Interlude: Sigurd and Rama

Commodore Ramesh Singh had been given command of the Fleet Reserve to go deal with the issue of the Jarnfolk Blockade of Sigurd and claim the Planet for Baron Poniatowski and New Ålborg. The Baron had assured him that the Jarnfolk would only put up a token fight and that the ships and crews of the Fleet Reserve ought to be enough to deal with them. Commodore Singh hoped that would be the case because the Fleet Reserve wasn't anything to write home about. Two Tramp-Class JumpShips, three Invader-class Jumpships, four Leopard CV Dropships, an Achilles Dropship, a Fortress Dropship, three Union Dropships, Four Leopard Dropships, a Triumph Dropship, and an Excalibur. The Fleet Reserve was, by and large, made up of captured ships from the Baron's various campaigns, or ships purchased from the Lyrans that had undergone refitting in the docks of the Iron Land Cache.

Accordingly, none of them were as powerful as the various Rim Worlds Republic Ships that the front line Flotillas had in their line-ups, and were a far cry from the secret fleet of WarShips that maintained station at the Iron Land Cache. Fortunately, there had been enough Vulcan Heavy Aerospace Fighters left over from the absolutely massive amount of metal in the three Rim Worlds Republic Caches that Past Prologue Ltd had dug up on the Baron's Orders to more than outfit everyone, and even more were being produced in the limited production facilities of the Iron Land Cache to fill in the gaps. Still, his Fleet Reserve was nowhere near as potent as any of the other Flotillas.

Commodore Singh couldn't help but feel as if that had been a deliberate choice on the Baron's Part. He had outfitted Colonel El-Fadil's Regiment with locally produced Rifleman Variants as well. Word was that the Regiment currently being raised on Gotterdamerung and Koskenkorva was also having to make do with locally produced heavy equipment as well. Granted the locally-produced Rifleman Variant was an excellent machine by the standards of the Inner Sphere, beyond cutting edge in several areas even, but it was no Gauss Rifle-equipped Rampage Assault Mech. Commodore Singh couldn't blame the Young Baron, however. They had been enemies up until fairly recently, after all. Of course, he wouldn't give his best equipment to forces whose loyalty might be suspect, even if the very idea rankled him to his core.

Ramesh Singh would just have to prove he could be trusted before requisitioning better equipment. And really, what better way to prove that than by showing Baron Poniatowski that he would fight his enemies and win victories for him? He had been given an opportunity with Sigurd and he refused to waste it on moping. No, he would enjoy this opportunity and use it to showcase his talents to his new overlord. That was the thought that was fixed in Commodore Ramesh Singh's mind when his fleet closed with the enemy and he ordered the launch of his aerospace fighters. Curious that the Jarnfolk hadn't launched fighters of their own before now, but his sensors hadn't indicated any sort of trap and Commodore Singh would not look a gift horse in the mouth.

The Jarnfolk Flotilla, by contrast, consisted of a collection of heavily modified ships surrounding an ancient Monolith-class JumpShip that was itself heavily modified. All of the ships were covered in odd-looking curvilinear designs that reminded Ramesh of something he'd seen before on various pieces of Rasalhague Iconography, though these seemed something of a throwback than the more refined Rasalhague designs. Turning to his sensor officer, Lieutenant Divya Joshi, he asked for a read on the enemy Ships.

"The Dropships are too heavily modified for our database to find a positive match on any Inner Sphere Dropship Class, though we've tentatively identified the JumpShip as a Monolith-class. Monoliths aren't usually armed, however. Those guns could be a problem, I'm reading PPCs, LRM-Tens, a whole bevy of Large, Medium, and Small Lasers on the dropships, and the JumpShip looks like it's been modified to carry a triple long tom turret, three large lasers, and two LRM-twenty launchers." Informed Lieutenant Joshi as she scanned the enemy fleet.

"That's some serious firepower. I wonder where they found the dock space to modify those? Isn't the deep periphery supposed to be all backward agrarian worlds?" Questioned Lieutenant Iskandar Khan, Ramesh's Weapons Officer.

"Supposedly." Frowned Ramesh, chewing on his mustache.

"Whatever they've got, we have our orders, right?" Queried Commander Shantha Nadar, Executive Officer of the Excalibur-class DropShip Desert Lion, the Flagship of the Fleet Reserve.

"Correct. We're still engaging as ordered." Insisted Commodore Singh.

"Commodore, they're hailing us." Spoke up Lieutenant Zaram Durrani, the Comms Officer.

"Put it through. Let's hear what they have to say for themselves." Ordered Ramesh.

"Unidentified Fleet, this is Erik Hastrup, Commander of the JumpShip Hammer of Thor. This world is under blockade by order of the Hastrup Sælgeflåde. Turn back now or we will open fire on you." Came a cold male voice over the Comms Unit.

