Second Combine-Dominion War

This article is about the Second Combine-Dominion War. For the earlier 3062–3063 conflict, see First Combine-Dominion War.

The Second Combine–Dominion War was a late thirty-first century–early thirty-second century conflict between Clan Ghost Bear and the Draconis Combine with its allies Clan Nova Cat, from 14 September 3098 to 10 November 3101.

Overview

The war stemmed from building emotional and political tensions that had ramped up over the years. The conflict's spark came from the Draconis Combine's conservative splinter group (known as the Black Dragons Society), who had wished to cleanse the Combine of all outsiders and return the nation its traditional past. The conflict was originally focused between Clan Nova Cat and Clan Ghost Bear, however the conflict expanded to involve the Draconis Combine.

Combatants

Clan Nova Cat/Draconis Combine

• Second Arkab Legion
• Seventeenth Benjamin Regulars
• The Cat's Eye Cluster
• Dragonsclaw Cluster
• Dragonscales Cluster
• First Ghost
• Eleventh Ghost
• Kouki no Otakebi (mercenary command)
• Second Legion of Vega
• Nova Cat Dragoons
• Nova Cat Hussars
• Nova Cat Rangers
• Nova Cat Legers
• Nova Cat Legionaries
• Nova Cat Renegades
• Nekoryu Keshik Supernova Trinary
• Otomo
• Third Pesht Regulars
• Thirteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Fifth Sword of Light

Clan Ghost Bear

• 332nd Assault Cluster
• First Bear Guards
• Third Bear Guards
• First Rasalhague Bears
• Second Rasalhague Bears
• Fourth Bear Regulars
• Eighth Bear Cuirassiers
• Beta Galaxy's Trinary Galaxy Command (aka Beta TGC)
• Seventy-third Battle Cluster
• Fourteenth Battle Cluster
• Eighteenth Battle Cluster
• 243rd Battle Cluster
• 300th Battle Cluster
• First Drakøns Cluster
• Second Drakøns Cluster
• First Freemen Cluster
• Third Freemen Cluster
• Third Hussars Cluster
• First Kavalleri Cluster
• Second Kavalleri Cluster
• Third Kavalleri Cluster
• Fourth Kavalleri Cluster
• Fourteenth Provisional Garrison Cluster
• Fifty-fifth Provisional Garrison Cluster
• Rho Galaxy's Trinary Galaxy Command (aka Rho TGC)
• 140th Striker Cluster
• Sixth Valkyrie Cluster (all-aerospace unit)

Precursors to War

The Hidden War

The Black Dragon Society had tried to unseat Coordinator Hohiro Kurita's government in 3089 by triggering a border war between the Combine and the Republic of the Sphere. Simply known as the "First Hidden War", the conflict would rage until 3093 when the two factions realized they were duped and united to crush the society.

Halesowen Raid of 3096

Clan Nova Cat's military and industrial complexes were depleted after the Jihad, as much of it was lost during the migration of the Clan's touman while joining the newly formed Republic of the Sphere. Khan Santin West deployed his surviving units to conduct raids into the Ghost Bear Dominion as a means of blooding warriors and rebuilding his Prefecture's industrial base. Due to the lack of a formal relationship between the two Clans, this would escalate tensions as the Rasalhague Dominion's civilian population was also restless under Ghost Bear rule.

A raid in November 3096 by the Nova Cat Rangers on the Dominion world of Halesowen was a glaring example of the state of affairs between the two Clans. Garrisoning the planet was the Third Bear Guards; the raid would turn ugly for Ghost Bear forces. In their final encounter with the Guards, the Rangers had whittled the Ghost Bear Cluster down to two Stars. To maximize salvage, the Rangers' commander, Star Captain Eli Rosse, refused to give the Guards hegira. This lack of honor in battle between the Clans would set both Clans down a brutal, merciless path.

Surviving members of the Black Dragon Society learned of the situation between the two factions, and sought to take advantage of it. By using their remaining members inside the ISF, they began feeding each faction censored intelligence to help start a war.

Yamarovka Raid of 3098 and the Death of a Khan

The surviving members of the Black Dragon Society would learn of the situation between the two Clans and they would use their remaining members inside the ISF to begin feeding each faction intelligences filter through Black Dragon Society to help bring the Clans to war against one another. Khan West's planned visit to Yamarovka is revealed to the Ghost Bears. As predicted by the Black Dragons, Khan Aletha Kabrinski, tempted by this information, goes and orders a raid to exterminate Nova Cat Khan and all warriors present. Black Dragon agents posing as friendly ISF agents would deliver information they "learned" to Nova Cat Khan West. Reporting to him of the threat of a targeted raid against him while he conducted a tour of a sibko on planet. West would heed this warning and prepare for battle during his visit.

The Black Dragons would use this to strike a blow against the Nova Cats and kill the Khan during the battle.

