Battle of Huntress (3060)

Battle of Huntress
Part of Operation SERPENT
Start Date 19 February 3060 End Date 9 April 3060 Planet Huntress Result SLDF victory; Clan Smoke Jaguar annihilated
Factions
Second Star League Defense Force (SLDF)	Clan Smoke Jaguar
Commanders and leaders
General Ariana Winston (killed in action) General Andrew Redburn Colonel Charles Antonescu	ilKhan Lincoln Osis Galaxy Commander Russou Howell Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta

The Battle of Huntress was the culmination of Operation SERPENT, a mission launched by the Second Star League to destroy Clan Smoke Jaguar at its home planet. After a long journey to the Clan Homeworlds, Task Force Serpent, a multinational coalition under the command of General Ariana Winston, invaded Huntress with the intent of capturing or destroying every military asset the Clan possessed.

Smoke Jaguar forces driven from the Inner Sphere by Operation BULLDOG learned of the invasion and counter-invaded with overwhelming force. After intense fighting and heavy losses on both sides, SLDF victory was secured by the arrival of Prince Victor Steiner-Davion and Task Force Bulldog, which had accomplished its mission far ahead of schedule.

The battle marked the effective end of Clan Smoke Jaguar as an entity, with only a handful of warriors surviving. Khan Lincoln Osis fled to Strana Mechty, where he and his remaining warriors were defeated in the Great Refusal. The victory at Huntress came at great cost to the SLDF. Task Force Serpent suffered eighty percent casualties, and General Winston was killed in action.

Prelude

Covert raid on Mount Szabo

“	"All commands, this is Dancer. The word is given. Commence Operation Serpent."	”
	— General Ariana Winston

The primary threat to the invasion was an active Reagan Space Defense System at Huntress, controlled by the planet's primary command and operations center located beneath Mount Szabo, near the planetary capital Lootera. DEST teams were sent in advance of the fleet with the objective of destroying the command center, opening the way for the assault force.

On 19 February 3060, DCS Haruna jumped into the Huntress zenith point, broadcasting stolen IFF codes that identified her as the York-class Queen Lynx. Haruna detached the Stiletto, a genuine Clan Broadsword that had been captured at the Battle of Trafalgar, which was carrying the DEST teams. Haruna deployed her jump sail and, after a standard recharge cycle, jumped out-system on 26 February. Stiletto, posing as the Tracker, went unchallenged and reached Huntress on 1 March.

Using stealth drop-cocoons, including an automated cocoon holding each team's equipment, the thirty DEST commandos under Sho-sa Michael Ryan made a successful HALO drop into the Jaguar's Fangs mountain range west of Lootera at 0300 local time. Stiletto then feigned a crash landing in Dhuan Swamp and landed in the Lunar Range on the continent of Abysmal, far from where any search would be looking for her..

The DEST teams, moving slowly to avoid detection, reached their objective on 5 March, only hours before the task force was due to jump in. They gained entry by hijacking a hovertruck and posing as Smoke Jaguar technicians, and eliminated the Elementals guarding the entrance with well-placed Tsunami sniper shots. Inside, the teams split up to hit different objectives. A technician in the SDS command center triggered an alarm before he was gunned down, and with surprise lost, the DEST teams swiftly planted their explosive charges and executed the remaining technicians. A rapid response team of two Elemental Points arrived, engaging the commandos in a brief but vicious firefight that cost the DEST teams six men. The remaining twenty-four commandos escaped and the charges detonated on schedule, achieving the primary objectives of the mission.

The fleet arrives

“	"Send to all commands. Clear for battle, launch all Combat Air Patrol fighters. Message to Starlight. Starlight is to remain with and protect the transports. We're here, and no Clan buggers are going to make us leave!"	”
	— Commodore Beresick

At 06:30 local time on 5 March 3060, Task Force Serpent entered the Huntress system at the zenith point. Immediately the fleet detected contacts at 700 kilometers, initially unknown but soon identified as a flotilla of Smoke Jaguar warships: a Sovetskii Soyuz-class Cruiser and two Vincent-class Corvettes. The Invisible Truth squared off against the enemy cruiser, moving to within 400 kilometers before firing a pair of Kraken-Ts which hit but failed to penetrate. The Soyuz responded with its own Killer Whale missiles, which punched through the Truth's electronic jamming but could not penetrate her armor either. Exchanging weapons fire and closing to within 200 kilometers, Commodore Beresick set the Invisible Truth on a collision course with the enemy - correctly anticipating that his maneuvering would be taken as a personal challenge to the Clan Captain, who reciprocated. When she reached optimal range, Beresick unleashed a full salvo from his ships bow guns and broke hard to port, bringing his broadside guns into play. The rolling salvo of firepower shattered the bow armor of the enemy cruiser while the Truth shrugged off the return fire.

As the Truth attempted to reverse its turn and come about to re-engage the enemy, Rostock dove in from above to attack the enemy cruiser, though causing no great damage. Either incensed at their interference in what had been a personal duel or seeing an easy kill, the cruiser promptly rolled to bring her massive array of broadside naval weapons to bear and in a furious salvo, tore deeply into the FedCom warship's vulnerable belly. With Captain Floriano reporting most of the crew dead or wounded and their port side weapons disabled, the Rostock attempted to withdraw as the Truth tried to maneuver to come between the two ships, but the Clan WarShip refused to back down. With another salvo from its broadside weapons the Rostock was blown to pieces; a single Lifeboat with just five crew members managed to escape in time before the explosion. Unfortunately for the Clan WarShip, in turning to follow the Rostock she had left herself open for the Invisible Truth to cross her bow. Seeking to avenge the destruction of the Rostock, a furious Commodore Beresick maneuvered the Truth to unleash several punishing broadside salvos that tore deep into the Clan ship, leaving her effectively destroyed.

The two Vincent-class ships meanwhile had run around the heavyweight fight to find their own ends. The first was intercepted by the Emerald and destroyed in exchange for modest damage to the Essex-class WarShip; damage to the bridge and sensor systems were repaired in a matter of hours, though damage to the solar sail would need a few days more. The second Vincent evaded the remaining warships in an attempt to try and attack the fleet of JumpShips carrying the invasion force. She did minor damage to several vessels but was destroyed by the Starlight. Already damaged from the previous engagement at Trafalgar, the new damage stripped the Starlight of most of her port weapons bays and her Grav-deck, damage that would bode ill for her several weeks later.

Quickly regrouping, the JumpShips launched their DropShips which, escorted by the Fire Fang and Ranger, proceeded in-system towards Huntress. At a standard 1-g burn, they would arrive in seven and a half days.

The Jaguars prepare

“	"Sound the alert. Not one of those freebirth vermin will leave Huntress alive!"	”
	— Galaxy Commander Russou Howell

Although initially disbelieving of the idea that the Inner Sphere were attacking the very den of Clan Smoke Jaguar, Galaxy Commander Russou Howell soon snapped out of his shock and for the first time in a long time started to act like a Smoke Jaguar officer. On paper, he had very few tools to try and face the incoming attacks, the Huntress garrison for some time having been drained of any really useful military assets to help make up for the shocking losses at Luthien and Tukayyid. Meaning that he had little more than solahma light infantry and scant few regular troops other than newly blooded warriors waiting for a ship to take them to the Inner Sphere, something ilKhan Lincoln Osis had been quite careful to keep secret lest he risk a Trial of Possession by the Homeworld Clans.

His predecessor Benjamin Howell had however, with unusual foresight, anticipated that eventually the Inner Sphere would seek to strike back at the Clans by attacking their Homeworlds. Accordingly, he had worked to 'creatively' acquire equipment for his warriors by having Inner Sphere salvage shipped back to Huntress. Officially for 'analysis' by Smoke Jaguar scientists, it was in fact refurbished and used to equip a sizable number of his solahma warriors with BattleMechs. Along with some ancient Star League 'Mechs pulled from storage and cast off prototypes re-purposed, the two paper Galaxies garrisoning Huntress (the Watchmen Galaxy and Iron Guard Galaxy) had been transformed into a genuine fighting force. Although Benjamin Howell had later been executed for his gross violations of regulations, his actions had given the Smoke Jaguars tools to have at least a fighting chance of holding their homeworld and they mobilized accordingly. Although there was a general sense of outrage at the presumption of the Inner Sphere at daring to strike at their homeworld, among the solahma there was also an odd sense of gratitude to their attackers; that they would have their opportunity to die in glorious battle rather than waste away in old age.

HPG messages were sent to the ilKhan (and still nominally senior Smoke Jaguar Khan) Lincoln Osis as well as to Khan Marthe Pryde by the Jade Falcons from their small landholding of Falcon Eyrie. For various political reasons, neither Khan chose to inform the Grand Council immediately of the disaster.

Invasion

On the ground the planet was garrisoned by two Galaxies of troops, the Iron Guard and Watchmen, plus various training cadres and sibkos.

Each unit of the Task Force had its own assigned objectives: the Knights and the Kingston Legionaries were assigned the training bases at New Andery; the Kathil Uhlans would hit the manufacturing centers at Myer; the Lyran Guards would target the training facility at Bagera; the Northwind Highlanders would hit the factory complex north-west of Pahn City; and both the St. Ives and Drakøns were assigned the training camp on Abysmal, while the Com Guards were held in reserve. The MI6 teams were assigned to observe the Falcon Eyrie, a Clan Jade Falcon facility on Huntress which had been gifted to them by the Smoke Jaguars, and report if they came to the Jaguar's aid. Meanwhile, the Eridani Light Horse would land north-west of Lootera herself, with the 21st and 151st targeting the training facility while the 71st seized the Smoke Jaguar Genetic Repository. All told, it was expected to take less than a week to secure the planet.

The Inner Sphere regiments were split into seven major operational commands for the invasion, hitting specific targets around the planet at the same time, to prevent the Smoke Jaguars being able to concentrate a defense in any one place. In addition, several special forces deployments would hit other objectives. As they arrived in orbit on 12 March, the invasion force met some resistance from Clan fighters - which served only to cause damage to one of the Kathil Uhlan's DropShips - before deploying to attack their assigned objectives.

Eridani Light Horse

General Winston and her headquarters unit accompanied the 21st and 151st Regiments, commanded by Colonels Edwin Amis and Charles Antonescu respectively, as they made a combat drop three kilometers north-west of Mount Szabo. Their target was a large MechWarrior training facility several kilometers west of the landing zone. Defending the facility was the Galaxy Command Trinary and 12th Solahma Cluster of the Iron Guard Galaxy, along with the 44th Solahma Cluster and a Fighter Trinary of the Watchmen Galaxy. Reaching the LZ in their Drop Pods with no issue, the two ELH regiments pressed on with their attack. Although they had been briefed on intelligence that the Smoke Jaguars were shipping Inner Sphere 'Mechs back to their homeworld, the Horsemen were taken aback by the sheer number of 'Spheroid' designs their Smoke Jaguar opponents fielded. Regardless, the Light Horse regiments pressed on and succeeded in capturing the facility after taking only light casualties. The DEST teams, as per the operational plan, rendezvoused with General Winston, having evaded all search efforts in the preceding week.

