October 21, 3051
Operation JUSTICE is cancelled
All lance commanders receive the October Disbursement for JUSTICE ($209,980)
Unit receives the October Disbursement for JUSTICE ($1,049,800)
October 22, 3051
Unit lifts off of Cap Rouge
No advance payment for ComStar contract is due
28 April, 3052
Unit arrives on Tukayyid
Unit is integrated into ComStar 4th Army (no roles need be assigned)
1 May, 3052
No marketplaces are available
ComStar supplies are open to the Rangers (May acquisition checks may be made on 1 May ONLY; Introtech and SLDF equipment [items which are non-clan, non-engine, non-gyro, and listed in TRO 3050's Recovered Technologies section] may be acquired at a -2 TN and for *no* cost. No effect can further reduce the acquisition TN for this check.)
All lances should make payroll disbursments for the October-May transit period
All lance members check for XP
No employer disbursement is due
13 May, 3052
MISSION: Assault on Robyn's Crossing - Dragon, Skaraborg, Phoenix Lances
RESULT: VICTORY
After-Action Report: In a rude surprise, the 94th Striker Cluster, still smarting from their inconclusive engagements with the Numenorean Rangers on Somerset, find themselves defending the Robyn's Crossing ammunition dumps. Upon recognizing the Rangers presence in the Com Guard force structure, the Falcons pressed counterattacked into the oncoming forces. Two heavy Stars south of the ammo dumps pushed attacked west, crushing the Com Guard force before it and scattering the few survivors, with only minimal damage. Meanwhile on the northern flank, Ranger forces were screened from entering the crossing by a Star of medium/heavy Clan OmniMechs. Phoenix Lance found itself out of position to the northwest, leaving Skaraborg and Dragon Lances with insufficient mass to overrun the Falcons opposing them. Freya and Phoenix Lances brought themselves up to the line of battle at roughly the same time, but by this point the Falcons to the south had strung out and begun to swing north like a closing door, pinning the Ranger heavy forces in place in an open-field engagement. Only a few Ranger forces managed to bypass the defenders by skirting the river: SGT Jadoon's Cicada, MSGT Vicious's Phoenix Hawk LAM, and LT Hartmann's Grasshopper.
Fortunately, these forces were sufficient to pinpoint the pair of Falcon ammunition dumps, and both air and artillery bombardment ensued. LT Hartmann fought her own struggle with an enraged and demoted Star Commander Nicholai Malthus, leaving him alive but in a crippled Mech. Meanwhile in the open-field engagement to the west of the crossing, Clan firepower began to tell, and Ranger losses were significant, including the loss via ejection of LT Hitzig's Hatamoto. In a freak accident, a horrifically short Long Tom round detonated on the her position as she made her way back to friendly lines; knocked unconscious, she would be found by battlefield recovery teams and medically laid up for weeks. With Dragon Lance down to a single Mech, Phoenix Lance at half strength, and Freya Lance with three crippled Mechs, defeat seemed imminent, until SGT Jadoon and a ComGuard ASF pilot managed to detonate the second ammunition dump.
In conclusion, the attack accomplished its objectives. The primary reserve of Jade Falcon ammunition and spare parts was destroyed, forcing the Falcons to begin their withdraw from their highwater mark at Olalla. Casualties for the battle were ruinous. A third of the Ranger ASF arm was crippled, and half of its artillery was damaged by Falcon airborne attacks. Of the four lances deployed into the action, 6 Ranger Mechs were functionally destroyed, another 4 crippled, and casualties included 1 KIA (Dragon's SGT Horst Gardella) and 7 wounded in action. Of especial note was Jean-Luc Berthe, a new pilot in Skaraborg Lance, who stood stalwartly in his Awesome and went from zero to Mech Ace in a single day.
15 May, 3052
MISSION: Pursuit Across the Prezno - Midnight Lance, Ice Lance, Dancer Lance, Freya Lance
RESULT: VICTORY
After-Action Report: After their repulse from Olalla and the destruction of their primary supply base at Robyn's Crossing, the Jade Falcon forces began a lengthy withdrawal back towards their DropShips. Elements of the 104th Division and the Numenorean Rangers were dispatched to act as a blocking force against the vanguard of the Falcon retreat. This force was the 2nd Falcon Regulars (aka 2nd Falcon Jaegers by some sources), with the tip of the spear being commanded by Star Captain Dorenda Fore. These forces would meet at a small oasis on the Prezno Plain, roughly two thirds of the way back towards the Falcon DropShips.
Colonel Atayde leaned on his experience fighting the Falcons to set up a multi-layered trap for the 2nd Regulars. ComGuard forces would make an initial stand near a heavily-eroded area of wadis and a small lake, absorbing the initial Falcon assault. The Rangers would then make a local counterattack into the face of the Regulars, throwing them back on their heels and hopefully breaking them completely. In the event, the plan went off more or less exactly as intended. Unfortunately, the sheer firepower of the Regulars broke through the ComGuard defenses, and bent the Rangers back nearly half a kilometer, before finally petering out to accumulated combat losses.
