Part 353: Political Vote 14 Results and Combat Theater Vote 13

Combat Theater Vote 14

“C’mon rookie,” the radio warbled, “You can sure as hell do better than that! If your old man were here right now, he could beat your score. And he’s dead! POWERDOWN!”

“Mao’s in rare form today,” Fynn said without glancing up from his monitor in the makeshift Mobile HQ the militia had made from an eighty-ton civilian cargo crawler. They even had radar, of a sort. The coverage was spotty at best—but it was just as well, the Taurians didn’t seem to have any aerospace support.

“Three seconds!” the radio crackled, “You’re getting faster—it’s a pity we all just got nuked by the Taurians because you were too slow cutting your engine power! Now we’re both as dead as your family and every mewling schoolgirl you’ve ever had a crush on! Power up, we’re running the damned course again—and this time, if you don’t score at least three hundred points you’ll be doing push-ups until I get tired!”

“Is it really necessary?” Dr. Chang’s accented voice was quiet. Exhausted, Fynn thought, but she didn’t show it.

A month of living like bandits was enough to take its toll, and while they’d struck a few more blows against the Taurians they simply couldn’t be everywhere—and anything the Taurians really wanted was defended far better than their six `Mechs could easily crack. The local farmers still provided them with food and the occasional blanket, but medical supplies were in short supply and, unfortunately, injuries weren’t.

“Yeah, doc,” Fynn replied. “It is. We need the kid’s `Mech, and since he won’t turn it over that means we need him—and right now, he’s a liability: his reaction times are bad, and he can’t shoot worth a damn. Fortunately, Mao’s the best drill instructor in the militia—”

“Two sixty-five?” Mao rampaged, “What, did you fall asleep? Or maybe you just think too damned much! You have three responsibilities as a Mechwarrior: Follow orders, kill the other guys, don’t fall on your ass. You’re too slow for the first and second, and the third isn’t so much a golden rule as a ‘nice thing you try to do for yourself’ while doing one and two.”

“—but the quicker she breaks him down the quicker she can build him back up.” Fynn offered a half-hearted, out-of-place shrug. “He’s actually doing much better already.”

“Then why not just tell him that?”

“He’s a teenager,” Fynn laughed. “Praise him and he’ll get lazy. Make him hate you and he’ll perform just to spite you. Provided you don’t make him hate you too much.”



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The lucky infantrymen died instantly as the azure whip of a PPC washed over their hastily dug-in trenches. The unlucky screamed and fell as their khaki trichloropolyester uniforms burst into flames and started a slow, painful chemical process permanently bonding the cheap, stain-resistant and otherwise quite durable synthetic material to significantly less-durable human skin. With a pounding roar, the still distant Niddhog’s autocannon roared as it filled the shattered defensive line with submunitions and shrapnel. Men armed with little more than rifles turned and ran.

A second Niddhog joined the first, silhouetted against the setting sun. Its cylindrical missile pod and smaller, dome-shaped cockpit gave the shadowy figure the appearance of a two-headed ogre. This resemblance—and that to the Warhammer—were so uncanny that the forces of the DCMS had taken to calling the ubiquitous Jade Falcon machine Kanabō, after the Oni’s spiked iron club. If they’d known anything of Japanese mythology, the warriors of Clan Jade Falcon may even have approved the brutal imagery.

“Star Colonel, they use their infantry to delay us while their BattleMech forces dig into the city. It will be hell to break in.”

“I know that, Ter,” Star Colonel Ramon Mattlov’s mind whirled as the dark-eyed Mechwarrior scanned the city approaches. Civillian vehicles sat along the numerous roadways, apparently abandoned and almost certainly concealing remote-controlled mines and vibrabombs. The approach was open and devoid of cover—Arkab was not a merciful world, and while her cities had grown along the edges of the fertile garden zones, most were surrounded by naught but desert and fortified walls. It was little wonder the Draconis Combine had never truly captured Arkab—and its defenders were as fierce as any Ramon Mattlov had ever faced.

Mattlov ascended the low breastwork and fired one of his A-pods as he strode over the hastily-dug fortification. The hail of ball bearings simply killed anyone too injured to take cover at the Summoner’s approach—and likewise encouraged any walking wounded still capable of holding a weapon to simply keep their heads down until the shooting stopped. He swiveled, assessing the city from the highest point he could manage. Then he turned away, his second-in-command falling in behind.

“Order our forces to withdraw to the dropships,” he barked in tones that would permit no argument.

Ter Roshak argued anyway. “Retreat? Now? The Khans will have our heads—not to mention our bloodnames!”

“Who says we are retreating? You should know better.” Mattlov smiled, “Those buildings are reinforced to withstand a haboob. The buildings will stop weapons-fire better than most bunkers, so that position is nearly unassailable from the ground. But we are Jade Falcons! We shall drop on their heads and take it from above!”



Combat Theater Vote 14:
14 Mar 3034

A) Schlangenjäger
Notice to All Enterprising Mercenaries:
The Lyran Government has posted a standing bounty on Clan materiel. A bonus of up to ten million c-bills will be added to all standing contracts in the Clan zone which recover appreciable Clan salvage. An additional bounty of up to one-hundred million c-bills will be awarded for each intact, undamaged, and fully-operation Clan `Mech recovered from the field.

B) Operation: Malvoisine
The biggest mobilization since the departure of the Star League Defense Force has begun: the combined might of the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine has assembled not to repel the latest wave of the invasion but for a scheme far grander in scope: to overrun the entire Jade Falcon occupation zone and drive whatever forces remain from the Inner Sphere entire.

C) Hastilude
Five of the best Mechwarriors of Duncan Marik’s Knights of the Inner Sphere stand ready to oppose the Clan advance through the Free Worlds League but, succeed or fail, Duncan can’t allow their passage and the Clans cannot allow their advance to falter. Failure could bring ruin to the League but, in victory, perhaps concessions could be earned…

D) Under Pressure
Down to only six effectives, the beleaguered forces of the Sirdar Militia must become the core of a guerilla army if they are to have any hope of repelling the Taurians. With Marshal Heck breathing down his neck, TDF Colonel Milton needs to score a decisive victory to free up forces for the next wave of the invasion. Or else.






A) Schlangenjäger (1 elite lance, mercenaries)
B) Operation: Malvoisine (1 company)
C) Hastilude (5 Knights of the Inner Sphere)
D) Under Pressure (2 lances)