Battle of Wayside (3058)

Battle of Wayside V
Part of The Clan Invasion Era
Start Date From July to August 3058 Planet Wayside V Result Inner Sphere and Clan Nova Cat victory
Factions
(Attacker) Draconis Combine Clan Nova Cat	(Defender) Clan Smoke Jaguar
Commanders and leaders
Colonel Andrea Stirling	Galaxy Commander Devon Osis
Conditions
Normal

The Battle of Wayside V is a military operation that was undertaken by the Draconis Combine against Clan Smoke Jaguar in the Periphery in July to September 3058.

Operation Brief

The military operation took place mainly on the surface and space of Wayside V and within a large swath of the Clan Nova Cat Occupation Zone.

Operation History

Factions & Known Units Involved in the Conflict

Draconis Combine

• Northwind Highlanders
  • Stirling's Fusiliers
  • MacLeod's Regiment (a battalion)
  • Professional Soldiery Liaison (one company of DCMS troops)

Clan Smoke Jaguar

• Tau Galaxy (Clan Smoke Jaguar)
• CSJ Dark Claw (Essex-class destroyer)

Clan Nova Cat

• Sigma Galaxy (Clan Nova Cat)

Origins of Conflict

After the Battle of Tukayyid, the Clans were forced to stop their advance, but both raiding took place from both sides against enemy space, particularly by Clan Smoke Jaguar and Clan Jade Falcon and particularly in the frontier along the Draconis Combine. ComStar's Explorer Corps partnered with the Combine, attempting to backtrack along the Exodus Road to locate the Clan Homeworlds, where the main Clan factories and training centers were located. Clan security measures made this a difficult task, but by 3058, the Explorer Corps had located a Smoke Jaguar base in the Deep Periphery: Wayside. The planet was identified as a logistic and supply base, and the Combine decided to attack it and cut off the Jaguars' supply lines. Wayside had been struck by an immense meteor at some point, which cost the world its atmosphere and most of its water. Only a few habitable zones remained in the deepest former sea beds on the mostly-airless planet, while the continents rose into the stratosphere, providing an additional difficulty for any attacking force.

With DCMS troops already tied up, the Combine sent Omi Kurita to Northwind, bearing both a gift for the Highlanders, and an offer. She returned the battle standard of the First Kearny Highlanders, captured during the battle of Lincoln in 2802 by the DCMS. She then offered them a contract, calling for a full regiment to attack the base, with a battalion to follow on for garrison duty. The expected forces were a single Provisional Garrison Cluster with second-line 'Mechs, with no OmniMechs or aerospace elements. The Highlanders sent some of their best: the entire regiment of Stirling's Fusiliers with a reinforcement battalion from MacLeod's Regiment. The Combine had even arranged a command circuit of JumpShips to ferry the Fusiliers to the Periphery as quickly as possible, and included a company of DCMS troops with the Professional Soldiery Liaison Elden Parkensen in command.

However, the Explorer Corps had made a serious mistake: Wayside V - known as "WildCat" to the Jaguars - wasn't a simple supply base, but the training grounds for the newly-formed Tau Galaxy, equipped with two and a half clusters of first-line OmniMechs and under the command of Devon Osis in preparation for launching attacks against the nearby worlds held by the Nova Cats.

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Launch of the Operation

Stirling's XO, Major Loren Jaffray had been strengthening the Fusiliers' training and adapting their tactics to fight the Clans. Due to the short time period, some final preparations had to be done on the way to Wayside. Departing Northwind on 15 May, the force arrived in-system via a pirate point on 3 July, detached their DropShips and approached Wayside. The Highlanders discovered Tau's presence too late to turn around, with Tau's escorting WarShip the Dark Claw on the way. With no other feasible option but to push forward, Colonel Stirling made a batchall to the Jaguar commander, hoping to prevent the use of the Clanners' WarShip or at least get an idea of what they were facing.

The DropShips were attacked by Jaguar aerospace fighters upon reaching the atmosphere. None of the DropShips were truly destroyed, but all were damaged to varying degrees, with the Combine's Retribution crashing. The Fusiliers deployed under fire, with the Stonewall forced to jump-deploy their onboard 'Mechs and the Bull Run managing to make a landing to offload despite damage, and the Claymore managing to land despite severe damage. The Combine company onboard the Retribution were immediately attacked by a Jaguar Binary led by Star Captain Kerndon. Only the timely arrival of Jaffray's command company changed the tide. However, Loren was forced to blow up the Retribution's hydrogen tank to finish off the Jaguars, an act that saved the Combine liaison officer, Sho-sa Elden Parkensen, and yielded the Fusiliers a full Binary of Clan salvage. Kerndon was captured alive, the only survivor of his unit. The Stonewall was a loss, managing to land but damaged beyond repair by a Clan OmniFighter's suicide run. The operation had gone sour almost immediately, with no way to retreat offworld, drastically superior forces against them, and no reinforcements expected for thirty-six days.

