The Battletech Dynasty, Chapter 1 - 3030-38

[Abe Sargent]

Total Salvaged Items:


Zeus 6T: Normal Value: 7,752,000. Repair Value: 950,000 Current Value: 6,702,000

Ostscout: Normal Value: 3,409,200 Repair Value: 1,500,000 Current Value: 1,909,200

Commando: Normal: 1,891,250 Repair: 750,000 Current Value: 1,141,250

Vulcan RA, LL
Firestarter LA
Dervish LA
Value of FS, Der, and Vul parts: 750,000

Champion: Normal Value - 5,071,200 Repair: (900k/gyro, 1200k/engine, 80k for armor, 35k for ammo, 800k for arm and torso and weapons in those) 3,015,000 Current value: 2,056,200

AC20 (The Hetzer was a writeoff) - 300,000
Pike Support Vehicle - 50k to fix. Current Value: 1,015,000

Mercury - Normal Value: 1,580,000 Repair: 600,000 Current Value: 980,000

Stinger - Normal Value: 1,662,000 Repair: 300,000 Current Value: 1,332,000

Crusader H, LL, RL, LT
Stalker RT
Centurion RA
Total Value of Salvaged Parts: 1,850,000

[Abe Sargent]

Total Costs:

I spend: 380,000 on ammo
200,000 on armor.
150,000 on RA for Wasp
200,000 for Wolfhound RA
350,000 for Phoenix Hawk LA

Mission The First


150,000 ammo and armor

Mission the Second


3,300,000 parts, ammo and armor

Mission the Third



225,000 parts, ammo and armor

Mission the Fourth


Ammo: 270,000
Armor: 220,000

Mission the Fifth

[Abe Sargent]

TOTAL DAMAGE REPORT:

Total Salvage Value: 18,025,540

Total Shared Rights: 9,012,725


What I am taking:

I wanted the Zeus, but I really want the Mercury, Ostscout and Champion - those are rarer mechs and I would love an opportunity to field them. Therefore, I pass the Zeus by, and I take:

Mercury
Ostscout
Champion
Commando
AC20
All body parts


I would have liked the Zeus, but I’m content.


Total Cost to Repair Salvaged Mechs: 5,865,000


Total Battle Costs (My Mechs): 5,220,000

[Abe Sargent]

Contract:


Costs:

675,000 transport here
675,000 transport back
387,900 Upkeep of unit, ten months
5,220,000 Battle Replacement

Total Contractual Costs: 6,957,900


Money Made:

9,012,725 Shared Salvage Rights
2,610,000 50% Battle Loss Compensation (Glad I negotiated for this!)
510,394 Salary
540,000 40% Transport Rights
26,000 Remuneration
2,550 Bonus

Total Contractual Profit: 12,200,275

Total Net Profit: 5,242,375

After paying to repair all salvaged mechs: -622,625

War Chest: 1,443,043

LEVEL UP - Braham Essex has notched 8 kills, and so his piloting skill is increasing. He is now officially elite. Rafael Gomez, the Archer pilot, had grabbed his fourth kill. I am giving him Edge: 1 since he is already elite.

[Abe Sargent]

Our contract began on March 18, 3034. It ends on September 18, 3034.

In any future battles, we’ll still get Shared Salvage Rights and 50% Battle Loss Compensation.

I am assigning the Champion to Su Yuan, the Goliath pilot who lost her mech in the early parts of the Ronin Campaign.

June 19, 3034 - We get word that the two main leaders of the ronin movement have died. The first died as the result of a malfunction in his Atlas on Orestes. Orestes was the rallying point for the troops loyal to him. Marcus Kurita, on Predlitz, was assassinated.

There are several major crucibles in the war. We have just cleaned up Rasalhague and our presence is deemed redundant. As the Free Rasalhague Republic continues to build mech companies with surrendered materiel, our company has less of an impact as a garrison force on Rasalhague. There are other crucibles out there, such as Predlitz, Orestes and Kempton. We are being moved to Kempton where we will be joining the forces there in battle.

June 24, 3034 - We launch from the Rasalhague system bound for Kempton.

In April, Kempton had hired a battalion of the mercenary regiment Vinson’s Vigilantes (No relation to Vinson’s Victorious that we fought in the periphery, to my knowledge…) to safeguard the capital. The First Sun Zhang Regulars were on system when the FRR declared independence, and Marcus Kurita sent out the call for all DCMS troops to defect and attack their local planet. The officers of the unit, loyal to the Dragon, were captured and jailed by the lower levels of the unit, so that it could rebel and fight against the locals. The ronin unit and the hired mercenaries began to spar on April 30.

A stalemate set in when the ronin forces took control of a giant petrochemical factory complex and the mercenaries did not want to penetrate the outer defenses and risk blowing up the complex. That ended on June 4, with the arrival of the Second Kavalleri on planet, one of the three Rasalhague mech regiments.

Earlier this month, they landed on planet doing a combat drop in an open area of the complex while the mercenaries pushed at the outer defenses. Caught between a regiment outside and another inside, many of the First Sun Zhang Regulars were destroyed, but several got away into the nearby Cantis Mountains.

Our goal is to guard the capital of Kemptinus while the Second Kavalleri scout the Mountains and root out the remaining First Sun Zhang Regulars. The Vigilantes’ contract has expired and they have returned home, leaving the Second Kavalleri and us on planet.

August 10, 3034 - After having modest success at rooting out the First Sun Zhang, we receive word that the Seventh Regulars, another ronin unit, used a pirate point to enter the system and has landed at rear of the Second Kavalleri. Their CO gets me on the conn. The Sun Zhang are pushing against them in one direction, and the Seventh Regulars are pushing in the other and they are getting crushed. He asks for my help immediately.

Now, I am not under the command of the Second Kavalleri. I am not required to respond to his call for help. We have an FRR liaison who communicates what the FRR wants, and they have told us to garrison this city, not venture out and help when needed. It is not in our contract to go out and help our allies.

However, I love battle. That’s why I am in this business. I confirm that we will be moving out quickly to hit the Sun Zhang on their rear and relieve some pressure on our allies.

Twenty minutes later, I see the first mech.

[Abe Sargent]

An account of the battle:

First Sun Zhang Academy Cadre - Down to about 27 mechs from their original size. They are green experience level. Ronin.

Seventh Rasalhague Regulars - Down to about 80% of original strength. They are veteran troops. Ronin.

Second Kavalleri - Full strength. They are regular troops. Free Rasalhague Republic.

The Kilts Company - Full strength. We have the Champion up and running and I am giving the Mercury to Elena Stoyovich over her previous Flea. The Mercury is a much better mech. Faster, better armored, and no ammo to worry about exploding. We are contracted to the Free Rasalhague Republic.


As we arrive, we find that 4 of the Sun Zhang mechs have already been destroyed fallen and several more have been savaged to the point of not being usable. With our arrival to their rear, the Sun Zhang turn to face us. This frees up the Second Kavalleri to focus their attention on the Seventh Regulars.

We will be fighting over a river.

[Tellistto]

Oh, this one should be good. Lots of troops up against you but they are all green. Hopefully you can whittle them down really quick so that you don't get overwhelmed. Go Kilts and Commandos!

