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The Ground Battle for Gotterdamerung began with the Second Regiment Landing near the Town of Helluland on the Taiga south of the Asgard River Valley. Helluland was the only large settlement on the relatively small stretch of Taiga within the main Habitable Band of Gotterdamrung South of the Asgard River Valley. It was primarily a ranching town where the Gotterdamerung Reindeer was the main source of both meat and economic activity, with the next two largest commercial activities being Salt Mining and activities relating to Lingonberry Production, including the production of jams, juices, and wines. There was just enough production of Gene-modded Rye, a project that had been undertaken by the Rim Worlds Republic during the Years after their founding, to maintain a small surplus. There were currently only nine thousand people living in Helluland, with a further one thousand scattered throughout the Taiga in smaller Reindeer Station Villages and one single iron mine.

Accordingly, most of the defenses here were Combat Vehicles and Infantry, only a single Company of Light, Medium, and Heavy Battlemechs from the Lackhove Auxiliary Battalion and a single squadron of mixed Hellcat Medium Aerospace Fighters and Sabre Light Aerospace Fighters were among the defenders, and the Aerospace Fighters were quickly swept from the sky within minutes of the landing. The Ground Forces, meanwhile chose to try and rush the landing site before the Regiment could fully deploy. Unfortunately, it didn't count on the capability of the Triumph-class Dropship to rapidly deploy forces. By the time the enemy mobilized their forces to hit us, Beta and Delta Battalions had already deployed, and Alpha Battalion was about to touch down with the Battlemechs. Naturally, I deployed with Beta Battalion in my Custom Highlander.

The Heavy Metal Variant of the HGN-Seven-Thirty-Two-B Royal Highlander was quite the beast. Sporting twin Medium Ultra-Autocannons, One Medium Laser, One Gauss Rifle, One Pod of LRM-Twenty Long Range Missiles with Artemis Four Fire Control and CASE-Stored Ammunition, Twelve Double Heat Sinks, and Fifteen-and-a-half Tons of Ferro-Fibrous Armor, it was one deadly son of a bitch. I had mine painted crimson, the same color as the Bull on the Poniatowski coat-of-arms. As I saw the incoming forms of the motley mix of Light and Medium Battlemechs of the Lackhove Auxiliary that formed the pointy tip of the enemy spear coming at me, I couldn't help but feel giddy at the prospect of battle.

"All right, time to go to work." I grinned, ferally.

"My Lord, I beg you to reconsider taking the field from the jump. This is your first proper battle, wouldn't it be best to ease yourself in?" Pled Colonol Lindqvist over the Comms Unit.

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but it's time to sink or swim. My father paid for me to get the best military education money could buy. It's far past time he gets a return on his investment." I responded, even as I aimed my Gauss Rifle at an onrushing LCT-One-S Locust Light Battlemech. It had the Lyran SRM Refit in place of the machine guns, but Short Range Missiles weren't going to save it from my Gauss Rifle at long range. As soon as I acquired the target, I squeezed off a single ferro-nickel alloy slug which was propelled at a decent fraction of light speed toward the Locust. My slug punched through the lightly armored Locust, smashing through armor, coring the reactor, and punching out the back. The Locust went up in a ball of flame and I switched targets to a JVN-Ten-F Javelin Light Battlemech, still sporting faded Fedsuns Colors in some places where the dents in its six tons of standard armor hadn't quite been repainted.

Once again I fired as soon as I'd gotten the target in my sights, and once again the ultra-high velocity Ferro-Nickel Slug struck out and hit dead on target. It didn't quite go all the way through this time, but still managed to core the reactor, resulting in a second kill from extremely long range. I fired again, this time at a WSP-One-A Wasp Battlemech that had been trailing the Javelin. The Wasp did the predictable thing, using its jump jets to both clear the flaming wreckage of the Javelin and try to gain altitude to avoid the extremely long-ranged fire from my Gauss Rifle. I was able to lead the target enough to pop off a slug that sheared off one of the Wasp's legs, damaging the Jump Jets. To finish it off, I relied on the Ultra Autocannon, letting off a burst of armor-piercing UAC Rounds that punched into the reactor, scramming it in an explosion and allowing me to sight down on the last Light Mech in the front lance of Light Battlemechs. It was an STG-Three-G Stinger with the Medium Laser in place of the Machine Guns. As I squeezed off my fourth slug, destroying the Stinger the threat board notified me of the approach of heavier elements.

