Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

[El Guapo]

So is this like a dramatic cliffhanger?

[Stefan Stirzaker]

This episode is better than battletech thrones

[Hyena]

This episode is better than battletech thrones

Except for those twin mechwarriors that keep getting caught in the hanger bay together...something's not right there...

[Paingod]

Sorry about that leg.

Am I getting the other Griffin, or something else?

[NickAragua]

Definitely a cliffhanger.

Paingod, you're in the spare Griffin for now. But, there's always the option to swap out to another mech (although I'll request you keep it to a medium that can keep up with the rest of Delta for now).

Round 6:

Spoiler:

And here they come. Gamma lance arrives from the north, right behind the heaviest enemy units. The functional members of Alpha move into the center of town to hold down the fort.

After an SRM salvo from a Wasp, El Guapo's mech is basically completely disabled at this point, as the only places that have non-frozen myomers are one of the legs and the head. He gets in one last shot on the right arm of the nearby Hermes, though, disabling the medium laser there.

The center of the base heats up a little - an enemy Vulcan gets nearly melted by a flamer turret and keels over, while a Wolverine to the west gets pummeled and loses the use of most of its limbs. There's a lot of shooting at buildings and a lot of missing on our end, although Hyena does get in a few good hits on the enemy Awesome.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

A Marik lance comes in from the southeast, further complicating things. They won't be getting there for a while though, so we have some time to clean up. Gamma lance has pretty good chances to hit, so they overheat badly, hoping for a quick resolution. Although a lot of their shots go wide, they hit the Awesome with enough ordnance to force it to the ground, where a lot of sparks come out and the mech stops moving. Cylus Maxii doesn't quite make the hits on the enemy Archer he's harassing, but at least he kicks it in the leg, the impact reverberating through the mech like a gong.

In the center, Isgrimnur's AC/10 goes to work on an enemy Wasp that moves a little too slowly, breaching the center torso armor and forcing a shutdown, while avoiding weapons fire from a Quickdraw that jumps on top of a building behind him. Stefan stays still for a second and fires his LRM/15 launcher at a Phoenix Hawk, cracking open its center torso and toppling it over as the air escapes and the pilot no doubt curses the stupid safety shutdown mechanism. An enemy Stinger also doesn't make it, getting lasered by a turret mounting multiple small lasers.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Lyran heavy metal arrives from the east, providing cover for El Guapo to move his disarmed mech out of the area. I think we've got this under control at this point.

To the north, Lt. Scrub eats an AC/20 burst and medium lasers to the legs, but disables the enemy Hunchback with a center torso shot from a PPC, while Xwraith and Hyena bracket it from behind and front respectively, scoring nasty hits on the rear torso and right arm.

The center is still a chaotic melee, but we're gaining the upper hand. The enemy Whitworth takes a bunch of fire from Isgrimnur and the allied Archer, falling over. Isgrimnur takes the opportunity to stomp on the enemy mech's leg, cracking open the armor to let the air and some actuator bundles out. Lighter enemy units swarm a pair of turret buildings in the center. They adopt the unusual strategy of standing on top of the buildings while firing on them, reducing the structural integrity of said buildings to the point where they can no longer support the mechs standing on them. In a spray of debris and mech parts, a whole bunch of stuff collapses. It does cost the Marik guys a Phoenix Hawk and an Ostscout, though.

In the west, an enemy Wolverine goes down to a center torso hull breach after getting peppered with SRMs, although, simultaneously, his large laser evaporates that gun turret's crew.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

The Whitworth pilot bails out, his ejection seat bouncing off some streetlights.

Gamma lance's heavies move to engage the Cyclops. The enemy mech has found a pretty good hiding spot in a cluster of buildings to the north, but we've got enough firepower to take him down. Probably. They exchange fire, scoring some hits (about half on the building in front of the Cyclops). Cylus Maxii continues harassing the Archer to the east, taking some armor off the head and giving it a good kick.

The center of the battlefield is just about done. The allied Archer nails the remaining Ostscout with an LRM/20 salvo - twenty out of forty missiles hit, causing a center torso hull breach. Isgrimnur exchanges fire with an enemy Quickdraw, his lasers scoring solid hits and nearly taking off the center torso armor, but the Quickdraw gets him better, poking a hole in his center torso with a laser. The mech shuts down and plops to the ground.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

The Cyclops goes down as an allied Guillotine, combined with the rest of Alpha lance back it into a corner and surround it. Cylus doggedly pursues the Archer, lining up a large laser shot on the head to take the section out. The liaison legs an enemy Hunchback with its SRMs, then plants a boot through the rear center torso as it goes down to shut it down for good.

With all of their heavier units gone, the remainder of the Marik forces retreat. Surprisingly, no injuries for any of our mechwarriors, although some mechs are in rough shape and will need a lot of vac-spray to seal up those laser cracks after we patch up the armor. Our share of the salvage is a Wyvern, the Cyclops, a Vulcan 2T and a Whitworth. Mostly because we don't have any of those yet. Funny thing about this battle: even though a whole bunch of mechs got taken out of action, only one, a Locust, is unrepairable. The rest won't actually take that long for repairs, maybe a day. Isgrimnur's Hatchetman develops some problems with the ammo feed system, which renders a whole bunch of our AC/10 ammo unusable while the techs sort it out. Other than that, the Hatchetman performed very well, mowing down enemy mechs like nobody's business. The Marauder also got a pretty good kill ratio, but getting completely disarmed puts a damper on your combat ability.

