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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 17, 2018 14:15:11 GMT
As I sat in orbit around Linhauiguan, taking stock of all the damage, I realized it was worse than I thought. My repair schedule was sitting at 47 days and even though I had four auxiliary Mechs ready to go they were mostly Light Class and I was down one pilot. I had just hired Vamp, a straight Rookie with no outstanding features, but I was forced to go back to the Hiring Hall and recruit Panda. They could have been carbon copies, statistically, they all could, but I chose Panda because of her Periphery background: she grew up in the same region as Riana so I figured in a straight popularity contest she would choose someone she could identify with.
I spent over a month in orbit, repairing Mechs critical to the mission at hand; hunting down an injured, but experienced Lance. The pay was good, and would offset my wasted month with a little left over. I had Glitch and her Vindicator and a brand new Shadowhawk I had managed to slap together from parts. I put Vamp in that. Panda got to pilot the Blackjack which left Medusa in a Commando Light Class Mech. The latter was literally nothing more than a long range missile platform; I had sacrificed armor and guns to load it to the gills with missiles and my plan was to have Medusa hide far behind enemy lines and just use Sensor Lock and rain death from afar.
Commandos are rather silly looking
The terrain was remarkable for the imposing feature of Mt. Everest. Seriously this mountain was HUGE and it stood between us and our prey... or possibly predators considering how things had gone recently. The Blackjack was not outfitted for ranged combat... at all. Boasting an impressive array of Short Range Missiles (SRMs,) Medium and Large Lasers, and even a Browning machine gun it could lob nothing over that mountain. The Commando, of course ran ahead to scout but the path up the mountain was steep and long. The new Shadowhawk featured the same load out as the one I scrapped so it, at least, had Long Range Missiles (LRMs) and Glitch's Vindicator had both LRMs and the trusty PPC sniper canon. By the time the Commando neared the top the enemy appeared on long range sensors... which meant they saw us as well. Medusa established a Sensor Lock which allowed Vamp to fire the Shadowhawk's LRMs but both he and Panda were still pretty far from the top, and it would take a few rounds to get there. Glitch fired her Jump Jets and reached the top, enabling her to target the first enemy ... a heavy class Jagermech.
The Jagermech Looking like a bad guy from a Godzilla film, the Jagermech was massive... but damaged. Glitch let loose with everything she could; a called shot to a vulnerable shoulder area, and scored a critical hit! The Jagermech's left arm fell away, taking with it the armament there, but now an enemy Jenner moved into view. The Jenner JR7-D is a fast cavalry striker; a heavily-armed bastard cousin to the Locust. They tend to carry a lot of energy weapons and run hot, but we were in a Polar environment. It unloaded what it could on Glitch even as a third enemy appeared on long range sensors.
The Jenner D
Medusa had switched from Sensor support to firing all missiles at the Jagermech. In fact the heavy Mech drew all of my fire even as the enemy focused on dismantling Glitch's Vindicator. Panda, in the Blackjack, was still trying to get to the summit, sprinting to try and appear as a distraction lest the enemy tear apart my valuable sniper. Glitch relocated to a forested ridge near the extreme summit, granting her a little cover from enemy fire while increasing her to-hit bonus for height advantage, but the Jenner D was bearing down on her; with every closing meter able to fire more lasers. Finally Panda reached the top, the enemy Jenner coming into her sights, and she let loose an impressive full barrage that tore apart the Jenner's left side; blasting off some of the laser cannons there. Just then the final enemy, a GRF-1N Griffin, came into range.
The Griffin Sniper and Fire Support Medium Class Mech
The Griffin presented a pretty sizable threat; armed with a PPC and a huge battery of missiles I knew I couldn't leave Glitch in the open any more. I risked one more attack, a called shot to the Griffin's PPC cannon. It hit and diminished its capacity for damage, but failed to destroy it. At the same time Vamp crested the summit and opened up on the Jagermech, blowing off its other arm. The heavy Mech was shredded and largely harmless at range but it started moving forward threateningly; a melee attack from this monstrosity would be devastating. Still, though, Panda kept the Jenner D in her sights, advancing and unleashing another full barrage that melted armor and tore into critical systems. The Jenner wouldn't be able to ignore her for long. While Medusa continued his largely ineffectual missile barrages Glitch fired her jump jets and fled behind the cover of the mountain, firing her LRM's at the Griffin from the mountain path, but back at the summit Panda rushed the damaged Jenner and kicked the CT out of it, taking down the first enemy. Both Vamp and Medusa turned their fire on the Griffin, ignoring the handicapped Jagermech for the time being. As the heavy Mech approached all units concentrated fire on the Griffin, but it was Panda with a flanking maneuver that landed the deadly salvo, unleashing all weapons at close range. However now the Jagermech was getting close. Luckily Vamp got the initiative and with a mighty punch dropped the monster in its tracks. There were more repairs than I would have liked to the Vindicator, but overall we came through that mission with flying colors. Still though, we were hurting and I needed a milk run. I paid 150,000 C-Bills for transport to the distant, wealthy planet of Rockwellawan.
