A New Breed
Topic: ToS Chronicles
GYZMOTECH is approached again to find a replacement for Kull...

After some negotiations, Mauler was able to sign on a new recruit from GYZMOTech.
A Cyborg named P.J.
Code Name: CYBEN.
Unlike Kull, CYBEN has no use for hand-to-hand combat. He is a skilled ranged fighter, almost equal in skill with cannons or lasers. Talking it over with Wolf, they decide to purchase a WrathChild titan for CYBEN. With it's pulse laser and Neutron gun (which affects most pilots), the plan was to have Wolf with his EM Pulse work with CYBEN as a team - shut down the mech - shut down the pilot. Sounds good in theory...

The patrol mission they got this time was in an environment that the team has never been to before. Pools of acid ran like rivers, and the heat level was higher than normal. What could be worth fighting for in a place like this? - was Mauler's thoughts.
No matter; money is money - and his team needed it now.

Deployed to the east, CYBEN and Wolf paired up immediately and trotted forward. Tensile hung back a bit using the little cover that was available. Mauler moved up beside Tensile and started up a gentle slope.... contact... 2 enemy recon mechs darting behind a mountain. Then a third recon shows up. Then a light mech. Too far for visual id, Mauler quickly tries to lock and scan, but they're gone behind the mountain before the scan is complete.

CYBEN and Wolf stop short of a river of Acid, just in time to see all four enemy titans emerge from the hills on the other side. One enemy recon titan ignited his jump jets and started to jump across the river. The other three marched unflinchingly into the acid bath and proceeded to cross.

Tensile was the first to get a good lock - he targeted the first recon mech wading through the acid - an Enigma mech - and fired - hit.
The mech stumbled and fell - completely submerged in the acid.
Mauler, who was also locking the same mech smiled - but cursed as he lost sight of the mech.
Switching his target, he picked the Light titan - an Atilla. His initial scan attempt failed.

CYBEN and Wolf targeted the airborne titan - a Pest. Both of them however failed to get scan lock. They fired anyways, missing completely.

Mauler fires on the Atilla and scores a hit even without the lock. No return fire so far from any of the enemy mechs. Seems they are concentrating on getting across that acid river - or taking their time to refine their scan locks.
Out of the depths of the acid, the Enigma mech rose to its feet and walked out onto the other side. Wolf immediately turned and ran towards the nearest cover on a small hill, and was about to order CYBEN to start retreating away from the oncoming mechs, but noticed CYBEN had already thrown his WrathChild into reverse.

Once they came across, the four enemy mechs ran past Wolf and opened up on CYBEN, forcing him to retreat even further. CYBEN scored two hits on the Atilla, one with the Neutron Gun - no effect. Wolf grimaced as his now third scan lock attempt failed – he checked his computer for signs of possible jamming. He opened fire with his weapons and scored a hit with the pulse laser on the Pest.
The four mechs, having driven CYBEN back, then turned to face Wolf. Wolf had a flash of panic as he realized the position he was in. Behind him was the acid river, and in front in a semicircle came the four enemy titans. One after the other they peppered Wolf with laser fire and missiles. Wolf's TripWire shook and recoiled, but he was able to keep the mech standing.

Mauler's lock came up green on the Atilla - his scan showed two power axes - not good. He opened up with his autocannons and scored hits - but it didn't deter the mech. Tensile started to move forward, firing his lasers at the Pest and Enigma.

Turning north, Wolf tried to get away from the net closing in on him, but the Atilla caught him. One power axe swooped down and missed. The other dug into his right leg. Again, Wolf was able to keep his feet.
CYBEN failed his lock attempt, but started heading back towards Wolf, firing his weapons at the Pest. Pulse Laser – hit. Neutron gun - miss.
The Pest and Enigma turned to face CYBEN and Tensile. Wolf broke away from the Atilla and headed for some cover. Mauler switched his target to the Pest, knowing Wolf should be able to out run the heavier Atilla.
Firing on the Pest, Mauler blew away both left and right torso. The resulting explosions rocked the recon mech. Mauler's smile disappeared as the Pest emerged from the smoke still on it's feet - unbelievable.

”Heat level Red” - both Mauler and Tensile were now hearing the alerts in their cockpit.

The Enigma scored critical hits on CYBEN destroying his Heat sinks. CYBEN's heat started to climb just from movement.

Mauler checked quickly to see where Wolf had reached. Wolf was just about to enter cover - good. Then he saw it - smoke trails from the hill behind Wolf.
Staying close to the Atilla, the enemy Firefly let loose it's missile salvo into the back of Wolf’s retreating TripWire. Wolf's right torso disintegrated and the mech stumbled but did not go down. The Attila turned and fired its laser weapons, hitting Wolf in the leg. The left leg twisted and crumpled sending Wolf to the ground.

This was bad. Mauler got on the comm line and ordered CYBEN to retreat from the battlefield. Tensile started manoeuvring with the Pest and Enigma, drawing their fire. Mauler pushed his mech into a run and closed the range on the Atilla.

Cyben hadn't moved even 600yds when the alert came - "Heat level Critical". With no choice, CYBEN stopped his mech and patiently waited for the heat to go down.

