captain insisted it was happening. Captain Wiczak also insisted that Delta Company had to pull back because they'd already suffered a third of their company destroyed or damaged just leaving their ambush position. That meant that Colonel Drask had to make a decision. He could send reinforcements, maybe send Beta Company to the scene, which would leave only Alpha Company in reserve, or he could allow the enemy to penetrate the city.

"Pull back to the Bowie Industries Plant. I'm sending Captain Espernsen and Beta Company to you. When she arrives, counterattack the enemy." Ordered Colonel Drask.

"Understood. Wiczak out." Affirmed Captain Wiczak.

Colonel Drask sighed at that. With his forces being chewed up in counterattacks, it was only a matter of time before he was forced to take his Atlas out to fight himself. He may as well prepare for that now. After all, it was better to be safe than sorry, that's what his Uncle had always said, and the Man was the planetary governor of their homeworld so there were a lot worse people to listen to. Colonel Drask commed down to the mech bay. The call was answered by Senior Technician Korsgaard. That was good, he'd have his Atlas humming in no time.

"Warm up Antaeus for me, will you? I've got a feeling that I'll be needing him soon." Commanded Colonel Drask.

"Right away, Colonel." Confirmed Korsgaard.

Colonel Drask nodded in satisfaction. Korsgaard had been with the family for years, ever since his father had passed. The Man's whole family had come with the Drasks to Drask's Den from the recently conquered world of Holmsbu in Twenty-Five-Eleven. The families had been inseparable since they founded the Settlement of Ny Hedeby on Drask's Den, effectively recolonizing the planet after the initial colony had failed due to a lack of investments. If anyone could be counted on, it was Korsgaard. Thinking of technicians, Colonel Drask sent word to Senior Technician Skerret in the Combat Vehicle Bay to put a rush on repairs for the Taran's World Vehicle Battalion and then commed down to Major Eliti with the Infantry Battalion of the Rock telling her to get ready to fight.

After all, this counterattack might succeed, but Colonel Drask doubted the next one would. . .

XXXX

Colonel John Davies of Ninth Guards ground his teeth. It seemed like Colonel Wetere had been right on the money about this not being a cakewalk. His Regiment had taken a beating from hidden defenses combined with a surprise counterattack by combat vehicles that swarmed them while they'd been trying to hit the hidden emplacements with counterfire. They'd left five combat vehicles and five mechs of various makes damaged or destroyed on the ground in their retreat, including that of Captain Bowen of Delta Company of the Beta Battalion. John knew Rick Bowen, they'd joined the Cryfder Militia together before their homeworld had joined the Grand Duchy. Now the man was in intensive care from burns suffered when his Hipparch had caught fire. Not that Colonel Wetere had it easier on her end, but it was the principle of the thing. Colonel Davies doubted her losses had the same personal touch as his had been.

By noon of the first day of the Battle of Dunalban, both he and Colonel Wetere had been repulsed with losses. Hers were a lot lighter than his were, though. A Rampage destroyed along with a pair of Ignis Support Tanks. The Pincer had failed, now they were reorganizing for a single, massive, assault that would punch through from the South. Colonel Wetere hadn't seen any weapons emplacements in that sector, likely due to how close the south of Dunalban was to the southern edge of the Lone Hills and the wetlands beyond. The risk of flooding from extensive digging was likely considered too great. Not that it made this sudden entrenchment any easier a pill to swallow, mind you. Colonel Davies had to wonder just where all the sudden defenses had come from. There hadn't been any indication of this sort of thing in any of the briefings.

"I'm going to have words with intelligence." Grumbled Colonel Davies.

"Please, John. That isn't helping." Sighed Colonel Wetere.

"Right. So, we hit them from the south with overwhelming force. That ought to clear out the surface, but I'm worried about the clearly underground fortress they have. Tight corridors underground might be enough to negate our numbers advantage. Plus it gives the defenders an advantage in positioning." Pointed out Colonel Davies.

"You're right about that, but they've already shown multiple hidden hangars. There has to be more than that, just based on the necessity of deployments inside the city. We can send infantry down at multiple points and try and pocket the enemy by linking up." Suggested Colonel Wetere.