Sure enough I found one, a simple Destroy the Base mission, and as a bonus Hysteria was now back in action. I ordered a complete refit of my devastated Centurion, being forced to replace an arm, CT, shoulder, and both legs. It was expensive; nearly 300k in repairs. To help balance it out I sold the Commando. I took to the planet with the Vindicator, a brand new Jenner I put together from parts, Hysteria in her Blackjack, and Panda driving the Panther Light Mech as an auxiliary sniper. There wasn't much to say about this mission other than it was the first repeated map I've seen in quite a bit of play time, which is impressive. Total milk run, no damage at all. I've still got over a month to go on the Centurion refit so I've accepted what looks to be another easy job on Sacromonte. With a few more of these under my belt I'll finally feel ready to hit Weldry and open hostilities against the Aurigan Directorate.
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Post by rinker on May 17, 2018 23:25:30 GMT
Great write ups! Keep em coming!
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 18, 2018 1:17:43 GMT
Great write ups! Keep em coming! thanks! Hope you stick around!
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 20, 2018 10:08:38 GMT
Steadily I have been getting better at this. Before missions with a Difficulty Rating of two or higher were invitations to death and bankruptcy, now they are manageable. My trip to Sacromonte was not worth mention; another milk run, but when I picked up a job on Herotitus from the local government to eliminate some House Liao holdouts from a previous war I knew I would be in for a fight. It was a full Lance of experienced vets in well-maintained Mechs. Apparently they had not gotten the message that their war was over and continued to harass shipping in the area. I took Glitch and her Vindicator, Big Sly in the Centurion, Medusa in the Jenner, and Hysteria piloted her Blackjack. This was a stand-up drag-out fight and I gave heavy consideration to withdrawing, but I toughed it out. The price was pretty high though; Hysteria all but sacrificed herself to give her team the chance to take these guys out; and the cost was a totally ruined Blackjack and another 70 days out of action. Glitch's Vindicator lost its legs too after a Jump Jet attack of desperation. With heavy damage to the Jenner and Centurion as well I wound up taking numerous missions between Herotitus, Weldry, and Lyreton; basically any low difficulty missions I could find; most of which were ironically for House Liao.
The Cappellan Confederation, as I have mentioned in this journal before, is a Sino-Russo socialist state ruled by a single autocrat traditionally from House Liao. They are noted for their Soviet-style "win at any cost" attitude and do not shy away from overt illegal acts to further their interests... with deniable assets, of course, which is what my company is. I never really meant to get in bed with the Space Soviets, but they tend to offer plentiful good-paying jobs in this region of space so, despite my intentions, I was soon pretty well respected by House Liao. Among my many exploits I have stolen payroll, abducted scientists, even protected a pirate leader who had turned herself in to Cappellan authorities against a populace howling for vengeance in the form of a lynching. Interspersed with these missions I have also worked with the governments that the Confederation oppresses to take out Cappellan assets. Hey, I don't discriminate; if you have the money I can bring the pain.
About the second mission I had on Herotitus Panda had straight up missed a total of 4 PPC shots with inexplicably high percentages to hit. I casually dumped her ass at the Hiring Hall and picked up this guy. Call sign Jester, he is another of the Kickstarter backers who laid down a thousand dollars to get their likeness in the game. Jeremiah Bloodstone aspires to have his own mercenary company one day, as his father did, but first he seeks experience at the merc life. So far he's proven to be a great pilot at the Jenner D. It has led to strife between him and Medusa in my head canon, as both are capable scouts and I swap them up often.
