Let's play: Battletech via MegaMek

[Zenn7]

[x] Send Beta-Assault in

Most definitely need to help em out. Always good to maintain good relations with our air support.

Absolutely

After all the losers we bailed out over the years, it'll be good to bail out someone who's useful.

Hey, let's not make it personal, ok? I'm standing right here...

(Send in Beta-Assault)

I meant our merc outfit as a whole has bailed out other groups/outfits, not internal bailouts. Internally, we all have a roll to play and we keep each other alive (mostly... well... you've kept Scrub and I alive all this time at least... though in my case - riding in a Awesome may have had something to do with that).

[gbasden]

I meant our merc outfit as a whole has bailed out other groups/outfits, not internal bailouts. Internally, we all have a roll to play and we keep each other alive (mostly... well... you've kept Scrub and I alive all this time at least... though in my case - riding in a Awesome may have had something to do with that).

Riding in an Awesome does do good things for one's longevity.

[Hyena]

I meant our merc outfit as a whole has bailed out other groups/outfits, not internal bailouts. Internally, we all have a roll to play and we keep each other alive (mostly... well... you've kept Scrub and I alive all this time at least... though in my case - riding in a Awesome may have had something to do with that).

Riding in an Awesome does do good things for one's longevity.

(My former warrior would argue that point...I lost an Atlas, a Battlemaster, and at LEAST two other heavy or assault mechs...)

[gbasden]

I meant our merc outfit as a whole has bailed out other groups/outfits, not internal bailouts. Internally, we all have a roll to play and we keep each other alive (mostly... well... you've kept Scrub and I alive all this time at least... though in my case - riding in a Awesome may have had something to do with that).

Riding in an Awesome does do good things for one's longevity.

(My former warrior would argue that point...I lost an Atlas, a Battlemaster, and at LEAST two other heavy or assault mechs...)

Hey, I survived from inception to retirement, so I'm going to go with it.

[NickAragua]

Heh, yeah, poor Hyena Mk I had the worst luck ever since losing that Striker. Funny thing is it wasn't even that good a mech, the heat curve was terrible, and no jump capability, but it kept the guy alive for a long time.

A good sign that your guy is about to get blown up is when you get put into a ground-bound Thunderbolt. 5S, 5SS, 5D, doesn't matter. I think we've lost more of those than any other kind of mech.

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

Send Beta-Assault

"We're on our way." Zenn7 tells Hawk.

We also scramble Delta-Ranger, and everyone gets to the airbase at about the same time as the bad guys. The airbase's traffic control reports a small dropship heading in at high altitude, probably gearing up for a hot drop, so we'll need to get some guys into the base quickly to take care of anything that drops in.

Hawk's got a Daboku (having spent the time en route bragging about the upgrades he's had made to it: XL engine, double heat sinks and major armor factor increase). This promises to be a messy brawl. At least it's a light assault lance - two Zeus mechs - a 6T and a 6S. The 6T has a PPC, LRM/15 rack and a large laser, with a couple of mediums for backup, while the 6S replaces the PPC with an AC/5. Not the most threatening 80-tonners, but still, 80 tons is nothing to screw around with.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

LordMortis takes a few seconds to blast a Behemoth tank with all of the Victor's weapons, putting a major crack in the armor with a gauss slug, which the lasers help widen. By the time the SRM salvo flies in, the treads are just about ready to slip off. Our mechwarrior breathes out as a pair of AC/20 bursts from a nearby Demolisher go wide.

A Trebuchet tries to get in behind Siljanus' Mackie, but gets knocked on its ass by combined fire from Moley's Thunderbolt. One of the Trebuchet's left arm lasers is blown out, while its right arm loses multiple actuators. As it hits the ground, Moley stomps on the left arm, crushing it. A couple of light mechs ping Moley's mech with kicks and lasers, forcing our mechwarrior to a knee.

An allied Eagle fighter blows the right arm off a Wasp approaching the base, as most of the rest of the hostiles focus fire on a turret sticking out from the base.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

The airbase guys weren't entirely unprepared - they seem to have set up some minefields, one of which attracts a Zeus. Not enough to breach armor or break a leg or anything, but its leg armor takes quite a bit of damage.

Delta-Ranger arrives as well, shifting the odds a bit closer to in our favor.

The damaged Trebuchet attempts to move north to get out of our line of fire, but Zenn7 lines up three PPC shots and nails it in the left torso, blowing an LRM ammo bin. The mechwarrior ejects at an awkward angle but makes it.

LordMortis moves off to the north, away from the bulk of the hostile force (there's a lot of heavy metal down there), firing at a Demolisher, as Siljanus covers him. The assault tank's crew is rattled by multiple gauss rifle and PPC hits, but just loses a couple of treads.

Madmarcus engages a trio of light mechs, taking some laser damage but slicing through the armor on a Stinger and following up with an SRM salvo which takes off most of its left torso. Freyland gives a nearby Wasp a matching destroyed right torso. Both bug mechs remain standing, but are no longer combat effective and begin retreating. Madmarcus and the Firestarter exchange kicks and punches, Madmarcus losing some leg armor, while the Firestarter's armored cowl is knocked off.

The hostiles collapse a control tower on the east side of the base, which is annoying but not critical yet.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Madmarcus and Freyland move northwest to get to the center of the airbase so that when the hot drop comes in, they'll be in a position to respond. The hostile Firestarter keeps pace, whiffing its shots while Madmarcus works it over with medium lasers and SRMs, damaging just about every possible leg actuator. As it tries to balance itself, Freyland blows its right arm off with an SRM salvo, and then the poor guy's right leg cracks as it hits the ground.

LordMortis targets the western Zeus, blasting its weakened leg armor and taking out an actuator before spraying the ground with heat sink coolant fluid.

