BattleTech: A Splinter of Hope (BattleTech novellas) by Philip A. Lee

Author:Philip A. Lee
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2018-08-01T05:00:00+00:00

RUINS OF JOHNSTON INDUSTRIES

CILITREN HAZARD ZONE, NEW SYRTIS

SIAN COMMONALITY

CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION

21 DECEMBER 3147

All of it, the whole planetary defense, was coming apart like so much crumbling foundation.

Eliza Zhao matched her Tian-Zong’s pace with the rest of her command company, but traversing the cratered, irradiated remains of an old Jihad battlefield along the equator proved more difficult than anticipated. Demolished buildings and other unidentifiable rubble lay hidden beneath a thin layer of windswept dust in blackened, seventy-one-year-old nuclear blast craters. On the positive side, the worst areas of radiation levels had thankfully faded decades ago, and the craters themselves provided excellent defilade positions for what few armor companies remained of the Dynasty Guard Calvary regiment, but Zhao found little else to celebrate as she fell in alongside Bogdanovich’s Vandal.

Two weeks ago, the Cave, their primary stronghold after the ducal manse’s destruction, fell to the Enemy, and the headhunting attempt on the First Prince himself had failed spectacularly. Trapped in the tunnels, most of the mercenary headhunters had been pulverized between the First Davion Guards and the Fifth Crucis Lancers. Together, the First and Fifth had forced the Cave’s beleaguered defenders to retreat through a hidden egress tunnel.

Three days ago, House Hiritsu, still recovering from the devastating assault on Saso’s Government Quarter, abandoned the Statehouse in the face of a renewed attack by Davion auxiliaries. The loss of Saso stung, but with Shonso Armando and other important dignitaries evacuated to safer locations, all was not yet lost.

However, the final straw had come just before dawn, when an urgent communiqué from the shonso woke her with word that his mobile HQ was under attack. The detached Dynasty Guard ’Mech company and accompanying infantry platoons were facing one of the Davion auxiliary units. Before Zhao could even get properly dressed and mount her ’Mech to give her troops aid, the enemy had overrun the HQ position, and Armando was reported missing and presumed dead. Of the company and its support elements, only four heavy ’Mechs and three squads of Fa Shih battlesuits managed to limp back to the Dynasty Guard’s cantonment.

Other regiments fared no better. The fledgling New Syrtis Home Guard had largely been wiped out during the battle for the Cave and the defense of Saso. The Fourth MAC had suffered difficult losses during their retreat. House Hiritsu had already gone to ground. House Kamata had returned to Sian under orders from the Chancellor himself. Of all the planetary defenders, only the First MAC remained in favorable condition, and they were too far afield to offer Zhao meaningful assistance.

The cratered ridge where she and the remnants of her regiment had gathered was proof that the Davionistas could be hurt. In 3076, Taurian Concordat forces had bombarded the equatorial regions, leveling countless major cities. What better place to make a last stand than the monument to one of the Enemy’s most bitter defeats?

She held few illusions about their chances, but one chance in a thousand was more favorable odds than no chance at all. Better to try and fail than to never try.

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