Tensile continued his dance with the two enemy recon mechs, his firing impaired by his heat level.
Mauler too could not fire all weapons, as his heat was too high. This gave the Atilla and Firefly the time to close in on the fallen Wolf. Standing over him, they began to pound on his mech.
Not to be beaten, Wolf swung his only functioning weapon from his prone position - his pulse laser - and fired on the Firefly - hit - weapon recycle - hit. Mauler opened up with one autocannon, hitting the firefly in the left torso. That was enough for the Firefly - he ran off into cover leaving Wolf.
The Atilla dropped the power axes again... and again - Wolf's pulse laser was destroyed. He took laser fire to the cockpit. Lower torso destroyed. Wolf started the eject sequence...

CYBEN tried to move again - but had to stop shortly after as his heat level hit critical.

Wolf's cockpit exploded outwards as the eject sequence completed. Wolf landed hard, but radioed in that he was ok. Bleeding, he crawled off to cover.

Mauler switched his target to the Pest, which was still chasing Tensile. Tensile's armour was holding, but the two enemy mechs were wearing him down. Mauler ordered Tensile to start after CYBEN and leave the battlefield. Mauler fired both of his smaller autocannons and scored one hit.

"Heat level Red" - screamed in Mauler's ears - he pushed his mech into a run to follow Tensile.... and was thrown sideways as the remaining ammo in one of his auto-cannons exploded from the heat build-up!
Struggling with the controls, he kept the 70 ton titan on its feet. His fingers danced over the control pad as he rerouted more coolant to the arms and torso where the remaining ammo was stored - narrowly averting more explosions (here he had a 29% and 28% chance to save against two more and made them!!)

CYBEN slowly pushed his mech forward and was finally able to leave the battlefield.

Tensile and Mauler ran through what cover they could find. Tensile took a critical hit to his hip, slowing him down. The three enemy recon titans were closing fast. Behind them, the 70 ton Atilla could be seen coming with the Power Axes swinging at it's side...

Mauler radioed Tensile and told him to turn left. Once they made the turn, they both swivelled their torso's and fired on the run at the approaching recon mechs. Tensile hit the Pest squarely in the cockpit with his large laser, then the right leg with his small laser. The Pest slowed to a halt and the pilot ejected!
Mauler looked and saw his heat level had come down considerably (as he was just running and hadn't fired in awhile). He smiled and let loose with the three autocannons... The Enigma's right leg disappeared under the onslaught and the mech smashed face first into the ground.
"Heat level red"

The Firefly let loose it's missiles and tore off more of Tensiles’ armor. Mauler slowed to turn and face the Firefly, trying to buy some time for Tensile. The Atilla opened up with its lasers on Mauler, hitting him.
Still a good distance from the edge of the battlefield, Mauler sized up his chances against the two remaining mechs...

Then over the broadcast channel a voice - a female voice was heard...
"This is Prowler on the Atilla mech. I offer we cease hostilities and allow both sides to recover their wounded pilots and damaged mechs"

Tesnsile's DragonFly had a wounded leg, and holes showing in his armor. Mauler's heat was in the red and one autocannon offline.
The steady warble of a missile lock from the Firefly buzzed in his headset...

"Agreed"

A Draw!!!

Yes, the AI can offer draws... sadly the human player can't.. lol
Once offered, you get a choice of "OK", "NEVER" or "Not Yet".


The damage to Wolf's TripWire was so much; the team's budget could not repair all mechs.
Wolf's mech was repaired as much as possible, but had armor missing on his left and right torso.
After some discussion, it was agreed to sell CYBEN's WrathChild to finish the repairs on Wolf's TripWire. CYBEN would have to sit out the next mission. Money is needed.

Mauler contemplates a campaign once again.... but will have to re-evaluate the team tactics. Wolf getting cut off like that was not good.

Mech Masters in Mourning
Topic: ToS Chronicles
Still trying to build the teams' skills, Mech Masters continue to do random patrols. The danger in this game with those is that any outcome is permanent...

After taking some practice runs in his new Mech - the BloodHound - Mauler secured another patrol mission for the team.

They head off, Wolf in his TripWire, Kull in his Prowler and D.A.Y.E.S in his DragonFly.

Seeking the nearest hill, Mauler pushes his mech into a run. Of course he falls behind as his mech fails to keep up with the faster recon mechs of his teammates.

Cresting a low rise, Wolf makes contact. 3 enemy recon mechs (Pack Hunter, Zealot, Duellist) and one Light mech (Zombie). Kull rounds the base of the hill and locks up the Pack Hunter. Wolf locks the Zealot, but loses him as he moves into trees. Wolf switches to the Pack Hunter.
Tensile, hidden in a forest behind a hill, datalinks with Wolf and starts the long scan lock on the Duellist. Mauler finally climbs the hill and locks up the Zombie.

Zombie takes a long range shot at Kull and misses. The Duellist and Pack Hunter charge straight for Wolf, dodging fire from Wolf and Kull. Eight seconds to lock for the hidden Tensile, Wolf is hit by laser fire. Wolf's mech stumbles but he keeps his footing. The Zombie switches target to Wolf and hits him with a Black Ray gun. Again, Wolf has to use all his skill to keep his mech on it's feet. Tensile loses the datalink to Wolf!

