System: Doneval II

[3039] After leaving Clovis, Tai-sa Angel Ochoa and her Ryuken-go’s first battalion immediately headed to Doneval II as part of the continuing Operation Orochi attacks – the Draconis Combine’s feigned counter-invasion of the Federated Suns during the War of 3039. A sparsely-populated world with only a healthy agrarian industry to offer, Doneval II’s militia was a completely volunteer organization, though they did field a significant force of fast combat hovercraft and two battalions of AgroMechs converted to mount heavy weapons.

Tai-sa Ochoa landed on the southern continent of Roche Foinn and took command of an old mining complex. From there, they launched attacks on the largest settlements on the planet, hoping to knock out what few command and control facilities that existed on Doneval II, but the decentralized nature of life on the world made that all but impossible. Likewise, even the combat vehicles, weapons and munitions weren’t stored in centralized armories; the world’s population was so small that the “officers” in the militia were trusted to safeguard the equipment assigned to their units—especially as a number of the vehicles and all of the AgroMechs that were used by the militia were also in full-time use by the world’s farmers.

It took the Doneval Militia just a day to mobilize, but what they didn’t have was the ability to rapidly respond to any corner of the world. On the other hand, after just two weeks the Ryuken significantly cut back on their raids, instead focusing on turning the mining complex they had taken over into a base capable of supporting a large invasion force. Further, they concentrated on maintaining the illusion that several Combine regiments were gathering on the world.

It took the militia several weeks to do so, but they finally managed to gather the bulk of their forces on Roche Foinn. Surprisingly, Ochoa and her MechWarriors didn’t detect the militia force until it was less than a hundred kilometers away from their temporary base. The Ryuken struck out from their base to meet the assault, confident they could quickly and easily dispatch the militia. For the most part they did — the AgroMech and hover formations proved unexpectedly difficult to dispatch, but the Ryuken BattleMechs nonetheless laid waste to most of the Doneval Militia — though a few independent companies of hover vehicles skirted the battle and struck at the Ryuken’s base, encountering just two lances of patrolling ’Mechs, along with the force of technical and support personnel. Ochoa detached a company of her ’Mechs to secure the base, which they did in short order.

The Doneval Militia retreated that same day, having lost almost three quarters of their vehicles and AgroMechs, and never again sortied forth. Ochoa nevertheless made a few retaliatory strikes to punish the militia for their attack, though with the few actual military or governmental targets already destroyed, she had few remaining viable targets. She did, however, extort enough surplus food to feed a force of up to ten regiments for six months.

But then the Fifteenth Deneb Light Cavalry arrived in late October. Having been prevented from striking Irurzun and instead recalled to Robinson to defend it against a potential attack, its MechWarriors and soldiers were more than ready for a fight. Once Robinson was declared secure against attack, the Fifteenth received orders to remove the Combine threat to Doneval II, which they intended to do with their very first move. The DLC dropped most of its ‘Mech regiment right on top of the Ryuken’s makeshift base, grounding the RCT’s armor just outside of the base.

The Ryuken force was immediately overcome and tried to retreat back to their DropShips, only to run into a DLC screening force. Ochoa’s Ryuken fought hard, but were nearly overcome before stray shots ignited a temporary grain silo close to the landing field. The resulting explosion caused enough of a distraction for most of the Ryuken to escape. Only one captured Ryuken MechWarrior survived, and only because she was unconscious in her ’Mech — the rest committed suicide rather than fall into AFFS hands.

There are no functional factories located on this planet.