Stalking the Wolf

From Mercenary Campaigns of the 32nd Century, Galatea Free Press

The arrival of a Wolf Empire unit on Ashburton in pursuit of Magyari’s Irregulars was not an entirely unexpected development. The mercenary unit had clashed with the Wolf Empire three times in the last year on worlds they occupied, and in each case come out victorious.

The first was on Keystone, where the Irregulars sized a considerable store of Clantech parts while disrupting production of the Tomahawk II OmniMech. Not only did the Irregulars brush aside a Kappa Galaxy tank force, but they also used the clans’ own honour rules against them to outmanoeuvre and escape a frontline unit from Beta Galaxy. The second of these saw them raid Kalidassa, again disrupting BattleMech production on-world. In the process they destroyed or disabled a number of Theta Galaxy BattleMechs; furthermore, unconfirmed reports claim that they destroyed a prototype OmniMech.

It was the third of these attacks that was likely the most damaging, however. Dropping onto Shasta, the Irregulars fermented a rebellion amongst the native population while mauling the garrisoning Wolf unit and nearly killing their commander. This attack sent shockwaves through the Wolf Empire’s Mu Galaxy, which was already understrength and suffering from low morale. Which resulted in a wave of desertions and insurrections within the Galaxy.

With their high-profile presence on Ashburton, only a single jump away from Shasta, the Irregulars were well within striking distance of the wolves. A Beta Galaxy unit, the same one that they had evaded on Keystone, was sent after the unit in order to avenge the blows the Mercenaries had dealt to their honour. The Wolves had no intention of attacking the planetary defence forces or seizing the world, just destroying the one mercenary unit.

Presented with this threat, Major irisz Magyari chose to attack it head-on. Knowing that the Wolves would continue to disrupt her unit’s operations and prevent them from fulfilling their contract, she decided to force their hand. Her hope was not only to drive them off the world, but also to stop them from attacking her unit again. Gambling on the Wolves’ own need for honourable conduct, she travelled to their forward base and challenged them to an effective trial of refusal against their grievance. Coached by a couple of her MechWarriors, Major Magyari delivered a proper batchal that the Wolves accepted. The terms of the fight pitted her BattleMech company against the Wolves’ Binary (Which was already down one OmniMech).

Magyari knew she had to win the fight on what would be seen as fair terms. While she didn’t expect the Wolves to honour zellbrigen against mercenaries, at the same time, she expected that they would conduct themselves with some degree of honourable conduct. As such, she would do the same. No massed fire, no hidden units in ambush, no aerospace support and so on. It was a calculated risk, but still better than waiting for the Wolves to come to them.

The battle started badly for the Wolves, as they were now down to only eight BattleMechs, following an attack on their dropship that had disabled one of them. Despite being outnumbered, they gave a good initial showing, dealing considerable damage to several of Magyari’s ‘Mechs at long ranges before closing in. At the same time, lighter Wolf ‘Mechs were harrying the Irregualrs’ flanks, making the most of their speed.

Things turned against the Wolves rather suddenly when a freak shot decapitated a Mad Cat, depriving them of one of their most powerful machines before it had a chance to fully utilise its firepower. Despite the loss, they pressed on, closing ranks and bringing even more firepower to bear. Magyari’s company pulled back to consolidate their numbers, while sending forth an expeditionary force of heavy ‘mechs to isolate the Wolves remaining heavies. This served to break up the Wolf lines, and stop them from concentrating their forces.

Despite this, the Wolves had inflicted considerable damage on a number of the Irregulars ‘Mechs, including Major Magyari’s. They were not able to leverage this advantage before losing two more of their own, a Tundra Wolf and an Arctic Wolf II that both went down quickly. Realising that he was now outnumbered more than two to one, and noting how much damage his forces had suffered (Including his Warwolf losing most of its armour) Star Captain Lucius Radrick requested hegira, knowing that victory was unlikely and that any efforts to prolong the battle would likely increase his losses.

Magyari had effectively ended the threat. By demonstrating to the Wolves that she could beat them under their rules, she had shown that any efforts to prolong the feud would only cost them more. Under the terms Radrick had agreed to, his forces retreated off-world. But the Wolves still had one last part to play in the Ashburton campaign.