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

The Sun Zhang (Still Standing and in Fighting Form):


Wasp 1K x2
Wasp x2
Jenner x3
Jenner JR7-F
Griffin x2
Quickdraw x2
Wolverine
Panther
Grand Dragon
Firestarter
Shadow Hawk
LCT-3V Locust
AWS-8T Awesome

That’s 19 mechs of the Sun Zhang still operational. Their leader is in the Awesome variant. This Awesome is rocking with two LRM15s and two Large Lasers plus max armor. It’s a nasty little assault mech. The Grand Dragon is a Kurita only design weighing in at 60 tons. It moves 5/8, sports ten tons of armor, and has a PPC, LRM10 and a few medium lasers. It’s not a bad mech at all.

The Jenner variant is one of my fav light mechs. It drops the SRM and ammo for maxing out its armor. It resembles the Javelin variant I enjoy so much, with just four medium lasers, max armor, and a speed of 7/11/5 instead of 6/9/6. However, the Jav is lighter by five tons (which makes it cheaper) and has its lasers in its chest, allowing it to punch, whereas the Jenner’s lasers are in its fragile arm. I would love to get that mech.

The Wasp variant swaps a machine gun and a half ton of armor for the old SRM2. That’s not a good switch. Of course, the old SRM2 is dumb in a 20 ton mech, so I’d pull that out in seconds of I were to build my own mech.

The Locust variant’s not bad, with two Medium Lasers and two machine guns. I’ve seen better payloads (like the Mercury) but it ain’t bad.

All MechWarriors of the Sun Zhang are green except for the Awesome, which is regular.

Normally my plan is to target the biggest threats first, but against 19 mechs? I could lose too many mechs in the three or four turns it would likely take me to off the Awesome. On the other hand, if I take out a bunch of light mechs, I can get ahead quickly, then focus on the Awesome if I need too.

So, my plan going in is to target the basic Jenners when I have a chance. They post a lot of weaponry for less armor than they could otherwise have had. Of course, targets of opportunity abound in battle.

[Abe Sargent]

Here we go.

My Orion’s LRM15 hit’s the Griffin’s head twice. I wanted to target a Jenner D, but only my Archer has a line on one. The rest targeted the Griffin, Awesome, or targets of opportunity. My Archer misses with both LRM20s. It and the Awesome fall down from fire.

I stand my Archer back up and move it into some light woods. I then miss a lot of important attacks against some Wasps but I pepper a Quickdraw real well. Then our Centurion kicks and destroys a Wasp’s RL. Their Quickdraw hit’s a lower leg actuator on my Champion’s LL.

Their Awesome keeps being open, so I am abusing it. My Archer alone hit for 36 damage from its two LRM20s. Our Wolverine kicks and destroys a Jenner’s RA which cuts into its weaponry. The head on my Phoenix Hawk is punched by a Wasp. The Centurion kicks off the RA of the downed Wasp 1K. My Spider falls after getting kicked. That sucks, it needs to stay standing.

I try moving my Spider through the water of the river but it falls. The Archer destroys the Awesome’s LA. It also tacks the foot actuator on its LL. Our Griffin hits its engine once with the PPC. The heaviest mech on the field crashes to the ground. Adele’s Firestarter takes out the LT of the downed Wasp 1K, and then the Centurion kicks it in the center chest and destroys it. Their Grand Dragon after missing a kick.

The Grand Dragon fails to get up. Their Awesome hits our Wolfhound. It hit’s the Upper Arm and Shoulder actuators on the RA. Our Phoenix Hawk destroys the Awesome’s center torso section. It is down for the count. Our Centurion hit’s the Grand Dragon’s PPC, and then it falls under the weaponry assault.

I destroy the Locust’s RL, LL, LT, and the LA falls off with my Orion. Then the engine is hit twice by my Archer. When it falls, it destroys its own CT. No more Locust.

The next round is just an exchange of fire but a Jenner falls from losing too much armor and failing to compensate. My Wolverine punches the LA off a Jenner, the JR7-F variant. My Centurion falls after it is kicked and misses a kick.

I stand the Centurion back up. The woods are all on fire now. Our Phoenix Hawk kicks the LL off from the JR7-F. Our Mercury destroys the RA of their Firestarter, Our Champions kicks the LL out from under a normal Jenner.

We’re doing fine with my big guys. My Orion has barely taken any damage at all, and the Archer just too one turn of damage getting in posoiton and since has barely been scratched. I’ve been using their poor aim against them, hopping my jump jet equipped mechs around from woods to woods and then concentrating fire from mechs like the Orion, Centurion, Champion and Archer. The Champion kicks and destroys the downed Jenner (not the variant) by hitting its ammo.

The 10th round arrives. Some of the woods are starting to burn down, leaving rough terrain behind. Our Spider jumped behind the Grand Dragon and got three engine hits. It shuts down and our Spider got the very first kill ever. The LA of the Grand Dragon was destroyed in the barrage from our mechs. The Archer takes out the Jenner variant’s LT which drops its LA to the ground. It is now weaponless. He then gets three hits on the engine and one on the gyro. No more Jenner variant. Our Phoenix Hawk blows the RA and LL off a Jenner regular. The LL is on the ground. It then falls to the ground and hits two engines and a gyro. That mech is going nowhere with that kind of damage.

The momentum is definitely in our favor. I am going to order that our mechs reserve their ammo for the rest of the battle unless something bizarre happens. The Archer destroys the LL of a Wasp with one of its Medium Lasers. Our Wolfhound goes internal on a Quickdraw’s CT and hits an engine. The Quickdraw and Wasp fall. Both pilots black out.

I walk my Orion next to the Quickdraw on the ground prone. When a mech is prone, you can try to aim for a certain part of the body, which includes the head. It’s easier when you are adjacent, but you can do it from anywhere. My Centurion blows the head off the blacked out Wasp, and my Orion does the same with the Quickdraw. Both mechs are now decapitated. Our Phoenix Hawk destroys the savaged Jenner on the ground, getting a third hit on its engine. The other Quickdraw falls to the earth. Our Centurion’s LA is blown off.

With half of their mechs destroyed, including two of their three heavies, and their assault mech, and damage to most of their remaining mechs pretty severely, and around 8 of my mechs barely touched, the Sun Zhang radio their surrender. I order the local militia, our infantry and the damaged mechs to take them in custody and to clear out our salvage as quickly as possible.

I get a radio from the Second Kavalleri. They are losing against the Regulars. Although we bought them some time and allowed them to consolidate their front, the Seventeenth Regulars are veteran troops, and are winning. They ask that my mechs that are able to come and help in the crucible. We are charged with approaching the Seventeenth from their flank, with the hope that we can relieve the pressure on the Second Kavalleri.

[law90026]

Nice win and i like how the fight continues on without a real chance to rest and refit. Good luck on the next battle.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by law90026

Nice win and i like how the fight continues on without a real chance to rest and refit. Good luck on the next battle.

Thanks

[Abe Sargent]

Salvage:

Locust - Needs LL, RL, LT, LA, CT?

Awesome - Destroyed CT?, LA, Foot Actuator

Grand Dragon - Needs RA, LA, Engine x3, RT

JR7-F - Needs RA, LA, LT, LL, Engine x3, Gyro

Quickdraw - Damaged Hand and Arm actuators. Missing H

Wasp - Missing RL, H

JR7-D - Missing RL, LT, LA, RA, Engine x3, Gyro


Locust LA
Jenner LA
Jenner LL, RA

[Abe Sargent]

Mechs that are unharmed:

Griffin - 1 ton LRM ammo left
Orion - 1 ton AC10 left, 1 ton LRM
Archer - 2 tons left
Mercury
Wasp
Firestarter
Wolverine
Phoenix Hawk

I listed those with ammo issues. Some mechs, like the Mercury and Phoenix have no ammo weapons. Others have such a large amount, like the Wasp and Firestarter, that it isn’t worth even counting.

