Sat in the relative cool of his Emperor’s cockpit, Voller watched absently as his sensors picked up the signatures of the rest of the Vanquishers’ mechs, as their pilots went through their start-up procedures. His face was locked in a frown of concentration as he tried to figure out the best way to approach the imminent battle. His mercenary company was a potent fighting force in its own right, but he had no idea of the enemy’s strength, or which direction they would attack from. Judging from the scant information Howell had been able to give him, he guessed his own forces were outnumbered, which severely limited his options.

In the absence of any useful knowledge about the enemy, Voller decided that surprise was their best option. He ordered his heavy lance out to the western flank, while leading the assault lance to the eastern flank. His scout lance pushed southward in the hope of catching an early glimpse of the enemy.

Unaware of what awaited them, the mercenaries moved out into the hills surrounding the base and powered down.

Nav Point Delta,
2km South of Jaguar Base

Torres slowed his mech to a halt and found his Shadowcat perched somewhat precariously near the edge of a dusty cliff top, overlooking the shallow basin in which the base was situated. He used his HUD magnifier to get a closer look and let out a low whistle as he surveyed the damage done by the air strike. There was no sign of activity and no obvious threat. He decided to call in his findings. “Hey, Capitano – looks like no-one’s home. The base looks a mess...those flyboys sure did a good job. Mech hangars look empty...didn’t pick anything up on active sensors either.”

Nav Point Gamma,
4km South East of Jaguar Base

Captain Tyler conferred briefly with Lieutenant Todd Thrash, commander of Raider Lance, on a private channel, before broadcasting on a general frequency to the rest of Shadow Company. “Okay Shadows, we’re going in. Dimitri, I want Prowler Lance to be our eyes and ears. Todd, Raider Lance will provide support on this sortie. Enforcer Lance will hold at Delta”.

At this point Colonel McKinlay, who had elected to monitor the operation from a command vehicle with the Smoke and Mirrors infantry unit, joined in. “ Captain, armour and infantry support will hold at Gamma. Holler if you need us, otherwise we’ll monitor comms and join the party when the excitement has died down”.

Tyler smiled at that. His commander did have a way with words. “Copy that Colonel. Okay, Enforcer Lance, form up on me. Everyone else – you know what to do”.

Piecemaker heard Wildcat, Swindle and Mac respond over the radio. He heard Halfstack give the same order to Raider Lance and the responses of Buckshot, Chum Slikk and Lazarus. He heard the faint roar of thrusters overhead and knew Star Commander Dimitri Kerensky had converted his Phoenix Hawk LAM to aircraft mode as he led Prowler Lance for a closer reconnaissance of the base.

5. First Strike

Phoenix Hawk LAM Firebird,
1km South of Jaguar Base

Dimitri grinned as Firebird soared into the azure desert sky. The sensation of sheer power never failed to move him. It was the main reason he’d stuck with the Phoenix Hawk, despite offers of upgrades to heavier chassis. Although not especially well armed or armoured, few other mechs could do what the P-Hawk did. There were, in fact, only four other Land Air Mech types in existence and those were smaller and less combat capable than the P-Hawk.

A Star Commander with Clan Wolf-in-Exile, he’d volunteered for the post in Shadow Company after learning the Cameron Guards were recruiting officers with detailed knowledge of Clan strategy, tactics and customs. His request had gone all the way up the chain of command to Khan Phelan Ward himself. Phelan, who’d started life as a mercenary in the renowned Kell Hounds, was more than happy for the exchange to take place, believing it a good opportunity for his people to become better acquainted with Inner Sphere military operations.

Dimitri’s enjoyment was short-lived, however, as his radio squawked to life. “Prowler Two to Prowler Lead, we’ve made contact with the enemy. Designate Nav Point Epsilon. One lance of light mechs”. The transmission was interrupted by weapons fire. Sergeant Ben “DemonBlade” Warrington sounded slightly breathless. Still, his Starslayer, along with Khit’s Uziel and Torres’ Shadowcat ought to be capable of dealing with a single lance of light mechs.

Looking at his radar display he could see four red dots interspersed with the three blue dots representing Prowler Lance. He rolled Firebird onto its side to see if he could get a visual fix on the battle, but the dusty atmosphere denied him. ‘Stravag!’ he cursed silently. In any case, he was supposed to be scanning the base and the surrounding terrain for any signs of additional enemy forces. He toggled his neurohelmet’s radio to reply. “Copy that Two. Do you require assistance?”

“Neg, Star Commander – we can deal with these Trashborns”, replied Warrington.

Dimitri smiled. “Acknowledged Two. Continuing with reconnaissance”. Some of the Shadow Company pilots had been attempting to learn Clan language, presumably to make him feel more at ease. It never failed to amuse him.

He pushed forward on his stick and sent Firebird diving out of the dust cloud into relatively clear air. He activated his visual and mag-res scanners...infrared tended to be nearly useless in a desert environment. The mag-res scan was the most immediately useful. His secondary display showed a roughly rectangular cluster of metallic objects dead ahead - the base buildings and the remnants of its defences. He adjusted the scan range until he picked up Prowler Lance and the enemy unit they were engaging.

As he did so, his eyes widened. "Stravag!"

On the eastern and western boundaries of the display were two sets of four contacts. The four eastern contacts were moving...they had to be additional enemy units!

He brought up the feed from the video camera on his secondary monitor, panned the camera over to the moving contacts and zoomed in until he could identify each mech type. He was just about to call in his sighting when one of the mechs, a Stalker, opened fire at an off-screen target. Zooming out he saw Raider Lance had just entered what he liked to think of as 'the cauldron'. That was one less surprise to tell them about. Still they might not be aware of the lance on their western flank.

"Prowler One to Raider One, be advised you have an enemy lance just over one klick to your west".

The radio hissed and crackled with static. Dimitri thought he heard the faint sound of weapons fire in the background. "Raider One to Prowler One, thanks for the heads up – we’ve got them on long range scans. I'll give the skipper a yell and tell him to get his butt down here", replied Halfstack, sounding slightly breathless.

"Copy that, Raider One", said Dimitri, nonplussed at the Lieutenant's casual reference to his commander.

He switched channels. "Prowler One to Prowler Two, how are you faring?"

"We have these surats on the run, sir", said DemonBlade, sounding as if he was actually enjoying himself.

"Copy that Two. Will there be any left for me to take care of?"