Initially written in 2011, slightly re-written to accommodate, well, you'll see. Just a fun little thing to celebrate the forums opening. The reason I wrote it the first time was because I hadn't written BattleMech combat in years and I wanted to see if I could make it read as something other than a fluffed up AAR to a table-top match.
Anyway, enjoy!
Open farmland stretched out before Acolyte IV Brian Jackson and his Enforcer BattleMech; farmland scorched and damaged by the hellish battle waging around him. The Tukkayid veteran was on his first combat mission since arriving on the front, with a lance of allied pilots on his side, and already they had made contact.
The Smoke Jaguar forces were intimidating; a Masakari, Cauldron-Born, and one of their new Shadow Cat Medium OmniMechs - their Starmates lay smoldering from the ferocious air attack that had just aided Jackson and his allies. The latter 'Mech was after a friendly beside him, piloting a Clint Medium 'Mech that now showed extensive armor damage from a direct hit by the Clan 'Mech's Gauss Rifle. Jackson was moving to close the range and bring his Enforcer's autocannon to bear while he brought his extended range laser over. A powerful beam of emerald energy lashed out at the Shadow Cat, a partial hit that scourged a little armor from the Clan OmniMech's side.
The allied pilot in the Clint was a green MechWarrior; his ER PPC blast was wide and missed the Shadow Cat entirely. The Clan pilot nevertheless continued to target him; whether it was from the habit of zellbrigen and focusing on his first enemy or a tactical maneuver to remove the weakest enemy first Jackson couldn't begin to tell, but he didn't care. His mission was to protect the native pilots, in desperate need of combat experience against the Clans that they could survive.
The Clint was lucky; the Clan pilot's shot was off. The rookie inside continued to barge forward, ignoring the heat buildup in his 'Mech and firing another PPC blast. This time he managed a slight hit, the particle stream from his PPC scouring armor from the Shadow Cat's left arm.
Jackson's autocannon confirmed that he was in effective range. He slowed his 'Mech's run down to stabilize his aim and fired off his LB autocannon. The cluster rounds were a direct hit, their submunitions blasting off armor and - best of all - one seemed to penetrate enough to damage the Active Probe system inside the Cat. Jackson pressed his other trigger and watched his large laser carve a gash into the Shadow Cat's torso armor, a direct hit that sent melted metal streaming down the 'Mech's front and side. His heat indicators warbled in warning, as if he needed it given the actual heat he felt in the cockpit.
As the Clint fired its ER PPC again, the Clan warrior opened up with his own weapon. The Clint's pilot's luck ran out; his torso took a direct hit from the Shadow Cat's main weapon. The penetrator smashed through his armor and into the Clint's gyro, sending the medium BattleMech down and unable to stand again.
Well.... at least he's probably alive, Jackson thought to himself. If we can hold the line here... Given his heat situation, he avoided using his laser again, opting for another cluster round that was, disappointingly, not as effective as he'd hoped.
But it didn't need to be; a barrage of twenty LRMs slammed into the Shadow Cat from behind, accompanied by a laser beam. A burst of plasma signified the 'Mech's reactor had been critically breached and it fell over, dead. Bounding over the hill, advancing from the northeast, Jackson made out a pair of intimidating sights; a Mad Cat and a Vulture.
"Thank Blake they're on our side," he muttered to himself before he opened his comm line. "Valkyrie 1, Valkyrie 2, you're late."
Danielle "Dani" Verdes was too busy targeting her weapons toward the Masakari to care for the angry tone of the ComStar Adept. She triggered the other missile launcher and her large laser toward the looming Assault 'Mech before it could finish off a struggling, smoldering Guillotine. "Watch it, Becca, those things have Targeting Computers."
"Then we should take it down first," was Rebekah Shameel's reply from her Vulture. "Let's hit it with everything we've got."
"Valkyries, engage separate targets. I need this Cauldron-Born eliminated!" Jackson insisted, his Enforcer trying to stay out of range of the Clan 'Mech's fearsome rapid-fire autocannon.
"That won't do us any good if that Masakari can pick us off!" Dani retorted. With a careful eye toward her heat gauge, she used her joysticks to focus her weapons on the Masakari. Missiles erupted from Becca's Vulture, a full strike of forty in all, while her pulse lasers drilled into the Assault 'Mech's fearsome figure. Dani triggered her own weapons a second later, another forty missiles streaking from her launchers while the lasers on her arms scoured the arms of the Masakari, fusing shut one of its PPCs with a lucky hit.