To be fixed:

Champion Foot Actuator

Wolfhound, Shoulder and Upper Arm actuator (LA)

Centurion LA

[Abe Sargent]

This was a great salvage expedition. We made out, I suspect.

Let’s head to the next battlefront with my eight mechs.


The woods clear out a bit and we are fighting by some rolling hills, with few trees. The veteran Seventeenth Rasalhague Regulars are down to about half of their previous strength. They started 80% down and have lost another 30%. On the other hand, the Second Kavalleri is also down about 50% of their strength. That means that they have around four and a half companies of mechs each. Our arrival on the Seventeenth’s east flank forces them to pull away some mechs to meet our charge. They see two lances of mechs (eight mechs) on their flank, and choose to pull away exactly that number of their own. They could pull a company or more to smash us, but they are playing it close to the vest.

My mechs have limited ammo as mentioned above. I have two heavies, three mediums and three lights moving in. Here we go.


Their mechs:

Victor
Wasp 1K
Wasp
Griffin
Goliath
Spider x2
Trebuchet
They have two assault mechs, the Victor and Goliath, two mediums, the Griffin and the Trebuchet, and then the four lights.

A Victor is a decent enough mech. At 80 tons, it is a 4/6/4 with an AC20, two medium lasers, an SRM4, and 11.5 tons of armor. Frankly, my Orion is better despite being lighter. My Orion has 3.5 tons more armor and better armament, but the AC20 is devastating. We have to kill the Victor as soon as possible - it is the biggest threat.

The Trebuchet is one of the best medium fire support mechs in the 3025 world. You’ve seen medium fire support mechs like the Whitworth, Dervish or even the Griffin. At 50 tons, it rocks two LRM15s, just a little worse than the Archer’s two LRM20s. It even has three medium lasers for defense. It only has 7.5 tons of armor but it does move 5/8.

Just like our mechs are beginning to run out of ammo, so too are the 17th Regulars. A few of their mechs, Trebuchet, Victor, Griffin and Goliath, have used one or two tons of ammo up already.

[Abe Sargent]

I lay into the Trebuchet with my Archer and Griffin. The Griffin;s LRM10 opens up the RA and hit’s the lower arm actuator and a medium laser.

The second turn sees us exchange fire.

The next turn just sees even more fire exchanged. I have now spent half of my Archer’s remaining ammo. It only has three barrages left.

The fourth turn sees my Orion hit the AC20 on the Victor. Then the Archer hit’s the SRM ammo and the mech explodes.

The Trebuchet only has one shot of LRM15 ammo left, so I may concentrate my fire elsewhere to take out other threats. Despite that, it is the only mech my Orion can see, so I fire at him and destroy its RA. I am maneuvering my mechs to fire at other opponents now that the Victor is dead. Very little fire from me this turn, as a result. Our Mercury kicks a Wasp and it falls down.

I crack open the engine on an opposing Spider with my AC10.

The next turn our Phoenix Hawk hit’s a Foot Actuator on the Goliath. I have now fired the final salvo from the Archer. I am charging with it, closing to hit with my two medium lasers. I kick and destroy a Wasp’s RL with my Orion. Both our Wolverine and Orion fall from being kicked.

I stand my Orion back up and walk around behind the rear of a Spider. Our Wasp destroys the LT and LA of their Wasp on the ground. Other than that, just more exchange of fire. I kick the RL off a Spider with my Orion. Our Wasp falls after getting kicked.

The 9th turn brings more damage as the Wasp we control failed to stand once, then falls and takes damage before getting up and moving. Their Goliath gets lucky and tacs the Archer’s LRM20 and hits it three times. Luckily it has no ammo any more. One of their Spiders hit’s the lower and upper leg actuators of our Phoenix Hawk. It falls. The Archer is kicked and then falls. That is the second time one of my heavy mechs has fallen when all they needed was a 3 to stay standing.

On the 10th turn, I can’t roll a 7 with my Phoenix Hawk and fall twice, injured the RA with an upper arm and lower arm actuators hit. I choose to eject from the mech. It’s savaged pretty badly. I stand up the Archer and move towards a damaged Spider. Their Wasp pilot for the mech on the ground, has blacked out. I moved my Wasp next to it, and it slices into its head with its Medium Laser. Another dead mech. That’s Stacey Stowers’ first kill for our company. The Wolverine destroys a Spider by destroying its CT. There was practically nothing left. Our Griffin destroys one of the Goliath’s legs. It falls hard. The Archer destroys the LL of the other Spider with a well placed kick. It falls and takes some damage.

The Trebuchet is moving away from my Orion, but I close again. I want to keep up with it and kill it. With the Goliath temporarily downed and a bunch of their light mechs damaged, it is the second biggest threat with its three medium lasers. It’s also a great mech, in case I can arrange to get it. Adele destroys the foot actuator on their remaining Wasp 1K. Their Goliath opens up the RA on my Orion and hit’s a hand actuator. I blast the Trebuchet’s RL and it falls. The Archer’s medium laser stabs in and finds the machine gun ammo on the Goliath. Boom! I kick and destroy the Trebuchet’s other leg with my Orion, taking it out of combat.

With their two assaults gone, a medium gone, and a light gone, plus the rest all deeply injured, the Seventeenth Regulars retreat. Their retreat is covered by the gun ports of the other mechs in the field, so I cannot pursue.

[Tellistto]

Nice work! Experience and skill are really playing a part it looks like.

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Nice work! Experience and skill are really playing a part it looks like.

Tell

Yea, as skill increases, so to does their ability in combat, which really amps up their power.

[Abe Sargent]

Repair:

Archer, LRM20 x3

Phoenix Hawk lower and upper leg actuators. Upper and lower arm actuators.

Orion, hand actuator


Salvage:


Victor RA, LA
Spider H, RT, RL, Engine
Goliath H, Left Front Leg, Right Rear Leg

Wasp - Missing RA, LA, RT, LL, H

Trebuchet - RL, LL gone. RA Medium Laser and Hand Actuator hit.

Our unit is badly wounded. All of my mechs, except the Mercury, have some damage. I order my men to grab the local salvage. The Second Kavalleri is retreating back to the capital under the furious onslaught of the ronin 17th. However, the 17th are injured so badly hat they are not chasing, or destroying infrastructure. Instead, they are salvaging what they can and affecting repairs.

[Abe Sargent]

August 12, 3034 - The Second Sword of Light jumps into the system. They send a communique to the planet announcing their intent to land and destroy all ronin units on the planet. The Second Sword of Light is one of the most decorated and elite units the Dragon has. The Seventeenth Rasalhague Regulars know they have no chance against the Second Swords of Light and the remnants of the Second Kavalleri. They surrender before the Sword of Light even lands.

[law90026]

But....what about the Kilts and Commandos?!?!?

[Abe Sargent]

Just got back from a job interview in Tempe over the 4th of July weekend, so I will be continuing this later tonight or tomorrow.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by law90026

But....what about the Kilts and Commandos?!?!?

