Interesting Times, Dangerous Places #347: “Impasse” 01/15/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
The sounds of battle raged all around me, but I was almost at National Avenue before
I saw the first actual non-infantry combat. A Wolf Demolisher II was sniping around
the corner of a building at a target I couldn’t see, the return fire gouging divots from
the buildings around the tank and raining debris onto the street. The tank’s attendant
infantry—a necessity in urban warfare to defend against the enemy’s foot soldiers—
had ducked behind their charge for cover. The Demolisher was clearly in bad shape:
one severed track lay on the roadway, and numerous impact scars and burns marked
its hull, testifying to the barrage of fire to which it had been subjected. Its turret
squealed as it tracked left and right—the target was presumably maneuvering—in a
way that suggested damage there too. Carefully, I edged up to the corner of the
building and gingerly looked around it to see what the tank was facing.
Across the junction, a bird-legged BattleMech walked left and right, its quad weapons
barrels tracking the Demolisher and spitting out a stream of shells. It was the Ryoken
II Sergeant Lee had mentioned, and it clearly outmatched the tank. For a moment I
wondered why the pilot was putting up with the tank’s return fire when she could
simply leave the crippled vehicle where it lay. Then I saw the flashes inside several
adjacent buildings. Foot soldiers—I couldn’t tell if they were armored, but Lee had
mentioned Hauberk suits—attempting to seize control of the structures. The ’Mech
was making sure that no Wolf infantry moved to challenge them, at least until their
control of the building was secure.
This situation continued for several minutes, during which I was twice forced to duck
for cover as shells detonated too close for comfort. But then the Ryoken became
distracted by something else outside my field of vision and reduced the fire directed at
the tank in favor of this new opponent. Whatever it was, the new enemy—
presumably a ’Mech of some sort—was more of a match for the Ryoken. It struck
me as a strange sort of justice that this Clan design was now being used by pro-
Davion forces against the Clan-origin Steel Wolves. What would Katya Kerensky have
thought?
Deciding on discretion, the Ryoken placed the corner of a building between itself and
the Demolisher, though I could still see both from my vantage point. The ’Mech pilot
was clearly weighing the odds. She could protect the infantry, or she could protect
herself. Doing both would be a recipe for disaster, dividing her weapons and attention.
There must have been a comm-link between the Ryoken and the troops in the
building, because after a few minutes, battle armor started to appear at the doors and
windows, sniping at the tank before leaping clear and moving to surround the ’Mech.
I counted almost two dozen Hauberk suits surrounding the ’Mech, shooting at the
infantry and the enemy ’Mech I couldn’t see. Then, as one, they began to withdraw,
firing as they went.
I learned later that despite her troops’ success in seizing half of the city, Leftenant
Colonel Diane Jameson had ordered the withdrawal, knowing the Wolves were too
heavily entrenched to be driven out with the forces she had on hand. Any attempt to
push farther into Anqabad would not only have cost the lives of her troops but would
also have jeopardized any chance of success on Ankaa. Instead, she would seek to
rendezvous with her reinforcements. The question was, would Sadia Wolf and her
troops give the Swordsworn the opportunity to mass against them?
INN is pleased to announce a syndication deal with Black Border publications for the
rights to publish articles by famed political and war correspondent Cameron Shaw.
Mr. Shaw is best known for his coverage of the ongoing conflict in the former Free
Worlds League. His knack for being in the right place (or the wrong place, depending
on your point of view) at the right time has put him in the thick of many of the great
engagements of recent years. He reported from Albi on Manihiki as forces of the
Regulan Fiefs seized the city, and from Sophie’s World when the Oriente Protectorate
and Marik-Stewart Commonwealth clashed for control of that strategic world. He is
known for his long-running syndicated diary “Interesting Times, Dangerous Places,”
in which he portrays the great events of our time with a mix of humor and pathos.
INN - Interstellar News Network
The sounds of battle raged all around me, but I was almost at National Avenue before
I saw the first actual non-infantry combat. A Wolf Demolisher II was sniping around
the corner of a building at a target I couldn’t see, the return fire gouging divots from
the buildings around the tank and raining debris onto the street. The tank’s attendant
infantry—a necessity in urban warfare to defend against the enemy’s foot soldiers—
had ducked behind their charge for cover. The Demolisher was clearly in bad shape:
one severed track lay on the roadway, and numerous impact scars and burns marked
its hull, testifying to the barrage of fire to which it had been subjected. Its turret
squealed as it tracked left and right—the target was presumably maneuvering—in a
way that suggested damage there too. Carefully, I edged up to the corner of the
building and gingerly looked around it to see what the tank was facing.
Across the junction, a bird-legged BattleMech walked left and right, its quad weapons
barrels tracking the Demolisher and spitting out a stream of shells. It was the Ryoken
II Sergeant Lee had mentioned, and it clearly outmatched the tank. For a moment I
wondered why the pilot was putting up with the tank’s return fire when she could
simply leave the crippled vehicle where it lay. Then I saw the flashes inside several
adjacent buildings. Foot soldiers—I couldn’t tell if they were armored, but Lee had
mentioned Hauberk suits—attempting to seize control of the structures. The ’Mech
was making sure that no Wolf infantry moved to challenge them, at least until their
control of the building was secure.
This situation continued for several minutes, during which I was twice forced to duck
for cover as shells detonated too close for comfort. But then the Ryoken became
distracted by something else outside my field of vision and reduced the fire directed at
the tank in favor of this new opponent. Whatever it was, the new enemy—
presumably a ’Mech of some sort—was more of a match for the Ryoken. It struck
me as a strange sort of justice that this Clan design was now being used by pro-
Davion forces against the Clan-origin Steel Wolves. What would Katya Kerensky have
thought?
Deciding on discretion, the Ryoken placed the corner of a building between itself and
the Demolisher, though I could still see both from my vantage point. The ’Mech pilot
was clearly weighing the odds. She could protect the infantry, or she could protect
herself. Doing both would be a recipe for disaster, dividing her weapons and attention.
There must have been a comm-link between the Ryoken and the troops in the
building, because after a few minutes, battle armor started to appear at the doors and
windows, sniping at the tank before leaping clear and moving to surround the ’Mech.
I counted almost two dozen Hauberk suits surrounding the ’Mech, shooting at the
infantry and the enemy ’Mech I couldn’t see. Then, as one, they began to withdraw,
firing as they went.
I learned later that despite her troops’ success in seizing half of the city, Leftenant
Colonel Diane Jameson had ordered the withdrawal, knowing the Wolves were too
heavily entrenched to be driven out with the forces she had on hand. Any attempt to
push farther into Anqabad would not only have cost the lives of her troops but would
also have jeopardized any chance of success on Ankaa. Instead, she would seek to
rendezvous with her reinforcements. The question was, would Sadia Wolf and her
troops give the Swordsworn the opportunity to mass against them?
INN is pleased to announce a syndication deal with Black Border publications for the
rights to publish articles by famed political and war correspondent Cameron Shaw.
Mr. Shaw is best known for his coverage of the ongoing conflict in the former Free
Worlds League. His knack for being in the right place (or the wrong place, depending
on your point of view) at the right time has put him in the thick of many of the great
engagements of recent years. He reported from Albi on Manihiki as forces of the
Regulan Fiefs seized the city, and from Sophie’s World when the Oriente Protectorate
and Marik-Stewart Commonwealth clashed for control of that strategic world. He is
known for his long-running syndicated diary “Interesting Times, Dangerous Places,”
in which he portrays the great events of our time with a mix of humor and pathos.
| January 15, 3133 |