"They'd be going in blind, Lani, we don't know the layout. That might not work. Gas on the other hand. . ." Trailed of Colonel Davies.

"We're not gassing the enemy, John. We have orders to play this via the Ares Accords, you know that. Is this just cause they hit Rick?" Frowned Colonel Wetere.

"He's my best friend Lani, and the docs on the Fleet say that he might need skin grafts! What do I tell his wife?" Demanded Colonel Davies.

"The Grand Duke's people cracked cloned organs recently. They have Rick's DNA on file, he won't look any different thanks to that. Don't worry so much about him. He's got the best medical care in the Sphere." Soothed Colonel Wetere.

"I know, but still. We ought to just gas the bastards and move on." Huffed Colonel Davies.

"And go against orders? You think His Grace will give Rick the Skin Grafts then?" Tried Colonel Wetere.

"Damn it all, you're right. You've been right this whole time, Lani. What's your secret?" Queried Colonel Davies.

"I listen to my gut, John. That's all." Shrugged Colonel Wetere.

"Fine. We'll play this your way. How soon until we're ready?" Asked Colonel Davies.

"Give it two hours. Zero Hour at fourteen-hundred." Offered Colonel Wetere.

"Good." Nodded Colonel Davies.

Then he strode out of the command tent to oversee his troops. They'd had to circumnavigate the City to make it to the South, and while the enemy hadn't attacked them during that, they'd still gotten strung out along the route in the process. His Majors and Captains were doing their best to get the men back in formation, but it was always good to have the CO of the regiment around to help out in case that was needed. Besides, Colonel Davies needed something to occupy him until Zero Hour, otherwise, he might be tempted to badger the docs working on Rick over the fleet uplink. That wouldn't be productive on either end of that potential conversation and the last thing he wanted was his best friend to come out of surgery looking like a grotesque because he'd distracted the docs doing his skin grafts with pointless questions. Alice would never forgive him for that, so he busied himself with work. Two hours later, everything was in order and Zero Hour was at hand.

Now it was time for revenge. . .

XXXX

Colonel Drask yanked his Atlas to the side as a Green and White-painted Rampage put a ferronickel slug into a nearby Bulldog Main Battle Tank while spraying Ultra-Autocanon Rounds at his Atlas. He just barely managed to slide into cover behind a reinforced concrete habitation block and avoid taking even more damage. He'd already lost an arm to a black and red-painted Rampage early on in the fighting. As he peeked out of cover, Colonel Drask saw a Marauder go up to a Griffin's LRM Fire even as it shot the legs of an enemy Dragoon out from under it. With a growl, Colonel Drask fired his own SRM launcher, blowing the Griffin to smithereens and destroying the legs of a Dragoon.

He ducked back behind the hab block as a spray of armor-piercing shells from another Rampage. A full salvo from his SRM Launcher was his response, blowing it in half as all six missiles landed on target, even as his Autocannon downed another Griffin. Unfortunately, there were simply too many enemies to cope with. They'd attacked with overwhelming force and his Mech Battalion wasn't piloting any of the fancy Combine Surplus Mechs. No, not the Northern Triangle Legion. They were so proud of their ability to produce Locusts, Marauders, and the odd Atlas thanks to a savvy investment a few decades ago, ironically made by the father of the Man who was invading them now. Sure it was a small factory, barely worthy of being considered similar to a satellite of one of the big Inner Sphere firms, but Drask Mechanical Solutions was the pride and joy of Drask's Den.

It was biting them in the ass now. Local production meant that their Mech Battalion was skewed toward Locusts, even upgraded to ditch the machine guns in favor of an SRM-Two, that couldn't stand up to a drawn-out engagement with regiments like the Enemy had. Their best bet had been the surprise counterattacks from hidden fortifications. That had worked initially, but now that the Enemy had cottoned onto such things, it wasn't going to work. As one last SRM Salvo from Colonel Drask's destroyed another Griffin, a beeping from his Neurohelmet's HUD informed him that his Black and Orange-painted Atlas, Antaeus, was out of short-ranged missiles even as an enemy Dragon demolished one of his Locusts with a well-placed Short Ranged Missile of its own.