The Steiner guys aren't terribly happy about losing the three buildings, but they can cry themselves to sleep on the pile of salvaged mechs. Which they'll no doubt send back out into the field, where they'll get re-captured by Marik forces in short order. Quite a cycle they've got going on this planet. But hey, at least the salvage so far has been excellent. We've scored another assault mech (the Cyclops), and some more mediums, for when we bulk the company out to battalion-size after this contract.

In addition to the attack on the mech base we just defended, we get a request from our employer to intercept and destroy an enemy recon force poking around one of their currently controlled facilities. Probably the same guys that we let go a few weeks ago. The liaison informs us that it's not a contract requirement. Still, it may be better to flush these guys out rather than let them skulk around. It's a recon element, so we won't be seeing any assault mechs, but, just because it's a "recon" element doesn't mean it'll be any easier to tackle. We've got Beta and Delta lance available to take them on, as well as air support if we need it.

[El Guapo]

Sure. This mission sounds better than the last one, so let's go for it.

[Paingod]

I've always had a thing for the Cyclops.

I'm fine in the Griffin unless there's something maybe more mobile and a little less vulnerable to ankle-biters?

[NickAragua]

December 22, 3032
Beta lance snares an enemy "recon" unit as they skulk around the jagged mountains near a mech base. Just as we get ready to power up and open fire, the lead enemy mech, a Thunderbolt 5S, issues a challenge. One on one, winner keeps the loser's mech, while the loser cedes the field and withdraws. The decision being between fighting the Thunderbolt, or fighting it and four mixed lances of mediums and anklebiters. LordMortis draws the straw, gives the AC/20 a test spin and stomps off. The two mechs are evenly matched on speed. The Thunderbolt has more armor and firepower, but heat prevents it from firing all its weapons, especially up close.

Round 1-3:

Spoiler:

LordMortis moves the Hunchback behind a hill to get some cover from the Thunderbolt's LRMs, then hangs out there, waiting for the enemy mech to come to him. Unfortunately, the enemy mechwarrior figures out the game plan and breaks north, firing LRMs from long range and missing.

Round 4-5:

Spoiler:

LordMortis patiently waits and holds his ground, bracing against the rock outcropping in front of him for better cover, as another LRM salvo goes wide.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Our Hunchback takes the unusual step of going prone, to avoid getting plastered by the Thunderbolt's slightly longer-range firepower. Between the large laser and LRMs, the enemy mech has ours ranged, so it's best to let him come to us.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The sensor blip closes to within weapons range, and LordMortis gets up to a knee to let the bastard have it. Its LRMs and large laser shot go wide, while the autocannon burst rips the armor off the enemy mech's left arm, which goes limp as the actuators freeze up. The Thunderbolt staggers under the onslaught, but remains standing. The only thing the left arm had was a pair of machine guns, but any reduction in enemy firepower helps.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

LordMortis gets up and prepares to move to a different position, while the Thunderbolt negotiates some rocky terrain.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

Problematically, the Thunderbolt figures it out and backs up out of weapons range. The Hunchback takes a salvo of LRMs, which impact the left torso and right arm (while a few impact the dirt in front of him instead) but the armor remains intact.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

The Thunderbolt moves up behind the large ridge separating him from the Hunchback. But, he's close enough that it's time to get in there. Armor separates from the Hunchback's right leg as the large laser makes contact, but the rest of the weapons fire from the enemy mech misses. LordMortis does a little better, missing with the AC/20 burst but hitting mostly center of mass with the lasers.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

The enemy mech realizes it's been had and tries to pull back, but too late. LordMortis takes good advantage of the light gravity to move much faster than you'd expect a Hunchback to move, closing the distance and getting into position for a boot to the Thunderbolt's upper section. He takes a shot to the right torso, peeling some armor off, then squeezes the trigger on all his weapons. The mech's cockpit turns into a sauna, but it pays off, as the AC/20 rounds rip into the right arm, disabling the large laser, while the small laser produces a "piff" from the right torso, signaling loss of air pressure there.

The Thunderbolt is now down to three medium lasers, which would make the fight pretty fair.

Then, LordMortis kicks its head in. The mechwarrior inside is sucked out through the rather large breach and bounces off the Hunchback's foot before landing lifelessly on top of the cliff.

True to their commander's word, the rest of the enemy force withdraws. We call salvage in to grab the Thunderbolt, then head home.

Within a couple of days, they come back though, harassing a Steiner unit and preventing them from moving. As a Christmas present, we get an assignment to help break up the fight, so that the allied lance can move on to their objective. We also get word that a high ranking enemy officer has set up shop a little too close to our and allied bases of operations, and we're pretty sure that *somebody* would like to have a chat with him.

The liaison informs us that defeating the enemy diversion is considered a contract requirement, but shrugs when the conversation shifts to the enemy officer.

From our perspective, ignoring the enemy officer will save us a fight, but will allow him to carry out whatever he's got planned for his mechs. Taking him on risks our mechs, but it's a good chance at solid intel. Granted, actually carrying out the capture might be kind of tough, but it'd still be good salvage.

