The BattleTech Dynasty: Chapt 4, Explorer Corps - 3042-49

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 1, 3047 - We arrive back in the Inner Sphere at the Rasalhague planet of Thule. This is one of three planets under the control of Baron Jorgennson.

You see, we agreed not to tell anybody else ComStar’s secrets, like that an Explorer Corps exists, the location of Columbus, etc. I’m totally okay with that. But, that relic of a JumpShip at Haven has only a tiny value to ComStar who has tons of JumpShips, plus some really advanced ones, and that one is primitive. But it does have value to me.

I contact the Baron and he takes my call (Remember, Rasalhague likes me, we have a unit in Rasalhauge, service, etc.) I tell him that I know the location of a relic JumpShip from the 2300s and I want to claim it as my own, but I need his help. He makes me a counter offer. If it works, and it is what we say it is, he’ll trade me a common Merchant for it. I agree in theory, but I want a Union DropShip too. He laughs. I point out that a relic JumpShip from the 2300s could go for a lot on the open market, but he reminds me that DropShips often cost more than JumpShips. A merchant JumpShip is much better in terms of use. I accept.

I leave some of my technical crew behind on Thule. They will jump to Haven. My rule is simple. Two jumps away from Haven, blindfold everybody on board, jump to Haven, download the route to chips and erase it. Fix the JumpShip, both come back, do the same thing on the way back. That way the Baron’s forces will never know where we went. Total expected transit time there and back, from Thule, 11 jumps, so about 3 months there, 3 back to Thule. Plus time repairing ship. We have a Merchant class JumpShip at Thule in 7 or 8 or more months. We can get it back to Epsilon Eridani from Thule in, let’s see, 4 months.

It works, and On February 4, 3049, our new Merchant class JumpShip arrives at Epsilon Eridani. We rechristen it.

Alright, now I have no clue what has been going on in the meantime, so let’s find out.

[Abe Sargent]

Meanwhile......


Brought back post-Explorer Corps campaign to see what we is doing in the middle years.


June 1, 3042:


I send Vehicle Company on another garrison contract, this time to Tall Trees, a nearby planet. A three year contract. They leave to start their contract.



Aleph Company -
Phaeton Company
Trinity Company - Contract Begins April 30, 3042, ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company -
Cinq Company - Due Back June 27, 3042
Hex Company - Contract Begins April 30, 3042, ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Due back Oct 28, 3042
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Contract Begins April 30, 3042, ends May 1, 3046


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.



What I’d like to do is the contract for Hex, Trinity and Heliades companies for the FRR. Then I can come back and do everything else.

Support: Battle Loss 50% AND Straight Support 50%
Length: 4 years
Remuneration: No
Command: House
Salvage: Shared
Transport: Full
Salary: x3.7, x1.1, x1.3
13.5 % bonus


April 30, 3042 - We arrive on Kempten and begin our contract. This contract includes us moving around, sentry work, and so forth. It’s possible we might get raided by silly Dracs, but no one else will hit Kempten. We also might get moved if things start to fall apart. Unlike other mercenary units with the FRR, we have freer reign and are able to move about the populace. Most other Merc units, the few that the FRR has, are confined to certain bases and such. However, we are one of the heroes of the revolution, so we are okay.

[Abe Sargent]

I’m not kidding. Rasalhague history texts spend a lot of time on the Ronin Wars and talk about the only two mercenary companies to act honorably. Of which we were one, according to them.

What I will do is roll to see if there is any action every so often. Perhaps a raid or something will come to break the monotony.

Jan 3, 3043 - We are moved to a planet near the border, Holmsbu. They are having problems with pirates.

May 1, 3046 - We found no pirates during our stay on Holmsbu. The FRR would like to re-up our deal.

Let’s contract it:


What we paid to get there, get back, and during the contract:

9,431,460 - salary and upkeep for my peops


26,721,116 - Salary and bonus
1 mill support

Total Made: 18,289,656


Before I agree to more contracts, I need to know what else is going on in K&C world, so let’s rewind and meanwhile this thing.

[Abe Sargent]

Jun 10, 3042 - Contracts:

ComStar wants us for an Objective Raid somewhere. Probably the periphery.
Capellan Confederation wants us for Retainer.
An Independent World in the Periphery wants Pirate Hunting


Since we may not be getting any major contracts, I will probably consider good contracts that are far away. How much can this indy world afford, you know? Where and who?

Herotitus, a planet between the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat. We decide to send Delta Company.


Contract:


Transport: 50%
Salary: x2.7, x1.3, x1
Salvage: Full
Command: Independent
Length: 3 months
Remuneration: Yes
Support: 50% Straight Support
45% Bonus


Alright, Delta Company will arrive on Herotitus on Oct 30, 3042.

[Abe Sargent]

The other contract is an Objective Raid by ComStar. Their target is….Buenos Aires. A planet deep in the Capellan Confederation.


We send Aleph Company.

Contract:


Salvage: Full
Transport: Full
Command: Indy
Salary: x4, x1.6, x1.2
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Remuneration: No
Length: 1 month
20% Bonus


Aleph Company will arrive in Buenos Aires Sept 12, 3042.

[Abe Sargent]

July 1, 3042 -

Contracts:

Federated Commonwealth wants Garrison
Free Rasalhague Rep wants Pirate Hunting
FedCom wants Cadre/Garrison.


I send Phaeton Company to the Cadre/Garrison world - Smolnik. We can be there on Oct 8, 3045.


Contract:

Salvage: Full
Transport: 50%
Salary: x3.7, x1.3, x1.3
Length: 4 months
Remuneration: Nope
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Command: House
37.5% Bonus

[Abe Sargent]

I want to keep a mech company on Eridani these days, so Cinq will stay here until Defender returns.


Aleph Company - Arrive Sept 12, 3042
Phaeton Company - Arrive Oct 8, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Arrive Oct 30, 3042
Cinq Company -
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Due back Oct 28, 3042
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046


Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


I go ahead and do the Phaeton Company Contract.

We are not attacked. We will be back on May 28, 3043.

End of Phaeton’s Contract:

Just 1.2 mill made.



Phaeton Company is now Rating A.

[Abe Sargent]

Now just two contracts left. Aleph Objective Raid and Delta Pirate Hunting.


We will begin with Aleph’s Obj Raid on Buenos Aires.



ComStar is pissed off because crazy chick Romano Liao is so crazy that she has ordered the HPS station on Buenos Aires taken. Instead of causing an international incident, ComStar prefers that we hammer the small Liao guard.


Sept 15, 3042 - We land at Buenos Aires and meet several ComStar folks who give us an update on the situation. Warrior House Kamata has the planets around Betelgeuse, including Buenos Aires, and they captured the HPG station at the behest of House Liao. There are a company of Kamata mechs garrisoning the station, because neither Liao and Kamata except trouble this far into Capella space, and they are keeping away ComStar ships.

Hence, us. I know. Frankly, you could have totally foreseen that ComStar would hire mercenaries, but Romano Liao is crazy, not smart, and House Kamata is one of the weakest of Liao’s Warrior Houses.

Anyway, our goal is to send away the Kamata forces, and the ComGuard will attack us, and we will run before them. Then it doesn’t look like ComStar just hired someone to take it for them, nor does it appear as if they took it themselves. Obviously, it wouldn’t fool smart people, but it gives the veneer of deniability that is needed.


Our foes:

Vindicator
Cyclops
Locust
Raven
Hunchback
Rifleman
BattleMaster 1D
Cataphract 2X
Dervish
Firestarter
Urbanmech
Marauder 3L


All are veteran


Here is their Cataphract, a mech usually in the hold of Liao, and a recently introduced mech a few decades ago. It is a 70 ton heavy mech with a large laser, AC10, 2 medium lasers and SRM4 plus 4/6 movement and 13 tons of armor, which s just one ton shy of the maximum amount you could put on a 70 ton frame, so that’s good. I like them, and in fact, I once had a modified one as Braham’s own.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go



There are some trees, a small pond, a concrete center and a few buildings here.

We win init 9 to 6. We throw a lot of fire at their BattleMaster.

We lose init 10 to 12. More exchange of fire.

We win 6 to 4. I am keeping the middle my ground by having my lighter mechs hop around in and around and behind buildings. Meanwhile, I am bringing my anvil lance and a few hammer lance forces down the left flank while my other hammer lance forces stand under cover and fire, keeping their forces pinned. This is a perfect synergy of why you have all three units on your squad, instead of just fire support or just assault or just scout. One pins them, another assaults them, and a third corrals them - all have value. Our Striker destroys the RA of their BattleMaster. Our Awesome’s LRM15 hit the MG ammo on their BattleMaster and it ‘splodes. It’s engine fails and goes up and strips some armor from their Rifleman and Firestarter.

We win init 8 to 7. More weapons fire exchanged. They charged a few mechs into the middle to try and break my trap. Now they are exposed.

We win 10 to 7. I move our Striker, Champion and Warhammer next to their Hunchy. Their Cataphract destroys the RT of my Warhammer. Their Marauder hits its engine and gyro once each. Our ‘Hammer hit’s the AC20 ammo in their Hunchback and it lights up. Our Awesome’s LRM15 gets a Limb Blown off critical on their Cataphract’s RA. Our Hammer remains standing despite gyro hit.

We win 12 to 7. I move our Striker and Champion up to their Cataphract. Their Rifleman destroys our Warhammer’s CT. Our Stiker hit’s the SRM ammo on their Cataphract and it splodes. Our BM hit’s a pair of leg actuaotrs on their Cyclops. Our Hunchy destroys the RT of their Rifleman. Their Cyclops makes all three piloting skill rolls of 7 and remains standing. Wow. Our Hunchy kicks and hits an actuator on their Rifleman, so it falls and destroys its LL.

And with that, House Kamata calls an end. They agree to leave the HPG station. We agree to allow them to leave.