On 14 September 3098 the Ghost Bear Khan would dispatch the Eighth Bear Cuirassiers against Nova Cats on Yamarovka with orders to wipe out all Nova Cats warriors on planet, especially the Khan. The Eighth would quickly deploy from their DropShips and encircle Nova Cat enclave located in the small city of Chita. As the Ghost Bear Cluster surrounded the Khan and his elemental Star of bodyguards, hidden Nova Cat forces laying behind the Eighth would spring their trap and attack. Nova Cat forces consisting of the Nekoryu Keshik Supernova and the Cat’s Eye Cluster would begin what would become a two-hour battle between Clans. However, as Black Dragons had planned, Khan would end up being killed when two Stars of the Eighth would breach the enclave's fortress-like walls. Khan West had not anticipated the Ghost Bears' tactics, which led to his death.

The shock of Khan West's death would buy enough time for the Eighth's surviving warriors to retreat to their DropShips and depart the planet. Among the surviving Nova Cats, a new saKhan was chosen from senior officers on hand. SaKhan Ajax Drummond, who had been commanding Nekoryu Keshik, would be elected as new senior Khan of the Nova Cats.

Preparations for War

Newly elected, Khan Drummond ordered the consolidation of Nova Cat assets across Irece Prefecture. To ready his Clan for further fighting, Drummond had felt that Nova Cats needed to tie themselves more to the Draconis Combine. He then met with Coordinator Hohiro Kurita to offer half of the Nova Cats' industrial output in exchange for logistical and industrial support. He needed these resources to repair damage to the Prefecture and Nova Cats' touman by continued Ghost Bear assaults. The Coordinator would quickly agree, allowing the Clan's industry to recover by October, 3098. New production facilities would end up being built across the Prefecture, with two additional Draconis Combine regiments assigned to defend them: the Eleventh Ghost regiment on Irece factory on New Barcella and the Second Arkab Legion on Wolcott.

While Nova Cats and Combine bolstered their industry and shuffled their defenses, Khan Kabrinski would order the redeployment of Ghost Bear forces from Hell's Horses border area to Combine frontier. These forces would be used to bolster their depleted forces who had been dealing with Nova Cat raids. The second-line freeborn forces of KungsArmé Clusters would be redeployed for frontline duty, as part of preparations for the invasion of Irece Prefecture.

War Erupts

The Soverzene Raid

Nova Cat Khan Ajax Drummond receives intelligence of Ghost Bear troops being positioned on Soverzene. Khan Drummond wanted to make a "statement" in the form of a military strike against the Bears in retaliation for the death of Khan West at Ghost Bear hands.

On 29 November 3098, the Nova Cat Hussars were dispatched to assault inexperienced Third Hussars in trial by combat. Arriving by pirate point, Nova Cat Hussars commanding officer, Star Colonel Adriana Deleportas issued a batchall to Third Hussars commander Star Colonel Frida Johansson.

During the landing, Nova Cat DropShips exchanged fire with Third Hussars DropShips in low atmosphere. After dropping troops, the Nova Cats engaged Third Hussars at the spaceport. In a quick and furious engagement, the Third's command Binary was wiped out, leaving the Ghost Bear Cluster in disarray without their commander. The inexperienced troops were nearly wiped out by next day, with a single Star of 'Mechs and two Stars of battle armor left from their original roster of troops. The survivors would elude the Ghost Bears in the Belluno Badlands wilderness. The Nova Cat Hussars would conduct battlefield salvage, claiming more than enough to make up for their losses and leave Soverzene by the 10th of December.

Operation NIGHTFALL

Enraged by the destruction of the Third Hussars, Khan Kabrinski orders to begin operations against the Nova Cats sooner than expected. Operation NIGHTFALL was a three-pronged attack into Irece Prefecture, targeting Nova Cat–held worlds on December 29th, 3098.

Wave 1 - Mualang

Assigned to Ghost Bears' Eighth Bear Cuirassiers and Rho Trinary Galaxy Command, the two command arrived via a pirate point in the Mualang system. The two commands discovered that the Nova Cat Hussars, who had normally garrisoned the planet, were absent, giving the Ghost Bear units easier time. On world, Ghost Bears destroyed the Nova Cat militias and training sibkos, and captured supplies and the Mualang battle armor manufacturing facility.

The Hussars would finally arrive on the 31st, having to fight their way down from orbit to confront the Rho Galaxy Command Trinary. The Eighth, not wasting time, would attack the landing zone devastating the Hussars. Few of the Hussars would survive the slaughter, Star Colonel Deleportas not among them. The leaderless command resorted to hit-and-run tactics to try buy time for Nova Cat reinforcements to arrive. After a month of fighting, the Nekoryu Keshik on 31st of January, 3099 attempted to aid the stricken Nova Cat Hussar survivors. However, they too would be forced to withdraw along with the few surviving Hussars.

Wave 1 - Labrea

Arriving on the 18th of January, 3099, the First Drakøns and Fourth Bear Regulars would make planetfall on Labrea. This deployment by the Ghost Bears would mark for the first time in the Dominion's history that a freeborn command would have seniority over a trueborn Ghost Bear command.

