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> Operation XI: Paradise Lost
Captain Garrett Garland
post Dec 23 2006, 01:56 AM
Post #16



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Joined: 16-December 05
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I knew these moments were dreaded by some amongst the crew, especially by those with acute TDS, or transit disorientation syndrome. As the third chime sounded, I felt the world leave me, myself both infinitely small and large simultaneously, both traveling faster than the speed of light, yet stationary. Some, I suspected, found themselves rushing toward one of the ship’s many heads, their stomach about to give up on them at any moment. Personally, I found that my stomach had become all but immune over the years—a bouncy BattleMech cockpit would do that to you. Unlatching myself from the chair restraints designed to keep one seated while in zero-g, I was about to make my way to the simulator room when a wave of nausea swept over me—so much for that tough stomach.

The next day I headed towards the ship’s physical training room, actually walking on the deck. Though the Magistracy hadn’t arranged us a command circuit—I doubted that they had the resources to do that for anyone but the Magestrix herself—we were switching JumpShips, and so were en-route to the systems zenith point; we can come in at the nadir. This would be one of the few times the ship had gravity as for the most part we would be floating with the JumpShip, waiting for her sails to recharge. This was the perfect opportunity to practice a little hand to hand combat.

Entering the room, I saw that the exercise equipment had been tied down in a corner of the room—undoubtedly when the ship was still floating freely—and that mats covered the main floor. Stretching on a nearby wall, I saw that a dozen infantrymen and women were preparing themselves for the exercises while most of the MechWarriors merely stood about, though some took a clue and began some stretching exercises themselves. Finding a spot on the wall next to Norrington, I noticed that even in exercise clothing he still managed to keep an air of sophistication about him. As soon as we had all prepared ourselves, Sergeant Richelieu, the commander of the infantry platoon began to speak.


“Alright people, we’re going to be floating out in space for a long time, so Captain Garland and I thought it would be a good idea to get in some good PT before we’re back to walking on the ceilings. The Captain also thought it might be a good idea for some of you MechWarriors to learn a few things about hand to hand combat. Now I’m sure some of you can hold your own in a fight, but the infantry can teach you quite a bit still I think. Now if everyone would square up against a partner, we’ll begin.”

Quickly, and smartly, I found both MechWarriors adjacent to me gone from my presence, having moved several feet away as soon as the Sergeant had uttered the last word. Looking across the room, I saw why—the Panther awaited me.


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Position : Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Fox
Current BattleMech : Shadow Hawk [55 tons] [97.2 km/h max] [120 meter jump range]
Loadout : [1x Rotary AC5] [1x LRM-20] [1x Medium Pulse Laser] [2x Streak SRM-2] [AMS] [CASE] [ECM] [JumpJets]
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John Maxwell
post Dec 23 2006, 09:56 AM
Post #17



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"...maybe you want to prove yourself somehow, see some combat to show that you are just as good as Ben - maybe even better given that you seem to be younger. . .everyone is watching you right now, to see if you measure up."

Several days had passed, and the words still rang in my head asI leaned against a padded wall of the gymnasium, crossing my arms across my chest and staring at the floor as an infantrywoman I didn't recognize demonstrated several control holds and a devastating throwing maneuver which left her much larger male companion writhing on the floor in very real pain.

Evidently, she had something to prove...

Garland's words had stung. Although the Captain likely found it easy to simply write my driven attitude off to some unsatisfied Freudian urge to prove myself to my colleagues, or indeed, to myself, the fact of the matter was, I was simply basing my observations and my critical comments concerning his cavalier handling of the mission ahead of us on the mostly-disasterous track record the unit'd had up to this point - all thanks to a lack of proper planning and pre-deployment analyses of every possible contingency. I...Benjamin had had a bad habit of engaging in this sort of recklessness and shortsighted behavior, and it, time and again, had cost him dearly.

I was merely trying desparately to ensure that didn't happen again. But unfortunately, it seemed as though I was spinning my wheels.


"Okay, everyone! Partner up! You'll be required to demonstrate the maneuver we just discussed! Remember - the sequences is 'choke, hold, throw.'"

As it so happened, my partner was none other than James Norrington, who, not so long ago, had himself defected to the Legionnaires with several others from the Crayven Corporation.

"Afternoon, Mister Norrington," I murmered, as he and I faced each other across the floor mats.

This should be interesting...


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Position : MechWarrior | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign: Fox-1
Current BattleMech: Urbanmech
Current Loadout: TBD
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Corporal James Norrington
post Dec 23 2006, 10:05 AM
Post #18



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Phoenix stared at me with dark, troubled eyes. They weren't the eyes of a normal man....of that one could be most certain. No, Phoenix's eyes had in them a wild, tormented glint, one most likely not uncommon for a man who had lost everything in his life and who had everything to gain. As he walked toward me, I, although I had faced countless manners of adversity in days past, felt a cold chill trace across my spine at his approach. There was something lethally intimidating about Phoenix, but I couldn't put myfinger on what it was. Mortal terror was the pairing of words which seemed to best describe the sensation.