Mauler takes a few long-range shots at the Zombie, and hits. The Zombie mech breaks into a run and Mauler loses sight of it. Mauler starts to run off the hill to try and reacquire the Zombie.

The Pack Hunter is now on Wolf - smashing him with laser fire and raking him with Vibra Claws. Not a rookie pilot anymore, Wolf steadies his mech and keeps it standing. Wolf swipes with his claws and misses, then throws his mech into reverse, firing his pulse laser and EM Pulse - both miss.

Kull starts to climb the hill, firing his small laser on the Pack Hunter and hitting. Tensile comes out of the trees to help - locks up the Pack Hunter and fires – but also misses.

Wolf is rocked again by the Pack Hunter assault. He almost goes down. The Zombie opens up on him and Wolf again fights the mech to stay on it's feet. Zombie hits with the Meson gun - critical - Gyro damaged! Wolf finally breaks away from the Pack Hunter, turns his mech and pushes it into a run.
With a damaged Gyro, he can't survive another assault like that...

Kull fails his scan lock attempt on the Pack hunter, but charges him anyway, smashing his mech into the side of the Pack Hunter.
Both mechs stay standing. Kull swings his Power Axes. One swipe - Left Leg - Red. Second Swipe - Head - Red.

Mauler comes off the hill and locks the pack hunter and fires. Both Autocannon 4 slugs tear into the centre torso. The first Autocannon 12 shell smashes the left torso of the Pack hunter dropping him to the ground. The second Autocannon 12 slug rips the Pack Hunters' head clean off!

The Zombie closes in on the hill, in trees, and fires on Kull hitting his cockpit! Kull’s vision begins to blur as he is racked with pain.
The Duellist charges up the hill and with his twin Chain Saws rakes Kull across the torso and leg - Still dazed from the head hit, Kull fails to keep his mech upright and goes down.

Tensile climbs the hill as well, firing on the advancing Zombie. Mauler switches targets to the Duellist and fires his AutoCannons, severly damaging the right leg of the Duellist.
Kull gets up to one knee just as the Duellist digs into him again with a ChainSaw. Kull fights his controls and pushes his mech upright and makes a wild swing with his Power Axes - Head Hit! Bleeding and dazed, the Duellist pilot ejects!

Tensile tries to ignite the trees the Zombie is in, but fails. Seeing the Light mech smashing through the trees to get to him, Tensile runs down the hill. Kull turns and faces the Light titan and follows Tensile. Both of them pass the Light titan, so now he is on the hill and they are in the trees. In passing, the Zombie hits Kull - smashing one Power Axe into uselessness.

Having gotten some breathing room, Wolf slowly turns his damaged mech, hoping to give supporting fire on the Zombie. Just as he finishes his turn, the Zealot comes out of the forested area it had disappeared into earlier.
Standing under 600yds away, Wolf quickly switches his target...
Seeing the damage on Wolf, Mauler makes the decision to target the Zealot, hoping Kull and Tensile can handle the Zombie. Mauler opens up on the Zealot and hits. Then the warning went off in Mauler’s mech - "Heat Level Yellow"

The Zombie turned to face Tensile and Kull who were now in the trees, using the cover to buy them time to refine their lock. Not having any of that, the Zombie fires all it's weapons wildly into the forest - IGNITING it!!
Kull uses his superior scouting ability to quickly leave the burning trees and charges up the hill - smashing his recon mech into the Zombie. Not much damage is done, but Kull retains his footing while sending the Zombie crashing to the ground!
Not as skilled as Kull, Tensile takes longer to clear the forest fire. As he finally steps out alarms are going off in his cockpit - "Heat level Red!"

Mauler is sweating in his cockpit - he has the heat level pegged in the red, which is messing up his target locks, and threatening an ammo explosion that would surely kill him. His scanners shows the enemy Zealot recon mech full Red on it's entire body from his continued autocannon assault, but the damn mech refused to go down. Wolf fails two lock attempts, but scores important hits with the EM pulse, temporarily shutting down the Zealot's battle computer.

With a cold calm only possible by an Android, Tensile waits patiently for his heat to go down, watching as Kull swings his one functioning Power Axe into the fallen Zombie. The Zombie shrugs off the attack and gets to its feet and in a flurry of punches and weapon fire, destroys Kull right leg!
Falling, Kull takes damage to his cockpit again.
The Zombie kicks Kull, destroying his right torso.

Mauler screams for Kull to eject as he sees the Zombie set itself for another onslaught...
Kull starts the ejection sequence...
Tensile starts firing his lasers, driving his heat back up into the red....
Mauler switches his target to the Zombie and fires, squinting against the sweat running into his eyes.
Wolf continues to fire on the Zealot.

The ejection sequence completes and the hatch blows off and Kull is shot from his mech - but crashes into the Zombie towering over him.
Mauler calls out to Kull – there is no response.

With a bloodcurdling scream, Mauler opens up with all four autocannons on the Zombie, cursing the Heat alarms.
"Heat level Red!" .. "Heat level Critical!"

Three slugs smashed into the torso area of the Zombie, but the pilot kept his mech from falling. The fourth Autocannon slug shot into its lower torso destroying it and the fragile Gyro it houses. With it's main form of stability gone, the Zombie teetered and fell.