So: Do we try for the capture, or say screw it and leave the guy alone?

[Zarathud]

Capture.

[Paingod]

The right Intel could be worth more than a Mech to the right buyers, yes? Any idea what he might have that our liaison could buy, or if they'd even be interested? Does our contract cover side-bets and sales of info?

If it's a freebie, I'd say "No" to the officers. If there's a payday at the end, Intel and Salvage could be nice.

[Freyland]

I stand steadfastly by the idea that since the risk of losing a fight, including leaving behind multiple intact mechs, is significant even against a lesser force due to environmental factors, we do not engage.

[El Guapo]

The right Intel could be worth more than a Mech to the right buyers, yes? Any idea what he might have that our liaison could buy, or if they'd even be interested? Does our contract cover side-bets and sales of info?

If it's a freebie, I'd say "No" to the officers. If there's a payday at the end, Intel and Salvage could be nice.

Yeah, I agree. If the value of intel is just making other fights easier, probably not worth a whole additional fight to make other fights marginally easier. If the intel is worth a significant amount of cash (or other things of value), then probably worth it.

[NickAragua]

The right Intel could be worth more than a Mech to the right buyers, yes? Any idea what he might have that our liaison could buy, or if they'd even be interested? Does our contract cover side-bets and sales of info?

We have no idea what else the guy knows, or how willing he is to talk, so it's kind of a crap shoot. We might find out detailed force dispositions and intentions, or we might find out how many twinkies they currently have in stock. We're free to do what we will with the information, as long as we don't compromise overall operational security for the allied forces (see section 7, paragraph 3 of the contract).

The standard prisoner capture bonus paid out by our employer is in the range of tens of thousands of c-bills per prisoner handed over (unless we capture some kind of superhuman elite badass, in which case it's hundreds of thousands), so it wouldn't be worth it to risk our mechs (which cost millions of c-bills) and mechwarriors (uh... priceless... ) just for that.

[Paingod]

I'd vote no, then. We don't need to capture a glorified inventory clerk, even if it does let us know how many Twinkies they have or if they issue blue boxers or green ones.

[El Guapo]

Maybe he has intel on the location of the famous lost episodes of Battlemech Galactica?

[xwraith]

Did they happen to mention the size of his unit? Lance, Company, or are we talking about something bigger?

[NickAragua]

Did they happen to mention the size of his unit? Lance, Company, or are we talking about something bigger?

Estimate is around a company's worth of mechs.

[Hyena]

Did they happen to mention the size of his unit? Lance, Company, or are we talking about something bigger?

Estimate is around a company's worth of mechs.

I'm glad you figured out what he was asking... I was wondering where this thread was headed...

[El Guapo]

Did they happen to mention the size of his unit? Lance, Company, or are we talking about something bigger?

Estimate is around a company's worth of mechs.

I'm glad you figured out what he was asking... I was wondering where this thread was headed...

Hey, it gets lonely in space.

[LordMortis]

Boot to the head!

Did they happen to mention the size of his unit?

That's kinda personal isn't it?

I have no opinion on the capture. I just love any opportunity where I get say "Boot to the head!" and have it be meaningful.

[Zarathud]

+1
The best defense is a good offense.
Do you know who said that? Mel, the cook on Alice!

Master, I want to learn how to beat people up, too.

[xwraith]

Did they happen to mention the size of his unit? Lance, Company, or are we talking about something bigger?

Estimate is around a company's worth of mechs.

I'm glad you figured out what he was asking... I was wondering where this thread was headed...

Hey, it gets lonely in space.

Hyena is just trying to distract us from remembering the weather briefing he did for the CO on the last planet.

Spoiler:

[Hyena]

Well, if you'll remember, it was incredibly hot on that planet...

#IfyaknowwhatImean

[NickAragua]

December 30, 3032
The sentiment against taking unnecessary fights seems to be pretty strong, so we ignore the reports of enemy officers and mechs and concentrate on our contract requirements. Those being that an allied force has gotten themselves bogged down and we need to spring them loose so that they can continue on to their original objectives. We send in Beta Lance again, with Delta standing by to reinforce - once we commit Beta, the number of sensor blips grows from twelve to twenty four, so Delta will probably be needed. Even a little piece of crap Wasp can completely disable an assault mech when every shot carries the risk of a hull breach, so numbers matter more than quality here.

The allied force is a mix of heavies and mediums, the most notable being a Flashman. That's a 75 ton mech with a significant amount of lasers and *almost* enough heat sinks to fire them all. As the opfor resolves, it's mostly lights and mediums, backed up by three heavies and two assaults - a Cyclops and an Awesome 8V (a variant that swaps out two of the PPCs for a large laser and LRM/15 launcher). The Cyclops is a 10-Z, packing an AC/20, two medium lasers and an SRM/4 for short range firepower, and an LRM/10 for long range. It's pretty lightly armored for an assault though, with less armor than any of our Awesomes.