Do you want to go first? Or should I? Phoenix asked, in an icy tone that seemed to drain the color from the room.

I'd prefer you went first - I began. Before the words had finished exiting my mouth, Phoenix's arm was around my throat and I found myself slamming to the floor, the mat beneath hardly affording any sort of protection against the impact. I gasped in pain, attempting to keep my composure against insurmountable agony.

Good, good technique, a nearby instructor commented. Phoenix merely scowled, before extending a hand to me in an attempt to help me to my feet.

I'll manage, I groaned, pushing off the floor andstaggering upright. It was going to be a long day....


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Position : Corporal | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Command-2
Current BattleMech : Centurion
Loadout :
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Captain Garrett Garland
post Dec 23 2006, 07:26 PM
Post #19



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Joined: 16-December 05
From: Seattle, WA
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As I felt my lip and blood came away, I wondered if it would perhaps be easier to fight one of terra’s native black leopards, a panther, than fight Abraham Tetsuhara standing over me. At 5’11”, I was slightly above the average Inner Sphere height, but in comparison to the leviathan before me I could very well be a dwarf. It was not so much that Tetsuhara was large, it was that he possessed the musculature of an elemental while still remaining as quick and lethal as any DEST commando.

“Captain, are you alright?” He even put me to shame with his curt, but polite comments as we practiced.

“Yes, I’m fine Corporal.” I said as blood floated freely from my lip, creating a red globule which Tetsuhara easily intercepted with a towel. Floating towards me, the dark-skinned man with his hybrid Japanese-African accent handed me the towel which I pressed to my face. Earlier he had managed to bleed my nose, but it had clotted enough to continue training. Zero-g actually did help with bloody noses for there was no gravity to pull the blood any particular direction so it mostly just pooled in the nose. “Just give me a second and we can get back to training.”

To my great joy and pride I had actually managed to land a few blows on Tetsuhara, though I knew that if we were playing for keeps I would have been dead before I ever even knew he was there—assuming that I was outside of a BattleMech. My thoughts were jolted away as I felt a familiar, yet completely unique feeling of being crushed and expanded simultaneously. Suddenly, I found myself laying on the mat—had I just taken a blow? Looking up I noticed that everyone was feeling the same disorientation. Walking over to a comm panel within the gymnasium I opened a line to the bridge.

“Hobson, what the hell is going on up there—did we just make a Jump?”

A concerned Hobson replied almost instantly, I had a feeling that he had been in the processing of trying to contact me. “Yes sir, I’m putting the JumpShip Captain on now.”

There was a moment’s pause accompanied by a trickle of static, but finally the JumpShip Captain came online. “My apologies Major Garland,” When onboard a vessel there could technically be only one Captain—Hobson being the DropShip’s Captain, though not an actual Captain in rank—and so I was given a very temporary, and very superfluous promotion to Major. “We were forced to make an early Jump from the system—Word of Blake ships arrived at our very same JumpPoint and I thought a quick exit was prudent. I was worried that we might have mis-jumped because we left without a full charge, but we seem to be in one piece, more or less.” The man’s tone turned quite sour at this point. “I was forced to cut our JumpSail—we are stranded for the most part in this system until we can get a new sail—and who knows how long that’ll be. My shipping company will probably send another ship out here with a replacement, but you know how rare and expensive those sails are—could be months. I’m going to send our shuttle planet-side for some supplies, but aside from that there’s not much else we can do. I know you have another ship to catch in the next system, and our company still owes you—and the Starbuck a ride to the next. The Starbuck’s Captain is speaking with my first officer right now, but he’s requesting me. There’s two other JumpShips in system right now, and I’ll see if we can arrange transport with one of them so you can link up with your next ship.”

“Thank you Captain, and good thinking, better adrift without a paddle than clutching one at the bottom of the ocean. I’m sure your company will understand and laude your actions. Please notify me immediately if we have a carrier.”

Grabbing a clean towel, I wiped the sweat off my face from the exercises. “I’m needed on the bridge Corporal, please carry on here.”

God, I was glad we were getting away from the Inner Sphere and its troubles for awhile.