The enemy's Medium Battlemechs were beginning to reach the edge of their feasible Range, having lost a full lance of four Light Mechs to a single Battlemech to get there. This was heralded by a pair of Lackhove Auxiliary GRF-One-N Griffins firing salvos from their LRM-Ten Launchers at me. I pulled my mech into a sideways dash, aided by the triple jump jets, desperately attempting to get into the cover provided by a rocky outcropping in order to avoid taking a salvo of LRM Fire. Ferro-Fibrous Armor covers a lot, but I wouldn't want to trust it that much on my first time out. I made it to the shelter of the outcropping just in time, as missiles impacted the grid square around me, flash-melting the snowy ground of the Taiga with their firepower. Fortunately, the solid stone of the rocks shielded my Mech and what shrapnel battered me from destroyed rocks was absorbed by my armor.

As the explosions subsided around me, I popped out of cover, squeezing off a Gauss Rifle Round at the nearest Griffin. The Gauss rifle slug smashed into the Griffin, tearing into the LRM Pod's Ammunition Storage and causing a massive explosion thanks to the lack of CASE Storage, meanwhile, the other Griffin fired off a beam from its PPC at me while a pair of ASN-Twenty-One Assassin Medium Mechs kept closing. I pulled my mech into a sideways dodge back into the cover of the rocky outcropping as the Griffin fired, PPC scoring a glancing hit that scorched my armor black as I did so. Thankfully, Ferro-Fibrous Armor was made of sterner stuff than the standard armor used in the Sphere and it would take more than that to defeat the protection it offered. 

The Griffin followed, obviously expecting me to withdraw. Instead, I charged him, firing a burst from my Ultra Autocannon as I did so. As I charged the enemy Griffin, he attempted to fire back with his PPC only for me to cross the ninety-meter threshold, and the in-built Field Inhibitors that all PPCs came with to avoid feedback from danger close discharges kicked in, not allowing him to fire it. My Ultra-Autocannon rounds ensured he wouldn't get a second chance to fire back as the Armor-Piercing Rounds penetrated the Griffin's torso. I engaged my jump jets, clearing the field just in time to only take superficial heat damage from the Griffin's reactor scramming, landing on top of one of the two Assassins in a clumsy approximation of a Highlander Burial. The Assassin was knocked to the ground by my landing, and I was able to finish it with a burst of Ultra-Autocannon Rounds, leaping away with my Jump Jets to avoid another explosion.

The last of the Assassins attempted to dump its short-ranged missiles into me, forcing me to seek cover once again behind the rocky outcropping, landing from my Jump Jet-assisted retreat behind it. Unfortunately, the cover I'd been using this entire skirmish finally gave way after the pounding it had taken from multiple missile salvos, shrapnel from pulverized stone pinging off my armor, scraping the crimson paint and denting the ferro-fibrous plates while the heat from the missiles scorched other armor plates. The heat kicked up from the attack was too much for my Ultra-Autocanon, and if I attempted to fire it, I knew it wouldn't end well. Fortunately, my Gauss Rifle generated very little heat. I squeezed off a single ferro-nickel slug that smashed into the remaining assassin just as it fired its medium laser, my round punching into its torso and causing it to miss me with the laser even as my slug punched through coolant and caused a catastrophic overload of the Assasin's medium laser.

I backpedaled away, withdrawing in time to avoid the explosion that claimed the last assassin. Unfortunately, my threat board screamed out a warning, the advanced targeting and tracking system indicating a full incoming salvo of Long-Ranged Missiles from a quartet of Archer Heavy Battlemechs, forcing me to retreat from the wrath of one-hundred-sixty long-ranged missiles. I couldn't withstand that much firepower, even with Ferro-Fibrous Armor, so I hastily retreated trying my best to use my jump jets sparingly to keep my mech from overheating. 

I managed to make it back to friendly territory with only armor damage, just in time for Alpha Company to land and back me up. My first skirmish had turned out well enough, now it was up to Colonel Lindqvist to lead the counterattack while I had my armor replaced. Fortunately, we had enough capacity in the mech bays of the Holger Danske dropship and enough spare Ferro-fibrous armor for a field replacement of damaged armor.

By the time I returned to the field, the enemy attack would already be over. . .

