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[L Y N X]

Medusa's Sacrifice (Spoiler Alert for Aventi Yardship Mission)
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Aventi was a martian like rock where what we thought was a pirate smuggler's base hosting a rare yard ship NewGarange. We were tasked by both Lord Karosas and Lady Arano to destroy that dropship to end the arms smuggling into the directorate.

I, Lynx, was piloting a skirmisher Dragon, Glitch, our crack shot, was riding in a dual improved LL/6ML/2SL Black knight with a improved comms system. She hated that I thought it made her sound sexy and inside my head, she was always hot in the BK, but we all worked better with clear comms. Dekkers our scout/sensor specialist was up-levelled in a fully armored stock loadout AC20 Hunchie, his 2ML/6SL max JJ firestarter would not cut it on this mission. I needed his skill at sensor locks and also for him to be able to cut down and finish off and wounded mechs that chose to close on our firebase, our litte campsite that had more in common with a giant fox hole than a moon crater. Behemoth, our brawler was still in the Argo's Med bay recovering from battle scars of recent missions, this meant my lead bench pilot was on LRM duty in a improved LRM20++ 3ML Griffin with JJ. Medusa was eager to prove himself ready for the A team with Behemoth out. Little did I know at the start that Medusa was the one to lay down his life fo rthe success of the mission and thereby earning a permanent spot on the A-team roster.

The Mission began textbook with not sign of mech patrols, expected sensor signal of the turrets before we reached their sensor and LOS ranges, recon'd the turrets gens and brought them down along with most of the turrets in our vicinity of the enemy moonbase/ impromptu starport. We located the giant fuel tank building refuelling the Newgrange and then a patrol of light and medium mech lance stumbled upon us just as we were lining up our positioning to take out that yardship by taking out that refueling building. DAMN the interruptions!!! I called out, "dekkers, you a Medusa, go deal with that pirate riff-raff!". Dekkars replied, "One step ahead of you! Medusa fire at will!" I almost felt bad for that poor commando pilot as he froze for just a moment with what appeared as surprise at the sight of 20 tightly streamed LRM's arced gracefully from nowhere right toward his little mech. too late to turn and run, but he tried...

Not much armor left after that the left arm and torso exploded from his mech as if it was a pinata hit by a Hatchetman's Axe! The Commando remained on its feet and notable display of piloting skill, but retreated out of range. Next up two larger mech signals. Dekkars called out calmly, "boss, element of surprise blown, two mech bandits inbound." I do not like fair fights when I'm a participant. Being versed in Sun Tsu ancient teachings, I prefer to know the outcome of any fight before it starts, or I'd rather not participate, I am not a gambler, I am a problem solver. Fair has nothing to do with solving problems. "Glitch, I got the fuel depot, it will take more time, so please go and purchase it for me?" We'd been working missions together for so long now in this lawless periphery that she knew exactly what I was asking, not ordering her to do as if she were my twin sister. Whenher BK stepped into view of the Wolverine and Shadowhawk, they paused for only a moment as if briefly consulting each other on how they would take her dancing.. as they begin to split opposite sides to gain one of the enemy mediums a firing solution on Glitch's tush, she trigger a single LL at the shadowhawk's head at 200m and 6 ML at the wolverine in rapid succession. The shadowhawk's cockpit just vaporized into a brief red mist and the mech's momentum carried it forward for one more step pilot-less, before it fell chest down, in fully salvageable condition. The wolverine seconds later lost nearly one third of its entire armor as the emerald beams of focused light burn scars all over its armor cause sizable stream of molten armor to roll down the fornt leaving huge gashes and scars leading into the soft internals where death awaiting both the mech and its pilot.

While this was going on Medusa began to rain missiles on to the retreating Medium mech and also a new light that began harassing lynx's dragon, wrecking his traget solutions and attempts to ignite the Newgrange prematurely. Dekkars began a sprint to close the distance to both the panther and the fuel depot refueling the yardship Newgrange.

Lady Arano chimed in, "Lynx hurry now, the yardship is rushing its final preps to launch any moment. I swore a silent epithet to my makers for the problems Im to solve all at once. Round after round of my ac5 is rocking that panther but the pilot is good, at least hie was not able to make use of that PPC. Once Dekkars close the distance, a salvo from Medusa got lucky and over balance the lithe panther as it tried to dance its way through the metallic rain. Down it went, and Dekkars did not hesitate as the pather lyiing prone look at the bore of the AC20 looking down it him brought his PPC arm up trying to align a cockpit shot from the ground to Dekkar's hunchie almost like two gunfighters from Terra's Pre-FTL years. Dekkar's knew the bet, his life moments for being extinguished, did not hesitate. Now if you like guns, big guns, then you would liked to have seen what that AC20 did to that prone Panthers chest. Bored a whole right through the front armor, through the gyro, the engine shielding letting loose radiation our of control and still the round trvelled through the mini-fusion reactor engine that powered life to these mechs. Even as the round began to vaporize as it passed through the plasma as hot as the internal of most stars, and out the back armor inside out, the armmo of the SRM4 launcher began as a secondary series of explosions and the dead mech shook violently and then burst in a bright point of light that nearly toppled Dekkars mech ver backwards and would have blinded him if his years of training and experience on the battlefield had not already prepared him, he turn aware and closed his eyes leaning his mech foward into the momentary inferno that threaten to engulf and vaporize his own, then just as suddenly as it burst, it had dissipated. Leaving Dekkars standing nearly directly infront of the fuel depot refueling the yardship towering over him and his 50 ton mech. The Dekkars heard his comms... everyone was talking at the same time, if he hadn't known better, he'd thought he was at a wild party!

Lady Arano was giving warning about reinforcements inbound, There I was telling him to focus on the fuel depot. Medusa was asking for a new target, a leopard class dropship was flying inbound overheat... oh thought dekkars, that must me a new lance of reinforcements, this isn't good, i'm standing in the open with my back to the dropship landing vector. Oh well the sooner I get this done, the sooner I get paid ...


Here ends part 1... Let me know if you like it, and I'll begin part 2 later. I know it needs a rewrite and edit but I'm out of time today, it will have to wait.

 

[Drakolus]

Angry Turtles AAR

Contract Details: Marik vs Capellan Confederation
"Weapons Shipment" - Convoy Ambush

Forces Deployed:
HGN-733P Highlander - Modified, Pilot - "Rattler"
KGC-0000 King Crab - Modifed, Pilot - "Cerberus"
AS7-D-HT Atlas "Pumpkinhead" - Modified, Pilot - "M4J35T1C"
AS7-D Atlas "Rumbles" - Modified, Pilot - "Nitro"

Voice recording begins:

This is M4J35T1C for the AAR after this cluster of a mission. Initial intel stated there would be a convoy heading through Cappie territory carrying some kinda Star League doo-dad. The boss was all sorts of keen on getting a new piece of tech so he agreed to the mission. He's also been letting us "new guys" run most of the recent missions. Giving us some cockpit time. Man, I wish he hadn't on this one.

Sumire dropped us at the mouth of a wooded valley with fairly steep cliff faces on either side. It was wide enough that we could get through, three-abreast. Due to way we deployed, I was out front while Rattler, our scout pilot was all the way in the back. I kinda laugh when I call him a scout. He's in a Highlander and we're all just about as fast. Only difference is he can jump. Anyways we started moving up the valley towards the point where the convoy was supposed to be located. I broke out of the trees first and rounded a small hill. I picked up a pair of sensor contacts as the rest of the guys hustled to catch up. A pair of 80 ton vehicles. This is where I should have kicked my caution into overdrive. I was still under the assumption that convoy meant easy pickings though.

The rest of my lance were almost caught up when more contacts started showing up. Four, then five, then six 80 ton vehicles and a 100 ton and 95 ton Mech to boot. I believe I said something poignant like "oh crap" as the first Demolisher crested the other side of the hill. Standard tactics have been to hunker down and try and blast them as they come to us so I dug my feet in and opened fire. Cerberus had gone around the right side of the hill while Nitro had almost caught up to me. Rattler was bouncing all over the place, mostly from cover spot to cover spot before settling in on top of a small mountain to our left. Between all of us, the first demolisher went up in smoke pretty quick. The other five however began to advance and rain down shells. I was in an Atlas, I am the king of the battlefield. At that moment though, I felt like a wet piece of paper in a hail storm. Nitro moved up to try and attract some of their fire as both a King Crab and a Banshee made their prescence known.

My auto cannon had not stopped firing for a good while now and the rest of the guys were laying into the enemy forces with everything they had. Nitro had moved far enough forward that the enemy forces decided she was the juiciest target. Up until this point I had been so focused, I had not been paying much attention to our comms. Eight AC/20 barrels swivelled to face Nitro and I heard a scared voice almost whisper "Uh oh." A moment later Nitro's Atlas was on it's keister and Rattler was in mid jump while saying something like "What is this convoy carrying? Death?!" I was pretty surprised myself but our weight of fire started to tell. The Demolishers started to go up in smoke and the enemy King Crab was down by one auto cannon.

