Part 424: Trial by Fire - Turn 15

Trial By Fire: Tactical Update 15

“Advancing on the enemy position. Shoji, Rayford, back me up!”

“Roger.”

Rayford’s world spun in and out of focus as some unseen force twisted and pulled at his cockpit displays, stretching them like machine-stretched taffy. His body jerked as autocannon fire punched him in the sternum again and again. The woosh of enemy flamers in his ears was replaced with the high-pitched whine of a charging PPC Capacitor, but the significance of any of it was lost to him.

“Rayford, you coming?” His radio asked, unintelligibly.

“—Armor’s penetrated, I’m in—”

“—me too—”

“—need—”

“—withdraw—”



****************************************



The door to the dimly-lit command bunker burst open as a young man in a medical Lieutenant’s uniform burst through. His uniform was crisp and his left shoulder sported a brand new Command & Control patch; but was otherwise devoid of any field service ribbons. He was a triage monitor, better known colloquial as a “Big Doctor” by Mechwarriors: a medical officer whose primary duty was assessing the physical and mental health of a pilot in the field. They were considered a necessity by the manpower-starved New Rim World Republic Self-Defense Force and grudgingly the 331st had added a fair number to their roster.

The Republic had never had issue equipping its soldiers, but with a state economy focused on the next big colonial venture, no centralized or officially-acknowledged nobility and only a few “proud warrior heritages” to rely on, finding anyone willing to voluntarily become a Mechwarrior was exceedingly rare. They were a resource far more valuable than any machine and so the Republic rewarded them commensurately in a vain attempt to lure in as many fresh faces as they could. Any soldier who served in the field would never want for food, lodgings, work, or healthcare; and while on active duty their health was carefully monitored.

In Jaime’s opinion, the Republic military could do with a little less mollycoddling. He suspected the Republic’s insistence on monitoring nearly every aspect of an active duty soldier’s health and mental well-being was driving away more potentiates than it brought in. The 331st echoed his sentiments, so while it had a fair number of “Big Docs” looking over the pilot’s shoulders, they were only ever brought in to monitor training exercises. During a real action, they’d either be assigned to a field hospital, handed a rifle, or left behind, assigned a mop and bucket, and given instructions to polish every square inch the Burrow—the massive subterranean complex that served as the Division’s primary command center.

The man saluted hastily, “General, we have a problem. Charlie-4’s heart rate has skyrocketed and his brain activity has diminished by—”

General Phrixos leaned over the holotank, letting it illuminate his features. He was a big man who still seemed to have a powerful build though he was now in his late sixties. The craggy lines surrounding his eyes and jaw suggested he hadn’t smiled once in the past thirty or forty years, and the comfortable set of his deep, thoughtful frown made even his rare words of praise seem like a bitter condemnation. When he spoke, his words were dismissive. “He’s just having a panic attack.”

Colonel Tyrone turned and, as there was a junior officer present, stood at attention before speaking. “Sir—with all respect, I trust Lieutenant,” Jaime watched him twist, catching the young soldier’s name patch in the corner of his eye. He continued as though he’d never made a pause, “Brian wouldn’t interrupt our deliberations if it were as simple as that. Please, Lieutenant, continue.”

“He’s having a seizure,” the young Lieutenant was as white as a sheet, his eyes studying something interesting near the toes of his shoes rather than taking a risk meeting the General’s fierce gaze. “Eighty-seven percent probability—”

“Get back to the monitoring station,” Jaime ordered as he jumped forward, abandoning his relaxed posture in an instant to open up a computer terminal hidden along the holotank’s edge. “Get me a direct link to C4’s DI computer—”

“We can do that?” Jaime squeezed his eyes shut at the mystified tone of the young Lieutenant’s voice.

“Nevermind,” Jaime tuned him out, his fingers working furiously as he struggled to pull up the Coyote’s damage diagnostics on a console not designed to do anything of the sort. Time was of the essence and a young pilot’s life was at stake. A string of gibberish letters and numbers flashed past as the entire upload began displaying itself in hexadecimal notation.

