Razorbacks
The outer borders of Free Worlds
League (FWL) were in constant conflict during the Third Succession War.
Periphery Nations and Pirates repeatedly attacked weakly protected systems,
looting or just probing their defenses.
Short of precious Battlemechs, FWL
could not deploy them against minor threats. To deal with it, a small force of
conventional combat vehicles was created as a quick reaction force. Fully
equipped with heavily armed fast helicopters (or, “choppers”), the Razorbacks
were, at first, not taken seriously even inside FWL military forces until they prove
to be a threat to enemy Battlemech forces.
One of the Razorbacks most remembered
operations took place in Fagerholm, a desolated rocky desert on the outer
frontier of the Free Worlds League that once belonged to the Capellan
Confederation. Its abundancy of rare and precious metals always attracted
raiders from the Periphery looking for looting opportunities with attacks
against mining outposts and transport convoys.
The deployment of multiple companies
of Razorbacks in Fagerholm was named “Operation Sandstorm” and had the
objective to eliminate a couple of Pirate Raiders that were operating there
circa 3020.
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Eating Sand
It was an infinity landscape of arid
cliffs and hills with scattered woods. Sky was blue with no clouds and this helped
Commander Molina spot a salvo of LRMs coming on the direction of his Hellcat,
totally missing him and hitting the ground well below his left side. It was a
large double salvo, most likely from two LRM-15s or 20s.
Molina’s wingman, Trask, opened the
commlink: - Commander, it is the Trebuchet from the target lance! It shouldn’t
be here!
Molina replies immediately and give
orders to all units: They spot our recons and knew we were coming! The
others must not be far. This will be a standard pincer move, guys! Hannigan,
you take 9 o’clock! Rusty, you take 3 o’clock position! Each wingman flowing
their leader! Remember your training!
Knowing that your recon was not
always reliable, Molina ordered his units to fly in formation. His Hellcat LRM,
armed with 6 LRM5s was flying high at maximum speed, sided by Trask and looking
for the target Battlemech lance that they were supposed to intercept and
destroy.
The other four choppers were flying
low to avoid detection. Two Wildcats armed with a single Autocannon class 10
were following on the left and other two Hellcats were coming from right side,
but these ones armed with a feared Autocannon class 20.
The target was a lance of pirate
raiders reported having medium and light mechs. Probably aware of the incoming
Free World League forces, the Battlemechs took full advantage of their superior
sensors to detect and fire first. For Molina’s unit lucky, it seems that only
the Trebuchet has long range weapons. Anyway, a Hellcat at flank speed is very hard
to hit at long range.
-
Rusty, there is a Cicada coming fast in your direction! – said Molina
The other two mechs reported were a
Jenner and an Ostroc, that Molina also spot taking cover behind the elevated
terrain.
Molina reduces speed for a more
precise shot, followed by Trask. Both combine fire of 12 LRM 5s on the
Trebuchet that shows confidence on his skills, keep position on top of hills,
returning LRM fire against Molina and ignoring the two Wildcats coming from his
front-right side. Even being at long range for his AC/10, Hannigan’s gunner –
Talia – place a shot on the torso of the Trebuchet that is also hit by a few
LRMs. Hannigan’s wingman, Kemp, miss the target. The Trebuchet, a standard 5N
model with 2 LRM-15s and Medium Lasers, miss all shots.
Wildcats are highly effective
machines, 25ton helicopters well armored and equipped with an autocannon class 10.
A crew of two manage it: a pilot in command
and a gunner responsible to aim the gun. Different from ancient helicopter
gunships, the Wildcat has its AC/10 in a pivotable mount with 45 degrees
transverse to each side, giving more freedom of maneuver while a target is
engaged.
At the same time, Rusty pilots his
Hellcat AC/20 close to the ground followed by his wingman Snap. Instead of
finding the Cicada, them both face a much bigger Ostroc firing large lasers at
them without success. They could not identify the Battlemech variant and engage
it with the AC/20s at medium range. One round hit the torso removing almost all
armor – the Ostroc is shaken by the blast.
Molina continues to keep fire on the
Trebuchet together with the Wildcats ripping off the external armor of its arms
and legs. The Trebuchet cannot sustain so much damage and falls to the ground
in a cloud of sand, dust and shrapnel.
While this, a Jenner emerges from the
hills firing at short range on the Hellcats that attacked the Ostroc. Medium
Lasers and SRMs hit the left side and the rotors of Snap’s Hellcat. Rotors are
the most fragile part of a chopper and even an armored 30-ton helicopter like
the Hellcat cannot take much damage to it. The Hellcat is equipped with an
armored 8-blade rotor with automatic stabilization control able to eject
damaged blades and keep flying at expense of reduced maneuverability and
speed. But the multiple SRM hits taken
were much more than Snap’s chopper could handle. With only two remaining
blades, their Hellcat crashed in the rocky soil of Fagerholm. As long they were
flying extremely low the impact was totally absorbed by the landing gear with
minor armor damage – even the gun remained fully operational.