Nitro regained her feet but it was easy to tell she was pretty shook up. She missed her next three AC shots in a row. She began to move back to me while Cerberus had finally re-deployed. It seems the valley he was heading down blocked most of his fire so he had spent a good bit of time hustling to get back around and on top of the hill with us. Nitro and myself had to pull back though as we were both showing internals. Cerberus moved up and braced while we both ran for it. The opposing King Crab withered under our firepower and we had a brief moment to collect our breath. Rattler finally piped up though as what we thought was the last Banshee moved towards us. "Dropship inbound, and it's not ours."

So it seems I am guilty of letting more than a few things slip my mind during this fight. I had forgotten about the last Demolisher during all this hubbub. It layed into Cerberus pretty hard. We all got back into the fight as missles began to rain down from the direction of where the Dropship had landed. The first salvo was light but the next two were punishing. We finished off the Demolisher and the Banshee just in time to see four more contacts appear. So at this point, in case anyone is counting, that's our one lance, versus an entire Cappellan mixed company. A Grasshopper, two Catapult-C1s and a Banshee began to move into sensor range. We didn't even have time to break contact for a few moments before they were on us. They initially started by focusing on Cerberus but as soon as they got range and visual on Nitro and myself, the missles started coming down.

I know boss tells us "save the metal" when it comes to shooting at our opponents, but I'll admit, we were going for core-shots at this point, trying to put them down as fast as possible. One LRM rack blown off of a Cat, then the other Cat goes down and finally the second Cat goes down. Comms is a riot of overheat warnings, reverb from shots hitting or going out and general cursing. I never thought I'd see the day when I felt safe "only" in the sights of a Grasshopper and a Banshee. We cored out the Banshee pretty quickly but the Grasshopper, God love him, played it pretty tough. He ran strait up to Cerberus and let him have it with everything he had. At that time, Cerberus was bingo on ammo for his AC/10s and was somewhere north of "volcanic" for heat, so he reared back and let the Grasshopper have it with one of those meaty claws. That was just what we needed as Cerberus had been blocking our shots before. The Grasshopper staggered back, and right into our collective lines of fire. Nitro didn't miss and neither did I.

They say that any fight you walk back from, or in my case limp, is a good one, so I guess this counts as good. Judging by how much yelling and griping Yang did though, you'd think we caused the end of the world. Both Atlases have multiple breeches and Cerberus's King Crab held out, just barely. And through all of this, Rattler didn't take a scratch. I may have to look into getting some jump jets. They seem to have kept him pretty safe. Oh, and get this. Marik was absolutely sure there would be some Star League tech in that convoy. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. We took the bait and presumably, the Cappies ran that tech to their base via another route. So much for a sure thing.

Final count of enemy kills:
6 Demolishers
1 King Crab
2 Banshees
1 Grasshopper
2 Catapult C1s

 

[slategrey252]

Hunt down the lance darius said, only rated one star he said. No problem we thought. How wrong can a MechWarrior be? First it was dekkar taking a PPC to the head, then behemoth catching a full alpha to the side from a hunchback which cored her, then glitch overheated and got popped by of all things a panther. That left me. Taking fire from all sides I punched out just in time.

I tell you this, I'm going to be punching out darius as soon as I get out of sickbay.

250 hours in this game and still having fun

 

[jim_survak]

Credit for the idea of "Neil Forsaw" and the "Voice of the Periphery" interview style goes to cosmitz. With permission I've used the same character & style to do my own interview-style story. Thank you for reading!

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"Voice of the Periphery"
Interview with Johnathan "Dragon" Survak


Neil Forsaw: Hello again everyone, I'm Neil Forsaw and welcome to "The Voice of the Periphery," the only audio-only, subscription-based, holovid sent monthly to all citizens in the Periphery via HPG! Please support our galaxyfunding efforts to continue getting the freshest and most unbiased interviews this side rimward of the Inner Sphere! A few years ago we had one of our most popular guests on the show - Neon “Jinx” Sadia. As a leader of a mercenary Mechwarrior company, she regaled us of the life of a mercenary in the periphery. Today, I’m joined by another Mechwarrior mercenary who has a similar and still uniquely different story to bring to our audience. Colonel Johnathan Survak - going by the callsign “Dragon” - operates a company-strength mercenary band named The Red Dragon Mercenaries and hales from the Draconis Combine. Johnathan - thank you for joining us.

Johnathan "Dragon" Survak: No, Neil, thank you for having me. I’m very excited to be here.

Neil: The honor is mine I assure you. But let’s start with that: you reached out to my agent about six months ago now after you’d heard the original interview I’d done with Jinx. For an episode that’s several years old at this point - back when the Aurigan Coalition was split between the Directorate and Arano Restoration - I’m surprised a busy mercenary man like yourself reached out to me. Why, exactly? PR? Trying to get some attention for a big job?

John: Haha, no Neil. It’s honestly because mercenaries are such a diverse bunch of people. We’re incredibly eclectic and you could make a career off interviewing mercs. I’ve been out in the Periphery for a few years now myself and thought I could offer a different insight. Hopefully an equally entertaining one.

Neil: I’m sure you can. Tell us about your work here in the Periphery. You say you’ve been here for a few years - so you were in the Periphery during the Aurigan Coalition’s split? Did you participate in that conflict?

John: Yes, we had a few missions we ran. Nothing too much and nothing that greatly impacted that war’s outcome, I don’t think. My company, being as large as it is, usually falls outside the financial means of some of the Houses in this region. So we’d run missions where I’d deploy an assault lance or two and it wouldn’t even be a fight.

Neil: I’m not sure I understand. If the major players in this region weren’t able to buy your services, then who was footing the bill? Mercenaries don’t fight for free, after all.

John: The Combine was paying for the original missions we were on - we entered into the region after taking contracts on Lindsay, Carmichael, Midale, Horsham and the like.

Neil: You're really getting on the edge of the Periphery with those worlds!

John: Those were just the precursors as to how we actually got started taking contracts in the region. As I’m sure you know House Kurita, the Davions, the Capellan Confederation, Taurian Concordat, House Liao, and Cantrella were all pursuing their own goals while the Coalition was trying to sort out their domestic squabbles.

Neil: So what was the Combine’s interest in the Coalition?

John: Well they’re not - or weren’t at that time. I’m not sure what their interests are now. Basically, late in the Coalition’s split, the Taurian Concordat joined in on the fighting beside the Directorate. The Federated Suns - seeing an opportunity to put pressure on the Taurians - moved some of their units along the Federated Suns-Taurian Concordat border. And you know we Kuritans hate the Davions so jobs were made available. And, eventually, when those jobs ran out, the Davions sent us on some clandestine missions against the Taurian Concordat.

Neil: The politics of the Inner Sphere Houses are stupendous. So you were fighting against - and I assume killing some Davion military--

John: Yup, that we were.

Neil: -- and then you turn right around and start working for them?

John: We go where the money is.

Neil: I’d like to back up for just a minute here. You said “we Kuritans” - I know you were born in the Draconis Combine. Are you a member of House Kurita?

John: Very, very distantly related one of the Warlords. There’s a few generations between us - but as a matter of technicality yes I am.

Neil: I see. Then being a son of noble birth I assume you were given ample opportunity within the Combine. Why choose the life of a mercenary?

John: Well, there’s an interesting story in that - I think it is at least--

Neil: I’m always happy for interesting stories.

John: --I’m happy to provide. Free of charge no less! Well I was born at the lower-end of the nobility so I had expectations put upon me. I did ten years with the Galedon Regulars after graduating from the Sun Zhang Mechwarrior Academy, so I was flying all over our southern borders. When I’d finished my duty I found that I loved the adventure of fighting for a living but I didn’t want to get mired in the politics of the Kurita family. I broke loose on my own having a pretty good financial pool to draw from and started the Red Dragon Mercenary Company; registered with the MRBC and based in Reach, all that.

Neil: I get the sense that you still consider yourself a citizen of the Combine.

John: Yes, very much so. It’s clearly stated on our hiring portal that we don’t take any job that puts us directly against the interests of the Draconis Combine. Going to Mechwarrior academy within the Combine I’ve been heavily influenced by that sphere of thinking. The company logo and our uniforms pay homage to the Combine’s own.

Neil: Indeed. I’ll try to describe this for our listeners: you have the same basic logo as the Combine - the black dragon inside of a red circle - but you inverted the colors: a red dragon inside a black sphere. But you also added wings to the dragon. Why wings?

John: That’s to signify my own desire to take flight towards my personal pursuits.

Neil: A desire I understand in my efforts to turn this production into one free from some of the major starcast news packets! I’ve got one more question on the topic of family and then I’d like to move on to some of your more… mercenary exploits. If you’re a Kuritan, where does the name “Survak” come from?

