Word Thrown Back from St. Andre a Second Time

[DeJaVu]

[30 May 3070; ISAP] Seeking to cleanse the taint of their previous failure, the Word of Blake struck again against the Capellan world of St. Andre. Standing against them were the valiant guardians of the realm, the same garrison who had driven the original Word of Blake strike force away.
The Word of Blake force, a single Level III formation equally distributed between BattleMechs, armored vehicles, and battlesuit infantry, made landfall unopposed but quickly ran afoul of the St. Andre Home Guard, who lay in ambush along the approaches to the capital city. Taking a page from the playbook of the Davion Light Guards in the Fourth Succession War, the Guard close-assault lances emerged and pounded on the Blakist forces, claiming nearly a quarter of the Blake vehicles and a sixth of the ’Mechs in the first minute of combat. Although the Blakists quickly forced the Home Guard into retreat, the spoiling attack provided enough time for the frontline Capellan forces to emerge from hiding and slam into the Blakist flank.
Driven back to their landing zone, the Word of Blake forces attempted to rally and strike back, but the defenders of St. Andre, long-accustomed to working together, joined forces and formed a wall of power that shrugged off three separate sallies by the Blakist forces. Ultimately the Word of Blake forces withdrew to their DropShips and boosted. As they reached orbit the small aerospace forces of the Capellans sortied and helped wish the Blakist units bon voyage, destroying two of their smaller DropShips in the process.
Best estimates place the losses suffered by the Word of Blake force at two complete Level II forces, with most of the rest damaged. The St. Andre defenders, by comparison, were able to repulse the assault with the complete loss of only seven ’Mechs and a dozen tanks, but will easily make up the materiel difference in salvage.