Part 355: Hastilude - Turn 1

Hastilude: Tactical Update 1

“You’re full of shit, Varas.”

“Now is hardly the time, Doctor,” Varas heard himself say. He was always surprised to hear his own voice during a neural-link. He knew how he would respond, but it always felt like someone else saying the words. His mind was so distant from the needs of his own body he could barely feel it.

Unlike the watered-down machines Varas and his followers had brought, the Mountain Lion they’d brought in parts had physical controls only for show. Varas’s hands lay still and limp on the armrests of the command couch. He couldn’t have moved them if he wanted to, the impulse to do so would simply be intercepted by his neurohelmet and translate into a 1:1 motion of his BattleMech. It was this neural-link that was the Republic’s true technological advancement. Kemper Varas didn’t simply pilot his `Mech—although he could in a pinch. Kemper Varas was his `Mech.

Three hundred years ago, when the Star League first discovered that a small portion of the populace could form a near-direct connection with a BattleMech’s systems through a Neurohelmet, they kept that information carefully controlled. Most of the great houses chalked up the claims of those rare few pilots who could “control their `Mechs with their minds” as a psychosis, mistaking the marvelous bond between man and machine for brain damage and shuffling those “broken” pilots out of combat operations. When the Republic Peacekeepers fled Terra after Kerensky’s final, spiteful barrage they carried that secret with them and in the intervening centuries had perfected—or nearly so—a direct man-machine interface, accessible by nearly anyone, that made the neurohelmet look like a child’s toy.

This was the Republic’s greatest technological advancement. The secret that even ComStar didn’t know.

After this fight, Varas was duty-bound to flip a switch and burn the system out completely—but for now, he reveled in the experience. The power was intoxicating, addicting, and was rumored to induce megalomania. Varas didn’t much care—he’d missed this. The Mountain Lion’s claw-like hand flexed eagerly, mirroring the pilot’s desire to tear an enemy BattleMech apart.

His radio crackled in an accusatory fashion, “Since when have you ever cared about honor or duty?”

“Since when has either mattered to you?” he fired back, “You’re a scientist. How many corners have you cut for the sake of expediency? I’m a soldier. I know my duty.”

She barked a laugh, “Duty to who?”

“Duncan Marik is my liege, and the League is now my home. I was not required to divulge prior obligations when I joined the Knights, nor were any of our other foreign members. Besides—can you really tell me you don’t want to see one of these Clan `Mechs in action?”

“That’s hardly important right now.”

“Precisely,” Varas heard himself agree. “So let’s set this conversation aside for now. I’d be more than happy to discuss this with you after we’ve won.”







Unit Status:


Knights of the Inner Sphere Mission Objectives:
- Win (incomplete)

Hastilude Enemy Movement Mods:
- Albatross – Ran +1
- Anvil – Ran +2
- Wraith – Ran +2
- Orion – Ran +1
- Grizzly – Jumped +2



General Reminder: Players can always send orders in before the deadline! If I get everyone’s orders early, I’ll probably be able to update early!

Edit: Talmonis has passed, the Mountain Lion has passed to Arraxis. Mechwarriors, please send me a quick IM or e-mail once you see this update to let me know you're active.