____It takes a full month to finish just the mech repairs, and that's even with scrapping Fearless Leader. With Yang's crew busy in the mechbay, Sumire starts a repair project of her own.
Event - Hull Integrity: Space junk has been collecting in the dropship's debris shield, and Medusa has volunteered to help clear it out. Farah, clearly remembering Dekker's death, recommends that we hire a crew from the planet to do the work instead. I agree.
Result: The debris is cleared, but Medusa takes things personally, being convinced that he could have handled it. -200k C-Bills. Medusa gains Low Spirits for 14 days.
____After the repairs are completed, I begin reconsidering our LRM based approach to combat, but Farah approaches me with another issue regarding the dropship.
Event - Coupling Unit: A critical component near the reactor shielding has gone offline, and needs to be repaired relatively quickly. Farah could patch around it internally, but it would be a faster and more permanent repair for someone to do EVA work. Merch has experience as a spacer, and Farah is still concerned, but she would like to ask him to do the job. I reluctantly give him the go ahead, and hope that things go well.
Result: Success! No lasting consequences.
____Turning my attention back to the mechs, Yang and I work out a plan that will let us successfully negotiate for a variety of contracts with the six mechs we can have ready. The most restrictive contracts we've seen limit us to 160 tons, or a mech weight limit of 75 tons. I decide to have Snipe take over Fearless Leader's role as lance command and long range support, combined with Valkyrie for mid-range scouting and fighting, and one of the 'ghost' Assassins as a long distance scout. The other three mechbays will be filled with more lostech mechs to deal with heavier weight contracts: our second SLDF Phoenix Hawk, the SLDF Warhammer, and an Annihilator with four UAC/10++ for those jobs where we have no weight restriction. There is still a Cyclops -Z and an Atlas II that we could field, but not enough room in the Hysteria.
____This means that I'll need to send Rainmaker, Wolvie, and Fives into storage. They did a good job with Fearless Leader, and while I could convert another Centurion into that refit, it feels like the high powered direct fire support from Snipe would be better augmented by other units with direct fire weapons. Hopefully, that will lead to more headshots and cored out mechs, which will let us get through missions faster. There will be less optimal salvage than taking the time to tactically disassemble our opponents, but we already have a great set of equipment in the hold. As the weeks go by, several trips are made to the surface. One of them has a happy accident.
Event - The Accidental Smugglers: Darius reports that there were several suspiciously heavy cases of machine tools. Investigation revealed that there were hidden compartments with AC/5 ammunition. Wanting to stay on the good side of the Black Market pirates, I have Darius pass the crates back to the smugglers.
Result: We are thanked, and receive some AC/2 ammunition for our trouble. Gain 3x AC/2 ammo.
____Snipe undergoes a minor refit to improve its weapons. It now has a Gauss Rifle++ and two UAC/5++, with enough ammo to fire everything for at least eleven salvos. The two Phoenix Hawks (named Valkyrie and Macross) undergo identical refits, packing the torsos with jump jets and double heat sinks, and loading the arms with two Snub PPC++, a M Laser++, and a TAG++. The three MG++ with a half ton of ammo are retained for close-in work since there is no additional cost in weight.
Event - New Holovids: A new set of holovid chips is brought up from the surface. I direct Darius to hold a mass viewing in the mess hall.
Result: The latest episode of The Fringers is well received. Morale +1.
____The Assassin is renamed Ghost, and is outfitted with a pair of Snub PPCs, plus all of our bulky but lightweight arm actuators and four MG++ with a half ton of ammo to augment any attacks that it makes with its sword. I'm personally looking forward to sprinting around a battle and pointing out targets for Snipe. One downside that I'll have to keep in mind is that there are no jump jets in this refit. That shouldn't be too much of a problem with the Stealth Suite, especially since it moves as fast as a Jenner. Unfortunately, on our latest trip to the surface, we don't quite move fast enough during a planned meeting.
Event - Hands in the Cookie Jar: A raid by the local authorities catches us at a Black Market drop, and we are told to surrender all of the access codes and methods that we use to access the Black Market. If we do, we'll be paid 100k C-Bills. If we don't, we pay a 500k C-Bill fine. I decide to play both sides, and have Darius warn the pirates while I begin to hand over the access protocols.
Result: The authorities are suspicious of us, and only agree to transfer half of the promised payment. Our warning was received by the pirates, but not soon enough to move all of the goods. We gain 50k C-Bills and lose 1 reputation with the Pirates.
____Yang has now made a full lance of mechs ready to fight, but I decide to keep him working on the other mechs for now. The Warhammer is modified to be a dedicated energy weapon platform, and I ask Yang to install our best heat exchanger and all of the rest of our double heat sinks to keep it firing for as long as possible. Its role will be to replace one of the Phoenix Hawks during heavy missions as a less mobile mid-range fighter. A Snub PPC and ER M Laser in each arm will give it the same maximum engagement range as a Phoenix Hawk, and four M Lasers will boost its firepower when it jumps to close the distance. It will be able to keep heat in check at its maximum range, and can fire two full salvos with all of its weapons. That, combined with twelve and a half tons of armor and no ammunition restrictions should let it defeat nearly any opponent. Speaking of opponents, we receive unwelcome guests about a week into this work.
Event - Pirates Ambush the Dropship: A squadron of aerospace fighters takes up position around the Hysteria as we continue our orbit. They state that we're in their territory, and are demanding a payment for ensured safe passage. Darius starts negotiating with them, leveraging our connections with the Pirates and the Black Market.
Result: The squadron leader is eventually convinced to leave us alone. Morale +1.
Event - Barracks Workout: A few weeks after our encounter with the aerospace fighters, I hear that Shadow has injured himself. Apparently, he was doing pull-ups on a wall shelf, and it came down on his head, along with all of the items on it. I ask Darius to develop a modified exercise regimen for the crew.
Result: There are minimal complaints, and Shadow enjoys the workouts once he's cleared for duty. Shadow is injured for 18 days, and gains High Spirits for 30 days.
____Our final mech refit is the Annihilator. Dubbed Crazy Eights after the card game, it can fire eight shots from its Ultra AC/10++ autocannons for eight volleys. Even with both side torsos packed with heat exchangers and heat sinks, it'll start to overheat after four volleys, but most of the opposition we've faced won't be functioning for that long once this mech opens fire. It will also be able to jump, but only short distances. Yang starts work on that around the same time that Medusa heals up, which is good enough for me to get back to taking contracts.
(Updated to Hyades Rim 6.1.7)