Zenn7 blasts the Ostscout that's been flying around the battlefield, one shot going center of mass to remove all the armor there, while the other PPC nearly takes off the right arm. Moley finishes the job with a couple of stray LRMs, so now the Ostscout is missing an arm.

Siljanus targets a Crusader, blasting through its left leg armor with a couple of PPC shots. The Mackie takes a couple of laser and LRM hits to the back, but the armor holds up.

The allied aircraft take advantage of our damage to the Demolisher and come in for a strafing round, wrecking the tank with laser and autocannon fire.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

Freyland sticks around to finish off the downed Firestarter, as the mechwarrior still hasn't gotten the idea and keeps firing at us. One of the supporting aircraft finishes it off.

Most of the hostile units buzz off, leaving Zenn7 and Siljanus with only an LRM Carrier as their target, which they attack with great gusto, hitting it with three PPC shots and a gauss slug. Most of its 60 tons is dedicated to the three LRM/20 racks, so it's gone.

LordMortis moves to engage the Zeus up close, taking some damage from a nearby supporting Stinger, but ignoring it in favor of blowing off the assault mech's left leg with an SRM salvo. Moley jumps around to the other side, damaging the right hip actuator and blowing out a couple of lasers with the Thunderbolt's attacks. As it goes down, the Zeus fires on the allied Slayer after it finishes its strafing run. Archinerd goes for a little overkill, blowing the LRM ammo bin as the mech falls over. Whoops.

The Slayer's pilot is unable to maintain control of his aircraft and slams into the ground.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

Madmarcus comes after a Stinger trying to take out another control tower - not in time, unfortunately, the building is disabled by laser and missile fire.

We engage the second Zeus, Moley jumpin in behind it. LordMortis covers Moley by taking an arm and a leg off a Stinger with a gauss slug and a couple of lasers, while Siljanus drills it center of mass with a PPC shot, destroying the gyro and takes off the other leg with a second gauss slug.

The enemy Warrior VTOL zips into the base, trying to get some cheap shots on vulnerable components, but is forced to the ground by a salvo from an SRM turret, where the VTOL and its ammo detonate, setting the area on fire.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

LordMortis hops over to engage the other Zeus. A gauss slug and a couple of lasers introduce some "defects" to the center torso armor, which are exploited by a stray SRM - both the engine and gyro are damaged, while another SRM dings the head. The Zeus' autocannon jams as it tries to rapid-fire it in return and the mechwarrior is unable to keep the mech upright, keeling over.

Zenn7 blows the top off the Behemoth he's been working on for a little while. The Awesome is getting a little hot even for our mechwarrior, so he has to hold a PPC to cool off. A Cicada attempts to circle around the back of our Awesome, leading Siljanus to unload on it with the Mackie's heavy weapons. A gauss slug brushes the gyro, sending the 40-ton mech to the ground.

The enemy hot drop comes in right on top of Madmarcus and Freyland, landing three Vedettes and a Drillson hovertank via parachute rigs - it's not really enough, given that we've now taken out all their assault units. So basically they landed just in time to run away. Madmarcus stomps on a Vedette after blasting through its front armor with lasers to send them off on their way.

The second Zeus somehow miraculously manages to get up off the ground and is able to get off the field under its own power. Its Cicada buddy is not so lucky.

Despite us routing the bad guys, the airbase isn't looking so hot. A bunch of critical structures have been blown up, and that helicopter crashed pretty hard, hitting a fuel storage depot. The mercs estimate it'll take them a couple of weeks to get things back up and running again.

Hawk sighs afterwards. "This mech still needs some serious work." The upgraded Daboku performed pretty well, but didn't actually get any kills. And the limited range of the torso twist makes it difficult to target things at close range.

The good news is that our dropship comes back with the replacement Chippewa, so *our* aerospace complement is in good shape again. Additionally, Hawk's people get a potential line on some spare parts for our Grasshopper (it needs an arm replacement, as the shoulder is messed up). The trouble is, the "spare parts" are attached to an Orion in the posession of some hired mercs working for our smuggler pals (and, let's be honest, the planet is lousy with those, mercs and smugglers).

Wolf chuckles upon hearing this news. "If this Warhammer didn't have an XL engine, I wouldn't mind climbing back into an Orion."

Of course, it'd be a pretty tough - the hired mercs also have a Stalker and a Longbow, plus a company of light mechs and some a few light tanks, and there's no guarantee we'll capture even the Orion's arm, let alone the whole thing. It is also possible (though neither likely nor unlikely) that any further operations against the smuggling network will encounter these mercs, so it may be worthwhile to take them out just on general principle.

[] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

[Zarathud]

you've kept Scrub and I alive all this time at least... though in my case - riding in a Awesome may have had something to do with that).

Riding in an Awesome does do good things for one's longevity.

(My former warrior would argue that point...I lost an Atlas, a Battlemaster, and at LEAST two other heavy or assault mechs...)

It’s an Awesome. The perfect blend of power and protection.

[Leraje]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

[gbasden]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Blessed are those that follow the gospel of preventative violence.

[Hyena]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Blessed are those that follow the gospel of preventative violence.

You misspelled preemptive....

[Freyland]

Lol!

[Zenn7]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Blessed are those that follow the gospel of preventative violence.

You misspelled preemptive....

He had it right - we give pound them to a cured state, that's called an ounce of prevention. Or something like that.

[Leraje]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Blessed are those that follow the gospel of preventative violence.

You misspelled preemptive....

He had it right - we give pound them to a cured state, that's called an ounce of prevention. Or something like that.

I propose a reformation - from now on we call it "The gospel of preemptive preventative violence".

[Hyena]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Blessed are those that follow the gospel of preventative violence.

You misspelled preemptive....

He had it right - we give pound them to a cured state, that's called an ounce of prevention. Or something like that.

I propose a reformation - from now on we call it "The gospel of preemptive preventative violence".