Somewhere along the way I realized that the Level 2 missions were becoming milk runs for me. The missions themselves weren't getting easier, but I was starting to get better at tactics like obscuring line of sight by hiding Mechs behind terrain, opting to take missile shots from cover instead of exposing myself to danger for a direct attack, and most importantly I've learned to right click enemy Mechs to note where on the Mech they are carrying their ammo and then targeting it with a called shot. This last one, alone, has led to some extraordinary success stories, taking out even Medium Class Mechs in a single, strategic shot when their ammo supply of SRMs explodes and take out the Center Torso at the same time! I've also started targeting enemy legs at every opportunity; there's often less armor there and even if I can't follow the attack up right away a good leg strike often causes the Mech to fall, scrapping his upcoming turn and crippling his mobility. The Called Shot ability, earned with Morale on the field, has really become a saving grace. Enemy tearing stuff up with a PPC? Simply target it with a Called Shot and all he'll have left to throw at you is harsh language.
In the midst of these missions I noticed one from the Arano Restoration. I've been avoiding the story mission to open hostilities against House Espinoza and their Aurigan Directorate; I just wanted to get a little more comfortable with the flow of battles so that I didn't have such monstrous repair bills! But this mission was to take out a Directorate Communications Installation in advance of future important missions. In my head canon it was perfect; this would be my final mission before the story mission.
The A.O. was Badlands, not optimal for heat dispersion, but luckily there was a large body of water approaching the Com center. A Directorate Locust spotted us earlier than I would have liked but a Called Shot from Medusa's PPC in the Panther directly to his SRM ammo blasted his CT in a single hit. Reinforcements rushed forward but a second Locust met the same fate from Glitch's PPC! The combination of Hysteria in the Shadowhawk and Vamp in the Centurion was too much for the two light vehicles and remaining Commando. The Directorate's forces were gone and only the base and its turrets remained. This mission was turning into a milk run. I got Glitch in an elevated position and advanced my other forces, using Medusa to Sensor Lock the turrets and hit them from afar. This was made especially easy with the Centurion's newest weapon, an AC/20++ Kali Yama (An upgraded version of the best Auto Cannon; think ballistic sniper cannon) which could just about one shot every turret in range. Just then the Directorate landed reinforcements right behind Glitch.
I've built Glitch's Vindicator as an extreme long range sniper. Rarely does she engage directly with enemies and almost never do they get behind her. Many of my Mechs I've increased armor on; hell the Centurion only has two weapons on it, the rest is armor and bad intentions! But not the rear of the Vindicator, so suddenly having a Locust and five light vehicles behind her was a bit of a problem. In the past I might have swiveled her around, especially since my other units were so far ahead of Glitch and not able to respond directly. But after their opening salvo opened her armor and hit critical systems inside I chose to fire her Jump Jets and run, relocating her behind terrain to prevent any more direct fire. Then, instead of making an attack with her missiles against an enemy she could see I chose to Sensor Lock the Locust. The allowed the rest of my Lance to make attacks that knocked it out of commission before it even got the chance to move again. The vehicles were mopped up pretty easily once Hysteria and Vamp got into position and the base went down easily after that. All in all, aside from from Left Torso damage, the whole thing was a milk run.
"Restoration Actual to Revenge, come in. The signal just went dark. Report. "
"Revenge. Target eliminated."
"Casualties?"
"Negative. Minor repairs. Should be all green within a week."
"Good work, Hysteria. This is it - our first strike against my uncle's Directorate. Our first step toward justice. While I lead the Restoration Army against Weldry's primary spaceport, you will launch a sneak attack against the Icebox and liberate it. I know that you can do this, Commander. We can do this. Together."
"Revenge is yours, my Lady. Our time has come."
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 20, 2018 10:32:36 GMT
I want to mention that I am now over 35 hours into BattleTech and I have seen exactly two recycled maps, but one had weather conditions and angles swapped to the point that I didn't realize it at first. For a game that does not use procedurally generated terrain I am extremely impressed at how Harebrained Schemes kept this game so fresh despite it's repetitive mission structure. There are a TON of maps. In 35 hours I have probably participated in more than 50 battles yet only twice have I experienced recycled maps.