The fight is over with this uber-elite Drac unit joining our side. So the ronin forces surrendered knowing they had no chance against it, plus teh Kavelleri and us as well.

[Abe Sargent]

Total Salvage:






Salvage:

Locust 3V - Needs LL, RL, LT, LA, CT (inc engine and gyro) - Total Value: 1,553,800 To Repair: 1,150,000 Current Value: 400,000

Awesome AWS-8T - Destroyed CT (inc eng & gyro), LA Total Value 6,598,170 To Repair: 2,800,000 Current Value: 3,798,000

Grand Dragon - Needs RA, LA, RT Total Value: 5,220,000 To Repair: 625,000 Current Value: 4,595,000

JR7-F - Needs RA, LT, LL Total Value: 3,121,426 To Repair: 480,000 Current Value: 2,641,426

Quickdraw - Missing H Total Value: 5,514,500 To Repair: 500,000 Current Value: 5,014,500

Wasp - Missing RL, H Total Value: 1,644,000 To Repair: 555,000 Current Value: 1,089,000

JR7-D - Missing LT, RA Total Value: 3,198,350 To Repair: 275,000 Current Value: 2,923,350

Wasp - Missing RA, LA, RT, LL, H Total Value 1,644,000 To Repair: 900,000 Current Value: 744,000

Trebuchet - RL, LL gone. Hand Actuator needs replaced Total Value: 4,383,000 To Repair: 550,000 Current Value: 4,828,000

Body Parts

Locust LA - 100,000
Victor RA, LA - 700,000 (inc AC20)
Spider H, RT, RL, Engine - 1,600,000
Goliath H, Left Front Leg, Right Rear Leg - 800,000


Total Value of all Salvage:

29,232,926

We get half that: 14,616,463

And we can take that much from the salvage

Ideally, I can take the Awesome, Trebuchet, Jenner variant and Grand Dragon. One of each class of mech (Assault, medium, light and heavy, in that order). Unfortunately, I’m about a million over. What do I want the most?

I want the Awesome first. No question there. Assault mech badly damaged so it doesn’t take much of our money. I really want the Grand Dragon too. It’s a nice design and Combine only, so its hard to find on the market.

I have a ton of light mechs on my squads, but the Jenner is one of the best. On the other hand, the Trebuchet is just a perfectly designed fire support mech. Let’s go with the Trebuchet. I’ll also take the Wasp that is missing just the head and leg. I also have enough money left over to pull the Goliath rear leg.

To fix the salvaged mechs: 4,525,000
To repair and rearm my mechs: 750,000

They give me 50% of armor and ammo: 375,000
Salvage: 14,616,463

Current War Chest: 11,159,505

[Tellistto]

Nice to have this back, really enjoying it. That was some very nice salvage you got there. Not sure you even have pilots to get all those mechs moving right now.

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks!


LEVEL UP.

Su Yuan, originally of our Goliath, has notched four kills, which we will us to increase her gunnery. Michael Adkins, rocking the Centurion, has gotten eight kills. His piloting skill increases and he is not considered veteran.

[Abe Sargent]

September 18, 3034 - Our retainer contract ends with the FRR and they choose not to use the Emergency Powers Clause to extend it. All of the main planets have been captured, and most ronin units are destroyed or surrendered.

The FRR employed eight mercenary units during the Ronin Wars, and we and one other unit are the only ones that acted honorably. Many units used unusual and vague language in their contracts to avoid battles and assignments. A couple even savaged local citizen populations. The FRR had no experience in negotiating contracts, and therefore did poorly. In our final battle on Kempton, I chose to join that battle, we were not required too by our contract.

The FRR is turning hostile to mercs. I was going to activate an event claiming the FRR’s hostility to mercs. When they were rolled as the Inner Sphere hiring entity, I would have to roll a second time, and only if I got them twice in a row would they make an offer, otherwise it would be whoever the second die roll landed on. Due to our assistance in clearing out three planets, Rasalhague, Kandis and Kempton, and our willingness to help out in battle despite not being required to by contract, this event will not apply to any unit of Kilts and Commandos.

December 7, 3034 - The Kilts company of Kilts and Commandos has arrived back at Outreach.

[Abe Sargent]

Time to switch back to the Commandos company.


June 17, 3034 - The Commandos company arrived on Outreach. Ted Izumo does a couple of recruiting sessions. His recruiting efforts fail.

Time for contracts.



Our new Merc Rolling Chart for the Inner Sphere:

Merc Rolling Chart – Mid 3030s


2 Free Worlds League
3 Duchy of Andurien
4 St. Ives Compact
5 Capellan Confederation
6 Lyran Commonwealth
7 Federated Suns
8 Free Worlds League
9 Free Rasalhague Republic
10 ComStar
11 Draconis Combine
12 Lyran Commonwealth

As you can see, I added the FRR to the list and the Duchy of Andurien got knocked down from 9 to 3, a much less likely number. The last Capellan world held by the Duchy, Palladaine, the world we once held for them, has fallen to Capellan troops. No mercenaries are crazy enough to take an offer from them, considering the weight of the Free Worlds League will eventually be brought against their wayward Duchy.

[Abe Sargent]

We get two offers. One is from a corporation that wants us for an Extraction contract. We also get an offer from a Periphery state, the Marian Hegemony, for a Guerrilla contract.

Each of these are new for us, so let’s go over them. An Extraction contact differs from an Objective Raid. The goal of an Objective Raid is a smash. The goal of an Extraction is a grab. We are charged with grabbing a person, item or cache of items that have value.

A Guerilla contract is the most challenging and dangerous mission out there. You are dropped in behind enemy lines and train guerillas, occasionally do raids, and more as needed. You are expected to operate without any support or reinforcements for long periods of time. Frankly, the fact that the periphery thinks I am going to travel a long time to do one of the most difficult contracts from one of the stingiest employers is crazy. No thanks.

Let me roll to see who my corporate employer is and where they are from.

It is a Cappellan Confederation company. Military company. Makes Battlemechs.

An old contact in the Cappellan Confederation is now working for Ceres Metals Industries, stationed on the old homeworld of Capella. Ceres makes several mechs and vehicles for the Cappellan Confederation including the House Liao exclusive Vindicator. Due to my previous association with Liao, they have offered my unit a contract.

Due to the distribution of the Helm Memory Core, a Star League Defense Force computer core found on the Marik world of Helm, by the Grey Death Legion (a premier mercenary unit) that has all SLDF LosTech encoded on it, Ceres has been working from the blueprints to make LosTech anew. However, they have been having trouble replicating some of the parts for the Medium Pulse Laser.

Ceres Metals Industries has placed various corporate spies in other companies and factories, and one has reported a case of vintage Star League era Medium Pulse Lasers on a planet deep in Steiner space. Getting actual Medium Pulse Lasers in their hands to take apart and examine would really help facilitate the process. They cannot send any units from the CCAF because the planet is far away, would be unsupported, and could be seen as an act of aggression, which is something House Liao wants to avoid right now. Therefore, they are contracting us to land on the planet, find the case of Medium Pulse Lasers, and then bring them back.

Here is the catch. Ceres Metals Industries will NOT be paying us for the retrieval of the case of MPLs. Instead, we can keep half of what the case contains, and then turn over the other half. They are sending a liaison along with us. In other words, this is more like bounty hunting than actually doing a contract.

We launch for New Kyoto, which is one jump away from major Steiner worlds like Solaris and Hesperus II.