In command of Nova Cat defense of Labrea was Star Colonel Jose Watson, commander of the Nova Cat Legers. Watson wasted no time and deployed his aerospace forces to harass the numerically superior Ghost Bears' landing zone. Uncertain of their target, he would continue trying to keep the two Clusters at bay with all the assets he had available, including conventional aircraft. By the 27th, with fighter assets dwindling, Star Colonel Watson led the Legers to strike the First Drakøns' landing zone. The Drakøns' commander, Galaxy Commander Marius Storland, ordered his forces to charge parallel to the line of engagement in hopes of buying time for the Fourth Bears to arrive to reinforce them. Fueled by the loss of the Third Hussars, Storland attacked the oncoming Legers with his entire force. The Regulars' arrival on the scene spelled doom for the Legers, causing the survivors to retreat from the engagement. The Ghost Bear forces, having cleared the remaining defenders of the planet, would raze the Nova Cat enclave near the planet's capital of Las Cabreas, wiping out sibkos and taking over the city's genetic repositories. Survivors of the First Battle of Labrea would pass warnings throughout the Prefecture that the Ghost Bears object was the destruction of the Nova Cats.

Wave 1 - Yamarovka

On Yamarovka, word of invasion would reach them after two months of the invasion. Nova Cat forces on world, The Cat's Eye Cluster and the Nekoryu Keshik, to prepare for Ghost Bears' arrival. The Bears would arrive on Yamarovka on 13 February, consisting of the Seventy-third and 243rd Battle Clusters. Weather would prove to ally for the Nova Cats as Solar Storms interfered with electronics for orbital assets. Ghost bear forces would choose target city of Yama, but the storms would slow down the advance. In a break of the weather, saKhan Paul Leroux, led the attack of aerospace fighters against elements of the Seventy-Third outside of the coastal city of Severk. The strike targeting command units, would prove successful as Nekoryu Keshik ground elements jump from hidden weather shelters and assist of the targeted strike. A marginal victory, further engagements would help buy time for Nova Cat civilians and sibkos retreat on DropShips from onslaught of the Ghost Bears. Two Ghost Bear Clusters would secure the planet by the 28th of February, with very little Nova Cats structures standing in their wake.

The Second Wave Crashes into Itabaiana

On Itabaiana during 3098, the Black Dragon Society had conducted a series of terrorist attacks against Clan Diamond Shark's facilities which inflicted considerable casualties against the Clans civilian and military personal. Unhappy with Draconis Combine taking more control of the planet from the Nova Cats, the Sharks' garrison forces would declare their neutrality and would not offer assistance should the planet be attacked.

During the early part of 3099, the Draconis Combine would redeploy regional forces to guard productions facilities near the Irece prefecture that were producing Clan Technology, including a logistical hub designated as LAW-8i.

Wave 2 - Itabaiana

On April 9th, Ghost Bears of Beta Galaxy would make their planetfall. Assigned to garrison the planet's newly built logistic hub was the Third Pesht Regulars. Various locations used to support manufacturing on continent of Tesouras were used part of the Third's layered defense of LAW-8i. Unknown to Pesht's commanding officer, Tai-sa Nanami Ueno, Ghost Bears were given orders to avoid action with any Draconis Combine forces and only focus on Nova Cats. Tai-sa Ueno would adopt a strategy of using her Nova Cat–produced units to conduct probing attacks against Beta Galaxy's defensive lines in the hopes to fool the attackers into thinking that there was Nova Cat garrison on world.

The attacks would escalate the battle for the planet, with Galaxy Commander Vigo Hall ordering Beta to move through the layered defenses regardless of mines and defense turrets. The Third was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Beta Galaxy, causing them to withdraw back to LAW-8i facility. However, Galaxy Commander Hall decided to take advantage of the situation and ordered his artillery to shell the facilities, killing the civilian Nova Cats and nearly wiping out the Third Pesht Regulars.

Video footage of the Regulars' defeat would get aired nationwide within hours of the battle's end, with outcry to some kind of response. By April 19th, Coordinator Hohiro Kurita and Khan Drummond had finalized plans for joint operations against the Ghost Bear invasion, with Combine taking operational control worlds jointly garrisoned by both factions.

Operation BLUEPETER

As per their laid-out plans by both Coordinator and the Nova Cat Khan to coordinate efforts against the Ghost Bears, the Pesht defeat on Itabaiana would signal counteroffensive against the Dominion. Code name Operation BLUEPETER, this would be a multifront military operation. Due to Clan Snow Raven and Federated Suns taking advantage of the Combine's predicament, Combine would have coordinate its combat forces to deal with their aggressions. DCMS forces on the Raven and Suns borders would be restricted to defensive actions only while the Dragon and the Nova Cats would take war to the Dominion itself to try hamper the Bears' offensive.

Wave 3 - Orestes

Intended as a heavy raid, the Second Legion of Vega was assigned to strike the manufacturing complexes on Orestes. Prior to their arrival in April 3099, the defending First Kavalleri had been ordered to prepare defensive bulwarks to reinforce the protection of the military factories.