Salvage:

Hunchback LA, RT
Cataphract RA, LA, LL
Rifleman RA

Warhammer RA, H, LT, LA, LL, RL



We need about 15 tons of armor. Other than the Warhammer, we didn’t lose too much armor. Sucks that we lost a mech without getting one back, which is quite rare.


Five days later, the ComGuard “attacks” and after some weapons fire, we run and leave them the station. They use our attack as an excuse to increase their guard.

[Abe Sargent]

Sept 21, 3042 - Let’s settle up:

Salvage: Full
Transport: Full
Command: Indy
Salary: x4, x1.6, x1.2
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Remuneration: No
Length: 1 month
20% Bonus


We Spent:

150,000 - Armor
175,000 - ammo
415,770 - salary and upkeep


We Got:

429,926 - Salary + bonus
1.45 mill - 50% battle loss for armor and Warhammer


1,139,156 - Total Made


We will arrive back at Epsilon Eridani on Jan 15, 3043. We will move a Warhammer in the garrison to replace the destroyed one.

[Abe Sargent]

Aleph Company - Due Back Jan 15, 3043
Phaeton Company - Due Back May 28, 3043
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Arrive Oct 30, 3042
Cinq Company -
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Due back Oct 28, 3042
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


Now just Delta Pirate Hunting, left, so let’s do Delta’s Pirate Hunting



Oct 30, 3042 - Delta arrives at Herotitus and they inform Delta that they are raided about every two-three months by a new pirate group which has about a company of mechs, and they want us to hide out and wait for the pirate’s arrival. Our contract runs four months or until they arrive.

Feb 3, 3043 - A black JumpShip arrives in the Herotitus system and we are told they are the pirates. They usually hit the mining complex on the red hills, so we go and hide out here.

Feb 9, 3043 - The pirates arrive and begin to fight some corporate tanks and vehicles. While they are busy, we warm up our mechs, and then cut them off from their DropShip. Desperate, they charge Delta Company in order to break through and make it back to their vessel.


The Pirates:

Wasp x2
Marauder
Griffin
Phoenix Hawk
Catapult
Blackjack
Wolverine
Atlas
Javelin
UrbanMech
Goliath
Scorpion
Quickdraw





We are fighting by a coast.

This is their Quickdraw, a 60 ton heavy mech with good 5/8/5 movement, light armor (8 tons), an LRM10, SRM4 and 2 front facing medium lasers, with another two facing the rear, and 13 heat sinks. There are variants of the Q Draw I think are quite playable, but the main one is not one of them

[Abe Sargent]

We lose init. I am moving out a large unit right down the coastline in order to just end this. We have better mechs and better MechWarriors. Our BattleMaster hit’s the SRM 6 and PPC on their Scorpion, meaning it has no weapons left. It falls and hit’s a couple of leg actuators.

We lose init 5 to 8. Their Scorpion fails to stand. I move three mechs by it - BattleMaster, Banshee and Awesome. We concentrate all of our fire on their untouched Marauder. By the end of the turn, it has had its AC5 exploded and destroyed. Three kicks later from our assault mechs and the Scorpion is destroyed.

We win init 11 to 7. In two turns so far we have taken out two mechs, and not little jinky light mechs, but a Marauder and Scorpion. Our Awesome destroys the LA of their P Hawk. Our Awesome falls, which sucks, cause I had positioned it to kick a Wasp.

We lose init 4 to 5. We stand up our Awesome and move into some light woods. It’s not much cover, but its something. They surrounded our Awesome with four mechs - Griffin, Wasp, Quickshot, Catapult. Our Black Knight hits one of their Wasps in the head and nails its sensors. Their P Hawk falls. Our Banshee punches and destroys their Griffin’s RT. After being kicked three times and them missing a 5 on a kick, our Awesome has to try 5 pilotng rolls (3 kicks, 1 miss, 20+ damage) and fails on the last one.

We win 11 to 7. They literally put a mech on all six sides on the Awesome. Instead of playing around, I just eject the Awesome. Our Banshee destroys the LL of their Urbie. Our B Knight hit’s the Griffin’s engine. Our Jav gets a through armor critical on their Atlas and hit a leg actuator. Our BM destroys the CT of their Griffin. It catastrophically fails and there is a BOOM that deals a ton of damage to our mehc,s and also shreds their Wasp. Their Wasp is destroys, another kill for the BattleMaster. Then the Wasp’s engine also fails containment and it explodes too. Wow. Their P Hawk loses its LL. Their Atlas, Urbie, P Hawk and Q Draw all fall.

We lose 4 to 8. Several of their mechs fails to stand - Urbie, Wasp, P Hawk. Their Atlas and Q Draw do stand, however. I hop our Spider to where he can Punt the Atlas H. Our Banshee destroys their Q Draw’s RA and our BM it’s torso. Their Cat goes internal with a Medium Laser to our Hammer’s head. Their Cat then falls. Our Spider kicks…and his the Atlas in its CT rear armor. The Atlas reels and falls down.

We lose 8 to 9 . We only have two more rounds of LRM ammo in our Cat and then we’ll have to move forward. A bunch of their mechs are savaged, I just need to finish them off. Expect this round to be We Kill Many Injured Mechs Round. Our Jav with a chance to Punt the Atlas. Our Crusader destroys the LL on their Wasp. Our B Knight hits their Atlas’s AC20. Their Wasp and Q Draw both fall. Our Banshee punches and destroys the CT of their Q Draw. It’s engine explodes, and it destroys the Wasps’ CT. Then the explosion hit’s the ammo on their P Hawk and boom! Three kills in one punch. Then the Phoenix Hawk’s engine explodes (I am not making this up). It deals 27 damage to our Javelin, which is destroyed. Then the P Hawk hits their Wolverine’s AC ammo and it explodes too. 4 kill on them and 1 on me in one punch. Our Crusader, their Cat and their Blackjack all fall.


And with that, they surrender. Wow.





Salvage:

Marauder LA
Scorpion H, LT, both Left Legs, both Right Legs.
Griffin RA, RL, LL, H, LT, LA
Wasp Hx2, RT, RAx2, LTx2, LA, LL, RL
Quickdraw H, RL, LL
Phoenix Hawk RA, RL
Wolverine LL




Once we get back, I assign a Phoenix Hawk from our garrison to replace the destroyed Javelin.


Two pilots leveled up:

Lt Miguel Juarez, in the Banshee, gets another edge.
Cristina Fernandez, in the BattleMaster, lowers her piloting and is now a 2/2 pilot.


We need about 45 tons of armor after that.

[Abe Sargent]

The surrendered mechs still operational are turned over to Herotitus, who could really use them.


We get ready to settle up:


We Pay:

636,408 salary and upkeep
450,000 armor
200,000 ammo
1.85 mill transport


We get:

925,000 Transport
684,883 Salary + Remuneration + Bonus
40,000 - Support



Again, no salvaged mechs, just pieces.

We arrive back on July 29, 3043.

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, let’s rewind. Back to Epsilon Eridani



November 1, 3042 - Defender Company got back a few days ago and I can send either Cinq or Defender out on a contract.

Let’s see what is out there.


Corporation wants Garrison
Capella wants Garrison
Capella wants Cadre/Garrison
Taurian Concordat wants Garrison

Wow, not a lot of versatility there. We decide to send Cinq to the Cadre/Garrison contract. Where to?

Carmen.


Let’s go ahead and do it.


Contract:

Length: 6 months
Transport: 50%
Salary: x3.7, x1.3, x1.2
Command: House
Remuneration: Nope
Support: 50% Battle-Loss
Salvage: Full
17.5% Bonus


Before they Leave, Ted orders them, and all other units to turn in their spares parts to the garrison, because no one is using them.


Feb 27, 3043 - We arrive on Carmen. There is a militia here that needs some training, but the governor recently had a falling out with the local Warrior House, so we are hired to give the boys in green some training.

Sept 1, 3043 - No one attacked Carmen, which would be tough this far inside the Confederation, and our training is complete.


We made around 200k.

We arrive back at Epsilon Eridani on Dec 15, 3043.

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 1, 3042 - 6 more graduates from the Essex Academy, but we will put them in the garrison force until we get enough for another company.

Meet:

Ralili Museveni, regular
Carlotta Rios, regular
Giselle Bateaux, green
Lanica Dresdin, veteran
Tomoyo Shimizu, regular
Taheera Mahmoud, green

(I roll 1d6, on a 1 or 2 they were green, 3-5 regular, 6 veteran, just one veteran per class allowed, that’s our bright shining star)


Dec 18, 3042 - We honor the Fall of Andurien


Jan 1, 3043 - 11 enrollees into the Essex Training Academy. Wow, that’s a lot:

Current Class:

3rd Year: 8
2nd Year: 7
1st Year 11


The Academy’s fees almost pay for themselves now. We have invested well over 100 million into it.



Feb 1, 3043 - Aleph Company returned last week, so we can send out Defender whenever we want. Contracts:

Corporation wants Garrison
St. Ives Compact wants Retainer
Federated Commonwealth wants Objective Raid against….Outworlds Alliance.

That’s way too far away. Wait, I can’t do that anymore. I gotta take combat where I can.




Aleph Company -
Phaeton Company - Due Back May 28, 3043
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Back on July 29, 3043
Cinq Company - Back on Dec 15, 3043
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company -
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.

We will send Defender Company to Lushann. With so much of the FedSuns military oriented towards the Draconis Combine and Capellan Confederation, Duke Sandoval wants to raid Lushann Industrials Limited, one of the weaponry factories in the Outworlds Alliance. By having a raid or two, the Duke expects that the Alliance will not be tempted to use the FedSuns distraction against them. We are to land on planet, see if the defense allows us to raid the Lushann plant, if not hit whatever targets we can quickly, then dust off. They don’t want any of the salvage or supplies, they just want to take the Outworlds Alliance off guard.


Contract:

Salvage: Full
Command: Liaison
Remuneration: Nope
Transport: 50%
Support: Battle Loss 50%
Salary: x3.7, x1.6, x1.4
Length: 1 month
17.5% bonus

Defender company arrives in Aug 13, 3043.