The 71st Regiment under Colonel Sandra Barclay made their drop just north of the capital Lootera, with the objective of seizing the Field of Heroes and the Smoke Jaguar genetic repository. Unfortunately their combat drop was more rough and much of the unit was spread out all across the northern edge of Lootera, with some even landing within the city limits. Determined not to attack piece-meal, Colonel Barclay order the 71st to regroup and attack in force. Defending the city against them was the 44th Solahma Cluster and Galaxy Command Trinary of the Watchmen Galaxy. The 71st succeeded in their objective with relatively light casualties, sweeping aside the Jaguars in their second-line and Inner Sphere 'Mechs, with the 17th Recon Battalion capturing the repository in tact per Winston's orders. Unfortunately, before being driven off, the Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs defending the repository had bought enough time for the Elemental guards within the facility to barricade themselves, forcing the Horsemen's infantry units to clear them out room by room.

All told the Eridani Light Horse regiments had suffered light casualties by the end of the first day, securing the training facility, Lootera and its spaceport. General Winston established the Field of Heroes as the site of her army headquarters. The 21st took the heaviest equipment casualties with thirteen 'Mechs destroyed or damaged beyond repair, fifty-four 'Mechs serviceable but requiring repair, eighteen dead and thirty-nine critically wounded, mostly among the infantry. The 151st lost nine 'Mechs destroyed or beyond repair and forty-one requiring repairs, with just five dead and thirty-six wounded. The 71st took relatively light casualties among its 'Mech force - two dead and eleven wounded, with seven 'Mechs lost and fifteen requiring repairs - but lost 28% of its mechanized infantry units in the close-quarters battle with the Elementals, suffering thirty-one dead and forty-eight critically wounded.

Kathil Uhlans

The Kathil Uhlans attacked the industrial complex near the city of Myers, which was defended by the 63rd Solahma Cluster of the Watchmen Galaxy. Although the enemy put up stiff resistance, the Uhlans captured their objective with only light casualties.

Northwind Highlanders

The Northwind Highlanders' MacLeod Regiment was slated to attack the major industrial center near Pahn City, which was defended by the 48th Battle Cluster of the Watchmen Galaxy.. Among the information that Trent had provided were the radio frequencies used by the local garrison units. Taking advantage of the intelligence, Colonel William MacLeod instructed the pipers of the Highlanders on board their DropShips to start playing a constant stream of bagpipe music, specifically "Sound the Pibroch" and "The Killiecrankie," on their approach to the target. For a full hour before their arrival, the Highlanders flooded the Smoke Jaguar's frequencies with what the Clan defenders could only perceive as some kind of horrid jamming signal. Effectively for the battle, all radio communication between the defenders was cut off, limiting the Clanners to line-of-sight laser communications and hand signals only, thereby crippling their coordination.

Rather than perform a combat drop the Highlander's DropShips grounded not far from the industrial center. Forward elements of the Cluster, equipped with OmniMechs and second-line units, attacked the landing zone, only to be stunned and then enraged when they saw the Highlanders units proudly bore the markings of the Star League and the Star League Defense Force. Already on-edge from the bagpipes, the temper of Star Colonel Cara snapped and she ordered her Cluster to advance and engage the Highlanders. Her troops' rage only spiked however when they noticed that many of the Highlander BattleMechs were wearing the colors and insignia of no less a unit than the Royal Black Watch. Enraged beyond reason at the Inner Spheres' apparent mocking of the Clans' most sacred beliefs, the Smoke Jaguars all but threw themselves at the Royal Black Watch, with the Star Colonel herself battering one to destruction with her 'Mech's fists.

This of course was exactly what Colonel MacLeod had anticipated, purposefully deploying the Black Watch Company to bait the defenders so that his main force could flank around and attack the industrial center directly. Her units out of formation and so focused on coming to grips with the enemy, and with communications heavily disrupted, it proved easy for the bulk of the Highlanders to simply bypass the defenders and march on the factory complex. A chagrined Star Colonel Cara soon realized the trap she had fallen into, but struggled to try and pull her unit back, hampered by the communications jamming and most warriors being utterly fixated on the Royal Black Watch. The Star Colonel did finally manage to make contact with her second-in-command, who informed her that the Technicians at the factory wished to aid in its defense, but a furious Cara rebuked such a requested, determined that the Smoke Jaguars would win or lose only through the efforts of true warriors.

Advancing on the factory, the bulk of the Highlanders were taken aback when, in their combat debut, a unit of ProtoMechs swarmed out of the facility to engage the lead Highlanders at close range. The attack stalled as the Inner Sphere MechWarriors struggled to deal with the unknown threat, before retreating as the hurriedly returning Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs rushed to save the complex. The fighting degenerated into a free-for-all, raging for several hours in and around Pahn City, before the Highlanders allowed themselves to be pushed back. Colonel MacLeod reformed his unit and launched a fresh attack on the factory, seizing it intact and eliminating the mixed BattleMech/ProtoMech force.

The victory cost the Highlanders heavily however. Thirty of their MechWarriors were killed in action and the damage to the surviving forces was considerable. Taking advantage of the 'Mech factories present, the Highlanders quickly started to make repairs on their units and salvaged what they could, with particular attention placed to the ProtoMech factory and the lethal new weapons platform. Unfortunately, while able to salvage a number of ProtoMechs, they quickly discovered the factory equipment used to make it had been smashed and the computer databanks erased. They also soon realized, through inspection of the machines and interrogation of some captured pilots, that these new units required the use of Enhanced Imaging Neural Implants in order to operate.

2nd St. Ives Lancers and 4th Drakøns

The Second St. Ives Lancers and the Fourth Rasalhague Drakøns attacked the small training camp located on the continent Abysmal. They quickly discovered that it was not a permanent base, instead being used to house cadets temporarily for desert warfare training, and only the training staff was present. While the instructors gave a good account of themselves, they were swiftly eliminated and the base secured. The attackers suffered the fewest casualties of any other force on that first day, with four four Lancer and one Drakøn 'Mech destroyed.

Knights of the Inner Sphere and Kingston's Legionnaires

One of the toughest fights during the invasion, the Knights and Legionnaires were assigned to strike a large training camp east of the the city of New Andery. Harried only by a pair of Avar fighters that were quickly destroyed, Colonel Masters as overall commander decided to forgo a combat drop, ordering the DropShips to ground a few kilometers east of the camp. Advancing swiftly from their landing zone, the combined force rolled over the mixed Star of BattleMechs, a pair of Galahads with lighter 'Mechs, standing sentry over the base without loss. It did not take long however for the Jaguar cadets stationed there to power up their second-line 'Mechs and launch a counter-attack. All fifteen were eliminated, in exchange for nine 'Mechs knocked out beyond repair and five more forced to return to the DropShips for repairs.

The easy victory was short-lived though as the 33rd Assault Cluster of the Iron Guard Galaxy had been assigned to defend New Andry. Barely half an hour after securing the training facility, a strong Clan force was detected moving in from the west towards the Legionnaires by infantry pickets. Acting quickly, Colonel Masters ordered the Legionnaires to pull back to easily defensible positions in front of the training base, while the Knights would shift into a flanking attack through jungle so as to encircle them. The Jaguars launched their attack on the Legionnaires, using a mixed force of light OmniMechs and Elementals.

However the elegant plan ran into a major snag when a second, larger force attacked the Knight's Third Battalion defending their right flank, consisting of two Trinaries of heavy and assault-weight second-line 'Mechs. Worse, the force attacking the Capellans revealed itself to consist of front-line OmniMechs which attacked all along the Legionaries' front and pressed them hard. Detaching a company from each of his other battalions to reinforce the Third, Colonel Masters led the rest of the Knights to come to the rescue of the Capellans. As they started to emerge from the jungle, they were met by a line of ProtoMechs, a far larger deployment than the unit that had faced the Highlanders at Pahn City. Fighting their way through the new enemy, the Knights managed a linkup with the Legionnaires and fought hard, but the combination of the mobility of the ProtoMechs and harder hitting OmniMechs slowly pushed the combined force back. After four hours of fighting, the Jaguars retook the training base, but continued to push the Inner Sphere troops until they had been driven to the outskirts of New Andery itself. Both sides were exhausted by the fighting however and by unspoken mutual consent, pulled back for a time. The Knights' Third Battalion had held its ground quite successfully against the flanking force, but was pulled back to rejoin the main body lest it be cut off.

The Inner Sphere troops were in a poor tactical position. The Legionnaires had taken staggering casualties, with 68% of their force out of the fight. The Knights had fared better but not by much, with only half of their force still combat capable. A hurried discussion was undertaken as to how to deal with the unfolding disaster. Naval fire support was ruled out due to the difficulty in being able to call in accurate fire through the thick jungle conditions. The Knights flatly ruled out falling back into the city as too great a risk to non-combatants, despite Colonel Kingston's enthusiastic support for such a move, and a hot extraction via DropShips risked the Clanners overrunning them while trying to load up. In the end, the decision was made to hold their ground and call for backup. General Winston was contacted and swiftly confirmed the deployment of the the Task Forces' strategic reserve: two Level III Com Guard units from the 2nd Division.

An hour later with the Com Guard forces still en-route, the Jaguars renewed their attack before the Inner Sphere forces had been able to even reload ammunition on many of their 'Mechs, let alone make more substantive repairs. Colonel Masters, his Anvil already heavily damaged, was knocked out early in the engagement when a Hunchback IIC severed his machine's leg. The colonel survived and was making his run back to the command post when the Com Guards finally arrived. The reinforcements made a direct low-altitude combat drop on the enemy's flank or, in the case of the Second Battalion, directly on top of the enemy by mistake, resulting in savage fighting at point-blank and hand-to-hand ranges. Within forty-five minutes of the Com Guards' arrival, combined with the Knights and Legionaries's renewed attack, the Smoke Jaguars were flanked on both sides and collapsed, retreating to the south under close pursuit. Barely a Trinary of forces managed to escape the kill zone and break contact.

The ComGuards only suffered light casualties in the engagement, mostly to their infantry and tank support, and were at 80% strength after the fighting was over. However both the Knights and Legionnaires had suffered the highest casualties that day of any other Inner Sphere contingent. The Knights stood at 50% effective strength while the Legionnaires were under 30% nominal strength, although with time to repair and recuperate it would be brought up slightly to 35% strength. Hence-force, they would be shifted into a strategic reserve role.

Com Guards 3rd Battalion, 2nd Division

While the first two battalions of the ComGuards 2nd division were held in reserve and eventually committed to relieving The Knights of the Inner Sphere and Kingston's Legionnaires, the Third Battalion was assigned to attack and seize the Mount Szabo facility. This operation went off without incident, mostly due to the fact that the DEST attack had already damaged it extensively, allowing them to seize the location without much trouble.

11th Lyran Guards

The Eleventh Lyran Guard experience heavy aerospace resistance on their approach to Bagera, losing an Overlord-class DropShip after it took damage and crash-landed short of the landing zone (though only with the loss of two light 'Mechs aboard). After finally grounding at the LZ, the Eleventh barely unloaded their last 'Mech before a Supernova Trinary consisting of second-line and Inner Sphere 'Mechs mixed with Elementals appeared on the edge of the LZ and attacked. The sheer number of Sphereoid 'Mechs the Jaguars were using, including many relatively new designs, caused some confusion among the Lyrans as the Jaguars were able to quickly close the distance and mix in among their ranks. The attack was eventually pushed back, but only at the staggering loss of fifty-one of the Lyrans' one hundred and twenty 'Mechs.