Unsurprisingly, the Cicada (a very
rare 3C model) keeps moving at full speed becoming a very difficult target.
However, this affects its own aiming and it miss to hit anything with his PPC.
Molina realizes that the engagement
turned to a dogfight and he tells your crews to freely engage the targets. As
an experienced pilot and gunner, he started his career as gunner in a time that
Free Worlds League formed its first hunter-killer unit of helicopters with a single
company of Wildcats armed with autocannons or LRMs.
Commander Molina knows every single
strength and weakness of these units but, above all, he cares for his crews. At
a higher point while firing at the Trebuchet, he observes Snap’s Hellcat
crash-landing and communicate to them:
-
Snap, Val! Get off now! – Molina says in a strong tone.
But Snap’s gunner, Val, replies with
confidence: I still have the Ostroc in my sight. I will take him down!
-
No way! Get off at once! – Molina says.
-
Come on, Val! It is an order! – says Snap, and both leave their armored cockpits.
The Jenner scored a fatal blow to the
Hellcat AC/20, but turned his rear arc to Molina that immediately takes
advantage of the situation and fires a full LRM salvo against it, easily
destroying the rear torso armor, damaging the internal structure and igniting
the SRM ammo causing an explosion that completely destroy the Jenner with its
mechwarrior inside.
While this, the crippled Trebuchet
stand up and move backwards looking for cover in woods, only to notice Rusty’s
Hellcat flying over him and making a 180o turn to fire at its rear
arc. The Trebuchet had no time to react and receive an AC/20 hit in the rear
torso, complete destroying it.
The two Wildcats continue to fly in
close formation and near the ground, reducing speed while dodging the hills to
avoid a collision and to engage the Cicada that moves on their direction and
fires at Hannigan’s Wildcat, blowing his entire left side armor but without any
other consequences – one more hit in that location and Hannigan and his gunner
are dead.
While that, the Ostroc engages the
crashed Hellcat, destroying it and jumps to the same cliff that the Cicada
moved to. Snap and Val had time to take cover and are not hit by the explosion.
Molina and his wingman Trask cannot
see anymore the Ostroc and the Cicada, as they smartly look for cover in rocky
terrain. In an attempt to find these two remaining Battlemechs, both Hellcats move
laterally at the same altitude to find a firing position.
Hannigan is supposed to withdrawn
with his damaged Wildcat but notices the Ostroc jumping behind him and firing
the two Large Lasers. He orders his wingman to break formation and make a
backward movement, gaining altitude and engaging the Ostroc. Both sides miss
their shots.
The Cicada moves at high speed away
from his lance mates dodging trees and elevations, maybe in hope to get a
longer distance to shot back with the PPC, but immediately notice that Rusty’s
Hellcat is as fast as him and can close easily flying above any ground
obstacle. That flying AC/20 getting close should be a freighting view.
The elusive Cicada dodge a first
autocannon hit and suddenly turns against the Hellcat raising a cloud of sand dust
around him. Too close for a precise PPC shot and too far for a Machine Gun, it
misses all shots.
The clever maneuver makes Rusty fly
over the Cicada as they move in the opposite direction now. The Cicada now
heads toward the Ostroc.
In this moment, Molina tells Trask to
fire on the Cicada while he engages the Ostroc. All his units will get out of
ammo soon and a long engagement is not good for them.
Apparently running hot, the Ostroc
engages the undamaged Wildcat with a single Large Laser. This model jumps much
longer but misses Medium Lasers or SRMs. Molina never saw such variant but has
no complains at this moment. The combined fire of the LRMs and AC/10s damage
the Ostroc, reaching the internals and destroying its Left Leg which eliminates
any chance of escape.
Now the Cicada targets the Wildcats
that are attacking the cripples the Ostroc but miss a PPC shot.
Rusty makes a tight turn and manage
to engage the Cicada, hitting the right leg and torso and crippling the
Battlemech. It is destroyed almost at the same time with one of the last LRM
rounds from Trask’s Hellcat. The mechwarrior has no time to eject.
The Ostroc is the only remaining mech
of the lance but crippled and unable to escape. Few seconds probably looked
like long minutes as the mechwarrior takes the decision to eject – in time to
see his mech being attacked and destroyed by multiple attacks from all
directions.
Battle over and no sign of other enemy
units, Molina calls the command center and request an armed transport to rescue
Snap and Val, and capture the surviving mechwarrior. There is little salvage
left from this battle but a prisoner is much more valuable at this point.
The balance was positive. Even with
one Hellcat AC/20 lost, the enemy lance was neutralized and no crew member was
killed or injured. The bonus is the mechwarrior captured that may bring
important information about the other enemy mechs.
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