"Commander Hastrup, this is Commodore Ramesh Singh of the New Ålborg Baronial Guards. Sigurd had been legally ceded to New Ålborg by the Oberon Confederation and we are moving to take control of the planet. Your blockade is illegal and poses a threat to the safety and security of interstellar trade in the Region. As the duly appointed representative of the Legal Ruler of Sigurd, I am ordering you to remove your blockade. Failure to comply will be met with force." Intoned Commodore Singh.

"I see. That being so, Honor Demands we must battle." Intoned the voice of Commander Hastrup over the Comms Unit.

The Comms feed cut out after that and the Jarnfolk Fleet moved to attack. They didn't launch any Aerospace Fighters, but the Monolith did advance alongside its escort of nine dropships. As the Vulcans of the Aerospace Fighter Component of the Fleet Reserve raced forward, the battle began with the Enemy JumpShip firing a salvo from its Long Tom Turret at the Fleet's right flank, forcing the Leopards there to scatter to avoid being hit. Enemy Dropships raced forward to fill the gap and attempt to claim a quick victory in a single, well-executed maneuver. They were only stopped from doing so by a salvo of LRM Fire from the Desert Lion.

The Battle for Sigurd had begun. . .

XXXX

Wing Commander Ghale 'Kukri' Thapa accelerated into the fray as he descended on the enemy with a vengeance. His Vulcan Heavy's Gauss Rifles barked as he strafed one of the extremely durable Jarnfolk Dropships. The Aerospace Forces had tried to use their range advantage at first, only to find that the Jarnfolk actually built their Dropships for Durability, often doubling the armor belts on their Dropships, resulting in their odd look. The things reminded Ghale of nothing so much as a set of guns and an engine strapped to a bulky metal box and painted over with oddly stylistic artwork. What that meant, however, was that the largest advantage they had was negated by the weight of the metal, forcing them to get in close.

That was when they had realized how the Jarnfolk managed to trade in the periphery without any Aerospace Fighters of their own. Their Dropships mounted small laser weapons that spat pulses of laser fire instead of beams for use as Anti-Aerospace Craft Weapons. These Pulse Lasers were scarily accurate and another sign that the Deep Periphery could be more advanced in some ways than the Inner Sphere while being positively Archiac in others. He'd already lost his Wingman, Flight Lieutenant Kesang 'Saffron' Choden to a burst of Pulse Laser Fire the first time they'd gone in for a strafing run. As he rocketed away from the DropShip, his Gauss Rifle Slugs impacting the target and putting a Medium Laser Turret out of action, Ghale took stock of the remaining pilots of his Wing.

"Sound off if you're still alive!" He ordered over the Comms.

"This is Gharial with Delta Squadron, we're down to half strength, those Pulse Lasers are no joke." Reported Squadron Leader Gaurav 'Gharial' Bajwa.

"Beta Squadron's down two pilots as well." Came the Voice of Squadron Leader Lina 'Booster' Al-Zaidi.

"Lucky. Alpha Squadron's down to half-strength as well." Huffed Squadron Leader Mazaar 'Tiger' Syed.

"That takes care of Alpha Group, what about Beta?" Asked Ghale.

"Beta group's down to three quarter's strength. We lost fewer fighters because Lancer and Kicker's Squadrons engaged last." Reported Group Commander Pashmina 'Katar' Gorgage.

"Right. Those things are durable and have effective anti-fighter weaponry. I'm ordering everyone to switch to weapon suppression missions. We're not going to be destroying any of those things any time soon, so do what you can to target weapons emplacements." Commanded Ghale.

As he said that, however, a full missile salvo from the Desert Lion struck out into the side of one of the Jarnfolk Dropships, even as the Leopard Class Dropship Red Shark was crippled by two of the enemy Dropships dumping PPC fire into it broadside. As the Jarnfolk JumpShip moved to fire at the Desert Lion with its Long Tom Turret, Ghale urged his Wing to switch targets to the enemy JumpShip. The normal protests over attacking a JumpShip in Naval Combat failed to materialize. After all, the Jarnfolk had committed it to the line of battle and no one would dare try and say that a ship with that kind of firepower was helpless.

The remainder of Ghale's Wing rocketed forth at the Jarnfolk JumpShip just as its turret spoke once more, firing three Long Toms at the Desert Lion. . .

XXXX

Commodore Singh was forced to take evasive action to avoid the absolutely massive shells from the Enemy's Triple Long Tom Turret. As he did so, the Achilles-class Dropship Red Rain chased one of the Jarnfolk Dropships right into the path of the salvos. A long tom Shell punched through the armor plating on the Red Rain and detonated inside with high explosive force. The Red Rain burst apart from the inside out, shattering like a tea kettle that had its spout stoppered up and left on the stove past the point of all reason. Two Leopard-class Ships, the Savage Blade and the Wild Ocelot killed the Jarnfolk Dropship that had been used as bait shortly afterward, but with one ship crippled and another destroyed, this battle wasn't going as well as Commodore Ramesh Singh had hoped.