SECOND!

[$iljanus]

[x] Send some heavies to take this group down, we need the spare parts and peace of mind
[] Not strictly necessary, we'll deal with them as we need to

Do unto others before they do unto you.

Blessed are those that follow the gospel of preventative violence.

Peace through superior firepower. Let us bring the gift of peace to these mercs.

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

3 - pass
5 - commence the pre-emptive violence

There's some discussion about whether it'll be worth it or not, but, in the end, we decide that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - since these guys are known to be working for our smugglers, chances are, when we move in on one of the smuggler facilities, they'll be there. So, we set a trap.

Beta-Assault will be on one end, Beta-Hunter on the other end.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

Siljanus lines up a long-range shot on a Scorpion tank, blowing it away with two PPC blasts.

Moley engages a Jenner that plows through the woods, exchanging laser blasts. The Thunderbolt has more armor, though.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

LordMortis keeps an eye on the prize, jumping in and targeting the Orion with a shot from the gauss rifle, punching a chunk of armor out of its left torso. He's attacked by a Wasp as he moves through the woods - the 1D is an interesting House Davion variant, foregoing the traditional leg-mounted SRM/2 launcher for a pair of small lasers and a flamer. It's still a Wasp though, so when it takes a kick from our 80-ton Victor, its left leg cracks and the bug mech falls to the ground.

Moley lasers an Ostroc stomping through the wood - the enemy mech's low profile makes it harder to keep the lasers on target, so the damage inflicted is less than one would expect, but still a good series of hits.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Beta-Hunter arrives from the east, prompting the hostiles to concentrate. That's a pretty tight grouping of mechs, so we're going to need to use the woods here to manage line of sight if we don't want to get blown up.

Zenn7 "manages" the line of sight to a Griffin using all three of the Awesome's PPCs, stripping about two tons of armor from the mech's arms. The mech wobbles, returning fire, and our Awesome takes a few LRM hits, as well as a laser blast from an Assassin that lands nearby, avoiding LordMortis' fire. Our mechwarrior, however, continues collecting mech legs, severing the Assassin's right leg with a solid kick as it lands.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

The blob slowly advances through the woods.

Zenn7 continues exchanging fire with the same Griffin, taking its left arm off with a well-placed PPC blast. Our Awesome takes quite a bit of laser fire from the Jenner and nearby bug mechs, but at least an incoming PPC blast hits the water instead.

Siljanus backs up, engaging a Longbow as it fires its fifty LRM tubes at our Mackie. Two PPC shots to the legs strip off armor while a gauss slug disables an LRM/20 rack.

Moley joins the leg collector club, taking the leg off a Jenner that jumps in. Somehow, the Assassin manages to get up, but it's unlikely to move anywhere fast.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

A couple of tanks attempt to screen Beta-Hunter.

Zenn7's left arm flashes red as laser continue to hammer our Awesome. Our mechwarrior retaliates against the nearby Firestarter by blowing its right arm off with a PPC shot.

LordMortis racks up a third leg, cracking the back of a Wasp's right leg. Moley doesn't *quite* break a Stinger's leg, only taking out two actuators and sending the little mech to the ground.

Siljanus moves towards the woods, exchanging fire with the Longbow. The 85 tonner's left leg is disabled and it comes crashing down. Our Mackie does take some major leg armor damage, but the armor holds up.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Leraje eliminates one of the screening units, cutting a Vedette into multliple pieces with the Guillotine's lasers.

Zenn7's left arm stops flashing red, having been completely disabled. Our mechwarrior retaliates by blowing off the right half of the nearby Firestarter. As the light mech falls over, Zenn7's right arm is wrecked as well, and the mech kind of begins shaking.

A Wasp moves to kick Siljanus' Mackie, but he's having none of it, blowing off the bug mech's right leg with a gauss slug.

LordMortis engages the Orion, exchanging a gauss slug for an autocannon burst. The Orion loses a good chunk of armor. As an afterthought, he collects another bug mech leg, knocking another Stinger over.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The Firestarter and Zenn7 both cede the field, but the fight continues.

Beta-Hunter finally gets into the main fight, Wolf targeting the enemy Stalker, hitting it with two PPC blasts and a laser for good measure. Armor holds up, but the mech keels over - a good start to that fight.

Leraje finishes off the last of the screening units, popping a J. Edgar's hover skirt. The rest of Beta-Hunter has already moved on by this point, so the screen was mildly effective.

Siljanus lays into a Griffin with the Mackie's PPCs and gauss rifle, blowing off its right arm, but is knocked out when the ancient mech's left leg snaps off after repeated laser hits. An MG burst from the nearby Drillson is what finally does the leg in. It falls over and our mechwarrior blacks out on impact.

LordMortis inflicts major damage on the Orion, avoiding its autocannon burst.

Round 8:

Spoiler:

"Assault-Three is down, rally on his position." LordMortis calls out, firing up the Victor's jump jets. A gauss slug through a Drillson hovertank's turret caps the vehicle off.

At least the guy in the Stalker fails to get up, while the guy in the Longbow gives up his attempts to get to his feet and yanks the ejection lever.

Wolf blasts a nearby Griffin with two PPC shots so now it has zero arms left, while Angel and Cylus combine fire on the Centurion to the north to knock it over.

With nothing on the field heavier than 55 tons and our fresh heavy lance closing in, the remainder of the mercs call for a cease fire and cede the field in any case.

Siljanus' Mackie gets pretty messed up, and our mechwarrior broke a leg and one of his ribs. Neither the Mackie nor the Awesome are going to be combat-effective for the near future. And worse, the Orion got away while we were trying to bail Siljanus out. Once our techs evaluate all the damage, we're probably looking at 2.5M to fix the mech up - the gyro is completely shot, the engine is messed up, and both of the PPCs need repairs. And pretty much every piece of equipment in the head needs to be replaced.

