The Battle of Red Sands City

(From Brush Conflicts of the Post Republic Era; Galatean Free Press)

The ruins of Red Sands City

Acting on this Intel, major Irisz Magyari launched an attack on the reported QLF stronghold, seeing an opportunity to not only strike a decisive blow against the terrorist group, but also to eliminate or capture a good portion of their leadership.

That information proved correct, the Irregulars discovering that the QLF had made their home in the ruins of the old Qizilquam capitol. Several of the abandoned buildings had been reconstructed to serve as both headquarters and command facilities, as well as storehouses for their equipment. Additionally, a large area of the capitol had been cleared and reinforced to act as a landing pad for cargo dropships; when the Irregulars arrived, they found a Mule (Later identified as the Hal Warren, a free trader) was present and in the process of unloading

The Irregulars had a company of BattleMechs, supported by a VTOL lance and a platoon of mixed battle armour. Arrayed against them were two companies of QLF Armour, mostly the older Zhukov and Scorpion thanks they preferred. Supplementing this force was an oversized lance of BatleMechs, again mostly older designs save for a Marauder II, as well as several converted IndustrialMechs and conventional infantry.

While the QLF had a definite numerical advantage, the Irregulars were more mobile, better equipped and as soon became obvious, both more experienced and better coordinated. The QLF's units rarely engaged in stand-up fights, leaving them off-balance in response to the Irregulars’ push. Furthermore, it soon became obvious that the QLF force present were actually composed of elements of several different cells, reducing their overall coordination and ability to work as a whole.

Regardless of how outnumbered they were, the Irregulars drove forwards, quickly closing the distance and bringing the attack to the heart of the QLF's lines. Immediately the flaws in the terrorists' ad-hoc units became clear as several groups leapfrogged their own defensive lines, leaving them strung out and battered by the Irregulars superior firepower. Attempts by the QLF to use artillery to slow the Irregulars' advance were cut short when their positions came under attack by VTOLs, quickly destroying or disabling the guns.

On the front lines, the Irregulars deliberately targeted the QLF's BattleMech forces, aiming to destroy what they correctly saw as both the biggest threats and the likely command elements. In short order, Qutaybah Darya, one of the QLF's long-standing cell leaders, found his Marauder II surrounded and picked apart by several Irregular BattleMechs. An attempt to pull back was cut short when his Heavy Gauss Rifle exploded, gutting the 'Mech. While Darya was able to eject, he would eventually succumb to injuries sustained during the battle.

(Unfortunately, it also left very little evidence to determine where the QLF had acquired the 'Mech from. While it is likely that the 'Mech was built by Irian, how exactly it came to be in the possession of the QLF is unknown)

With their three heaviest BattleMechs destroyed or crippled, the QLF forces attempted to pull back. This retreat was hampered by the Irregulars use of VTOLs to harry their forces, while at the same time providing cover for a further attack of their own. Slipping a VTOL past their defenses, the Irregulars sent a squad of Battle Armoured troopers into the QLF’s command center. Acting quickly, the squad were able to overcome the defenses within, disabling the QLF’s command capability and capturing those inside.

This bounty included QLF overall commander, Sayyid Niyazi, who was quickly taken into Hamilton Planetary Guard custody. Between him and the other captured or killed during the battle, Planetary Guard Commander Roxana Zayros was able to confidently declare that the QLF was finished as a threat to Hamilton.

Analysis of the wreckage and interrogation of the prisoners yielded few clues as to the source of their equipment or the backers of the organization. Nor did it explain where Niyazi had been between his disappearance in 3132 and his subsequent reappearance with the QLF in 3139, even if DNA testing was able to verify his identity. Even the crew of the Hal Warren admitted they knew little, having been contracted to pick up their cargo from a neutral trader and pass it along the line.

However, analysis by SAFE suggested that the QLF could have been a part of a longer-term Maskirovka operation, aimed at destabilizing not only the world but a part of a broader plan to cause disruption and pin down assets. Likely dating back to the 3120s and the CCAF’s secretive build up, a civil war on Hamilton would have forced the RAF to redistribute assets within Prefecture VII and away from the Cappelan border.

With the fall of the Republic, the Maskirovka could have re-started the operation as a way to keep the nascent Free Worlds League occupied and off their borders. If Niyazi was a SAFE operative as speculated, it is possible that he was ‘returned’ to Hamilton when it rejoined the League in order to take control of the operation. This theory gains weight due to Hamilton’s historic role as a ‘flashpoint’ world in League-Confederation border conflicts.

Some of the equipment used by the QLF would support this theory. While the Zhukov and Scorpion tanks that formed the mainstay of their armoured assets are manufactured on several worlds, both are built in the Confederation, and it would be easy enough to "dummy down" low-tech versions of those units. Likewise, the high-tech Arrow IV Assault Carriers they deployed as a part of their plan for a doomsday chemical weapons attack (and likely massive escalation) are manufactured within the Magistracy of Canopus and Duchy of Andurien - both Cappelan Allies. And while the Marauder II was likely built by Irian for the mercenary market, McCarron's trading company has been acting as a broker and distributor for such chassis for some time (As well as being the source of the CCAF's own MAD-4L version)