The battlefield is a (hopefully) bunch of abandoned domes. We need to get this done pretty quickly, otherwise the allied force won't be able to get where they're going in time.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

The opfor "engages" us from a really long distance. It's flat ground for miles around, so we might as well fight where there's cover.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

They've got a lot of fast mechs, and there's no avoiding them.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Their faster, lighter mechs make it into the town. The Marik forces also have some, uh, slower mechs.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

There's always that one guy that gets a little too excited and runs out ahead of the pack. The Hermes 2M "Mercury" is a pretty fast, 40-ton medium mech. It's got three medium lasers and a bunch of anti-personnel weaponry. This one takes a symbolic AC/2 round to an arm while PPCs fly overhead, but it mostly just plinks off. Depending on how this goes, either this guy will be a legend among his people or a cautionary tale.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

An enemy Spider jumps on top of a dome, firing at our liaison's Dervish. Most shots against it whiff, but LordMortis is on the ball with the AC/20, letting rip with a short burst that sends the mech's left half tumbling off the side of the dome. As it staggers, Zenn7 blasts the head open with a PPC and the little mech falls over. The heroic Mercury tries to run between our two Awesomes, but the Blackjack sidesteps it and cores out the center torso from the rear with lasers. He's actually a pretty good shot, hitting Zarathud with a trio of lasers and anti-personnel weapons, but he's firing at an Awesome.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Delta lance arrives from the west, but they're pretty far. I don't know if they'll get to the fight in time to make a difference. The allied Assassin jumps in to engage the enemy force at close range. He's a little outnumbered, but those jump jets make him pretty hard to hit. An enemy Firestarter takes the bait and eats some lasers from the Assassin as it finishes its jump. Then a PPC from Zenn7 takes off the right arm and breaches the right leg, forcing the mech to stagger before an LRM salvo from the allied Crusader breaks through the center torso.

An enemy Stinger gets a HUMILIATION KILL, hitting the poor Assassin in the center torso with a continuous burst from its machine gun. Some stray bullets puncture the air seal and the mech shuts down.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The engagement begins in earnest, as an enemy Thunderbolt comes around the south side of town to engage our heavies, while two lances of bug mechs push through the south center area to engage our units in town. Zenn7 snipes at a Stinger further back, breaching its left torso with a PPC. LordMortis takes the leg off a Wasp with the AC/20, the weapon tracking upwards and removing the torso section above the leg as well. The little bug mech drops to the ground, cracking its left arm as it tries to brace itself. Another Wasp gets the drop on LordMortis though, breaching his center torso section with a couple of SRMs. His mech jerks then falls over and shuts down.

Our liaison displays some impressive gunnery, taking down a Quickdraw with LRMs from almost maximum range.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Delta lance finally enters weapons range. At least for LRMs. Zarathud comes around the corner and zaps a nearby Wasp with a PPC, breaching the left torso. Our Blackjack targets the nearby Spider, focusing laser fire on its center torso, forcing a mech shutdown. Our mechwarrior fires two AC/2s at a distant bug mech as well, and then the mech is brought to the ground by a substantial amount of weapons fire, the left arm going limp. The allied Crusader nails a Wasp with LRMs, blowing away the right arm. Paingod and our liaison combine fire on the enemy Thunderbolt, the damage forcing it to the ground. The liaison avoids the lasers from a Spider that lands nearby then exchanges kicks with it. The Spider chips some armor off the liaison's Dervish, but then loses all armor from its right leg, at which point the actuators seize up and the nimble little mech goes down.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

The enemy Thunderbolt haas some trouble getting up, and breaches most of its right side, losing a bunch of weapons there. It's still dangerous, but with the heavy weapons gone, not lethal. With Delta in actual weapons range, the fight heats up.

Zenn7 peppers a Stinger with PPC shots as it pops up. When you "pepper" a mech with machine gun fire, well, it dings off the armor. When you "pepper" a mech with PPC shots, well, limbs come off. Not all of them, because an Awesome only has three PPCs. Zarathud walks around the corner to whale on the downed Thunderbolt, cracking open its left torso to let the air out, then nailing the escaping Spider in the back with the small laser to take out a bunch of jump jets. He takes some fire from a Marik Vindicator, losing the right torso and arm to a hull breach, along with the PPCs there. On the plus side, it'll be easier to cool that mech off now, which is good as the cockpit temperature is to the point where the air is shimmering.

Freyland and our Blackjack open up on a Wasp to the west, Freyland's medium lasers finishing it off. Archinerd fires at a Vulcan with LRMs, breaching the center torso and forcing a shutdown. Little bug mechs drop to the ground like flies this round.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

The Thunderbolt gets up and just starts walking away. Sensor readings show zero active weapons. We continue delivering a withering amount of firepower, as we now have local and overall fire superiority.

Madmarcus takes the leg off a Spider harassing Zarathud's mech - the large laser whiffs, but the medium laser cuts it off at the upper leg actuator. Zarathud ignores the little ankle biters and zaps the nearby Ostsol in the leg with his remaining PPC, causing an armor breach. The enemy Vindicator camping out in the back eats LRMs from Archinerd and PPCs from Zenn7, losing integrity on the right leg, which the Blackjack then saws off entirely. Paingod targets another of the little mechs harassing Zenn7, taking the right leg off the Wasp.

Zarathud takes a substantial amount of return fire and loses pressure in his right leg, sending the lumbering 80-ton mech to the ground. However, the are around the Awesome is now pretty much clear of standing enemy mechs.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

With their only remaining combat-effective units being the Phoenix Hawk, a Trebuchet, a Hunchback and an Awesome, the remaining enemy units rout. A couple of the mechwarriors eject, while the Ostsol's mechwarrior bravely tries to cover his buddies retreat. Well, he technically succeeds, drawing our fire long enough that the rest can clear out. Madmarcus cores out a Stinger that tries to power back up, and that pretty much ends it.

