Chapter 9

Woken up to an emergency in the night

As we were waiting for repairs to be finished, we were training and relaxing and dealing with the million and one things needed to keep a mercenary company going.

Darius woke me up just after 1am to report a medical emergency. The Med-techs reported that Hammer had slipped into a coma and his vital signs were slowly dropping. Our med-bays were good for the area where we are but they are not the same as a full hospital on a planet in the Inner Sphere or major periphery factions.

We couldn’t afford another loss so soon after losing Sulphur and Nekomata and I had to make the choice. We could either just look after him while his life slipped away or we could fight for him and do whatever we could. And that is what I told the med-techs.

I yelled at everyone that they were to do whatever they could and there was no limit to what they could use, and they jumped into action. Hell I even yelled at Hammer in his bed through the glass.

We spent hours waiting and praying for Hammer and finally after too many hours had passed, the news came out that his vital signs had stabilised and were getting stronger. He would be fine though he would have to spend a bit longer in the Med-bay before getting back into a cockpit.

A well deserved celebration happened when the news spread through the ship and the Med-techs were the heroes of the day. But I had to get Darius to place a large order to resupply our Med-bay as the Med-techs went through a lot of supplies and they would be low on needed supplies for a week or so. But it was well worth it.

The company’s morale is boosted from the good news about Hammer and we will have to take advantage while it lasts.

Mission 29
Planet: Panzyr
Mission: Insurrection Interception

Lance:
Poltergeist – Atlas
Medusa – Dragon
Vonkobra – Vindicator
Hacker – Blackjack

Well this mission is to take out a Taurian Concordat mechwarrior who is causing trouble on planet and their guards. The last known location was in a desert so we would have to worry about our heat when fighting.

We dropped into the desert and started off towards the last known location. We were in a loose combat line and scanning for targets.

Hacker got two light mechs on his scanner and jumped up on a hill to get into a better position. Vonkobra jumped up to join him and both pilots braced their mechs in readiness for combat. Medusa moved forward and braced the Dragon while I moved more towards the west as I moved up.

A Locust moved into position and fired into Medusa’s Dragon for slight damage. Vonkobra jumped closer and into position to fire into the Locust and ripped straight through it’s left torso and turning that and the arm into scrap. Hacker moved up and spotted a Javelin 10F to the east in a valley. He fired on it and did some damage. Medusa sent a flight of missiles into the Javelin for light damage and some good damage into the Locust. I aimed at the Locust and with a full salvo from the Atlas I totally obliterated it, killing the poor pilot.

The Javelin got a part of Hacker’s Blackjack but not that bad. Hacker fired back and ripped it’s right arm off and sending it flying. That’s always funny to see. Vonkobra aimed at the Javelin carefully and sent most of his shots into and through it’s centre torso and destroying the fusion engine. Another combat kill.

We all started moving towards the target and detected it finally. It is a medium battlemech and should not be much trouble. Hacker got a sensor lock on the target and detected a Kintaro. A 55T medium mech armed with LRM5, 3xSRM6, 2xM-Lasers. A nasty short ranged brawler. The Kintaro moved closer and we happy to see that. Since we didn’t have direct line of sight at the moment, we would have to send in our damage on indirect arcs. Which is what Vonkobra did and something hit the head because we saw it stumble a bit. Medusa added more damage with indirect missiles and I moved my Atlas more towards the west flank and sent a indirect LRM20 present into them as well.

The Kintaro pilot moved closer to the ridge to try and hide in it’s sensor shadow. Hacker did a good job of getting a good sensor lock again and we knew exactly where it was. Vonkobra was able to find a position to get a direct target lock and sent some good damage into it. Medusa and I, who were down in the valley to the west of the ridge were able to move further to the west flank and get target locks. We also added decent damage to the target who was now starting to feel the weight of fire.

The Kintaro pilot realised they were out of their depth and started to retreat back north. Hacker jumped close and got a good lock and got an ammo explosion in the left torso that blew it and the arm into scrap. They felt that one. Vonkobra added to the damage but it was Medusa who incapacitated the enemy pilot when his damage hit the cockpit and killed them.

No more targets on scanners and we had another success on the books.

We called in the salvage teams and they were able to salvage the complete Kintaro and Yang should be able to get it fixed and ready for the next mission.

Refits, upgrades and an offer.

Once we got back on the Argo, Yang got his hands on the Kintaro and decided that with some minor modifications, it would be a fantastic addition to our line up. Drop out the LRM5 and a SRM6 launcher and add in a LRM10 launcher and we have a better balance of long and short range fire. It is also better with the heat balance.

Our next mission will be back on Weldry so off we go.