[Abe Sargent]

July 27, 3034 - We arrive in New Kyoto. Doering Electronics is here on planet making Medium Pulse Lasers, and they occasionally use the older ones from the storage cases as samples. That’s why we were sent here. We are two jumps from the Free Worlds League border, but Marik has barely made any noise, so there are not any major troops assigned to New Kyoto. The company has a garrison of a company of mechs.

Our liaison tells us that the case is in a Doering Electronics warehouse on the outskirts of one of their industrial complexes on planet. As we begin marching towards Doering, the garrison is summoned to stop us.

We are fighting at an industrial park.


Doering Electronics Garrison

Ostscout
Shadow Hawk
Trebuchet
Commando
Awesome
Locust
Ostsol
Phoenix Hawk x2
Atlas
Javelin
Hunchback

There are three mechs made from the Ostmann factory back in the Star League era, which was destroyed in the Succession Wars. The Ostscout, Ostroc and Ostsol. Of those, the Ostroc is alright, but the Ostscout and Ostsol aren’t that good. These guys are rare, so if I can can get a chance to score one, I’ll be happy. The Ostsol is a 60 ton heavy mech with 5/8 movement, two large lasers, four medium lasers, with two facing the rear, 16 heat sinks and 9 tons of armor. That’s about three tons too light for me, because I want max armor on my 50-55-60-65 ton mechs so that they can stand up to the big boys if needed. It has enough heat sinks to fire both large lasers and not take any heat if it is standing still.

That Atlas is nasty. Both the Atlas and the Hunchback feature slow plodding mechs with solid armor and AC20s. The Atlas has a ton of other weapons at 100 tons, the 50 Hunchy has nothing else except a few backup lasers.

I am facing two assaults, one heavy, five mediums, and four lights. I’d prefer a lighter party, but I am happy with the higher end of things.

In case you forgot in the amount of time its been since I played this company, I have three assault mechs of my own, a Stalker, Awesome and Longbow, but I only have one heavy mech, the crappy Rifleman, after our Orion was destroyed in the last battle. That pilot is now at the helm of the Awesome, featuring three PPCs, 28 heat sinks, and that’s it. I roll and the Doering pilots are regular troops.

We arrive at the warehouse compounds just a few minutes before the mechs do. Good, it will give us a chance to set up and…uh oh. The doors burst out from several buildings and tanks are moving out. Our liaison did not tell us about vehicles! A company of tanks are moving out!

We have a company of vehicles here now. At the beginning of round six, the mechs will be arriving. We have to devastate the vehicles as quickly as possible if we have any chance of overcoming two companies of forces against us. I roll, and the tank garrison comes back as green. That’s a bit of a relief.

[law90026]

Grats on the salvage.

I'm assuming you're keeping the units separate so that it's easier to handle the fights? Battalion level fights would seem to be a real bitch to resolve.

[Abe Sargent]

They are. Megamek slows down the more units on the field.

[Abe Sargent]

One of our Panthers causes a building to collapse when he jumped on it. Ah well. He falls and takes some light damage to leg and arm. Ted takes out a Scorpion Light Tank on the first turn by taking out its front side. The Awesome destroys the Schrek PPC Carrier by destroying its right side. Well, that was a good first turn. We took out their most powerful tank, the Schrek, and then destroyed a light tank too. If we can keep this up, then we can eliminate most of the tanks by the time the mechs arrive. Ted’s Stalker then kicks and destroys a Condor Heavy Tank’s power plant, causing it to explode. Make it three then.

I stand up the Panther and move my men around. Ted destroys a Stalker Light Tank’s right side. Our Panther falls after taking the damage. Then Ted kicks and destroys the front side of the Galleon Light Tank. That’s four kills for Ted in two turns. Nice.

I stand the Panther back up. On this turn, we just exchange fire with various vehicles.

The RA of my Wasp is taken out on the next turn. Our Cicada takes out the Partisan Heavy tank, the other assault tank.

It’s round 5. This is the final round before the mechs arrive. We need to kill a maximum number of tanks this turn. The Longbow destroys a Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun. Destroyed the front side.

Well, the opposing mechs have arrived. I managed to take out both assault tanks, the one with the AC20, and a few minor ones here and there. I’ll try to finish some of the tanks quickly, in order to focus my fire later on more dangerous targets.

The Cicada destroys a Bulldog Medium Tank’s front section. The Awesome blows off the LL of the Trebuchet, upon which we concentrated a lot of our fire.

The Trebuchet fails to stand and falls again. Ted hits hit actuators on the LA and RA of the Trebuchet. Our Awesome hits their Javelin in its head with a PPC and the mech crumbles to the ground. One mech down.

I order the Cicada to charge the Atlas. Ted hit’s the Commando’ gyro twice, and blows off its RT and its RA falls to the ground. That’s another kill for Ted (double gyro hit). This guy is a killing machine today. The Longbow destroys the left and right arms of the Trebuchet. Their Atlas falls after taking some significant damage. The Longbow kicks and destroys a Goblin Medium Tank’s right side. The charge of the Cicada is canceled since the Atlas fell.

The Trebuchet is out of weapons except for one LRM15 kept in a torso. The Atlas is damaged. We’ve killed one mech a turn. Most of the tanks have been wiped up. They begin to get desperate. They stand their Atlas up. The Trebuchet tries to stand up, falls down, hits its gyro, and the pilot blacks out. Their Awesome hit’s the ammo in one of my Panther’s and it blows up. The pilot ejects safely. Our Phoenix Hawk kicks and destroys the rear armor of the Harasser Missile Platform. Hassan Mohommad gets a kill in his first action with us.

The 10th round arrives. It sucks that I lost a Panther, but I hope to make up for it. I order the Cicada to charge the Awesome. Ted hit’s a pair of actuators on the Atlas’s LA. Their Ostsol destroys the LL of the Cicada. It falls hard. The Hunter Light Support Tank destroys the crew of the Pike Support Vehicle, but its treads were all shot, I’ll still have to repair them. The Locust ran around behind the Ostscout and fired, hitting two gyro shots through the thin rear armor. It falls and it is out of the battle. Their Atlas kicks the LT off our Cicada and the LA is laying on the ground. Their Awesome misses a kick and falls. Their Trebuchet pilot wakes back up.

I eject the Cicada pilot. The mech is toast for now. The Trebuchet pilot blacks out again after standing and falling. Their Atlas opens up the arm on the Locust and hit two actuators and a machine gun. My favorite Stalker pilot, Ted Izumo, hit’s the Atlas in the head and destroys it. Dead Atlas. However, I savaged it before it fell. LT Destroyed, LA fell off. 2 hits on engine from Griffin. Hit on gyro from Longbow. Their Hunchback hit’s the Stinger with an AC20 in the LA, blowing it and the LT off,a nd going critical on the center torso and hitting a gyro. One hit did all that. The Stinger falls. The Stinger is kicked by the Hunchy in the CT and that section is destroyed. The Stinger is possibly recoverable, but gone for now.

Our Longbow hit’s the foot actuator of their Awesome. As a consequence, it falls again. Our Longbow is out of LRM ammo. Just trying to zap people with its Medium lasers now. Our Awesome destroys the RT of their Awesome, and the RA drops too. That’s two PPCs down. The Longbow kicks and destroys the RL of their Locust.