John: It’s a modification of the original family name. I forget the original name now but my ancestors were Sino-Slav immigrants from Terra some four hundred or so years ago.

Neil: The name didn’t sound very traditional so I had to ask! Okay, that’s good. Let me ask you about your combat experience. I think one of your more high-profile missions, which got quite a bit of packet coverage in the Periphery, was a rescue mission you performed for the Restoration during the - what did you call it? The Coalition’s domestic squabble?

John: Yes, right, that. It was a mercy mission, of sorts. We had been finishing up a contract with another organization and were about to bang out for the JumpShip. We'd been operating on Aea - the Periphery has a lot of agrarian worlds so local authorities can’t always respond to cries for help in a timely fashion. So here we are going to break orbit in less than an hour when a distress call hits the comm. I happened to be on the bridge and we could tell no one was responding.

Neil: A desperate plea for assistance! There’s not too many stories of mercenaries fighting for free. Some farmers get in trouble with a local gang?

John: Yeah, right. Mercy mercenaries - very uncommon. In fact, yes, of sorts. A pirate band had managed to cobble together some mechs from god-knows-where and from god-knows-what; I mean, these things were barely held together. But they were held together enough to pack some machine guns, small lasers, and PPCs.

Neil: A PPC? Ah, one of those big lightning-guns?

John: I’m sure the designer of the particle projection cannon would take issue with that description but effectively yes: a big lightning gun. Those sorry bastards really didn’t think a group of heavy mechs would combat drop into their midst. Once we’d decided we were actually going to help out these farmers, we hot-dropped from high orbit and hit the ground in about 3 minutes. I was running in my Orion--

Neil: One of the more popular and heavier mechs here in the Periphery, right?

John: Right. So, uh, where was I… Oh yes, we drop in hot on these guys. I had my Orion fitted up with this thing called a Gauss Rifle--

Neil: A what now?

John: It’s this Star League era weapon that hits like an AC/20, has the range of a PPC, but with very little heat and no recoil - just a fantastic weapon.

Neil: So you’re saying your company has LosTech? Where’d you get it? Here in the Periphery?

John: Oh yeah, there’s all kinds of worlds with black markets that sell this kind of thing. Some of it are refurbished or otherwise reverse engineered to make better versions of the weapons we already have. You’d be surprised what some of these pirates dig up or what a greedy ComStar acolyte would be interested in selling.

Neil: Okay, my apologies, that just got my attention. So you come in on this mercy mission?

John: Yes. When we hit the ground I announce us to the pirates who - I think - were just shocked that a heavy lance just dropped from orbit. Since we’re a mercenary company I guess they thought they could take us. One shot of my Gauss Rifle hit this bedraggled looking mech, a Spider I think it was supposed to be, and sent it spinning around to the ground burning all to hell. It wasn’t much of a fight, really. We cleaned up those other three mechs - the worst of which are those shitty BlackJack variants that are beloved so much in these parts. Got the job done, brought in the salvage crews, stripped the mechs, and the locals were all too thrilled. They showed us a good time there. Great food and even better beer.

Neil: Tell us about your crew. What are your fellow Mechwarriors like?

John: Well I actually recently just hired a couple new people. A lady named Mariami who goes by “Dread” - she’s a pretty good shot in a mech. And a big guy named Kungawo, a hard-as-ferro Lyran.

Neil: An ever-growing business, this mercenary life?

John: Not always. These two Mechwarriors are replacements for a couple we’ve lost recently.

Neil: I see. Mercenary work is a morbid business.

John: Battlemech fighting in general is pretty morbid, I guess. Sometimes you lose people. We had a guy named Varagian - a Taurian noble who wanted to cut his teeth on some real action away from the rigid structure of a professional military. Unfortunately he got himself too far afield in a shoot out with some Calderans in the Magistracy of Canopus, on a frozen world named Brixtana. He couldn’t get clear and didn’t punch out so… It’s tough, sometimes. It’s never fun watching kids die. He was 19 but that’s unfortunate to die so young.

Neil: It sounds like it. Are these deaths common?

John: I’m not sure “common” is the right word but it’s certainly more frequent than I’d like. No commander or leader wants to see their people die. No competent one, at least.

Neil: We should certainly never forget the fallen. I’m going to shift us to a different topic a bit though. Speaking of kids, you’re a family man yourself?

John: Right! My son is with me.

Neil: Do you have any concerns that bringing a child on what is effectively a mercenary warship is dangerous for him?

John: Well, the DropShips don’t usually get into combat. And when his mother and I divorced - over me becoming a mercenary, really - I took him with me. He’s still very young but I’m teaching him Kurita mannerisms, values, and culture. That type of thing.

Neil: Will he be a mercenary Mechwarrior, too?

John: If he wants to be. As long as he finds success doing what he wants, or what he’s good at, I’ll be fine with that. I’d like to see him take over the company but that’s utterly his decision, when he’s old enough. I have thought about sending him back to the Combine to attend a military academy. Not sure about that, yet.

Neil: What about the future for you, Colonel Johnathan Survak? Plan on settling back down, investing in a less dangerous line of work?

John: Maybe one day. I’m still a Combine citizen. I figure if I get tired of this life I can take my fortunes back into Draconis Combine territory or maybe retire on Reach. More likely to get my ass shot off by some Davion scum at this rate, though!

Neil: Haha! Well I will wish you well on all your travels. Thank you for being with us Johnathan.

John: Again, I’ve been happy to be here. I hope to make it back some day.

Neil: Goodbye, Johnathan. Well listeners that’s my interview with the Dragon Leader of the Red Dragon Mercenaries. Certainly one of the more interesting mercenary commanders in the Periphery. As per usual, please support our galaxyfunding efforts to allows us to continue to make this great show for you. Next time we'll have a planetary COO of Majesty Metals and Manufacturing to tell us how big machines means big economic opportunities here in the Periphery. This has been Neil Forsaw, and I'll catch you next time on your local HPG broadcast packet!

 

[mjbroekman]

After Action Report - Weldry - Secure Borders
Reporting Pilot: Spenthia

Well, Dekker was constantly worrying that each mission would be his last. This time he was right. The day started off poorly enough with the coffee machine breaking before Farah and Yang were awake. And, well, you know Behemoth. She can't stop trying to "fix" all the things that break and just made it worse. Anyway, the coffee machine's water line got clogged and but it took Yang an hour to fix Behemoth's work before we knew about the water line. And by then it was too late for coffee. Seriously. We should've just scrubbed the drop right there, had our coffee, and dropped the next day. But we were at Weldry and couldn't be seen as loafing around in orbit, so we dropped in on these "idiot pirates".

Well, it was dark and we didn't have a good topographical map and misjudged just how deep and steep the valley was...and that's where it hit the fan.

We were on the downslope of one ridge and picked up two vehicles and a medium mech on the opposite ridge. The mech was right on the edge, with the two vehicles on the backside, out of our firing line but not having their own firing line on the valley. So Eck leapt towards the opposite slope...and didn't quite make it as far as he thought. Still he lit up the mech there...a Hunchback 4G and then literally lit it up, spraying it with all seven of his medium lasers. Thankfully, the Hunchie manuevered instead of ripping off the cockpit of the Firehopper. And then another medium mech appeared on the ridge line as a sensor blip and a third medium appeared along the valley floor as a third mech blip.

Well, Dekker took off in his Zeus to intercept the medium on the valley floor. It would "be a surprise" for it, he said. Well, the surprise was on Dekker. He got sensor locked by something and then hammered in the back by a torrent of LRMs. From my perch on our ridge, I could see INTO his SRM ammo bin. And then two heavy blips appeared and an AC/10 round smashed into Dekker's cockpit before a spray of laser fire and a few more LRMs slagged his front. Well, one of those missiles found its way into the cockpit and detonated there...and the Zeus fell over in a burst of radio static. War Boar, in his King Crab, and I, in the Highlander, were shocked. War Boar moved to support Eck while I shifted along the ridge and found that Dekker had walked into a nicely laid trap that consisted of a Kintaro, a Grasshopper, and an Orion while Eck has discovered that the main force was a Demolisher, an LRM carrier, the Hunchie, and a Griffin.

War Boar and I were splitting fire between the enemy units, trying to take high percentage, helpful shots against the units facing Eck, while still laying down enough fire that the ambushers wouldn't gang up on Eck. For the most part it worked. I took a few missiles to the cockpit, but the Highlander is armored up the kilt and all it did was bruise me badly. Meanwhile, Eck was dancing, jumping, and twisting in his Firehopper trying to avoid three AC/20s (successfully, I might add) and missiles galore (not as successfully). He incinerated the Demolisher and the Hunchback exploded from a gauss / LRM volley but it wasn't enough and the LRM carrier and Griffin removed his side torso. Still, he fought on and crushed the LRM carrier under foot. In the meantime, we managed to reduce the Orion to scrap and the Kintaro foolishly turned its back on me, but the Grasshopper wasn't as cooperative until it lost its footing and wewnt down under an LRM strike. War Boar put a few AC/5 rounds and a boatload of LRMs into the fallen chassis and then it was just the three of us against that last Griffin. It didn't take long to finish it off.