Worse was to come, however. Ostensibly, Bagera was garrisoned by only the 77th Solahma Cluster of the Iron Guard Galaxy. Unknown to SLDF intelligence though, the Smoke Jaguars had recently moved a powerful unit into Bagera: freshly-blooded warriors and their instructors, all equipped with front-line OmniMechs. When the Eleventh's reconnaissance company detected a force of nearly thirty modern heavy and assault-weight OmniMechs approaching from two kilometers west of the LZ, Marshal Sharon Byres ordered her First Battalion and command company to try and hold the line. In the ensuring fight the Marshal herself was shot out of her Banshee after a heated engagement with a Cauldron Born, leaving her second-in-command, Colonel Timothy Price, to take charge temporarily. Though ejecting safely, the Marshal broke her arm and was caught up in her parachute's straps. Marshal Byres was soon rescued by a Fulcrum hovertank and, quickly determining that the Eleventh Guards were in serious danger of being routed by the furious Smoke Jaguar attack, called General Winston to request naval fire support.

In low orbit over Bagera, the Fire Fang shifted position and opened fire, launching a single gauss round and a volley from her naval PPC battery. Although the fire mission fell a hundred meters west of the aim point, the effect was nonetheless horrific. Clan BattleMechs were instantly blown to pieces and Elementals simply vaporized under the force of the strike. The few surviving Clan 'Mechs were, in the opinion of Colonel Price, looked to be not even worth use as spare parts. The shockingly brutal attack broke the back of Jaguars and the Eleventh Guards were able to mop up the remaining Clanners with little trouble.

The Eleventh, however, had taken quite a beating, suffering the highest casualties of any unit that day. A full 25% of its MechWarriors were either dead or unfit for further duty; losses were even higher among the supporting infantry and tank battalions. Half of the surviving forces were also wounded, although they were expected to recover into fighting shape. Forty of the unit's 'Mechs were also deemed non-recoverable. It would take support and repair crews some time to bring the Guards back up to about half their fighting strength.

Rabid Foxes

The MI6 teams, the Rabid Foxes, were deployed with orders to keep an eye on the only non Smoke-Jaguar Clan presence on the planet, a small Jade Falcon base known as the Falcon Eyrie located in the Eastern Mountains. Although logic suggested that the Falcons would hold themselves aloof from an attack on the Jaguars, the Davion commandos were being sent to watch over the Falcons to make sure this would stay the case. And if the Falcons did look about to step into the fight, the Rabid Foxes would either directly engage them, or, pass the word for reserve BattleMech units to come in and deal with the situation.

The mission plan involved, much like the DEST teams, a HALO jump into the vicinity of Falcon Eyrie, then a rapid move to the base and maintain eyes on it from several well-positioned observation posts. However the infamously bad weather of Huntress intervened and a storm in the target area made a HALO jump completely impossible. The alternative LZ for a HALO jump, due to the extremely rocky and mountainous terrain, was far enough away that by the time the commandos reached the objective, the initial assaults would be winding down, and the Falcons could have very well chosen to move out without anyone being the wiser. As such, Captain Roger Montjar decided that he had no choice but to risk a low altitude jump under the storm clouds, accepting the far greater risk of detection to get his troops into place quickly.

Coming in at three hundred meters above the deck, the Claymore-class DropShip Marcinko deployed the twenty-strong commando force, wearing the latest in stealth battle armor, via parafoil along with twelve drop pods stuffed with their gear: remote sensors, surveillance equipment, and the best Inner Sphere weaponry available. The commando force itself survived the drop with only one sprained ankle, but unfortunately several of their equipment canisters were smashed or simply lost, in particular the one carrying their rations. After failing to discover the missing pod, the commandos proceed on with their mission and divided into four Teams. Team Two would position themselves in an observation post directly above the Eyrie itself, with Teams One, Three and Four spreading out to form a picket line several kilometers long along the ridgeline overlooking the facility.

As it so happened, the low altitude jump was detected, both by the Jade Falcons and the Smoke Jaguars. Within the Eyrie, the approach of the Claymore had been spotted by the base's sensors, along with what was determined to be a drop-off of armored infantry. Star Captain Nikolai Icanza, who had replaced the previous commander and brought along two Stars of Elementals, had done much to bring the Eyrie into shape after the events of the previous year. He correctly surmised the purpose of the troops and determined to leave them alone so long as they reciprocated, instead choosing to alert Khan Marthe Pryde as to the evolving situation on Huntress. A pair of Smoke Jaguar scientists who had been searching for new ore veins in the mountains were less magnanimous when they stumbled upon an MI6 observation point. One of them, a Warrior caste dropout, correctly recognized that no Clan unit would be sneaking around in this fashion spying on the Falcons and that no band of bandits could possibly have access to stealth-capable battle armor. Returning to Lootera, the two contacted Elemental Star Captain Tullain to report their findings. Determining to attack the Inner Sphere commandos from behind, the Star Captain lead two Points of Elementals into the mountains.

The two Points were detected approaching Team Two's position, under the command of Sergeant Henry Kramer. Coming up from the south-east and clearly on a direct approach to their location, the Sergeant decided to abandon the position and try to lead the Elementals away from the other commandos. Sending one of his men to alert Captain Montjar, as he did not want to risk a radio transmission and had no line of sight for a laser transmission, he destroyed the surveillance equipment and led his three remaining commandos away from the area, being careful to leave a distinct enough trail for the Elementals to follow.

Several hours of distance later the Elementals were in close pursuit. Although not able to detect the stealth armor directly, the Smoke Jaguars proved surprisingly adept at following the trail, closing the distance steadily. Having only limited heavy weapons and outnumbered, the Commandos decided to try and fight it out. Mining a small defile with the last of their anti-personal directional mines, they set down and waited. The Elementals soon enough entered the prepared kill zone and, when a full Point of the Clan troops were in position, the commandos launched their ambush. Using his Thunderstroke Gauss Rifle Sergeant Kramer killed the Point Commander, while the rest of the unit was taken out with a mixture of gauss and SRM rounds, though at the loss of Privates Santone and Mitts. The second Point had the rather more horrific fate of being hit by a number of Inferno warheads and slowly burned to death in their suits. Sergeant Krammer and Private Daltezza continued to head west, away from the Eyrie, with a plan to link up with friendly forces once they were clear and could be sure any pursuit was being drawn away from the remaining commandos.

The Spirit Cats

The nekakami assigned to the task force, answering directly and only to General Winston after the death of Morgan, had been assigned to hit the Smoke Jaguars backup command center to the Mount Szabo facility, in Lootera. Per her wishes to minimize the destructive impact on the generally civilian area, the Spirt Cats were highly selective in their destruction, destroying key equipment to render the facility useless rather than simply obliterating the entire facility. The attack would raise some eyebrows in the task force, as no known Inner Sphere units had been tasked with the attack or were operating in that area. No trace of the attackers or hint at who might have done it would be found by scouts sent in to investigate.

General Order 01051

“	"Pursuant to General Order, number TFS oh-one-oh-five-one, upon completion of the initial assault on the planet Huntress, the units comprising Task Force Serpent are to take every measure possible to eliminate the war-making ability of Clan Smoke Jaguar. To this end, the units of Task Force Serpent are to destroy all barracks, 'Mech hangars, fighter bays, command, communication, and control centers, and military repair facilities. Likewise, all factories, warehouses, armories, shipyards, and any other facility or installation that may be used for the construction of war materiel, or the storage, or transport of the same, must be destroyed or rendered unusable by Clan Smoke Jaguar. Such stores of weapons, ammunition, spare parts, food, and other military supplies, as well as those military assets that can be captured intact and transferred off planet by the units of Task Force Serpent should be secured by the units of Task Force Serpent and protected from deliberate sabotage by the forces of Clan Smoke Jaguar. The commander of Task Force Serpent is charged with the initial disposition of all captured materiel. All combat losses not provided for by a unit's Table of Organization and Equipment will be made up out of captured materiel wherever possible. All other captured materiel will be shipped for transport back to the Inner Sphere, where it will be disposed of by Star League Defense Force command. Such captured materiel that cannot be used by the units of Task Force Serpent and that cannot be shipped for transport back to the Inner Sphere is to be likewise destroyed".	”
	— Ariana Winston

Initial planning had been based around an expected one-week time-frame to engage and destroy the garrison forces. In actual fact the Inner Sphere had done what had been considered previously unthinkable; seizing a Clan homeworld in less then a day. With the planet relatively secure, on the morning of 13 March, General Winston called all the unit commanders (minus Captain Montjar still watching over the Falcons) for a conference to give the most contentious order of the task force. General Order 01051 was key to the entire purpose of Serpent; to help bring home the horrors of war, that it was no game or 'trial', to the Clans. And that they would not respect the artificial box the Clans had developed to let their warrior caste 'play' at war if they continued their invasion. To that end, all military equipment and all military-industrial facilities, right down to the monuments glorifying the warrior caste, were to be destroyed, removed as if they had never existed, leaving the planet unable to support any Clan war machine.

It was a contentious order, to put it mildly. Centuries of cultural inertia after the horrors of the First and Second Succession Wars had ensured a strict series of campaign rules were followed by all parties in the Inner Sphere. Known colloquially as the Honors of War and loosely based on the ancient Ares Conventions, it ensured that soldiers generally fought soldiers and at least tried to avoid damaging both civilian and military-industrial infrastructure - especially Lostech such as key factories or JumpShips. The direct orders to do the exact opposite did not sit at all well with some of the sub-unit commanders. After reading out the order, Colonel Sir Paul Masters almost at once formally asked General Winston to reconsider issuing the order, citing his fear that they would lose control of their troops in the massive destruction that would be needed to accomplish it, resulting in major civilian casualties. Or, if the troops followed their orders under protest, that they would become resentful of doing so and discipline and order would start to break down.

Almost at once, a shouting match broke out between two camps both for and against the orders. Rapidly exhausting her patience, General Winston drew her sidearm and fired a single shot into the air, bringing an abrupt end to the dispute and forcefully laying down the law. She pointed out that every House Lord in the Inner Sphere, plus ComStar, had signed off on Task Force Serpent, agreeing on its purpose and mission well before it had left the Inner Sphere and the time for debating them was long past. She also asserted forcefully that this order would be directed at things; facilities and equipment, not at people. Irrespective of caste, be it warrior of otherwise, no-one would be harmed, but that her orders would be carried out or they would be relieved.

Obeying with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Colonel Masters dire predictions thankfully did not come to pass. The professional soldiers followed their orders without taking any retribution against the civilians and, indeed, going out of their way to allow the Clan lower castes (who saw themselves as effectively isorla) to assist with logistical and salvage efforts. The sheer scale of destruction needed quickly exhausted most supplies of demolitions gear and those salvaged from the Clan stockpiles, so soon enough BattleMechs mounting energy weapons, and infantrymen wielding sledgehammers and cutting torches, were ordered to assist in the destructive work. Although many MechWarriors protested these orders, it was less over having moral objections to the work and more that they saw it as below their station to be used as 'wrecking balls'. Nonetheless, the demolition work proceeded relatively smoothly. It was hoped that the Inner Sphere troops could finish up their work in a matter of weeks, then evacuate the planet and return to the Inner Sphere.