The Legion arrival would cut short preparations for the Odin's primary manufacturing plant, forcing the First Kavalleri take defensive positions to defend less protected Odin plant from attack. Tai-sa Youta Nakahara, the commander of the Second Legion of Vega determined that this was unique opportunity to cause trouble for the Dominion by cutting off the complex from the planet's main spaceport. Nakahara would order his attached regiment, 241st Vegan Regulars to destroy surrounding main roadways and w:Maglev maglev rail lines linking to the 'Mech production complex.

On 25th of April the Legion's armor unit, Firty-third Vegan Lancers surrounding the complex. The First Kavalleri held up in the behind the Complex's military fortification discouraged the Lancers from making frontal assault without risking heavy losses to the unit. For next six days, the Lancers utilized its artillery assets to bombard the Kavalleri and complex. The lancers made multiple attempts between the bombardments to try to penetrate the Kavalleri's lines. These pushes failed at every attempt with Clan's Cluster using a mobile defense to stop the Legion forces entry.

By the 31st the Legion would withdraw the planet in fear of Clan reinforcements arriving. They had failed in mission to completely destroy the Orestes production facilities. Despite the factory in ruins and extensive damage done to the Kavalleri, both would recover with production lines becoming operational again by October.

Wave 3 - Jarrett

First two planetary assaults thrust into the Dominion, Jarrett invasion force consisted of the First Ghost Regiment. Arriving in May 21st, the Combine's DropShips would appear in Jarrett's L4 Lagrange point. This distance from the planet allowed the planet's garrison force, Fifty-Fifth Provisional Garrison force to prepare planet's defense against the invasion.

The Combine DropShips make a high-speed insertion to the planet, bypassing the Ghost Bear DropShips. The Ghost lost a Condor troop carrier in a high-risk insertion when it bounced off the atmosphere and was destroyed attempting to meet the rest of the invasion force.

After breaking through the battle lines of the Firty-fifth PGC, the Ghosts managed take war to the Bears and destroys most of their command control network. By mid-June the Bears would lose most of their ammunition reserves and would hear other worlds being captured by the Draconis Combine. Star Colonel Enya Gurdel would order her forces to withdraw from the planet and regroup with the rest of Kappa Galaxy.

Wave 3 - Thule

Second planned Combine planetary invasion was conducted by the Thirteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre, which would split their two battalions and support elements in two separate forces; Task Force Richmond and Idlewind. The Richmond Task consisting of the regiment's aerospace company and regiment's Second Battalion would arrive 23rd of May. Acting as lure, the force would behave as green troops with slow insertion to the planet and unscrambled communications feigning problems with some of the DropShips of the task force. Thule's Fourteenth Provisional Cluster's commander would fall for the ruse and deploy his aerospace forces to intercept the enemy. By the 27th, the Idlewind Task Force considering of the First Battalion and other supporting elements of the Regiment would arrive at a Pirate Point and make a relatively short insertion to Thule. Once Idlewind force had arrive, the Richmond Task Force would power up and conduct high-speed insertion to the planet.

On the ground, the battle would inflict heavy casualties on the Cadre's Idlewind Task Force, however their domination of the skies would help their forces inflict more damage against the Cluster's tank and BattleMech forces. After ten days of high-g return to Thule, the Garrison's aerospace pilots would be exhausted from the flight and would find 50 percent of the Fourteenth's ground forces knocked out of the fight. Star Colonel Offa would order his aerospace forces to cover withdraw from the planet on June 10th as rest of the Cadre regimental force made their landfall.

Wave 3 - Asgard

Based on intelligence filtered unknowingly the Black Dragon Society, Khan Kabrinski would dispatch Joint Task Force between Alpha and Rho Galaxies to Asgard as next phase of the Dominion's war plans.

Arriving on June 14th, the Ghost Bears Task Force mission orders was to destroy the largest concentration of Clan Nova Cat forces in the Prefecture consisting of Nekoryu Keshik, Cat's Eye Cluster, and the Nova Cat Fusiliers. The Ghost Bears' first assault would be at the planetary capital of Vernan, where the Bears attacked any large vehicles capable of transporting possible Nova Cats out of the city. These attacks would kill thousands of civilians who were fleeing the city. The Bears' 243rd Battle Cluster, First, and Third Bear Guards pushed into the city center with to target the Nova Cat facilities. As the Bears fired what would turn out to be empty buildings, the Cat's Eye and Nova Cat Fusiliers would power up from hidden location. The Nova Cats would launch an ambush of the Bears, taking advantage of narrow streets of the metropolis for cover. After week of fighting in the wreckage of the capital, Nova Cat aerospace forces would attack withdrawing Ghost Bears returning for refit and supply while Ghost Bear fighters from orbit would inflict heavy casualties on the Nova Cat aerospace fighter forces.

By July 1st, saKhan Leroux would order a general withdrawal from the planet. However, planned individual DropShip departures turn into disaster for the Nova Cats and Bear would force through the defensive lines. With their aerospace cover greatly depleted, majority of the fleeing Nova Cat forces would be destroyed. They would be only of military survivors of the battle for Asgard as thanks to saKhan giving his life covering their DropShips. The Fusiliers would be the only Nova Cat command to survive, absorbing survivors of the Cat's Eye Cluster as they headed to Avon.