Still trying to get Kull on the communicator, Mauler allowed his heat to slowly go down, as Tensile turned his DragonFly to face the remaining recon mech - the Zealot. He triggered both lasers at the Zealot.
Small laser - Hits Zealot in the right torso.
Large laser - destroys the right arm. Thrown off balance by the arm's explosion, the Zealot falls to the ground, destroying both legs in the fall.

Victory! Or was it?

Kull died in the ejection.

Salvage - The Zombie Light mech.

Repair costs were too high even for D.A.Y.E.S. repair skill.
Using his business skills, Wolf was able to sell the Zombie for a decent price.
All four mechs have been repaired.
D.A.Y.E.S could possibly level up on the next mission.

Mauler wonders if he should not have told Kull to eject... maybe...
The team now considers selling Kull's old mech and selling Wolf's mech - use the money and buy a Light mech for Wolf.
However, Mauler's leadership bonus and the teams budding fame could help them get a talented rookie to replace Kull though, so maybe they will keep the mechs.
Decisions, decisions.

Kull's Revenge
Topic: ToS Chronicles
Being the "melee" mech of the group, Kull has been charging in, smashing his way through the enemy. Unfortunately, so far, it has led to his mech being beaten and battered. That is - until now..

Being the humble and wise leader, Mauler agreed that Wolf would be the point man on the next mission to feed data back to the team. Ok, ok - Wolf had some "choice" words for Mauler's ineptness on the last mission and stated he would be on point.

No one argued.


Team deploys and start to take a look at their surroundings. Relatively open area broken up by some low hills and a few trees. A heavy forest is south of the teams starting location.

Wolf steps up on a low rise where he immediately spots two enemy recon mechs. His position was perfect, as he had a complete view of the area between the team's position and the enemy mechs.

Wolf goes into a crouch and begins his lock sequence. Tensile and Kull move up onto a hill with trees for cover, and begin locking targets as well. Mauler ambled off for some cover, but broke line of sight.
Muttering to himself, he requests the datalink feed from Wolf - gets it, and starts locking targets.

The two enemy recon titans start running at full speed towards Wolf. At extreme range they open up. Large laser fire hits Wolf, while gunfire tears up the ground around him. Unflinching, Wolf locks the first mech, and then begins lock on the second.
On the hill, Kull and Tensile also complete successful lock on attempts. Mauler still refining his lock through the datalink with Wolf.

The recon mechs were getting closer now. They entered some trees, were still visible, but now were obscured from direct attacks. Wolf starts getting hit more frequently. He checks and sees Mauler has almost completed his locking sequence through the datalink.
Wolf completes his lock of the second recon mech, then stands and opens fire. EM Pulse misses, but his Pulse laser scores a hit.

As the recon mechs run past the hill with Kull and Tensile, the third recon mech comes into view at the far end of the map - a Unicorn - recon mech with machine guns and a Gauss Rifle.

Mauler completes his lock on successfully. Radioing Kull, he orders him into battle. Mauler then breaks cover to get a visual on his locked mech.
Kull starts to run off the hill – but then spots the fourth recon mech in the heavy forest just south of his position!!! A Dart - with short-range missiles, no doubt trying to get to the same hill he was on to give supporting fire.
Kull radios in this new contact and turns towards him, smashing trees out of the way, power axes ready.

Mauler, Tensile and Wolf target the same recon mech and batter him.
The two charging recon mechs both target Mauler and continue to burn his armor with laser fire. Now that Mauler has a lock, Wolf begins to manoeuvre. The Unicorn gets into range and slaps Wolf with a Gauss Rifle shot. Wolf remains focused on his target - which is now in melee range to Mauler - and fires his Pulse laser. The enemy mech stumbles and falls.

Mauler tracks his weapons over the fallen mech, slowing it down to rest over the mech's damaged lower torso (At this point, Mauler, because of his level gain and the enemy mech prone, has a 96% chance to hit.. He can now do CALLED SHOTS!! ).
He fires both autocannons and obliterates the mechs lower torso. Switching his target to the second mech he turns to face him.

Tensile comes down the hill and gives supporting fire to Mauler, targeting the same mech he is. Wolf switches his target to the Unicorn and temporarily slows him down by freezing his hip with an EM Pulse hit.

The Dart in the forest sees Kull coming and manoeuvres to stay away from him. He breaks into a small clearing in the forest and loses sight to Kull, as Kull is cutting his way out of the forest. Kull stops and, guessing where the missile launching mech would like to go, changes direction to try and head him off.

The recon enemy mech targets the advancing Mauler and hits him with every laser he had. Rocking under the assault, Mauler loses control of his mech and falls to the ground. Mauler tries to push his titan upright but is slammed back into the ground by a slug from the Gauss Rifle. Tensile starts a run from the hill, cycling his lasers as fast as possible, but is missing most shots. Wolf continues to fire on the Unicorn, but also misses most attempts.