Guerrilla Warfare

Though Task Force Serpent had succeeded in taking the planet and begun the operation of stripping Huntress, it was not the end of combat, as a significant number of Smoke Jaguar officers could not be accounted for after the first day of fighting. Highest on this list was Galaxy Commander Howell, who was able to rally roughly three Trinaries of BattleMech and Elemental Points and fade into the vast wilderness of the Black Shikari Jungle, with which the Jaguars were much more familiar. However, with food and supplies running low, the Smoke Jaguars launched a raid on the Northwind Highlanders' base at the Pahn City factory complex in the early hours of 15 March. In a highly un-Clan-like fashion, the Smoke Jaguars launched a diversionary attack on the Highlanders' DropShip landing zone, using one Trinary with orders to act as though they were a larger force. Reacting to conventional military wisdom to protect the transports at all costs, Colonel MacLeod ordered nearly the entire regiment to their defense, leaving a single company behind to defend the factory complex. Its defenses denuded, the rest of the Smoke Jaguar force attacked the factory complex, pushing back the defenders whilst Elementals, dismounted MechWarriors and others seized loaded hovertrucks and grabbed as much as they could before retreating back into the jungle. The attack on the factory a success, the diversionary force retreated as well.

Few loses had been suffered by either side, but the Jaguar's success in taking enough supplies to last them a month was an embarrassing defeat for Colonel MacLeod. When informed about the raid, the change in Smoke Jaguar tactics deeply concerned General Winston: the Inner Sphere was so used to the Clans fighting in straight-up, set piece battles under the terms of zellbrigen that for them to adopt such unconventional methods bespoke future problems. She ordered all units to tighten security around their bases of operation and add additional combat patrols to their current operations to locate and neutralize remaining Smoke Jaguar forces.

However, the operation was about to take a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse.

Smoke Jaguar Reinforcements

The Jaguar flees the Bulldog

“

"You make light of this threat, Vlad!"

”

“	"I do not, ilKhan, but I do not see the Smoke Jaguars as being the soul of the Clans. The Inner Sphere may destroy the Smoke Jaguars, but the Clans are eternal. We shall survive your misjudgment and malfeasance whether or not you do. Your only hope of survival is if your plan to repel this attack works. If it does not, a new ilKhan will go back into your invasion corridor and do things right this time."	”
	— ilKhan Lincoln Osis and Khan Vlad Ward

Concurrent to Operation SERPENT, Operation BULLDOG had run wild through the Clan Occupation zone. Strategic modeling had predicted, conservatively, that it would take several years to achieve their goals; the recapture of all Jaguar held worlds and elimination of all Jaguar forces. The strategic modeling however had underestimated or missed several key factors. Primarily that the Jaguars were blindly convinced the Inner Sphere simply didn't have the capacity to launch a massive counter attack on one hand and could (and would) be caught asleep. And the extreme enthusiasm of the DCMS to, as Khan Phelen Kell put it, 'Kick the Jaguars in the teeth'. Much as in the Fourth Succession War where the AFFS simply smothered the CCAF with staggered waves of crack troops, the Star League swarmed into the Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone and in the first two waves, seized an incredible thirty-two worlds from both the Smoke Jaguars and Clan Nova Cat, the latter of whom had secretly decided to switch sides and defect to the Star League.

Initially reluctant to go to the Grand Council, as the sheer size of the offensive became clear ilKhan Lincoln Osis was eventually forced to do so. He attempted to use the power of his office to 'invite' the Home Clans into the Inner Sphere, planning to have them strike into the Combine's rimward border and take pressure off his Clan, but quite rapidly Khans Vlad Ward and Marthe Pryde shut down this possibility. Having planned to depose the current ilKhan for some time, they were perfectly happy to take the opportunity to politically discredit him; pointing out that despite being the Khan of Khans, he still was acting like a Smoke Jaguar Khan and placing their interests ahead of the Clans as a whole. That he had failed to report on the attacks for over six weeks, then only reported in an attempt to use other Clans as reserve troops to solve a problem of his Clan. In no uncertain terms, Osis was told to either resign as ilKhan, or go and solve the problem on his own, because it clearly was not a problem that warranted other Clans getting involved. The Inner Sphere was attacking the Smoke Jaguars, this was their problem and theirs alone.

Furious, but without any other recourse, Osis had little choice but to try to fight the war with what he had. A counter-offensive was launched against five Combine border worlds, bypassing worlds just taken by the SLDF in the hope of blasting deep into the Combine, forcing the Inner Sphere to break off the attack and chase after them. Unfortunately for the Smoke Jaguars, this was not 3050 and the worlds had been preparing for Clan invasion for the best part of a decade. Almost immediately the counter-offensive bogged down on highly defended worlds, then was slammed by Bulldogs strategic reserve landing on them. Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta herself barely escaped Matamoras as a fleet of Inner Sphere warships chased her forces right to the jump point.

At this point, the ilKhan swallowed his pride and gave the order in August 3059 for all Jaguar forces in the Inner Sphere to retreat to Huntress, where they could consolidate and rebuild. The commanders of Operation BULLDOG, Precentor-Martial Anastasius Focht and Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, were stunned at the Jaguars' unexpected retreat, having anticipated them to fight to the last to hold their conquests. However they soon realized the bigger danger: Task Force Serpent had left the edge of the Inner Sphere months earlier and was out of communications range. Meaning they would arrive at Huntress shortly before or shortly after the Clan's Inner Sphere forces did. And, instead of a lightly defended world, they would face all that was left of the Smoke Jaguars.

Pulling together a crack team of SLDF units from the entire SLDF, a second task force started to pursue the Jaguars up the Exodus Road, but despite all efforts the Jaguars would reach their homeworld first.

The ilKhan asks for aid

“	Now is the time to act in concert. If we do not destroy this blight, this outrage, it will turn to devour more of the homeworlds when it has finished with Huntress. You must lend me your strength. Give me whatever military assets you can spare. Your personal guards, your training cadres — it matters not to me. Only lend me your strength, and I will crash these barbarians into dust. Then, there will be honor to spare for all of the Clans.	”
	— ilKhan Lincoln Osis

“	This seems to be a matter between the Inner Sphere and the Smoke Jaguars, and only the Smoke Jaguars. Let the rest of the Clans not insert ourselves in this matter, but allow the Smoke Jaguars the honor of defending their own homeworld. If they triumph, as I am certain they will,then all the more honor to them. If the unthinkable happens, if Huntress falls to the forces of the Inner Sphere, then perhaps Lincoln Osis is not fit to be the ilKhan of the Clans after all.	”
	— Khan Bjorn Jorgensson

While being forced to withdraw from Inner Sphere was humiliating enough, far worse news arrived for the Khan later in 3060. For the second time, Lincoln Osis was forced to go before the Grand Council, to report the unprecedented and seemingly impossible news that Clan Space had been invaded by the Inner Sphere, a fact confirmed by Marthe Pryde with her own report from Huntress. Again the ilKhan asked for aid from the other Clans, feeling sure that the far more immediate threat would surely gain him support, but again he was thwarted. The smaller, less powerful Clans suddenly became very aware with the reality of the Inner Sphere invasion right on their doorstep, that any assistance to the Smoke Jaguars might make them the next target. Other Clans, not realizing just how weak the Huntress garrison was as a result of deliberate efforts by the Smoke Jaguars to obfuscate that fact, were contemptuous of the idea that the Jaguars even needed help to defend their holdings. And yet others saw the Inner Sphere's total focus on the Smoke Jaguars defining this as a matter purely between them and the Jaguars, making it a 'trial' between them and of no consequence to the other Clans.

A vote was called by Loremaster Kael Pershaw on if the Clans should send aid to Huntress; as the Clan in question, the Smoke Jaguars did not vote. One by one, the votes were cast. One by one, thirty death knells were sounded for Clan Smoke Jaguar. The entire Grand Council, every Khan of the Clans, had voted against sending any aid to Huntress.

Storming out, Lincoln Osis determined that thus, the Jaguars would save their own homeworld. However he found that he had very few remaining assets uncommitted. He knew that a Galaxy-sized unit made up of his Inner Sphere forces were close, but otherwise had only the Streaking Mist, his command ship, as well as the personal Keshiks of himself and his saKhan, Brandon Howell, albeit the very best warriors he had with the finest equipment. He was also able to scrap together a few other forces; on Strana Mechty were a number of older (but not yet solahma) Smoke Jaguar warriors serving as liaison officers, support officers and so on. Twenty-three of them jumped at the chance to get back into a 'Mech and fight off the barbarian invasion. For their courage the ilKhan named their ad-hoc unit The Jaguar's Heart. All told, Lincoln Osis was able to pull together roughly two short Clusters to lead into battle. This constituted, when combined with the refugees racing to Huntress from the Inner Sphere, the totality of the remaining touman of the Smoke Jaguar Clan.

The Jaguars' Inner Sphere troops arrive

“	"Very well, Star Colonel. You are given command of the counter invasion. Plan it well, Paul Moon. You are to attack the enemy wherever he gathers. You are to destroy the invaders to the last man and the last machine. Not one of those cursed freebirth vermin who have dared to foul the soil of Huntress is to survive. I want them all dead! I want their leaders' heads brought to me on pikes! I want their bodies burned and their ashes scattered to the four winds! I want them and their seed wiped out of the universe forever!"	”
	— Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta to Star Colonel Paul Moon

During the nine-month journey back to Clan Space, Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta, the senior surviving officer from the Inner Sphere, managed to pull her troops together into a single, coherent combat-ready weapon. A mixture of front-line, second-line and Provisional Garrison troops from many different units, with some effort they were nevertheless reorganized into a new Provisional Galaxy with Trials of Position held during recharge stops to appoint new officers. Though classified as a Galaxy, the provisional formation was closer in strength to two Galaxies with nearly 340 'Mech and Elemental Points (though with less than fifty fighters for aerospace support). When the journey was over, Galaxy Commander Mehta believed them ready to return to the Inner Sphere and mete out just revenge on the false Star League. But barely had she started to report in to the ilKhan upon arriving in Clan Space when she was given curt news of the arrival of Task Force Serpent and ordered to proceed to Huntress with all speed to liberate their homeworld.

Hang Mehta obeyed despite not believing the possibility that the Inner Sphere barbarians could have taken Huntress. To her shock, when her fleet jumped into the Huntress system on the 19 March 3060, she was confronted with a fleet of Inner Sphere starships holding station at the zenith point, and intercepted communications between them and Huntress confirmed Inner Sphere forces on the planet's surface. Her homeworld had indeed been taken.