***


A few hours later we were notified that a small Scout class JumpShip could take us to our rendezvous point in the Meadowvale system. At a dozen jumps or so we were less than two months away from our destination. Now that our ship was headed towards another JumpShip, having disembarked from our previous sail –less JumpShip, we were back under standard terran gravity conditions. I hoped that we could get in a little more gravity training today as we were only going to make a few more transfers before staying with a single JumpShip all the way to Vivarais, leaving us in zero-g for a full month. Before heading back to the bridge to consult with Hobson, I stopped in the infirmary to inform Major Maxwell of our situation—he still did not look well, but then again I knew I should be thankful that he lived. The doctors said it would be yet months before he could resume command—all I had to do was keep his unit intact on a vacation world till then.

Hell, I mused, the only thing I have to worry about is the men running off with some of those Canopian Courtesans and forgetting which DropShip was theirs.

This post has been edited by Captain Garrett Garland: Dec 23 2006, 07:27 PM


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Position : Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Fox
Current BattleMech : Shadow Hawk [55 tons] [97.2 km/h max] [120 meter jump range]
Loadout : [1x Rotary AC5] [1x LRM-20] [1x Medium Pulse Laser] [2x Streak SRM-2] [AMS] [CASE] [ECM] [JumpJets]
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Corporal Nick Schuster
post Dec 24 2006, 01:49 AM
Post #20



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I shook off the sensation of the sudden jump into and out of hyperspace as best as I could, replacing my spectacles to my face as zero gravity took over. We'd been in the middle of learning hand to hand combat techniques, a field in which I required little in the way of refreshing in, when the jump had suddenly and unexpectedly taken place. I glanced over at Norrington, Garland, and the Phoenix clone, noticing their disoriented expressions closely matched my own. I pushed off a bulk head and sailed across the compartment to their location, in time to catch the tail end of a transmission about the Word of Blake.

"Everything in order, sir?" I asked, extending a hand against an overhead pipe to slow my movement.

"We're in one piece at the very least," Garland replied, furrowing his eyebrow, "though I can't be sure how those who didn't make the jump with us will fare."

I nodded, and looked toward the clone. He seemed preoccupied with something other than our current situation.

I didn't trust him.


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Position : Tech Specialist | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : MANTIS
Current BattleMech : LGN-01 Kit Fox [Light -35 Tons - 96.75 km/h max]
Loadout : [1x ER Large Laser] [1x Small Pulse Laser] [1x LB-X Autocannon/5 - Ammo: Slug (20 rounds)] [1x Streak SRM-2 (Improved OS) - Ammo: 50 Acid SRM-2 | 50 Anti-Personnel SRM-2] [CASE] [FireScan II with Multi-Trac II & IndirecTrac]
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Wedge Lourde
post Dec 28 2006, 06:32 PM
Post #21



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"Great, I just love jumps... " I said in my cabin. I walked out into the lobby, feeling a bit light-headed, but after sitting down, I felt a bit better. I decied to walk over to mech bay to see my new Uziel that I had chosen for this mission.


I walked in to see techs moving about, polishing up our 'mechs, fixing small wiring rigs and such. A tech approached me.


"How are you, sir? Your Uziel is having a few wiring problems, we're fixing 'em. Apparently, the fusion core isn't sending electricity to all of the components of the 'mech. No worries though. We'll be ready to fit its weapons soon. We should have it ready by the time we get out of this space jump."

"Yes sir. Actually, I came to make a change to the readout. Instead of those dual PPC's can you make one of them a meduim pulse laser? I feel that a machine gun alone won't be enough supressive fire, and I need a bit of a fast heat source in case I might need to burn down some foliage. Also, downgrade the missle pack to some SRM's. In a dense jungle, I see no need to have the long-range hand."

"I think we can do this, sir!"

"Garland to the bridge."

"Well sir, i'm off to my cabin. I expect this 'mech prepared to have a simulator match that corresponds to its weapon re-fittings. Besides, it's been a long time since i've piloted this baby..."


--------------------
Position : MechWarrior | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Sabre Lead
Current BattleMech : Masakari
Loadout : ERPPC x4, LRM 10 x1
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Ian Rielley
post Dec 29 2006, 04:41 AM
Post #22



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As per Captain Garland's orders, our mechs were to be Gold and Red in our color scheme. A hansome choice for my Phoenix Hawk. Much of my time was spent personally doing the embellishments and adding little touch ups to the color. As a new mech to me, I had yet to personalize the settings and other little things to be adjusted as well. I took special care of this gifted battlemech, going over every detail and customizing everything from weapon firing intervals, to HUD display color, to the length of the footpedals in the cockpit. Though I would never get a chance to pilot it before our mission began, I wanted to be familliar enough with the Phoenix Hawk to be prepaired for any situation. Most mechanical things that were major, I left to the techs, but little details like the fabric covering the command couch and the style of knobs and toggles spread over the console. The base color scheme was fairly plain, it mostly followed the faces of the geometry of the chassis. After drilling and training each day in the sim pod, I took it upon myself to add ornate ssprawling designs over the feilds of plai color. On the large red surfaces, the designs spiraled and twisted in golden paint and on the gold planes, fiery red patterns stretched on. I was assured that mine would be the most decorative mech in the parade through the city upon our arrivan to Vivaris.