Wave 3 - Caripare

Targeting the strategic logistic hub of the Nova Cats, the Fourth Bear Regulars and the Seventy-third Battle Custer was tasked take the planet and annihilate the Nova Cat Rangers. Their tasks were to capture the Nova Cats' munitions and genetic archives in two different locations on planet. The two Clusters split their assault on two facilities, with Rangers having make tough decisions to safeguard the Clan's civilians and supplies. At Fort Felis 31st of July, a Trinary of tanks manned by volunteers from other castes would join with Binary of 'Mechs from the Rangers to engage Fourth Bears Regulars from taking the Fort. The Nova Cats would pay with their lives so the evacuations could succeed.

While at the city of Dabuteshire, the Seventy-third Battle would launch their attack while the majority of Rangers was covering the Nova Cat civilians' evacuation. The Bears' commander would attempt overrun the Rangers' positions to prevent them from escaping. Determined to ensure the Nova Cat civilians evacuation, Rangers would engage the Seventy-third in a brutal battle where each combatant would exhausted their ammunition reserves and turn to physical combat with their machines. By the 7th of August, Nova Cat Rangers were destroyed and nearly destroyed the Seventy-third Battle Cluster. However, the civilian Nova Cat civilians had managed to evacuate the planet with Clan's genetic repositories, sibkos, and crèche.

Wave 3 - Meilen

As part of Clan Ghost Bear's attacks during the Third Wave, Khan Kabrinski dispatches the Fourth Kavalleri Cluster to take Meilen. On their arrival on September 17th, the KungsArmé Cluster force would find the world's defense apparently unmanned. The Draconis Combine had hired the mercenary command the Kouki no Otakebi to garrison the planet. Only signs of the command would their DropShips and JumpShips fleeing at the arrival of Kavalleri's ships. With public fleeing, the Ghost Bear Command would end up setting up garrisons in planetary capital of Lakeside and at the planet's Spaceport. However, soon after establishing their forces, the Kouki no Otakebi began wage guerrilla style conflict with the Kavalleri, trying careful not take heavy losses due to small size of their force in comparison to the Bears. The command would undertake a risky concentrated attack against Kavalleri's spaceport garrison on the 30th. However, the counterassault to the attack would prove too much for the mercenaries they would be overwhelmed by the Bears. The command would surrender, with their officers executed by the Fourth Kavalleri.

Wave 3 - Labrea

In what would be known as the Second Battle for Labrea, Nova Cat Khan Ajax Drummond order attack to reclaim Labrea from the bears. The attack was to try recapture the momentum of the war for the Cats and their allies. Led by newly elected saKhan Heather Winters, she would take her forces to flank the center of the Ghost Bear held world from two different worlds. SaKhan Winters led a task force consisting of her Purity Keshik, Nova Cat Dragoons, 189 Strike Cluster and heavily damaged Nova Cat Legers. They would undertake their planetary assault on October 12th, where they meet with heavy Dominion aerospace resistance, losing Nova Cat Legers' ships in the process of making it to the planet. Ghost Bear forces on planet, Fourth Bear Regulars, First Drakøns, and Second Drakøns would put up heavy resistance in what would turn out to be a month-long campaign.

With the loss of Legers and their assets, saKhan Winters would have use all her aerospace assets (including DropShips) as air support. The Nova Cat DropShips would drop from orbit, strike, boost out of the combat for their runs. However, on 4th of November, the Broadsword-class DropShip, Infrared Dream, would be rendered too badly damaged to return to orbit. With no options left, the captain rammed his vessel into the center of the Second Drakøns, causing a spectacular explosion which destroyed nearly a Binary of 'Mechs and a Trinary of battle armor.

By the 19th, the Drakøn Clusters had lost a considerable amount of their combat effectiveness in comparison to the Regulars. Galaxy Commander Storland would decide to withdraw the Ghost Bear forces from the planet rather than see them destroyed, giving the hard-fought victory to the Nova Cats.

Wave 3 - Sternwerde

Ordered by the Coordinator to enter the war, the Fifth Sword of Light enters the fray by launching raid against Dominion held world of Sternwerde. Garrisoned by the understaffed 300th Battle Cluster, who had been expecting supplies to rebuild their force. On November 2nd, Combine's Fifth Sword would arrive via a pirate point only two days away from the planet. The Cluster would quickly withdraw to their former DCMS military base, Camp Mützenich. Behind reinforced walls, the Fifth Sword's attack would be infective to 300th's reinforced positions. They would to using their limited artillery support to breach the fortress' walls so the small. Once the breach was made, the regiment dispatch small groups of combatants into the base including covert ISF team. The ISF would bomb the Clan's ammunition dumps and the base's main fusion reactor to try cripple the Bears. However, the battle would continue and wear down the Fifth Swords to the point of quitting the planet. As they departed the Sword's DropShips made passing attacks, trying inflict as much damage as possible as they withdrew. The Coordinator would declared the raid successful action, which left the beleaguered 300th Battle Cluster too damage to be used in further fights in the war.