[Abe Sargent]

Aug 13, 3043 - We arrive on Lushann. Capt. Matthew Humphries and his Defenders begin to look for opportunities. A quick scout of the Lushann Ind. Lim. shows that there are way too many defenders for a simple company of mechs. Around a battalion of tanks, plus infantry and a company of mechs. That’s too hard.

Aug 24, 3043 - We find a perfect target of opportunity. There is a Lushann Storage facility about 120 klicks southeast of their main factory. There are just a company of mechs there, and that’s it. It doesn’t even look like there are tanks or anything there.

Time to mount up and ride out.

Aug 25, 3043 - Our DropShip arrives and we disembark about ten klicks from the facility. Seeing us on their radar, they warm up and move towards us to keep the fight away from the storage facility. I’m sure they radioed for help too.

At the end of round ten, if we have not won, we must surrender and surrender any salvage as well. Otherwise, the enemy will close and destroy us. If we finish early, we can grab the salvage and pieces with my mechs with hands, load them up, and blast off.



Our Foes:

Phoenix Hawk
Charger
Locust
Archer
Stinger
Cyclops
Warhammer
Shadow Hawk
Victor
Enforcer
Griffin
Jenner

Looks like they got one mech each from the Fed Suns and Drac Combine in the Enforcer and Jenner at some point in time. The pilots are regular, with a handful of greens and a vet in the Cyclops.


We are fighting in an industrial area a bit away from the storage facility.

This is their Cyclops. It is an underwhelming assault mech of 90 tons, with an AC20, LRM10, 2 medium lasers and an SRM4. It only has 10 armor on each arm, 17 on each leg, etc. It’s not a good mech. The weapons are okay, although they resemble the kind you might expect on a mech 10-15 tons lighter, and the armor is what you would expect on a mech 25 -30 tons lighter and the speed is on a mech about 20 tons lighter, so it is underwhelming. Still, leave it alone on a battlefield at your own danger because an AC20 backed by SRM, LRM and lasers can kill mechs.

[Abe Sargent]

We lose init 4 to 10. Because we have to win quickly, I am pushing my mechs forward. We target their Archer and they target my Warhammer and both go a bit rocking.

We lose 6 to 9. Their Enforcer jumps on top of a building, it collapses, and it falls, and the pilot blacks out. Idiot. To be fair, we hopped a Firestarter on top of a building. We hop out Jav behind their Griffin’s rear on top of a building.

We lose 7 to 8. Enforcer still asleep. Our Whitworth destroys the RL and RA of their Stinger. Our B Master destroys the RA of their Archer and then hits one of its LRM20s. Our Hunchback destroys its RT and hits its gyro twice, killing the Archer. Their Cyclops falls and takes some damage. Their Enforcer pilot wakens.

We lose 6 to 7. Their Cyclops AC20 hits our Orion in he head and destroys it, killing the pilot. Our Hunchy hit’s the LRM ammo on the Cyclops and it lights up.

We win 10 to 9. Just an exchange of fire

We lose 8 to 9. I order our G Hopper to charge their Enforcer. There is a building right behind him, so if he survives, he gets blasted into a building. Our Hunchy misses a 4 on his AC20. Their Locust survives. The Grasshopper hits, and here is why I wanted to do this. Their pilot takes even more damage than before, the mehcs falls, and he needs to avoid an 11 to not fall unconscious. He rolls a 12 so he stays awake, but I think you’ll agree that was totally worth doing.

They retreat and we let them. We take the salvage and leave.

Salvage:

Archer missing RT, RA with one engine and three gyro hits
Cyclops LA ,LL, RT


Repair:

Orion needs H


In three missions, Defender Company has gone from 14 MechWarriors to 11. There are rumors they are cursed.

Contract:


After we fix the Orion, we lose 1,535,603


They will arrive back at Epsilon Eridani February 13, 3044. They stop at Outreach and recruit: Shen Yu, elite.

[Abe Sargent]

March 1, 3043: We pay 17,670,000 in order to fix up a bunch of salvaged mechs we stored in our garrison years and years ago but never fixed up. Here are the mechs we add to our garrison:

Commando
Banshee
Stalker
Locust
Flea
Wasp
Cicada
Spider
Stinger
Archer
Awesome


That means we now have 55 mechs in our garrison, and we have 9 MechWarriors using those mechs.


One of the things that Ted wants to start doing is having our techs build mechs. He invests 10 million into a state of the art workshop, better than what we already had. We have all of these mech parts we got from a ton of salvage, so what he wants to do is see what we can assemble with these parts.

For example:

We have:

Locust Head, Left Torso, Right Torso, Left Arm, Right Arm, Stinger Left Leg. If we wanted to build our own 20 ton mech, we would only have to buy weapons, right leg, engine and gyro.

Let’s do it as our first homegrown mech, experimentally.


Our name for this mech is the Comet, CMT-1:


20 tons
5/8/5
4 tons of armor
2 Medium Lasers
5 Small Lasers

Some heat sinks in the legs, so if it stands in water double dispersion; lasers all in torsos, etc.

It will take us 4 months to get this ready. How much does it cost? Since we have a lot of parts already, not that much:

100 engine: 133,335 C Bills
300,000: Gyro
135,000: Lasers
150,000: Internal Structure and armor for leg and CT.

Total: 718,335

We pay it. Comet will be ready in July. Why is this mech good? You are harder to hit the more hexes you move. Once you move 5, you are +2 to be hit, and once you move 7, you are +3 to hit. You are also +1 to hit when you jump. A jumping mech that hops 5 is +3 to hit, whereas a mech that moved it on the ground is at +2 to hit. There is no mathematical difference between moving five and moving six. You can jump 5 or 6, either way its +3 to be hit. The 20 ton mechs that jump move 6/9/6, and that means they are spending a half ton on the 6th jump jet, and tonnage to the bigger engine. By going to 5/8/5, my mech can pack 4.5 tons to spend on weapons, while still having 4 tons of armor - virtually maximum. Because I don’t want to be afraid of ammo explosions on such a light mech, I knew I wanted just energy weapons. Meanwhile, I also knew I wanted to stay away from heat problems, and use tonnage on heat sinks. One possible configuration I was looking at was 4 medium lasers and one small laser, but jumping and firing all of that would be a ton of heat. Instead, I decided to go with the 5 small lasers and two mediums. It has good medium range weaponry for its weight, comparable to a Mercury’s two medium lasers and better than Wasp’s ML and SRM2. Then, when I jump in close and outflank someone, I have five small lasers. Even if I jump 5 and unload all 7 energy weapons into my foe, I still make 16 heat, which is a bit of an alpha strike, but okay. It also increases significantly my ability to seek out and find vulnerable rear armor and holes in armor, and its damage ability actually increases. Two small lasers weight the same as one medium laser, and two 3 twice, instead of 5 once. Not a big deal on other mechs, but it means I can dole out 25 damage from my weapons if they all hit, plus my hands are free for punching. It’s not bad at all, and I just designed it, so I want to see how it performs.

[Abe Sargent]

June 1, 3043 - Phaeton Company is now back, We take its items as per Ted’s request.


Aleph Company -
Phaeton Company -
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Back on July 29, 3043
Cinq Company - Back on Dec 15, 3043
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Back on February 13, 3044
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


Let’s do some contracts for Aleph Company.

St. Ives Company wants us for Garrison
Capella wants us for Objective Raid on Fed Com. Nope, can’t take this.
Capella wants us for garrison.


Wow, a very Liao flavored month there. Plus, nope on all three counts


July 1, 3043 - How about more contracts:

St. Ives Compact: Security
FedCom: Relief
ComStar: Objective Raid on Capellan Confederation
FedCom: Pirate Hunting
St. Ives: Cadre/Garrison

I send out Aleph company to the St. Ives Compact




We arrive on Oct 15, 3043. Ends April 15, 3044. We arrive back on July 21, 3044. No fighting while we are there. Let’s do money:

2,130,660 - what we made

[Abe Sargent]

Aug 1, 3043: Delta Company just got back.


Contracts?

Free Worlds League: Garrison
Free Rasalhague Republic: Garrison

Suck. Boring 3040s.




Aleph Company - Back on July 21, 3044
Phaeton Company -
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company -
Cinq Company - Back on Dec 15, 3043
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Back on February 13, 3044
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


Sept 1, 3043 -


Independent Planet in Periphery: Planetary Assault
Free Worlds League: Obj Raid on…Fed Suns. Damn it, I have to decline.
Corporation: Cadre/Garrison
Corporation: Garrison


Well. Might as well do a contract.

Phaeton is send to…

Ambergrist in the St. Ives Compact.

We arrive on Dec 16, 3043. Arrive back Aug 30, 3044

Any combat?? Let me roll. Nope.

Money?

1,337,625 made

[Abe Sargent]

Oct 1, 3043:

Aleph Company - Back on July 21, 3044
Phaeton Company - Arrive back Aug 30, 3044
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company -
Cinq Company - Back on Dec 15, 3043
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Back on February 13, 3044
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.



Let’s see if we can get enough parts for another mech.


I have these pieces: Atlas, H, RT, LT, RL, LL, RA, LA

Let’s just build an Atlas from it. Nothing special, your normal Atlas will be fine.

Cost to do this:


900,000 Gyro
2 mill - engine
500k - CT Structure and armor

3.4 mill total. We pay it and will have an Atlas up and running in just 2 months. (A 300 engine is easier to find, and we are following established blueprints).

[Abe Sargent]

December 1, 3043: What’s next? Any mechs ready to be built? What do we have?

We got extra Wasp parts from a more recent company, and we are able to build another Comet.

3 months this time, because we know how to make them. We just need 675k, because we had the leg.


We just got 8 more MechWarriors from the Essex Academy. Meet:

Niklas Klaus, green
Damon Jones, veteran
Mitch Raymond, regular
T’Kelah Oronko, green
Waheed Umbria, regular
Bayarmaa Borjigan, green
Rosario Jiminez, regular
Marian Johnson, regular




December 18, 3043 - All of the Kilts and Commandoes honor the Fall of Andurien

Jan 1, 3044 - We get a new class of 7 at Essex.