Just as Kull is breaking out of one area of trees - the Dart reappears in front of him!! An evil smile comes to Kull's lips as he goes for a charging run. The Dart sees Kull and jumps!! Kull arrives under the enemy mech and fires his small laser. He hits - but does minimal damage.
The enemy mech then cuts his jump jets and falls on top of Kull!
Death from above!!
Kull fights his controls, feels his mechs legs buckle - but he stays standing!!! He took damage to his head and arms, and one Power Axe was bent but still functional. The Dart didn't fare so well. It lost it's balance and crashed to the ground at the feet of Kull. The grinding sounds of the Power axe could be heard from afar as Kull began to beat on the Dart's armor. Kull's small laser recycled and he fired.
He misses but IGNITES the forest - with both of them in it!
Kull is oblivious and continues to pound on the enemy mech. Eventually he hears the warning alarm of the rising heat level and runs out of the burning trees. The enemy mech gets up and follows shortly after.
HEAT LEVEL RED is all Kull hears from his battle computer. Switching off the volume, he turns and faces the Dart.

The Dart fires a volley from his short-range missile rack, peppering Kull all over. Big Mistake. That volley drove the Dart's heat into Critical. AMMO EXPLOSION!!! The Dart's Centre Torso completely disintegrated from the explosion, and he falls to the ground.


Mauler finally regains his footing and tries to run, but once again is floored by a well-placed Gauss Rifle hit. He falls and his titan's right leg snaps. Dazed and hurt, Mauler tries to start the eject sequence. He ejects safely.

The enemy recon turns to face Wolf and charges towards him spewing laser fire. Hit. Hit. Hit. Hit. Wolf breaks lock to the Unicorn and reacquires this charging mech. Tensile manoeuvres to go around a small lake, firing on the mech. Kull clears the forest and locks up the Unicorn who is stationary, aiming his Gauss Rifle again.

Wolf kicks his mech into reverse and fires his EM Pulse. TORSO HIT!! The EM pulse shot shuts down the recon mechs’ engine and it collapses on the ground.
Tensile stops, aims – fires – hit – fires - hit.
The enemy mech slowly gets to his feet after restarting his engine and continues his charge towards Wolf.
Wolf, still moving in reverse, waits patiently as his EM pulse laser recyles. He hits the mech in the leg with his pulse laser, but he keeps coming. EM Pulse ready. He fires and.. ENGINE SHUTSDOWN again!! Tensile moves closer to the downed mech only to be greeted by a Gauss Rifle shot from the Unicorn.
Tensile's right torso is destroyed - taking his large laser with it.

Kull completes his charge on the Unicorn, taking both of them crashing to the ground.
They both get up but after three swings, the Power Axes cut through the right torso and cleaved a leg off the Unicorn. It falls to the ground and shortly after the pilot ejects.

The enemy recon slowly gets to his feet, but his hammered down again by Wolf's Pulse laser. Kull races over and in one swoop he destroys the mechs lower torso. The pilot ejects.

VICTORY!!

As Mauler and Wolf have maxed out some skills, they chose to save most of their XP. Once they have enough they will spend it on raising their attributes, which will in turn raise the maximum values their skills can go to.

Although Kull had a phenomenal mission, his close combat skills are still not at their peak - so he spent all of his combat xp on improving his melee skills.

Also, Mauler's mech - the Fang - was repaired and sold. Using Wolf's improved business skills, the team has now purchased their first Light mech - a 70 tonne mech called BloodHound. 2 Autocannon/4 and 2 AutoCannon/12. It has improved scanners and battle computer and even has ECM. Mauler is smiling.

Money is tight now though - just enough to cover the salaries for the team. The next mission is a must win to get money rolling in again - and hopefully not spend it all on repairs.

The Debacle
Topic: ToS Chronicles
Hiring the new recruit, Mauler feels the team is ready to seek a long term contract on a campaign - rather than random patrols. How does the team do?


The WrathChild mech salvaged in the last mission, is sold.

D.A.Y.E.S
Code Name: Tensile
Recon Mech – name: DragonFly - one large and one small laser - good computer systems.

Using some of his contacts, Mauler manages a deal to get another Cyborg pilot from GYZMOTECH.
Name: Phillip.
Code Name: Kull.
From the sale of the WrathChild, the team is able to secure a Prowler mech. Small laser and two Power axes. It was a scary moment when Kull saw the mech. The grin on his face said it all.

Getting ready for the next mission - Mauler informs the team that he is taking them on a trip to the Savannah where there is an arena match. If we do well, it could mean more missions.

** This is basically the Savannah campaign. This campaign is for rookie pilots. This particular campaign is set such that even if you die, it allows you to try the failed mission again - you would get no XP, but your team is returned to full health. Succeed, and you carry the XP, damage (permanent now) and cash over to the next mission in the campaign.***


The team is deployed in the North East corner of the arena directly behind a hill so most of therir line of sight is blocked to the rest of the map. Mauler, having practiced well in the art of Map reading on the way over, quickly notes the areas where quicksand is.

He gives his orders. Tensile responds in his emotionless tone - "Affirmative" and begins to climb the hill. No orders need to be given to Kull as he is already off and running up the hill, Power Axes revving fully. Wolf ambles south to follow a line of trees around the base of the hill.

Kull makes first contact - spotting the enemy in the distance. Mauler smiles. There is a lake between the two teams so there should be plenty of time to lock them all up while they are trying to cross the river.

Mauler and Tensile go into the trees at the top of the hill. All mechs starting selecting and locking targets.

Mauler is mildly surprised when his first lock attempt is successful. Unfortunately he misses with both weapon shots.