The missiles pounded the Assault 'Mech brutally. The barrage of weapons fire unbalanced the 'Mech and sent it crashing down; following up on the attack, the Guillotine put a shot in with its large laser that wrecked the damaged gyro and ended the threat of the Clan OmniMech for good.
The Cauldron-Born did not miss the loss of his ally, nor the arrival of new foes. The Clan MechWarrior inside stopped focusing on Jackson's battered Enforcer and turned toward Becca's Vulture. The autocannon mounted on the right torso erupted in fire, but outside of its optimum range most of the shells missed Becca. Dani, nevertheless, wasn't about to risk losing her partner to the short-range firepower of the approaching Cauldron-Born. She dashed to get in the way, the enemy 'Mech's laser melting away the armor near her 'Mech's hip actuator. Her torso twisted and she let loose with her energy weapons. Five different beams, one of them a pulsing beam, converted on the enemy 'Mech, scouring away armor and damaging the muzzle of the autocannon. With the other 'Mechs, including Jackson, firing on him, the Cauldron-Born 'Mech began to stumble as the pilot within struggled to keep the machine standing.
Side-stepping around Dani, Becca's Vulture opened up with a full "Alpha Strike". Her full battery of lasers and missile launchers were too much; the Cauldron-Born collapsed as a gutted ruin, the pilot within dead from a missile strike to the cockpit.
Dani let out a sigh of relief and settled into her command couch. "That takes care of that Heavy Star," she said into the radio.
"MechWarriors Verdes and Shameel, I believe a visit to the Demi-Precentor's office is in order..."
Adept Jackson was standing rigidly beside Demi-Precentor VIII James Dades as the older man appraised the two young women in his office - if one considered "young" to mean someone less than thirty years in age. Both women were in their late 20s, with tanned, dusky complexions, and fairly curvaceous and attractive even in their unflattering full-body MechWarrior suits that the native allies were building instead of using standard cooling vests. As commander of the Level III unit "Pack Hunters" in the ComGuard 166th Division, 5th Army, Dades was in charge of the 'Mech field base at Hastings, where the ComGuards combined training the locals to use their 'Mechs and helping them hold off the Clan and Clan-allied forces to the south. A veteran of the battle against the Wolves on Tukkayid, he was well-qualified for the role.
"I understand that you have an equivalent rank to Acolyte Jackson, Corporal," Dades said to the taller woman - Dani Verdes - delicately, noticing an impatient look in the woman's emerald-hued eyes. "And you have done well operating on your own, I concede. Regardless... if we are to hold the line here against the Clans and your enemies, we must work together, and that means accepting advice. Your own superiors, Major Pierce and Sergeant Hoffman, are in agreement with me on this."
That reminder was clearly acknowledged, but neither did the two native pilots show any signs of contrition. "With all due respect, sir, Acolyte Jackson's 'advice' was to divide our firepower and allow that Masakari time to put its specialized targeting computers to good use," Dani answered frankly. "As it is, no further harm was done. Becca and I took down the last enemy afterward, and Acolyte Jackson was not harmed."
"Be that as it may, I simply wish to emphasize the need to be more... respectful of the Acolyte's advice, especially given his experience," Dades answered. "I won't argue with success, Corporal, but success isn't always an excuse. If we're to survive, we need better cooperation. Now that the enemy's raiding forces are dispatched, further coordination exercises are due to begin. It'll help you catch up with the first batch of your comrades trained on Outreach."
Dades noticed neither thought much of the pilots hand-picked for Dragoon training. Jackson didn't seem happy either. "Of course, sir. As you've said, we want to hold the line here. And as my lifelong home is just 25 miles from here, I want more than anything to hold them here." The words hung in the air like a rebuke, but Dades didn't react to that. "Permission to be dismissed?"
"Permission granted," Dades said.
The filed out and Jackson let out a sigh. "I don't think they care, sir. They're too undisciplined. I heard they used to be civilians just half a year ago."
"True. But such is true of many of the MechWarriors the new Star League is training. It is simply a case of necessity. Throw in our cultural differences and, well... you will have to get used to a lot of eccentric behavior here."
"I see, Demi-Precentor. Blake willing, I will make them all fine MechWarriors."
"I have no doubt of that Acolyte. No doubt at all." Dades gave a friendly smile to his subordinate and patted him on the back. The smile's meaning was transparent; he might have well have said, "You're in for it now, Acolyte. Good luck because you will need it." Instead, he added only a chuckled greeting.