"Commodore, the Enemy JumpShip is firing again!" Warned Lieutenant Joshi.

"Evasive Maneuvers! And fire all LRM Launchers! Try and get them to break off!" Snapped Commodore Singh.

The Desert Lion banked hard to port at the last second, one of the Long Tom Shells coming close enough to scrape against the Khaki and Tawny-painted hull, gashing the armor plating in a glancing hit, taking out the Starboard PPC in the process, but leaving the ship still in fighting condition. In response, the five LRM-Ten Launchers of the Desert Lion spat forth a salvo of missiles that struck out for the enemy JumpShip. The Smart move for the Enemy JumpShip would have been to go evasive, but it had just come under attack by the remnants of the Fighter Group and was too busy dealing with the cloud of strafing Vulcan Heavy Aerospace Fighters to get out of the way.

Instead, one of the seven remaining Jarnfolk Dropships interposed itself between the salvo and the Jarnfolk Dropship. It was hit flush in the port side with a full salvo of fifty long-range missiles and utterly destroyed. Its sacrifice, however, managed to preserve the enemy's most dangerous asset, leaving the Jarnfolk Jumpship still very much in play. Moments Later, a salvo of PPC and Laser Fire from one of the Jarnfolk Dropships gutted the Leopard CV-class Raptor Hawk. They were trading ships on a one-for-one basis with the Jarnfolk fleet, largely due to the Jarnfolk's emphasis on armor and the sophisticated ballistics of the Jarnfolk Jumpship's Turret. However, that was a trade that the Fleet Reserve could absorb and still win the battle. The Jarnfolk could very much not afford that rate of casualties. As if to prove that point, moments later a call for a cease-fire came in from the Jarnfolk Jumpship. Commodore Singh had Lieutenant Durrani patch the hail through to the bridge.

"Commodore Singh, you have bested us this day. I am requesting a cease-fire so that we may rescue any crew who managed to eject in any life pods. Then we will withdraw back to the Deep Periphery and trouble Sigurd no more." Came the voice of Erik Hastrup, still icy, but more bedraggled.

"And why should I allow this? From where I'm sitting, it seems inevitable that I could destroy the rest of your fleet." Questioned Commodore Singh.

"I give you my word of honor as a member of House Hastrup, we will trouble you no more." Came the response.

Commodore Singh chewed on his mustache in thought for a few moments. The Briefing Materials he'd been given on the Jarnfolk said they placed a high value on personal and familial honor. That suggested that the Commander would keep his word once it was given, but there wasn't really any way to know whether his older relatives in House Hastrup wouldn't countermand that word down the line sometime. Still, it was the quickest way to end this without further loss of life and material. Nodding, Commodore Ramesh Singh came to a decision.

"I will have your oath on it." He demanded.

For a few moments, nothing but silence answered him and Commodore Singh feared that he'd overstepped and that the fighting would continue anyway. Those fears would ultimately prove to be unfounded, as the moments stretched on only briefly before Commander Erik Hastrup's Icy Voice came back on over the Comms Unit.

"Very Well, I, Erik of House Hastrup, do so swear that the Hastrup Sælgeflåde shall withdraw back to the deep periphery and assail Sigurd no more once we have collected our dead, stranded, and wounded." Intoned Erik Hastrup over the Comms.

"I believe you. You may commence search and rescue operations." Agreed Commodore Singh.

The Jarnfolk did so for a full six hours, working tirelessly and efficiently to collect any wounded, stranded, or dead crewmembers from the destroyed ships. Once the six hours were up, the Jarnfolk dropships all docked with the Jumpship Hammer of Thor and proceeded to a pirate point that Commodore Singh hadn't known about previously before jumping away. Two hours later, the first troops landed on Sigurd to formally take possession of the planet from the Oberon Confederation. Sigurd was now under the control of New Ålborg

Commodore Singh was just glad that he had fulfilled the trust that Baron Poniatowski had placed in him. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, the Jarnfolk gave a short but intense battle for Sigurd in order to save face before negotiating a withdrawal back to the Deep Periphery. They displayed some interesting capabilities in terms of armor and weapons technology, however. Salvage from the destroyed and gutted Jarnfolk Dropships is going to help with the ongoing projects to crack Ferro-Carbide Armor and Pulse Laser Technology, as well as help with advancing ballistic technology further. The reasons for that are twofold, the ballistic tech is all Jarnfolk. They canonically have some of the most advanced non-Gauss-based ballistics tech in the entire galaxy. However, the Ferro-Carbide Armor and Pulse Lasers come from a different source. After all, it's canon that the Jarnfolk have been trading with the Clans for a long time by this point.

At any rate, the next chapter will have us back with Jozef for the remainder of the Butte Hold Campaign. 

Stay tuned. . .