Wave 3 - Naval Battle of Bikini Atoll

In December of 3099, Clan Ghost Bear would dispatch a naval task force headed up by their WarShip the Rasalhague to hunt down suspected Draconis Combine WarShips. The Draconis Reach, a region near the Dominion contained an unnamed star system where intelligence reports project the DCS Amber Lotus was operating as escort for the Factory Ships Yamato and Ryū. The System code named Bikini Atoll, was a former SLDF testing grounds. The Draconis Combine commonly used the planetless star system for its vast raw materials in asteroid belt around a white star. In April, the Ghost Bear Naval Task force which had assembled was given orders to destroy the WarShip and the Factory vessels. By 18th of December, the Rasalhague and flotilla of JumpShips and Pocket WarShips would arrive and begin their attack against the Combine vessels. The Ghost Bears would split their Stars of Vanir-class Pocket WarShips in two groups. A pair of Pocket WarShip Stars would accompany the Rasalhague who would engage the Inazuma-class Corvette flotilla and the Yamato, while the remaining ships would concentrate on Ryū.

The initial engagement would be one-sided, the Amber Lotus and its three Okinawa-class DropShips would be wiped out, while the two Factory Ships would fling themselves into the star to avoid capture. The loss would trigger a scramble by the Combine's ISF Director Shakir Jerrar to track down what he saw as intelligence leaks which were spurring the war on.

Wave 3 - Trondheim

Targeted by the DCMS' High Command, Trondheim star system was a Clan Diamond Shark administrated world which was being used to refit Ghost Bear Clusters participating in the war. Its logistical importance to the Dominion's War effort, the Gunji-no-Kanrei Kiyomori Minamoto convinced the Coordinator to allow him to send a task force to assault the planet using two regiments and a WarShip.

In mid-March of 3100, two regimental task force consisting of the Fifth Sword of Light and the Eleventh Ghost would arrived escorted by the DCS Draconis Drift in-system. The Combine group would push its way through Dominion aerospace forces to enter orbit. The initial insertions would have the Eleventh Ghosts dropping from the Draconis Drift onto Second Rasalhague Bears' position, while the Fifth Sword of Light conducted high-speed drop onto the Fifty-Fifth Provisional Garrison Cluster. Both Dominion Clusters would be destroyed before on planet reinforcement could reach them. Two surviving Clusters on planet, Second Kavalleri and First Tyr would end holding off the invaders long enough for an HPG distress call be answered by rest of the Polar Galaxy. The arrival via a pirate point would save the Second Kavalleri from charge from their in the city of Misby Flats. With the Galaxy's appearance, the Combine regiments would be forced to quit the planet. Though two regiments had failed to capture the planet, the assault postponed the Dominion's efforts to mount a counterinvasion of the Combine.

Wave 3 - The Hunt for the Ursa Major

Originally intended as the Draconis Combine's invasion of the Rasalhague star system, intelligence reports showed that the system was underdefended with only First Rasalhague Bears Cluster in-system with Battleship Ursa Major in orbit. Taking advantage of the situation, the Combine's entire fleet of four WarShips be assembled for the invasion originally to cover. The Coordinator ordered that the Bears' Battleship was to be captured or destroyed with entire Combine's WarShip fleet, while ground forces would wait out the battle outcome outer points of the system.

On the 29th April, 3100 the DCS Draconis Rift arrived in-system and conducted a high-speed approach via gravity sling shots with destination being Rasalhague's moon. Detecting the Frigate's arrival, the Ursa Major powered up and began moving to intercept it. However as the Ursa Major suddenly detected jump of the rest of the Combine's WarShip fleet jumping in midway point in front of the ship. The Battleship flip itself began to accelerate to try to enter low orbit around Rasalhague to rendezvous with aerospace fighters of the Sixth Valkyrie Cluster launching from the planet.

The Draconis Combine fleet moved to intercept and engage the WarShip as it was decelerating to the planet. DCS Winds of Heaven would be first to engage the ship, following DCS Lair of Mighty Wyrms and Dieron Star. The corvette trade fire and nearly be destroyed as it bought time for the other ships to render with the Battleship. The excessive damage from this ten minute engagement, would break off the Ursa Major and would barely survive to jump out system. While the two Combine Ships would trade blows with Ursa Major, the Dieron Star would be succumbed the chain reaction of its naval ammunition exploding. While the now crippled Lair of Mighty Wyrms would manage to knock out the Ursa Major's drive system before maneuvering itself away from the Battleship. While still operational, the Ursa Major began spinning out of control towards the planet. Conducting a high-speed pass across the bow of the Battleship, the Draconis Rift would take out the ship's bridge and life support systems. The Ursa Major spin would cause tremendous stress to the ship's internal structure causing a series of explosions rendering the vessel into a sizable debris field in-system. Of the four ships of Combine's WarShip fleet, only two would survive.