XXXX

Lieutenant Jason Morrison had never seen anything like it before in all his years skirmishing in the Periphery. A Single red-painted Highlander had shown up, slaughtered a full lance of Battlemechs from beyond even the maximum range of his Archer, and engaged in a brief skirmish with a lance of Medium Battlemechs, weaving behind cover when attacked with missiles before proceeding to destroy them all. They'd only forced this Red Devil to withdraw through massive, overwhelming, firepower, saturating the entire battlefield with a massive missile strike that would have slain damn near anyone! He'd only heard of this kind of stuff being pulled off by those Wolf's Dragoons fighting in the latest Succession War, and even then he hadn't really believed the rumors about them!

"We're pulling back, Lieutenant. Major El-Fadil's Orders, we're bugging out for the Mountain Passes." Came the voice of his Captain, Yelena Bilochka.

"What? We've got the bastard on the run! Sure it took overwhelming firepower to make the Red Devil turn tail, but we can keep it up! He's just one Mech and with the Combat Vehicles in support, we ought to be able to win this!" Protested Morrison.

"No good, Lieutenant. The latest recon says that they're off-loading a full battalion of Battlemechs now. This battle is over." Intoned Captain Bilochka.

"Damnit, we can't just leave Helluland to be defended by the Militia! They won't even fight! you know how the locals are!" Insisted Morrison.

"Helluland won't be in enemy hands for long. Maria Morgraine herself is taking the Valkyries to the Jotunheim Pass. She's also shifted the ASF to forward deployments for air support. We're linking up with her and then going on the offensive. Let's see how they like a Counterattack from a Full Regiment of Hardened Troops." Responded Captain Bilochka.

"About bloody time! All right, First Lance pulling back. Looks like the Combat Vehicles are too. We're gonna have to leave some of the infantry behind, though. Only some of it's mechanized." Warned Morrison.

"Lieutenant Kaur knows, she'll fight unless offered extremely lenient terms." Confirmed Captain Bilochka.

"Bloody Sikhs. Better she's on our side, I suppose." Remarked Morrison.

"Just focus on pulling back in good order. We'll rendezvous with the Major at the Pass while we wait for Lady Morgraine." Ordered Captain Bilochka.

"Right. Let's just hope that Red Devil leaves a town standing for us to liberate. Morrison out." Groused Morrison.

The battered remnant of the First Battalion of the Lackhove Auxiliary pulled back through Helluland, leaving Lieutenant Aasa Kaur and her Foot Infantry Platoon behind with the Thumper Artillery. The Foot Infantry dug in as best they could while they waited for the enemy to attack. As they did, whispers began to spread of the Red Devil, a Highlander Battlemech that destroyed eight Light and Medium Mechs on its own among the men. As Soldiers are wont to do, the story grew embellishments, from the Mech taking out only light Battlemechs from Extreme Range, to also taking out Both Griffins from Extreme Range as well, from taking a glancing hit from a long-range missile with barely a scratch to taking more than one direct hit without being scratched. Lieutenant Kour tamped down on the rumors as hard as she could, but they'd already spread to the Militia and begun to affect their morale as well.

At any rate, the defenders wouldn't have long to wait before the enemy was at their gates. . .

XXXX

As we approached the town of Helluland Proper, we could see that efforts had been made to fortify the place as best as possible. They were meager field fortifications, earthworks, and sandbags studded with thumper artillery pieces and manned by desperate foot infantry and militia. Helluland was small enough that it only had a single real strongpoint to its name, a bunker dug into the base of a low ridge that barely stuck up two stories tall, fitted with a single pair of Sniper Artillery Pieces in a pair of casemated batteries atop the ridge. That was likely where the Militia Commander would be, along with whoever commanded the foot infantry. Only a few crew-served Short-Range Missile Launchers were scattered among the defenders, mostly in the trenches. The Militia only had some light anti-vehicle launchers and a few thirty-millimeter autocannons.

While this setup might do enough damage to a Light Periphery Force to make them think twice before assaulting, this would barely scratch us. They seemed to know it too, because the Militia looked already about to run and even the Foot Infantry looked extremely skittish. I was planning to take advantage of that, broadcasting on comms frequencies in the hopes that whoever was in the Bunker would be able to pick up my transmission and respond.

"I wish to speak to the commander of the defense. My name is Baron Jozef Poniatowski, these are my forces you are fighting. I wish to discuss the terms for the surrender of Helluland. If the commander of the defense is interested, they can reach me on this frequency. I say again, this is Baron Jozef Poniatowski requesting to speak to the commander of the defense to discuss the terms for the Surrender of Helluland. If you are interested, you may reach me on this Frequency." I called out on an open channel. For a few, long moments, nothing happened, before a female voice spoke up in a Chekaarese Accent.