As it turns out, the enemy Cyclops slipped on some pavement way early in the battle and disabled pretty much all of its weapons except the SRM/4 launcher, while the Awesome couldn't find its way through the dome complex. That extra Hermes blew out a leg actuator trying to run too fast and spent the whole battle failing to get up. The less said about that Urbanmech the better.

The remaining mechs in the allied lance transmit a terse thanks and sprint off to their next objective, leaving us with a shit ton of salvage. We claim the Ostsol and Quickdraw, leaving the rest of the crap for our employer. I mean, uh, high quality mechs in good shape.

To be honest, I don't think we would have won this one if it wasn't for the vacuum and low-G. I mean, we would have plastered the enemy force still, but it would have taken twice as long and those allied mechs wouldn't have been able to reinforce their buddies.

I don't know exactly what we're accomplishing on this world, or if the Lyrans will succeed in their bid to take it, but at least we'll be walking away with a very large number of extra mechs. Perhaps this is why the rep was so reluctant to give up more salvage when we were first negotiating the contract. I probably would have been, too, if the salvage was all mechs, rather than 5/6 of it being shitty little tanks.

Within a day, the results of our operations unfold: the allied force we sprung loose made the difference between victory and defeat in their subsequent engagement. As a result, Steiner forces have routed enemy units in sector 3-G, and are continuing pursuit. The Marik force in sector 1 (the one that we ignored) continues to engage in recon operations and additional enemy mechs have arrived in the area.

However, our liaison informs us that the Marik forces have lifted their blockade of the standard jump points and are abandoning the planet. She also offers us an immediate follow-up contract just two jumps away. We now have some decisions to make.

1) Do we help the Steiner guys chase down the last of the escaping Marik mechs?
2) Do we want to try to take down the Marik force we've ignored previously and try to get their twinkies?
3) Do we take the follow-up contract or lift off and head back to Outreach for a recruitment drive to bulk up to battalion strength? We're up to 69M in the bank, plus we're looking at another 70M payout once the contract is officially complete.

Some thoughts:
The optional battles won't provide any additional pay, but will give us a chance at salvaging some additional mechs. The risk, of course, being that our mechwarriors get vacuumed. The follow-up contract pays pretty well (about 56M for 3 months' work, plus a free jumpship ride there) but it's an objective raid deeper into Marik territory, with minimal support and not much chance to resupply. Our expendables are holding up fine (we were expecting to be here another four months), except for the AC/10 ammo and spare armor.

[Cylus Maxii]

Head back to Outreach and recruit.

[LordMortis]

about 56M for 3 months' work

Sounds like good pay... but then I like somebody else' Twinkies.

So I vote not number 1.

[El Guapo]

I'd be fine with the optional missions, except that the whole "vacuuming risk" seems better to avoid. I'd suggest taking the follow-up missions, though - good pay and a contract in hand.

[gbasden]

I agree with El Guapo - lets avoid getting anyone vacuumed, but the follow on contract sounds decent.

[Zarathud]

I'm a Steiner sympathizer, and the pay is good. Like usual.

[El Guapo]

I'm a Steiner sympathizer, and the pay is good. Like usual.

Aren't the Steiners the quasi-fascists of the houses? I'm not very up on the Battletech novels or anything, but that's the vague sense that I get.

[Madmarcus]

We've got mechs already so I'm not seeing a real need to risk vacuum for twinkies. I'd vote for recruiting but if we are ok on supplies the contract in hand doesn't sound bad or super long.

[Zarathud]

I'm a Steiner sympathizer, and the pay is good. Like usual.

Aren't the Steiners the quasi-fascists of the houses? I'm not very up on the Battletech novels or anything, but that's the vague sense that I get.

Steiner has a rich and interesting history. They're Constitutional Monarchs with loose control over worlds meeting their requirements.

The Lyran Commonwealth is renowned for its strong economy, powerful nobility, and its military policy of promotion based on pedigree as well as talent. Unfortunately for the Lyran state, the promotion of so-called "Social Generals" has resulted in a military of varied capabilities. Even though incompetent "social generals" are not the rule, the prevalence of many poor officers has hindered the Lyran state throughout its history. Additionally, the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces tend to fight defensive campaigns with heavier BattleMechs.

Wealthy clients who need mercs for offensive capability. They field heavy tonnage you want at your back, not on the enemy side, even if they're often piloted by less capable mechwarriors. They even have holovid available on their most backwards planets.

[Paingod]

We've had a good run, but running freebies or pushing into unsafe territory when we're already getting a huge payout seems risky.

I'd vote 3 - Outreach, recruit, refit.

Everything works better with a fresh coat of wax and a little R&R.

[NickAragua]

From our perspective, Steiner isn't too bad. They pay well and don't try to screw us over too much. We've spent a lot of time shooting up Liao forces, so they don't like us much, while Kurita in general has a bad reputation when it comes to dealing with mercs. Davion and Marik are ok, but Marik is probably the most disorganized of all the major inner sphere powers, so you're likely to get hired for a planetary invasion and then the rest of the forces involved will forget (or "forget") to show up.