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Post by endorbr on May 20, 2018 13:36:04 GMT
Would be cool if something like your head canon were actually in the game. That sort of interpersonal interaction between your otherwise blank slate characters would be just that little extra level of detail to make the game awesome. Sounds like you’re doing well, although you might save some strife if you start listening to yourself when you know it’s time to back off and bug out if you want to avoid the high damage costs and character layups. But then the attitude is head canon for your character too I guess. This sounds like a great game.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 20, 2018 14:00:04 GMT
Would be cool if something like your head canon were actually in the game. That sort of interpersonal interaction between your otherwise blank slate characters would be just that little extra level of detail to make the game awesome. Sounds like you’re doing well, although you might save some strife if you start listening to yourself when you know it’s time to back off and bug out if you want to avoid the high damage costs and character layups. But then the attitude is head canon for your character too I guess. This sounds like a great game. Oh there is, but it's rarer. Like I had to settle a dispute between two of my crew over the last cup of coffee. I could have given it to one, made them share or took it for myself. I made them share and Morale went up slightly. Another time I had a frustrated mechanic with too much equipment so I made everyone keep some of his gear in their personal spaces. Morale took a hit but the MechTech's efficiency went way up.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 20, 2018 14:01:42 GMT
endorbr It's also worth mentioning that map you see? It is a tiny portion of the actual map.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 21, 2018 16:06:31 GMT
Author's note: Today's Journal Entry has what can only be called spoilers for the story. Nothing overly major, but if you plan to actually play the game you might want to skip this one. "Weldry," Lord Madeira began, "one of the most notorious hellholes in the Aurigan Reach. Everything about this place is hostile to human life, and for the past four years Espinosa has used it as a dumping ground for his political enemies."
Beside him Lady Arano looked uncomfortable, looking down and away as she added: "The Directorate has a prison complex on the planet's surface. The inmates call it the Icebox." Hysteria and the rest of Queen Kamea's Revenge looked on as the screen displayed an impressive complex with thick, high walls, numerous turret emplacements, and a hostile tundra environment.
"Looks Taurean," Riana commented.
"It is," Sumire offered, "or at least it's inspired by Taurean architecture," she pointed to the reinforced walls, "you will either go over or around that; the gates can be taken down but not those walls."
"Wow," Riana purred, "your uncle really goes all out. I've spent time in an Aurigan prison before; it was no holiday but this place is beyond the pale."
"It's a holding facility for political prisoners," Lord Madeira continued, "including high-value hostages. Members of the Founding Families; spouses, sons, and daughters." He turned and gazed at Revenge's commander over his glasses, "If we liberate the prison and set them free we will break Espinosa's leverage over the Founding Houses. The political map will change overnight."
"We don't know what the Directorate has been doing to our people in there," Kamea looked up and let her eyes drift to each person in turn as she spoke, "but we have to set them free. Not just for political gain, but because they're our people."
"You have an army now, my lady," Riana folded her arms, "what do you need us for?"
"Subtle, decisive action," Kamea's tone was straightforward, devoid of any emotion save for determination, "I will lead the army in an all-out assault on the Directorate's primary spaceport. After I've drawn their attention you will sneak in, attack the Icebox, and liberate it."
She clenched her fists as she spoke. Riana could not help but admire her poise and grace most days but, right now, she admired the fire that burned in her eyes. It was clear that Kamea Arano was as much a student of Sir Raju as she was. 'The Princess and the Pirate,' Riana thought to herself, failing to hide a mischievous smile, 'how scandalous.'
"We'll set my uncle's hostages free and put the Founding Families in our debt, all in one fell swoop!" Lady Arano resumed her military, ramrod-straight pose, her arms folded behind her back, and left her gaze on Commander Klaue. It took Riana a moment to realize she had stopped speaking.
"In my experience," she started, shaking herself from her reverie, "operations of this scale rarely go according to plan."
"I know, Riana," Lady Arano looked down demurely, "and that is one of the major reasons why I need you on this drop. You adapted to the chaos of the battlefield on Coromodir," she looked back up at her former Royal Guard pensively, "I'll be counting on you to do the same here."
'I'm such a sucker,' Riana thought, suppressing a blush, although she couldn't tell if Lady Arano's influence was a remnant of the duty she felt to Sir Raju or if it was something else...