Wolf MISSES his lock attempt - strange
Kull and Tensile are lock geniuses. They lock, refine to a better lock, switch targets, lock again...

The enemy mechs reach the river and start to cross. Mauler smiles.
They should start falling over any time now.. no.. they aren't.. the team starts firing on them.. missing.. two are across the lake.. dammit!
The third one does topple over in the water, but gets up and keeps coming.

Wolf fails his lock attempt again. Mauler is worried. This is NOT a good sign.

Mauler fires both autocannons on one mech - both hit squarely in the legs. The mech doesn't even flinch. The buzzing of the Power Axes become very loud as Kull pushes his mech into a full speed charging run off the hill. A blood-curdling scream fills the earpieces of the other team members.
Kull shrugs off incoming machine gun fire, smashing into the nearest enemy mech. Both mechs go crashing to the ground.
Kull takes the worst of it hitting his cockpit hard. He loses some hit points. Enemy mech right leg goes red.
Kull slowly gets up, going into a crouch first. Shaking his head clear, he fires his small laser from the crouched position and hits.
He starts to stand straight, just as the enemy mech tries to stand but fails and topples over. The power axes are revving up again.

Tensile is alternating fire on his weapons, driving up his heat, but it keeps constant weapon fire on his targeted enemy.

Wolf has been quiet on the radio but finally reports a good lock - fires his weapons - but MISSES!! muttering is heard over the comm channel.

Kull straightens up. The power axes come down, One hits and now both enemy mech legs are showing red.
The sounds of the power axes and the sight of Kull waving them in fury got the enemies attention. All four enemy mechs target Kull.
Most of their attacks miss, but some critical damage gets through. Kulls’ fallen opponent finally stands up and punches him. The sound of a Vibra Claw scratching against the armor is heard but does no damage.

Tensile is just a rythmn of efficiency. Small laser fires – hits – recycling - large laser ready - fires - hits –recycling - small laser ready - fires - hits.
The loud boom of Maulers autocannons splits the air again but alas, his shots go crashing into pure dirt.

Wolf fires and hits with both weapons. Shoulder actuator of one mech ceases to function under the EM pulse hit.

Kull swings the axes again - left torso now bright red on enemy mech, as it’s armor s destroyed leaving it’s internal structure bare.
Kull thinks about staying for another swipe but wisely chooses to move as two more enemy mechs have entered melee range. He's peppered with machine gun fire while retreating and takes another hit in the cockpit.

Mauler fires and scores two hits on Kull's target disabling his damaged torso, The mech crashes to the ground. Mauler quickly switches targets.

Wolf fires again. Hits his target in the same leg as before. The enemy pilot struggles but fails to keep his mech standing and falls over.

Two on the ground, but they are still functional.

Too cocky!! Kull turns and charges in with blood lust in his eyes to finish of the downed mech. He's hit with machine gun fire and a light meson charge that damages his Hip, slowing him down.
He barrels in and swings his axes - MISS!! He continues to run right through. The second mech gets up, turns and fires on Tensile - Head hit! Luckily, no damage to pilot.
Mauler asks if he's ok. 'Affirmative'... is the response from Tensile.

Mauler hits his target and wobbles him. The mech drops to the ground.

Then it gets real ugly.

One mech, which had taken little to no action up to this point, broke away from the melee group, turns, and fires a tesla bolt!!
Kulls' Lower torso evaporates and he drops to the ground. Another mech swivels and fires at Tensile. His mech buckles but he is able to keep it standing.
Kull looks up from the ground at three mechs standing over him and the fourth nearby.
Kull initiates the eject sequence.
Tensiles’ lock attempt hits gold - he gets the best scan possible. So good he can tell the target mech has Kull locked on solid.
He fires but misses...
Wolf switches targets to the Telsa Bolt mech and fires without lock. Pulse laser misses, but the EM Pulse freezes his hip.
Tensile surgically removes the right leg from the heavily damaged enemy mech then switches his target.
Kull safely ejects.

Tensile scores another perfect lock. This enemy mech is being piloted by an android and has Wolf locked up.
The Tesla Bolt fires again, this time targeted at Wolf, but misses.

Wolf hits the mech with EM pulse, freezes his hip again. The enemy mech topples to the ground.

Another enemy Mech targets Tensile and fires. Head hit again! Cockpit! Tensile Killed in action!!

Mauler is the next one to go down. The Telsa Bolt removed his almost completely undamaged leg from the rest of his Mech. Mauler punches out safely.

Wolf looks at the two remaining enemy mechs and decides to run.
He gets to the base of the hill when he is hit with a Cold Light gun followed by the Tesla Bolt. His Tripwire goes down.
Wolf ejects and is damaged badly in the ejection.


So...

That arena match shows the Mech Masters are not quite ready for campaign combat.. good thing it resets .. lol...

It's back to random patrols to get XP and get some skills up.. of course if they die there it's permanent.

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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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!!!!

The Team Rebuilds!
Topic: ToS Chronicles
After that impressive duel victory by Wolf, the Mech Masters team has re-equipped its' leader - Mauler with a Fang recon mech.

Out into the fray goes David (Wolf) and Mike (Mauler).

As leader, Mauler directs Wolf into some trees while he goes up a hill to take a look. Unfortunately, this just showed up Mauler’s poor planning. The trees were in swampland!