And then we were left to assess the damage. Dekker's body painted the shell of his cockpit (what was left of it) and Eck sprang cheerily from his mangled Grasshopper (those cockpit enhancements apparently work well). War Boar, for all the hammering his mech took, was uninjured, which speaks to the armoring that those King Crabs have. I pried myself from the Highlander and only then noticed that the bruising I had taken was more severe than initially thought. It'll be a good three and a half weeks of recovery and rehab before I'll be back in a cockpit again.

Peace be with you, Dekker.

Oh, and Behemoth has been banned from touching anything in the lounge ever again.

 

[Secondlight]

Short but sweet excerpt from my Journal of a Mechwarrior blog series




"We are already in orbit around Bellerophon!" Darius protested.

"I know but the Detroit job has travel pay included!" Riana countered.

"So?"

"So does our mysterious benefactor on Bellerophon!"

"We are already here at Bellerophon!" Darius reiterated.

"Listen;" Riana had that piratical grin that spread across her face whenever she contemplated mischief, "if we let the client in Detroit pay our way there then Bellerophon will pay our way back! It's practically free money!"

Darius let his face fall into his hand. "Hysteria," he began, "that will add weeks to our meeting with the Bellerophon client! Who's to say the client will still even be here!?"

"She asked for Mjolnir by name, Darius," Riana shrugged, "she'll wait."

"She's Canopian elite!" the XO was beginning to get irate, "she isn't used to waiting! Besides, did you notice anything in particular about the Detroit job?"

"What?" Riana asked defensively, "Local government wants us to take down an enemy Lance that's doing exercises in it's territory. It's a milk run... and it pays well! More than the Bellerophon meeting!"

"That 'enemy Lance' is Canopian!!" Oliveira shouted. "What if word gets back to her that she had to wait a month on us because we were in Detroit attacking a Magistracy Lance??"

"Well, the Detroit job still pays more..."

 

[mjbroekman]

The Heart of Darkness
After Action Report
Reporting Pilot: Dust Raker

If was a hot and dusty drop onto Herotitus...there was a Canopian commander that had set himself up as a "king" and we were tasked with taking him out.

We had pretty good intel for once. We knew there were reinforcements to watch out for and we know he would have some guards. This is a step up from the "Oh, there may be something else out there" that we usually get. We even knew where the reinforcements were likely to come from.

So when we dropped, we headed out in an attempt to cut off the reinforcements and crush them before they could link up with the guards. It started out reasonably well, though our interception point was a bit closer to the main force than we would've normally liked, but Eck was up beat and Behemoth wasn't complaining about the coffee maker, so it was a good deal.

We ran into an enemy Shadowhawk, a Cataphract, and a Quickdraw where we expected the reinforcements. But very quickly it turned turned out that there were lots of long range fire support units out there. The Shadowhawk perished quickly enough, but in its place, a Locust, two Strikers, and a Thunderbolt rolled in along with another 80 ton vehicle that we didn't have eyes on yet. Then we sheared the autocannon off the Cataphract and battered the Locust. Behemoth trundled her Black Knight over to Quickdraw and found that it was trapped in a rock fall and couldn't move. But then the unthinkable happened. The Cataphract hauled itself back to its feet and stomped over to Eck in his Firehopper. I have never seen such a bulky, awkward mech move so gracefully, but there it was...delivering a spinning roundhouse kick to the cockpit of the Firehopper. The 'hopper collapsed to the ground just as War Boar ripped the 'phract apart with autocannons and missiles. In the meantime, Behemoth was taking too long with the Quickdraw and succeeded in getting most of her Black Knight shredded around her. Fortunately, the only real loss there was a single medium laser. We mopped up the Thunderbolt, Locust, Quickdraw and both Strikers along with the Demolisher (which actually died first since we slagged it as soon as we realized exactly what it was) and then it was a task to take care of this commander. From the autocannons and LRMs, we were half expecting that abominable Jager A variant, but it proved to be just a Dragon.

But it was "just a Dragon" that almost got away. Despite knocking it down quickly, we ran out of LRM ammo to do that and then it took off for some red smoke, which was likely its extraction point. Behemoth was leaping and bounding up the cliff face, while War Boar and I were sprinting their assault mechs up the sloping incline. In a last ditch attempt, I was able to leap up a cliff face and ended up with a firing solution for my gauss rifle. It was a pretty good shot that blasted the left half of the Dragon's torso clean off. Behemoth was close enough now that she was able to leap up near to the Dragon and unload an alpha strike into the gaping hole left by the gauss round. Nothing was left as the reactor broke containment and vented plasma around the crippled mech.

We completed the mission, but the price was far too steep. Luck, and Death, are fickle beasts.

 

[Fiona Marshe]

Mission Report: Fiona's Furies
Location: Zathras
Job: Assassinate a pirate heavy
Assigned forces: Firestarter, Panther, Shadowhawk, Centurion
Status: Milkrun

Report Starts:
With Captain Marshe still in the medbay from the previous mission and repair bills mounting up, the unit couldn't afford to sit idle. Payroll is only 6 days away and with only 3M in the bank [ running costs are 650k/month after economy mods ] every paying job is needed.

The mission went bad from the start. Within seconds of touchdown, contact with the enemy occurred. A Thunderbolt-S. Uh oh. Things deteriorated further after that. A Quickdraw (not so bad), then two more Orions! With little room behind, the lance moved through the light woods to the lake shore ahead and set up a firing line. A concentrated pounding knocked over the first Orion while enemy missiles flew back. Where did that come from?!? Another flight of LRM10 appears beyond sensor range and slam down. Must be the target. No way to get at him; 4 enemy heavies and a lake are in the way.

Jumping in, the Spider lets rip with a targeted salvo at the Orion; which shrugs it off, gets up and kicks the firestarters leg off. The next 10 seconds are a flurring of incoming fire, with no armour location untouched, Dekker punches out to save the mech.

Things get hairy with only 3 mechs left. Retreat, turn, fire, repeat. Slowly withdrawing to the dropzone, the enemy mechs string themselves out enough for a small gap to open. 3 turns of fire finally bring down the Ace Pilot Orion (Pilot Disabled) and an aimed shot takes the right torso off the Quickdraw. It then turns into a close-range brawl; the Panther and Shadowhawk miss their DFA attacks (not good!); the other enemy mechs must have skimped on their pilot training, as return physical attacks also miss. A last salvo of LRMs from the Centurion knocks over the second Orion but it is still dicey. LRM fire continues to patter down from beyond visual range.

Make or break time! Dekker (in the Shadowhawk) winds up against the Thunderbolt and decapitates it! The tide turns. Weapons fire detonates the LT ammo of the Quickdraw and a well-placed kick knocks over the second Orion again. Only the Shadowhawk still has intact armour as concentrated attacks finish off the Orion (Pilot Disabled) before a casual PPC shot finishes the Quickdraw.

Moving out into the lake, the enemy missile boat reveals itself. A Locust. A damned LCT-3M ! With the only long range weapons being an AC2, LRM5 and the PPC from the Panther, everyone works closer, plinking away. Any hit is internal, but the range is long and hard. A Sensor lock finally reveals the target; a Jaegermech. &^%$&^^&***(*(*(%^$% !!!

An ammo detonation wracks the locust, leaving 3 badly torn up mechs to hunt down the Jaegermech. A PPC shot from the Panther blows one arm clean off. This prompts the pilot to decide it is time to run away! Turning to run proves his undoing, as weapon fire in the back knocks him over. Staying to fight would have been a better choice. My forces then surround him and kick him to death. The Jaeger's loses both arms, both side torsos and both legs before it finally surrenders.

Combat duration: 270 seconds (27 turns) of stark raving terror. And a repair bill that takes half the profit. However, I now have my first salvaged Heavy: the Jaegermech.

Its now 3 days to payroll and only 3M in the bank...

 

[mjbroekman]

Location: Rockwellawan orbit
Timestamp: Week 216, Day 5

We were slumming the backwaters of the rim, scrounging parts and dealing on the black market when this contract comes up to "recover" some Canopian research from a Taurian facility on Rockwellan.

The Professor's eyes lit up at the folks involved in this little 'tete-a-tete'. Nothing quite like sucking up to the Canopians a bit while pissing in the Taurians cereal at the same time.

Resistance was supposedly minimal so he figured that it might be a good chance to have some fun. Behemoth gleefully jumped in Ritternacht, our laser heavy Black Knight while Prof slid into the cockpit of Balrog, our Battlemaster. War Boar heaved himself into CrabbyPants, our King Crab. And last, but not least, Spenthia strapped into William Wallace, our prize SLDF Highlander.