"I'll remain in radio contact with you after you hit the ground," Kamea's tone had shifted once more; hard, determined, professional, "Good Hunting, Hysteria, Give my uncle's troops the hell that they have earned. After the Directorate presence on the surface has been crushed and the Icebox has been liberated, we'll regroup to celebrate our victory."The Liberation of Weldry is an important story mission that I had been putting off for more than a year in game time. First I had to get my legs under me, so to speak, but now I felt confident enough to attempt the mission and, at the same time, really open the game up. Weldry is a tundra environment so heat was not much of a concern. Hysteria took her Blackjack, freshly repaired after its near-total destruction, Glitch in the Vindicator for sniper support, Big Sly in the Shadowhawk, and Vamp in the super-armored Centurion. I decided to forego my normal strategy and leave the light Mechs out of it since this was a prison break, and besides both Glitch and Big Sly could use Sensor Lock if I needed it.
The approach to the prison was divided. Atop the bluff in front of me were two turret generators. Firing her Jump Jets Glitch took up position to deal with them while Big Sly broke right and Hysteria and Vamp went left. Unprotected, soon the generators sent plumes of smoke into the sky and radar signatures of approaching vehicles left the prison gates to investigate. It didn't take them long to pick up Hysteria's Blackjack on their radar and open fire. She returned fire with that new AC/20++ Kali Yama auto cannon and obliterated one. The battle was brief, with my units holding position and letting the enemy come to us. On occasion one would get a Sensor Lock, enabling the turrets to fire. Hysteria took the most fire and, before long, her armor had taken a pretty big hit. Obstinately she returned fire each time, taking out three turrets in the process as Vamp mopped up the vehicles to the west and the combination of Glitch and Big Sly handled the east. Blowing the front gate was a piece of cake and as Glitch mounted the wall with her Jump Jets, the other three entered the prison to free the prisoners.
Wouldn't you know that the Warden had a Lance in reserve that no one knew about?
Out poured a Jenner D, a Centurion, a Jagermech, and a Trebuchet (pictured above.) Glitch fired first; an Alpha Strike (all weapons) called shot to the CT of the Jenner (where he kept his SRM ammo) which resulted in a detonation and destruction of the Jenner. Good start! But that's about where my luck ended. The enemy, taking note of Hysteria's mangled armor, focused all remaining fire on the Blackjack. Even as I backed away I well knew that the AC/20 she carried would be critical to taking down the powerful enemy Lance. It wouldn't matter though, before Hysteria could sufficiently withdraw direct attacks from the Jagermech's paired AC/5s and AC/2s blew out her CT and the Blackjack was suddenly scrap again. From this point I was in trouble: Glitch was in a good elevated spot but without a direct line of fire, leaving her to only use her LRMs. With Hysteria out of the picture Big Sly would be their natural next target, the versatile Shadowhawk he piloted was not nearly as heavily armored as the Centurion. In an effort to draw them off Vamp charged into the fray, striking at the rear armor of the Jagermech, but the enemy wasn't taking the bait. Big Sly had to flee behind cover and keep moving and, when they couldn't hit him directly, the enemy started to work on Vamp's impressive armor. (Last warning for that spoiler)
Just then a section of the north wall dropped under bombardment from the air and through the breach charged none other than High Lady Kamea Arano! She tore into the Jagermech's side, forcing the enemy to reposition... into the line of direct fire from Glitch. Reeling from that hit the Jagermech was in no condition to sustain a desperate Alpha Strike from Big Sly's Shadowhawk, slipping from cover and blowing the Heavy Mech's CT. At the same time the battle of the Centurions ended in Vamp's favor, brought low by a melee strike. Now four Mechs closed in on the Trebuchet, who honestly survived on luck for a lot longer than he was entitled to. At last an AC/5 shot from Big Sly brought him down and the prison was ours. We set about freeing the prisoners when we made an terrible discovery. Not only the rampant abuse and torture that the Directorate inflicted on its own people, but something personally far worse...
He was here. All this time, these last four years, we thought Sir Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery was dead, killed in action on Coromodir. But now we found the awful, awful truth. Sir Raju had survived as well... and had languished in the Icebox the victim of Victoria Espinosa, Kamea's power-mad cousin who had promised revenge upon him for Kamea's refusal to bow down. Now it was too late. Now it was like he was dead all over again. Riana had suffered his loss four years ago when Markham's Marauders had found his cored out Mech on the battlefield, but now it was fresh... raw.
It was for Kamea as well.
