Phyrric Victory

Written by Hacksaw

The radar screen at Clan Pendragon’s headquarters was amassed with blips. Mechwarrior Ice Cold’s eyes widened, he grimaced. He jumped up and ran down the grate covered corridor toward Khan Firecracker’s ready room. He knocked on the door and swung it open to reveal Firecracker discussing tactics with SaKhan Cuzn’ It. "Sir!" Ice Cold exclaimed. "Long Range scanning reports that Flame Union is coming with virtually every Inner Sphere Mercenary unit by their side!" "Thank you Ice." "You may report back to your post," said the Khan." "Cuz, please round up all available pilots in the ready room for briefing." "Yes Sir" reported the SaKhan.

The ready room was buzzing. The Clan Pendragon warriors we ready for battle. Khan Firecracker entered the room. "Gentlemen, please sit down." "We are being attacked by Flame Union." "They apparently know of our skill and have brought reinforcements." "We are seriously outnumbered, yet if we use our contingent of Jenners we will be able to match their numbers." A young MechWarrior stood up. "Sir, how are we supposed to combat Warhammers in mechs 30 tons lighter?" "Simple," the Khan answered. " We are going to range them." "Now, report to your mechs." "Star Colonel Stealth has drawn up a nice configuration to use against these honorless thugs."

Three hours later the earth shook from the gigantic dropships that littered the sky. The Flame Union Commander gathered the Commanding Officers of each unit; they "hired" to combat the mighty clan. "Gentlemen" he began. "We grossly outnumber our opponents, it looks like we will this planet with around 1% losses, at the most."

Four clicks away, the Clan Pendragon Jenners were gathered on the edge of the desert. It was determined that Flame Union was going to try and take out their radar towers before actually fighting the clan, but when they got there they would find resistance. The other clans had rallied support for Pendragon. There were warriors from Clan Mongoose, Godzilla, Excaliber and many others there to help. The mercenary group, New Oberon Confederation had been hired to assist as well.

Khan Firecracker divided up the available mechs into clusters, and positioned them in an echelon formation so they would be able to flank the attackers. Red Dragon was placed in control of one cluster, Cuzn’ It lead another, and the last was controlled by Star Captain Dark Wizard.

The Radar displays on Clan Pendragon warrior’s mechs filled with red dots. With luck, Flame union would not notice them until they were 500 meters closer. Khan Firecracker’s voice thundered over the intercom. "Here they come" he said, "lets hit ‘em hard."

Hours later Clan Pendragon had destroyed one-third Flame Union’s warhammers. Twice that number of the Clan’s Jenners had been destroyed, and the rest were being evacuated to reinforce other planets. The Flame Union commander looked across smoldering battlefield as a rookie scout ran to meet him. "Sir!" The rookie shouted. "We have won the planet!" The Flame Union Commanding officer turned to acknowledge the rookie. "Yes" he said grimly, "but many more victories like this and we will lose this war."

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