Raid and Revenge
The Ghost Warriors
"This is madness," Sho-ko Daga muttered. "Ever since the arrival
of these so-called Ghost Bears, we have been forced to live in the mountains like wild
goats. Now, aftera ll of this waiting, you propose we attack?"
Chu-i Hassad rubbed his forehead for a long moment before speaking.
"The Ghoast Bears are formidable opponents. They may have won a battle, but they are
not invincible. We are the sons of the Dragon. We shall strike at them by night, in the
shadow hours. We will take them by surprise."
Daga understood, but resisted. "But
what of their armored men, Chu-i? I killed one of them, but it took eight hits
from my laser rifle to bring him down. And theri 'Mechs are unlike anything we have ever
seen. I fear taht these Ghost Bears are Kerensky's Star League Army come back to haunt us.
How can we fight such a force?"
Hassad picked up the portable SRM launcher and held it out to Daga.
"Even the mightiest of warriors can fall. These Ghost Bears attacked us for a full
day and forced us to retreat here. But they ahve not fought since then, and many of their
forces have already been rotated off-world. The time to strike these Bears is now, when
they elast expect it. We will hit them hard, and show them the power of the Dragon."
Sho-ko Daga picked up his laser
rifle and slung it over his arm. "If we are to succeed, we too must be as ghost
warriors. We must move quickly and cripple them ebfore they can call in reserves." Chu-i
Hassad smiled. "I have such a plan in mind. The unit we have scouted, the one called
the White Grizzlies, has five of their armored men in the village. Nightly they walk
patrol."
Hassad rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Tomarrow night will
be their last such walk. Tomarrow, they will learn the true fury of the Dragon."
Schuyler, Chui-nin Village, 18
July 3050
Clan Ghost Bear heralded its arrival into
the invasion corridor with strikes against the COmbine worlds of Thule, Damian, Holmsbu,
and the agriculturual world of Schuyler on 1 July 3050. Because the planet's importance
was minor, it was garrisoned with only a battalion of infantry from the Ninth Pesht
Regulars to supplement some three battalions of locally trained and outfitted milita. The
only support for the infantry was a lance of mostly old and outdated BattleMechs.
The Ghost Bear attack force was elements of the First Galaxy, First CLuster, Second Strike Trinary (The Bear's Claws). One Star of OmniMechs and a Star of Elementals attacked Shuyler, in less than 24 hours killing or capturing most of the planetary milita. The survivors of the Ninth Pesht Regulars Third Infantry Battalion had engaged the enemy, but the Bear Elementals overwhelmed them. The Combine troops retreated into the Stire Moutnains, holing up in one of their supply depots, a warren of caves in the nearly impassable mountains.
Over the next fwe weeks the remaining two companies of infantry began to scout out hteir adversaries. With the world pacified, the Ghost Bears had rotated in elements of the White Grizzlies, a Binary consisting primarily of Elementals. Though only two Stars were assigned to the world, one Point's worth was assigned to garerison the town of Chui-nin.
Knowing a head-on fight would be a disaster, the commanding officer in charge of the remnants of the Ninth Pesht Regulars decided to launch a series of guerilla raids. With each raid his men would cripple or damage several Elementals while also obtaining food supplies. The goal was not to wipe out the enemy, but to erode him slowly through attrition. The tactic would be come popular throughout the occupied zones, enraging the Clan invaders.