We dropped into the bogs surrounding the research facilities and sauntered towards the outpost where the operatives were hiding, hoping for a pickup. We were almost there when four light mechs charged into sensor range...a little too close for their comfort. We all saw a Locust poke out of the woods and then quickly duck back in. The poor thing evaporated as we all unloaded on it. A Spider and another Locust 1V burst over the embankment to our left and froze while a Locust 1M poked from the behind the corpse of his lancemate. Behemoth, the Professor, and War Boar trundled after the Spider and the 1V obliterating them while Spenthia charged towards the 1M without firing a shot. That's when their support chimed in, raining long range missiles onto War Boar...to little effect.

Spenthia actually giggled as the 1M closed to the edge of the woods and fired at her. "Minor damage, commander" she snickered as the Highlander took to the sky and came smashing to the ground... next to the 1M. Complete miss. The pilot of the 1M must've pissed themself because they sidestepped and fired on the Highlander again while the others charged towards the sensor blips marking 3, then 4 vehicles.

The Professor and Behemoth each evaporated a Striker and then War Boar sensor locked the nearest vehicle, illuminating an SRM carrier. On seeing it, the Professor let loose with all his weapons. The poor vehicle was slagged before the seven medium lasers completed their firing cycle, but Prof still let go with 15 long range missiles to ensure that nothing remained. That's when we all heard the roar of the Wallace's jumpjets again.

"Nooooooo!" cried Prof as Spenthia leapt into the air. Fortunately for her, the Wallace landed squarely atop the shoulders of the Locust and drove it into the soft mud. A gout of steam erupted from the mud as the reactor burst and the plasma flashed the water out of the mud. "Got the bugger this time!" exclaimed Spenthia as she triumphantly stomped off towards the recovery point, trailing sparks and smoke from the Wallace's burst actuators.

The last vehicle never knew what hit it as Behemoth leapt up the embankment and enveloped it in laser fire and flamer plasma.

And then we collected the operatives and the samples and waited for Sumire to pick us up.

 

[*star*rats*]

STARRATS’ MARAUDERS - PART IV - A NEW HOPE?

The Story
It’s a rather normal evening aboard the Argo, considering how normal things can be in times of war with the Aurigan Directorate. The crew is enjoying some well-earned time off after the last frantic mission - the foiled attempt to evacuate Lord Madeira from the Directorate’s hold on Guldra. At this moment, the Argo is en route to Tyrlon to continue the Arano liberation campaign, in hopes of finally breaking the Directorate’s line of defense and ultimately rescuing Alexander.

And still, one thing make this particular evening stand out from the endless stream of evenings passing by between space travel, combat drops and ‘Mech repairs - it’s Poker Night!

Most of the senior staff are present at the poker table tonight - Darius, Yang, Sumire, Farah and Commander StarratS. Even Lady Kamea did join for a couple of rounds, before returning to her duties. The atmosphere is relaxed, and the chatter is cheerful all around

As Darius hits a particularly lucky streak, he suddenly exclaims: “I got just the perfect thing for this - a Timbiqui Peated Scotch I found last time we were on Alloway. Hang on for a moment.”

Darius quickly gets up to fetch the bottle from his personal quarters. Meanwhile Sumire and Farah engages in a scientific discussion about FTL-travel, while Yang and StarratS continues to assess the operational feasibility of quad-legged ‘Mechs.

After a while, the gang begins to wonder if Darius has fallen asleep since he hasn’t returned to the game, and Sumire can’t hide her beginning impatience: “Should we go look for him? I could think of better things to do than keep waiting for the rest of the evening.”

“I’ll go look for him - I’m sure there is an explanation,” says StarratS. However, before he gets a chance to stand up, Darius’ shouting voice suddenly fills the air: “Yang! Commander! Everyone, come to the ‘Mech bay!”

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, everyone rushes up and run towards the ‘Mech bay, where Darius seemingly has been struck by surprise. On the way Kamea even appears, showing a sincere interest in what’s going on.

As the crew approaches the ‘Mech bay, they can hear Darius in a mix of rustling noises. Finally they arrive in the bay - and everyone are startled by the sight that meets them.

Darius stands with his sidearm drawn, pointed at a cloaked figure lying on the floor beside him. He immediately starts to explain: “I was just on the way back from my quarters when I heard clunking sounds from the direction of the ‘Mech bay. And since I knew nobody was supposed to be there I rushed back to get my pistol, and to investigate as fast as possible.”

He pauses briefly, then continues: “When I got here, I saw this, this...” Darius stops again in search of a word to describe the intruder, but gets interrupted by Yang who suddenly realizes what could be at stake: “Who is this, and what has he done?”

“Well, I have no idea who this is, and that’s disturbing in its own right. But if I had to guess I'd say he's some covert operative from the Directorate, who snuck aboard the Leopard during the evac on Guldra. And since he obviously was heading for the ‘Mech bay, I think it's safe to assume that sabotage has been part of the plan. Luckily, I knocked him out cold before he could do any more damage!”

“Oh no, no, no!” Yang exclaims as he strides towards the row of readied ‘Mechs. “Where exactly did you catch him Darius?”

“He was right at the BattleMaster when I struck him by surprise, and then I pulled him here,” Darius replies and points towards the central bay.

StarratS interrupts: “Nothing is ever going smoothly in this damn war, is it? Yang, we need a damage assessment quickly, so we can consider our options.”

Kamea, who has thus far been observing quietly with a grave expression on her face, suddenly reminds everyone of the potential severity of the situation: “This is most unfortunate, just as we were gaining momentum against the Directorate. We cannot delay our liberation of Tyrlon, if any hope should remain of getting Alexander back alive.”

“Don't worry Lady Arano,” Yang assures: “We’ll have some ‘Mechs ready, no matter if I have to dig through the storage and manually piece it all together. “

“I thought we agreed that Kamea is quite sufficient,” she says and smiles indulgently.

“Ok Yang, let's inspect those ‘Mechs and see what we have to work with,” StarratS says firmly, and then points to the unconscious intruder on the floor. “And Darius, lock this piece of scum in the brig, maybe we’ll get him to talk later.”

For the next couple of hours, Yang and StarratS thoroughly inspects all ‘Mechs to get a complete picture of the damage done. After having collected and analyzed the empirical evidence, they can finally retire to rest.

The following morning, the crew gather in the mess to get an update on the ‘Mech situation and discuss the options for the upcoming mission on Tyrlon. Yang presents the initial report on the ‘Mech status.

“This is as bad as I feared,” he begins. “During the last few days, this saboteur has done extensive damage to our assault ‘Mechs in a way that was nearly undetectable from the outside. Leg servos have been damaged, weapons destroyed and fusion systems polluted, so that extensive repairs are required. I will need at least a month to get even a single assault 'Mech up running, since I don't even have all the necessary parts here.” Yang sighs deeply: “Even the Gauss rifle has been disabled - I mean that piece was practically priceless!”

“Dammit!” - Kamea immediately looks surprised at her own frustrated reaction, and quickly tries to recover on a more serious note: “So what are our options at this point?”

Yang continues: “Currently we only have medium and heavy ‘Mech chassis that are field ready. Even then, I might be able to improve their armament with some of our higher quality weapons, and with some luck we can also reuse the double heat sinks from the Highlander. I reckon we could have a 240 ton Lance ready when we arrive at Tyrlon.”

“240 tons…” Kamea is gazing around with a thoughtful look on her face: “That's not nearly what I had imagined at this point in the war. We should expect heavy resistance at this stage, and while time is against us, the last thing I want is to send you on a suicide mission and loose our best chance to reach Coromodir.”

"We've been fighting this war for years," StarratS ascertains. "And by doing so, we've become quite an effective team. I'm confident we can pull this off - but Yang, better have those repair bays ready when we return!" Yang nods feverishly in compliance.

“Very well Yang - we have a plan then. Keep me updated on your work, and I'll be looking forward to yet another challenge when we arrive at Tyrlon.” StarratS seems determined and convincing enough for the crew to leave the morning briefing in high spirits, and everyone is aware of their part to play for the coming mission to be a success.

The days pass by, and only a few days before reaching Tyrlon, Yang is ready to present his modified Lance for the Commander and crew. His eyes spark with excitement as everyone takes place in the ‘Mech bay for the demonstration.

“Let's start with the easiest,” Yang begins. “Luckily, the Trebuchet was already prepared for combat, although in the stripped down version with an LRM15 and LRM10, but both from Zeus with increased stability damage. It also has only two medium lasers, but to compensate for the loss in firepower, the missile targeting system is vastly improved.”