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Current BattleMech : Dragon Aži Raoioita
Loadout : Heavy Gauss Rifle, Clan Ultra AC5, 2 erMedium Laser, ECM
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Captain Garrett Garland
post Jan 3 2007, 08:12 PM
Post #23



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As the month wore on, our training regimen began to become dull and even catching a full season of Immortal Warrior from a planetary relay station did little to end the boredom of our voyage’s final few weeks. The ‘caboose’ on what amounted to a JumpShip train, the Luminous Path, was forced to wait agonizing days, and sometimes more than a week, in-between jumps while the crew and passengers were forced to float within the ship, keeping themselves busy with whatever they could. Attached to our Invader Class JumpShip were two other DropShips, both Monarch Class, also bound towards Vivarais carrying pleasure seeking tourists. An incident aboard one of the ships actually added a bit of spice to an otherwise bland wait time when a thief onboard a Monarch managed to escape through the docking collar connecting the DropShip to the JumpShip, and then fled into one of the two hydroponics bays flanking the ship’s bridge. Amazingly, a short firefight between two Legionnaire Infantrymen and the thief resulted in no casualties after the thief surrendered, realizing that an errant shot within the bay would result in a severe and very explosive, decompression. While we were allowed sometime onboard the JumpShip’s grav deck, a 65-meter diameter ring which circled around the JumpShip’s core, using centrifugal force to simulate gravity, most of our physical training had ended; we were all trying to get as acquainted to our BattleMechs as possible without actually being able to use them. It was with great relief that I heard the final of three tones, indicating our last jump. Seated near Hobson on the bridge, I enjoyed the final chime though I would be satisfied if I didn’t hear that damn noise for years.

Fortunately, I found that my bout with TDS on the first jump was an isolated incident, and that I weathered all of the further jumps without malady. Though my jump experiences usually only involved visual and special distortions, I could hear the final chime wavering in the background as I was assailed with all many of sensory confusions. The sensation of the jump was over just as soon as it began—perhaps even before; it was said that an inbound JumpShip’s presence in a system could actually be detected before the JumpShip jumped.


“Hobson, do you have anything for me?”

Blinking his eyes for a moment, Hobson scanned his console. After a moment, his face became perplexed. “Sir, it’s almost as if another jump occurred at the same time as ours. If you look here,” Hobson pointed out a graph on his console. “you can see that there are two wake patterns oscillating out from our position.”

“Open a channel to Captain Svyatoslav.” A moment later the JumpShip Captain was on the comm. “Captain Svyatoslav, Garland here. Are you reading something unusual out there Captain? I’m sure the Luminous Path’s sensors are much more sophisticated than ours.”

I could hear Russian being spoken between the Captain and his sensor officer—this crew must be from the Tikonov region. “Major Garland, it would appear that another ship jumped out just as we were arriving, and it looks like they launched two DropShips about twelve hours ago assuming a standard burn.”

“Can you identify the ships?”

“No, their transponders are off. Ah, wait a moment Captain; we’re receiving a transmission from Vivarais. There is a several minute delay if you intend to send a reply message.”

“Thank you Captain, our transceiver can handle any planetary communications.”

Seconds later Hobson had the message on a small auxiliary console.

*************
Major Maxwell,

We’ve detected two Union Class DropShips inbound towards Vivarais. Based on our mass readings and telemetry both ships are fully loaded implying that we’re going to be facing a company’s worth of BattleMechs from each. The guard will be protecting Zephyranth, but we have no other forces on planet to defend against an attack anywhere else. The Magistracy’s raiding battalion was recalled to fight against the Word of Blake last month, and Jade’s Cavilers were sent out on a raid about two weeks ago and aren’t expected to return for another few days. My guess is that they will split their forces, use one company to pin us down in Zephyranth while the other can wreak havoc wherever it chooses. I need you to engage and destroy that second company. You won’t know until last minute which DropShip will be headed towards Zephyranth, so you’re going to need to stay close. If possible, engage them before they reach the atmosphere. We have a wing of AeroSpace fighters available to intercept, but the DropShips themselves have screening pairs, essentially matching up with our intercept wing. Good luck.

Captain Richard Dallas
Vivarais Guard, 1st Company
*************

Well, it looks like they assumed that the Major would be well enough to command the Legionnaires by the time we arrived. If any world can heal the Major, it would be this one, the Magistracy is known not only for its courtesans, but for its healers as well.