Furious, Hang Mehta ordered all DropShips carrying her Provisional Galaxy to detach at once and make a high-g burn for Huntress, while ordering the three warships in her fleet, the Liberator-class cruiser Korat and two Vincent-class corvettes, the Ripper and Azov, to destroy the Inner Sphere fleet. She remained with her fleet long enough to see the initial start of the naval action, and give orders to the Ripper to capture if possible the enemy's Kyushu-class frigate for later study, then launched with her remaining ground forces for Huntress, leaving Star Commodore Clarinda Stiles in command of the fleet. Though still in command, her previous injuries precluded her participation in the expected fighting once they reached Huntress, and so as the next most experienced commander Star Colonel Paul Moon would be given the honor of leading the ground assault.

On board the Invisible Truth, Commodore Alain Beresick swung into action and issued what orders he could to get the fleet ready for this surprise attack. The fleet's fighter CAP was quickly augmented by the "ready-fives" aboard the Truth, Antrim and Ranger launching; just fifteen minutes after the Smoke Jaguar's arrival leading elements of both forces' fighters were already engaged with each other. All Task Force JumpShips along with their DropShip escorts were ordered to retreat to a predetermined deep-space rally point, there to await further communication from Commodore Beresick or, following a seventy-two hour period, proceed under the command of the senior naval officer. The Invisible Truth, Starlight, Emerald and Fire Fang would engage the enemy's WarShips while the Antrim, Ranger and Haruna were to hang back and wait until they could detect a way to slip past and directly engage the enemy's five JumpShips. The Smoke Jaguar transports were to be crippled and boarded, leaving the option of destroying them a last resort only if it looked like they might flee through hyperspace.

Soon the battle was joined, with the Truth moving to intercept the Korat while the accompanying escorts engaged each other. Though they had been blessed with good fortune thus far during the operation, luck soon ran out for the Task Force WarShips. The cumulative damage of the successive engagements at Trafalgar and their initial invasion of the Huntress system had left several ships with little more than hull patches where armor plating used to be, while the Jaguar ships were fresh and burning with an almost suicidal rage. The lead corvette, the Azov, got into a close range slugging match with the Starlight and Emerald. Maneuvering hard despite being brutally handled and receiving punishing fire from the two larger WarShips, the Azov managed to slip between the two and encouraged the Emerald to turn in pursuit, exposing her port side to the Ripper closing in on the engagement. A flurry of Naval Autocannon fire from the Ripper tore through the already badly damaged arc and caused massive damage to the Essex-class destroyer, putting her out of the fight.

In revenge, the Starlight, still engaged with Azov, poured a full salvo of fire into the smaller ship's damaged stern and punched through to her magazines, the internal explosions tearing the smaller ship to pieces. The remaining two WarShips then rounded on each other, but in a tragic set of circumstances, the Starlight destroyed the Ripper's engines at the same time the Ripper's return fire punched through a weakened section of the destroyer to knock out helm and engine control on the larger ship. Helpless victims of their inertia, the two ships slammed into each other. His ship's prow embedded in the enemy corvette, Captain Stan O'Malley aboard the Starlight tried to save his crew by ordering them to abandon ship, but before it could be sent out both vessels were obliterated in a massive explosion.

While the attention of the Invisible Truth crew was locked on the horrific spectacle of the collision, the Korat closed range and threw a running broadside across the her bow, the battlecruiser's thick armor barely holding against the salvo. Quickly, Beresick turned in pursuit. For fifteen minutes the two ships had been locked in a close-range slugging match as they struggled to bring their broadside guns into play, spiraling around each other at point blank range. The Invisible Truth had managed only two broadsides to the Korat's three, but its heavier armor still held. After another round of brutal maneuvering that strained the ship's ancient engines and bled off enough inertial gravity to make the crew "float", the Truth gave its starboard broadside a clear shot on the Korat and unleashed punishing fire that smashed its aft starboard quarter. The Korat as well was able to unleash its own broadside that damaged the Truth but could not match it in sheer firepower.

Both ships had suffered extensive damage to their starboard sides, and the damage control officer aboard the Truth recommended to Commodore Beresick that they break off to make repairs, but when the Korat rolled to present its undamaged port side he ordered the Truth to match their maneuver, looking set to start the engagement all over again. Seeking to gain an edge, the Korat made a desperate turn to try and slide under the ComStar ship's stern, slipping past the WarShip with only a few kilometers to spare and unleashing another broadside on the vessel. Star Commodore Stiles believed one more broadside would finish her off, but at that point the Fire Fang suddenly cut into their dance. Having maneuvered to have a clean shot at the Korat's wrecked starboard side, the former Ghost Bear WarShip mercilessly tore into the Clan cruiser, causing massive internal damage. Backhanding a bridge officer who begged her to surrender, Star Commodore Stiles insisted on taking at least one enemy ship with her and tried to continue the fight. In response, the Invisible Truth and Fire Fang fired a concentrated salvo that gutted her from bow to stern, leaving her a burning hulk.

Across the rest of the battlespace, Antrim was detailed to run down the Clan DropShips burning for Huntress but failed to stop them, in the process taking heavy damage which could not be repaired in the field. Ranger had also suffered damage but was still battle-worthy. The Invisible Truth however had taken a fearsome beating that left her armor in tatters and her starboard side heavily damaged. The Starlight was lost with all hands and the Emerald, afire and with 95% hull integrity lost, would need two months in a drydock to be repaired. The Invisible Truth's DropShips Honor and Integrity was dispatched to recover the ship's survivors. Of the five Clan Jumpships, Ranger reported two captured and one destroyed, but the other two, presumably equipped with Lithium-Fusion Batteries, jumped out before they could be taken, apparently to go and get help.

Tracking the DropShips burning for Huntress, Commodore Beresick sent a warning to General Winston that a great many furious Smoke Jaguar warriors were on their way.

Counter-Invasion

“	This is no batchall. I am Trueborn of the Smoke Jaguars. You are nothing but an Inner Sphere freebirth. Between us there can be no batchall. You and your filthy lucrewarriors would never bargain honestly, nor honor the batchall once it was done. No, General, this is merely a challenge. Come and meet me strength to strength on the plain west of Lootera. It is fitting, do you not think, that you will die fighting on the very soil you have dared profane with your presence? At least you will have the cold comfort of knowing that your bones will be buried in a place far too good for them. I, on the other hand, will have the glory of destroying you and your surats in the shadow of Mount Szabo and the great stone Jaguar of my Clan.	”
	— Star Colonel Paul Moon challenging General Winston

General Winston received Beresick's warning, along with information regarding the size of the incoming invasion force thanks to interrogated Clan survivors of the fleet battle. Unfortunately, the DEST team had done too good of a job destroying Mount Szabo's C³ capabilities. Despite the technicians' best efforts, Huntress' sensor net was too damaged to track the incoming DropShips - being limited to detecting only the tachyon burst generated by a hyperspace jump or objects fighter-sized and larger entering the planet's atmosphere - and so incapable of targeting them with the SDS' weaponry. The renewed battle for control of Huntress would have to take place on the ground.

While the Smoke Jaguar reinforcements were on the way to the planet, Ariana Winston regrouped and consolidated her troops into two main field armies. The Eridani Light Horse, the Com Guards and the St. Ives Lancers were concentrated at Lootera, and dubbed the 'North-Group'. General Redburn was given command of the 'South-Group' stationed at Osis Lake at the southwest corner of the continent. This group consisted of the First Kathil Uhlans, the Knights of the Inner Sphere and the Northwind Highlanders. The damaged Lyran Guard and Kingston's Legionnaires along with the Drakøn were hidden in the Lunar mountains on the continent Abysmal as a reserve force, with their DropShips able to reinforce either army if needed. Ariana also recalled the nekakami team to Lootera, where she made contact in person with Kasugai Hatsumi, the team's leader.

On 26 March, two weeks after the SLDF invasion force had landed, the Smoke Jaguars' Provisional Galaxy reached Huntress. After their DropShips were detected entering the atmosphere, General Winston ordered the Eridani Light Horse's aerospace fighters to engage, though units with a ground-attack role were held in reserve. Having come through the initial invasion relatively unscathed, the Horsemen's fighters put up stiff resistance and managed to shoot down a few DropShips, but most were able to bull their way through the blockade. Unfortunately for the Provisional Galaxy, their aerospace fighters were practically destroyed on the approach to the planet, weakening their ability to conduct air strikes or reconnaissance later in the battle. The Horsemen fighters would themselves withdraw to the continent Abysmal to await further orders. As the rest of the Clan DropShips approached, General Winson was contacted by Star Colonel Paul Moon, who challenged her to meet him on the plains west of Lootera, a challenge she was all too happy to accept. Meanwhile the other part of the arriving Smoke Jaguar force would engage the southern group in the Dhuan Mountains.

Suddenly at 1328 hours the Invisible Truth detected a large energy signature in at a Pirate Point practically on top on Huntress and determined it to be a large Clan WarShip. However, despite the time they had spent in system mapping the region, the Invisible Truth did not itself have enough data to make use of the same pirate point, forcing Commodore Beresick to send a radio warning to General Winston and order the ship make haste towards the planet under normal propulsion.

The ship in question was none other than the Streaking Mist, carrying ilKhan Lincoln Osis and his personal bodyguards, along with the Jaguar's Den and Shroud Keshik command Trinaries, and the ad hoc Jaguar's Heart. Though in perfect position to raze the planet with his WarShip in orbit, ilKhan Osis had no desire to reduce the Smoke Jaguar's homeworld to ash the same way the Smoke Jaguars had done to Turtle Bay. Instead the Inner Sphere forces polluting its soil would have to be rooted out the hard way, and the Streaking Mist would only provide supporting fire as needed. From orbit the Steaking Mist detected fighting between the Smoke Jaguars and the southern group still ongoing, while in the north the initial attack had run its course. The ilKhan ordered the Shroud Keshik and Jaguar's Heart to reinforce the fight in the south, while the Jaguar's Den would help secure Lootera. The Eridani Light Horse fighters again attempted to prevent the landing of these reinforcements, but to no effect, being beaten off by the savagery of the Smoke Jaguar's fighter escorts.

Northern Army Group

The designated battlefield was a scattering of low rolling hills and clumps of scrubby trees, sandwiched between the city and the Jaguar's Fangs mountain range. Fully expecting an enraged charge by the Smoke Jaguars, General Winston prepared her forces accordingly. On the main battle-line running west to east, the Com Guards held the center, supported by the 21st Striker Regiment on their right flank and the St. Ives Lancers on their left. The Horsemen's other two regiments were put in reserve a kilometer behind them, the 151st on the eastern and the 71st on the western flank, ready to either reinforce the main battle line or to swing past and envelop the enemy's flanks. Between the two reserve units was the key to the engagement: the Horsemen's extensive artillery assets. All wounded personnel were moved into the Smoke Jaguar genetic repository, a location that the Clan wouldn't dare to attack directly, and the DEST teams were ordered to occupy the Mount Szabo facility and defend it against recapture.

Star Colonel Paul Moon landed south of the battlefield with Alpha and Bravo Clusters, comprising 96 'Mechs and supporting Elementals. Moon was highly contemptuous of most of the troops facing him — with the exception of the Com Guards whom he had encountered on Maldonado — and elected to take the Inner Sphere forces head on. Alpha Cluster, made up of survivors from front-line Clusters, would smash directly into the centerline of the enemy, while Bravo would then follow up to engage the reserves. Moon trusted in his force's fury and firepower to carry the day.