“Oh, and the cockpits of these ‘Mechs have been reinforced when the space allowed it,” Yang assures, as he leads the way to the next ‘Mech bay: “Now, the Shadow Hawk has been our trusty workhorse for many years, and it can still very much serve that purpose. The AC/5 is a top of the line model from Mydron, along with two Magna medium lasers. The biggest change though is the missile racks, which have been replaced with dual Valiant SRM racks, for a salvo of up to 10 high-powered missiles.” Yang admires his own work for a moment, and then continues: “In addition, it has a vastly improved Gyro that makes the ‘Mech much more mobile and thus harder to hit.”

“Excellent!” StarratS says, and nods in the direction of Kamea, who until now have been following quietly from an analytical distance. Kamea raises her head and lets a tiny smile show, proving that her faith in the mission is intact. “What else have you got Yang?” StarratS inquires eagerly as they moves towards the next ‘Mech.

“The Thunderbolt is another steady machine, and this one has been modified primarily for long-range fire support, but still maintaining considerable fighting ability when closing in. Its main weapon is a Ceres PPC that does tremendous stability damage, and along with that it has a Zeus LRM10 for indirect fire capability. The rest of the weapons are lasers, with one large and two medium lasers, both from Magna. And for close-range support, two additional Intek small lasers are mounted as well. It can run a bit hot, but the addition of a double heat sink combined with a heat exchanger really helps in that regard.”

Yang enthusiastically strides back and forth as he explains the technical details. “Actually I figured this would be your ‘Mech, Commander, as it would be optimal for sniping.” Yang suddenly stops and looks up, clearly waiting for a response.

“Sounds good, Yang,” StarratS replies. “I’m feeling very comfortable with that. And what’s the final piece for today?”

"Yes, now for the Grasshopper..." - Yang smiles nervously: "On this ‘Mech, I basically mounted everything else we got. I fitted quality large and medium lasers from Magna and Intek, along with a Valiant SRM missile rack - and for close range weaponry it got both flamers, Diverse small lasers and a couple of ‘Browning machine guns. But because we got those double heat sinks from the ancient Highlander, I wouldn't worry about it running too hot, as long as you don't fire both large lasers at once," Yang finishes, and nods with thoughtful satisfaction.

“Considering what resources we have, I’d say what you just have shown is a pretty damn good compromise,” StarratS concludes.

Kamea cuts in. “Yes, suddenly it all seems doable. But there’s still one thing: You're really gonna miss that Gauss rifle!”

“You bet I'm gonna miss that Gauss rifle,” StarratS assures. “But we'll have to make do anyway, won’t we?”

After the rundown of, the crew suddenly seem more relaxed, and is finally capable of enjoying themselves for some time before doing the final preparations for the mission to liberate Tyrlon from the grasp of the Aurigan Directorate.

The ‘Mechs

The Mission

 

[machinech]

AMAZING story!!!

369 weeks in... saved games are gone, even after restarting 12+ times

 

[Prussian Havoc]

AMAZING story!!!

369 weeks in... saved games are gone, even after restarting 12+ times

I believe there is a fix for this one. Hopefully @Timaeus, @Colonel Flamestalker, @stjobe or one of our other fabulous Moderators can provide a link to point the way. :bow:

 

[stjobe]

AMAZING story!!!

369 weeks in... saved games are gone, even after restarting 12+ times

Make sure you have the same mods installed after the update as you had before, as the game is a bit finicky about that - if you ran 1.0.3 with a certain set of mods, those saves won't show under 1.0.4 without the same mods installed.

If you are on Steam, opt out of any beta you might be in, that should let you upgrade properly to 1.0.4. If that doesn't help, deleting BattleTech.exe and verifying files may help.

 

[Secondlight]

Riana lay in the bed in the Medbay of the Argo. The room was cavernous compared to the Leopard and it made her feel alone in the small hours of the 'night' but she couldn't sleep anymore so she was pleasantly surprised when Yang Virtanen knocked softly and entered the room. "Nice digs," he said with a smirk as he came fully into view, "mind if I come in?"

"Glad for it, actually," Riana smiled, "just coming out of another drug-induced stupor to a shocking amount of pain. I could use the distraction."

"You okay, boss?" Yang asked with genuine concern.

"I'm fine," she lied, "how's my Blackjack?"

"Doing about as well as you, from the looks of it," the native Capellan approached her bedside and placed his hand on the rail, "she's a near total loss, Commander; both legs, the CT, practically all of the torso... left arm too."

"What about the AC/20?" Riana asked. She had only recently paid over 300 thousand C-Bills for the Kali Yama and the thought of losing it pained her.

"It survived," Yang smiled, "right arm intact."

"Oh, good," Riana breathed a sigh of relief, "How long will it take to fix her up again?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Yang began with a sigh. He knew she wouldn't like this, "I think we should scrap her."

"Yang, could you maybe share the drugs a little?" Her expression blended between sarcasm and annoyance, "I'm in pain here and it's making me hear things."

"I'm serious, Riana," the MechTech was insistent, "the damn thing is gonna get you killed. This is the third time you've totaled that Mech and ended up in Medbay for an extended stay."

"I wouldn't be much of a leader if I wasn't out in front," she half-growled.

"Yeah, I'm getting that from you," Yang countered, "so that's why I'm telling you to let the Blackjack go."

"And I'm telling you go jump out an airlock," she snarled, "Fix my Blackjack, Chief. That's the end of this conversation."

"No it isn't, Riana," Yang said with his characteristic steely determination, "I want you to listen to me. How bad is it this time? Broken femur? Shattered hip? I heard you ruptured a kidney."

"Spleen," she corrected him.

"Took a lot of shrapnel too," Yang continued, "and the skin grafts from the burns this time took eight hours, even with the Argo's fancy new equipment."

"Fix my Mech, Chief," Riana narrowed her eyes, "that's your job."

"You know what else is my job?" his tone was full of indignant dismissal, "Keeping my Mechwarriors alive. I can't do that if you insist on charging headlong into battle with a severe armor deficiency and a gun that's too big for your Mech!"

"If I have to get up out of this bed..." she let the threat hang but her knuckles went white on the rails of the bed.

"I have an alternative," Yang released the rail and took a step back, "and I want you to actually listen to me. Alright?"

Riana let herself relax, her head sinking into the pillow. "Better make it good, Yang."

The MechTech looked around and found a wheeled stool, sliding it over and taking a seat next to her bed. "Lady Arano was generous with the Weldry salvage," he began, "I got the complete chassis of that JM6-S Jagermech. It's not all that dissimilar to your Blackjack. Think of it like a distant, heavier cousin."

"A Jagermech?" Riana raised one eyebrow, "That's your solution? It's a long range sniper. Sports twin AC/2s and twin AC/5s, right? With Medium lasers for close targets?" She blew out a raspberry as she cut her eyes away, "Your solution is to put me at distance, eh? In a Heavy-Class at that."

"I thought you'd say that," Yang interrupted her, "so I've come up with a solution I think you may like.." She didn't speak but turned her attention back to him so he continued, "What if I strip all of that off and slap the Kali Yama to the right arm? I can leave the AC/5 on the left but everything else goes. No AC/2s, no lasers. Not much need for Heat Sinks. The only other piece of equipment is a heavy Jump Jet for mobility."

"Jagermechs are lightly armored for their tonnage," Hysteria shook her head, "and bigger Mechs are more expensive to fix. Just patch up my Blackjack..."

"Not this Jagermech," he shook his head, cutting her off, "I plan to load three or four separate AC/20 ammo feeds to various locations and everything else? Armor. Tons of armor. I'm gonna put as much armor on this Mech as it can hold," he reached out with his meat hand and gripped hers, "whatever it takes to keep you out of here."

"I'd rather be in here than at another funeral, Yang," she said softly, the memory of Dekker and Behemoth tearing at her, "and I'm not going to stop until those Espinosa bastards pay for what they did to Sir Raju!" He squeezed her hand as she tightened her own grip, fighting back fresh tears.

"I know you won't," Yang said with a sigh, "that's why I want you in this Mech. You're gonna be a walking tank, Riana, literally. That AC/20 was way too big for the Blackjack, but the Jagermech can handle it, easy. With the expanded ammo and the AC/5 in reserve you shouldn't have to worry about running out. If it becomes an issue I can always find some place for a laser mount."

"What about close quarters?" she turned to ask, "What am I supposed to use, harsh language?"

"Ha!" the Tech laughed," Half of your damage comes from melee anyway! You like to get up close and kick the hell out of your enemies, I know you!" He released her hand and leaned back in the chair, smirking at her, "Do you know how many times I've had to fix cracks in the cockpit from where you headbutt people? At least with this Mech you've got some serious tonnage behind your strikes, not to mention armor."

"Alright, fine," she relented, "but fix my Blackjack." He started to protest but she kept going: "We can put it in storage but I can't bear to scrap her. She's my family's ancestral Mech..." then she muttered "and I stole her fair and square."