“Captain Svyatoslav, we need immediate detach, we are going to chase after those DropShips. Please hold on to your cargo until the situation is clear planetside.”

Moments later I felt our ship fall away from the JumpShip, and gravity returned as Hobson engaged the thrusters. It would be a race to the planet, and our enemy had a head start. I knew that we couldn’t push the Dauntless above one gravity for long; more than a day above standard gravity would put too much stress on the men, and it was near certain that there would be a high-gee sprint towards the planet at the end.

A usually four day travel to the planet from the JumpPoint turned into a near two day sprint with the Dauntless pulling nearly two-gees the whole way. The commander of the invasion force, not wanting to tire his men too much from the gravity nearly allowed us to catch up with his ships. All three of the DropShips almost turned in unison to point their drive flares towards the planet, slowing their descent. Luckily, we were able to reduce our descending speed to only a gee after awhile—it was hard to prepare for battle in anything higher. Though still out of weapons range, Hobson brought up the pair of ships using one of the DropShip’s powerful and highly precise telescopes, using his intuition as to guess which ship would make for Zephyranth and the other for a more desolate region.
“There!” He nearly shouted as one of the ships broke formation, its course obviously not the planetary capital. The ship’s pair of fighters joined that of the other ship’s to combat a wing ascending from the planet.

“Battle lance, get your ‘Mechs ready to hot drop. Recon, you’re right after them. Command will follow.”

My teeth jittered as our ship bounced off the atmosphere—spheroids were not meant to do these kind of maneuvers this close to a planet. “Hobson, if we get within firing range, unleash everything we’ve got. Launch Battle lance as soon as you see the enemy launching their first lance. After all of the ‘Mechs are deployed take the Dauntless down and unload the vehicles—we’ll need to call on them, and the ship itself, for artillery support. And watch out for their fighters if any survive.”

With that I headed down towards the MechBay. I was the last to arrive, and Captain Desperado’s lance was already in the drop bays. Entering my Warhammer from the catwalk, I waited for Hobson to drop the first lance. I could feel the ship shudder as weapons fire from the enemy ship impacted our armored hull, but the Dauntless was a Fortress class ship, and more than a match for a Union. Tying my communications into the bridge comm I could hear Hobson giving orders to the crew. He knew naval warfare better than I, and so I simply listened. A few seconds later, he came on our company’s general frequency, alerting Kodiak lance of an imminent drop. Looking through my FerroGlass cockpit, I saw four BattleMechs disappear into a torrent of fire before the drop chutes closed again. Recon lance made its way to the dropbays and followed in a similar fashion just over a minute later. Over the comm channel I could hear excitement—apparently the Dauntless had knocked out one of the enemy ship’s thrusters—they would not be landing softly. Moving my Battlemech to my designated bay, I waited for scrambling techs to make sure all was well. I watched the seconds tick by as Hobson gave us the warning of an immanent drop.

My stomach seemed to hit the top of my chest as my seventy ton war machine, affixed with a booster pack, fell into a blazing inferno erupting between the two, massive warring egg-shaped ships. Across from me, I saw another lance falling from the ship—they would touch down just before me. The final Mech of the enemy’s final lance barely made it from the belly of the ship when another thruster burst into flames as an entire engine compartment was bathed in fire. I knew that the pilot of that DropShip would need every bit of luck know just make a crash landing; my guess was that the ship would break up upon impact. Amazingly, weapons fire still poured from the Union as it descended towards the earth, I hoped in earnest that some would survive—considering that even if they survived the crash they would still be suffocating out in a desert wasteland I thought it unlikely. Moments later I felt the jarring impact of FerroSteel on soil—but I was late to the party—the fireworks had already started.


--------------------
Position : Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Fox
Current BattleMech : Shadow Hawk [55 tons] [97.2 km/h max] [120 meter jump range]
Loadout : [1x Rotary AC5] [1x LRM-20] [1x Medium Pulse Laser] [2x Streak SRM-2] [AMS] [CASE] [ECM] [JumpJets]
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Wedge Lourde
post Jan 3 2007, 10:29 PM
Post #24



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From: Kentares IV
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"Rielley and Sona, you're on me. Harris, watch our left flank. We don't know what's expected, so shut your 'mech down for now. When I give the word, re-activate and open fire." Desperado's orders were clear. We were to sit on the ground and wait for any unfriendly tags, and then take 'em out.

My mighty Uziel, as I had named Bladewing, landed with a perfectly. Doing a quick-scan of its "vitals", I found no error. As I shut down all my primary systems, I heard a THUD. A 'mech that I had never seen, not of obvious Inner Sphere technology, had landed before me. Just as I re-activated my targeting computer and 'mech drive, my 'mech's torso was greeted to a nice pummel with a round of Guass fire. I furiously stumbled over my computer screen, trying the throttle and trying to re-balance my battlemech. Just as this happened, my commerades sprung into action.


