Part 411: Trial by Fire - Turn 2

Trial By Fire: Tactical Update 2

“This is amazing,” Cadet Shoji praised with an irritating crackle. Helmet microphones never picked up his voice well, so he’d often have to up the sensitivity to be heard in the heat of battle. His DI computer painted a vague estimation of things beyond the woods; the blocky outlines of buildings and shipping containers. Shoji couldn’t see them himself, but the near-instantaneous feed from Lucaino’s Crab let his computer fill in details it wouldn’t normally have. He hovered his crosshairs over the outline of the building, but they remained cold and dark—the pulsing yellow dot of a hard lock never appeared.

“This targeting data is incredible,” he continued, resisting the urge to smash his thumb down on his primary target interlock and send one of his armor-piercing sabot rounds downfield. “It looks like we’ll still need a clear firing line to make use of it.”

“It doesn’t give range markers,” Silas, the lance’s Crusader pilot, interjected. “So it doesn’t help with indirect fire. It should let us finesse longer range shots if someone closer has a clear shot.”

“Guess that means I’m on scout duty,” Chase had the same deadpan voice as a few scouts Shoji had known prior: men who prized speed above all else. Shoji expected a Sentinel was probably a bit too slow for Chase’s tastes, the other man couldn’t quite keep the disappointment from infecting his tone. “Any targets yet?”

“I had a blip to the northwest. Fast jumper in a tight arc,” Lucaino was calm and steady as he described one of the better jump-jet strategies: using the jets in tightly-controlled bursts to rise only high enough to clear the tallest obstacle in the way rather than making a huge parabolic jump that left the target hanging in the air for all to see. “No positive ident but it’s fast.”

“Well,” Chase’s Sentinel made a fair shake at snapping its fingers. “At least we know the gyrojet ammo’s going to be useful.”



Post-Movement Phase




Combat Phase
Crab (Player)
- Fires ER Large Laser at Cargo Container 1722 (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 4): rolled 11, hit (7/15 durability remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Cargo Container 1722 (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 6): rolled 6, hit (2/15 durability remaining)!
- Fires ER Large Laser at Cargo Container 1923: no line-of sight to target!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Cargo Container 1923: no line-of sight to target!
- Gains heat 19, sinks 36!

Battlemaster (Player)
- Fires Plasma Rifle at Building Hex 1622: no Line of Sight to target!
- Gains heat 2, sinks 34!

Coyote (Player)
- Holds fire!
- Gains heat, sinks 30!

Sentinel (Player)
- Holds fire!
- Gains heat, sinks 20!

Shadow Hawk (Player)
- Fires Light AC/5 at Building Hex 1622: no Line of Sight to target!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Building Hex 1622: no Line of Sight to target!
- Gains heat, sinks 20!

Crusader (Player)
- Holds fire!
- Gains heat, sinks 20!



Enemy Movement





Player Status:


Neutral Forces:


Opposing Force (level)
Cyclops (Mk. ?) – Ran +1
Woodsman Prime (Mk. 6) – Walked +1
Mountain Lion (Mk. 4) – Ran +2
Thunderbolt (Mk. ?) – Walked +1
Kintaro (Mk. ?) – Ran +3
Wolverine (Mk. ?) – Walked +1
Coyotl A (Mk. 6) – Jumped +3
Commando (Mk. ?) – Ran +3



Mission Objective:
Plunder Recovered (0/1500 points)

Secondary Objectives:
Enemy Units Damaged (0/400 points)
Penalty Accrued (-0/-300 points)



Orders Due: Saturday Night!