Just to re-iterate, since we've got four lances deployed, it may be some time before any individual pilots see action.
Paingod, since we're lacking completely untested rookies at the moment, you get to pick:
Pvt. Gabriela Ciola, drives a Shadow Hawk SHD-2K (55 tons, 5/8/3, with a PPC and LRM/5 rack)
Pvt. Shi-wen Xu, drives a Firestarter FS9-K (35 tons, 6/9/6, Large laser, 2x small lasers, Flamer - originally also had a rear facing flamer, but that was removed in favor of an extra heat sink)
Pvt. Craig Bowmer, drives a standard Panther (35 tons, 4/6/4, PPC, SRM/4 rack)
Pvt. Mab Orme, drives a Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D (45 tons, 5/8/5, Large Laser, 2x Medium Laser)
All of these mechwarriors are 4/5.
October 7th, 3027
Beta lance intercepts a distress call from a FWL convoy under attack. The attached house CO (a new guy in a Stinger, as presumably the guy in the Firestarter is getting his torso sections reattached) orders a diversion. By the time we get there, the escort is just about gone (although they've inflicted some casualties on the Magistracy force). Our objective is to a) get to the convoy and b) protect them until additional reinforcements arrive. The enemy unit is two lances of heavy vehicles, all incredibly nasty. There's a good mix of long range fire power (LRM Carriers, Manticores) and short range pain (Bulldog, SRM Carrier, Demolisher).
The convoy is three APCs and a Firebee, way up north. What's a Firebee you ask? It's a piece of crap on legs. Three SRM/2 launchers and an LRM/5, backed up by a whimpering 69 armor and with a 5/8 movement profile. There's one good part to this: the convoy has made its way into some deep woods in an effort to conceal themselves, so they're not just sitting there exposed, waiting to get plowed by LRMs.
Round 1:
Our first opponents are a Partisan (basically four AC/5 on a turret), a Manticore (PPC, SRM, LRM), and an AC/2 Bulldog (with two SRM/4s to complement the two AC/2s). No sense beating around the bush, we jump right in. The Quickdraw starts the party off right, jumping right above the Partisan and plowing it from above with SRMs and lasers. Most of her fire actually misses, but a lucky SRM finds its way through the armor directly into the engine compartment, and the tank sputters to a halt. Xwraith dodges some SRMs while jumping in and delivers a solid boot to the Bulldog before jumping away.
Round 2:
XWraith takes a PPC and a medium laser as he jumps away, but the armor holds. The enemy LRM carriers go to work, one perforating a convoy APC that got a little too close to the edge of the woods, the other sandpapering Scrub's Vulcan. The Griffin and Vulcan damage motive systems on the nearby Manticore and Bulldog respectively, with Scrub also stomping a little bit. These vehicles are pretty tough though.
Round 3:
We play extremely conservatively, trying to maximize our movement and cover mods. The allied Stinger jumps into the fight, missing everything except a machine gun shot, then loses a leg to a PPC. At which point the SRM Carrier unloads on the poor little mech, completely obliterating it. By the time the smoke clears, all that's left is a single leg, which stands for a couple of seconds then falls over. Scrub loses all her torso armor to another LRM salvo. The Griffin lasers an LRM carrier to bits, reducing the amount of incoming missiles. To my great surprise, up north, the Firebee manages to disable the Demolisher tank, which is no small feat.
Round 4:
We jump in on top of the SRM and LRM carrier, with an eye towards taking them down so they stop pelting us with missile swarms. The Quickdraw silences the LRM Carrier with a medium laser. XWraith takes aim at the SRM Carrier from a distance, but decides that it's a better idea to duck back to avoid the 60 SRMs flying in - the forest absorbs the entire salvo. The Quickdraw takes a PPC to one of the legs, but delivers a solid boot to the rear armor of the nearby SRM Carrier, and the crew goes "weapons down" as the vehicle trundles away from the battlefield.
Round 5:
The enemy force is actually just two Manticores and a Bulldog now, with the rest of their units disabled or retreating. The Quickdraw, Xwraith and the Griffin team up on the Bulldog, using lasers to cut off treads and armor. The vehicle looks a little filleted after the fact, and the turret slumps down in defeat. Scrub takes a couple of SRMs to the torso, losing a jump jet, and disengages.
Round 6:
This one is a little calmer, as the Manticores are probably considering pulling back. Weapons fire whiffs, and the Quickdraw's kick does very little damage to the heavily armored tank below.
Round 7:
The Quickdraw takes some SRMs to the right leg, losing armor and taking actuator damage. She stays upright, though. Scrub loses her left arm armor and a flamer, but we give as good as we get - the armor on the Manticores is looking a little thin after some some laser work. Scrub disables her Manticore with a boot, while the Griffin crunches through the rear armor on his Manticore, destroying it completely.
Since that's it for enemy combat forces in the area, the convoy makes its way out of the area to rendezvous with additional friendly units. Command informs us that we better make ourselves scarce, since additional hostile units are headed our way. We don't even have time for salvage. The mission is a wash due to the loss of the attached house CO, but our employer informs us that we'll be able to purchase any replacement parts we need "at cost". This was a very rare case of an almost total wipe-out of the enemy force (although, only two enemy vehicles actually got destroyed), we expect that the Maggies will be able to repair and salvage the rest. Also, I was wrong about that Firebee, that pilot did a bang-up job, disabling a tank that was almost three times heavier, and inflicting heavy damage on the enemy force besides. Still wouldn't want one in our force, though.
The next day, Xwraith wakes up and climbs into his cockpit for another recon sweep. As the mechwarrior goes to open the hatch, she hears a little "twang" and manages to duck out of the way just in time to avoid getting a faceful of shrapnel from a fragmentation grenade. The cockpit and sensors are severely damaged and our techs aren't sure they'll be able to patch it up. I know you guys like pranking each other, but this is a little overboard. We'll be launching an investigation into this sabotage, but our employer isn't terribly sympathetic. Luckily, we have some mechs in reserve, so we fill out Beta Lance with a replacement Phoenix Hawk and pilot while we sort this out. Whoever this asshole is that left a grenade in there probably just cost us 400k in spare parts.