Their Phoenix Hawk gets lucky with its large laser and sheers the head off our Longbow. It falls silently to the ground and Garman Lopez, a veteran pilot, has died. Ted hits two more leg actuators on their Awesome. The Rifleman hits their Awesome’s engine twice. Then our Awesome destroys its LL. It falls, bang. It is internal everywhere, there is not a section that has external armor except in its rear. It is only missing an arm, torso section and leg right now, however.

The Hunter tank is out of ammo so I order it to flee. I try to run my Jav variant behind a Phoenix Hawk and skid right off the map. It’s gone for the scenario. Their Locust on the ground tries to get up, fails, and falls back down, blacking out. Ted is out of LRM ammo in his Stalker. The Rifleman is out of AC5 ammo. Ted destroys the RL of the Awesome. With both legs blown out, it’s not going anywhere. Our Griffin’s LA is destroyed. Their Ostsol is taking some heat, so it falls under the assault. Our Phoenix Hawks kicks and hit’s the hip actuator on the Shadow Hawk. It trips and falls, injuring its AC5.

Their Hunchy charges my Awesome out of desperation and fires the final shot in its AC20. It blasts through the injured LL of the Awesome and our mech falls. Our Phoenix Hawk kicks and destroys the Shadow Hawk’s RL. I run with my Panther to get behind a Phoenix Hawk, and it also slips and slides off the map. Gone for the battle. Been unlucky with that. Their Shadow Hawk hits two jump jets in our Phoenix Hawk. Our Phoenix Hawk responds, destroying the SH’s RA. After taking a ton of damage, their Ostsol falls and hits its gyro once and engine twice. The Phoenix Hawk kicks and destroys the Shadow Hawk’s LA.

Their Phoenix Hawk blows off its right arm when it tries to land on a building, and it collapses beneath it. The LA is laying on the ground (one of those “limb blows off” criticals). Our Awesome destroys the LA of the Ostsol.

Our Griffin destroys the RA of the Ostsol. The Motorized Rifle Platoon kills the crew of the Vedette, taking out the final tank.

The following turn the Motorized Rifle Platoon kills the Ostsol by destroying its LT and CT. Our Griffin shears off a Phoenix Hawk’s head. That was the good Phoenix hawk. It falls down. Two more mechs dead.

And with that, they radio us to concede. They withdraw and the warehouse is ours.

[Abe Sargent]

We got a ton of vehicle salvage, which is good because I lost some mechs to get it. Normally, vehicles blow up or get destroyed beyond repair, but when their side is destroyed, there is a very good chance of recovery (Not guaranteed, but a good chance, I only need to roll a 5). Vehicles are fragile but recoverable as long as you don’t destroy it through a fuel tank rupture or power plant explosion.

We open up the warehouse and find several cases. In one are the aged Medium Pulse Lasers. We take the rest for our unit and leave.

Salvage:

Scorpion Light Tank

Schrek PPC Carrier

Strilker Light Tank

Galleon Light Tank

Partisan Heavy Tank

Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun

Bulldog Medium Tank

Goblin Medium Tank

Pike Support Vehicle - fix treads

Vedette Medium Tank



Awesome, LL, RL, RT - All PPCs hit. Engine x2

Ostscout, Gyrox2, engine

Trebuchet, LL, RA, LA, gyro

Locust - RL

Javelin - H

Commando, gyrox2, LT

Atlas, H, gyro, enginex2, LT

Stinger - LA, LT, CT?

Ostsol - CT? LA, RA, LT


Parts:

Panther RA
LRM10
Phoenix Hawk LA


To Be Fixed:

Wasp RA

Cicada LL, LT

Locust two actuators, destroyed MG

Longbow, H

Griffin LA

Awesome LL

Phoenix Hawk two jump jets

[Abe Sargent]

Two green vehicle crews are willing to join us in case I am interested. None of the MW’s were interested in doing so.


I roll to determine how many MPL’s were in the case. Normally, you’d find 20 in a case, but Doering had used up several. Let me roll. I rolled 11 MPLs. They get six, and we get five.

Medium Pulse Laser - One of the LosTech weapons, a MPL weighs twice as much as a Medium Laser and has 33% less range (2/4/6) and makes four heat instead of three. However, it fires at -2 accuracy, making it much easier to hit with them, and does 20% more damage.

I can try to unload these on the market or use them to splice onto my mechs.

We also got three other crates from the warehouse. Let me look up and see what Doering makes on New Kyoto, hold on. They all have communications and tacking systems for mechs. Worth 50k each, and there are five per box. That means we salvaged 750k of communications systems which I will sell for 650k on the market.


Since we are not under a real contract, there is no support, salvage rights, transport reimbursement, and so forth. So we can keep all salvage but we have to pay everything out of pocket.

Alright, let’s do some math:

To repair all tanks (Armor and ammo): 650,000

To repair our mechs: 1,810,000

To rearm and refit our mechs: 920,000 (Not including Stinger)

To repair, refit and rearm salvaged mechs:

950,000 - Awesome
1,200,000 for Ostscout
630,000 for Trebuchet
180,000 for Locust
440,000 for Javelin
835,000 for Commando
1,460,000 for Atlas
1,165,000 for Stinger
1,780,000 for Ostsol

Total Cost to Fix all Salvaged Mechs: 8,640,000

Other Costs:

450,000 to get there
625,000 to get back (we had to rent a bigger DropShip to carry all of this stuff)
181,463 upkeep on unit

I have to pay these costs first. I also pay the costs to refit and fix our mechs.

I then sell the communications gear for 650k.

Now I need to get a few mechs up and running to replace those damaged. I fix up the Locust, Javelin, Trebuchet and Awesome.

Current War Chest: 514,878

[Abe Sargent]

EXPERIENCE - Ted Izumo got seven kills in the action, and that takes him to eleven. His piloting skill increases by one and he is now officially elite.

[Abe Sargent]

September 10, 3034 - We arrive back in Outreach and our liaison continues on to Ceres Metals Industries with the six Medium Pulse Lasers. I’m not going to do anything with our five MPLs for now, just sit on them.


Ted makes an executive decision. The creation of the Kilts and Commandos Tank Company. We move Erik Jannarsson and the Hunter Light Support Tank to the new company.

Ted begins to recruit dispossessed vehicle crew. He hires an elite dispossessed named Sun Xiang to supervise the unit. The other Sergeants are veteran Monique D’Avignon and Betty Victor. We hire a lot of dispossessed between Ted and Sun Xiang. Most are vets, a few regulars and elites tossed it.

October 10, 3034 - After spending a month recruiting, and we get 1,000,000 in C-Bills from the Kilts Company as seed money for our new command. Sun Xiang begins by trying to find a good contract for the vehicle company. They get two offers. One contract is from a corporation who wants Sun Xiang to participate in combat in an Objective Raid, but I see this company as more of a company that sits back and draws a salary while letting the mechs do the work. Luckily, we got a contract from the Free Worlds League for a garrison contract.

[Abe Sargent]

Sun has 55 points for negotiation. He puts up length of service. They offer two years.

The FWL negotiator puts up support and offers straight support, at 70% which pulls out ten points from the pool.

Sun puts up salvage rights. They offer no salvage, Sun manages to counter with Exchange rights (Exchange rights is like Shared rights only there is no 50/50, the FWL gets all the material and the mercs get that amount of money in Exchange). This costs five points, putting us at 40.

They put up remuneration and offer it to us, pulling out another 10 points.