"Shite." Scowled Colonel Drask.

As that happened, the Green and Red Painted Rampage Gunned down another of his Marauders and the Red and Black-painted Rampage took out a pair of Scorpion Tanks with a spray of Ultra-Autocanon Rounds and put a ferronickel slug into another Locust that sent it up in a ball of flame. As one of his Saladins went up to a Griffin's Medium Laser, Colonel Drask was forced to duck back behind cover to avoid a ferronickel slug from a Rampage that punched into the concrete Hab Block and chewed away at a significant part of his remaining cover. He popped out to fire his autocannon at the offending Rampage only for the shell to bounce off the advanced armor plate.

"Colonel, my Guys are spent, we're pulling back and you should too." Came the Voice of Major Cox over the Comms.

"Good advice. All forces retreat! We're withdrawing back into Fort MacGregor! Let them dig us out with infantry, we've done all we can here." Ordered Colonel Drask.

It left a bad taste in his mouth to give ground like this, but there really wasn't any alternative. His forces began a fighting withdrawal back to hidden hangars in the city center, where they'd withdraw into the fort under the cover of the inner defenses. These were mostly a number of Autocannons and SRM Launchers in hidden bunkers and emplacements. Meant to keep an enemy away from the Hangar Entrances. It worked, as the enemy broke off pursuit as soon as the first Autocannon round fired and took out a pursuing LTV-Four Hovertank. That allowed the remnants of the Northern Triangle Legion to withdraw into Fort MacGregor. The reprieve wouldn't last long as the emplacements came under fire from Aerospace Fighters shortly afterward.

An hour later, the infantry assault began. . .

XXXX

It took a few hours, but the Infantry of Eighth and Ninth Guards finally managed to capture several of the hangars and begin pushing through the corridors of the underground fort. The place, it turned out, was a rat's nest of corridors, designed primarily to confuse anyone who would be unfamiliar with the base, like an attacker. Furthermore, machine gun posts were placed in several areas behind pre-constructed checkpoints. Whoever had built this place had been insanely paranoid. Judging by how it had all the signs of a Rim Worlds Republic Army Base from the Amaris Period, that was probably an accurate statement. Enemy resistance was likewise fierce, though curiously, not suicidal like a Combine Force would have been.

It took a few more hours, but by nine at night, several beachheads had linked up and even managed to capture the mechbay, combat vehicle bay, and a supplemental armory. Captain Waaka of the Eighth Guards' Jump Infantry took the Mech Bay while Captain Bryn of the Ninth Guards' Jump Infantry took the Combat Vehicle Bay. The Supplemental Armory had been taken in a joint attack by Captains Pehere and Morgan of the Eighth and Ninth Guards' Beta and Delta Companies of regular infantry. An hour after that, after a brutal fight in the Fortress' Mess Hall, the enemy commander, one Colonel Anders Drask, surrendered. The terms were generous, the same as had been ordered to be offered. Surrender under the provisions of the Ares Accords.

By eleven at night, twenty-three-hundred hours, the battle for Dunalban officially ended after a single day's fighting. Eighth Guards suffered a relatively light ten percent casualties while Ninth Guards suffered twenty percent casualties. In return, they gained control of Dunalban, its manufacturing plants and infrastructure, which had received light damage, and Fort MacGregor. Not bad for a single day's fighting. Colonels Wetere and Davies reported in to His Grace, who was overjoyed at the news. He was right to be so.

After all, now, only Dadaocheng City remained in enemy hands. . .

XXXX

AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.

All right, here we see the Battle of Dunalban. With this, there's only a single remaining hard point left on Oberon Six, Dadaocheng City. Fortunately, thanks to Hendrik Grimm being Hendrik Grimm, that's not as defended as it could be. His treachery has ensured the defense is split between two factions that are currently killing each other. Unfortunately, one of those factions is equipped with Mechs, infantry gear, and combat vehicles that are equivalent to Jozef's own.

We'll see how that battle unfolds starting next chapter.

Stay tuned. . .