"Welcome to Scorched Earth, Acolyte."
Anyway, enjoy!
Open farmland stretched out before Acolyte IV Brian Jackson and his Enforcer BattleMech; farmland scorched and damaged by the hellish battle waging around him. The Tukkayid veteran was on his first combat mission since arriving on the front, with a lance of allied pilots on his side, and already they had made contact.
The Smoke Jaguar forces were intimidating; a Masakari, Cauldron-Born, and one of their new Shadow Cat Medium OmniMechs - their Starmates lay smoldering from the ferocious air attack that had just aided Jackson and his allies. The latter 'Mech was after a friendly beside him, piloting a Clint Medium 'Mech that now showed extensive armor damage from a direct hit by the Clan 'Mech's Gauss Rifle. Jackson was moving to close the range and bring his Enforcer's autocannon to bear while he brought his extended range laser over. A powerful beam of emerald energy lashed out at the Shadow Cat, a partial hit that scourged a little armor from the Clan OmniMech's side.
The allied pilot in the Clint was a green MechWarrior; his ER PPC blast was wide and missed the Shadow Cat entirely. The Clan pilot nevertheless continued to target him; whether it was from the habit of zellbrigen and focusing on his first enemy or a tactical maneuver to remove the weakest enemy first Jackson couldn't begin to tell, but he didn't care. His mission was to protect the native pilots, in desperate need of combat experience against the Clans that they could survive.
The Clint was lucky; the Clan pilot's shot was off. The rookie inside continued to barge forward, ignoring the heat buildup in his 'Mech and firing another PPC blast. This time he managed a slight hit, the particle stream from his PPC scouring armor from the Shadow Cat's left arm.
Jackson's autocannon confirmed that he was in effective range. He slowed his 'Mech's run down to stabilize his aim and fired off his LB autocannon. The cluster rounds were a direct hit, their submunitions blasting off armor and - best of all - one seemed to penetrate enough to damage the Active Probe system inside the Cat. Jackson pressed his other trigger and watched his large laser carve a gash into the Shadow Cat's torso armor, a direct hit that sent melted metal streaming down the 'Mech's front and side. His heat indicators warbled in warning, as if he needed it given the actual heat he felt in the cockpit.
As the Clint fired its ER PPC again, the Clan warrior opened up with his own weapon. The Clint's pilot's luck ran out; his torso took a direct hit from the Shadow Cat's main weapon. The penetrator smashed through his armor and into the Clint's gyro, sending the medium BattleMech down and unable to stand again.
Well.... at least he's probably alive, Jackson thought to himself. If we can hold the line here... Given his heat situation, he avoided using his laser again, opting for another cluster round that was, disappointingly, not as effective as he'd hoped.
But it didn't need to be; a barrage of twenty LRMs slammed into the Shadow Cat from behind, accompanied by a laser beam. A burst of plasma signified the 'Mech's reactor had been critically breached and it fell over, dead. Bounding over the hill, advancing from the northeast, Jackson made out a pair of intimidating sights; a Mad Cat and a Vulture.
"Thank Blake they're on our side," he muttered to himself before he opened his comm line. "Valkyrie 1, Valkyrie 2, you're late."
Danielle "Dani" Verdes was too busy targeting her weapons toward the Masakari to care for the angry tone of the ComStar Adept. She triggered the other missile launcher and her large laser toward the looming Assault 'Mech before it could finish off a struggling, smoldering Guillotine. "Watch it, Becca, those things have Targeting Computers."
"Then we should take it down first," was Rebekah Shameel's reply from her Vulture. "Let's hit it with everything we've got."
"Valkyries, engage separate targets. I need this Cauldron-Born eliminated!" Jackson insisted, his Enforcer trying to stay out of range of the Clan 'Mech's fearsome rapid-fire autocannon.
"That won't do us any good if that Masakari can pick us off!" Dani retorted. With a careful eye toward her heat gauge, she used her joysticks to focus her weapons on the Masakari. Missiles erupted from Becca's Vulture, a full strike of forty in all, while her pulse lasers drilled into the Assault 'Mech's fearsome figure. Dani triggered her own weapons a second later, another forty missiles streaking from her launchers while the lasers on her arms scoured the arms of the Masakari, fusing shut one of its PPCs with a lucky hit.