Raju had been a father-figure to both women. He had taught both how to pilot Mechs. And now here he lay, his corpse, tortured to death by Espinosa and their Directorate.
The Directorate. Created and led by Kamea's uncle. Backed by Lord Madeira's family. An authoritarian regime that brutalizes, tortures, and murders its own people. While the people in Coromodir live in luxury at the Aurigan Reach's expense, too comfortable to question the Directorate's tactics, the rest of High Lady Arano's people suffer. Solemnly, Lady Arano asked for the people, her army, the mercenaries of Revenge, and the people freed from the Icebox to assemble.
People of the Aurigan Reach - I am Kamea Arano, and I have failed you. For four long years Director Espinosa has imprisoned, and starved, and murdered our people. And where was I? Hiding in a palace, light-years away. Building support. Planning. While the Directorate's secret police turned neighbor against neighbor, made your loved ones disappear, conscripted your children. I wasn't here. I didn't know. The crimes that I have witnessed here today are unforgivable. No doubt Director Espinosa believes that the ends justify the means. That the Aurigan Reach has been made... "strong." Well, I say that strength built on fear is brittle, The Directorate is a paper tiger and I declare this Restoration today, to rally the true strength of our people - Our resilience. Let Weldry be a call to arms - join us and together we will liberate the Founding Houses and retake Coromodir. Not because it is my birthright, But because the Directorate's crimes against you, the Aurigan People, will no longer be tolerated! THAT is what I fight for - and I vow to fight for your freedoms to my dying breath!
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Post by endorbr on May 21, 2018 16:16:59 GMT
Why do I get the feeling this is going to end up with a lesbian relationship between your character and Lady Arano? Or maybe that's just MY headcanon.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 21, 2018 16:18:51 GMT
Why do I get the feeling this is going to end up with a lesbian relationship between your character and Lady Arano? Or maybe that's just MY headcanon. Well they're both kinda hot.... On a related note a feminist once asked me "How do you view lesbian pornography?" Apparently "In HD" was the wrong answer...
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 21, 2018 16:40:46 GMT
endorbr Speaking on topic... Did you click on the hyperlink?
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Post by endorbr on May 21, 2018 16:55:03 GMT
endorbr Speaking on topic... Did you click on the hyperlink? Archer
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 21, 2018 17:01:48 GMT
endorbr Speaking on topic... Did you click on the hyperlink? Archer Oh come on. That shit was funny, I don't care WHO you are.
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Post by Uesugi-dono on May 22, 2018 16:19:03 GMT
The aftermath of Weldry had a big effect on Lady Arano. She realized that the struggle against the Directorate was about more than just symbols; it was a desperate struggle against a ruthless, authoritarian regime that was casual with torture and democide. As such she decided that the Argo would serve the Restoration better in action.
The Argo was one of two prototypes of a "mobile space station" created by the Star League (The closest thing the Battletech universe has to the Old Republic. It lasted from 2571-2765. Presently, in my game, it is 3026) over 200 years ago. This particular Argo crashed on the moon Axylus and ended up being used as the base for the pirate Grim Sybil (the other was dismantled for parts) but after the mission to raise it again Lady Arano had intended to keep it as her flagship; a symbol of prosperity to come. After Weldry she gave it to us, preferring to solidify our relationship and turn us into more of an assault force for the Restoration than a simple mercenary band. (We can still, of course, take mercenary jobs.)
As you can see it is a bit of a fixer-upper. Dr. Farah Murad got it off of Axylus, a miracle feat after being a derelict for 200 plus years, and High Lady Arano assigned the engineer to our crew, freeing Yang up to concentrate only on Mechs. It is spacious and features the ability to be expanded with improved facilities; including multiple Mech bays, expanded crew quarters, recreational areas, an improved med-bay, training modules, and the ability to improve the power and drive systems to decrease travel time (personally I need the travel time for repairs and recovery!) The Argo cannot go atmospheric, so I still have to make payments on the Leopard, but the smaller dropship can dock with the Argo so that's good.
