Personal Memoirs of Sir James E.B. Stuart

The Personal Memoirs of Sir James E.B. Stuart is the written recollection of a character from a Role Playing game I am in. James "Jimmy" Stuart is a Centauri Knight, an advanced and skilled soldier outside the normal chain of command who pilots a large robot called an Armored Mobile Frames, or just Frame for short. This is his account of the war he fought that is currently being played out in the RP. The writing right here begins about two years prior to the time of the begining of the RP. This is a work in progress and will most likely go through several edits and updates as it continues.

Ch. 30 The Lai Dame Campaign

To fully know the regiment one most go back prior to its creation. Our history actually begins several years before its commission where Lady venne Bannikberg and her future knights first met each other.

It was 2997 and the Federation had made an advance into the Lai Dame system. At once our forces were sent out to drive the enemy from this contested territory under the command of Military Lord Dain Keller. The enemy had made a sudden strike but as this was not followed up with support and the Centauri garrison there was able to regroup and fight them to a stand still on Lai Dame planet. At this point in time the enemy force numbered 15 ships, 300 frames, among them at least 30 Aces, and a ground force consisting of 20,000 men. Lord Keller’s force was also comprised of 15 warships as well as 5 Knight Regiments among 200 frames and 60,000 men. This fleet was stationed at planet Midwen and would reach Lai Dame in 24 hours after setting off. Combined with the garrison at Lai Dame we well outnumbered the Federation army.

The Lai Dame system is a populated with only two inhabited planets, Lai Dame and Lai Dame Minor, the later often simply referred to as Minor. Lai Dame the fourth planet from the sun and is the primary planet of interest with its large mining facilities coveted by both sides. Minor is the fifth planet and is used as the capital of the system but is also sparsely populated. An asteroid belt separates the two and was heavily defended by the Federation invaders.

It was here that I first met the gallant men and women who would form our regiment. At the time I was attached to no regiment and acted independently of the other Knights. I was required to attend Lord Keller’s Council of War so as to better understand the opposition we faced and to provide my support and say in the matter. Ship Lords and Knights crowded the room and everyone chatted amongst themselves and took their seats while Lord Keller conferred with his aids. When at last he was ready the room fell into silence and Keller laid out his plan. It was his opinion that Lai Dame could not be taken without first going though the asteroid belt that the Federation had laid their defensive works in. Were we to go over it the enemy would attack us from the rear while the fleet around Lai Dame attacked from the front. Time was of the essence, with the planet as their base they could hold out indefinitely until reinforcements arrived at which point they would drive us from the system completely. The asteroid bases had to be taken then. On this everyone agreed on.

Lorraine venne Bannikburg of the Delorean Regiment (the 127th Ossetia) was present with her regimental commander, Sir Johnathan William Pershing. I would come to learn she did not say much in official gatherings. As it was she never spoke throughout the council though I could see clearly she was holding on to every word, taking note of what was said and who said it.

Annabel Vermillion Lee was like myself, a Knight independent of any regiment. For the most part she too remained silent until the discussion turned to the manner in which the battle ships were to be used. Lord Keller’s plan called for a massed barrage against enemy strongholds by the fleet before allowing the gunships and frames to enter the asteroid field. When other lords suggested that instead the fleet should scatter among the frames squads and act as back-up artillery Annabel stood up and vehemently opposed the idea. The matter went on for some time but Lord Keller’s decision, backed by Annabel, was final.

Upon the conclusion of the meeting I made my way over to Annabel to express my admiration for her resolve. She admitted to being surprised at her own forcefulness, she seemed very timid as of that moment and immediately excused herself. I was disheartened and thought I had somehow offended her.

We were due to leave for Lai Dame in 12 hours. I returned to the Reynolds to make the necessary preparations for battle. Once we left the system there was little for me to do but wait, and I must confess I spent much of this time in communication with my fiancé. Near our arrival time I conferred with the captain of the Reynolds who told me that we would not be going directly to the asteroid belt but that the fleet would make orbit at Minor to resupply and organize the Centauri force already there into the battle plan.

We arrived in the system on schedule. Completely unaware that the hold outs of Lai Dame Garrison had since been overrun and Minor was now under the control of the Federation.

edited 7th Feb '11 3:47:02 PM by Parable

Do you want feedback or suggestions?

afaik, he's posting this solely for the benefit of the corresponding RP.

I could be wrong though.

Anyway, I liked it, but you still need to fix the information discrepancy.

edited 5th Feb '11 9:59:18 AM by SpainSun

This is mostly to extend the story of the RP but feedback and criticism is always welcome.

"you still need to fix the information discrepancy."

I'll fix it on my next update. And I could say the same to you.

Our initial plans depended on having Minor as a base of operations and supply depot. But no sooner did the ships of the advance fleet make their ways to orbit were they fired upon by the planetary defenses and forced into a hasty retreat. Without a world to draw the fleet’s supplies from all food, munitions, and material would have to come from Midwen, which took two full days simply to reach the fleet after departing. Being chained to another star system in this manner greatly limited our strategic ability in just about every way. The attack on the asteroid belt could not be accomplished without constantly halting operations in order to refurbish all the materials necessary to conduct the attack with. Bringing extra cargo ships would force us to procure men and ships to defend them, weakening our fighting force.

The longer we delayed the greater the chance the Federation would reinforce their fleet in the system. Lord Keller already knew this and was determined to waste no time at all. He called no council concerning this unexpected occurrence, instead issuing orders to all commanders that we would immediately push our entire force to liberate Minor from the enemy. While the fleet engaged the enemy ships and defense platforms in orbit, the landing forces would seize critical facilities on the planet thereby securing our base and anchoring us to the system.