Zenn7's Awesome isn't looking much better, but at least none of the critical components got blown out, so it'll just be time-consuming to fix.

Good news though, wrecking these mercs' combat capability lets Hawk's people run wild, and, a couple of weeks later, Hawk comes stomping into the mechbay as Zenn7 supervises repairs to his mech.

"We found where their leadership is operating from. Seems like their Drac buyers are unhappy that we've been stopping their shipments and are looking to terminate the deal unless they get one last shipment out. We're going to put a stop to the shipment, and capture these guys before we find ourselves fighting actual Dracs."

The good news is that the bad guys have no artillery support, and only two mech lances (one medium-heavy, one light) plus a couple of lances of tanks. They do have a pretty significant number of fixed defenses, and once our mechs get there, the important targets are likely to make a run for it.

We'll need a more mobile lance to catch up to any escapees, which is, at this point, Alpha or Delta-Ranger. We'll also possibly need something heavier to throw some weight around. Finally, Hawk asks what he should bring. He's got either three light mechs (a Jenner, a Javelin and a Locust) or the Daboku. "Depends on what you guys bring, you could argue it either way."

Initial attacking force:
[] Alpha-Ranger (Wolverine 6R, Griffin 1S, Trebuchet 5J, Ostroc 2M) - a little faster
[] Delta-Ranger (Wolverine 6M, Merlin, Dervish, Cronus) - a little more firepower

Supporting force:
[] Whichever Ranger lance isn't picked - a little faster
[] Alpha-Heavy with Hyena's mech (busted right arm) subbed out with LordMortis/Victor or Moley/Thunderbolt

Allied force:
[] Three light mechs (two of them pretty decent)
[] One extremely mediocre assault mech

[El Guapo]

Initial attacking force:
[] Alpha-Ranger (Wolverine 6R, Griffin 1S, Trebuchet 5J, Ostroc 2M) - a little faster
[X] Delta-Ranger (Wolverine 6M, Merlin, Dervish, Cronus) - a little more firepower

Supporting force:
[X] Whichever Ranger lance isn't picked - a little faster
[] Alpha-Heavy with Hyena's mech (busted right arm) subbed out with LordMortis/Victor or Moley/Thunderbolt

Allied force:
[X] Three light mechs (two of them pretty decent)
[] One extremely mediocre assault mech

[Leraje]

Can we instead use Alpha-heavy as initial attacker with Alpha-ranger & 3 Hawk's lights on chase duty?

[Freyland]

Delta Ranger FTW!

(I might be biased)

[$iljanus]

Initial attacking force:
[] Alpha-Ranger (Wolverine 6R, Griffin 1S, Trebuchet 5J, Ostroc 2M) - a little faster
[X] Delta-Ranger (Wolverine 6M, Merlin, Dervish, Cronus) - a little more firepower

Supporting force:
[X] Whichever Ranger lance isn't picked - a little faster
[] Alpha-Heavy with Hyena's mech (busted right arm) subbed out with LordMortis/Victor or Moley/Thunderbolt

Allied force:
[X] Three light mechs (two of them pretty decent)
[] One extremely mediocre assault mech

Oh my poor Mackie!

Avenge me, boys! AVENGE MEEEEEEEEE!

[Zenn7]

Initial attacking force:
[] Alpha-Ranger (Wolverine 6R, Griffin 1S, Trebuchet 5J, Ostroc 2M) - a little faster
[X] Delta-Ranger (Wolverine 6M, Merlin, Dervish, Cronus) - a little more firepower

Supporting force:
[] Whichever Ranger lance isn't picked - a little faster
[X] Alpha-Heavy with Hyena's mech (busted right arm) subbed out with LordMortis/Victor or Moley/Thunderbolt

Allied force:
[X] Three light mechs (two of them pretty decent)
[] One extremely mediocre assault mech

Think we need something a little heavier on our side. With enough fast units for chasing.

[gbasden]

Initial attacking force:
[] Alpha-Ranger (Wolverine 6R, Griffin 1S, Trebuchet 5J, Ostroc 2M) - a little faster
[X] Delta-Ranger (Wolverine 6M, Merlin, Dervish, Cronus) - a little more firepower

Supporting force:
[] Whichever Ranger lance isn't picked - a little faster
[X] Alpha-Heavy with Hyena's mech (busted right arm) subbed out with LordMortis/Victor or Moley/Thunderbolt

Allied force:
[X] Three light mechs (two of them pretty decent)
[] One extremely mediocre assault mech

Think we need something a little heavier on our side. With enough fast units for chasing.

Agree.

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

Delta-Ranger - 4

Alpha-Ranger - 3
Alpha-Heavy - 3

Three light mechs - 5

November 13, 3047
Wandles Depot
Errai, Federated Commonwealth

We'll need to move fast, so we choose to send in our "lighter" forces. Delta-Ranger and Hawk's guys approach from the northwest while Alpha-Ranger approaches from the east. "Watch those LRM turrets. Delta-Three, Delta-Four, take them out if you can." Madmarcus instructs the mechs with longer-ranged weapons.

The facility itself isn't much to look at, honestly.

Without any further ado, we begin our assault. There are four units that appear to be scrambling to get out.

Round 1:

Spoiler:

"Hey, that's AWS' mech! Bastards must have salvaged and fixed it up!".

Whoever got the LAM is a pretty good shot, stripping some armor off the right side of Madmarcus' Wolverine. This opens the mech up to an attack from the nearby Wasp, which sends SRMs into our 55-tonner's right leg, blowing out the hip joint and another actuator. Our mechwarrior grunts and returns fire, melting the Wasp's right arm and leg to slag with return laser fire. Both mechs hit the ground hard. The Phoenix Hawk LAM crunches a jump jet on the Wolverine's back with a foot before jumping away.