"We'll take it!" Gbasden says, despite some grumbling from some of our mechwarriors, then hands the negotiations over to our negotiating team. As it turns out, we'll be bringing along a Federated Suns liaison ("pursuant to continued integration of forces"), with 40% salvage rights and 60% battle loss compensation.

Before we leave, we hand over most of the captured mechwarriors to the Steiner guys for a symbolic 135k prisoner capture bonus. I say symbolic because the final contract payout was about 71M C-Bills. Regardless of whether we want to be or not, we're in the big leagues now. One of the captured mechwarriors requests to join us, instead. We'll be trying to grow the company going forward, and she's pretty competent so we accept. We also wrangle up some replacement supplies, mostly armor but also some AC/10 ammo.

Spoiler:

Ventabren is another uninhabitable shithole. There are plenty of raw materials, as the system features three gas giants, several super-earths with horribly dense atmospheres and more moons than you can shake a stick at. Most of it remains unexploited for reasons described below. For us, there are two planets of interest: the only earth-sized world in the system (Vent III) and a super-earth with an incredibly low density (Vent V).

Vent III is .71G, so we'll be moving nice and fast. Unlike our current location, Vent III has a runaway greenhouse effect, and most (80%) of the surface is covered with hot water at about 40 degrees celsius. At one point, it was considered habitable, but, when the Capellans left it to the Free Worlds League last century, they destroyed a whole bunch of the Star League terraforming devices, and the planet regressed quite a bit. The Marik guys occasionally try to repair or rebuild some of the Star League equipment, but they generally lack the technical expertise. Without a place to put significant numbers of people, the population remains low. You can theoretically step outside, but it is not recommended without full environmental gear and a breathing apparatus. One of our techs refers to it as a "hot tub", and the name sticks. At least we won't have to worry about our guys getting vacuumed.

Vent V is about 2.5 times further out than Earth from the Sun. At a relaxing .99G with a thin atmosphere of primarily ammonia, carbon dioxide and water vapor. The whole thing is one giant ball of ice, although it melts on the sunny side. With an average surface temperature of -143 degrees celsius, any mechs deployed to the surface are going to be able to fire their weapons all day long without worrying about overheating. The icy surface will make manuevering difficult for everyone involved. Again, don't go outside, you'll freeze. Or suffocate.

We'll be assaulting a series of R&D facilities. Enemy opposition will be limited to mechs, aerospace units and fixed emplacements. And submarines. If we happen to go underwater. The plan is to orbit the planets, first one then the other, doing surface scans, then hot drop on top of (or nearby) anything we find and scrap it. The FedCom guys (yeah, yeah, they're technically two separate nations) will supply the fuel to us "at cost" for dropship activities, and will also be sending along a Leopard for "supervision, monitoring and assistance with mission-critical tasks".

Other than a "maintenance incident" on Xwraith's Thunderbolt which results in the mech needing a day's worth of repairs on the internal structure, the transit goes smoothly. Within a couple of weeks, we're orbiting Hot Tub and ready to drop down and kick some ass.

January 29, 3033
We find some ass to kick in very short order. Our Union roars down to a landing zone near the possible location of one of the R&D facilities, dropping off Alpha lance and the liaison. As soon as our guys hit the ground and the dropship begins its ascent back to orbit, we get bushwhacked by a whole bunch of light and medium mechs, all around us. With the surrounding temperature being about 55C, this is going to be mildly unpleasant. The liaison is in a Valkyrie, a medium speed, jump-capable, 30-ton mech whose main contribution to the party is an LRM/10 launcher.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

We take positions in what little cover there is available on the hill top where we were dropped off. The enemy forces make good use of terrain cover as they climb the mountain as well, but a Spider gets into Gbasden's sights and takes a PPC to the center torso. Unlike in a vacuum environment, this doesn't disable it completely, but the PPC does melt through the armor and crack the engine shielding. El Guapo scores a PPC hit on an advancing Trebuchet, while Isgrimnur dodges a thirty-LRM salvo.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

We're going to move northeast, where there aren't any hostile units. Except for Stefan, who comes after a Hermes to the northwest. The low gravity allows his jump jets to really zip, so he's able to get to a favorable position above the enemy mech. Isgrimnur does the same to an enemy Phoenix Hawk to the south, although a Wasp sneaks up behind him. Stefan makes contact with one of his three lasers, then delivers a boot from above to the left torso, knocking the smaller mech over.

The two enemy Wolverines advance up the east side of the hill. The lead one takes four PPC shots, and, although its armor holds, the weapons impacts force it to the ground on its back. Gbasden eats some LRMs from an annoying Trebuchet, but the damage is inconsequential. A Wasp tries to get in there as well, and gets a piece of Gbasden's right torso with its foot, but the Awesome retaliates by backhanding the offending leg and sending the little bug mech sprawling to the ground. Isgrimnur, the Phoenix Hawk and the Wasp next to him exchange ineffective fire, the only damage that comes out is a kick to the pixie's left torso (awkward angle to swing the hatchet at).

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Isgrimnur gets a little bit surrounded, so he jumps out to the south, landing right next to a Spider. The enemy Phoenix Hawk and Wasp follow. Stefan continues harrassing the Hermes and Flea to the northwest.