Casualties among the ComGuard were ruinous. Two Shadow Hawks, two Pegasus tanks, and a Spartan were the only surviving units, and of the 7 units destroyed, 5 crews were KIA. Casualties were lighter among the Rangers. Of the 16 deployed Mechs, 1 was completely destroyed, 4 were crippled (especially Dancer's Hunchback and the Colonel Atayde's Warhammer), and 4 had taken heavy enough damage that they would be non-repairable in an immediate time frame. No Ranger pilots were killed, or even seriously injured, amazingly enough. This comparatively light damage was primary due to the speed and ferocity of the Falcon advance; the Regulars smashed aside Ranger forces, but follow-up Falcon units failed to prioritize damaged Ranger Mechs for destruction. Falcon airstrikes heavily damaged the Ranger's Marksman artillery vehicle, but never quite managed put the gun out of action, in part due to the single highest operational tempo ever seen by Ranger aerospace fighters on defensive combat air patrols. As typical for the actions on Tukayyid, no Clan salvage was recovered, but LT Elsa Hartmann did shoot Star Captain Fore out of her Timber Wolf A, and capture her on the field of battle.
The effect of this battle would be significant. Because of the virtual annihilation of their scouting force, the retreating Falcon forces slowed their advance tempo, and in an attempt to foil additional surprise attacks on their column that they felt certain were lying in wait, they took a longer, more roundabout approach to their LZ. This would give Precentor Focht time to rally and redeploy forces sufficient to make a direct attack on the Falcon landing zone in enough strength to have a real chance of shattering the Falcon touman at one blow.
16 May, 3052
MISSION: Blaze of Glory
RESULT: VICTORY
After-Action Report: The Jade Falcons fell back to a rendezvous on the Prezno Plains, and began evacuation procedures. With an eye towards winning the peace, Precentor Martial Focht threw everything he had left at the evacuation site, hoping to annihilate as much of the Crusader Clan as he could. Pincering the site from the north were the final unengaged elements of the 104th Division, and from the south, came the Numenorean Rangers. The Falcons fought a desperate battle, increasingly outnumbered and outgunned as their Mechs boarded the DropShip one by one. Aiden Pryde of the Falcon Guards and his final two stars of Falcons made a desperate stand at the very feet of the DropShip, as the sheer weight of metal began to tell against them. The dust and smoke kicked up from the evacuation made precision weapons fire practically impossible, but the Rangers simply swamped the overwhelmed Falcon defenders with point-blank physical attacks.
By the end, Aiden Pryde rescued his former training officer, Joanna, from the burning wreckage of her Mad Dog, and all but threw her on board the DropShip while he held his ground against all comers. The last anyone ever saw of Aiden and his Timber Wolf was the Mech disappearing in the engine plume as the DropShip lifted off above him. All told, casualties were relatively light for the Rangers: one Mech destroyed, and a half-dozen crippled. The green Com Guards had suffered far worse casualties. The Rangers came away from the day stronger than when they had started it: Vlad Charikov's force had been absorbed into the 104th, and made its reappearance this day. Barbara Au had given her life on the battlefield, but the remainder of Charikov's forces were welcomed back into the Rangers Bravo Company with open arms.
17 May, 3052
Rangers forces are given the stand-down order by Precentor Martial Focht.
31 May, 3052
Contract Concludes.
100 million CB are disbursed to the Numenorean Rangers as per the contract.
Salvage and Campaign awards are disbursed to the Numenorean Rangers.
(No employer awards are rolled for as a result of this contract)
1 June, 3052
Rangers are open to new contracts.
No new marketplace will be generated until the Rangers are in a location with a marketplace (ie, anywhere not here)
Rangers lift off from Tukayyid, destination Skye.
27 July, 3052
Planetfall on Skye.
30 July, 3052
The Rangers are suddenly and without warning delivered a very large shipping container, which arrives at the Ranger compound bearing an unusual shipping manifest:
A surprise, in thanks.
Colonel Grayson Carlyle
Gray Death Legion,
Glengarry, Lyran Commonwealth
Inside are 21 crates, each roughly 10 feet high, and 5 feet wide and deep. They contain 8 SRM-1 and 12 Small Laser equipped Gray Death Standard Battle Armor suits. All mount Rorynex RM-3/XXI submachineguns in the AP weapon mount. Enough for a full platoon of 16 troopers, plus 4 spares.
The final crate contains, among other sundries, an utterly shredded letter addressed to LT Hartmann that might once have been in Grayson's handwriting, and other small packages of no consequence addressed to various unit members who distinguished themselves on Sudeten, detailed technical manuals and repair procedures. These are sufficient to convert permanently up to 2 existing Unit Mech Techs to Regular-quality Battle Armor Techs (1 squad requires 1 Tech for monthly maintenance requirements).
Author
Topic: Operation TUKAYYID May 3052-May 3052 (Read 1641 times)