3rd Year: 7
2nd Year: 11
1st Year: 7

[Abe Sargent]

Tethys Company (According to Hesiod, the Eridanus River was the offspring of Tethys)



Lt. Samia Oudghiri, regular, BattleMaster
Mitch Raymond, regular, Thunderbolt
Rosario Jiminez, regular, Hunchback
Carlotta Rios, regular, Atlas


Sgt. Damon Jones, veteran, Archer
Waheed Umbria, regular, JagerMech JM6-A (with the 2x LRM 15s)
Tomoyo Shimizu, regular, Griffin
Stacey Stowers, regular, Striker


Sgt. Lanica Dresdin, veteran, Comet
Marian Johnson, regular, Spider
Ralili Museveni, regular, Cicada
Bayarmaa Borjigan, green, Locust 1E



Samia has been with us for a long time, and was one of a few people permanently stationed on Epsilon
Eridani, but now she is taking the lead of our newest company. I really like most of the mechs here. Replace the JagerMech with a similar but better Catapult, The Cicada with a Javelin 10F, and the Striker with a heavier more powerful assault mech, like an Awesome, and the company would be close to ideal. I wanted to give it good mechs because of all of my mech companies, this is the one most missing experience. Just two vets, one green, and 9 regulars. It needs battle experience, but instead we are going to keep it on Epsilon Eridani for a while, training the folks much like Ted did with everybody back in 3037-3038. The hope is that people will grow a bit, and then I don’t have to keep back a fighting mech company all of the time.

[Abe Sargent]

Jan 2, 3044: Here is our current status of companies. As you can see, I currently have three here, but I’m okay with sending Delta and Cinq back out.



Aleph Company - Back on July 21, 3044
Phaeton Company - Arrive back Aug 30, 3044
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company -
Cinq Company -
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Back on February 13, 3044
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company -

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


Before we do that, Ted has a trip to make.


Jan 14, - Ted arrives on Outreach for some recruiting. We can’t have a bunch of regular or green companies, and he prefers we create companies more like Heliades with elites and regulars working side by side.


Jan 21, 3044:

Ted recruits two disposed MW’s a month, no matter, what I roll, and they are guaranteed elite, no matter what I roll. So, let’s just get a few recruits. (It is allowed by the game, but I don’t want to mine this elite MechWarrior mine too much)

March 30, 3044 - Ted arrives back home with 6 new elite recruits.

Engracia Diaz
Colette Maigny
Marcus Bochelli
Kate Mallery
Randa Kanagarajah
Talib Shadi

Talib is showing some nice leadership skills, so he is promoted to Sergeant for now as a member of our garrison. My guess is I will hand him the Lt post for the next company.

[Abe Sargent]

Ted Izumo creates three awards for members of the Kilts and Commandos Company. He will not retroactively give these out, but they are truly missing:


Tartan Badge - The highest honor was can bestow, given for severe courage, bravery and ability to overcome all odds.

Black Badge - The middle honor we can bestow. If someone with a Red Badge does another act of bravery, then this is awarded. Further acts will not get the Tartan Badge. The Black Badge can also be awarded without first giving out the Red Badge for acts beyond a normal Red Badge:

Red Badge - Given to show dedication, skill, or an act of courage beyond the call of duty. The lowest of the three awards.


Our organizational chart:

However, any Captain or above has field command over anybody they are with. So, if Trinity and Cinq are sent on a mission, Capt. Jason Thomas has field command over Cinq. Similarly, Ted is the XO of the unit, so although he is a Captain, he can tell Jason Thomas and Matthew Humphries what to do.


Colonel Braham Essex:

Aleph, Phaeton and Tyhon Companies

Captain Jason Thomas:

Trinity, Heliades and Hex Companies



Captain Matthew Humphries:

Delta, Defender, Cinq


Captain Ted Izumo:

Tethys, Garrison units, Vehicle

[Abe Sargent]

EVENT: April 1, 3044 - The Capellan Confederation has perfected Triple-Strength Myomer. This experimental myomer was initially researched by Davion in the early 3000’s, before they let the Capellan Confederation steal it, thinking it worked. It reacted violently to a certain mixture of gases that House Davion used against them in the Fourth Succession War. When a mech goes overheat by a certain amount, instead of its speed decreasing, it increases, and it does a lot more damage in physical attacks. So, for example, a mech with 5/8 movement normally would become 6/9 and they would overheat. It takes up six critical slots worth of internal space and it is quite costly. It will be a while before the CC has TSM, because it has a stigma, but it is now developed.

[Abe Sargent]

April 2, 3044 - Tethys, Defender, Delta and Cinq are all here. Let’s do some contracts for my peops:

FedCom: Obj Raid - target: Capellan Confederation
Drac: Obj Raid on Fed Com - Nope
FedCom: Cadre
Corporation - Garrison
Small Periphery Realm: Garrison

Let’s look at the Fed Com target.

We are to hit Castrovia, a minor Cap world in the heart of their realm. It is a system about which nothing has ever been written ever. It is so boring here, that the defense is very weak, while the Caps push their units to the borders with Marik and the Fed Com and the St Ives Compact AND the periphery. 9 jumps away.

Let’s send in Delta.

Delta in Castrovia.

Salvage: Full
Salary: x3.7, 1.6, 1.4
Remuneration: Nope
Transport: 50%
Support: Battle Loss 50%
Command: Liaison
Length: 1 month
25% Bonus

Delta will arrive on July 15, 3044.

Since the Cadre contract involves no attacking at all, Ted changes his mind and sends out Tethys on it, so they can get some experience.


Target: Shipka, six jumps away.


Tethys will arrive for a Cadre contract on June 19.



Let’s finish up Tethys right now.

Cadre Contract:

3 months, back on November 1, 3044. They lost a bit of money, but it was worth it to get an official contract under their belt.


Aleph Company - Back on July 21, 3044
Phaeton Company - Arrive back Aug 30, 3044
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Arrive July 15, 3044
Cinq Company -
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company -
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company - Back on Nov 1, 3044

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


Let’s do Delta’s contract now.

[Abe Sargent]

July 15, 3044 - We arrive on Castrovia. Our liaison meets us on planet and this is where the situation is explained. There are no house troops on Castrovia. No Warrior House, and no Liao troops. The only troops are some militia of no consequence. However, recently a mercenary company has taken a contract from the planetary Baron to garrison this planet. The mercs actually were on contract with the Federated Commonwealth, but they fled and stole some materiel in a contract dispute, and Davion wanted a company sized unit to teach them a lesson, and if possible, end their existence. Due to our success in company on company battles, our name came up, and we were sought for this task.

A simple goal. Find the mercs, named Marc’s Machetes, and take them out. They are garrisoning one of the few DropPorts on the world. The very one we are at. Our task it to attack, destroy, grab salvage, and dust off.

July 17, 3044 - We scout around for a couple of days. We want to hit Marc’s Machetes but not the regular militia units here for the Caps. Also want them all at once. We discover that they meet up near the DropPost itself twice a day for flag raising and lowering of their unit’s flag. That is when they will hit them.

Taking our Marc’s Machetes has not military value for the FedCom, it’s totally a vengeance thing, but as a merc, I have to admit that I am totally okay with it.

July 18, 3044 - Early in the morning hours, we drop our mechs out of our DropShip. It is a few minutes before anyone notice a dozen extra mechs in the streets, because we painted our mechs with the color and standard of the Machetes, so we do not stand out. The Machetes have only been here for a short while, and their mechs and configurations are not well known. When we are noticed, no one thinks anything is awry, and we enter the cleared out wide open tarmac like area that has the flag post and the Machetes. Suddenly, they turn around and see us. I think they are mad.

Our foes:

Atlas
Warhammer
UrbanMech
Hunchback
Vulcan
Commando 1D (With Large Laser and SRM6 and low armor)
Banshee
Blackjack
Awesome
Merlin
Hermes II
Ostroc


Their Atlas is elite and a few of their other pilots are veteran, the rest regular.

There is a large lake to one side, and the rest is coast with a small hill.

Here is the Ostroc, a less common Star League mech with lower tech. It features an SRM4, 2 large lasers and 2 medium lasers. 15 heats sinks, 5/8 60 ton mech, no weapons in the arms but low armor there too. It’s not bad, but not great.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go!

We lose init 2 to 4. Our Banshee takes off the Commando’s RA. Their Atlas needs a 10 to hit our Spider with its AC20, rolls a 12, an destroys its RA> Our Warhammer takes the RT of their Commando.

We lose init 6 to 7. I move our Battlemaster to a place where we can punt the head. They exposes their Hermes II in order to risk a punt on my Dragon;s head. Our Crusader blows off the Rl and tehn destroys the CT of their Commando. Their Warhammer gets a through armor critical on our BM and hit’s a leg actuator, but it manages to keep standing. Our BM kicks and hits he Blackjack add…deals 17 to its RA. That could have really crunched it elsewhere. Their Hermes II misses my Dragon’


We lose 3 to 7. Our Banshee takes the RA of their Hunchback. Our Crusader nails the AC5 on their Hermes II. Our Black Knight hit’s the AC ammo on their Urbie and it goes up. Their Hermes II and Hunchy both fall. For the third consecutive turn, our BM takes 20+ damage and does not fall, despite leg actuator damage. Our Banshee tries to punt the Blackjack head and instead destroys its RT and hits its engine twice. The Blackjack goes severely overheat and manages to avoid an ammo explosion and shutdown.

We finally win init 10 to 5. Their Hermes II and Hunchy stand. Our Awesome lances a PPC into the Hunchbakc’s LA and destroys it. Their Ostroc gets a through armor critical on our Black Knight and hit’s a foot actuator. Our Crusader destroys the Blackjack;’s CT. Ou rBlack Knight nails the AC20 on their Hunchy. It falls and our B Knight does not.

