Battle of Baker 3 (3057)
Sarna News
- HEXTECH Review - Wave 3 Brings More Urban Options To Your Battlefield
- Your BattleTech News Round-Up For March, 2024
- Crashing 'Mechs With Jennifer Brozek, Author Of The Rogue Academy Trilogy
- Getting The Word Out With Rem Alternis, Catalyst Community & Marketing Director
- Bad 'Mechs - Yeoman
- Read more →
| Battle of Baker 3 (3057) | |
|---|---|
| Conflict details | |
| Part of | Refusal War |
| Start Date | 5 October 3057[1] |
| End Date | 9 October 3057[2] |
| Planet(s) | Baker 3 |
| Location(s) | Lowa continent |
| Result | Clan Wolf victory |
| Territorial Changes | Short lived civilian liberation |
| Attacking Forces | |
| Affiliation | Clan Wolf |
| Commanding Officer(s) | Khan Natasha Kerensky |
| Command(s) | 341st Assault Cluster |
| Defending Forces | |
| Affiliation | Clan Jade Falcon |
| Commanding Officer(s) | Star Colonel Collin Buhallin |
| Command(s) | 305th Assault Cluster Jade Falcon Eyrie Cluster |
| Other Forces | |
Prelude[edit]
On 5 October 3057, Khan Natasha Kerensky and saKhan Phelan Ward jumped into the Baker 3 system during the course of the Refusal War between Clan Wolf Clan Jade Falcon. From here, saKhan Ward parted ways with Khan Kerensky and headed to Morges as part of ilKhan Ulric Kerensky's plan to deal a fatal blow to the Crusader philosophy while preserving Clan Wolf.[1]
Overview[edit]
Khan Kerensky proceeded to land on the southern continent of Baker 3, Lowa, with the 341st Assault Cluster on 9 October. Taking positions in the woods bordering the Ylrebmik Ocean some 60 kilometers away from the Jade Falcon command center skirmishers were sent out to destroy the Falcon patrols. Unknown to the Falcon commander however, Khan Kerensky and Star Colonel Ramon Sender only left half the Cluster in the woods. The rest of the force and the two commanders entered the hotspring waters of Baker River and proceeded up stream towards the command center. The super-heated water helped camouflage their heat signatures. [2]
As they made their slow way upstream, Star Colonel Collin Buhallin of the Jade Falcon Eyrie Cluster, who was apparently also in command of the 305th Assault Cluster, ordered numerous patrols into the Lowa forests. Thanks to dense vegetation and the speed of the 341st's OmniMechs the Wolves were able to employ hit and run tactics to halt all progress. The ammunition dependence of the Jade Falcon OmniMechs only exacerbated the issues. As Star Colonel Buhallin grew increasingly frustrated his poured more ’Mechs and aerospace fighters into the fray, which resulted in a shockingly underdefended command center. One of these patrols were Cadets in the Eyrie Cluster which included Cadet Hansen. She watched in horror as her fellow cadets froze up in the face of the Wolf fire. Coaxing all the speed she could from her Devil BattleMech she evaded her comrades' fate, and managed three kills before being forced to quit the field.[2][3]
It was at this time that the remainder of the Wolf force broke the surface of the water just beside the command center, with their two commanders in the lead. A Falcon Kit Fox spotted their arrival and radioed a warning shortly before being speared through the cockpit by an ER PPC from Star Colonel Sender's Gargoyle A. Almost immediately after a Adder emerged from a clump of trees only to be cleaved in half by shells from the Ultra AC/20 of Khan Kerensky's Dire Wolf "Widowmaker".[2]
With the command center decapitated and the Falcon flank turned the battle quickly became a rout and the Falcons evacuated what few forces remained.[2]
Aftermath[edit]
Clan Wolf forces sustained twenty-one percent casualties, with every downed ’Mech resulting in a killed MechWarrior, attrition that would catch up to the 341st as the Refusal War continued. Losses for Clan Jade Falcon were staggering, despite starting with two full Clusters, only two Points of Elementals survived from the 305th, and only three survivors from the Eyrie. Cadet Hansen was one of those survivors, and following Khan Marthe Pryde's declaration that the battle constituted her Trial of Position she was promoted to Star Captain and helped lead the reformed Eyrie through the Jade Falcon Incursion a few months later.[2][3][4]
Quotes[edit]
| “ | I want them to come. I want all of them to feel how cold hell can be. | ” |
| — Khan Natasha Kerensky[2] | ||
Notes[edit]
Throughout Bred for War the Jade Falcon Eyrie Cluster is repeatedly referred to as the Nega Garrison Cluster. Their identity was clarified in The Falcon and the Wolf. It is unknown if this was the result of a continuity error or another example of successful obfuscation by Kael Pershaw. As Bred for War also states the 305th Assault Cluster was rotated off Baker despite The Falcon and the Wolf and Field Manual: Crusader Clans stating that unit had suffered near total destruction on Baker, a continuity error seems more likely. The Falcon and the Wolf scenario also alternates between the Jade Falcon force being both the 305th Assault Cluster and the Jade Falcon Eyrie. As later sources place both units on the losing end of this engagement this article maintains both were there, and both were nearly destroyed by the 341st Assault Cluster. Making an impressive feat even more impressive.