Sun puts up transport. They offer 40% reimbursement and we gain 15 points. 45 points remaining.

They put up salary and pull 25 points to offer a 3.4 modifier.

Sun rolls with the final item, Command rights. They offer House command, and Sun accepts, adding 5 points.

He finishes with 25 points, so the company will get a 12.5% signing bonus of the full salary value of the contract. I can calculate that now.

Salary is two years. Value is 1,099,837. Bonus is 137,439, which we get right now.

They will be garrisoning the Marik world of Merak, a non-descript little world five jumps away. Sun Xiang’s company lands on November 24, 3034, and will be on planet until November 24, 3036.

[Abe Sargent]

The Commando Company, led by Ted Izumo also looks for a contract. They get two offers.

Offer #1: The Lyran Commonwealth wants the company for an Objective Raid.

Offer #2: The Capellan Confederation is also offering an Objective Raid.

The Capellan Target is the Duchy of Andurien, hitting one of their worlds as revenge. Since the decree went out from the Mariks not to take any systems in the Duchy or the FWL would consider it an act of war, the Caps have to console themselves with the occasional raid.

The Lyran Target is a planet in the newly formed Free Rasalhague Republic. Although they are distancing themselves from the Ronin Wars, they did lost some planets to the new FRR. As such, they want some installation that was once theirs destroyed so the Rasalhague forces won’t use it against them later.

The irony is that both targets are against a minor Inner Sphere power we were aligned with for a major conflict. I feel a little hinky about attacking either this soon after working for them in their plights against the great houses.

I decide to wait a month. Ted can use the time recruiting dispossessed warriors for the unit. Then perhaps a better contract will come down the pike.

[Abe Sargent]

November 10, 3034 - Ted recruits one elite and one veteran dispossessed.

Meet:

Aaron Cohen, elite, assigned to Longbow

Thad Karamanlis, veteran, assigned to Trebuchet.

There is also an unmanned Locust but Ted can only make two recruit rolls per session and was unable to find a third dispossessed MechWarriors.

[Abe Sargent]

New offers:

Offer #1: Federated Suns, Objective raid

Offer #2: St Ives Compact, Cadre

A Cadre contract lasts between six and twelve months and is training of local militia. That’s it, you aren’t even contracted to fight against any attackers (unless you also do a security or garrison contract). It’s considered the lightest possible duty for a merc.

I like the combat. I set up a meeting with the Davion negotiator.

We have 74 points in the negotiation.

Ted puts up salvage. He wants to take care of it right up front. They offer Exchange and he counters with Shared. 64 points

They offer command rights and give us full independent commands. 54 points.

Ted tosses up length. They offer five months, he drops them to two. 39 points.

They put up remuneration and offer it. Pulling out another 10 points. 29 points.

Ted puts up transport. They offer 40% reimbursement and Ted accepts. 44 points.

They offer support rights. They offer straight support at 50%. Ted switches to Battle Loss Compensation at 50%. 9 points.

Ted puts up salary. They offer 2.8 multiplier, taking out all of our points.


Target?

Draconis Combine.

Planet?

Sulafat - Three jumps into Drac space from the Fed Suns border. It is seven jumps away from Outreach., two away from the Free Rasalhague Republic. Let me roll up a target. It’s a boring world, so no factories, or anything like that.

Davion has word that an experimental new Draconis Combine design, cased on the old Charger, is being field tested on Sulafat. He wants us to land on the planet, find the experimental new design, and then bring it back for study. One of the worst kept secrets is that Hanse Davion sees the Ronin Wars as a sign of the continued weakness of the DCMS. They were decimated in the Fourth Succession War and now 20% have defected and the rest are fighting among themselves. Hanse is obviously preparing for war, and he wants us to find the Hatamato, destroy it, and bring the pieces back to him.

He has to send a mercenary unit to get it. With the Ronin Wars winding down, he needs their cover and confusion to get the mech without anyone knowing it was him. It has to be a smaller merc unit, not one of the big ones like Kell Hounds or Wolf’s Dragoons or Grey Death Legion. Those would be too obvious. Therefore, he is contracting our Company Two, a small unit of mechs designed to sneak in, grab the mech, and burn out before we encounter too much resistance.

If Inner Sphere military technology were on a parabola, there would be a centuries-long bottom at the base of the parabola, but we are beginning to get out. The discovered Helm Memory Core is beginning to yield results in the testing factories. In 3010, something happened that had not happened in over 100 years. The first new mech design was introduced, the Merlin. Since then, slowly, new designs have been making their mark. The Lyran Commonwealth debuted the Hatchetman in 3023. The Fed Suns introduced the Wolfhound in 3030. The Cataphract was designed by House Liao and put out a lot of designs for them before the planet was captured by House Davion, who is now making them for themselves.

The fact that the Draconis Combine is testing a new mech design is nothing unusual. However, this new mech, based on the Charger chassis, is supposedly based in part on LosTech from the Helm Memory Core.

[Abe Sargent]

December 29, 3034 - Ted pays some extra money for transport in order to get on a merchant DropShip instead of the normal commercially available military DropShips. They land in an industrial DropPort on the planet, and no one knows that Ted’s mechs are on board. Hearing that Braham Essex was heading back to Outreach, Ted left three mechs back on Outreach along with their MechWarriors, and is only taking twelve mechs with him. Staying behind are the unmanned Locust, Trebuchet and Phoenix Hawk, plus all of the damaged mechs not fixed.

The twelve MechWarriors and infantry spread out, heading to various taverns and such.

This is a good planet for Theodore Kurita to have as his experimental unit. He has a regiment of mechs here, all manned. They are very loyal to him, so he doesn’t have to worry about them going off and joining the ronin cause. They are close enough to be of use in the Ronin Wars if needed, but also far away and on a minor planet.

January 3, 3035 - One of our soldiers has overheard some of their MechWarriors talking about a new mech design. Their lips were loosened by alcohol. The mech designs are supposedly right near here.

January 5, 3035 - It is nighttime, and we suspect that the opponent is likely to be caught off guard. Combat is harder now, with all shots getting +2 to their target number. I order the men to warm up the mechs and the DropShip crew to get it ready for take off, in case we are fleeing from the Dracs.

We head out, intent to find a company of mechs on patrol through the industrial area of the planet. I send out my scout mechs to try to find their location. Anna Cafincelli in the Cicada radios back that she has made contact with twelve mechs. I hear weapons fire, but she escapes unscathed, protected by he speed, the hills, and the poor accuracy of long range combined with night operations.

The troops are ordered to advance, and then Ted makes a terrible discovery. There are twelve mechs on patrol, no question. But they are ALL the new experimental mech. As he sees their formation come around a hill, he is forced to make a decision.

We could push in, and fight twelve assault mechs, all with level two equipment and lily to have top of the line pilots. Or we can retreat.

Ted is no fool. This was not what we were contracted for. He immediately orders a retreat. Cover fire with energy weapons is laid down, although few hit either side as the range and darkness prevent deadlier aim.

He radios the DropShip and tells them he is coming in hot. They load up, and the advancing Dracs would rather let the enemy go than risk damage to the valuable industrial infrastructure.

Two tons of armor is needed to replace the minor damage dealt at extreme range.

This is a failed mission.

[Abe Sargent]

February 18, 3035 - We land back at Outreach. We forward some pictures of the unknown mech to the Fed Suns. A look at the financial implications of the journey:

700,000 there
700,000 back
210,168 upkeep of unit.
20,000 armor


560,000 transport reimbursement
10,000 support
12,742 remuneration

No Salary - did not complete mission.