During our trip to Weldry, Dr. Murad reported that she could boost the output of the Argo’s secondary fusion reactors and thus reducing the travel time between planets and jump points by about 20%. So a 5 days trip would be 4 days afterwards.

It should take her roughly 15 days so that will be fine because we will be 23 days to Weldry.

A few days into our trip, Medusa came to my office and showed me an offer he received from a famous mercenary company, the Grey Death Legion and it’s commander, Grayson Carlyle. It seems that Grayson heard of Medusa and had sent an offer of employment to him. They were also offering a 10,000 Cbill poaching bonus to our company to sweeten the deal.

I had heard of the Grey Death and they were a good company and had grown from small beginnings to be a company to be reckoned with. But aside from that I didn’t know too much else so I advised Medusa not to make any quick decisions and to come back tomorrow with their decision.

Medusa was waiting for me in the morning and told me that they sent a message to Grayson thanking them for their offer but they would be staying with us. I was relived but didn’t let it show as I thanked Medusa for telling me what they decided.

Dr. Murad finished her upgrades and we call feel the additional boost the engines were able to put out with the increased power. This will make travel a bit faster and save money. Always a good thing.

Mission 30
Planet: Weldry
Mission: Thorn in the Side

Lance:
Poltergeist – Atlas
Medusa – Dragon
Vonkobra – Kintaro
Sonic – Vindicator

This mission was an assassination mission against a Directorate pilot in a nice cold polar sector of the planet. We were dropped into the hills and started off towards the suspected locations of the enemy.

We spotted a couple mechs on the scanners, a medium and a light mech. Sonic moved up and spotted a Javelin. It was in ramshackle condition with barely any armour on it. The damage dealt was a lot more serious than it would normally be due to how much armour was missing. Vonkobra added to the damage and then an unknown mech sent in a flight of missiles to damage Sonic’s Vindicator. A Hunchback moved into sight and sent some laser damage into Sonic. Luckily the AC20 missed. Medusa split fire between the two and damaged both the Hunchback and Javelin. The Hunchback was just as ramshackle so we are looking at an easy mission so far. I got my Atlas into position and sent a salvo into it destroying the left torso and setting off the AC ammo. This destroyed the left arm as well and with that, the AC20 was useless and it was down to a medium laser and small laser to fight with.

The Javelin pilot decided Sonic deserved some damage and she lost some armour. Sonic got a Commando on her scanner and it too was in poor condition. Fielding mechs with only about 25% max armour is not the best way to win a battle. She fired on the Javelin and destroyed the right arm. An unknown mech sent a flight of missiles into Vonkobra for minor damage. We detected reinforcements coming in. Another two mechs to add to the enemy’s list. Vonkobra fired first at the Hunchback dealing moderate damage and then sent the rest of the salvo into the Javelin. But he was lucky that some stray shots missed and went into the Hunchback and incapacitated the pilot taking the Hunchback out of the battle. A flight of missiles came in on Medusa from over the hill to the east. Medusa moved up and spotted a Cicada CDA-2A. He then split his fire between the Cicada, which suffered minor damage, and the Javelin which lost it’s right torso, left torso and left arm. I got into range of the Commando and did serious damage to it but it was still standing.

Sonic took advantage of the amount of damage dealt to the Commando and Javelin and killed both mechs by splitting fire between them. A Firestarter came into view and fired on Vonkobra but missed with everything. Vonkobra fired back at the Firestarter and did moderate damage to the ramshackle mech. The two unknown mechs fired on Vonkobra and Medusa but they only took minor damage from the missiles. Medusa sent a salvo into the Firestarter and ripped it’s left leg off allowing me to aim carefully and kill the mech with a good salvo.

The Cicada pilot was not happy and sprinted around the hill to the east and got into the rear of our lance and couldn’t fire on anyone. Sonic turned towards the Cicada and ripped it’s right arm off in an explosion of flame and shrapnel. The unknown sent another flight of missiles into Vonkobra’s mech. Again. Vonkobra turned to bring the Cicada under fire and disabled it’s right leg sending it to the ground in a cloud of dust. Medusa was able to move up into the pass to the north and spotted a Vindicator and Centurion. They were the sources of the missiles. Angling his Dragon he sent damage into the Cicada and Vindicator. I added more damage into the Vindicator who then sent a salvo into Medusa’s Dragon.

Sonic got an angle on the Vindicator and fired at it and the Cicada. She missed the Cicada but got a good critical hit on the PPC of the Vindicator. The Centurion was in a perfect position to fire into the rear of Medusa’s Dragon and the pilot did critical damage. Yang will not be happy to repair it. Vonkobra split fire between the Cicada, minor damage, and then killing the Vindicator with some lucky hits. The Cicada damaged Sonic and then Medusa turned around and sent moderate damage into the Centurion. I walked my Atlas into range of the Centurion and at optimal range for my weapons I sent an alpha-strike into the Centurion and ripped it’s right torso and arm off completely.

