Somerset, August 14, 3061
Town ruins on Bath
Major Anders Wolfram Kelswa commanding
AAR
2nd Rangers Charlie and Delta companies hot dropped into a ruined town that had not recovered from the initial Jade Falcon planetary assault back in '50, not far from where the 1st Rangers left Somerset. The Objective was to break through the Jade Falcon lines to establish a forward operating base from which to further harrass the Clan. Ranger forces were support by a brave lance of Lyrans in Blitzkriegs and the liaison officer, the formidable Captain Anne Cockburn in her Nightstar.
Ehreschuld, Fire and Marigold landed east / center east and pushed for the forces that had taken up positions in the urban zone to the east of the ruined fortifications as well as the fortifications themselves. Norbotten and Blitzkrieg landed center west while Zeta and the Lyran Blitzkriegs took the western drop zone, with the west / center west forces lateraling eastward, seeking to use the buildings as a screen against the approaching reinforcements and into the softer medium star anchored by the Viper and Phoenix Hawk IIC. Perhaps anticipating the easier breakthrough point to the west, the Jade Falcons deployed their assault star there anticipating being an anvil with more assaults reinforcing from the west and the faster elements moving in from the east. Alas, for them at least, not the case. While Ranger forces lateraled east, so did the medium star to reinforce the heavy star that came under concentrated fire from first Ehreschuld and Captain Cockburn and rapidly by Fire and Marigold. The ARC-LIGHT's early deployment further withered the eastern defender's numbers blowing the leg off a Loki and vaporizing a point of elementals. Focus fire brought down the various turrets, though a miscommunication between myself and Marigold Actual left the southeastern most ER PPC turret functional a bit longer than necessary. The only things that could have gone much better in the east would have been to avoid the unlucky strike against the good Captain's Nightstar, signficantly compromising both it's engine and gyro despite enough remaining armor to make a light mech pilot weep for want. Already slow and having gotten slower, it was unable to escape the clan elementals or concentrated fire from the Thor's deadly UAC/20 despite Ehreschuld's attempts to draw fire. The combined efforts of Ehreschuld, Fire and Marigold broke through the Jade Falcon forces. The rest of the Rangers however struggled, as it became two smaller engagements.
The strategy for the Rangers using the buildings as cover worked initially until the Falcons with no care for civilian lives simply started dropping buildings with combined fire in order to get to the other Ranger lances. SGT Patton of Blitzkrieg's lance accepted a duel with a Turkina and then kept a running engagement as a way to survive it, while one of the Lyran Blitzkriegs was challenged by a Thor and sadly lost. The willingness to simply level anything that got in their way put the Ranger and allied forces in the west on their back foot. They attempted another lateral to take advantage of the screening of the buildings but the delays put them out of position and the Falcons were too quick in burning down buildings to get to their opponents. The second ARC-LIGHT run along with the bombings helped, but not sufficient to sway the outcome. In the end both Blitzkrieg and Norbotten lances sustained heavy damage. MSGT Trick in Ehreschuld's Marauder took focus fire from the Falcons in their pique for having lost the engagement, losing both arms, side torsos and almost completely cored out just before they disengaged.
Success through a difficult fight, though not without its cost.
Author
Topic: IKARUS Mission 2 - 8/14/61 (Read 3856 times)