The Invasion of Irece and the Last Phases of the War

With the destruction of the Ursa Major in the Rasalhague System, this would be the event to push the Dominion leadership and the Ghost Bear Khan to end the fight. Civilian unrest had grown since the initial invasion of the Dominion, which would be spurred on by resistance/terrorist organizations such as Motstånd. Khan Kabrinski assigned the Omega and Beta Galaxies to invade Irece, with Galaxy Commander Vigo Hall in overall command, they would be original tasked to destroy the Nova Cats' production facilities and kill Nova Cat Khan Ajax Drummond. Vigo Hall was notorious for his "by any means" tactics which brutally slaughter number Nova Cats in his invasion of Itabaiana. Hall would order the Omega Galaxy to achieve its goal by any means necessary.

Meanwhile on Irece, half of Clan Nova Cat's surviving touman were in-system. Remains of Lambda and Xi Galaxies had taken up garrisoning of the planet.

Wave 4 - Irece

The two Galaxy Task force would arrive on June 30th, meeting little aerospace resistance from Nova Cats due to the depletion of their ranks of pilots. Landing outside the planetary capital of New Barcella on the 7th of July, the two Galaxies would split off to their objects, Omega targeting the city center where primary genetic repositories were housed with sibkos of young cadet troops were housed, while the Beta would attack Barcella battle armor and Barcella-LAW factories outside of the city.

Battle at the Factories

The Nova Cat Fusiliers with Nova Cat Legionaries spread out to try and defend both factories. Automated turrets were hastily installed to try to slow down the Ghost Bears' advance after their landing on the 7th. Leading the attack on the Barcella battle armor was Beta Galaxy's Trinary Galaxy Command with the Eighteenth Battle and 140th Strike Clusters. The untested automated defense system ultimately failed and shut down due to it being overloaded with so many targets to shoot. Galaxy Commander Hall leading the way would be first breach the walls of the fortified factory and his warriors would use inner works of the factory as cover as they destroyed it.

While at the Barcella-LAW facility, the Ghost Bears' 332nd Assault and Fourteenth Battle Clusters rampaged into the factory with the Nova Cat Fusiliers barely holding on. Odd slightly changed as company of Draconis Combine troops emerged from hiding and ambushed Ghost Bears taking some 'Mechs out of action before being completely destroyed. By night's end the Fusiliers would be barely functional and holding on as their ammunition was exhausted.

Fighting in New Barcella City and the Battle's End

While battle for the factories raged through the night, the Omega Galaxy would make its move on the 8th to penetrate the city's defenses and destroy the heart of the Nova Cat Enclave. Khan Drummond fought with his Rossei Keshik as they and Nova Cat Renegades and the Dragonsclaw Clusters fought successfully Omega's attempts to penetrate deeply into the city. Having not gained any ground in the city, the Omega Galaxy's commander would opt use his grounded Polaris-class DropShips' artillery to devastate the city's defenders. The ships would send two waves of Type 50 Cruise missiles roar down on the defenders knocking down buildings. The bombardment made it seem that artillery attacks had killed Khan Drummond and destroyed genetic depositories of the Nova Cats.

With city/Enclave in ruins, the DropShips fired another wave of cruise missiles into the factories to finish off the defenders and make certain the factories were utterly destroyed. The Dominion force then combed the city for Nova Cat survivors killing them as well as civilians who had not evacuated the city. With their objectives achieved the Ghost Bears would depart the system on the 9th.

The Nova Cats' military and factories on the planet would be found completely destroyed in the aftermath of the battle. However, the Nova Cat Khan was found alive in his Nova Cat heavily injured, while Nova Cat genetic material was mostly intact in the bunker. With all its factories destroyed, most of its sibkos ravaged across the Prefecture, the Nova Cats' touman at this point could not be rebuilt for a long time.

Final Battles of the War

The aftermath of the Irece raid would trigger more unrest in both the Draconis Combine and Ghost Bear Dominion. During the battle of Irece, unknown/unidentified DCMS units had appeared and were destroyed. Protests of the sacrifice of loyal warriors to the Dragon in defense of the Nova Cats would help begin to sow dissent. It would be much later these mysterious wrecked units found at the battle sites would link to missing 'Mechs that had disappeared during the Jihad. It was suspected that the Black Dragon Society was involved.

While in the Ghost Bear Dominion, civilians were outraged by the loss of life on Irece which was caused by Ghost Bear troops. Motstånd terror group would use these protests as cover to resume their efforts to inflict harm on Ghost Bears by bombing their facilities. The bombings stalled Ghost Bears' continued expeditions into the Combine, forcing recall of the Taiga and Polar Galaxies back to the Dominion to assist in the hunt for the terrorists near Rasalhague.

Mualang - August 3100

Based on faulty intelligence, the Seventeenth Benjamin Regulars and the Dragonscales Cluster tried to retake Mualang for its battle armor factories lost to the Ghost Bears. The invasion force would arrive in first of August when they discovered that the Rho Trinary Galaxy Command was also present on world with the garrisoning Eighth Bear Cuirassiers. After two attempts to grab the battle armor factory, the eleven-day battle proved to be a loss for the Combine. The Ghost Bears had focused their efforts on the less experienced Dragonscales Cluster, while during the second push for the factory surprising Seventeenth by aggressively pushing them out of position. The Rho TGC ended up chasing them to their DropShip with only a Star of Dragonscales 'Mechs would survive the Cuirassiers' attacks to retreat with them off world.