The order to attack was given as soon as visual contact was made, and both Clusters began their charge across the open ground towards the SLDF. With the Smoke Jaguars closing in, the artillery opened up. Their first two salvos were not heavy ordnance, but a type of advanced Smoke Shell. Each shell released a mixture of traditional white phosphorous and six artillery-dispersed jamming pods, a combination that clouded both the Jaguars' vision and their advanced sensor systems, denying them the advantage of their extended weapons ranges. The next salvos however were not smoke rounds, but Improved Conventional Munitions that saturated the Jaguar formation with airbursts of armor-piercing bomblets. Their effect on the Jaguar 'Mechs varied, but they proved to be incredibly deadly to the Elementals riding them. Paul Moon himself was struck on the back of his right shoulder by a submunition, which punched straight through his body and blew him clear of the 'Mech he was riding.

Enraged by such a "cowardly" attack, the Jaguar MechWarriors charged straight into the main SLDF battleline, literally running over some Inner Sphere 'Mechs, and engaged in close-quarters combat. The Jaguars managed to partially breach the line at several points, but these were quickly closed up. General Winston soon realized the Jaguars were preparing a second attack wave, but the enemy was assembling too close to her own forces for her artillery to continue its attack. She ordered the reserves into the fight. The 71st and 151st succeeded in flanking and breaking up the second wave before it could attack, forcing the Smoke Jaguars to retreat from the battle. Paul Moon, badly-wounded yet still alive, was captured by mop-up forces searching the battlefield for survivors.

Although the enemy had been driven from the field, General Winston's forces had also taken a heavy beating and were nearly down to half-strength. The St. Ives Lancers and 6th Recon Battalion pursued the retreating enemy force south in hopes of scoring easy kills. However at the Black Shakiri River, a competent rear-guard action allowed the Smoke Jaguars to disengage in good order and retreat across the river. As night settled in, General Winston ordered her surviving units to pull back to defensive positions around Lootera, leaving the previous day's battlefield to be illuminated by burning wreckage and unchecked wildfires.

With Paul Moon gone, Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta took command of the northern Smoke Jaguar force and attacked the Inner Sphere position again, this time without any grandiose challenges. In the early hours of 27 March, Hang Mehta led her forces towards Lootera, eliminating a number of scout hovertanks that had detected their approach. General Winston immediately deployed the Eridani Light Horse to form a battle line south of the city. The Com Guards were ordered to garrison the spaceport and raze it to the ground if it looked like the city might fall. The St. Ives Lancers, reduced to just twenty-four 'Mechs and a handful of infantry, took up position in the Field of Heroes to defend the wounded and support personnel and to act as a tactical reserve.

However, the expected attack never came, and all contact was lost with the Smoke Jaguars. Rather than continue in a head-on attack, Hang Mehta made the unClanlike decision to swing back south, cross the river, make a forced march in a swooping arc, and cross the river again east of the city. Instead of charging into the teeth of the waiting Horsemen, the Smoke Jaguars slammed into the Com Guards. With most of her force committed to seizing the Mount Szabo command center and the genetic repository, Mehta detached a Trinary of her fastest light and medium 'Mechs to attack the Field of Heroes.

Caught off-guard by the Smoke Jaguar maneuver, General Winston ordered the 151st to reinforce the Com Guards while the 21st wheeled right to strike the enemy's flanks, leaving the 71st overextended to cover the main battle line. The opposing forces fought hard in the darkness, with the Jaguars steadily pushing the Com Guards out of the spaceport toward the southwest corner of Lootera. The Com Guards dug in and, reinforced by the 151st, halted the Smoke Jaguar advance. When the 71st hit them in the flanks, the Jaguars' main force was driven northwards out of the spaceport.

The Trinary detached to take the Field of Heroes had engaged with the St. Ives Lancers, who had successfully kept the Field out of enemy hands. But as Mehta's main force retreated, it slammed directly into the Lancers' flank. Suddenly finding themselves outflanked by the Smoke Jaguar Galaxy, the Lancers broke and ran in a panic, triggering a general rout of the entire army. The Com Guards attempted an orderly withdrawal, but the urban streets prevented them from holding formation, and they broke and fled as well.

The Jaguars began to pursue, eager to chase the enemy through the night and kill them all, but the Galaxy Commander hesitated. Ironically, because she had been burned so many times by Inner Sphere troops luring Smoke Jaguar troops into ambushes or traps, she could not be confident that this retreat was genuine and not simply bait to lure her troops into another trap. Reluctantly, she decided to safeguard the victory they had earned and allowed the Inner Sphere troops to retire as she set about restoring Smoke Jaguar control of the city.

An hour after the attack had begun, the Inner Sphere forces started to arrive at the designated rally point northwest of Lootera. The Eridani Light Horse were relatively intact, though the Com Guards were still streaming in, and the Lancers, being scattered to the winds, would take some time to regroup. However, many of the wounded — both Inner Sphere and Clan — were still at the field hospital inside the Jaguars' genetic repository, along with the medical teams looking after them. General Winston hurried her command company back towards the Field of Heroes to evacuate the wounded before the Jaguars got to them. She was surprised to find the DEST teams still in position, defending the wounded in accord with her orders, and ordered them to withdraw to the rally point. When Winston ordered a general evacuation of all the wounded, the Horsemen's chief surgeon Dr. Fuehl persuaded her that the most severely injured couldn't be moved. After evacuating those able to move, Winston reluctantly left the rest in the care of Fuehl, the brigade's chaplain Captain D.C. Stockdale, and a few medics. The Clan wounded were left behind as well, both because the Jaguars could take care of them, and also to avoid draining the task force's limited medical resources.

After the general and her command company rejoined the rest of the northern army, it moved steadily westwards, repulsing another Jaguar assault, after which both sides withdrew. The northern army set up a defensible bivouac in the foothills of the Jaguar's Fangs, and Winston sent out hovertanks to scout for Jaguar activity. At around 0300 on 28 March, one of them located a large Jaguar army only eleven kilometers away to the northeast, settling in for the night in an abandoned metal processing facility. The numbers were grim: 150 'Mechs and over 100 Elementals, including the Jaguar's Den Command Trinary, the personal unit of ilKhan Lincoln Osis. Half of the units were in pristine condition, and repairs were underwayon the rest, with more heavily damaged 'Mechs junked and stripped for parts to repair others, and ballistic weapons swapped out in favor of energy weapons, an indication that the Clan force was running low on supplies.

General Winston decided to gamble and ordered a quick raid in force, hoping to catch the enemy unprepared before sunrise. With the 151st deployed as a screening force to the south, the 21st and Com Guards would lead the attack on the Smoke Jaguars. The 71st would be deployed in the rear to act as a tactical reserve or rearguard as needed, while the St. Ives Lancers defended the encampment. Unfortunately for her, the ilKhan had anticipated the possibility of a night raid and placed scout units to detect attacks at a distance. The scouts picked up the incoming SLDF forces still a kilometer away from the facility and sounded the alarm, providing plenty of time for the Jaguars to launch a counter-attack. The battle became a straight-up slugging match where the Jaguars took full advantage of their weapons' superior ranges, and they easily repelled the assault.

The battle resulted in the capture of Colonel Edwin Amis, commander of the 21st, though he impressed the Elemental Point that cornered him after his ejection when he tried to fight his way out with nothing more than a sidearm and his courage. While the SLDF attempted a fighting withdrawal, they were set upon by an unexpected foe: Galaxy Commander Russou Howell and the survivors of the original garrison appeared from out of the Shakiri Jungle and hit their flank, turning the retreat into a rout back to the bivouac, with stiff losses to the SLDF forces.

Proud of his troops' performance, on 29 March the ilKhan gave Galaxy Commander Mehta her mission orders: hunt down the remaining freebirths and kill them. In the meantime he would return to the secondary C³ facility in Lootera, which the technician caste had restored to functionality.

Southern Army Group

In the Dhuan Mountains, Andrew Redburn was in a battle just as fierce as, if not even fiercer than, the northern group. With the Highlanders holding the center of the battle line and the Uhlans and Knights on their left and right flanks respectively, the Smoke Jaguars attacked the SLDF troops three times. They were pushed back each time, but the sheer intensity of the combat and near suicidal aggression of the Smoke Jaguars left even the elite of the Inner Sphere shaken. After the third attack was repulsed, the three SLDF regiments were at half-strength, with most light 'Mechs and light-weight medium 'Mechs destroyed. Having just driven off the initial attack on Lootera, General Winston's own forces were too damaged to come to Redburn's aid. Instead, she advised that the 4th Drakøns could reinforce the position, but because the Drakøns were not rated for combat drops, the southern group would need to break off from combat to secure a landing zone for them.

Bad news came from the forward scouts who detected another attack forming up, this one composed of what appeared to be forty fresh OmniMechs and fifty Elementals, the former all Heavy- and Assault-weight classes, with brand-new insignia. While the first one did not register in the warbook, the second was identified as belonging to the Shroud Keshik, the personal guard of saKhan Brandon Howell. The unit was eight kilometers northeast of their position and at their current heading would run into the Kathil Uhlans first. Realizing the gravity of the situation, General Redburn informed Colonels MacLeod and Masters and made hasty preparations for this fresh attack. Any remaining Vibrabombs were to be planted one kilometer in front of their lines, 'Mechs were to create revetments and power their reactors down to minimum operating levels to lessen the chance of detection, and all personnel made ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. If necessary, a fighting withdrawal was to be made to the first and second rally points, and lastly into the Dhuan Swamps if all else failed.

The Southern Army Group did not have to wait for long, as within thirty minutes of sighting the reinforcements the attack began. The fresh Clan troops stormed forward, linking up with the other Jaguar units and pressing an all-out attack against the entire SLDF position. Ignoring losses to the minefields, they charged forward, zellbrigen long thrown out the window. After holding off three previous attacks, the fourth charge was too much for General Redburn, and he ordered a fighting retreat. The general himself, piloting the Dire Wolf that had belonged to Morgan Hasek-Davion, had to blast his way free of the attacking Jaguars, eventually making it to the rally point on the edge of the swamp.

As the survivors began to stagger in, their losses became clear. The Northwind Highlanders had suffered the fewest casualties, but were down to 65 BattleMechs. The Knights of the Inner Sphere also had 65 remaining BattleMechs, but with all of their light and half of their medium 'Mechs gone. The Ulhans had taken the focus of the Jaguars' attention and had been brutalized, with just 46 'Mechs still standing. Not knowing how many troops Brandon Howell had brought with him, but presuming a worst case scenario of a full Galaxy, General Redburn decided that they would have to retreat into the stinking fens of the Dhuan Swamp if they were to hold out any longer.

With little choice, the Inner Sphere army started a withdrawal into the swamp. At that point, the Jaguars renewed their attack. With the SLDF forces damaged, low on ammunition, and exhausted from the furious attacks, the Jaguars pressed hard. When two stars of OmniFighters suddenly hit the buckling Inner Sphere lines in a strafing run, the professional retreat turned into a rout, and the three units ran flat out for the swamp, despite the best efforts of their leaders and officers to control the situation.