We win init 9 to 7. Our Crusader destroys their Hunchback’s ammo and it goes up. Our Hermes II destroys the RA and RT of their Hermes II

We lose 4 to 10. We hop our Wasp into a swquare where it can play Punt the Awesome. We accidentally set one of their woods on fire last turn, and this is eh pace, so there is fire and smoke and woods protecting the Wasp, plus it natural 6 movment jumping. Our Warhammer takes out their Hermes II Left Arm. Just some weapons fire exchanged and our Wasp misses the kick opportunity.

We lose 9 to 10. Our BattleMaster and Banshee have both taken some serious damage but not lost any limbs. For example, the BM has just one internal point left in its RA. I want to limit their exposure, so I am leaving the Awesome out as a target and pulling back other mechs. I also expose our Warhammer, just in case they want more targets. They hit our Warhammer’s head twice with missiles. That could be dangerous later. Our Hermes II hit’s the AC5 ammo on theirs and it explodes.

We win 9 to 8. Their Awesome, whom we’ve been wailing on backs into the heavy smoke. I hop a P Hawk and Wasp by it, but we turn our fire on their Ostroc. Our Awesome destroys the LT of their Awesome, Our Black Knight’s large laser hit their Ostroc’s H, and nails the life support, and their pilot blacks out. Their Awsome falls and hit’s a PPC in their RT while their Ostroc falls with a KO’d pilot.

We lose init 5 to 7. Thier Awesome rises. I moe my P Hawk to Punt. Our Hammer destroys the Merlins RA and our B Knight its RT and our Dragon its LT. Our P Hawk kicks and destroys the Awesom’s CT> Their Awesome punches and destroys its LL however. It falls and Maria Santos blacks out.

With their Awesome dead, their Ostroc savaged and ko’d, their Merlin denuded, they have left a crappy Vulcan, Warhammer, Atlas and Banshee left, so they run from the battlefield and we let them.



Salvage:

Commando 1D RL, LL, LT, LA, H
UrbanMech RA, LL
Blackjack RA, LT, H, LA, LL, RL
Hunchback H, RL
Awesome LA, RT, RA, H, LL, RL
Merlin LA
Ostroc


Repair: Spider RA, P Hawk LL

Khalid Hussein, the Hermes II pilot, gets his 4th kill and is now elite.

[Abe Sargent]

End of Contract:


We pay:

450k transport after 50% weighed in
150k armor after 50% weighed in
381,822 - salary and upkeep
425k - to repair P Hawk and Spider after 50% taken out
175k - ammo


We get:

346,852 - Salary and bonus


We lost: 1,234,970

We also gained a lot of mech parts and an Ostroc. Not bad at all. I like contracts where I gain materiel and Delta Company’s personal war chest can absorb that amount easily.


Delta Company returns on Nov 2, 3044.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s rewind.


May 1, 3044 - The Comet is done. What parts do we have for another mech making scheme?

I find another set of parts, H, LT, RT, LA, LA, RL and LL of Locust, Wasp and Stinger parts and we will make a third Comet.

Contracts:

Dracs: Pirate Hunting
Free RR: Security
Dracs: Obj Raid on…Fed Com
FedCom: O Raid on…Caps again?
Corporation for garrison


Several contracts to look into. No to 2, 3, and 5. 1 and 4, however, are possible.

The Fed Com wants to hit Repulse, which is waaaay away from us, on the rim of the periphery. What would the Fed Com want to hit there?

The Drac contract is a private one of the side from a Duke having pirate problem and he wants to keep his own troops home while we go hunting. Alright. Who to send?

How about Cinq.


Cinq Company’s Contract to smash Pirates:

Salvage: Full
Salary: x3.7, 1.2, 1.2
Command: Indy
Remuneration: Yes
Length: 3 months
Support: Battle Loss 50%
Transport: 25%
5% Salary Bonus


We arrive on Suianheer on Sept 19, 3044.


I’ll keep Defender company here for now, just in case.



Aleph Company - Back on July 21, 3044
Phaeton Company - Arrive back Aug 30, 3044
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Returns Nov 2, 3044
Cinq Company - Arrives Sept 19, 3044
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company -
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company - Back on Nov 1, 3044

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.

[Abe Sargent]

May 17, 3044 - We are alerted to the presence of tanks of an unknown nature racing towards Kressly Warworks. We order our current garrison forces three, tanks, to hold, while Ted orders Defender Company to go smash.

30 minutes later, the tank forces run away. However, a company of unknown mechs appears on our screen and it is about to hit our complex. Ted had already placed some MechWarriors on alerts, and now he moves out with all unassigned MechWarriors.

Here are our troops for this battle alone:

Ted Izumo, elite+, Stalker

We have ten other MW. I’m assigning the following mechs:

Orion
Warhammer
Awesome
Comet
Thunderbolt
Merlin
Battlemaster
Charger 1A1
Commando
Striker

We go heavy since we hold the defensive ground and we don’t have many good scout units.

Green pilots in Commando, Striker, Charger and Merlin.

Elites everywhere else.


Raiders:

Victor
Centurion
Dervish
Jenner
Locust 1E
Griffin
Goliath
Grasshopper
Enforcer
Phoenix Hawk
Marauder 5R (with 24 heat sinks, three large lasers, 2 mediums)
low-tech Thug


There are, generally, some good mechs here. Yeah, the Goliath and Grasshopper might be a bit underwhelming, but they have serviceable weapons. The Marauder, Thug, Enforcer, P Hawk, Griffin, Centurion, Victor, Jenner, Dervish are all solid mechs. The Locust 1E is the best variant of the Locust, easily (two medium lasers, 2 lights). Not a bad force at all. All veteran, by the way.


They have 12 mechs, all vet. We have 11 mechs with 4 green and 7 elite. The BV is almost dead even. This may be a battle we lose, badly.

Ted has ordered the cadets to assemble in mechs, so if he needs too, he can order them out of the complex and to whatever we need. They are all considered green or worse.


Here is their Thug. Popular during the Star League, this 80 ton assault mech has two PPCs and 2 SRM4s, with 19 heat sinks, 4/6 movement and almost max armor. It’s not a bad mech at all.

[Abe Sargent]

We are in the middle of a small plateau. They are all around us.

We lose init 7 to 10. They start in three of the four corners. That gives me an angle to turn my back too - not smart. I move our Warhammer to where it can punt their P Hawk. Comet jumps to Punt a Jenner. Their Thug and my Hammer both fall after taking some damage. That sucks cause now my hammer can’t kick. Our Stalker misses a kick 5 on their Dervish, Our Comet only connects with the Jenner’s CT. Not a good turn for us.

We win 8 to 4. Our Hammer took a lot of damage last turn. Wow. Looks like he lot half of his armor. Our Striker in their Grasshopper’s rear. Charger in Goliath rear. We stand up the Warhammer. T Bolt Punt P Hawk. Orion with a MAD punt chance. Let’s hope, with two punt chances and two rear attack chances that some goes down this turn. Their Thug arises. Our Stalker destroys the LA on their Jenner. Their MAD hit’s a leg actuator on our ’Hammer. The Dervish hit’s a foot. Our Charger falls but our Wahmmer manages to keep upright. Our Orion kicks and destroys the RT of their Marauder. Our T Bolt kicks the CT of their P Hawk and this a gyro and engine each onc.e It falls and their pilot blacks out. Again, I miss good kicks like the Battlemaster missing a 4 and our Stalker getting a glacing blow with a 3.

We lose init 4 to 5. We eject our Hammer since it can barely move and it is red everywhere but its head and internal in FIVE locations. It disturbs me that they were able to so effectively take out a good mech like that so quickly, but they are better able to triangulate their fire than I can. Commando in the Centurion’s rear. Merlin in the Locust’s. We stand the Charger up and move it behind their Griffin. Striker two spaces behind their Enforcer. I leave my T Bolt behind to solo the wounded MAD while my Orion is ordered to move to the group of mechs around the Charger and Striker. I am also hopping my Comet over to help. Our Awesome hits the hip and lower leg on their Thug. Our BattleMAster hit’s a foot on their Centurion. Our Charger and their Thug fall. Our T Bolt kicks and hits their MAD’s gyro. It remains standing. Their P Hawk pilot awakens.

We win 10 to 2. Their P Hawk stands. Their Marauder falls. We have to eject the Charger. Like our Warhammer, it was also savaged. Comet behind Dervish. Our Stalker carves off the LL on their Jenner. Their Jenner, Centurion and Thug all fall, and their Thug destroys its LA. Ted kicks and destroys the Jenner. Our Striker misses a kick and falls.

We win init 11 to 3. They stand up their Thug and Centurion. Our Striker fails to stand after failing to roll a 6 three times. Ouch. Their Victor hit’s a foot on my Awesome. Ted hits LRM10 and PPC on their Goliath. Our Awesoem find the Thugs’s SRM ammo and it goes up. The pilot of the Awesome is Marcus Bochelli. Our T Bolt destroys the RT of their Locust, and then hits its gyro once. Our Awesome tumbles. Their Victor kicks and destroys our Awesome’s RT> Their Centurion destroys our Commando’s RA. Our Comet kicks their Dervish’s H, but it doesn’t go internal.

We win 9 to 2. I am forced to eject our Awesome. Our Striker stands. Orion behind their G Hopper. Comet behind their Griffin. Their MAD tries to stand, falls, and destroys its gyro. Dead MAD. Their Victor hits our Commando’s hip. It falls. This is crazy. You cannot believe how many attacks I have plugged into their Goliath, P Hawk, Centurion, and all of these guys are not dying. I am rolling incredibly unlucky on my to hit rolls and damage is getting really spread out. We kick the Enforer, it falls and edstroys its LL. Despite numerous chane to punch heads, open rear critical areas, and almost destroyed legs - not a single one hit.

With that, Ted calls us off. This is the first time forever that we have actually lost on the field of battle. Their remaining mehc move on towards our complex.






Salvage:

MAD 5R 2 gyro hits, 1 engine hit, missing RT,
Jenner missing RT, LL missing engine, gyro fixed
Locust RA.