"Open up, boys! Sona's been immobilized!" said Captain Desperado.

"I'll be fine, just distract that guy, and watch out for more playmates. What the hell kind of 'mech is that?"

This post has been edited by Sona: Jan 4 2007, 06:05 PM


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Position : MechWarrior | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Sabre Lead
Current BattleMech : Masakari
Loadout : ERPPC x4, LRM 10 x1
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Captain Desparado
post Jan 3 2007, 11:44 PM
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After burning at 2 Gs for more than two days, we had finally reached the fun part. The part where I come in. I was on the bridge when the Dauntless's scopes saw the invasion force begin atmospheric entry procedures. I bolted out the door on that cue and was screaming over the comm at my lancemates even before Captain Garland's orders echoes through the halls.

“Battle lance, get your ‘Mechs ready to hot drop. Recon, you’re right after them. Command will follow.”

Ian and Sona ran through the mechbay door shoulder to shoulder in front of me, I dashed to my stall and strapped in, looking across the bay to see Jason already operational in the stall opposite mine. Jason was first out of his stall, Sona followed. Hobson alerted me of the impending drop and I let him know we were all ready. The hatch at the end of the bay opened, bringing with it the harsh air that caused so much friction against our hull. The atmopshere was thin but we were still traveling at great speed, the counter thrust's tails of flame that reached upwards added to the wall of fire that Kodiak-2 crashed through fearlessly. We all followed suit, receiving the baptism by flame and being reborn into a free fall high above the dead planet. As the dropships waged epic battle in the sky, battlemechs imitated them to a much smaller scale. But just because we were ants by compairison didn't mean anything was less feirce. My PPCs flew through the air, doing what they could against a nearby Union class ship that ignored me completely. The battlemechs that it dropped were too far out of my range to pose too much of a threat at the moment but they would overwhelm us quickly on the ground. A well formulated strategy and concentrated fire would need to be in effect if we were to have a shot at protecting this so called "pleasure world." But this was my pleasure. Blood. Fire. Glory.

Rielley and Sona, you're on me. Harris, watch our left flank. We don't know what's expected, so shut your 'mech down for now. When I give the word, re-activate and open fire.

Let 'em come to us. We can pick an unlucky few off before they group together.

My auxiluary boosters broke away and I made a gentle landing on the lunar like surface of Vivaris with my jump jets. My Maurader, which normally ran quite hot, wouldn't be so constrained by the heat with an atmosphere this thin. I was ready for almost anything that would come my way.

Almost.


--------------------
Position : Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Libra - 1
Current BattleMech : Sunder Leviathan
Loadout : 4 ER Large Lasers, 1 Clan LBX AC20, 3 ER Medium Lasers, 1 Clan LRM20, LAMS
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Captain Garrett Garland
post Jan 5 2007, 03:47 AM
Post #26



Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Rank: Captain



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Posts: 453
Joined: 16-December 05
From: Seattle, WA
Member No.: 3





The landing was rougher than I had expected; the sun-baked soil as hard as a dried sea-bed. Flexing my BattleMech’s knees to absorb the impact, I clicked the release for the booster pack, my Warhammer’s shoulders rising without the heavy jets upon its back. Looking up through my ancient ‘Mech’s pitted and scarred cockpit I saw the Dauntless fly overhead, Hobson following my orders precisely. I saw no sign of the enemy DropShip—I assumed a smoke column emanating from a crater a klick away or so represented the fate of their ship. This little raid was certainly cost the Marian Hegemony more than they had expected. Their plan had been a sound one—with one company forcing the planetary guard to remain in the capital, a second could maraud the other settlements with impunity.

Looking forward, I saw flashes of light splashing out from a bowl of a crater, the ordinarily grey-brown rock and soil awash with light. Stepping to the edge of the crater I saw a Centurion and an Assassin furiously battling a Mauler, an assault class BattleMech. Ordinarily, the two Legionnaire ‘Mechs, amassing to the same 90-tons as the Mauler would be able to outflank the heavier ‘Mech, the Mauler unable to divide its firepower between the two smaller BattleMechs. However, within the crater, maneuvering room was limited and it was obvious that the Mauler, having landed first and already taken a shot at the Legionnaire ‘Mechs as they descended, held a key advantage. The torso of Norrington’s Assassin glowed red hot, and rivulets of steel trickled down its chest as the Mauler landed hits with both large lasers. Norrington fought to keep his ‘Mech upright as nearly all of his chest armor was burnt away in that region, over a ton of armor now molten slag on the crater floor. Swinging my Battlemech’s heavy weapon to bear, I targeted the Mauler’s right side, the only thing presenting itself. Triggering both of my PPCs, the torrents of blue energy lashed out upon the Marian ‘Mech, severing the Mauler’s arm in an explosion of electricity. Myomer cables thrashed about as the residual energy from the attack fed their power hungry nature. With the Mauler clearly shaken, Thorn took the opportunity to line up a shot with the precision of his ‘Mech’s namesake, scoring with his ASN-101’s Medium laser directly upon the cockpit of the Mauler, clearly phasing the pilot. The beast was not down, not for a long shot, but still recoiling from a brutal attack, and down one of his primary weapons I knew that his demise was inevitable.


