Chapter 3

Mission 9

Convoy Ambush
Planet: Untron

Lance:
Poltergeist – Panther
Dekker – Vindicator
Behemoth – Shadow Hawk
Medusa – Centurion

We had a 14 day trip to a new planet, Untron, for this contract. We were busy with general maintenance on our mechs, helping out the techs and training in the sims. That’s not to say we didn’t have time to relax and play around.

We didn’t have the Blackjack for this mission because Yang still had a lot of repairs to make to it’s internal structure because Behemoth overheated it last mission. He repaired the Vindicator in time but the Blackjack is taking longer.

This is a night drop so we will have to depend on our sensors a lot more. Visuals will not be too effective. What I wouldn’t give for some of the legendary technology the Star League had. Night vision sensors that made the night as good as a cloudy day. Ah, but if wishes were mechs we would be sitting in Atlases.

We detected a Javelin, Striker and 2 Scorpions escorting 4 APC’s. The convoy was racing away from us as we dropped in and the defenders were between us and our main targets. Not good.

I opened up on a Striker with my Panther and the PPC blew right through it’s front armour destroying it. Behemoth destroyed a Scorpion with a salvo. Medusa opened up on the other Scorpion and destroyed it.

The Javelin moved up and I damaged it with a salvo. Not enough to take it down though. The convoy is moving fast and we are caught by the guards. We have to break through fast.

Behemoth opened up on the damaged Javelin and destroyed it but they had delayed us for long enough and the convoy was able to escape to their dropship and we could only look on in helpless frustration as they lifted off.

We failed again and got bugger all. After we got picked up and were debriefed, we worked out that their guard lance was proficient in what they had to do in getting the convoy away. We on the other hand got caught up by the guards and forgot what the main target was.

It’s all fine to destroy the guards but when the target escapes we lose reputation, money and salvage.

More training and sims. We have not been lucky with these convoy ambushes so we have to make a plan for the next one.

Mission 10

Planet: Lyreton
Assassination of a Capellan Target

Lance:
Poltergeist – Shadow Hawk
Dekker – Vindicator
Behemoth – Blackjack
Medusa – Centurion

We had a 14 day trip to Lyreton for an assassination mission against a Capellan mechwarrior who had been found to be moving through the outback of Lyreton. The target is vulnerable and we have a chance to take him down.

We dropped into the forest and started moving towards the area where the target was suspected. We detected a few fast moving targets that are moving towards us and they are light targets from the scan returns. They shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

As an enemy Spider stepped into the open, I opened up on it and damaged it. Behemoth opened up from her position and damaged it severely by removing it’s left arm and torso. Dekker attacked it too and removed it’s right arm and torso. But it still has it’s medium lasers in it’s centre torso so it’s combat effective even with all that damage. But that pilot should be badly injured.

A Striker tank moved into view and I opened up on it, damaging it but it is still going. Behemoth opened up on a Galleon tank that was trying to flank us doing a bit of damage but it is still moving. Dekker killed the poor Spider. It took a lot of damage and shows how tough battlemechs can be. He also did a bit of damage to the Striker but it is still combat effective.

A second Galleon came into view as Medusa moved up so he opened up on both of the Galleons. The new one was destroyed but the first just took some more damage. I skipped up to the damaged Galleon and stomped it into the ground. But a cloud of missiles from the forest did a bit of damage to my Panther. The main target has come into range even though we can’t see it.

Behemoth moved up and got LOS on the target and found that they are piloting a Griffin GRF-1N. They are armed with a PPC and a LRM10. Nasty. She killed the Striker with some great shots.

Medusa and Dekker opened up on the Griffin and did good damage but it’s still going. We all started ganging up on it in turn, damaging shots from my Panther then the Blackjack followed by Dekker in the Vindicator and then we had a stroke of luck. The Griffin pilot lost balance and it crashed to the ground.

This was a fantastic bit of luck because Medusa could take his time to aim carefully and try to hit it in the centre torso. Unfortunately he didn’t take it out.

The Griffin pilot had enough and without their guards, decided to run away and live to fight another day. Yeah right, like that is going to happen.

I jumped into position and did a pin point strike to the Griffin doing severe damage to the mech and ripping off the right arm and torso. This was beautiful because it means that I removed all it’s offensive ranged weapons in one attack.

Behemoth and Dekker opened up on the Griffin doing more damage but the pilot was still good enough to turn and start sprinting away. It was left up to Medusa to fire the finishing salvo and we completed this mission.

We radioed the dropship with the success message and told them to bring the salvage teams. We want as much of that Griffin as we could get.

Back at base we got paid and sorted our salvage and handed over a piece of the Griffin and part of the Spider for Yang to store until we get enough to rebuild them. A very successful mission and a boost to our reputation.

After a bit of rest and relaxation, we hit the sims to keep improving our piloting and gunnery and work on the specialities we have developed.

Mission 11

Planet: Lyreton
Pirate Ambush