Unspecified World above Clan Truce Line

Planetary Data: Moon of Gas Giant

Climate: Temperate

Gravity: T-standard

Day: 19 hours (T-standard)

Terrain: Mainly forest

Hydrosphere: Moderate

Population: Approx. 50,000

Starport: Large landing facilities

Main export: timber

Com Guard vs. Nova Cat

Space battle:

The Nova Cats jumped in-system at a Pirate Point, and were able to land their forces quickly. Once the ground forces had disembarked, the Clan Broadsword DropShips boosted back to orbit, where they linked up with their York class Destroyer/Carrier. Their sensors had detected the emergence signature of an enemy JumpShip, possibly a WarShip. From their current position, the three Clan ships could try and prevent the Inner Spheroids from ever reaching the planet's surface.

The Com Guard arrived with a new Suffren class Destroyer. As soon as she arrived at the Jump Point, her escorts were deployed, and she began the long burn planet-ward. The Com Guard fleet was fearsome - as well as the Suffren, two Overlords carried the Com Guard Battlemechs into action, and a Vengeance fighter carrier and an Okinawa fighter carrier provided several squadrons of AeroSpace fighters. Any attacker would have to run a thick fighter screen to reach the troop carriers.

As the two forces approached one another, klaxons blared across the fleets. Fighter pilots on both sides ran for their launch bays, and on the ComStar Ovelords, MechWarriors did the best they could to prepare for the coming engagement - which was not a great deal. They had to be ready to move as soon as they touched down, but until then, they would be prisoners inside their 'Mechs while the battle raged outside - they just had to hope that their fighter escorts and the piloting skills of the Overlord crews would get them through.

The ComStar fleet finally finished their decelleration, and immediately began manoeuvering to face the incoming Clans. With puffs of flame, tiny fighters began launching, catapulted from the sides of the huge craft that had carried them this far. As they formed up, the distant spots of light that were the Clan ships began to multiply, as they, too launched their fighters. The Inner Sphere force consisted of many different fighters - Shilones, Corsairs, Hammerheads, Lucifers, Lightnings, Tomahawks and an entire squadron of Stingrays made up their medium fighters, with Rogues, Centurions, Swifts, Cheetahs, and a whole squadron of of Tridents providing high-speed interceptors. The heavy punch would be provided by Rievers, Chippewas, Ahabs, Transgressors, and more Lucifers - some carrying enough firepower to make even enemy WarShips worry.

The Clan Omnifighers were a marked contrast - although far fewer types were in evidence, each fielded a variety of different configurations. The interceptor AeroStar was equipped mainly with Avars, but with a point of Bashkirs and a point of Vandals for variety. The heavy attack AeroStar was enough to terrify any DropShip - and most WarShips as well. The Kirghiz, Jengiz and Sabutai fighters were slow, but hugely armoured, and carrying incredible firepower. The other AeroStars carried the normal mix - Visigoths, Turks, Scythas, Jagatais, Sullas and Batus, plus a few more Sabutais.

The battle, once joined, was an awesome display of destruction. Fighters cartwheeled and burst apart, massive naval autocannon fired shells capable of destroying an entire city block, lasers and PPCs speared through the darkness, glittering off the dust and fragments from their previous victims, missile contrails swirled, twisted and swooped until they finally connected with their targets. As the Capital ships closed in on one another, they opened fire with their big guns - naval lasers sliced off huge glowing chunks of armour, super-heavy PPCs flayed away several tons as they licked across hulls, naval autocannon sent shells to blast away BattleMech sized fragments of armour. The DropShips added their guns and missiles, firing at the WarShips, each other, fighters - any enemy craft that moved across their sights. Around this maelstrom, the fighters continued to spar, squadrons and AeroStars being chopped in half at a single pass.

As the range between the WarShips decreased, so their fire intensified, and soon the noses of both ships were heavily gouged and scarred. One of the Nova Cat Broadswords had also taken heavy damage to its nose, but so had the ComGuard Vengeance. Clan fighters had been concentrating their attacks, as without the landing decks of the Vengeance, the ComStar forces would have severe difficulties re-supplying their fighters. Not that this looked like being a problem - fighter casualties on both sides had been horrendous, some squadrons destroyed, others down to half strength or less. Only a few lightweight units remained unscathed, mainly because their superiors had realized that to commit them to the battle would have been to consign them to almost immediate death.

So far, the troop-carrying Overlords had remained more-or-less untouched, but the Nova Cats were no longer prepared to press the attack. Mech-to-Mech, the superiority of their ground forces was certain - but the same could not be said of their AeroSpace forces. Their ability to punch through the enemy fighter screen and damage either Overlord enough to remove it from the fighting was looking ever more difficult. It was clear that the loss of life and equipment on both sides was only going to get worse - much worse. Faced with the choice, the Nova Cats decided to trust in the fighting abilities of their MechWarriors rather than further deplete their already stretched AeroSpace resources. With that decision, the York's captain contacted the Com Guard commander to offer an immediate ceasefire, and to grant the Inner Sphere Overlords Safcon to the planet's surface. Though wary of the Clansmen, the Com Guards accepted the offer. At the rate they were losing fighters and taking damage, neither side could afford to continue the fight here. As the two Overlords commenced their de-orbit burn, all eyes shifted planetward...