Isgrimnur blows through the armor on the Pixie's left torso, while Stefan does the same to his Hermes target. Isgrimnur lands his first hatchet blow, taking a large chunk of armor from the Pixie's right leg.

The damaged Wolverine takes a continued pounding from El Guapo and Gbasden's PPCs, three in total (we fire less than full alpha strikes to keep relatively cool). Gbasden eats a number of laser shots and SRMs from the Wolverines but his armor holds. He brings both left and right arms down on the annoying little grounded Wasp next to him, as it continues firing despite missing a leg. Left and right torsos both take damage and fluid sprays from punctured heat sinks and jump jets.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

The Wasp pilot thinks the better of her efforts and powers down. Gbasden and El Guapo target the mechs that Isgrimnur is keeping engaged, with one of El Guapo's PPCs taking an arm off a Spider, while his autocannon works on the nimble little mech's head. Gbasden scores a single hit on the Phoenix Hawk, melting a lot of center torso armor.

Stefan takes the Hermes' right arm off, along with the flamer there, then delivers a solid kick to the head, stripping armor and knocking the pilot around. Isgrimnur's hatchet comes down hard on the target Hunchback's right arm, stripping a lot of armor off of that.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

The Wolverines get back into it, but also get a little beat up. The damaged one takes two more PPCs, breaching right arm and left leg armor (including a damaged actuator), then falling over and losing its right arm entirely. The one next to El Guapo takes just a medium laser from him. Our big guys take some minor damage but armor holds up fine. El Guapo's left leg looks a little thin after taking a kick from the Wolverine though, we'll need to do something about that guy.

Stefan chases down the Hermes and takes it down with a laser head shot.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Stefan takes a large laser hit from that annoying little Flea, returning fire with his medium lasers. One hits the hill, two strip all armor from the left and center torso sections.

Gbasden continues working on the damaged Wolverine, breaching leg armor with PPCs, then throwing punches at the right and center torso. At this point, the Wolverine's armor is more holes than armor.

Isgrimnur deftly avoids an AC/20 burst from the enemy Hunchback and plants an AC/10 burst of his own into his opponent Phoenix Hawk, damaging internal structure. He then dodges a feeble kick from the nearby Stinger and takes a hatchet to that leg, chopping it off.

El Guapo exchanges fire with a Trebuchet, coming out ahead in the sense that he hits the Trebuchet while it doesn't hit him.

Also, remember that Spider that took an engine hit earlier on? Well, its mechwarrior forgot to hit the shutdown override switch and the mech freezes in place and flops to the ground. Whoops!

Round 7:

Spoiler:

An enemy Trebuchet blows out a leg trying to push itself a little too hard in the low G. No, not an actuator, the whole leg comes off. On the way down, the armor comes off the other leg and it crunches the LRM/15 launcher as well. Gbasden targets the other Trebuchet, stripping most armor off the center torso and right arm, while taking hits from the remaining Wolverine. Stefan and the Flea exchange fire, Stefan taking a small laser hit, then stripping armor off the head and right arm, then crunching the right side of the mech with a boot from above.

Isgrimnur hops right behind the enemy Hunchback. He takes a laser to the right leg, almost stripping the armor off, but his AC/10 burst goes right through the enemy mech's weakened left torso armor, where it lights up the AC/20 ammo. He takes a large laser hit to the right torso, from the Phoenix Hawk but armor holds. He's also nice enough not to stomp the ejected mechwarrior as he struggles to get his breathing gear on.

The liaison gives a light kick to the back of the Wolverine harassing Gbasden, knocking the larger mech to the ground.

To be honest, these guys are much worse shots than we were led to believe. Did we stumble upon some kind of remedial hostile environment mech training group?

Round 8:

Spoiler:

A Spider and the Wolverine continue harassing Gbasden. The Wolverine eats a PPC to the dome for its trouble, damaging sensors. El Guapo helps by breaching center torso armor with a PPC shot as well. Gbasden takes a head shot from one of the Wolverine's lasers, but armor holds and the enemy mech goes down. Isgrimnur continues jumping around the slowly diminishing crowd of enemy mechs, booting a Spider in the arm.

The Flea and other Wolverine are now retreating to the north, having gotten pretty beat up. We let them go, having other targets to take care of.

Round 9:

Spoiler:

El Guapo watches with mild amusement as the remaining Wolverine damages some of its actuators trying to get up, then sends a PPC bolt flying into the right torso, where the SRM ammo detonates, leaving about half a mech in place. Gbasden's PPC bolts would have hit, but there's nothing there to hit any more.

Isgrimnur hops up behind a Wasp, sawing the left half of the mech off with the autocannon, debris cracking the gyro. His right torso armor is looking thin, but holding.

Stefan exchanges fire with a Spider that jumps up to harass him, zapping off an arm with lasers, taking some torso damage from the enemy mech as well.

Round 10:

Spoiler:

This is turning into a limb massacre. Gbasden takes the left arm off the Phoenix Hawk, while El Guapo does the same to a Spider. The Pixie falls over, though. Isgrimnur whiffs his AC/10 and laser shots, and takes a right torso armor breach, which distracts him from landing what should have been an easy kick on a nearby Stinger.