Wolf falls in the swamp, and is stuck. Mauler makes it to the top of the hill and spots the two enemy mechs coming towards him. Behind him he hears the crash of yet another failed attempt by Wolf to get up.

Mauler tries to lock on nearest mech - fails!!
Wolf gets up!! He walks forward... again more swamp!! Damn!! Wolf falls over again.

Mauler decides to try and lead them away from the area as Wolf gets up. While running, Mauler is hit with small laser fire. Mauler still trying to get that elusive lock, but fails again.
Wolf has damaged his mech so much in the swamp, his right leg is already in the red. Forcing himself to calm down, Wolf finally gets his mech standing, and walks out of the swamp.
Wolf crests the hill and locks up the first target with ease.
He fires and hits the lead enemy mech - a Banzaii mech. The second enemy (a Wrathchild) stops chasing Mauler, and locks up Wolf. Wolf hits the Banzai again with the EM pulser - no effect!

Mauler's poor navigational skill continues to plague him as his manoeuvres take him out of line of sight with the enemy, thus breaking his lock attempt with 2 seconds left till lock. Mauler screams loudly....

Wolf starts a run along the hillside to present a harder moving target, but the WrathChild tracks and hits him with a Neutron Gun! That weapon does zero damage to armor but can affect pilots. Wolf loses hitpoints and is now dizzy. Still, he gets a good scanner lock on the WrathChild, but manoeuvring while dizzy has him missing both of his shots.

Mauler finally figures out his map and climbs a small hill to regain line of sight on the enemy mechs. He attempts again to get a good scanner lock.
Still dizzy, Wolf is able to hit the WrathChild with his pulse laser but misses with the EM pulse. The Banzaii mech constantly hits Wolf with machine guns and small laser fire. Wolfs’ Tripwire mech centre torso is now showing red as armor is stripped away.

Mauler’s lock on attempt-fails again!!! Screw it!! Mauler charges to close the range. Without a good lock lock, he fires on the Banzaii with both his AutoCannons/7 ... and HITS!!
The WrathChild swivels to face this new threat. Locking on Mauler, he fires his Neutron Blaster - Zaap!! Mauler loses hitpoints and is stunned!!

Wolf’s life support systems start healing him. Finally, his dizziness ends. With a clearer head, he locks up the Banzaii- a perfect lock – and fires both weapons. All hit and Banzaii drops to the ground.
Wolf hammers the Banzaii, forcing him to drop again while attempting to stand. Wolf holds off from closing to use the Vibra Claws because of the torso damage he has.

The WrathChild presses his attack on Mauler but misses. Mauler hits the Banzaii again (still with no lock) - leg blown off!!
The WrathChild switches again to Wolf and fires its Neutron Gun and hits.
NO EFFECT!!
Wolf laughs and places his crosshairs on the WrathChild.
Mauler stops and tries again to lock WrathChild - FAILS!! Great screaming is heard...

Coordinating their attacks, Mauler and Wolf finally beat down the Wrathchild, dropping him under withering fire from the Pulse Laser/Em pulse and the autocannons(without lock!!).

Both enemy mech pilots eject!!

Victory and salvage!! The team salvaged the damaged WrathChild.

Wolf's puny mechanic skill means the team pays 50% more than normal to fix damage.
Mauler uses his xp to up his leadership skill to try and get a skilled recruit.

New team member - an Android.
Name: D.A.Y.E.S (we feel it stands something but are not sure).
Came in with some good stats. Funny though, he has more skills in piloting larger mechs than what he can drive now. Anyways, trained him up with the starting XP and he is ready to go!!

D.A.Y.E.S is also now the new Mechanic (34% mark up on repairs).

D.A.Y.E.S has great energy weapon skills so he can pilot the WrathChild. The team will look over the other stock mechs for sale to see if there is a better choice. The thought of EM pulsing the enemy then hitting the pilot with the neutron gun is really tempting though.

Will also buy a proper map for Mauler....

Wolf to the Rescue!!
Topic: ToS Chronicles
Looking to rebuild his crippled team, Mauler hires Wolf, who quickly gets to prove his worth...


Mauler is now the mechanic, but with only 9 (!) points in the Damage control skill, he can only maintain 1 mech on the team. (sadly I noticed this AFTER applying XP so i couldn't do anything about it)

So, Mauler sends Wolf out ALONE in his new TripWire.

Out on patrol, Wolf climbs the nearest hill – and immediately spots the enemy titan - Recon class.
Picking up Wolf on his sensors, the enemy titan charges forward, weapons blazing. Wolf ignores the one hit received and takes his time and refines his lock. Good lock received! Wolf pushes forward on his throttle and charges off the hill to close the range.

Seeing Wolf running to meet him, the enemy recon titan jumps, looking to do a death from above on Wolf.
Tracking the jumping titan through the air, Wolf fires his EM Pulser (basically a EMP gun that has a chance of shutting down, temporarily, parts of a mech - based on where it hits).
The EM Pulser hits the titan in the leg. Hip seized!! The enemy titan lands but the pilot fails to keep it standing – and falls down.

Wolf opens up with Pulse lasers. Hit.. weapon recycle.. fires.. hit again.
Shrugging off the hits, the enemy pilot pushes his mech off the ground – but is slammed back down when Wolf does critical damage to its arms with his Vibra Claws.