The Centurion fired back into my Atlas for minor damage. Sonic fired at the Cicada and destroyed it. Vonkobra damaged the Centurion and then Medusa followed up with a salvo that ripped the left leg, arm and torso off the Centurion. The damage done was so much that it incapacitated the pilot taking the mech out of the battle.

We consolidated our combat line and started moving towards the last detected location of the main target. With all the guards and reinforcements down, we will have an easier time taking the target out. We spotted the target on our scanners and started moving forward carefully and bracing for when combat starts. The target was a piloting a heavy battlemech.

Medusa got a target lock on a Thunderbolt TDR-5SS and sent in some missiles for minor paint damage. We all got into position to fire on the Thunderbolt and sent in salvos of whatever we could and the Thunderbolt pilot had to deal with what we sent in.

Our medium mechs got into position and sent even more damage into the Thunderbolt and after Sonic, Vonkobra and then Medusa finished the Thunderbolt pilot sent some damage back at Medusa. Then it was my time to deal some damage to the target.

Sonic was lucky with her shots and got a damaging blow to it’s head and rattling the pilot. Vonkobra then followed up and also rattled the pilot with some more damage to the head of the Thunderbolt. The pilot is not happy with that damage from the incoming fire. Medusa added more damage to the target and they returned the favour with moderate damage back to their Dragon. I moved closer and sent a salvo into the target.

The Thunderbolt is a heavy mech and capable of absorbing a lot of damage but when it is outnumbered 4 to 1, even the largest mechs will fall.

Sonic sent more damage into it and then Vonkobra followed up with a salvo of damage that ripped it’s left leg off and left the left arm as hanging scrap. The Thunderbolt pilot tried to hit Sonic but missed with everything and then Medusa gave the coup de gras and killed the target.

With no more targets on the scanners and the target destroyed we called in the dropship and salvage teams. We found a piece of the Hunchback we could send to Yang for storage and the teams were able to salvage the complete Centurion. Cleaning of the cockpit and damage it suffered will be easy and we have another mech for our company.

Repairs will be minor with the Dragon taking 2 days and the Vindicator only in for 1 day and then they will be ready for the next mission.

Mission 31
Planet: Weldry
Mission: Stubborn Surrender

Lance:
Poltergeist – Dragon
Medusa – Atlas
Vonkobra – Kintaro
Sonic – Centurion

We got a contract to deal with a lance of old Taurian Concordat mechwarriors who were trying to relive old glory from an old war. They were reported to be harassing regional transportation in their old mechs. The mechs are reported to be shabby and missing some a=of their armour but they are still going to be a challenge. We must not forget that they survived to become old mechwarriors.

We dropped into the mountains in the Tundra zone of the planet. It’s cold so our mechs will run cooler. As we moved forward we detected two targets. A medium and a heavy mech coming over a hill in front of us. We couldn’t tell what they were through the heavy forest though.

As I moved forward I detected a third unknown and I sensor locked the heavy mech and got a lock on an Orion ON1-K. 75 ton heavy mech armed with AC10, LRM15, SRM4, 2 x M-Lasers. It’s shabby and has about 75% of normal armour levels so we have an advantage.

Vonkobra sent a salvo into the Orion, followed by Sonic and then Medusa leaving it with serious damage. An enemy Griffin came out of the forest and damaged Sonic’s Centurion. Vonkobra fired into the Orion and sent it crashing to the ground as the pilot lost their footing from the damage they suffered. The unknown enemy sent minor damage into Medusa’s Atlas and barely scratched the paint work.

Sonic took full advantage of the prone Orion and sent her shots into the centre torso and destroying the engine and killing the mech. The unknown mech turned out to be a Crab CRB-20 armed with 2 x L-Lasers, M-Laser, S-Laser. The pilot sent their damage into the Atlas and moderate damage. I got a lock on the Griffin and fired a salvo into it for nice damage. Medusa split fire between the Crab and Griffin and damaged both. A new enemy mech came over the hill and the Shadow Hawk sent minor damage into Medusa.

Sonic locked on the Griffin and damaged it. The Crab pilot is focused on Medusa’s Atlas and added more damage to it. Vonkobra walked into the lake in front of him and fired into the Crab and chipped away at it’s armour as well as sending more damage into the Griffin. The Kintaro tends to run hot so the lake will help dissipate the heat. The Griffin returned damage back at Vonkobra. I aimed at the Griffin and ripped it’s right arm off. Medusa fired into the Crab and then sent LRM20 missiles into the Griffin.