Battle of Ballynure (3064)

Battle of Ballynure (3064)
Conflict details
Part of	Jade Falcon Incursion (3064)
Start Date	20 May 3064
End Date	ca. 29 August 3064
Planet(s)	Ballynure
Result	Clan Jade Falcon victory
Territorial Changes	Clan Jade Falcon conquest
Attacking Forces
Affiliation	Clan Jade Falcon
Commanding Officer(s)	Galaxy Commander Joel Thastus
Command(s)	Lambda Galaxy
Defending Forces
Affiliation	Lyran Alliance
Commanding Officer(s)	Colonel Randy Roman
Command(s)	Roman's Bar Hounds
Other Forces

Overview

On 20 May 3064 the entirety of Lambda Galaxy fell upon Ballynure, expecting an easy conquest that would allow for a quick turnaround for follow-on attacks in Wave Two of the Jade Falcon Incursion. Opposing them was Roman's Bar Hounds, a Fighting Urukhai unit cut off from the rest of their Brigade by the Lyran Succession. Their exact strength at the time was a matter of some dispute with some reports indicating between battalion and regiment strength. Colonel Randy Roman had spent many years on the Clan front, and was unwilling to give the Falcons a standup fight. Instead, they melted into the countryside and performed a hit-and run campaign that lasted months. Instead of all five Lambda Clusters departing in June for Wave Two targets, the Twenty-fourth Provisional Garrison Cluster and Second Falcon Swoop were forced to stay behind to root out the Bar Hounds. Even the Clusters departing in June didn't escape unscathed however, the Twenty-second Provisional Garrison Cluster and Seventy-fourth Battle Cluster took losses approaching ten percent while the Lambda Solahma Cluster sustained nearly twenty-five percent casualties.

For four months the Hounds waged a guerilla war against the two remaining Clusters, continuing to inflict heavy casualties before attrition wore them down. One particular standout in this campaign was Rasheeda "Sugarfoot" Hugie, a MechWarrior piloting a NTK-2S Night Hawk. Hugie's deep reconnaissance allowed the Hounds to stay mobile and steps ahead of the Falcons, even taking down two Kit Foxes on her own. One of those Kit Fox pilots, frustrated with being unable to target Hugie between the large redwoods and her Guardian ECM tried to collapse trees on top of her, which nearly succeeded until Hugie obliterated the Warrior's cockpit. The fighting was complicated even more by the presence of Inner Sphere produced Locust IIC 4s in the Twenty-fourth's ranks, their different appearances causing confusion among the Hounds. That confusion wasn't one sided, as Hugie was also a gifted mimic which allowed to broadcast conflicting commands to the Falcons on numerous occasions. In the last week of August the losses grew too high and Roman had no choice but to finally withdraw. At the last moment, Roman's Cestus took a devastating barrage from a C configuration Summoner that forced him to eject. His ejection seat was caught in the explosions and he suffered third-degree burns. Though unconscious Roman was one of only nine Hounds to survive the campaign. In a bitter irony, the Falcons pulled off as well days later. At the end of September the Lambda Solohama Cluster, moderately damaged from the earlier encounter with the Hounds and the fighting on Crimond landed unopposed, formally adding the world to their Occupation Zone.

Aftermath

Upon arrival on Morges the Hounds disbanded. Colonol Roman's nerve damage from his burns precluded ever wearing a neurohelmet again, and he got a training position with the Morges Militia. Hugie suffered from severe survivor's guilt and nearly drank herself to death despite being hired almost immediately by 1894th Light Horse Regiment of the Blue Star Irregulars. She would go on to distinguish herself on Tharkad and Black Earth.

Bibliography

• A Different Hope
• FedCom Civil War
• Technical Readout: 3058
• Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade
• Technical Readout: Succession Wars