Dr. Farah Murad; Engineer of the Argo Hysteria ended up being sidelined for about three months due to injuries suffered at the Icebox and the Blackjack was totaled again. Lady Arano paid us over 1.5 million for the prison break so I ordered it repaired (it is, after all, Riana's ancestral Mech) but when repairs were complete I stripped it and put it into storage. It was time for Hysteria to graduate to a new Mech, one with better armor. After the battle I managed to salvage the complete chassis of the Heavy-Class Jagermech so I set about making a new Mech for our intrepid leader. Due to her habit of acting as a bullet sponge (since she cannot actually die in combat) I took my treasured AC/20++ Kali Yama (the only piece of equipment from the Blackjack to survive) and put it on one arm, keeping the AC/5 on the other, and installed multiple ammo sources. That's all for weaponry. The rest is armor. TONS of armor. I plan to buy some heavy Jump Jets to help with mobility but, for now, I mean for the Jagermech to be a literal tank. I had a few repairs to make so I needed a little time and some more money (despite the fact that, at nearly 7 million, I am doing better financially than I ever have.) I found a mission on Herotitus to assassinate a Canopian spy; with a 22 day travel time that means that by the time I get there I should be shiny to take the mission.
The A.O. is badlands, so I'll need to watch my heat dispersion. I set down with Glitch in her Vindicator, Big Sly in the Shadowhawk, Vamp in the Centurion, and Jester in the Jenner running scout. I've only ever done one assassinate mission and the target gave me a hell of a time so I was hoping this one might be different, maybe in a ground vehicle due to the one and a half rating. No such luck. For all intents and purposes the target was expecting me; not two rounds after my arrival a semi-circle of enemy Mechs closed in around me. A Locust wandered too close and received a rough welcome from Glitch's PPC and Big Sly's AC/5. The still left me with 3 enemies; a pesky Panther and its persistent PPC, a flanking Centurion, and a Shadowhawk, sitting at range and peppering me with missiles. It wasn't long before Glitch was forced to flee her perch and seek cover and Jester was driven into hiding after taking some internal damage from the Panther/Shadowhawk combo. I noticed that I was also taking long range missile fire from an as-yet unseen unit; my target. I was hoping he was in a vehicle!
Typical badlands environment I had maneuvered my Centurion around to intercept the flanking Centurion, all behind cover of a big rock that originally served as Glitch's perch. She now fled the Centurion as Big Sly tried to single-handedly handle the Panther/S-hawk combo with poor results. He was shedding armor like a snake skin as Vamp polished off the enemy Cent but now there was a problem: Vamps over-armored Cent had no Jump Jets. Big Sly was going to have to hold the line until Vamp could walk back around the big rock. Before he could make it there the enemy S-hawk punched through Sly's armor and into the critical systems within. Firing his Jump Jets Sly fled behind the big rock just as Vamp rounded the corner. He was looking to take some heavy damage from the Panther's PPC until Jenner broke from cover with an Alpha Strike and took off the Panther's right arm. What remained couldn't stand against the Cent's AC/5. With only the enemy Shadowhawk remaining the team all emerged from cover and laid him down. All that remained now was to find our elusive target.
We eventually found the target, hiding in a ravine in an Umbra Shadowhawk just firing oodles of missiles at us. Vamp made the approach, his armor able to take the pounding, while Jester flanked to the south and kept a Sensor Lock on him. Both Glitch and Sly, neither able to take much more of a pounding, moved to a bluff in the northwest, mounted it, and started hammering the target long distance. A target that just so happened to be armored like a turtle. He took an incredible pounding, to the point that even with a lame leg and using his Jump Jets to maneuver, he was still standing. Finally we got a warning from Darius that he was making a break for it. I had to take him down now. Jester approached, unleashing an Alpha Strike in the Jenner D. Then both Glitch and Sly hit him with another one from on high. This was enough to ruin his stability and cause him to fall in the river, which opened up his damaged CT to a Called Shot from Vamp's last round of AC/5. It was enough and the target was finally down.
It was a rough one. Both Sly and Glitch are out for a month on injury, but other than some structural damage on the Jenner the rest were only minor repairs. So, overall , not that bad but here's the thing: this was supposed to be a milk run. It had a difficulty rating of 1 when I took it, rose to 1 1/2 by the time I arrived, and behaved like a 2! Right now I plan to shop a little, perhaps pick up another high quality weapon, and then probably take a job from another system, giving me time to make repairs. Once Hysteria is back I will probably move ahead with the next Restoration mission. Director Espinosa and his daughter Victoria have made this personal and I don't think I can stomach their Directorate much longer.
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