Notably, the Royal Black Watch Company of the Northwind Highlanders — joined by a few Knights of the Inner Sphere — was the only unit to maintain its cohesion and refuse to run. Voluntarily stepping forward as a rearguard, they engaged the Jaguars on their own in an effort to allow the rest of the army to rally and regroup. By the time they were cleared to retreat, only three of the ad hoc rearguard remained, but they had bought the time needed for the Inner Sphere army to vanish into the swamp.

The situation for the southern army was grim. The wild, uncoordinated retreat had scattered the army throughout the swamp. The terrain made any kind of unit coherency difficult and rendered command 'Mech tactical computers almost useless in generating a picture of the battlespace. By the next day, the regiments had managed to regroup sufficiently that they could start moving with purpose again and continued south into the swamp, though nearly half the army had been killed, captured, or gone missing in the rout. Meanwhile, saKhan Brandon Howell had ordered the Jaguar's Heart to lead the pursuit while he and his Keshik remained on solid ground 'overseeing' the situation — to the annoyance of the Jaguar officers forced to march into the swamp.

On 28 March, the pursuing Jaguars finally made contact with the SLDF forces, running first into the Northwind Highlanders' rearguard some two kilometers behind the main force, then engaging the Kathil Uhlans as well. General Redburn ordered Colonel Masters and his Knights, three kilometers south of the battle, to move west into position to support either the Highlanders or Redburn's own regiment. Masters' progress was slow, and as the Jaguars continued to pour more forces into the fight the Uhlans' left flank was in danger of being turned. General Redburn and his command lance threw themselves into the fight, arriving just in time to prevent the left flank from being overrun and meeting up with the arriving Knights. Further help arrived when the Horsemen's fighter contingent provided close air support, blunting the Jaguars' pursuit.

During this engagement, Kommandant David McCarthy, commander of the Uhlan's 2nd Battalion, led what remained of his unit in a rearguard action to hold the Jaguar attack off while the rest of the regiment regrouped. His 16 mixed 'Mechs of mostly medium and lighter units would face off against a full Binary of mostly Heavy and Assault OmniMechs — all of whom were so determined for victory or death that they had disabled their BattleMechs' ejection systems. Only three of the Uhlan 'Mechs would survive the battle, with four other pilots recovered, but they managed to hold the line and buy time for the army to regroup, defeating all the enemy 'Mechs. For this action, upon return to the Inner Sphere in 3062, Kommandant McCarthy would be awarded the Star League Medal of Honor by First Lord Theodore Kurita.

The next day, the Eridani aerospace assets came again to provide support for the beleaguered southern army. Air strikes using a mixture of strafing and bombing runs, combined with TAG-directed Arrow-IV strikes, hammered the Jaguar pursuit force enough that they pulled back almost to the edge of the swamp, calling for additional troops that simply weren't available.

Incident at Falcon Eyre

On 26 March, in the midst of the initial Jaguar counter-invasion, the MI6 teams were still maintaining their watch over the Falcon Eyre. Due to strict radio silence orders, they were only partially aware of what was going on at Lootera and the Dhuan Mountains, and had not made contact with Sergeant Kramer since he'd led his team away to draw off the Smoke Jaguars. One hour before sundown though movement was detected at the facility: ten armored Elementals and fifty unarmored infantry had arrayed themselves in parade formation just inside the high chain link fence surrounding the Eyre. Given the development, Captain Montjar radioed General Winston the news, who responded to confirm that both army groups were presently engaged with the enemy and no support was available. Her orders to Captain Montjar were to proceed at his own discretion but continue only monitoring the facility and not attack unless fired upon first.

Suddenly one of the commandos opens fire on the Jade Falcons, launching an inferno SRM missile which envelops one of the Elementals and several infantry in flame. A fierce shootout ensued until unexpectedly the Jade Falcon commander orders a ceasefire. Cracking open her battlesuit, Star Captain Gythia requests to speak with the Inner Sphere commander, to which Montjar accepts, removing the helmet from his own suit and approaching the Star Captain to talk in person. Both confirmed that their standing orders were to not fire unless fire upon, with Captain Montjar assuring her that the trooper responsible would be disciplined. Star Captain Gythia warned him that, though she'd called off the fight because the Jade Falcon's honor had been "satisfied", any further attacks would formally bring Clan Jade Falcon into the battle for Huntress.

Returning to his own lines, Captain Montjar learned that Private LeBelle had fired the first shot. However no further discipline would be needed as he was dead, leaving the captain to wonder if that is what Gythia had meant about honor being satisfied.

Retreat

After their disastrous attempt at a night raid, the northern army group was much reduced, nominally at half-strength though a more accurate measure would be one-third strength. The Eridani Light Horse was down to 96 'Mechs, barely a regiment's worth. The 2nd Com Guard Division was down to 53 'Mechs and the 2nd St. Ives Lancers down to 21 'Mechs. Their attached scout, conventional infantry and armored units had also suffered heavy losses. Worse, despite the reduced numbers of units, supplies were rapidly running out, meaning that repairs were increasingly becoming difficult, ammunition scarce and medical supplies near non-existent. The DEST teams had also taken heavy casualties, leaving them with 5 effectives and 8 walking wounded.

Still operating under the assumption that she was facing a multi-Galaxy force, discussions were held on 29 March on what options they had. Calling in their DropShips from the continent Abysmal and evacuating the planet was considered, but rejected as too risky given the forces they thought they were up against; the risk of the Jaguars simply charging the LZ as they tried to load up was considered too high. Naval fire support was considered with the Invisible Truth and Fire Fang inbound, but the trained naval spotter teams qualified to precisely call in such strikes had been lost during the chaos in Lootera and the possibility of bringing fire down on themselves was considered unacceptably high short of the most desperate situations. Communications interceptions also confirmed that the Jaguars had managed to get their secondary C³ facility in Lootera operational and that the ilKhan was using it to oversee the campaign. Secretly, General Winston called upon her team of nekakami to 'deal' with the situation, though under no circumstances was the ilKhan to be assassinated.

In the end the decision was made to fall back further into the mountains, to find a secure location and bring in 4th Drakøns and Kingston's Legionnaires to support the northern group, while the Lyran Guards would be deployed to reinforce the southern army. The WarShips would be called in to provided limited saturated bombardment if needed, though whether they could arrive in time to provide any support was doubted. However before any further action could be taken, the Smoke Jaguars attacked again around mid-day. In a pattern that would soon become depressing familiar, the Jaguars used their far superior knowledge of the local terrain to appear almost without warning, hitting the camp of the 71st Light Horse even as Mechwarriors struggled to power up their Mechs. In a raging thunderstorm, the Jaguars pressed in, forcing the Horsemen to give ground. The Eridani artillery fired the last of their smoke rounds in the hope of covering a withdraw, but the rain rendered the smokescreens ineffective. The Light Horse retreated and much of the units' artillery, baggage train and wounded fell into Smoke Jaguar hands before the SLDF rallied and threw back the Clan attack. Both sides lost twenty 'Mechs in the fight, among those Colonel Sandra Barclay's, commander of the 71st, who did manage to eject and make her way to the rear.

Nekakami attack

In Lootera, the ilKhan found himself called by both Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta and his saKhan, asking for additional troops to finish off the enemy, while sensors reported a group of DropShips emerging from hiding from the continent Abysmal were en route to the enemy's locations. Angrily pointing out that he had no more troops to give them, he ordered them to attack regardless and either win or die, while he would leave for Strata Mechty once more to try and seek aid with his firsthand testimony of the battle. At the same time, the four nekakami had silently entered the building, eliminating guards and other personnel in their way. Having been cautious in the previous attempt per the general's orders, this time they would not use half measures: each carried ten one-kilogram blocks of Pentaglycerine charges and planted them at key structural weak points to completely demolish the building. Their task completed and timer set for five minutes, the quartet started to leave, but through sheer luck stumbled onto Lincoln Osis and his four bodyguards emerging from the main elevator. A volley of poisoned shuriken eliminated the ilKhan's bodyguards in moments, but Kasugai stopped Rumiko Fox from killing the ilKhan. General Winston had given strict instructions that while killing the ilKhan in battle was one thing, assassination was utterly off-limits. Happily obeying his orders in full, the Spirit Cat challenged Osis to a Trial of Grievance over his actions against the Draconis Combine. Mocking Kasugai initially at the very idea of meeting an assassin in a Circle of Equals, several sneered insults naming him a coward rapidly changed the Elemental's mind. Sending his team out, Kasugai ordered Honda Tan to pass the ilKhan his shinobigatana and drew his own. The two began their duel as the timers on the charges steadily counted down.

Although trained in the use of swords and perhaps one of the greatest Elementals to have ever come out of the Clan breeding program, Kasugai was a Spirit Cat and a master of swordplay. Patiently he waited for the ilKhan to make a mistake and when he overextend, Kasugai struck, slicing brutally into the other's leg, cutting through the femur and nearly severing it completely. With the ilKhan collapsing to the floor in agony and dropping his sword, Kasugai closed in for the kill, but made a fatal mistake in underestimating a Jaguar trapped by a hunter. Raising his sword for a final decapitating strike, the ilKhan twisted away at the last second, seizing his dropped sword and stabbing it straight through the Spirit Cat's chest, twisting it to cut into Kasugai's heart and killing him.

Bleeding out on the floor, the ilKhan was confronted with the very real possibility that this would be his end, along with the end of his Clan, but through pure luck an Elemental security patrol stumbled onto the scene. Hurriedly, they evacuated to rush him to a hospital, leaving the building only moments before the charges went off. Galaxy Commander Russou Howell, who had also been in the building, was last seen by witnesses also leaving it just before it exploded. The ilKhan himself would soon be evacuated onto the Streaking Mist, which would make the jump to Strana Mechty on 30 March.

Fight to the end

Pushed back once again, the northern army group retreated yet deeper into the mountains, traveling along narrow mountain routes as they sought a location to bring in their final reinforcements. Unfortunately the SLDF, while having accurate maps of the main areas of operation, was less knowledgeable of the surrounding wilderness of Huntress. This forced them to rely on preliminary maps created by earlier orbital imagine which, while better than civilian-quality map, were not as precise as needed. Thus on 29 March the army was stymied when they came upon a deep chasm unawares, spanned by a wood-and-steel truss-type bridge of dubious quality. After some inspection the Eridani engineers determined that it could hold the weight of their tanks crossing one at a time, but that the heavier 'Mechs might be too much. General Winston ordered all jump-capable 'Mechs to cross to the other side and provide overwatch, while the rest of the 'Mechs formed a defensive perimeter on their side as the rest of the army crossed. Slowly but surely they did, first the wounded and support personnel, followed by the infantry and combat vehicles, and lastly the 'Mechs, with the heaviest just managing to cross without issue. The engineers used the last of their demolition charges to rig the bridge to blow up if a crossing 'Mech was detected by the seismic and trip sensors. The distant sound of the explosives going off confirmed the success of the trap, though the SLDF would soon realize the Jaguars knew of an alternate way to get across.