Repair.

Awesome RT
Commando RA

Ted Izumo now has tactical genius.



About 60 tons of armor because they savaged us so badly. I mean, this wasn;t even close.

[Abe Sargent]

Price:

2.6 mill to fix and repair and rearm everyone, including the salvage.


Ted summons the cadets. They are in every mech that isn’t rare or LosTech - 19 mechs are rolling towards the forces we just hammered. They don’t know these are green or worse pilots, so they decide to retreat.


In the Jenner cockpit we find some information about the BattleMaster 2C. It appears they were sent to get it. I don’t know by who:

Corporation - Wants a highly valuable commodity that is more portable than ore.
Think Tank - Wants it to have for research
Rival Merc Company - Score to settle
House Kurita, Liao, Marik - For the materiel, or for research
Another Academy - Wants it for teaching theirs

All of these make sense. They failed, but they beat us, and Ted is not pleased.

[Abe Sargent]

May 21, 3044: Ted files the following analysis of battle:


The mechs we chose were not the reason we lost. We had four real assaults and another assault subbing for a scout mech. We had some seriously good heavy mechs in Thunderbolt, Orion and Warhammer. The Commando sports a powerful weapon’s suite and the Comet was solid. The Merlin was okay. The mechs chosen were not the issue.

Neither was us being down by one mech. We are a merc group that specializes in company v company combat, and rarely loses. We regularly fight against superior numbers and 11 v 12 was not significant.

Neither was the experience level of the pilots the issue. Despite having four green pilots, we had seven elites. Those elites were in the best seven mechs we had, limiting the pain of the 4 green pilots. Seven elites should have really ruled.


What was the cause of our loss? Ted contributes it to the following:

1). The beginning formation of beginning in the middle allowed them to concentrate fire on our mechs, but left us unable to do so unless we exposed our rear.

2). Their company, although not particularly experienced or heavy, was a well suited company. 3 assaults, 2 heavies, 5 mediums, 2 lights. This is not a very heavy company. However, the mechs were well suited to each other. There was a good assortment of scouts, harassers, long range combatants and up close mechs. They used each well.

3). The area we fought in was not conducive to our mechs. Sure, we’ve won in lots of places, but there are some types of terrain we are better in fighting than others. This map had only a handful of trees and none in good fighting areas. The slopes were just enough to prevent moving about quickly while low enough to allow long range sniping. The result was a bad map.


As such, the combination of formation, a well rounded opponent and a poor terrain for defense led us to lose.

[Abe Sargent]

June 1, 3044 - No longer content with the loss, Ted decides to spend $$ to upgrade our garrison mechs with existing variants that will cost minor money and time because they are already known.

Locusts are now Locust 1E. This is the best variant. Still not great, but okay.
Hermes II to the 2M variant with a bunch of lasers and no AC5.
Stinger 3G with more armor and 2 medium lasers
Jenner to JR7-F which I love
Striker to the 2S with an AC10 and PPC and medium lasers instead of AC5, PPC, large laser and medium lasers. It never had the heat sinks for the other others, so let’s slide to the AC10 one.


This will take about a month for all of the changes and a few hundred thousand.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let’s do Cinq Company’s Pirate Smash

Sept 19, 3044 - We arrive at Suianheer System. There are have been a recent slate of raids by a band of pirates in the periphery.

Oct 2, 3044 - After arriving on planet and setting up anticipation of another raid by the pirates, a regiment of Dragon troops arrives in system at the nadir jump point and waits to recharge before jumping back out.

Oct 5, 3044 - The Pirate arrive at a jump point just two days away from the Suianheer planet. DropShips detach and race for the planet. Seeing this, the Dragon forces, who do not know about our presence, send their own DropShips and fighters to the pirate point.

The Duke cannot reveal our presence, since the Combine has a Death to all Mercenaries edict right now. Therefore, we cannot go out to contest the presence of the pirates.

Oct 7, 3044 - The pirates land outside an industrial area lightly guarded and make off with a lot of ore.

Oct 8, 3044 - After the pirates have blasted off, the Dragon forces arrive at the Pirate Point and attack and capture the JumpShip.

With no where to go, and the planet’s AeroSpace assets clamping down, the pirates have no choice but to be either blown up in space, or to surrender. They surrender.

Oct 11, 3044 - The Duke agrees to pay our contract, but we protest. Seeing combat was part of the deal, and our salvage was supposed to be part of the compensation. If he had just allowed us to fight the pirates on planet, we could have nailed them, but we were held back. Since they held us back, they should pay us extra to compensate our time and travel.

The Duke disagrees. We point out that we can take the contract, quite publicly, in front of the Mercenary Commission Review Board and complain quite loudly. The Duke agrees to relent, and makes an offer he suspects will make us happy. He tries to trick us. He offers us a Daboku. This 3038 LosTech mech was the second such mech designed in the Inner Sphere. The reason that it is way back here is that it was discovered to have several design flaws due to an improper understanding of the new technology. Therefore, they have not been made in several years, and the few that remain have been moved far away to places like here. The Duke thinks we will consider it a rich payment, but instead he knows he is unloading on us a ticking time bomb he doesn’t want to have to give to one of his few MechWarriors.

Of course, we know the Daboku’s issues, we have fought against them. Still, this mech is going to cease to exist quite soon, and will quickly be quite rare, despite the flaws. We happily accept.


We lost about 1.345 mill on the contract.


We will arrive back on Feb 2, 3045.


Let’s rewind back to…

[Abe Sargent]

Aug 1, 3044 - Aleph Company just got back. Let’s send out Defender Company on a contract.

FedCom - Garrison
Dracs - Garrison. Really?
Independent Planet in the Periphery - Garrison
Corporation - Extraction

Who and where?

It’s a company in the Capellan Confederation that needs us to hit a St. Ives Compact world and that is not something we do. We never work for great houses against the little guys - the Compact or the FRR. In Liao the companies are state sponsored.

Sept 1, 3044 - Phaeton company is back too. Our Comet is done. What’s next for our techs?

I have some weird body parts. I have five Whitworth left arms and four Atlas right arms but no other Atlas parts.

We are creating a new mech based on a Stalker H, LT, RT, RA, LA and RL


The Attila, ATA-1A:


85 tons, 3/5 movement, 22 heat sinks, maximum 16.5 tons of armor, Hand actuators are placed back on.

2 PPCs, 7 Medium Lasers, 2 SRM6s.

Heat Sinks in the legs. Nothing in the arms. Medium Lasers in head and center torso. Each torso is full with identical configuration - 1 PPC, 2 lasers, SRM6, in ton of ammo, 4 heat sinks.

Now, let’s look at the Attila.

This assault mech is designed to use PPCs at range before closing and tearing into mechs with a cavalcade of lasers and missiles. The two PPCs and running or walking will not take you overheat, with running and both PPCs putting you at 22 heat, which is exactly what you can disperse. Once you close, you slide off the PPCs and into the close range weapons. 7 Medium Lasers, and 2 SRM6s will take you overheat. The Lasers make 21 and the SRMs 8, so you will go 6 overheat. Ideally, you use all 7 lasers for a turn or two until you made some holes, then a mix of lasers and SRMs to find the holes. The PPCs help make holes too. Heat sinks are in the legs so you can disperse extra heat when standing in water. Nothing in the arms so if one gets blown off, the mech is still fine and it is free to punch.


You’ll note that my mech names are very similar to actual Inner Sphere mech names, and that’s one reason why I did that classification project.

The only assault mechs with higher Battle Values - Atlas, one highly unusual variant of the BattleMaster, low-tech Highlander, Imp, King Crab, Marauder II. That’s a bunch of 100 ton mechs 15 tons heavier, a Highlander that’s 5 tons heavier, and a BM with jump jets (JJ really jumps your BV up). I am very comfortable with the Attila.

It will take us four months and some cash to do:

Engine: 1,445,000
Gyro: 900,000
Sections and Armor: 650,000
Weapons: 310,000

Total: 3,305,000

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let’s do some contracts:


ComStar: Retainer?
FedCom: Obj Raid on….Caps. World: Krin. 7 jumps away - one jump away from capital Sian.
Marian Hegemony in the Periphery: Obj Raid - Marian is a lousy employer. Nope.
Free Worlds League Corporation: Security.


Let’s start with the Security contract:

Lengkong, a planet 14 jumps away near the edge of Marik space. In a few months, the company CEO will declare that his third son, instead of his first, will be the heir of the company, and that may make some serious waves. Just in case it turns violent, they want a company of our mechs there to put on a show of force.

The Obj Raid on Krin is simply to hit their world with Marik colors on our mech, and then destroy a small military base on an island, and then leave. Their intel says there is just one company of mechs, and there is an unguarded drop port right there that we can land out, jump out, destroy them, grab salvage, and be in and out in a day. Hopefully.

We will send Defender on the Make Marik Look Bad contract and Phaeton on the one to Marik space.


Defender ‘s contract.

Salvage: Full
Command: Indy
Remuneration; Nope
Salary: x3.7, x1.6, x1.4
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Transport; 50%
Length 1 motnh
Bonus 12.5%

We will arrive on Oct 23, 3044


Phaeton’s Contract:


Salvage: Shared
Salary: x4, x1.3, x1.2
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Command: House
Remuneration: Nope
Transport: 50%
Length: 4 months
45% Bonus

They will arrive on Dec 24, 3044.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s do Phaeton’s Contract First:

Dec 24, 3044 - We land on Lengkong, just a week before the announcement is made.

Jan 1, 3045 - The announcement is made with the new year that the CEO’s heir will be his third born. He had never announced his heir previously, but people had always assumed it would be his firstborn. Dave, his firstborn, is very gregarious and nice and everybody likes him, but he has a cruel streak, loves power, and is not the most competent scion of the family. However, the third born, Steve, is competent, quiet, and aloof, but does not attract the affection of others easily. Neither are perfect choices, but the CEO wants someone not cruel and competent over someone who might be good with contracts and PR and such.