Total Loss: 1,047,926

[Tellistto]

Oh, that would have hurt to face 12 assault mechs, smart smart move to back out of that one, even with the loss and failed mission.

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Oh, that would have hurt to face 12 assault mechs, smart smart move to back out of that one, even with the loss and failed mission.

Tell

Yeah. I make a roll in every mission where we are given intel to see how true it is. Then if it is false, I roll to see how far off it is. The Davions thought there was one Hatamato made. Apparently, they were really, really wrong.

[Abe Sargent]

December 7, 3034 - The Kilts company arrives back at Outreach from their extended tour of duty on retainer for the Free Rasalhague Republic. They arrive and Braham decides to split forces to make a third mech company. He will transfer over Stacey Stowers and her Wasp. The Awesome will stay in Company One. The Phoenix Hawk in the Anvil Lance is transferred to the Thunder Lance. This will give the Kilts Company just one assault mech.

The Kilts Company is now rated B on the Dragoon’s Mercenary Ratings, and the average experience level is veteran. Right now, let’s see what kind of pilot Braham can get for the Awesome.

Braham can make three recruit attempts and Adele one.


Mechs with Pilots and ready to Go:

Phoenix Hawk
Trebuchet
Wasp

Mechs Ready to Go:

Locust
Wasp
Grand Dragon
Ostscout
Commando
Flea
Trebuchet

Mechs to be Fixed:


1,200,000 for Ostscout
835,000 for Commando
1,460,000 for Atlas
1,165,000 for Stinger
1,780,000 for Ostsol


Vet dispossessed
Elite dispossessed
Elite dispossessed
Elite dispossessed

Well, that was good. Braham taps one of the elite dispossessed for the Awesome variant in his unit. The others will be assigned to Company Three. Meet:

Edgar Lopez, elite, Awesome 8T, Kilts Company

Cristina Fernandez, veteran, Trebuchet, 3rd company

Elizabeth Smythe, elite, 3rd company

Jason Thomas, elite, 3rd company

[Abe Sargent]

I have not assigned the pair of elites yet. Elizabeth Smythe will be the company’s lieutenant. Elizabeth, as the leader of a unit, can make one roll per recruiting session for her unit. She rolls and gets a veteran dispossessed MW. Meet Janice Flanders, she is assigned the Grand Dragon.

I order the extra Wasp, Stinger and Flea sold. We have too many light mechs for my taste. I make 4,200,000 on their sales. With that money, I fix the Atlas and Ostsol and give the Atlas to Elizabeth Smythe as her command mech. She is very happy (as any MechWarrior would be to get the daddy of the field).

We stay here for a month to do some more recruiting, and to put the Medium Pulse Lasers on some mechs.

Next month’s recruiting:

Braham:

Maeve Vega, regular, Catapult, 3rd Company
Orpah Jones, elite, dispossessed, 3rd Company assigned to Ostscout and promoted to Sergeant
Lois Cooper, veteran, Hatchetman, 3rd Company
Chiang Xe, elite, dispossessed, 3rd Company, assigned to Locust
John Abram, green, Griffin, 3rd Company

I give the Ostsol to Sergeant Jason Thomas

[Abe Sargent]

The final picture of Company Three:


Looks like the chart I had didn't come out. Let me write this up for you quickly.


Anvil Lance:

Lieutenant Elizabeth Smythe, Atlas
Janice Flanders, Grand Dragon
Lois Cooper, Hatchetman
John Abram, Griffin


Hammer Lance:

Sergeant Jason Thomas, Ostsol
Thad Karamanlis, Trebuchet
Cristina Fernendez, Trebuchet
Maeve Vega, Catapult


Thunder Lance:

Sergeant Orpah Jones, Ostscout
Hassan Mohommad, Phoenix Hawk
Chiang Xe, Locust
Stacey Stowers, Wasp

[Abe Sargent]

Now I am going to use my month in Outreach for fixing up a mech or two with LosTech.

Company Three is now officially named the Trinity Company.

Because Braham Essex is now in charge of four companies, three mechs, he is promoted to Captain.

Trinity Company is looking pretty good, with an average experience level of veteran. With a solid number of good mechs, like an Atlas, two Trebuchets, and a Catapult, it looks pretty capable.

[Abe Sargent]

I’m going to edit the Phoenix Hawk 1D variant:

I want to pull off the Large Laser, two medium lasers, and replace with three medium pulse lasers and a ton of armor. Here we go, let’s start with the LA ML, pulling it off, period. That works.

Now I want to pull the LL and ML out of the RA. That works.

Normally I’d just replace them in the arms, but I don’t want to lose my LosTech by getting am arm shot off.

I put one MPL in the Center Torso. The Original P. Hawk design calls for a ton of Mg ammo here, so we are off by one degree (tonnage) but not the other (critical). This works.

Now I want to put a MPL in the Head. This is a new placement. Off by two degrees, I order my techs to take two weeks with this change (giving me +2 to the roll). It succeeds.

Finally, I want to put a MPL in the RT. This is a new placement. I order my techs to take another two weeks (the full month taken up by these changes). This works.

Adding a ton of armor to the mech is easy to balance out. Our final Design:

Phoenix Hawk 1Abe

9 tons of armor (max amount)
6/9/6 movement
12 heat sinks
3 MPL


This allows us to jump behind other mechs, and despite the big hit for jumping, have accuracy in the back attack. I decide to swap Griffin and Phoenix Hawk pilots. The new Phoenix Hawk pilot is Justine Dempsey, who is 3/5 as a pilot. Samia Oudghiri, a 4/5 pilot is moving to the Griffin. Thus, our LosTech mech is in the hand of a better gunner.

[Abe Sargent]

We still have

1,200,000 for Ostscout
835,000 for Commando
1,165,000 for Stinger

In the bays. I order them sent to our home base in Epsilon Eridani.


Alright, let’s roll up some contracts for the Kilts and Trinity Companies.


January 10, 3035 -

Kilts Company:

Offer #1: ComStar want us for a Defensive Contract

Offer #2: Fed Suns want an Objective Raid.


I’ll take, hmm. Defensive Campaign Contracts are tough. Typically if an asset is under assault and extra forces are needed to shore up defense, that a Relief Contract. Instead, a Defensive Campaign is expecting you to fight a delaying campaign against attackers until reinforcements can arrive. You are operating without supply, reinforcement, with the intent to delay harass and tie down your opponent until another can arrive. I can’t imagine doing that for a campaign. Ick.

So I’m going with the Fed Suns most likely. They want us to attack the Caps. Again. We’ve attacked the Caps before for Davion.

They want us to land and attack a small military outpost on No Return, another minor system among many. No Return is near the Davion-Capellan border, but with their military infrastructure still near the Andurien-Capellan Border and working to subdue minor riots and terrorism in the areas taken by the Duchy and recently recaptured, their defenses are disrupted, and lighter except on planets anticipated as targets for any new strike by House Davion. No Return is not expected to be a target of an attack, so it is lightly defended. Davion wants us to land, destroy any defenders, and take out the military outpost. They hope that by having us strike at that planet, Capellan Confederation Armed Forces (CCAF) will have to garrison it with more troops, thus pulling them out from others.

We’ll take it. Time for negotiation.