The missiles pounded the Assault 'Mech brutally. The barrage of weapons fire unbalanced the 'Mech and sent it crashing down; following up on the attack, the Guillotine put a shot in with its large laser that wrecked the damaged gyro and ended the threat of the Clan OmniMech for good.
The Cauldron-Born did not miss the loss of his ally, nor the arrival of new foes. The Clan MechWarrior inside stopped focusing on Jackson's battered Enforcer and turned toward Becca's Vulture. The autocannon mounted on the right torso erupted in fire, but outside of its optimum range most of the shells missed Becca. Dani, nevertheless, wasn't about to risk losing her partner to the short-range firepower of the approaching Cauldron-Born. She dashed to get in the way, the enemy 'Mech's laser melting away the armor near her 'Mech's hip actuator. Her torso twisted and she let loose with her energy weapons. Five different beams, one of them a pulsing beam, converted on the enemy 'Mech, scouring away armor and damaging the muzzle of the autocannon. With the other 'Mechs, including Jackson, firing on him, the Cauldron-Born 'Mech began to stumble as the pilot within struggled to keep the machine standing.
Side-stepping around Dani, Becca's Vulture opened up with a full "Alpha Strike". Her full battery of lasers and missile launchers were too much; the Cauldron-Born collapsed as a gutted ruin, the pilot within dead from a missile strike to the cockpit.
Dani let out a sigh of relief and settled into her command couch. "That takes care of that Heavy Star," she said into the radio.
"MechWarriors Verdes and Shameel, I believe a visit to the Demi-Precentor's office is in order..."
Adept Jackson was standing rigidly beside Demi-Precentor VIII James Dades as the older man appraised the two young women in his office - if one considered "young" to mean someone less than thirty years in age. Both women were in their late 20s, with tanned, dusky complexions, and fairly curvaceous and attractive even in their unflattering full-body MechWarrior suits that the native allies were building instead of using standard cooling vests. As commander of the Level III unit "Pack Hunters" in the ComGuard 166th Division, 5th Army, Dades was in charge of the 'Mech field base at Hastings, where the ComGuards combined training the locals to use their 'Mechs and helping them hold off the Clan and Clan-allied forces to the south. A veteran of the battle against the Wolves on Tukkayid, he was well-qualified for the role.
"I understand that you have an equivalent rank to Acolyte Jackson, Corporal," Dades said to the taller woman - Dani Verdes - delicately, noticing an impatient look in the woman's emerald-hued eyes. "And you have done well operating on your own, I concede. Regardless... if we are to hold the line here against the Clans and your enemies, we must work together, and that means accepting advice. Your own superiors, Major Pierce and Sergeant Hoffman, are in agreement with me on this."
That reminder was clearly acknowledged, but neither did the two native pilots show any signs of contrition. "With all due respect, sir, Acolyte Jackson's 'advice' was to divide our firepower and allow that Masakari time to put its specialized targeting computers to good use," Dani answered frankly. "As it is, no further harm was done. Becca and I took down the last enemy afterward, and Acolyte Jackson was not harmed."
"Be that as it may, I simply wish to emphasize the need to be more... respectful of the Acolyte's advice, especially given his experience," Dades answered. "I won't argue with success, Corporal, but success isn't always an excuse. If we're to survive, we need better cooperation. Now that the enemy's raiding forces are dispatched, further coordination exercises are due to begin. It'll help you catch up with the first batch of your comrades trained on Outreach."
Dades noticed neither thought much of the pilots hand-picked for Dragoon training. Jackson didn't seem happy either. "Of course, sir. As you've said, we want to hold the line here. And as my lifelong home is just 25 miles from here, I want more than anything to hold them here." The words hung in the air like a rebuke, but Dades didn't react to that. "Permission to be dismissed?"
"Permission granted," Dades said.
The filed out and Jackson let out a sigh. "I don't think they care, sir. They're too undisciplined. I heard they used to be civilians just half a year ago."
"True. But such is true of many of the MechWarriors the new Star League is training. It is simply a case of necessity. Throw in our cultural differences and, well... you will have to get used to a lot of eccentric behavior here."
"I see, Demi-Precentor. Blake willing, I will make them all fine MechWarriors."
"I have no doubt of that Acolyte. No doubt at all." Dades gave a friendly smile to his subordinate and patted him on the back. The smile's meaning was transparent; he might have well have said, "You're in for it now, Acolyte. Good luck because you will need it." Instead, he added only a chuckled greeting.
"Welcome to Scorched Earth, Acolyte."