"Alright boys, let's light him up!"


--------------------
Position : Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Fox
Current BattleMech : Shadow Hawk [55 tons] [97.2 km/h max] [120 meter jump range]
Loadout : [1x Rotary AC5] [1x LRM-20] [1x Medium Pulse Laser] [2x Streak SRM-2] [AMS] [CASE] [ECM] [JumpJets]
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Wedge Lourde
post Jan 5 2007, 06:02 PM
Post #27



LEGIONNAIRES
Rank: Corporal



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Posts: 172
Joined: 21-December 05
From: Kentares IV
Member No.: 16





"Alright boys, let's light him up!"

I jammed the throttle furiously, trying to make my lower-torso respond. The knees of my 'mech groaned and squeaked. Then, I started to move foreward. I checked the computer screen to see the damage, and re-activated all of my main components, as my lanced duked it out with the Mauler before us. As the other lances tore the Mauler apart, my 'mech's automated speaker chimed in.

"Weapons systems online. Gyroscopes 3,4 online...


Enemies detected."



I watched as an Argus and Bushwacker approached our battlesite. Hoping to make the first strike, I launched a PPC round in their direction, to let them know that we were going to kick their ass.

"Incoming 'mechs... looks like an Argus and a Bushwacker."


--------------------
Position : MechWarrior | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Sabre Lead
Current BattleMech : Masakari
Loadout : ERPPC x4, LRM 10 x1
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Captain Desparado
post Jan 8 2007, 01:41 AM
Post #28



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Argus was commonly referred to as "the lightest assault mech," because it had the ability to carry just about any weapon you didn't want to be hit with. I left the other Legionnares to deal with the Mauler and began dealing with our next biggest threat, the Argus. I assigned Jason and Ian to the Bushwacker, Sona and I would be dealing with the heavy mech. My PPCs rippled from their cannons, bringing a smarting sting to the Argus's center torso with a direct hit. He relatiated with something unexpected, a heavy gauss round that jarred me in my seat. The damage was massive for an introductory blow, the rest of my weapons struck back at the arm holding the terrible weapon. This must have been what knocked Sona off of his feet, he was up by now, taking his hot vengeance upon this foe. My autocannons locked on and I unleashed them, adding to the accumulating damage on his main weapon. It was Sona with the critical hit, a PPC blazed from his Uziel's arm and smote the Argus. The Heavy Gauss Rifle's magnetic feild destabilized and tore the right half of the Argus in half. Shrapnel pelted our mechs and we battled on. With his fangs pulled, the Argus had only a pair of medium pulse lasers and an SRM pack to fall back on. He was short work fron there. Sona and I turned from the new crater we had made and sought to aid our comrades.

This post has been edited by Captain Desparado: Jan 8 2007, 01:42 AM


--------------------
Position : Captain | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Libra - 1
Current BattleMech : Sunder Leviathan
Loadout : 4 ER Large Lasers, 1 Clan LBX AC20, 3 ER Medium Lasers, 1 Clan LRM20, LAMS
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Corporal Nick Schuster
post Jan 8 2007, 03:28 PM
Post #29



Legionnaires | MechWarrior
Rank: Corporal



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Posts: 76
Joined: 24-December 05
From: Somewhere!
Member No.: 20





Oh, fantastic.....

The Bushwacker BSW-X1 lumbered toward me, its bristling weapons loadout glinting in the blazing Vivarais sun. The war machine was 35 tons heavier than mine and carried a payload capable of dismantling my 20-ton Locust piece by piece. Of most formidible note was the Mydron Model B Autocannon/10, a 'Mech-sized shotgun able to rip holes in my armor - not to mention the underlying delicate components. My scout was never intended to engage a BattleMech of this size - the twin rocket launchers and ER Medium Lasers carried by my war machine were intended for use against vehicles and infantry - and little more. I was going to have to improvise.

The two advantages my Locust had over the massive Bushwacker were speed and agility - characteristics I intended to take full advantage of. A Circle of Death seemed to have the likliest chance of success against the heavier 'Mech...a maneuver in which my Locust would circle around the larger 'Mech, keeping away from its firing arc as best as possible while hammering away at its vital areas. The move would be a long shot, but at the very least, it would buy me time until reenforcements arrived.