Freyland zaps an SRM turret off a rooftop to reduce the number of missiles that'll come our way, while Hawk's Jenner blasts one a little closer, eliminating eighteen SRM tubes with some well-placed zorches.

Archinerd blasts a ForestryMech trying to get away, peppering it with some LRMs, which highlights it nicely for Paingod to put a PPC blast through its center torso, which causes the internal combustion engine to blow. That one's not getting away.

Round 2:

Spoiler:

One of Hawk's guys, a Javelin, jumps forward a little too far and gets lasered by a Quickdraw. Despite losing a good chunk of armor, the little guy manages to knock over one of the escaping units, a ProspectorMech. The industrial mech's engine barfs, heating it up quite a bit and basically removing it from the fight.

Madmarcus struggles up and begins pulling back, the Phoenix Hawk LAM following our Wolverine. Paingod and Archinerd back up our struggling Wolverine, Paingod washing the 50-tonner off with a burst from the flamer, while Archinerd's short range weapons pop an arm actuator. Archinerd also spares a few LRMs for a distant SRM turret in the base that Freyland had started on earlier, eliminating it.

Round 3:

Spoiler:

Alpha-Ranger arrives to the east. A Peregrine VTOL thinks it sees an opening and tries to get past them, but Cujo blasts it with the Wolverine's SRM launcher, sending it to the ground almost on top of Stefan's Trebuchet.

Madmarcus backs up towards the woods, firing at the LAM, as Paingod joins in. The enemy mech is rocked by its left arm being disabled, and gets heated up by Paingod's flamer. The LAM gives Paingod a quick kick, but the Merlin's armor holds up.

A flatbed truck tries to make a break for it. Archinerd blasts it to bits with lasers and SRMs.

Freyland jumps in to get a piece of an escaping dump truck, getting lightly dinged. A Saladin hovertank zips in and fires at the Cronus with its autocannon, but our mechwarrior jukes and avoids the autocannon blast, returning fire with some lasers to remove the Saladin's side armor. The hovertank turns around and runs for it. Freyland does get a kick in on the dump truck, but our mechwarrior will have to come back as a nearby Vulcan has taken interest in the Cronus' activities, expressed by incoming flamer and MG attacks.

Round 4:

Spoiler:

"Leg actuator damage is making me useless. Pulling back to maximum range." Madmarcus issues a status update. Which prompts three hostile mechs to gang up on our damaged Wolverine. Our mechwarrior avoids most of the Quickdraw's attacks, only taking a couple of SRMs to the back, and returns fire, using the Wolverine's extended torso twist capability to put some lasers into the heavier mech, including a headshot. Archinerd peppers the "light" heavy as well, scoring laser and SRM hits, and Paingod joins in on the party, breaching armor with the Merlin's PPC and lasers. The LAM continues engaging Madmarcus' Wolverine, causing more armor damage and knocking out Wolverine over, but then its right leg comes off after Archinerd cracks it just below the hip.

Freyland fires up the Cronus' jump jets and clears out, having taken a little more heat than expected from a flamer turret and the Vulcan. The Cronus' heat sinks are efficient enough but still need a few seconds to work.

Gbasden, Cujo and Stefan engage the eastern side of the base. Cujo takes some fire from infantry - Gbasden blasts the building they're using for cover, killing several troopers and collapsing the none-too-sturdy structure. Cujo engages a Saladin hovertank with lasers and SRMs, immobilizing it.

Hawk's Jenner reports disabling an LRM turret, reducing the amount of missiles being lobbed at us.

Round 5:

Spoiler:

The Quickdraw runs off as its armor indicators turn from yellow to red to black, leaving Madmarcus in relative peace, although the damaged leg creaks and groans as our mechwarrior tries to get up.

Freyland and a Phoenix Hawk get into a brawl, exchanging laser fire and stripping armor, then Freyland steps aside, doding the Phoenix Hawk's kick and throws a punch, causing an armor breach in the 45-tonner's head.

Archinerd and the Crusader fight in the flaming woods, the Crusader heating up quite a bit as its forced into the heart of the fire.

Hawk's Locust hoses down a bunch of infantry, keeping them from harassing Cujo as our Wolverine joins Stefan's Trebuchet in continuing to deconstruct the base, by destroying an MG and flamer turret respectively.

Hawk's Jenner engages the Vulcan that was harassing Freyland, causing the slightly heavier mech to whiff a kick and fall over.

Round 6:

Spoiler:

Freyland and the Vulcan exchange some fire, although most of the shots are absorbed by the intervening building.

Stefan and the Jenner attack the dump truck as it fires a substantial salvo of LRMs northwards. Eventually, the vehicle's fuel tank detonates and it's out of consideration. That's about it for the escaping units, now to finish off the rest of the mechs and then this place is ours.

Cujo avoids rockets from a couple of one-shot rocket turrets, while Hawk's Locust kills enough of the infantry that the rest scatter.

Gbasden, Paingod and our Ostroc form a konga line with the Ostscout, Phoenix Hawk and Crusader, although nobody inflicts any serious damage between the smoke and the woods.

Round 7:

Spoiler:

The enemy Ostscout continues trying to chase Madmarcus down. Damaged leg or not, our mechwarrior has had enough of this nonsense and unloads on the lighter mech as it touches down, slicing chunks of armor (and by armor, I mean most of the right torso section) off with lasers, then cracking a couple of leg actuators with SRMs. The light mech is forced to the ground as a result.

Freyland pulls back, attempting to cool off a little. The Vulcan doesn't like the idea and pursues, but takes a laser to the foot for its trouble. While it's able to remain upright, it takes multiple armor breaches as Freyland uses the Cronus' free arms (having held the large laser to conserve heat) to throw a one-two punch, breaching the lighter mech's armor.