Jan 5, 3045 - There has been a lot of grousing by associates of Dave. He freely gives of his wealth, although he will be quite mean to employees that complain. He wants to be liked, and desires power, and he is liked generally, and thus there are many who would prefer to see someone like Dave in the seat rather than Steve.

Jan 15, 3045 - Protests begin outside the corporate headquarters. We are ordered to station a lance in the courtyard in front of the HQ at all times to make sure there is not any damage done. Our mechs with machine guns are fitted with rubber bullets while those with SRMs are given tear gas canisters to fire instead.

Jan 27, 3045 - The protests get worse and worse as more and more people gather, more than the courtyard can hold. We are ordered to fire tear gas on the crowd from our Javelin and Jenner and the rubber bullets from our P Hawk. Sgt Mary McDonnell, in the Jenner, radios back for clarification, and gets the same order back. They are ordering us to fire on civilians when they have not attacked the company, they are just really packed in tightly.

Sgt. Mary McDonnell radios Lt. Martin Fitzgerald for orders. He tells everyone in Phaeton Company to suit up and get their gear into their mechs as soon as possible.

Lt Fitzgerald belays the order and commands McDonnell to not attack unless Fitzgerald gives the order himself. She agrees.

[Abe Sargent]

Immediately one of the higher ups gets on the radio and is pissed off. He orders us to fire again.

Lt. Fitzgerald points out the following two things, while opening up the channel for all to hear, including the locals.

1) We are contracted for a security duty contract, not a riot duty one. We are to protect the HQ from attackers. The protestors are not attacking the HQ, therefore attacking them does not fall under the purview of our contract.

2) Attacking civilians is a violation of the Ares Convention unless they are attacking you, and only then you are to use the minimum force necessary. Going in guns blazing with mechs and their weapons is not the minimum force, and they are not attacking, therefore, attacking them first is a violation of the Ares Convention, and using mechs against would be a violation, even if they attacked first. Instead, infantry, the police, and other forces should be used first.


Obviously, this corporate blowhard doesn’t know anything about war, because he starts calling us cowards and will sue us for every M Bill we have and yadda yadda.

Our mechs are warmed up and everybody is in them.

We are told again to fire on the crowd, or else we are in violation of our contract, will be deemed rogue, and will be attacked ourselves.

Lt. Fitzgerald was afraid it would come to that, and that is why, unknown to the blowhard, he was broadcasting the entire conversation.

Within a minute, a call comes in from the planetary governor’s office. We take it. It informs us that it is taking over our contract from the company, because they are being silly. Our new contract, with the same exact terms, is to protect the citizens form the company in case it wants to use infantry or vehicles against them.


Within an hour, the predictable becomes fact. The company has mobilized their full two companies of tanks and moved them in. We follow the governor’s lead and attack the 24 tanks.

[Abe Sargent]

We don’t think that they will allow too many losses before running. They are regular tank pilots.


We win init 8 to 5. I move our forces cautiously. Our Jav destroys a Harasser Missile Platform. Our Zeus disables a Saladin. Pegasus is immobile.

We lose 5 to 10. A J Edger and Harasser are knocked immobile. Their Shrek gets lucky and hit’s an 11 on our Jenner and ingites the ammo and it goes up. Our Rifleman destroys their LRM Carrier.

We lose init 4 to 6. We immobilize a Drillson. That means there are currently 4 immobile tanks - Drillson, J Edgar, Pegasus, Harasser. Our Zeus destroys a building that was hiding two tanks. Their Ontos gets a through armor critical on our Zeus, hits ammo, and it explodes. We knock a Condor Immobile. Our Warhammer kicks a Scimitar immobile.

We win init 8 to 7. Our T Bolt launches its weapons and destroys the LRM Striker Light Tank. It is not recoverable.

We lose init 6 to 7. Our Cat destroys their Condor. Our Warhammer gets a PPC and medium laser hit. We kill the crew in one of their Ontos.

We win 4 to 3. Our Warhammer skids and falls and opens up its CT hitting its gyro once. Ick. It then destroys a building one of their tanks is hiding it with its weapons. Our Griffin destroys a Drillson. Our Catapult destroys another Ontos.

With so many of their tank destroyed or immobile, the rest run away. We lost two mechs - ouch. However, we gain 13 tanks. We have shared salvage on this contract, so we’ll walk way with some cash and tanks.



Our Catapult Pilot - Eleanor Bates, is now a veteran.



Salvage:

Harasser Missile Platformx2
Saladin
LRM Carrier
Condor x2
Scimitar
Drillsonx2
J Edgar
Pegasus
Ontosx2
LRM15





Lost Jenner, Zeus

Jenner RA, H
Zeus, RA, LA, LT

[Abe Sargent]

Feb 1, 3045 - The company’s military has been trounced, and the demonstrations are going along nicely.

April 24, 3045 - Our contract ends without further issue:


We Spent:

538,950 - Salary and upkeep
270,000 - Armor
245,000 - Ammo
1.4 mill - Transport


We get:

1,192,164 - Salary + Bonus
700,000 - Transport
135,000 - Armor
4,350,000 - Loss of Zeus and Jenner


Shared Salvage:

Salvage: Shared

Harasser Missile Platformx2 - 1,120,000
Saladin - 911,000
LRM Carrier - 1,872.000
Condor x2 - 1,425,000
Scimitar - 727,000
Drillsonx2 - 5,000,000
J Edgar - 729,000
Pegasus - 841,000
Ontosx2 - 4,532,000
LRM15 - 175,000

Total: 17,332,000

Shared Value: 8,666,000

I take:

Ontos x2
LRM Carrier
Saladin
Scimitar
LRM15

Total Money Made: 12,589,214

We will arrive back home on Aug 11, 3045. At that point, we will be adding the following mechs to Phaeton Company:

Atlas, Comet


Mary McDonnell and Martin Fitzgerald are awarded the Red Badge for their application of ethics and the Ares Convention to avoid firing on non-combatants

[Abe Sargent]

Rewind….


Defender Company’s Contract is up next.


Oct 23, 3044 - We arrive on Krin at the exact place we were told to land. We immediately disembark, with the hope that the defender will scramble and hit us.

Nothing on our scopes. We move towards the base we were supposed to hit, but it has been abandoned. A quick search shows it hasn’t been used in about a year. We slice into with weapons anyway. We take some pictures of its ruined state, hop back into the DropShip and blast off.


Defender ‘s contract.

Salvage: Full
Command: Indy
Remuneration; Nope
Salary: x3.7, x1.6, x1.4
Support: 50% Battle Loss
Transport; 50%
Length 1 motnh
Bonus 12.5%


We lost 630k on the contract


We arrive back on Jan 2, 3045.

[Abe Sargent]

Back to Sept 3044:


Aleph Company -
Phaeton Company - Back on Aug 11, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Returns Nov 2, 3044
Cinq Company - Returns on Feb 2, 3045
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Jan 2, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company - Back on Nov 1, 3044

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.


Oct 1, 3044 - Ted organizes the home tank defense (not including the tanks we get from the Phaeton Contract). Here is what we have at home:

Warrior Attack VTOL
2 Ferret Light Scout VTOL
3 Savannah Master
Behemoth Assault Tank
3 Harasser Missile Platform
2 Ontos Heavy Tank
Demolisher Assault Tank
Pegasus Scout Tank
LRM Carrier
SRM Carrier
AC2 Carrier
3 Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun
3 Goblin Medium Tank
J Edgar Hovertank
Scorpion Light Tank
Von Luckner
Bulldog Medium Tank
Leviathan Belfry
Devastator
Patton
SRM6 Truck


That’s 31 vehicles. We also have four infantry squads.

The first 6 and the last vehicle should not be a part of our normal T&O. That leaves 24 tanks exactly - or a full two companies of tanks.

When the Vehicle Company gets back in less than a year, we are going to convert it to a battalion.

[Abe Sargent]

Nov 1, 3044 - Let see if we can find a contract for Aleph Company.


Free Rasalhague Republic - Pirate Hunting
ComStar - Defensive Campaign
Free Worlds League - Security
FedCom - Recon Raid

No garrisons this month!

The only company I got to go out with is Aleph. Nah, Ted, bends the normal rules and will send out newly returned Delta Company for some lovin’.

Alright:

We are sent to New Caledonia, where a small group of pirates have been hitting from the many Periphery worlds nearby.

It is 16 jumps away. Aleph Company will arrive on March 29, 3045.

Contract:

Salvage: Full
Command: Indy
Remuneration: No
Salary: x4, x1.3, x1.2
Transport: 50%
Length: 2 months
Support: Battle-Loss 50%
37.5% Bonus

Delta Company wants to drop some metal on the FWL contract perhaps, so let’s get some info on that.

We learn that there have been rumblings on some of the former Andurien worlds and we are asked with…..No that’s NOT going to happen.

How about the Recon Raid by the FedCom?

The FedCom wants a small company to drop quietly into the Drac world of Saffel, which was taken by them in the war of 3039. Most of the FedCom effort has been in slowing down Fomalhaut and Quentin build ups, and very little has been placed on Saffel. There are few FedCom folks left as a result. We are to drop in quietly, do some reconnaissance to get the FedCom some info without revealing our military presence, and then perhaps be signed by one or more contracts to hit targets of opportunity on Saffel.


We will arrive on Saffel, which is 34 light years away, in two jumps. We will jump to Northwind, and thence to Saffel.


We can be in their system and on planet by Nov 22.


Contract:

Salvage: Full
Command: Liaison
Remuneration: Nope
Length: 1 month
Support: 50% Battle loss
Salary: x3.7, x1.4, x1.6
Transport: Full
35% Bonus

[Abe Sargent]

Nov 22, 3044 - We land in the midst of Iwanji, the largest city on the planet and the largest spaceport. It lies on the southern cost of Dovejin, the northern continent. The planet is largely boreal and arctic, with only some warmth around the center. There is just enough agriculture there to feed the 1.3 billion people on planet. The rest of the planet works on exporting a modest amount of metals.