Speaking of reenforcements...where the hell are Phoenix and Reade?

My lancemates were no where to be found - whether they had dropped off-target, or had been eradicated before making it to the planet, I had no way of knowing. Suffice it to say, the absence of their firepower would prove extremely detrimental to me.

Fortunately, adversity was a foe with which I was well-familiarized.


--------------------
Position : Tech Specialist | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : MANTIS
Current BattleMech : LGN-01 Kit Fox [Light -35 Tons - 96.75 km/h max]
Loadout : [1x ER Large Laser] [1x Small Pulse Laser] [1x LB-X Autocannon/5 - Ammo: Slug (20 rounds)] [1x Streak SRM-2 (Improved OS) - Ammo: 50 Acid SRM-2 | 50 Anti-Personnel SRM-2] [CASE] [FireScan II with Multi-Trac II & IndirecTrac]
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Wedge Lourde
post Jan 8 2007, 10:49 PM
Post #30



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Rank: Corporal



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Posts: 172
Joined: 21-December 05
From: Kentares IV
Member No.: 16





"Argus down. Let's go see if we can't make short work of that Bushwacker that's keeping Schuster buisy."

There was a fire buring from the twisted torso that had been mauled of my Uziel. As I tried to do a 180 degree torso twist, my 'mech's computer greeted me with the unpleasant note.

"Torso components malfunctioning."

"Damn it..." I said as I manually turned around to see Schuster dodge a lance of... well, whatever the Bushwacker had thrown at him. However, a critical lance of missles struck him, lighting several components of his 'mech to flames. I picked at my PPC-set trigger. Instead of wasting my round of energy, I decided to charge up and pop him with my machine guns that I had re-fit below my missile rack.

Schuster's Locust seemed to flinch about, taking dings and flizzles from the Bushwacker's pulse laser. I my sights on the pest, and began to return pops with my chain gun. I waited for Captain Desperado's deadly lance of weapons fire. As he approached, the Bushwacker seemed to stop.


"Captain... the kill is yours. Let's have some victory fireworks."

"God damn it Wedge, if you already have the baddie in your cross hairs, FINISH HIM!" came the reply. Desperado sounded like he was in a bad mood.

"Hoooo kay," I said, trying to sound like a a cartoon character I had seen in an ancient cartoon from something called 'The Internet.' "I'll see what I can DUUUUUU!"

I wheeled my 'Mech around and pointed its guns at the the Bushwacker. As I went to squeeze the trigger, the Bushwacker came alive again and started spraying my 'Mech with all kinds of fire and concussions.

"AIIIIIIEEEE!! HELP!" I let out an embarrassing womanly scream as I put my war machine in hard reverse. I was scared, on account of having missed my chance to exterminate the Bushwacker while its pilot was pooping or whatever had made him stop mid combat.

"Wedge, you idiot, why did you wait??" Desperado yelled across the comms.

"I wanted to do something special for your birthday!!!" I shrieked as the missiles rained down. I was now in Full Survival Mode, and all that mattered was not dying. I prayed I would survive this trial, as I had so much left to do in my life...

A huge explosion rocked my Uziel, and I felt its feet rise up off the ground a little bit. I could tell by its location that it had to have been the missile rack exploding.


"BALL DAMN IT!" I yelled. I pulled my 'Mech's machine gun level on the Bushwacker and pulled the trigger. A huge number of bullets sprayed out of the machine gun's barrel...and into the cockpit of my 'Mech!!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!" I yelled in fear as I writhed and squiggled to get out of the way of the zinging bullets. My machine gun must have gotten blew out of position by the missile rack blowing up and now it was shooting bullets into my cockpit instead of at targets! Fortunately I was able to avoid getting shot as the bullets died down. But I wasn't out of the fight yet, the Bushwacker was still coming at me.

I sat down hard on my pilot's couch.


"HAAAAAAAAAARRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" I screamed in deathly pain. For a second, I thought I'd been shot. But in closer focus, I saw the most terrible thing: my cockpit couch had been shot by one of the stray bullets, and a spring had popped out. When I'd sat down, the spring had stabbed me in the manhood, and I was fast bleeding out. I knew that without medical attention, my heart would simply fail from blood loss.

Thinking really fast, I ripped my pants down while still driving backwards. As I wrapped duct tape around my junk to staunch the bleeding, I prayed that Desperado, or anyone, would save me from a fatal death...


--------------------
Position : MechWarrior | LEGIONNAIRES
Callsign : Sabre Lead
Current BattleMech : Masakari
Loadout : ERPPC x4, LRM 10 x1
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