Clan Jade Mission : Bouk Obelisk

Mission Instructions

-- Incoming Coded Message ---
Kurultai GalxB_7th - Bronze level clearance
- disseminate by need only -

Even now, enemy units on the surface of the planet Devin below have engaged our 2nd Falcon Jaegers and the 1st Striker Cluster. Here on Devin's moon, MacDuff, vibro-sensors have detected a binary-level mobilization to the south. The enemy is intent on finding and taking our ISOTOPE PROCESSOR DOME.

We must blunt the enemy's assault. You are to perform a COMBAT PATROL across the south quadrant. Follow your NAV sequence, and engage and destroy any and all opposition you encounter.

Objectives

Situations and Aftermaths

"How can you believe the Wolves will attempt another attack? Look out your canopy. Even now our Elementals are rounding up their MechWarriors to be used as bondsmen. We have won, Star Captain. Let us return to the command center to report our victory to Star Colonel Hoyt."

Star Captain Matthew Von Jankmon stared into the swirling sandstorm. It was true that  the Wolves had lost many BattleMechs to the Falcons' Charlie Trinary. But something felt wrong. The fighting had been fierce at first; then the Wolves seemed to lose their taste for combat. Some of their 'Mechs actually ran from the field. Yes, something was definitely  wrong.

"Star Commander Trevor, you will take your Star to the northwest quadrant and post a watch for any enemy 'Mechs. Alert me before engaging any opposition," Von Jankmon ordered. "I will follow your orders, Star Captain, but you are overestimating the danger here. I am certain that our other units have achieved similar successes."

Von Jankmon was about to rebuke Trevor for this insubordination when a brilliant orange explosion filled his view-screen. He quickly glanced down at his radar display but saw only the same meaningless interference that had filled it since the electrical storms began. He looked up just in time to see a line of Wolf OmniMechs emerging from the swirling sands blowing around him. Von Jankmon thumbed the red button on his right joystick. A wave of heat filled his cockpit and set alarms screaming as all the weapons on his 'Mech  fired in unison. The Timber Wolf in front of him staggered and crumpled under the onslaught, but Von Jankmon calculated that the heat in his 'Mech would not permit him to fire his weapons again for a full four seconds.

Pushing the machine's throttle forward, he twisted the 'Mech toward the north and set it running. Blue bolts of artificial lightning singed its left arm and opened a gaping wound in  its rear right torso, and the Star Captain instinctively thrust the controls to the left. A flight of LRMs flashed past his cockpit, and he turned to see the tattered and smoking Timber Wolf approaching him. He triggered the red button once more, watching as twin blue beams carved into the 'Mech's torso and set off a blinding explosion.

Situation

When Khan Natasha Kerensky reached the Devin system, she reported her total losses so far at just under 32 percent for 'Mechs and equipment and 8 percent for personnel. But these figures did not reflect the true toll the campaign had taken on her forces. Many of the seriously injured had been sent to the Inner Sphere with saKhan Phelan Ward, and only battlefield salvage kept many of her 'Mechs operational. Moreover, the fighting of the past month had left many of her more experienced units severely fatigued.

Still, several of her Clusters had not seen action yet and remained anxious to join the fray. The battle on Devin would provide ample opportunities for fighting--and dying. The Falcons had garrisoned the planet with the 2nd Falcon Jaegers and 1st Striker Cluster, both battle-tested, veteran units. Even the weather seemed to challenge MechWarriors. Severe electrical storms and high winds ravaged the desert planet, conditions that would render sensors almost useless. Shortly after the Wolf JumpShips entered the Devin system, a malfunctioning sail array delayed the attack force for three days, an omen that seemed to bode ill for the Wolves.

Aftermath

The sting of sand blowing against his face awoke Star Commander Trevor. His eyes shut tight against the abrasive grit, he felt along the outer edges of his neurohelmet. The viewplate had been smashed. He then remembered his head striking his BattleMech's instrument array. Reaching down to his chin, he unfastened the heavy headpiece and removed it. Sand ran like water down the sides of his face, and the MechWarrior realized he might have drowned in sand had he not awakened when he did.

As it dawned on the Star Commander that he could not feel his legs, he wondered whether such a death might have been desirable. Invalids were not much use in battle, and Clan society relegated such unfortunates to its lower castes. After a moment, the MechWarrior took a deep breath, shielded his eyes from the sand and looked down. The entire lower section of his cockpit was filled with sand. Beautiful black sand.

After bailing sand for twenty minutes, his blood began to circulate freely through his legs again, and the Star Commander was able to free himself from his command couch restraints. As he began to crawl from the downed 'Mech, he saw the remains of what had once been Charlie Trinary. Twisted, blackened BattleMechs and Elementals littered O'Tsung Plain. Thirty meters away lay a smoldering hulk he recognized as the remains of Star Captain Von Jankmon's Warhawk. At the edge of the wreckage Trevor spotted the Star Captain's body, blistered with burns. Activating his distress beacon, Trevor began walking toward the north.

When he rejoined the Falcon forces, he learned they had won the battle on Devin. The Wolves had lost 47 percent of their 'Mechs and equipment and 22 percent of their  personnel. Trevor found little to savor in the victory.