We have brought the Boomerang Spotter Plane plus two infantry platoons.

Nov 24, 3044 - We have finished a quick scout of Iwanji, which was already known. The rest of the planet is our concern.

Due to its proximity to the border and its status as a recently captured planet, a Ghost regiment is stationed here, with its great equipment and such. However, it has to defend the entire planet, along with militia.

We leave Iwanji and travel along Dovejin’s coast to one of the many boreal forests on the planet.

Nov 27, 3044 - Just like intel suspected, our infantry scout out a small military base in the south eastern corner of the continent. The trees are cleared out here. There’s nothing else here.

Dec 2, 3044 - There are many mechs and tanks in the mining areas, and one has to step back and ask why. Sure, this is the only major economic export of Saffel, but it’s not worth that much money. I mean, two jumps away is Zollikofen, which has tons of minerals and metals. Why raid here? Sure, have some defenses, but this seems like overkill. Especially for a planet recently conquered, one would think the populace needs a greater military presence right now. So, it’s odd.

Dec 10, 3044 - We find one mine strangely undefended. Why would the normal mines have extra defenders, and then this one seem undefended? This is really weird. Our liaison marks it as a spot to explore further.

Dec 15, 3044 - We find another military station, about 50 klicks from the undefended mine. It’s a new complex, and looks no older than one or two years. Perhaps its proximity allows the Dragon to relax their gasp a bit, but our scouts show just two companies of mechs from the ghosts here for the entire area.

Dec 22, 3044 - Our Recon Raid has finished, and we are contracted for an Objective Raid on the mine. We accept. Our DropShip with materiel moves to an industrial center near the mine.


Dec 25, 3044 - We quietly observe the mine for a day, and still find nothing.

Dec 26, 3044 - Our DropShip leaves as if it is done, but then suddenly makes a quick move for the mine area to drop us off. Their forces note this, and a company of Ghosts are dispatched from their station to follow our trajectory.

We arrive at the mine, and our infantry begin to assault the security here. Within a few minutes, everybody has surrendered and our infantry begin raiding the mine while blips show up on our sensors. The Ghosts have arrived.



Here are their forces:

Thug 11E - 2750 Thug
Shootist 7A - 2750 mech
Sentinel 3M with Ultra AC5

Wolverine 7K - A new mech being made on Marduk XL engine, 2x heat sinks, large, medium and small pulse lasers, two SRM6s.

Panther
Warhammer 6K
Wasp 1K
Awesome
Spider
Shadow Hawk 2K
Archer 2K
Quickdraw


There are some hills, a few conifers, some ice, snow, and pavement.


Here is their Shootist, a mech that first debuted in 2621. 70 tons of machine with 4/6 movement, 13/26 2x heat sinks, ferro armor, ER large laser, AC20, 2x medium pulse lasers, small laser, CASE for the ammo and completely full armor. Nice.

[Abe Sargent]

There are many threats here. As always, I want LosTech first, but it’s not necessary. They are all vet.


Here we go!

We win init 7 to 6. We hammer their Wolverine. We are fighting around a medium sized hill and all of our mechs started on one side and all of theirs on another, so we need to meet up before blasting can occur.

We lose init 8 to 11. They set the forest where my Awesome was standing on fire last turn, so I have to move it. Just minor weapons fire.

We lose 6 to 9. More minor weapons exchange. Their Spider Kicks my Awesome an it falls.

We win 9 to 6. Our Awesome falls, then arises. Their Shadow Hawk destroys the RA of our Hermes II. Our Awesome punches and destroys their Spider’s LL. We knock their Warhammer down after some Spider, Wasp, Hermes II and Awesome fire at it.

We win 12 to 8. They stand up their Hammer and we hop our P Hawk over for a Punt chance on it. Our Awesome destroys their ‘Hammer’s LA. Their Quickdraw is hammered and falls, destroying its RA. Our P Hawk only kicks their Warhammer’s left torso, and it doesn’t fall. It does take out a Medium Laser though.

We win 7 to 2. They manage to stand their one legged Spider. Spider chance to Punt Warhammer. Their Quickdraw tries to stand, falls, hits its SRM ammo and explodes. Their Warhammer slices off the Head of our Catapult, and kills elite MechWarrior Stacey Dutch. Their S Hawk destroys the LA on our Spider. Our Cat hits an engine on their Warhammer. Our Spider kicks their Warhammer in the head, but it reels, does not fall, and takes no additional damage.

We win init 6 to 4. Their Awesome destroys the LL of our Wasp. Their Wolverine destroys its LT. Their Warhammer falls and destroys its CT.

We lose 7 to 9. I have to leave my sniping place from my Awesome because the fire has spread here. I move my heavy forces out of their small woods in order to get firing lane son critical mechs. Their Spider falls and destroys its LT. Their Shootist destroys the Wasp’s Rl and RT. Our Black Knight destroys their Archer’s LA. Our Battlemaster hits SIX leg, foot and hip actuators on their Archer. Dang. Their Archer fall sand destroys its LL . The Archer had to roll 7 times and needed a 13 each time. Heheh. Battlemaster screwed it up.

We win 8 to 7. We eject the Wasp. Their Archer does not even try to stand. The Archer is actually salvage, because one leg is destroyed and the other has all four actuator’s hit - quite rare. Our Dragon destroys the RA of their Thug.

We lose round 10’s init 5 to 7. Spider with a chance for a Sentinel Punt. Our Awesomes destroys the Wolverine’s CT> It is recoverable (I rolled an 11). Their Shootist’s AC20 hit’s a PPC on our Warhammer. Our Crusader hit’s the Thug’s SRM ammo in its RT, but the CASE keeps it alive, and the RT destroyed. Our BM hits its engine and gyro once each. Their Thug tumbles. Our Banshee kicks and destroys its LA. Our Spider falls after missing a kick and being kicked by their Wasp.

We win init 9 to 8. P Hawk with a chance to punt their Wasp. Their Thug pilot tries to stand, falls, and is knocked unconscious . Our Spider stands and moves into some heavy smoke. Our Banshee hit’s the Shootist’s AC20. Our Crusader destroys its LT. Our Dragon hits its gyro twice and dead walking Shootist. Our Spider kicks the Sentinel….hits…CT. doesn’t even fall.


With that, they decide to leave. We have several mechs and parts to collect, plus ores from the unguarded mine. After some investigation, it appear they have an underground smelter and we get refined bars instead of pure ore.


Salvage:

Quickdraw LL, RL, LT
Warhammer with missing gyro, missing LA
Spider LA
Archer 2K with missing LL and four actuators hit
Wolverine 7K with damage to engine, gyro
Shootist mising LT with gyrox2
Thug 11E missing RA, RT, LA


Repair:

Hermes II RA
Catapult H
Spider LA
Wasp LL, LT, RL< RT


Well, we lost a lot of parts for mechs, and we also lost a pilot. Sucks.

Melissa Darrow’s got 4 kills. She is now a vet.

The FedCom has their contract done, so we hurry up the DropShip and blast off.

[Abe Sargent]

Dec 20, 3044 - Time to settle up this contract.


Salvage: Full
Support: 50% Battle loss



There are two contracts, the first a Recon Raid and the second nan Objective Raid, but they had the same terms.



What we spent:



208,356 - Salary and Upkeep
2,050,000 - To fix my mechs
250,000 - Armor
126,000 - Ammo
4,900,000 - To fix the mechs we recovered. Most of the losses are not LosTech, but we do have some 2x HS and CASE which cost us a bunch on the open market.


What we made:

883,975 - Salary and Bonus for both contracts
125,000 - Armor
1,025,000 - To fix mechs


Our Total Losses: -5,500,381

We swing by Outreach on the way home. A quick recruiting brings us Zhang Tai, a new lady, elite, for the Catapult.



Delta Company is now Dragoon Rating A.

[Abe Sargent]

We arrive back on Jan 30, 3045.



Aleph Company - Arrive on March 29, 3045
Phaeton Company - Back on Aug 11, 3045
Trinity Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Delta Company - Arrives back Jan 30, 3045
Cinq Company - Returns on Feb 2, 3045
Hex Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Defender Company - Returns on Jan 2, 3045
Typhon Company - Due back April 12, 3048
Heliades Company - Ends May 1, 3046
Tethys Company -

Garrison Units - Infantry, tanks, and Ted and his Stalker.

Vehicle Company - Currently garrison contract, will return on June 12, 3045.



Let’s fast forward and do Aleph’s contract:


March 29, 3045 - We arrive in New Caledonia. The Rasalhague forces in system know where the pirates are striking from - a system called Star’s End about two jumps from here, and on everybody’s map as a haven for pirates. Nasty.

There are a large number of pirates in and around Star’s End, but we don’t want to just wade in there and hammer everybody. So, instead we set a trap on New Caledonia. With the Rasalhague forces obviously out and about, we squirrel ourselves near the only industrial area of significance on the planets - its timbering interests.

April 25, 3045 - An unknown JumpShip arrives in system at a pirate point.

April 28, 3045 - They arrive on planet, about 20 klicks away from our position. We warm up and head out.

They notice us long before we thought they would, and they begin to move quickly back towards their DropShip. Vehicles they were fighting get a chance to destroy one in the back as they flee quickly.

Fighters are ordered to the DropShip as quickly as they can be scrambled.

Within a few minutes, they have loaded back up. We will not reach them in time.

Rasalhague sends a Leopard CV class Dropship with some AeroSpace fighters to the Pirate point. They are closer to it than the pirates, and the hope is they will arrive there first.

As we reach the site, we see the final mechs board. We are just far enough away to lance some energy at them with PPCs, but it hit’s the DropShip instead, who gets really pissed off and lays down covering fire.

Within fifteen minutes, the pirates have surrendered from the 6 fighters around them.

Pretty much, we did nothing at all. We were supposed to hit them, we failed, and Rasalhague was able to pick up the pieces. Wow.

We lost about 1.4 million on this contract.

We arrive back on Sept 21, 3045.