The recon mech pilot tries again to stand – and is successful. Turning, he fires his small and large lasers, scoring hits with both weapons.
Wolf brings his mech under control and retains his footing. His EM Pulser showing ready, he fires and the heat sink temporarily shut down on enemy mech.
Stepping in close, Wolf fires and misses with his pulse laser, but hits with his Vibra Claws. The enemy recon mech goes down again.
Wolf kicks and buries his foot in the mechs’ centre torso.
Relentless, Wolf fires his pulse laser again and blows off the enemy mechs right arm!
Wolf rakes his Vibra Claws across his torso again.
The enemy mech pilot had enough. The cockpit hatch exploded as the pilot ejected.

Victory!!!
Used Xp to promote Wolf to the team Mechanic position. Being a better mechanic than Mauler, the team can now maintain more mechs.
Bought another Fang recon mech for Mauler.

Mech Masters - Early Days
Topic: ToS Chronicles
This was written AFTER I got the idea to do action reports - so it may seem a bit "fuzzy". Bear with it, as it does at least lay the foundation for the later reports in the series.


Team name: Mech Masters

Leader: Mike Masters.
Code Name: Mauler
Race: Human
His combat skills leans more to Cannons
Recon Mech – name: Fang

Manager and Mechanic: Phil J.
Code Name: Gyzmo.
Race: Cyborg
His combat skills lean more to Cannons and Melee fighting
Recon Mech

We won our first fight. Gyzmo carved them up good with his power axes as Mauler stayed back and hammered them with his cannon - although he did run out of ammo.

XP applied and Mechs repaired.


Hired a new team member:
Mechanic: Nigel
CodeName: Dazed
Race: Replicant - I
His combat skills lean more to Unguided missiles and cannons.
Recon Mech

Second mission
There is a river running through the map. Initially, the enemy was not in sight.
Sent the team to climb the nearest hill. Enemy spotted. 2 Mechs. 1 Recon and 1 Light.

Gyzmo charges towards the river to close range for his quad machine guns, and to get into melee range for his twin Power axes. Machine guns do double damage if you are in melee range, and they are the fastest recycling weapons.

Mauler and Dazed stay in the trees and start locking targets. Mauler is having a hard time getting good locks.
Dazed, on the other hand, gets an average lock on the recon and a perfect lock on the Light mech.

Gyzmo engages Jump Jets to cross river (at Rookie level, walking across could be bad)
Mauler and Dazed start shooting.. both missing.. (both are still Rookies.. and it shows).

Gyzmo is across the river, still in the air, floats over the Light Mech, and lines himself up to do a “death from above” when ....
Both enemy mechs open up on Gyzmo. Heavy Meson cannon slug (which has a good chance at doing a critical) hits Gyzmo.
CRITICAL HIT on Gyro. Amazingly, Gyzmo passes the pilot skill check to remain airborne.

Gyzmo lands his wounded mech. The damaged gyro throws the mech off balance and Gyzmo flails at the controls trying to keep his mech standing – but fails. His mech falls to the ground.

Seemingly happy with the outcome of their onslaught, the enemy mechs ignore Gyzmo. Light mech jumps across river. The recon mech climbs the hill disappears from view. Gyzmo slowly gets up and goes off after recon mech.

The trees on the hill mask the incoming light mech. Mauler breaks cover looking for the enemy mechs. He reacquires them and opens up with all weapons. The enemy mechs all lock onto Mauler and hammer him with everything they have. Alerts are going off in Mauler’s cockpit.
He radios Dazed – “Feel free to help out – anytime now would be good!”

Gyzmo chases the recon mech back across river, but his damaged Gyro causes him to fall in the river. He continues to fall on every attempt to stand.

Dazed runs down the hill to help Mauler. He let’s loose his missiles, peppering the light mech. His systems shows the Light Titan’s left leg has lost most of its armor.

Ignoring Dazed, the enemy mechs continue to pound on Mauler. Reeling under the barrage, Mauler fights to keep his mech standing – and then all his power goes out. Engine destroyed!

Turning to face Dazed, the enemy mechs close in on him and tear into his armor. Eventualy, his right leg buckles and snaps and his mech falls to the ground. Standing over him, the enemy mechs kick, punch and fire their weapons into him.

Concentrating solely on his controls, Gyzmo finally gets his mech to stand up (14% chance and he did it!), and marches out of the river. He charges into the fray, revving his power axes.

His first swing with the power axe cleaves off the damaged leg from the Light Titan! With a wicked grin on his face, Gyzmo turns to face the enemy recon titan.

The recon titan looked up at Gyzmo, but with weapon still pointing at Dazed, he fires. The shot hits the engine and Dazed mech engine explodes!!
Dazed is killed instantly.
The rolling fireball superheats the other mechs and causes Gyzmo's engine to also explode, killing him as well!!
Both enemy mechs take damage and the resulting heat shuts them down.

Mission failure.

Back at HQ.. Mauler applies his little xp from that mission and recruits :

Name: David
Code Name: Wolf.
Race: Human.
His combat skills are leaning towards Energy weapons and missiles and a
little melee.
Recon Mech - name: TripWire.