As an unaffiliated Knight I was assigned to the landing force along with several others including Annabel Vermillion Lee. Our objective was one of the few Mythril refineries on Minor, located near Bella City on the Premara Continent. I was moved to one of the transport ships scheduled for the first wave and it was here that I met with Annabel again. We were of equal rank so I saw no reason for formalities and went up to her and introduced myself. She did not seem to recall me from the council but was polite enough though very quiet. I asked her if she had any thoughts on what lie ahead to which she replied that she “hadn’t a clue.” Any attempt to engage in conversation was met with similar brusque answers.

At 1400 hours the fleet reached Minor. Approximately half an hour later Keller engaged the enemy fleet.

From my time as a ground soldier, I knew that nothing was more agonizing then the time spent descending towards a planet. The ships are lightly armed and armored, depending almost entirely of friends outside to protect them. Indeed, the objective of the initial engagement with the enemy fleet was to distract them from the transport ships long enough to get them planetside. At this point all Knights were already within their frames to immediately jump into combat once landed. We at least, had protection against the cold emptiness of space if the ship broke apart. The foot soldiers did not have such reassurance and had very little knowledge of what was going outside of what could very well be their metal coffin. Knowing this I decided to try and ease my compatriot’s fears as best I could. Using the speaker system on my frame I put on popular music of the times for everyone in the ship to hear. One of the more interesting spectacles of the campaign was watching one, then two, and then all the men in the ship begin singing along to the tune of a female pop singer. As it was two ships of division we were with were destroyed, killing 1000 men before they reached Minor’s atmosphere.

No sooner were we out of range of the enemy war ships that the anti-air batteries on the surface began firing. The enemy had several lancer canons in addition to standard weapons which created pillars of death in the air, making maneuvers even more difficult. I cannot even imagine what the pilots of the transport crafts had to go through. The strain of having to maneuver through a rain of laser fire with hundreds depending on you is something I can hardly bear to think about. It is a testament to the skill and bravery of the transport pilot that she managed to get us through that maelstrom in one piece.

Enemy fire and the lack of any other decent landing site propelled us to land two miles away from our target. Minor had undergone very little colonization when compared to other worlds thanks to the war. Barely 300,000 people lived on the entire planet at a given time and much of the land remained unconquered. Wildlife and untamed forests stretched across the planet with only a few settlements here and there. The capitol city would hardly qualify as a town on any other world. As a result the land between the mythril facilities and our position was covered completely by a particularly thick forest with no roads and no maps to help coordinate with the other assault groups.

Upon securing our position and establishing radio contact with the other forces we immediately pressed forward with the attack. Annabel and I spearheaded the march and we used our frames to forge a path by knocking down everything in our way. Progress was still slow in the forestland, our lack of knowledge concerning the enemy size and strength as well as the terrain forced us to err on the side of caution. I would have preferred quicker pace, our enemy had stretched himself and we could overrun any opposition but Annabel and Colonel Kennedy voted against the idea. It took two hours to cross a mile of forest with no opposition.

After this time we encountered our first sign of the enemy. The radio communication between me and my fellow Knight relate this engagement:

[[Audio Embed/SR-52-M Record 405/Start:3:00/14:30-11032997]]

[[ERROR: DISPLAY SYSTEM INCOMPATIBLE]]

[[CONVERTING]]

[[Text Only Display/SR-52-M Record 405/Start:3:00/14:30-11032997]]

Lee: It’s quiet.

Stuart: Too quiet?

Lee: I’m serious; they should have thrown something at us by now.

Stuart: I’d much prefer they kept on going this way, Miss Lee. Not lots we can be doing here should they be having a mind to hit us.

Lee: Exactly, so keep your guard up. They’ve had at least 24 hours to prepare for us.

Stuart: They’d have less time if we was movin’ faster. Shots fired! Shots fired! Soldier down.

Lee: Where?

Stuart: Right flank, two o’clock.

Lee: I see them. Aaah!

Stuart: Miss Lee!

Lee: Minor damage. Rockets on the left.

Stuart: Damnation. They be everywhere!

[[End:Text Only Display/SR-52-M Record 405/Start:3:00/14:30-11032997]]

No sooner did Annabel tempt fate did the whole forest become suddenly ablaze with gunfire. The enemy had eluded our scouts up till the very moment of the attack on the leading regiment where they formed in a semi-circle around us. How many there were I cannot say for certain though I estimate at least 200 men, no frame among them. With the dense brush and lack of roads the ground was well suited for defensive operations against us. On three sides we were fired upon, the weight of this sudden attack nearly forcing us to retreat in panic. Colonel Kennedy was at the front with us though, and rallied his men to stand firm. They took shelter around the legs of our frames, hampering my movements. I couldn’t step without risking walking onto someone and Annabel was directly in front of me now. The forest also did a wonderful job of restricting where I could go, so dense was it this deep in.

I fired into our right where the enemy fire was most fierce. Whether or not I hit anything I could not tell but it suppressed the enemy long enough for the ground soldiers to assume better positions. More rockets rained down on us from the left and disabled my side cameras. Now effectively blind in my “Right Eye” I limited myself to warding off attacks on our right, leaving Annabel to handle our left flank. She attempted to neutralize these projectiles that were killing and scattering our men but the enemy proved quicker than she. After launching their rockets the enemy troopers fled their positions and took up new ones elsewhere and continued their attack. To protect the frames several squads of our ground troops managed to navigate through the brush and silence the RP Gs. In the end neither I nor Annabel was of much help in driving off this force, a fitting reminder of the limits frames face when fighting in such oppressive environments.

edited 16th Feb '11 4:02:28 PM by Parable