Stefan moves to help Cujo engage an Enforcer and takes a double tap to the left side from the mech's rapid-firing AC/10. A risky move, but it paid off, as our Trebuchet's left side armor now looks like melted swiss cheese. However, the enemy mech pays for it - Cujo's lasers and SRMs weaken the armor, allowing Stefan's lasers to pierce through the right torso, torching the ammo bin and scattering chunks of 50-ton mech all over the base.

Archinerd continues engaging the Phoenix Hawk, blasting its left leg off with the Dervish's lasers. A couple of laser blasts from Gbasden's Griffin don't help it stay up.

Hawk's buddies blow up another two turrets, leaving just a single LRM launcher somewhere in the base slinging missiles in our direction (not very successfully).

With the Crusader having taken heavy damage, there are only three mobile units left on the field, and they call for a cease fire, which we honor.

We convince the Space Hound driver to shut the damn thing down before the engine blows and get the salvage crews in there. The LAM is a little worse for wear, but is definitely repairable, so AWS will be happy. Madmarcus' Wolverine is the only mech on our end that took heavy damage and will need the leg rebuilt, but should be fine otherwise.

---

"Well." Hawk tells Zenn7, Madmarcus and Cujo a few days later. "I think that'll do it for smuggling operations around here. We'll stick around for another couple of months and monitor traffic, but I think those Dracs will have to look elsewhere for their FedCom party favors." He offers handshakes all around. "Pleasure working with you, as always." He looks around the Moonraker's hangar, eyeing the Mackie, which is currently held up by rope and clamps as the techs work on it. "Time for you fellas to ditch the Kurita paintjobs, but you better jump to an empty system before swapping out transponders."

"I'm probably headed coreward next, any thoughts on where you're going next?" He asks.

Our command staff look at each other collectively and shrug. The latest HPG pickup indicated a potential contract for us on Solaris VII, of all places. Seems that a super rich dude on the Game World is looking to start up his own stable and wants to blow seventy million C-Bills for us to spend four months training his mech jocks in "small unit combat tactics", and maybe fight a couple of team exhibition matches. The expected profit after all our travel and operating costs is 12M C-Bills, but it's a very low-risk contract for the most part, as Solaris isn't exactly a front-line warzone. We'll also have access to the local parts manufacturers and repair facilities.

[] Forget it, back to Dowles
[] Stopover on Solaris VII for a training cadre contract and some R&R

[El Guapo]

[] Forget it, back to Dowles
[X] Stopover on Solaris VII for a training cadre contract and some R&R

I mean, it sounds like a lot of fun.

[Leraje]

[] Forget it, back to Dowles
[X] Stopover on Solaris VII for a training cadre contract and some R&R

I mean, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Agreed. Plus the manufacturing facilities are nothing to sneeze at - we could stand some upgrades and customization.

[$iljanus]

[x] Stopover on Solaris VII for a training cadre contract and some R&R

Hell yeah! Game World here we come!

[AWS260]

LAMmie lives!

[$iljanus]

If it's fiscally feasible I'm hoping the Mackie can get a tune up and an oil change on Game World. And, well, work again.

[gbasden]

[] Forget it, back to Dowles
[X] Stopover on Solaris VII for a training cadre contract and some R&R

I mean, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Absolutely. It's worth sacrificing some potential profit for some deserved downtime.

[Zenn7]

[] Forget it, back to Dowles
[X] Stopover on Solaris VII for a training cadre contract and some R&R

I mean, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Absolutely. It's worth sacrificing some potential profit for some deserved downtime.

Nothing better to do while we wait for a real contract. Besides, we can check up on Lord Mortis's team, see how my investment is paying off.

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

Solaris VII - almost unanimous

"I've been meaning to check up on an old friend on Solaris." Zenn7 answers. "We've got a training cadre contract offer there, so we may head that way."

Hawk nods and chortles. "Have fun, I hear it's a blast. I'm heading coreward myself - can't really talk about it, but I think you can imagine. I'll be in touch if I need some extra muscle."

With that, Hawk departs.

Spoiler:

Having enough transport capacity to carry all our mechs is great, it means we can carry out all our repairs en route, rather than have most of them sitting boxed up in a cargo bay. The senior doctor on board our ships retires, as does a veteran aero tech, but we're able to hire replacements in pretty short order.

News across the Inner Sphere is pretty quiet. Tensions are pretty high between the Capellan Confederation and St. Ives Compact, while things continue simmering on the FedCom-Taurian border. The Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine continue to stare at each other across their extensive shared border as well, although aside from a few inconclusive raids here and there, nothing major happens.

A pair of pretty cool mechs are coming down the production pipeline:

Norse-Storm Technologies has announced the release of the Devastator, a classic 100-ton "Lyran Scout Mech". Featuring two gauss rifles, two PPCs and four medium lasers, it uses an XL engine to generate the power necessary to run all of those weapons systems, and has fourteen double heat sinks to manage the heat load. Armor coverage is near maximum, which is to be expected for a mech that mounts this much weaponry. That's an amazing amount of firepower. The gauss rifles rotate a full 360 degrees, and it even comes with a built-in searchlight to illuminate whatever it's trying to shoot with its forward guns. We're unlikely to see one, but if we do, we're buying it (or running from it).

Johnston and Defiance industries, meanwhile have announced a weight upgrade for the Hatchetman. It's called an Axman, and it's basically the same thing, except 20 tons heavier. In addition to the signature hatchet, it also packs an AC/20, three medium lasers and a large pulse laser, with an XL engine and double heat sinks. Definitely not something you want to run into in a dark alley. Isgrimnur nods with approval. "Although, I'll have to reset the ass-groove in the command chair." He sighs.

Some folks have also been refitting their Avenger-class dropships, replacing the design's low-powered autocannons with gauss rifles, lasers with extended-range and pulse variants, heat sinks with double heat sinks and upgrading the targeting systems on its LRMs with Artemis IV. So, what was before a hard-hitting gunship is now a harder-hitting gunship.