Round 11:

Spoiler:

The Phoenix Hawk struggles to its feet, then loses its left torso, and most of its right torso to PPC shots. Jump jet nozzles fly off left and right, as Isgrimnur adds his AC/10 and lasers to the mix, hitting torso and lasers. The mech can't take it and falls over, cracking the gyro. Stefan takes some armor breaches from the Spider that's giving him a hard time, hitting back at the left torso to fuse a jump jet. Our liaison gets in on the action, helping El Guapo remove the left torso from a Stinger, while he cuts into the nearby Trebuchet with lasers. He takes a light boot to the head, but his armor holds.

With most of their units missing one or more limbs, the Free Worlds League unit makes a break for it. Isgrimnur chops the right arm off the Phoenix Hawk as it turns to leave, picking it up with his free hand and keeping it for a trophy. The Mule comes down with the salvage crew while Alpha marches towards the suspected R&D facility reading. Well, there was a facility there, but it can be safely assumed that it's not functional, having experienced multiple breaches in the domes and with no power emissions anywhere.

Salvage turns out to be pretty crappy, mostly bug mechs and a Hermes. We claim the legless Trebuchet, while the rest is earmarked for our employer. The Trebuchet is a 5N variant, with 30 LRM tubes and three lasers. Stefan smiles and asks, "yeah, but can it jump 150 meters over a bunch of buildings?" We also get paid out a little bit of a prisoner capture bonus as we hand over the captured mechwarriors. Hopefully the FedCom guys will be able to get a little more intel out of those guys. Or at least their mechs' pass codes so we can download nav data.

To save fuel, we have our Union pick the mechs up next time it orbits overhead. Once our guys get back, patching the mechs up is pretty quick. Our liaison informs us that prisoner interrogation has yielded some interesting leads.

1) A Free Worlds League officer is in charge of most operations planetside. Eliminating him may make life more difficult for them. Or maybe he's an incompetent moron and we'll be doing them a favor. Who knows, really.

2) An enemy force has been spotted moving towards what our employers' and our analysis concurs is an orbital tracking facility. We obviously don't want the Marik guys keeping tabs on our dropships, so we'll want to blow those guys away before they get there. The liaison expresses a great interest in this one, going so far as designating it to be a contract requirement.

Do we take one or the other mission? Or both?

[Cylus Maxii]

Both. We might as well get to work!

[Isgrimnur]

I like my new rig.

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Both!

[Hyena]

Both!

[Paingod]

With good salvage rights, any mission can be a payday, right?

I'd say "Both!" as well.

[NickAragua]

February 9, 3033
"Uh, boss, these coordinates are bogus. There's nothing but water out there!"

"Right. Well, get your swim trunks on and get in the tub."

Our mechs arrive at the coordinates where the FWL commander's transponder signal has been detected. The exact coordinates, though, are on a continental shelf, about a kilometer off shore in water between 20 and 40 meters deep. This is certainly a new one. Mechs work just fine under water (in fact, heat sinks are highly effective), but there's no running and weapon ranges are greatly shortened. Also, missiles and ballistic weapons don't work. As we close in on the coordinates, Delta lance gets some sensor pings.

"Uh, boss, fast moving targets, underwater, dead ahead. Is that a submarine?"

Round 1:

Spoiler:

Well, this is bad. We've been suckered under water and ambushed by submarines. Madmarcus takes some torpedo hits, but the armor holds up. They've got us *way* the hell outranged.

"Pull back below that ridge!" Archinerd calls out.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

We do. The subs continue firing their torpedoes. LRT (Long-Range Torpedoes) have identical characteristics to LRMs, except, well, they work underwater. Madmarcus takes another spread of torpedoes but the Wolverine's armor continues to hold.

Round 3:
Freyland stumbles while trying to pull back and avoid the torpedo barrage, hitting the ocean floor but not breaching armor. A torpedo barrage gets through Madmarcus' center torso armor and water comes flooding in, forcing the mech to shut down. Thankfully, cockpit integrity remains, and we're not that far out, so we *should* be able to drag the mech back.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Paingod falls back over the ridge. Literally. On the plus side, the subs can't get him there.

Round 5:
Archinerd takes a nasty torpedo hit, breaching the left torso section. Some shrapnel whacks his gyro and engine as well.

Round 6:
Freyland eats some torpedoes to the rear section, breaching his left torso, just as the Quickdraw is about to clear the ridge. At this point though, we're all behind cover. Except for Archinerd, whose gyro makes manuevering difficult.

Round 7:
Archinerd manages to get up, while Paingod walks over to Madmarcus' downed mech and starts dragging it by the leg below the ridge. Freyland takes some more torpedoes, but this time to the front armor, which holds up.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

Archinerd stumbles over the ridge, falling over, but getting clear of the torpedo salvos.

The shallow ridge to the south proves enough of an obstacle for the submarines that they don't follow us. Paingod drags Madmarcus' disabled Wolverine all the way back to the shore, where the beat-up lance eventually gets picked up by our Union.

We have an "animated discussion" with the liaison regarding trusting unverified transponder codes given to us by prisoners. The liaison counters that investigating this excursion wasn't required by our contract. After some more spirited debate, the liaison walks out of the room with a black eye while Madmarcus is seen limping for the next couple of days.

Seeing as how we don't really have the tools to deal with submarines, we'll do our best to avoid any further underwater activity.