First Skirmish

Nova Cats' Alpha Striker Star decided to engage the enemy at an orchard in some of the hilly, lightly forested terrain so common to Caripare. The Striker Nova gave a good account of themselves, destroying or disabling 5 enemy 'Mechs, at the cost of 5 Elementals.

The Mercenaries advanced in a line abreast, presenting the Clan Mechwarriors with a choice of targets. Mechwarrior Alan Nostra distinguished himself by taking out an enemy Wolverine with an accurately placed shot to the head. The commander of the North Highlander force courageously held the Clan 'Mechs long enough for his badly mauled recon lances to escape, until his Crusader was struck down within view of safety. Major Grimes was taken as a Bondsman in recognition of his valour.

The mercenaries had withdrawn with at least two 'Mechs badly damaged, and five left on the battlefield - two destroyed Locusts, the wrecked Crusader, and a Javelin and Wolverine that had suffered temporarily disabling damage. The Javelin's leg was destroyed, rendering it unable to escape, and the Wolverine's pilot had been killed.

The Defence Of The City

Clan Intelligence reports indicated that the Mercenary force had split in two after the initial engagement. The "North Highlanders" were regrouping near their DropShips, while the other unit paused only briefly, before moving off - presumably towards their next objective. After interrogation of the prisoners, this unit was determined to be "Mitchell's Howlers". Star Captain Natalie Winters despatched Bravo Battle Star to shadow the Howlers. After a few hours for repairs, the North Highlanders began a march towards the city. Their objective was to recapture their Javelin and Wolverine, as well as rescuing the three prisoners. The 'Mechs were in a repair station in the warehouse district of the city, along with Alpha Star's Shadowcat, undergoing repairs after a slugging match with the Crusader.

Clearly reluctant to commit their surviving recon elements, the North Highlander's heavy and assault units advanced en masse, with only two forward scouts. The Star Captain detached Alpha Striker's Elemental points to help guard the city, before sending the four OmniMechs out after Bravo Star. Their speed would be of greater benefit out in the open, where the long range of their Clan-tech weaponry would also be more effective. With the extra Elementals, the command Star should be able to hold the city long enough to push back the Inner Spheroids.

The battle was incredibly vicious, with an almost unbelievably high level of attrition amongst the BattleMechs of both sides, and an unusually high number of fatalities amongst their pilots. On the Cats left flank, several heavy enemy missile boat Mechs advanced - an Archer and a Catapult, along with a few other 'Mechs. The Command Star's special missile support 'Mech confronted them, but the Timber Wolf had only fired off a few vollies from its quadruple LRM20s before the pilot was killed by repeated enemy hits to the cockpit. Fortunately, the Archer was rapidly taken out of action by the second Timber Wolf as it rushed over from the right flank to take its fallen Star-mate's place. The Catapult began to retreat back down the field, but the Timber Wolf pursued, delivering terrible damage from its quadruple heavy pulse lasers. In a piece of cruel irony, the Catapult's own pilot was vaporized by a cockpit hit just metres away from the safety of the Highlander's newly-established defensive line, just at the edge of the forest outside the city.

The Timber Wolf fought fiercely, refusing to give ground as it fought it out with a Trebuchet, Valkyrie and Commando. Despite the aggressiveness of the pilot though, the outcome was inevitable, and he, too was killed as he fought.

A Highlander Warhammer advanced straight into the city, where it played a deadly game of hide-and-seek with swarms of Elementals.

The Mongoose came sprinting over a hill on the Cat's right flank, ready to add its own firepower, only to be struck down by a single shot.

The Dire Wolf absorbed huge amounts of enemy fire before it was eventually destroyed as it approached the treeline.

The Highlander's Highlander was one of the last to die. After taking severe amounts of leg damage from the Elementals swarming around its feet, the Highlander began to limp across the open area of the battlefield. It was unable to outrun the Elementals - they could keep up whether it jumped or tried to run, keeping up a sustained barrage of fire the whole time. The Gauss rifle's capacitors exploded as laser fire hit them, destroying the Highlander's arm. Elementals swarmed all over the 'Mech, and soon the other arm was destroyed as well. Climbing a hill, the Highlander made a final attempt to get rid of the Elementals, even as more swarmed up from the other side of the hill. Raising the 'Mech's huge foot, the pilot slammed it down, trying to squash at least some of the annoying armoured infantry. They were too agile, and he missed, and, unbalanced, the Highlander slowly toppled to the ground. He tried to rise, but could not - with no arms, there was no way of levering the 'Mech upright. As the Highlander lay there, the Elementals swarmed over the whole 'Mech, and the pilot was vaporized where he sat in the battered cockpit, struggling with the controls.

Mitchell's Howlers

Meanwhile, the Howlers had reached one of their objectives - a distribution centre. As they began their attack though, the Nova Cats struck. Within a few minutes, Mitchell's Howlers were in retreat, leaving 11 'Mechs on the battlefield either destroyed or disabled, and three all but destroyed, and barely able to limp away. The Nova Cats, in comparison, had only a single casualty - a lone Elemental.

Their forces in tatters, the single intact lance of the Howlers provided a rearguard action while their fellow Mechwarriors retreated to their DropShips. As soon as the last 'Mechs from the two damaged mercenary forces limped aboard, they boosted for orbit, and from there back to their JumpShip, and away as fast as they could travel.

The Nova Cats let them go. The Inner Spheroids were defeated, until Star Captain Natalie Winters was confident that the city was fully secured, Alpha and Bravo Stars were not to pursue them. It would be foolish to bring their OmniMechs under the guns of the waiting DropShips - the mercenaries were no longer existed as an effective fighting force, and there had been enough casualties in the city. The two surviving Stars had better not push their luck - now was the time to lick their wounds and consider their next course of action...