"Is that your attachment to this ancient piece of junk?" Yang snorted in derision, "I didn't realize my lady had such a sentimental attachment..."

"Stow it, Chief," she cut her eyes at him, "and spare me your Capellan attitude; I'm as noble as you are now and you know it!"

"Didn't stop you from stooping and bowing before the High Lady, now did it?" Yang regretted it the moment it slipped his lips but the old vet was too stubborn to change course.

"Oh, I'm sorry," her voice practically dripped with sarcasm, "I forgot that Comrade Virtanen trusts no noble, even one who was so generous with the Weldry salvage!" She pulled herself up in the bed, her face flush and her hackles raised, "Lady Arano is no mere noble to me, Yang, and if you can't remember that you're welcome to make Mandalas your port-of-call when we arrive!"

"And what exactly is she to you, Commander?" Yang folded his arms, metal over flesh, "Not that I care how you look at her but you've gone out of your way to lay down for her like a good dog! When you were elected captain of the Marauders you didn't hear a peep when you decided to change the company name to Mjolnir, it was a good strong name, but I've gotta say Queen Kamea's Revenge? Really? We are mercenaries, Riana, and you've turned us into soldiers!"

"Is the money not good enough, Yang?" she shot back, "We took one and a half million from the Axylus mission and, correct me if I'm wrong, at least that much again after Weldry!" She pointed at him accusingly, "when I took the helm, no, when you guys forced me to take command, we were up to our eyeballs in debt! For three long years we lived hand-to-mouth, one step ahead of our creditors! Do you think I knew anything about how to run a company? Me? A pirate? Do you know how many insufferable lectures I had to sit through with Darius, how many time Sumire complained about the banks and the payments on the Leopard? One point five million Yang!! Twice! Yeah, I renamed the company to Queen Kamea's Revenge! She's our goddamn sponsor!! And not to mention it's my revenge as well! That bitch murdered Sir Raju! The man was like a father to me! More than my actual father ever was!" Tears streamed down her face at this point but the angry flush in her cheeks threatened to turn them to steam. "He pulled me out of the wreck of my Blackjack on Bringdam, Yang, my enemy! I thought for sure I would be gibbeted in Coromodir, hung for my crimes, but what did he do? He believed in me! He remembered me! He spoke for me and after I did my time he convinced Lady Arano that I was worthy enough to be in her guard! Is that how I look at her, Yang? Maybe like I owe her something??" She twisted around and swung her legs off the bed, one still in a full cast. "I'm sitting here, in this goddamn bed, and his loss is as fresh to her as it is to me. We lost him twice!! She walked in to find him like that, she did! While I was being medevaced off of Weldry with the goddamn Mech you won't fix she had that scar we share torn open fresh! And I wasn't there for her!!" She buckled as she tried to stand, falling back to the bed as he moved to help her. She pushed him away violently, "Get the fuck off me!" Her eyes hardened to the point that Yang felt like she hated him. "You don't know a fucking thing about me but you're going to sit here and preach to me while I'm laid up in here like this?"

"I'm sorry, all right?" Yang put his hands up and backed away, "I'll fix it, and you're right. I don't know much about you and I let my mouth run about shit I know nothing about," her chest heaved as she glared at him but he continued, "I told you about my time with the 1st Battalion, I told you about what happened on St. Loris. The highborn always play at war but it's the common man who pays the toll," he held up his cybernetic arm in illustration, "so maybe I am suspicious at the notion of joining the Restoration to put Kamea Arano back on her rightful throne. I've been used and thrown away before, Riana. I know you have this connection to her through Sir Raju and all but I don't have that." He spread his arms out; "this right here is all I have. A ship and a crew and Mechs to work on."

"Who gave us the Argo, Yang?" Riana growled. Her anger was ebbing but was still present.

"She did," he answered, then he corrected: "Lady Arano did... High Lady. I get it. She's our benefactor, and you're right: the pay is good. It's really, really good. I worry too much."

"You do,"

"I do," he sighed as he eased back down on the stool, confident at last that she wouldn't try to stand again, "look, I'm sorry I pissed you off. No hard feelings, okay? I want you to recover and this isn't helping."

"Relax, Yang," she took a deep breath, "I'm a pirate; I love to fight. Beats the hell out of just staring at the walls and focusing on how much I hurt!" She extended her fist which Yang met with his own.

"Why don't you tell me about that?" he asked, "It would pass the time."

"What are you now, my therapist?" she scoffed, "Mind your business. Fix my Mech!"

"I'm your friend," he countered, "and I'm sitting right here. It's my break so talk to me."

"Pssht," she looked away out the window, "it's a past life. What's to tell?"

"Well you could start by explaining how a highborn noble became a pirate," the MechTech suggested, "That'd be interesting."

"How long until we reach the Jumpship?" she asked absently, still looking out the window.

"Five days, Commander," Yang took off his glasses and produced a cloth from his coveralls, "fine. If you don't want to tell me I guess I'll head back to the bay and get started on..."

"House Klaue is originally from the Rimward Periphery," she began, still looking away, "a little shithole called McEvan's Sacrifice but we moved to Artru when I was a baby." Yang quickly cleaned his glasses and leaned back but he dared not interrupt her. "From what I heard my father won our estate in a game of cards. It was a step up; a chance for us to approach respectability," she cut a glance over at Yang and half-chuckled, "we were little more than bandit lords! I mean we had a noble name but before Artru that was about it. On Artru we had lands, we had servants... nothing at all like Coromodir, of course, but it was... palatial, and as I grew up the profits from the plantation started to earn my father the grudging respect of the other nobles, and it enabled him to hire Sir Raju." She wiped at her tear-stained eyes as she spoke of Mastiff. "He taught me how to be a Mech pilot. We only had my father's Blackjack but with Sir Raju's guidance it wasn't long before it felt like it was mine." She looked over at Yang, "I cried for days when he left. We'd had a bad harvest and my father needed to make cuts to payroll. He tried to soften the blow by saying I'd learned all I needed and I could defend our lands now but the truth is my father was... distant." She rolled her eyes and looked away again, "it's a common theme amongst nobility; parents don't raise their kids, the nannies and the finishing schools do. So that's what he did, he enrolled me in St. Regis' School of Excellence. It was the proper thing to do. In one week I lost Sir Raju and my home. St. Regis was like a prison to me, and I suppose that's where things went awry."

"Awry?" Yang asked.

"My father expected me to return home a proper lady, another step towards the validity he craved, but I... well I was a bit of a disappointment."

"How so?"

"I had... experiences at St. Regis," she turned and looked him in the eye, challenging him silently to judge her, "I was a woman now with all the power and vulnerabilities that entailed. It was a messy affair but let's just say I awakened, sexually. Much to the dismay of my father."

"I suspect that is hard for any father to come to grips with," Yang offered.

"I was a whore, Yang," she said matter-of-factly, "no need to sugarcoat it. I knew what I was doing. I enjoyed it. Men, women, nobles, commoners," she laughed, "groups of both. It was only a matter of time before he couldn't bear the shame of it anymore. I was exiled; good of the family he said. My mother let it happen too. He wouldn't let me 'drag the Klaue name through mud any longer,' end quote." Her exaggerated imitation of her father's voice was meant to be amusing but Yang was speechless. "I had nothing. He wouldn't give me anything. Told me to find a brothel. At the time I was so bitter about it but now? Heh, what else could he say? Anyway, all I really had was Sir Raju's training so I found a dropship pilot, slept with him, and had him help me steal my father's Mech and get it off world. I figured he left me with only two ways to make a living; on my back or in a cockpit and I could make more money in a Mech than in a brothel."

"Can't blame you," Yang offered but Riana noticed his slight blush. It amused her.

"I went back to McEvan's Sacrifice and fell in with a pirate crew. 'Revan's Raiders.' And man, did we raid. I did all kinds of horrible things, Yang, and I dodged death more times that I could count. Not that it mattered to me; I was drunk or high for most of it. Thing about piracy though is it's mostly about being in the right place at the right time and projecting the right amount of force. You commit a few atrocities and soon your reputation precedes you; merchants and depots will just roll over for you like a good dog. You always pick one or two of them and rough them up, maybe kill one as needed, just to cement your rep. Otherwise your next job is harder."

"Riana," Yang spoke softly and looked at the floor, "most of our work is taking out pirate crews..."

