Part 483: Behind Enemy Lines - Turn 1

Behind Enemy Lines: Tactical Update 1

“Alright, we’ll hit town in another sixty seconds. ComStar put their HPG about as far from the production plants as was practicable, so there’s a good bet the Capellans have already seen this coming.”

“We know the plan, Boss,” Soren Barthelson’s voice crackled over the radios. Even over the span of several meters the heavy metal deposits and echoes from the lance’s pair of ECMs turned his voice into a tinny mess.

“Callsigns only, Bad,” Lieutenant Khalil Coronado grunted. “Remember, the Capellans almost certainly recovered our regimental FOC. The longer we can keep them guessing which company we are, the better for the Captain.”

“Yeah, yeah. Slipped my mind. Sorry, Hellhound.”

“Just keep it in mind: the Captain’s not going to have ten tons of armor to protect him from enemy fire—and we’re probably not going to know which car he’s in until he pulls up at the ComStar compound. Timing’s going to be tight: we have to take out the Capellan checkpoint so the Captain can drive through without stopping. Preferably with a Capellan `Mech between you and the thing so we can make it look like an accident, so don’t just level it with a full volley or you’ll give the whole game away from the outset. Stomping on it’d work too, I guess, just be careful not to trip. I don’t want to lose any pilots or machines on this run but if we can get a little vengeance for the rest of the regiment I won’t complain. Understood?”

A chorus of affirmations filled the comms.

“Good,” Khalil continued, “because this last bit is so important I shouldn’t need to spell it out: don’t antagonize ComStar. That means you hold fire if the only backstop for your shots is the HPG, their compound on Abadan doesn’t have a wall or dome and not only will damaging it delay our rescue but it’ll probably make them “lose” our transmission. So unless you like the thought of spending the rest of your life in a Capellan POW Camp do not fire if an enemy machine is directly between you and the HPG.”

Khalil paused to let that sink in, before finishing with “This whole thing’s gotta look like a failed supply raid. There’s a `Mechbay near the edge of town, property of the old Free Worlds governor. The Mandarin never had a chance to investigate all the old man’s holdings. I’m told the `Mech inside is in a rather poor state so we’re going to crack it open and let the Capellans have a look-see. With any luck, a shiny BattleMech to salvage will distract them from the HPG.”

“Shouldn’t we take the `Mech for ourselves?” Bergit Lowe asked. “It bothers me to leave the Capellans anything they can use against us.”

“Lumberjack, if we clear out the enemy presence then sure, we’ll grab it,” Khalil replied after a moment of thought. “But my priorities are: seeing the Captain in and out safely, getting all of you out alive, and getting all of our machines out intact. In that order. Everything else is secondary, but the primary objective comes first. If we don’t get a message off Abadan we’re all going to die here.”








Player Status:




Opposing Force Status:





Neutral Status




Mission Objective:
- Protect Carlos Marik (0/1)

Secondary Objectives:
- Damage but don’t destroy the Civillian `Mechbay in hex 0517 (0/1)
- Destroy the Capellan Checkpoint in hex 1418 (0/1)
- - Make it look like an accident (0/1)
- Avoid Antagonizing ComStar (0/1)

Vengeance Counter: 0



Special Rules:
Dusk – This mission takes place at dusk, applying a +1 penalty to-hit. This penalty may worsen if the mission lasts long enough for night to fall.

Escort Mission – This mission has a mobile objective that must be defended.



Orders Due: Midnight Saturday!



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