We arrive by January 13th of 3048.

Richard Eastinghouse Steinfegermeister (Jr.) greets us at the drop port and lines up an escort to his training compound out in the northern forests. It turns out he's minor House Steiner nobility. Having done some time as a liaison to Rasalhague units hunting pirates in the coreward periphery (an ever-present problem), he recently retired early (after having come into posession of a large amount of funds through unclear means), but still has a thing for mech battles.

We begin training exercises immediately upon arrival. We have a training regimen we like to run our new recruits through, and so we do that with these guys. They're awful. Worse than that Unzmarkt corporate militia. Some are pretty good shots, some are ok at moving their mechs from one place to another, but they suck at working together as a team. Which is ok for one-on-one matches, but in these team battles and free-for-alls, that doesn't cut the mustard.

Steinfegermeister is likeable enough, but has made the inadvisable decision of signing several contracts to have his guys participate in upcoming fights. We can advise him to put the fights off, which will preserve his mech jocks but cost him a pretty penny (and he's likely to try to take it out on our hides, financially speaking). We can do the fights alongside his mech jocks (which is his preferred solution, but then we have to actually fight), or we can shrug and send his guys out on their own (which may or may not work out for them).

[] Try and put them off, these guys aren't ready in the slightest (possible financial penalty/legal wrangling)
[] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)
[] Send the trainees out on their own (they suck and may get themselves killed)

[El Guapo]

Dibs on Devastator!

[] Try and put them off, these guys aren't ready in the slightest (possible financial penalty/legal wrangling)
[X] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)
[] Send the trainees out on their own (they suck and may get themselves killed)

Fun + money.

[Leraje]

Norse-Storm Technologies has announced the release of the Devastator, a classic 100-ton "Lyran Scout Mech". Featuring two gauss rifles, two PPCs and four medium lasers, it uses an XL engine to generate the power necessary to run all of those weapons systems, and has fourteen double heat sinks to manage the heat load. Armor coverage is near maximum, which is to be expected for a mech that mounts this much weaponry. That's an amazing amount of firepower. The gauss rifles rotate a full 360 degrees, and it even comes with a built-in searchlight to illuminate whatever it's trying to shoot with its forward guns. We're unlikely to see one, but if we do, we're buying it (or running from it).

While on Solaris, we should see if we can get the parts to refit our Anni to match that. Should be doable except the 360 rotation.

[] Try and put them off, these guys aren't ready in the slightest (possible financial penalty/legal wrangling)
[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)
[] Send the trainees out on their own (they suck and may get themselves killed)

[$iljanus]

[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)

Part of the fun is getting in on some matches! And who doesn’t like those salvage terms?

[Zenn7]

[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)

Part of the fun is getting in on some matches! And who doesn’t like those salvage terms?

Fine, I'll let the kids play. Just remember, we have real work to do, we're not STAYING here... too long.

[$iljanus]

[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)

Part of the fun is getting in on some matches! And who doesn’t like those salvage terms?

Fine, I'll let the kids play. Just remember, we have real work to do, we're not STAYING here... too long.

Thanks Mom!

[El Guapo]

[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)

Part of the fun is getting in on some matches! And who doesn’t like those salvage terms?

Fine, I'll let the kids play. Just remember, we have real work to do, we're not STAYING here... too long.

But DAAAAAD...

[Zenn7]

[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)

Part of the fun is getting in on some matches! And who doesn’t like those salvage terms?

Fine, I'll let the kids play. Just remember, we have real work to do, we're not STAYING here... too long.

But DAAAAAD...

[x] Fight alongside them, it might get a little crazy, but the salvage % is good (70%)

Part of the fun is getting in on some matches! And who doesn’t like those salvage terms?

Fine, I'll let the kids play. Just remember, we have real work to do, we're not STAYING here... too long.

Thanks Mom!

One more crack like that and I'll turn this jumpship around!

Now... GET OFF MY LAWN!!!

[NickAragua]

Vote Results:

Spoiler:

Fight alongside them - unanimous

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is Rick Johnson with the Solaris Broadcasting Corp, and my fellow commentator Argus Konig, and boy have we got a match-up for you tonight."

"Correct, my friend. With lower-end leagues, the stable owners are free to experiment with match formats, and tonight, the Steinfegermeister and Kostopulos stables have decided on a team battle format."

"Whew, that's a mouthful! Now, with the Steiner crew picking the location in the northern hills of Equatus, the Marik crew have gone all out with the pyrotechnics. About twenty seconds into the matchup, you can expect to see artillery rounds coming down at random locations on the battlefield. Now, what about the mech lineup?"

"It seems, Richard, that the Steiner stable has hired some mercenaries from off-world. We are expecting to see a team of seven - Guillotine, a Flashman, a Warhammer and a Grasshopper, as well as a Wasp, a Valkyrie and a Locust. This is a very mismatched group, and I do not expect to see the light mechs do well."

"And what about the Marik team?"

"The Marik team has taken a page from Mercer Ravannion, and has deployed a swarm of light mechs - we're expecting to see Wasps, Stingers, Locusts and Spiders, with the odd Flea. They are bringing three medium mechs: a Hermes II, a Griffin and a Swayback."

"Who the hell is Mercer Ravannion, Argus? Never mind, don't tell me - but it sounds like a turkey shoot."

"I would say, so, yes."

"I should mention, both teams have agreed that the match will terminate when casualties reach twenty five percent, as this is an exhibition match. Well, let's go to the live camera, as the action on the field is about to begin."


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Round 1:

Spoiler:

"... aand they're off. Now, before the shooting starts, Argus, how would you handle this if you were the Steiner crew?"

"I would throw my bulk around, but engage at long range. These little mechs have very few weapons that reach past two hundred and seventy meters, so if you can engage them with particle cannons and large lasers to thin out their numbers, it is a good start."