Ground Battles

Lacking better choices, the Highlanders settled for a long guerrilla operation, hoping to hold out until reinforcements could arrive. Jaffray conceived an audacious plan that bordered on suicidal - escaping Wayside with a single DropShip and the salvaged Clan 'Mechs they had taken, posing as Smoke Jaguars, and launching several raids at nearby Nova Cat systems, leaving clues to draw them back to Wayside to fight the Jaguars for them. Stirling reluctantly agreed, allowing him to take barely a company of troops, including Kerndon himself.

Loren's Campaign

Before departing, Jaffray led an ambush against the first attacking unit: a Cluster of light OmniMechs on a headhunting attack launched on 4 July. Thanks to Kerndon's advice, Star Colonel Roberta was surrounded, refused to surrender, and died along with her unit. The Bull Run was chosen as the DropShip for Loren's mission, being the most intact of the three, and evaded the Dark Claw's attempted interception by launching numerous escape pods and life boats filled with explosives. The attack caught the Jaguars by surprise and crippled the WarShip, leaving it unable to pursue. Meanwhile, the Claymore launched only briefly, before feigning a crash at a strategic strait on the planet and deploying two companies of Fusiliers as a choke-point to buy time for the rest of the regiment to arrive.

Loren's task force began their campaign on system EC-EY-4170, which was home to a Nova Cat Recharge Station. On 8 July, Jaffray posed as the Smoke Jaguar Star Colonel Jaffray and issued a batchall to obtain four recharges for his JumpShip, to allow it to go and return quickly. In the trial, he and another MechWarrior faced another 'Mech and several Elementals. They managed to defeat them without casualties. On the next planet, Boltin, Loren's task force fought a Trial of Refusal over a former Jaguar base containing warehouses and a water-processing plant. On 17 July, the Nova Cats attacked them with a force of 'Mechs and attempted to surprise them with a group of Elementals that infiltrated the buildings, but Jaffray simply collapsed the building over the Elementals. While they completed their objectives and netted some salvage, they lost one of their own. Worse, they were forced to destroy the body to prevent their deception from being uncovered, before tossing a codex bracelet taken from a fallen Jaguar into the burning cockpit. On 25 July, Jaffray's blooded task force attacked their last target: Tarnby, to send a HPG message to Wayside V. Initially lodging a Trial of Possession, Star Colonel Santin West instead obliged their request for HPG usage and instead lodged a Trial of Grievance for their raiding. where they suffered heavy losses. They were on the brink of defeat when the Nova Cat Colonel, Santin West, impressed by the "Jaguars" bravery (and under orders from Khan Leroux to allow them to flee, to let them lead the Nova Cats to the rest of Tau Galaxy), allowed them to depart, but assembled a force to pursue them.

On Wayside

On 10 July, the Fusiliers faced the Jaguars attack at the Isthmus of Bannockburn, a narrow pass where the Claymore had feigned its crash. In front of them was the Smoke Jaguars 101st Bloodied Claws Cluster. The Jaguars attempted to pass a hidden force to attack the Highlanders' backs while the bulk of the Cluster attacked frontally, but the use of an active satellite scan by the Fusiliers allowed them to uncover the plan. Now discovered, the Jaguar leader, one Star Colonel Roberta, ordered the attack to proceed anyway. The Highlanders contained the attack while a force led by Major Kurt Blakadar attacked the Jaguars' flanks. The Fusiliers repulsed the Jaguar attack, but at a high cost. After taking high casualties, Star Colonel Roberta was ordered by Osis to fall back and ordered her forces to do so, but personally engaged the PSL Sho-sa Parkensen in single combat, seeking an honorable death. Colonel Stirling engaged her as well, downing her quickly despite Parkensen's protests. The regiment was heavily damaged, with the Kilsyth Guards running at forty-five percent operational strength, the Black Adders Battalion at sixty-five percent, and the Third Battalion at over half-strength. The PSL company had been badly mauled, and Parkensen had refused to speak to Colonel Stirling since her intervention in his duel with Roberta.