"Oh, I know," she said dismissively, "they're asking for it. I was asking for it. I think some part of me wanted to die. I was worthless, you know? exiled, lost my family, my home... I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. I thought I would on Bringdam. Aurigan forces were waiting for us. Old Revan made a classic mistake; he hit the system once too often, got greedy. So there was Sir Raju, waiting for us. I didn't know it was him at the time, of course, but he recognized the Blackjack. He was careful to take out the legs." She looked down for a moment, wistfully, "Revan and his crew were all wiped out, like playthings tossed away, and all I could do was rage from inside my cockpit, my Blackjack prone on the ground. I waited for him to do it, I waited for him to stomp my core out, but when the ground units arrived and they cut me out of my Mech I figured that was the end for me. I wouldn't get my blaze of glory, instead I'd get hung and my body would be strung up for others to see; 'Pirates ye be warned' and all that. Instead Sir Raju was there when they got it open." She laughed. "Oh, the face I must have made! All that fight, it all drained out of me the moment I saw him! They yanked me out and cuffed me and I was just too dumbfounded to speak!" She stared off in space for a minute and then continued: "I spent thirteen months in an Aurigan prison on Coromodir and he came to see me every week. Kept telling me he knew I was better than that." She looked Yang in the eye, her own eyes misting over again, "He never stopped believing in me. Not once! Even when the magistrate wanted to execute me for my crimes he fought for me. Stood up to High Lord Tamati and flat out told him that if he executed me the he would leave the Aurigan Reach forever. He insisted that Lady Kamea meet me, treated us like his own daughters, and when he felt like I was remorseful enough he got them to commute my sentence and release me. Told them that if they put me in her Royal Guard he would keep an eye on me. Sir Raju gave me a chance, you see? He took me from worthless and he made me worthy. And Kamea made it all possible by accepting me as her guard."

Yang sat in silence as she spoke, mostly looking at the floor. "That's an incredible story. I mean, I knew you were a noble-turned-pirate-turned-Mechwarrior but I had no idea."

"Why would you?" she shook her head, "When I joined you guys I was pretty well lost. I acted like a pirate. I don't understand why in the 'verse you'd pick me as a leader, I just wanted to pilot a Mech and try to die again. Sir Raju was dead, Kamea was dead, my legitimacy was dead..." she dropped her head and looked at her hands, "Shit, Yang, I finally understand why my father was so consumed with the other nobles' recognition; I wanted it too. I wanted somebody to see me as something besides a whore or a pirate. I liked being in the Royal Guard. I loved Kamea,"

"You still love Kamea," Yang quipped.

"Shh!" she cut her eyes at him, "Anyway it's taken me some time to fall into this role as a mercenary captain. I didn't know what I was doing at first."

"You got that right,"

"Alright smartass,"

"Joke!" he held his hands up, "I'm joking! Please continue."

"As I was saying I was pretty lost at first," she looked away again, "I didn't know what I was doing and it cost Miranda and Amir their lives."

"You can't bear that cross alone," Yang reached out to her again, "both of those missions you were out of action. Dekker and Behemoth were experienced pilots and sometimes even the best of us..." he choked up and looked down as he spoke about his friends, "it just happens. It happens to the best of us. It's nobody's fault. We all know the risks."

Riana took a deep breath and wiped her eyes as a nurse entered the room. "Commander!" she exclaimed, "You should be resting!"

"I couldn't sleep," Hysteria offered, "Yang was keeping me company."

"You're due for more pain meds," the nurse said, moving to the other side of the bed, "they're going to knock you out and you need to sleep! I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Chief."

"That's okay," he said, getting up awkwardly, dabbing at his eyes as he did, "I've got a ton of work to do repairing a Mech that ought to be scrapped..."

"Stow it!" Riana warned.

"... and I have to mount a fourteen ton gun to the arm of an over-armored Jagermech so our intrepid leader here can stop getting blowed up so much."

"Chief," Riana reached out for Yang's hand again, "thank you."

The Mechtech's composure shook and his lip quivered as he gripped her hand and squeezed, hard. "You got it boss. You get your ass well. I'll get that Blackjack fixed up and in storage." He offered her a smile and turned to leave as the nurse inserted the needle into her drip.

"I'll be here," she called to him just as the woozy rush of the pain meds took effect, "come back anytime."

 

[jim_survak]

< story>

Damned good, high praise!

 

[Secondlight]

Thank you!

 

[jim_survak]

After Action Report
Attn: House Liao liaison office
From: Office of Red Dragon Mercenaries
Mission Report: Marik Convoy Raid
Location: Athna
Assigned forces: One Assault Lance

Official After-Action Report.
Reporting Officer: Colonel Johnathan Survak, Red Dragon Mercenaries Company

Excerpts and corroborating elements taken from lance personnel, sensor and system logs from lance BattleMechs, and SATCOM from the Dragon’s Den dropship near-orbit scans of the AO. Relevant data has been appended in this HPG packet.

Contract acceptance occurred on March 3, 3027. Athna-3’s second moon orbit achieved March 8, 3027 - 1321 hours, shipboard time. Dragon Lance dropped onto moon’s surface directly from the Union-class DropShip designated Dragon’s Den. No atmosphere meant no issues with entry and landing; disposable jump jet pods were mounted directly to the ‘Mechs.

Once moon-side we began combat operations against one Marik military convoy. We landed at the high-end of a gentle large hill’s slope. I took my lance forward, leaving Dragon 4 - callsign “Casino” - back to give us LRM support from her Stalker. Dragon’s Den SATCOM had good visual feed on the convoy due to the regolith dust kicked up by the vehicles maybe two kilometers away. Since there’s no atmosphere in space, we had good visual feeds with our magnification windows.

Before we properly got to the base of the hill we had soft locks on an enemy lance: two 80s, a 95, and a 90. We had them in sight in less than a minute. Leading the group were a pair of Awesomes, the 8Q models - 6 PPCs between the pair. They were followed up by a Banshee 3M - the multi-laser model, and a Highlander 733. Aside from the Highlander 733 the Mariks were using a lot of high-heat ‘Mechs for a moon. Stupid on their part; possible they were pulling double duty as convoy escort while they themselves were transfers to another unit along the Marik/Liao border. Someplace cold? I’ll leave that to Liao intelligence services to investigate.

I had Dragon 2 & Dragon 3 (“Stinky” and “Behemoth”) - both running in modified Atlas models for the high-heat environment - run up to take the brunt of the fire. I commanded from Dragon 1 in my own Highlander. Those two slagged the first Awesome fairly quickly with concentrated shots on the center-torso. Stinky lost a fair bit of armor across her right torso and arm.

Casino and I took to whittling down the second Awesome. Before long the thing had toppled and after a couple more hits from my Gauss Rifle the pilot ejected. Not sure that was wise give that we were on an atmosphere-free moon. By now that Banshee had started hopping around trying to out-maneuver my pair of Atlases. It worked for a while but two AC/20s on Behemoth’s Atlas is no joke and made short work of that thing. I kept myself at a distance to keep up fire support with my Gauss Rifle and Large Laser. About this time I realized that the Marik convoy we’d come here to destroy was starting to get some distance on us, so I told Casino to break off and run them down.

The Marik Highlander and I traded a number of blows; mostly lasers with his AC/10 and my Gauss - a few missiles here and there but at the closer ranges it was more for show than real effect. Stinky and Behemoth managed to get the Banshee between them when its jump jets had caused it to overheat. I tell you what: I don’t envy that poor son of a bitch who had to get his ass pounded on by two Atlas ‘Mechs.

My opponent, who was obviously staying in the fight for a moral victory before going to the afterlife, had jetted up and away. Stinky had lost her Atlas’ right arm by now, had some cockpit damage and right torso damage. I tried to tell them to get clear but they weren’t listening. Unfortunately as Stinky made their charge the Highlander punched an AC/10 round right into the cockpit.

Behemoth, trying to back up her fallen foe, sent that Highlander to hell with a pulse laser and AC/20 barrage.

The job wasn’t done though. Casino had walked back up the hill to cut off the convoy, killing one of their number. I got my Highlander back up there to assist her. Behemoth, with her Atlas being slower, wasn’t able to quite keep up with us.

Once Casino and I had begun pounding on the convoy, the Dragon’s Den sent a high-pri message: a Marik Leopard-class DropShip came in to drop off two more enemy Mechs. One Banshee, one Stalker. They’d cleared the valley they were in just as Behemoth was getting her Atlas past. A wild amount of fire exchanged between them. Casino had spent all of her LRM ammo and was forced to get close to the convoy. A Demolisher tank had been giving her hell for it. I had to clean up the last two convoy vehicles as I called Casino back to my position. Once they were cleared, with Behemoth pulling fire from our new Marik friends, I called down the Dragon’s Den for extract. It’s always nice to have a Union at your back.

We didn’t kill that second half-lance that showed up, but they didn’t kill any more of my people so I’m calling it a fair trade.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Nicely done @Secondlight! And a big thank you to ALL those contributing stories to @emmasterakia marvelous thread here. :bow:

 

[Kereminde]

. . . I need to step up my game

 

[Crass]

Darius: If they just set down, they may not be battle ready; we might Catch them with their metaphorical pants down!

One mission later where the enemy Lance where not only fielded the first Atlas the mercinaries have have ever seen it also had 3 Highlanders, 2stalkers and 2 Banshees in tip top condition

Mercenary Leader Crass: Ye I guess that did not happend Darius....