Battle of Fletcher (3067)
| Battle of Fletcher (3067) | |
|---|---|
| Conflict details | |
| Part of | Jihad, preliminary actions |
| Start Date | November 3067[1] |
| End Date | 30 December 3067[2] |
| Planet(s) | Fletcher[1] |
| Location(s) | Royce, Chase Lowlands[1] |
| Result | Word of Blake victory |
| Territorial Changes | Word of Blake conquest |
| Attacking Forces | |
| Affiliation | Word of Blake[1] |
| Defending Forces | |
| Affiliation | ComStar[1] |
| Command(s) | Eleventh Divison[1] Wilson's Hussars[3] |
| Other Forces | |
Overview
Sometime on or before 21 November 3067, several Word of Blake DropShips entered the Fletcher system undetected. By the time the defending Eleveneth Division was alerted, the DropShips (consisting of at least three Overlord-class and three Excalibur-class DropShips) had already grounded and were unloading several Level IVs worth of troops. Unit identifiers were unfamiliar to ROM, indicating the attacking Level IVs were not included in the 3067 SLDF Report which knew of Divisions 1-10.[1]
Details of the battle itself are scarce, but the Eleventh was effectively destroyed, and its DropShips, at least three, were mined by Blakist sappers while grounded on the spaceport tarmac and blown in place. Mercenary forces described the battle as a "blood bath" though somehow Wilson's Hussars and Riko Li were able to survive.[3] ComStar and other mercenary survivors were temporarily housed in the former Royce Hiring Center (itself the former HPG) for interrogation and processing into reeducation camps.[1][4]
An ad-hoc Level II led first by an Adept George and later by Adept Nicole Shelby managed to escape initial destruction of the Eleventh in the Chase Lowlands north of Royce. Cut off and alone they first tried to secure passage off world on Stonehenge a ComStar civilian Mule-class DropShip that had been unnoticed before. Shortly before Adept Shelby could make a push onto Royce, on the evening of 23 November Blakist Precentor Kevin Dollar pieced their plan together from the southerly march of Shelby's forces, discovered, and destroyed the Stonehenge. Shelby turned her forces back north, hoping to build an underground resistance with the possibility of escape when the focus on the spaceport died down.[1]
Blakists gained complete control over Fletecher by 30 December.[2]
Notes
An apocryphal version of this battle was published in Commando Quarterly as a three part story titled Cat & Mouse. It features a conspiracy by Word of Blake's Precentor ROM Alexander Kernoff and Precentor Martial Cameron St. Jamais to create instability of Fletcher by employing a Blakist mole within ComStar's Eleventh Division to assassinate their own Precentor and the planetary leader. This gave the Blakist Fifth Division the rationale to invade in order to restore law and order. The conspiracy resulted in the destruction of the secular Eleventh Division with conventional battles and orbital bombardment by the Guarded Knowledge. There was also a brief hint of a larger disinformation campaign instituted by Focht that was likely designed to ferret out Blakist moles. Accompanying scenarios were promised for Issue #4, but no further Commando Quarterlies were ever published.