The SLDF regrouped and set up a new bivouac at a shallow arc of the mountain road. Of their starting strength, the Eridani Light Horse had been reduced to just sixty 'Mechs; the Com Guards had thirty-one 'Mechs still operational, but given the lack of ammunition only nineteen were considered fit for combat; and the St. Ives Lancers had been reduced to two Lances. Major Ryan, somewhat frustrated at being kept out of the fighting while the other units of the Task Force fought for their lives, proposed that he set up an observation post five kilometers out from the main SLDF's location to keep an eye on their back trail while they tried to get some rest and repair. Taking with them a pair of Man-portable TAG designators, the five commandos would be in a position to spot for the half a dozen remaining units equipped with Arrow-IV missiles should the Jaguars show up. Everyone being aware that the DEST team would not survive if the Jaguars detected them and charged, Winston gave a green light reluctantly. Later that day, a reconnaissance star of OmniMechs indeed appeared in the mountain pass they were watching. Ordered to let them go without revealing his position, Ryan and his men waited patiently until half an hour later, when two Trianies of 'Mechs with many Elementals in support arrived and the commandos went into action.

Three Clan Mechs were destroyed by the guided missile attack and a fourth heavily damaged. Unfortunately the Clanners quickly located the hidden DEST team and engaged. Major Ryan personally made an anti-'Mech attack on a fifth 'Mech, blowing off the leg of the Timber Wolf with a demolition charge, but in exchange the DEST team was destroyed. Severely wounded with a broken leg, the advancing Smoke Jaguars ignored him as he transmitted his last report to General Winston. Although General Winston feared they'd been wiped out, Major Ryan and one other survivor would manage to break contact and eventually rejoin the northern army the next day.

The effective loss of a Star of 'Mechs did not dissuade the Jaguars. Three hours after the DEST team was overrun, 5th Recon reported Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs engaging their position half a kilometer from the main force before falling back. The Eridani 'Mechs and combat-ready Com Guards advanced ahead to engage the Jaguars away from their bivouac, while the rest remained behind to guard the baggage train. While they were hard-pressed by the attack, the SLDF noticed that curiously there were no Elementals among the attacking Jaguars.

The answer to where they were would come shortly, when again using their superior knowledge of the local terrain, Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta led a smaller force along a hidden mountain pass to strike directly at the bivouac. The Galaxy Commander had noticed that Inner Sphere forces fought fiercely to protect their wounded and non-combatants. While in her mind, a warrior willing to sell his own blood in exchange for one who had neither breeding, nor skill, nor the inclination to fight was foolishness, she was perfectly willing to take advantage of it to deliver a shattering blown to her enemies' morale. Charging without warning into the rear area, her 'Mechs and Elementals quickly overwhelmed the Lancers and Com Guards who had been left behind. Major Marcus Polling, commander of the 2nd St. Ives Lancers, was murdered in mid-air by an Elemental after having ejected from his 'Mech and parachuting towards the ground. Hang Mehta ordered destroyed any supplies and equipment, such as the Eridani Mobile HQ which could not be carried off, and any prisoners who would not be useful as bondsmen executed. Their task done, the raiding force left and the main Clan force broke off its diversionary attack.

The Inner Sphere forces returned to a horrific scene that plunged their morale to a new low. Their combat losses had also been grim: the Eridani had just thirty 'Mechs left, and with Amiss missing and Sandra Barclay disabled with a sprained back, Colonel Antonescu was the last regimental commander still standing. This paled in comparison to the St. Ives Lancers, who were now reduced to a single, battered Victor and a handful of dismounted-turned-infantry MechWarriors. Nevertheless they continued their retreat, traveling for sixteen hours until finally, on 30 March, they came through a narrow mountain pass onto a flat plateau where they could rest. By this point the northern force had nearly traveled the length and breadth of the Jaguar's Fangs: a few score kilometers south lay the Liberation Sea, around which Ariana Winston hoped to skirt and so escape into the Shakiri Jungle, where it would be harder for the Jaguars to find them.

Luckily the plateau provided enough landing space for the 11th Lyran Guards to arrive, brining additional forces and fresh suppliers with their DropShips. Nowhere near enough to supply the northern army at full strength, they were enough for the sadly depleted army to begin reloading and repairing, as well as provide medical relief for the wounded, firming up improving morale. The 4th Drakøns and Kingston's Legionaries meanwhile had succeeded in landing on the edge of the Dhuan Swamp and linking up with General Redburn.

The sense of relief did not last however. Finally making radio contact with Commodore Beresick, General Winston was given the bleakest news yet. The Invisible Truth had detected at least twenty jump signatures at the system's zenith point, indicating a major fleet had just arrived. Unable to raise any of the Serpent warships on station (who had been given strict orders to jump out and join their JumpShips in deep space should an overwhelming enemy force arrive), Beresick prepared to intercept the inbound reinforcements in orbit, in the opening act of what was anticipated to be Serpents last stand. Almost at the same time, the Smoke Jaguars launched a final attack against the northern army.

The end of a Clan

“	Colonel, this is Beresick. The inbounds are Task Force Bulldog. I am in contact with Prince Victor Steiner-Davion and the Precentor Martial. They said to tell you, 'Well done and prepare to stand down.' They'll take over from here	”
	— Commodore Beresick

The northern army marched out to face the Smoke Jaguars in a narrow defile of the mountain pass. For once, the terrain did not allow the Jaguars to simply outflank the defenders, resulting in something of a stalemate as both sides waged back and forth through the pass that only allowed a few units at a time to engage. Fanatically, almost suicidal, the Jaguars pressed in and General Winston, seeing her men dying, suddenly stepped forward into the pass to personally to challenge a Summoner belonging to the Jaguar's Den. The two traded devastating fire until a backhand by the enraged Clan MechWarrior sent General Winston and her 'Mech falling to the ground. With her foe pointing their PPC directly at her cockpit, General Ariana Winston was surprised at how calm she felt as the Summoner fired its weapon, killing her instantly.

She was avenged at once by Colonel Charles Antonescu, who in a fit of raged destroyed the Summoner and reduced it to burning scrap. Taking control of himself once more, Antonescu announced the general's death over the radio and assumed command of the northern group. Moments later, the unbelievable news through from Commodore Beresick that the new fleet was not a Clan reinforcement fleet. It was, in fact, a unit of Task Force Bulldog who had chased the Clan from the Inner Sphere, up the Exodus Road and now to the Huntress system. The fresh SLDF ground forces would arrive in ten days to reinforce the beleaguered Task Force Serpent. Colonel Antonescu marveled at the timing of this announcement, as though straight from an adventure holovid...though of course, he noted, this was no story, and the cavalry had not arrived in time to save Ariana Winston.

When the fleet arrived ten days later, the battle for Huntress was finally ended. Confronted by fresh troops, most Smoke Jaguars refused to surrender and fought on until death, inflicting only light casualties on the enemy. In one of these actions, the 10th Lyran Guards saved the Northwind Highlanders by performing a combat drop, with Archer Christifori among those who came to the Highlander's rescue. Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta chose to commit bondsref rather than be taken alive, a choice many other senior officers also picked, though once again no trace could be found of Russou Howell. As for ilKhan Lincoln Osis, the SLDF learned from prisoner interrogations about the nekakami attack and his escape aboard the Streaking Mist, which left the system mere hours before Task Force Bulldog's arrival. Of the surviving Spirit Cats none of them reported in to General Redburn, who assumed overall command of Task Force Serpent.

On 9 April, General Redburn was greeted by Victor Steiner-Davion, Anastasius Focht and Hohiro Kurita in the ruins of Lootera, where he informed Victor as to the nature of his friend Morgan's assassination. They were shortly joined by the other surviving regimental commander, with Victor thanking them each for the tremendous sacrifice they had endured.

That same day, Star Colonel Paul Moon, captured in the initial counter invasion, woke from his coma to find his Clan dead. Informing him of this fact was no less a person than Trent, who told the Star Colonel that he had been the one to give the Exodus Road to the Inner Sphere and made all of this possible, and that he had done it in part because of the single-minded persecution Moon had inflicted upon him while under his command. Denying him Bondsref, Trent left Moon to live with his shame as he would have to live with his own.

Participating Units

Star League Defense Force

Task Force Serpent was one of the largest military operations conducted by the Inner Sphere since the fall of the original Star League. In total, it consisted of 55,000 personnel; over a thousand BattleMechs, Aerospace Fighters and Combat Vehicles; ninety-eight DropShips and twenty-seven JumpShips and WarShips.

Ground units

• Eridani Light Horse
  • Twenty-first Striker Regiment (reinforced regiment)
  • Seventy-first Light Horse Regiment (reinforced regiment)
  • 151st Light Horse Regiment (reinforced regiment)
• Northwind Highlanders
  • MacLeod's Regiment (reinforced regiment)
  • First Gurkhas (battalion)
  • Royal Black Watch (company)
• First Kathil Uhlans (reinforced regiment)
• Second St. Ives Lancers (reinforced battalion)
• Kingston's Legionnaires (regiment)
• Knights of the Inner Sphere (reinforced regiment)
• Eleventh Lyran Guards (reinforced regiment)
• ComGuard Second Division (regiment)
• Fourth Drakøns (reinforced battalion)

Special operations forces

• DEST - Teams Four, Five and Six; ten operatives each; Kage Battle Armor
• MI6 - two teams of ten operatives each; Infiltrator Mk. II battle armor
• ROM - one agent
• Nekakami - four operatives

Fleet

• ISS Invisible Truth - ComStar, Cameron-class battlecruiser
• ISS Ranger - ComStar, Lola III-class destroyer
• ISS Emerald - ComStar, Essex-class destroyer
• ISS Starlight - ComStar, Essex-class destroyer
• DCS Haruna - Draconis Combine, Kyushu-class frigate
• FCS Antrim - Federated Commonwealth, Fox-class corvette
• FCS Rostock - Federated Commonwealth, Fox-class corvette
• CGBS Fire Fang - Clan Ghost Bear, Whirlwind-class destroyer (captured at Battle of Trafalgar)
• Various JumpShips and DropShips

Clan Smoke Jaguar

Huntress Garrison forces

• Iron Guard Galaxy
  • Galaxy Command Trinary
  • 33rd Assault Cluster
  • 12th Solahma Cluster
  • 77th Solahma Cluster
• Watchmen Galaxy
  • Galaxy Command Trinary
  • 48th Battle Cluster
  • 63rd Solahma Cluster
  • 44th Solahma Cluster
  • Fighter Trinary
• Huntress Security Fleet
  • Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser
  • Two Vincent Mk. 42-class corvettes

Smoke Jaguar reinforcements

• Inner Sphere Survivors
  • Provisional Galaxy
    • Alpha Cluster
    • Beta Cluster
    • Charlie Cluster
    • Delta Cluster
    • Echo Cluster
  • CSJ Korat - Liberator-class
  • Two Vincent Mk. 42-class
• Khan's Reinforcements
  • Khan Osis Bodyguard - Nova
    • Dire Wolf, Warhawk, Ebon Jaguar, Night Gyr, Stormcrow, 10 Elementals
  • The Jaguar's Den
  • Shroud Keshik
  • The Jaguar's Heart
  • CSJ Streaking Mist - Black Lion-class

Bibliography

• Flashpoint (novel)
• Shadows of War (novel)
• Sword and Fire (novel)
• Twilight of the Clans (scenario pack)