After the battle of the Isthmus, Colonel Stirling targeted the Jaguar airfield nearby, sending the remains of the Kilsyth Guards (roughly two lances) and Parkensen to destroy the airfield and the fighters stationed there. The group was discovered and attacked by Jaguar fighters, part of the unit survived and accomplished their mission, depriving the Jaguars of their air support. Meanwhile, the bulk of the Highlanders retreated towards the southwest, after booby-trapping the Claymore. As some Jaguar Elementals boarded the abandoned vessel to strip anything of value, the explosives went off, destroying two Points of Elementals and damaging a third. The Highlanders took to the high ground, crossing the near-airless continent, but had to leave behind their infantry, combat vehicles, and any BattleMechs too damaged to be able to cross it. Those forces made up a rearguard led by Major Cullen Craig and attempted to hold off the attacking Jaguars, but they were crushed. Most survivors surrendered, only for Galaxy Commander Devon Osis to order their execution - and then broadcast the execution to Colonel Stirling. Craig was one of the few survivors.

Forced onto the high continent, reduced to just over a battalion, and with seemingly no way off-planet, the Fusiliers' situation was desperate. Finally, they received good news: the expected battalion of MacLeod's Regiment had arrived in-system, and soon after, the remains of Loren's task force - and they weren't alone.

Final Battle

Galaxy Commander Devon Osis personally led the final assault on 8 August with all what remained of his Galaxy, but the sudden arrival of Chastity Mulvaney's battalion and their attack on the Jaguars' flanks forced them to break off their attack and regroup. At the same time, Jaffray's motley Star's worth of Clan 'Mechs had infiltrated the Jaguar forces, still bearing their transponders and correct codes. Before the Jaguars could attack again, Osis received a batchall from Santin West, who had arrived with two Clusters and a WarShip to attack the Jaguars in retaliation for "their" raids on Clan Nova Cat. Forgoing the attack on the Highlanders, the two Clan forces attacked each other, and Jaffray personally killed Devon Osis when he was about to kill Santin West. Jaffray and his followers were frantically trying to extract from the battle when Jaffray's 'Mech was downed and he was wounded, only for the Bull Run to descend over the battlefield, allowing them to evacuate even as the DropShip took fire. The Clan forces ravaged each other, with the Jaguars fighting to the last man and the Nova Cat WarShip destroying the Dark Claw.

Conflict Conclusion

After the battle ended, the surviving Nova Cats, barely a Trinary of OmniMechs and less than three Points of Elementals, faced off with the Highlanders. Santin West parleyed with Stirling. While West had gained honor by destroying the Jaguars, his victory was "tainted" by being deceived and drawn there under false pretenses. The Nova Cats couldn't hope to beat the remaining Highlander forces, but couldn't retreat without loss of honor. When Colonel Stirling offhandedly mentioned she was nicknamed "the Cat," the situation changed. Unbeknownst to her, West had had a vision about a Nova Cat, a Smoke Jaguar, and another cat fighting each other. In light of Jaffray having saved his life against Devon Osis, West agreed to leave the Highlanders alone, considering a further battle wasteful for both sides. After recovering their dead, they departed, leaving Wayside V in Combine hands.

Aftermath

Wayside V was a costly victory, but a victory nonetheless - taking a planet back from the Clans had never been done before. The Combine intended to keep the planet to launch raids, and out of respect for the Highlanders intended to keep the temporary names they had assigned to the various geographical features of the planet. The Highlanders elders promoted Jaffray to Lieutenant Colonel created a new unit for him to command with salvage of the battle, a unit specifically to fight the Clans: the Northwind Hussars.

The Nova Cats celebrated the victory over the Jaguars and made no plans to take the planet, as Wayside V hadn't been one of theirs. West's actions won him great fame in his Clan, contributing to his eventual rise to Khan of the Nova Cats.

As for the Smoke Jaguars, the defeat put an end to their attempt to recover their forces that had been weakened since Luthien and Tukayyid. The name of Wildcat was permanently erased, and the hostility between the Smoke Jaguars and the Nova Cats only grew, which would cost them greatly in the future. Wayside V became the preamble of Operation Bulldog. As a final insult, Khan Severen Leroux sent Devon Osis's giftake and the command baton of Tau Galaxy to Smoke Jaguar Khan Lincoln Osis, who destroyed both in a fit of rage.

Gallery

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  Major Loren Jaffray with Sho-sa Elden Parkensen

Bibliography

• Impetus of War (novel)
• Northwind Highlanders (scenario pack)