"This is Lieutenant Aasa Kaur of the Third Platoon, Third Company, First Lackhove Auxiliary Battalion. What terms do you offer?" Questioned the Voice.

"Only a Lieutenant?" I queried.

"Major Nyberg of the Helluland Provincial Militia is currently indisposed. I say again, what terms do you offer?" Asked the Voice of Lieutenant Kaur.

"I offer these terms, humane treatment in accordance with the provisions of the Ares Conventions relating to the treatment of Surrendered Troops for all Lackhove Auxiliary Troops, the Militia may return to their homes as if demobilized, and at the end of the campaign, a general amnesty for all surrendered troops." I answered.

"Those are extremely generous terms. I know Lady Maria would not be nearly so generous were the situation reversed. What's the catch?" Questioned Lieutenant Kaur.

"No catch. I intend to rule this planet and Lackhove when the war is over, after all. It's hard to do that when you have multiple regions devastated by combat. Repairing things gets to be expensive. So does earning the ire of your new citizens." I responded.

"And after the war, you'll let us go free under a general amnesty? Just like that?" Pressed Lieutenant Kaur.

"Well, I wouldn't mind if you joined the reformed Battalions I'd be putting together, but I won't press the issue." I admitted.

"Probably wise." Smirked Lieutenant Kaur.

"Then do we have terms?" I asked.

"We have terms." Agreed Lieutenant Kaur.

And just like that the Battle for Helluland Province was over. The Militia stood down, and Lieutenant Kaur's Foot Infantry surrendered voluntarily, where I had them confined to barracks under guard with strict orders to the guards to follow the Ares Conventions for Humane Treatment of Prisoners. We received news only three hours later that the remaining enemy force was gathering at the Jotunheim Pass into the Asgard River Valley and the Capital City of Valhalla that lay there. Maria Morgraine was apparently among them with her entire Force of Valkyries. I gave the go-ahead to Colonel Frankowski to begin landing the First Regiment at the Valhalla Spaceport outside the Capital City.

Valhalla surrendered without a fight to Colonel Frankowski, who had appeared with a full regiment right on their doorstep out of nowhere. The Militia proved unwilling to fight for Maria Morgraine and her Valkyries. Apparently, the taxes they put on the population went against the spirit of the initial agreement to submit to her Glorified Pirates that they'd signed. That plus the Matriarchal System that Maria put in place for her Mechwarrior and Aerospace Forces, as well as her administration, frankly alienated much of the local population. It didn't hurt that we had a shared Rasalhagian Identity. Really, when you get right down to it, several of the worlds in the Coreward Periphery had Rasalhagian Roots if you went back far enough. The rest maintained a shared Rim Worlds Republic Identity, and our use of Rim Worlds Republic Army Equipment only seemed to help there. By the time night fell, we had the remaining enemy forces bottled up inside the Jotunheim Pass, including Maria Morgraine herself.

The Final Battle for control of Gotterdamerung would take place in the morning. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, it turns out that having proper training at an honest to gods Inner Sphere Military Academy, the Best Equipment this side of Wolf's Dragoons, and just having a knack for fighting, has turned Jozef into quite the terror on the battlefield. Right now, he is to the glorified periphery bandits as a Clan Mechwarrior would be to an Inner Sphere Opponent a few decades from now. His forces have a similar level of comparison going for them. Just how long that's going to last, though remains to be seen. Certainly, he'll have a technical edge for a while, assuming he can keep it, but the Inner Sphere has the edge in experience on him and will for a long time. Plus they aren't as backward as the Periphery are.

In a matchup between Jozef and an Inner Sphere Mechwarrior, assuming said Mechwarrior was a veteran? It really could go either way right now, with Jozef's technical advantage being negated by the Inner Sphere Veteran's wealth of experience. Down the road, though? Who knows? A Clan Mechwarrior would certainly beat him as he is now, though.

This chapter has been rewritten after building out the Heavy Metal Highlander Variant in Megamek to be more in line with the weight rules for Mechs since people complained. I also switched out shooting down missile strikes for taking cover behind a sturdy ridge. Hopefully, this is more in line with what people want.

At any rate, next up will be the Battle of Jotunheim Pass.

Stay tuned. . .