Back on Patrol
As per the settings of the campaign, no XP or money was awarded to the team for the failure of the previous mission. All pilots 'revived' and mechs repaired. After the embarrassment in the arena, Mech Masters lost their chance of a long term contract.
With the little funds they had left, the mechs were repaired and the pilots treated (or rebuilt in the case of the Android D.A.Y.E.S)
Team tactics were analyzed and discussed. Unfortunately this discussion mainly involved only Mauler and Wolf, as all D.A.Y.E.S would input is his monotone "Affirmative" and Kull just wanted to know when he can charge and smash. Wolf, however, did bring up a good point that the team was not utilizing it's battle computer's data link capabilities – the ability for one mech to scout and the others would "feed" off the information being transmitted back by the scout while they remained hidden.
Without a contract, all Mech Masters could look for were border patrols.
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Deployed once again in the North East, behind a hill. No line of sight to the rest of map. Wolf shakes his head as he can only picture Mauler in his cockpit staring in confusion at the battle map.
With Mauler having the longest ranged weapons (and being leader) he decided to climb the nearby hill and data link to the rest of the team. Wolf and Tensile fanned out into the nearby trees and Kull pushed forward but stopped on a low hill in trees.
Mauler spots all three enemy mechs. 1 Light titan (70 tonnes) and 2 Recons (40 tonnes). Hmmm, the Light will be a problem.
He starts the datalink. Links Kull... Links Wolf.. hmm.. lost link to Kull.. links Kull.. wait.. lost link to Wolf...
Cursing under his breath, Wolf requests a link with Tensile. "Affirmative" was the response.
The enemy recon mechs ran in perfect formation, dodging between the hills and breaking all lock attempts. Sweeping east it seemed like they were going after Kull. The light mech tried the same thing, but due to his slower speed Mauler was able to just get a good weapon/scanner lock on him before he disappeared. This he stored quickly in his battle computer for when the mech reappeared.
Wolf trotted forward to be closer to Kull. Breaking his datalink with Tensile, he requested and got a link with Kull, so now he "saw" the two recon mechs approaching. He starts his lock procedure (much longer through a datalink).
Kull starts receiving weapons fire. Meson cannons. Critical hits are scored, resulting in a reduction of internal armor.
Tensile and Mauler start to move in towards Kull.
The revs of the power axes got louder. Wolf and Mauler shouted at the same time to Kull to stay put, but, too late!! Kull was off down the hill, breaking line of sight with Wolf and hence breaking the DataLink. All that time spent by Wolf trying to get a lock - wasted.
Into his standard charge, Kull shrugged off machine gun fire and the methodical thump of meson shots - crashing into his selected target. Both went down in a tangled mass of metal.
Wolf was the first to the hill in time to see Kull getting to his feet and scoring a hit on the recon mech. More shots smashed into Kull from the two recon mechs.
And then the thunderclap of a very large Autocannon split the air.
The enemy Light mech had arrived.
The shot smashed into Kull's now wounded right torso, blowing it apart. Kull spun under the force of the blow and went down again.
Wolf targeted the Light mech and fired-recycled-fired with no scanner lock, just wanting to attract the beast's attention. Only the pulse laser hit, but it was enough. The light titan targeted Wolf and opened up, shredding the trees Wolf was hiding in.
The other two light recons would not be so easily distracted. They pummelled Kull mercilessly, driving him down again and again.
Mauler finally gets into a position and takes a snap shot at one recon titan - and hits.
The Light titan starts climbing the hill toward Wolf, refining his lock, and firing his cannons. Wolf takes the blow and starts his own lock sequence... FAILS!!
The recon titan then switched targets to Mauler. This gave Kull the breathing room he needed to get up and run out of the fray. His cockpit, torso and left leg are all devoid of any appreciable armor from the beating he received.
The second recon titan decides to group with the Light mech and go after Wolf. Wolf fails another lock attempt. The Light titan is almost on him. It too has a vibra claw. Wolf throws his mech into reverse, seeking cover inside the forest.
Tensile rounds the base of the hill and immediately targets the Light mech. Opening fire he hits with both laser shots. The Light mech stops, turns, and charges at Tensile!! The recon mech continues after Wolf, hitting him a few times and doing more critical damage with the meson guns.
