Battle of Irece (3142)

Battle of Irece (3142)
Conflict details
Part of Draconis Combine Civil War
Start Date 23 December 3142[1]
End Date 31 December 3142[2]
Planet(s) Irece
Location(s) Cem Passos, Irece City, New Barcella, Spine Wastes
Result Draconis Combine victory
Territorial Changes Draconis Combine conquest
Attacking Forces
Affiliation Draconis Combine
Commanding Officer(s) Gunji no Kanrei Matsuhari Toranaga
Command(s) First Genyosha,
First Sword of Light
Fourth Sword of Light
Defending Forces
Affiliation Clan Nova Cat
Commanding Officer(s) Khan Jacali Nostra†
Command(s) Ninth Cluster[3][4] of Alpha Galaxy[1]
Other Forces

Prelude[edit]

Clan Nova Cat was preparing for an assault on Luthien, with the bulk of their forces staged on Leiston, Avon, and Cyrenaica. Unknown to the Nova Cat council gathered on Irece at the time, Gunji no Kanrei Matsuhari Toranaga's forces had defeated the the three staging worlds in detail, reducing the touman from barely more than two Galaxies to a few scattered Clusters.[1]

Overview[edit]

Kanrei Totonaga jumped into the Irece system on 23 December, pushing hard to the planet at a constant 2Gs. As they were enroute, they broadcast the details of the Nova Cat loses on their staging worlds to demoralize the Cats. When they landed on 29 December, a fierce battle was waged. A newly created improvisated Trinary Rho, made of solahma, trainees and former warriors, led by Star Captain Horghuz (Clan Nova Cat) proved specially effective, and even SaKhan Niko West joined the battle, counterattacking at Biccon Bridge. They drove off the Genyosha attackers, which had to call artillery to stop the Cats' attack.[5]

Jenner IICs served as scouts for the civilian and military DropShips attempting to flee, several Stars of Jenner IICs and Arbalests screened the DropPort near Irece Alpha. Star Commander Josephine Sumner claimed four kills by luring ’Mechs into position for combined fire by Arbalests then jumping behind them and delivering the coup de grâce in their back with her Improved Heavy Medium Lasers. Only a handful of DropShips managed to escape, Josephine Sumner and the remains of her Star among them[6]

Ninth Cluster of of Alpha Galaxy tried desperately to defend their world. A Fury Star with two Cizin hovercraft took sniping shots at a First Sword of Light Hatamoto-Chi that enraged it enough to draw it out of formation and into the crossfire of two Shadow Cat IIs. Though both Cizin perished, the assault ’Mech was heavily damaged and was forced to withdraw.[3][4]

A lance of Combine Hankyu configured with Machine Guns and Flamer slaughtered civilians, infantry, vehicles, and downed Nova Cat MechWarriors wholesale. When Nova Cat Elementals attempted to bring them down, they were torn apart by B-Pods.[7]

The First Genyosha converged on the capital city of New Barcella. Though they took their objective, Tai-sa Diablo Reid died in the outskirts of New Barcella bringing down a Cat Star in the final days of the battle.[8]

The last holdout centered on the central genetic repository. Guarded by Khan Jacali Nostra the Fourth Sword of Light repeatedly tried to break the lines. Everytime they pushed however, they were met with furious resistence from Griffin IICs with seemingly prescient ability to reposition in order to blunt the next attack. Star Commander Dot "Patches" Nostra in her Shadow Cat and her comrade Arzu Shishekli in her Wendigo combined to frustrate the Fourth Sword of Light so much that on 31 December the Combine forces were ordered to pull back. A tactical nuclear weapon was delivered by a Combine aerospace fighter, consuming the repository and all its defenders in nuclear fire in what would be the final major battle of the campaign.[1][9][10]

Determined to Annihilate the Clan, the Combine hunted down every straggler they could find. One Scimitar Mk.II, "Black Cat" escaped into the Spine Wastes for four weeks before being cornered by a lance in a box canyon. Fighting ferociously it brought down a Locust, then ramming a Demon tank. Two crew members of the "Black Cat" survived the resultant explosion and were left to die on the canyon floor.[11]

Aftermath[edit]

The Nova Cats essentially ceased to exist after this battle, with the subsequent final battle on Kagoshima signaling the anti-climactic death of the Clan.[1] More Nova Cats managed to escape Irece both before and after the battle than the Combine wished to be known. Mystic Kisho Nova Cat departed with a large number of civilians and a few warriors, allegedly rimward towards the Clan Protectorate though they never arrived, instead going for the Periphery. A battered Cluster under command of Star Colonel Yusuf Rosse managed to escape offworld, and sought refuge in the Rasalhague Dominion world of Rubigen. The Dominion didn't even respond to their calls for asylum, answering only by destroying the incoming DropShips, seizing the JumpShips, and throwing the Nova Cat crew out the airlock.[12] Josephine Sumner and her unit were luckier, seeking refuge with the Exiled Wolves on Arc-Royal and buying her way in with Nova Cat Watch files.[6]

Back on Irece, rumors continued to persist that the crew of the "Black Cat" haunt the canyon, that manifested as rabid black cats.[11]

Notes[edit]

System transit time for an F8 star like Irece is 12.01, which was cut in half to six days for the 2G burn.[13] However, because constant acceleration doesn't scale linearly the actual transit time at 2G would be 8.49 days. To reach the planet in six days would require 4G (8 Thrust) of constant acceleration requiring an additional 13 tons of fuel per DropShip, at the cost of 2,600 C-bills and an exhausted crew.[14][15][16]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Era Report: 3145, p. 32: "Savage Tumult"
  2. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 149: "Neko O Taberu"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Technical Readout: 3145 Draconis Combine, p. 18: "Cizin"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Technical Readout: 3145, p. 54: "Cizin"
  5. ↑ It Ends in Fire
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 18, p. 4: "Jenner IIC"
  7. ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 21, p. 12: "Arctic Cheetah (Hankyu)"
  8. ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 48: "First Genyosha"
  9. ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 3, p. 6: "Shadow Cat III"
  10. ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 14, p. 4: "Griffin IIC"
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Technical Readout: 3145 Draconis Combine, p. 14: "Scimitar Mk II HCV
  12. ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 32: "Declawing the Cat"
  13. ↑ Strategic Operations, p. 74: "Distance to Zenith/Nadir Jump Point Table"
  14. ↑ Strategic Operations, p. 166: "System Transit"
  15. ↑ Strategic Operations, p. 32: "Strategic Fuel Efficiency"
  16. ↑ TechManual, p. 283: "Aerospace Unit Structural Costs and Availability"

Bibliography[edit]

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