Anklam Valley (Cluff`s Stand)
„You are kidding me, Echo.“
„Negative.“, the Lieutenant answered. „There is nothing here.“
Koch had figured that out already, but did not really believe it yet. Two years ago he had been in a Fortress and this one seemed to be familiar. Yet, it was also different. It seemed to be smaller. And there was a sense of visiting a work in progress. There were large hallways, that ended in nowhere. Something that was probably meant to be a Mechbay. But obviously not a single Mech had stood there ever.
He sent the Engineers to find the Command Center. If there was no military hardware here to take advantage of, then maybe one had already installed some computers or servers back then. But the Lieutenant, who had found and inspected the Command Center, or what was designed to be that, reported, that the room was as empty as the rest of the installation. This Fortress was never finished, equipped, staffed.
Koch sat in his Cockpit and thought about what to do next. There was a fortress and they found it. But there was nothing there. Was this a success or a failure? Anyway, there was no reason to stay here, for every minute made their stay in this place more dangerous. But he was not willing to leave without having achieved anything.
„Echo. Have you recorded the footage from your mission?“
„Affirmative, Sir.“
„Then gather your men and leave. We are going to start extraction.“
„Yes.“
Martin and the other Mechs were already on the way out, when he opened his Comm Channel. „Lightning. I repeat. Lightning.“
„Lightning confirmed.“, he heard the voice of Sumire. The small fleet of Dropships, that was flying circles in friendly airspace, would now approach the landing zone. This time accompanied by a few fighters.
As Koch got to the surface again, he saw that the combat had become more intense. He saw a Mech of the Marauders on the ground with smashed legs. The Cockpit was missing, so the Pilot was probably still alive. The other Mechs were all more or less damaged.
„Lightning inbound.“, everyone heard the voice of Sumire, as the Dropships were approaching.
„Mike, Charlie, Echo and Eagle first. Golf and Alpha advance for cover.“
As the Dropships landed a bit to the north, the Marauders, who had performed most of the combat, retreated from the frontline. Now the Giants advanced. The enemy was now faced with a considerably fresh Company of Mechs, that had their full storage of SRM and LRM to spend. An enemy Spider, who was lured into a false sense of victory by the retreat of the Marauders, advanced too fast and realized too late, that more Mechs were waiting. A full salvo by one Platoon of Giants sealed its fate. The Pilot was barely able to eject.
In the meantime the Marauders and Infantry had boarded the ships and departed, leaving the Giants and Grenadiers remaining. The Commanding Officer of the Engineers immediately went to the Command Center and opened a communication frequency open to friend and foe alike.
„This is Lieutenant Noah speaking, Commander of Engineer Company of the 1st Home Guard. Today we infiltrated during a still ongoing mission a Star League fortress in the Anklam Valley. The Fortress was abandoned and empty. I repeat, the fortress was abandoned and empty. Government forces will leave the site now and retreat to Government held territory again. I will broadcast the location of the facility and our footage from inside the facility now.“
The message was repeated several times and the Lieutenant wondered, whether that would have any effect. On the ground, the Giants and Koch`s Platoon of Grenadiers were still fighting versus the enemy. But the appearance of fresh troops had shocked them and they began to retreat again, covered by more intense artillery fire, that made the Government forces to disengage either.
A few minutes later it was suspiciously quiet. Koch and his Allies spread in the narrow valley and waited for another attack, that did not come. When Sumire returned with four Dropships, they ecavuated the remaining forces, leaving a total of three destroyed or dysfunctional Mechs behind. Plus a few casualties among the Mechanized Infantry.
As they took off again, Koch leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. This was probably one of the most intense missions in his career. They had suffered casualties and the result was, that they had proved a negative. In science, so he had learned in school, this was still a success. He hoped, that it would be true in warfare too.
„You are kidding me, Echo.“
„Negative.“, the Lieutenant answered. „There is nothing here.“
Koch had figured that out already, but did not really believe it yet. Two years ago he had been in a Fortress and this one seemed to be familiar. Yet, it was also different. It seemed to be smaller. And there was a sense of visiting a work in progress. There were large hallways, that ended in nowhere. Something that was probably meant to be a Mechbay. But obviously not a single Mech had stood there ever.
He sent the Engineers to find the Command Center. If there was no military hardware here to take advantage of, then maybe one had already installed some computers or servers back then. But the Lieutenant, who had found and inspected the Command Center, or what was designed to be that, reported, that the room was as empty as the rest of the installation. This Fortress was never finished, equipped, staffed.
Koch sat in his Cockpit and thought about what to do next. There was a fortress and they found it. But there was nothing there. Was this a success or a failure? Anyway, there was no reason to stay here, for every minute made their stay in this place more dangerous. But he was not willing to leave without having achieved anything.
„Echo. Have you recorded the footage from your mission?“
„Affirmative, Sir.“
„Then gather your men and leave. We are going to start extraction.“
„Yes.“
Martin and the other Mechs were already on the way out, when he opened his Comm Channel. „Lightning. I repeat. Lightning.“
„Lightning confirmed.“, he heard the voice of Sumire. The small fleet of Dropships, that was flying circles in friendly airspace, would now approach the landing zone. This time accompanied by a few fighters.
As Koch got to the surface again, he saw that the combat had become more intense. He saw a Mech of the Marauders on the ground with smashed legs. The Cockpit was missing, so the Pilot was probably still alive. The other Mechs were all more or less damaged.
„Lightning inbound.“, everyone heard the voice of Sumire, as the Dropships were approaching.
„Mike, Charlie, Echo and Eagle first. Golf and Alpha advance for cover.“
As the Dropships landed a bit to the north, the Marauders, who had performed most of the combat, retreated from the frontline. Now the Giants advanced. The enemy was now faced with a considerably fresh Company of Mechs, that had their full storage of SRM and LRM to spend. An enemy Spider, who was lured into a false sense of victory by the retreat of the Marauders, advanced too fast and realized too late, that more Mechs were waiting. A full salvo by one Platoon of Giants sealed its fate. The Pilot was barely able to eject.
In the meantime the Marauders and Infantry had boarded the ships and departed, leaving the Giants and Grenadiers remaining. The Commanding Officer of the Engineers immediately went to the Command Center and opened a communication frequency open to friend and foe alike.
„This is Lieutenant Noah speaking, Commander of Engineer Company of the 1st Home Guard. Today we infiltrated during a still ongoing mission a Star League fortress in the Anklam Valley. The Fortress was abandoned and empty. I repeat, the fortress was abandoned and empty. Government forces will leave the site now and retreat to Government held territory again. I will broadcast the location of the facility and our footage from inside the facility now.“
The message was repeated several times and the Lieutenant wondered, whether that would have any effect. On the ground, the Giants and Koch`s Platoon of Grenadiers were still fighting versus the enemy. But the appearance of fresh troops had shocked them and they began to retreat again, covered by more intense artillery fire, that made the Government forces to disengage either.
A few minutes later it was suspiciously quiet. Koch and his Allies spread in the narrow valley and waited for another attack, that did not come. When Sumire returned with four Dropships, they ecavuated the remaining forces, leaving a total of three destroyed or dysfunctional Mechs behind. Plus a few casualties among the Mechanized Infantry.
As they took off again, Koch leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. This was probably one of the most intense missions in his career. They had suffered casualties and the result was, that they had proved a negative. In science, so he had learned in school, this was still a success. He hoped, that it would be true in warfare too.