Tensile throws his titan into reverse but too late! The Light titan is there - the vibra claw goes up...
Wolf gets his lock on the Light titan!!! He fires his pulse laser.. MISS... Fires his EM Pulse.. HIT!! VIBRA CLAW shuts down!!
Mauler gets scanner lock on the second recon mech and decimates its right leg with an Auto cannon assault. He turns to face the Light mech - just in time to see Tensile back away, and Kull charging in again!!! One power axe out of commission, but he had the other one raised and revved, his small laser firing repeatedly, hitting the light titan.
Wolf cannot ignore the recon mech anymore, which was consistently hitting him with the meson shots and doing criticals. Wolf switches targets to the recon (now in melee range) and fires on him.
EM Pulse.. MISS, Pulse Laser.. HIT.. Vibra Claw.. TORSO HIT! Light damage done to the mechs’ engine.
Kull closes in on the light titan - and runs right into a slug from the Autocannon - Kull's lower torso is blown away and he crashes to the ground and takes damage. He starts the eject sequence and takes more damage in ejecting... but is alive - barely.
Wolf takes more critical damage. Torso and right leg RED. Left ARM YELLOW. He pushes the throttle to the max and runs, eventually breaking lock with the enemy mech. He keeps running aiming towards a group of trees - past the spot where the first enemy recon mech went down - and is hit!!
The downed mech still had his missile launchers functional and fired on Wolf as he ran by.. HIT... HIT.. HIT. Battered, Wolf finally makes it to the trees.
Mauler fires on the light titan - HEAD HIT! The titan drops to the ground... yes!!!!!
The light titan starts to get up... noooooo!!!!!
Mauler is low on ammo, running in circles around the slower Light mech, firing and hitting. He is thankful for that earlier lock he got on the hilltop, as that ensured a good lock on now. Tensile stayed a little distance off, systematically cycling his lasers and firing on the light titan.
The light titan turned to face Mauler then jumped!! Mauler starts to back pedal, but the titan follows in the air.
The recon titan, having lost lock on Wolf, sets his sights on Tensile. Tensile switches targets and starts the same systematic pounding which is becoming this android's trademark. The recon titan mech pilot eventually lost his nerve ... and ejected!!
The Light titan flies over Mauler, and continues past him and hovers just behind the trees where Wolf is.
Wolf locks on and fires his EM Pulse - HIT!! Titan jump jets shut down!! The mech falls from the sky and crashes hard into the ground. Mauler and Tensile start to run towards it.
The Light titan gets up and chases after Wolf. Damaged, Wolf would have been caught but the trees slowed up the Light titan. He fires on Wolf and hits - Wolf's Pulse laser is now junk.
Mauler waits just outside the tree line firing, his ammo getting really low. Tensile draws up short and fires. He misses the target, but he hits the trees and IGNITES them. Heat level starts to rise on the enemy light titan.
He breaks out from the trees and is hit with a volley from Mauler.
Ammo depleted. Maulers’ cannons are now empty. Damn.
Wolf staggers away, firing his EM pulse, but misses.
Tensile looks to fire his lasers, but has to hold, as his heat level is approaching critical from his continuous firing pattern.
Enemy light titan fires and hits Mauler.
With no ammo left, Mauler grits his teeth and charges!!!
The Light titan tries to sidestep but fails. The sickening crunching of metal is heard as they both go down.
Mauler's damage board lights up - GYRO - Heavy damage. That's it. He won't be getting up. Mauler looks out of his cockpit and winces as he sees the Light titan starting to rise.
Tensile sees the carnage in front to him, sees the light titan getting up - and Mauler not moving.
His heat level still in the red, Tensile fires - and fires again.
HEAT LEVEL CRITICAL!!
The Light titans left leg buckles and breaks! The beast is down!!!
Enemy pilot ejects.
VICTORY!!!!
The team got the light titan as salvage!!!
but had to sell it to get money to pay for repairs.. oh well..
WOLF AND MAULER WENT UP A LEVEL.
D.A.Y.E.S is now a much better mechanic. Wolf a better businessman. (cheaper mechs now)
Onwards!!!!
Posted by jureidinim
at 12:01 AM EDT