Round 2:

Spoiler:

"Looks like the artillery's coming down. Doesn't look very random to me."

"Me either. Very clustered on the Steiner side."

"Now, look at that Locust go, that's #36 on the Marik team. Looks to me like he's going a little faster than 130kph."

"Correct, Richard. It is actually possible to push your battlemech's speed past manufacturer specifications, but it takes a lot of concentration to avoid falling over as you have to manually manage actuator activation and balance to an extent. It also reduces the effectiveness of your evasive maneuvers."

"Seems like #19 on the Steiner team has ignited a fire in a cluster of trees as they pass by."

"Yes, Richard. I expect they will use that cluster of woods as a strong fall back point if necessary."

Round 3:

Spoiler:

"Looks like the Steiner team wasn't able to engage the Marik forces at long range after all, Richard. A shame, now they will have to brawl up close against superior numbers."

"Right, although Locust #36 on the Marik side looks like it's left arm weapons pod after Grasshopper #16 took it off. The Locusts are slashing into the Steiner formation. Grasshopper 16 is coming up to intercept Locust 36 making a play for the Warhammer's back, and WHAMMO, that's a half ton of machine gun ammo going up in smoke. I wouldn't want to be that mechwarrior!"

"I would not want to be Locust 30, either - the Flashman has broken its right leg. As far as I'm concerned, that mech is out of the game as well."

Round 4:

Spoiler:

"Look at this. The Steiner team is getting swarmed."

"That Guillotine sure is delivering a lot of damage with its lasers."

"But it's taking armor damage too."

"Whoof, and a headshot to the Firestarter from the Flashman. Took that cowl right off. Now watch that Spider 35 come down next to Flashman 19, he's got a good arc, but it looks like the Flashman mech jock is on the ball and that Spider has just lost a leg. Grasshopper 16 has knocked down Wasp... 27 in front of him. Wasp 41 is down as well, but that looks like because its kick at the Warhammer bounced off, so he ought to be able to get back up."

"Credit where credit is due, the Steiner mechs are holding formation. But the Flashman has been heated up by the Firestarter's flamer attacks, and will be slowed down as a result."

Round 5:

Spoiler:

"Looks like the Steiner light units are getting overwhelmed to the west, but... hold on, look at that, a direct hit on a Locust by an artillery round. Half the mech is off! The Flashman and a nearby Wasp took some damage too, but ouch!"

"No kidding, Richard. The three-mech Lyran cluster is holding its own, the Flashman is mopping up another Wasp with lasers. Its leg looks damaged, and the mech is now motionless on the ground. And another ammunition explosion, this time from a Wasp - that Grasshopper is an expert gunner, four medium lasers in the same exact spot."

"The Grasshopper's got the Firestarter down, too, a lightning fast kick to the left leg, damaged by fire from the Warhammer. Back to the west, looks like the Steiner Locust is in trouble, his right leg's separated from the rest of the mech. The Valkyrie is down on the ground, too! That Guillotine headed over there better make it snappy, otherwise its light mech buddies won't be around much longer."

Round 6:

Spoiler:

"Looks like the Steiner heavies have a leg up their opposition on the east flank and are moving westward."

"Ugh. Terrible. Anyway, that got the Marik mechs to leave the Steiner Locust alone. Most of them."

"Hah! Looks like Wasp 27 is having trouble getting up, and has disarmed itself!"

"Goddammit, Richard."

"What, you don't want me to talk about how the Warhammer has just taken half the Stinger off with two PPC shots to the right torso?"

"..."

"Well, anyway. The Guillotine is jumping in behind the Hunchback, helped by fire from the Grasshopper, and the Hunchback goes down to a knee. Not looking good for the fifty tonner, with a seventy ton jumper right behind it. A solid kick, but the cease-fire signal has been sent, and the lucky bastard in the Hunchback will get to walk away with his mech."

"It's just as well, that Steiner Locust was about done for. This match-up was a textbook demonstration of why Mercer Ravannion was, frankly, a moron. Light mechs have no place on the front line in a pitched battle."

"I'll drink to that. Speaking of drinks, it's time for a commercial break. This is Rick Johnson and Argus Konig, signing off."

[This broadcast segment has been brought to you by ActuPaste, for all your actuator lubrication needs. Whether you need to squeeze every last movement out of your battlemech, or to get your personal infantry armor to stop squeaking as you sneak around, ActuPaste has got you covered. The General Organics Corporation does not recommend or condone the use of ActuPaste, or any products using the licensed ActuPaste formula, as a personal lubricant. ActuPaste Accel now available for accelerated signal circuitry-compatible myomer bundles.]

No worthwhile salvage or damage to speak of on this one. The next exhibition match is in two weeks. Steinfeigermeister calls us up wondering if we should allow the opposing stable (an organization co-owned by a Kurita weapons manufacturing concern and a Liao baked goods conglomerate) to deploy vehicles as part of their team, or force them to use mechs exclusively as per the original terms of that particular exhibition contract. Letting them use tanks will probably make the fight a little easier for us, but the salvage will again be complete crap. Of course, it might be crap anyway.

[] Let the opposing team use tanks
[] Nope, mechs only, this isn't the "stupid planetary militia game world"

[Leraje]

[] Let the opposing team use tanks
[x] Nope, mechs only, this isn't the "stupid planetary militia game world"

We get to wade knee-deep in tanks most of the time anyway.

[$iljanus]

[] Let the opposing team use tanks
[x] Nope, mechs only, this isn't the "stupid planetary militia game world"

We get to wade knee-deep in tanks most of the time anyway.

And we're fighting for the chance at good salvage! Not for some fuzzy 20 sided dice hanging from the inside of some tank. (I wanted to say rear view mirror but, hey it's a tank)