Jarrett and Thule - September 3100

As part of the effort to reclaim worlds lost to the Combine, the Polar Galaxy was dispatched. Arriving at Jarrett on the 18th of September, where the Ghost Bears outnumbered the defending First Ghosts. The Ghost would give the Bears a good fight, but judge situation as hopeless and not worth being destroyed over food producing world. They used mobile battle tactics to make their way to their DropShips to withdraw from the planet eight days later.

While on Thule on the 22nd, Taiga Galaxy would arrive to reclaim the planet for the Dominion. With no organic transportation, the Thirteenth Sun Zhang Cadre would resort to stalling tactics in hopes for reinforcements that would arrive to help them evacuate the planet. However, by the 30th, they were destroyed before help could be dispatched. Survivors of the unit were suspected to have been made prisoners, but even after a decade the Dominion would refuse acknowledgement of their imprisonment.

The Fall of Richmond and Idlewind - November 3100

As payback for the destruction of the Battleship Ursa Major, Khan Kabrinski would order Taiga Galaxy and Polar Galaxies to continue their efforts into the Draconis combine, claiming worlds as retribution. On 15th of November, Taiga Galaxy's First and Third Freemen Clusters swiftly took Richmond in a bloodless conquest.

While on the 18th, the Polar Galaxy would arrive at Idlewind, where it dropped First, Third, and Fourth Kavalleri Clusters. Only defended by recently arrived First Ghosts, the option of withdrawal was remote with their DropShip being capture upon the Ghost Bears' landings. The Kavalleri would swiftly capture the city of Leeward Cove, two days after the Planetary Militia would begin probing attacks with their foot and motorized infantry units against the Clusters. Eventually the Planetary Militia and Ghost conceived a plan to try recapture the regiment's lost DropShips. In a daring plan, two companies of the Ghosts engaged the Second Kavalleri while, planetary militia's infantry would free the DropShip crews and reclaim their DropShips to escape. On December 2nd, the plan was executed, Second Kavalleri were pulled away from the Spaceport. However, after freeing their DropShip crews, they found that the Ghost's DropShips were protected by a large battle armor force. Needing to act quickly, the Ghost and the militia would resort to using Civilian Mule Class DropShips which were unguarded. They would be forced to abandon two companies of their fellow Ghosts who were soon wiped out by the Second.

Ceasefire and Aftermath

In the Dominion, the Leader of the Unity Council Jukka Heikkinen went to meet with Khan Kabrinski in early December after viewing BattleROMs of atrocities committed in the name of the Dominion on Irece. He demanded that the Dominion's expedition to the Irece Prefecture would be ended in light of the human cost in the name of the Dominion. The Khan refused and stated it would be finished when the Nova Cats were all dead. However, Heikkinen noted that KungsArmé Galaxies would likely not want to be known for being wanted for war crimes. With feeling these units battle-hardened units would turn on the Dominion, Khan Kabrinski and other military leaders agreed to halt the expedition's activities. Heikkinen would quickly announce to peace demonstration that the Clan had agreed to a halt to their military campaign. Soon after Coordinator of the Draconis Combine would agree to a temporary ceasefire so investigation into war crimes could be undertaken.

The Republic of the Sphere would join the investigation with Dominion and Combine investigators into the allegations. The Republic would dispatch a special force to assist in the investigation, which included a fleet consisting of Castrum-class Pocket WarShips that would be sent to Labrea and Irece to maintain the ceasefire between the warring sides.

The investigation would uncover that the Black Dragon Society was the primary driver behind the war. The Combine would soon find out that there were mass graves of civilian castes of the Nova Cats on Port Arthur and that the Society was involved in killing large numbers of Nova Cat civilians during the conflict. Hohiro Kurita ordered the Ryuken-go to hunt down the society's terror cells. A number of Black Society member would be captured, claiming they were trying liberate worlds for the grip of the Clans. Soon it would be discovered that despite large numbers of civilians the Ghost Bears had also been killed during the conflict, it was the Society's and ultimately the Draconis Combine's fault this conflict had happened. An armistice would be reached after a year of negotiations, which included the exchange of prisoners and ultimately relocation of civilians who did not wish to be living on occupied worlds. A number of Nova Cats would leave the Combine for the Republic of the Sphere where they found refuge from the growing dislike for them in the Combine.

The War would be officially declared over, once the treaty had been accepted by Unity Council Leader Heikkinen on November 10th, 3102.

Notes

It should be noted that the Second Combine-Dominion War is noted sometimes with different names: Second Combine-Ghost Bear War Second Combine/Ghost Bear War, and so forth. This alternate naming stems from the original Combine-Dominion War, which name in official publications varied using Combine/Ghost Bear War. The name of the war was changed to Combine-Dominion War in Era Report: 3062.

Bibliography

• BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction
• Experimental Technical Readout: Republic, Volume 1
• Field Manual: Updates
• Historical: Wars of the Republic Era