Jaime watched it go for a few seconds, scanning for a telltale string. The instant it flashed by he resumed typing, and with the touch of a button sent a string to the burrow’s central diagnostic computer that would report a major positional error with the Coyote’s gyro. The server’s response was instantaneous—convinced that the Coyote was somehow standing at a 230-degree angle, the base computer sent an emergency correction that probably would’ve sent a conscious pilot falling flat on his face. The Coyote tipped forward like a Kurita Mechwarrior bowing before a one-on-one duel and twisting as far as the servos would allow. It wasn’t much, but the resulting position should’ve put the pilot’s command couch nearly level with the ground itself. With any luck, if the pilot vomited he wouldn’t choke to death—the neurohelmet could always be hosed out later.








Movement Phase
Shadow Hawk (Player)
- Attempts to Jump to hex 0416 but is prone and unable to do so!
- - Must pass a piloting test to stand (4 base = 4): rolled 10, succeeds!
- - - Runs to hex 1416!

Crab (Player)
- Must pass a skidding test (4 base - 1 distance traveled = 3): rolled 7, succeeds!



Combat Phase
Crab (Player)
- Fires ER Large Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 9, hit Left Torso (15/23 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Large Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 6, hit Right Torso (15/23 armor remaining)
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 10, hit Left Arm (17/22 armor remaining)
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 5, hit Left Torso (10/23 armor remaining)
- Fires ER Small Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 10, hit Left Arm (14/22 armor remaining)
- Gains heat 42, sinks 36! Overheating!

Battlemaster (Player)
- Fires Plasma Rifle at Thunderbolt (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement + 1 light woods = 8): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains heat 2, sinks 34!

Coyote (Player)
- No Orders Received!
- Gains heat 0, sinks 30!

Shadow Hawk (Player)
- Fires Light AC/5 (Armor Piercing) at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 10, hit Center Torso (28/33 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 7, hit Right Arm (17/22 armor remaining)!
- Fires iNarc (Explosive) at Woodsman (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement = 5): rolled 4, miss!
- Gains heat 16, sinks 20!

Wolverine
- Fires ER Large Laser at Crab (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 8, hit Right Torso (4/14 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Crab (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 7, hit Right Leg (18/22 armor remaining)!
- Fires SRM-6 (Narc capable) at Crab (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, 4 missiles hit Left Arm (2/14 armor remaining), Left Leg (17/22 armor remaining), Left Leg (16/22 armor remaining), Right Arm (9/14 armor remaining)!
- Fires SRM-6 at Crab (Narc capable) (3 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 3 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, 5 missiles hit Right Arm (8/14 armor remaining), Center Torso (12/18 armor remaining), Right Leg (17/22 armor remaining), Right Torso (3/14 armor remaining), Left Arm (1/14 armor remaining)!
- Gains 26 heat, sinks 28!

Thunderbolt
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1612!
- Fires LRM-15 (Artemis IV) at Crab (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 10): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires ER PPC at Crab (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 10): rolled 7, miss!
- Gains 2 heat, sinks 28!

Coyotl
- Fires Plasma Rifle at Crab (3 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 3 enemy movement = 9): rolled 9, hit Right Arm (0/14 armor remaining)! Crab gains 4 heat!
- Fires Streak SRM-4 at Crab (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 3 enemy movement = 11): rolled 7, fails to lock-on!
- Gains heat 17, sinks 20!

Woodsman
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1012!
- Fires ER Large Laser at Crab (3 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 6): rolled 11, hit Center Torso (6/18 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Large Laser at Crab (3 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 6): rolled 7, hit Center Torso (0/18 armor remaining)!
- Fires Machine Gun at Crab (3 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 7, miss!
- Fires Machine Gun at Crab (3 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 11, hit Right Arm (6/8 structure remaining)! Crit!
- Fires LRM-15 (Narc Capable) at Shadow Hawk (3 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 secondary target = 7): rolled 9, 15 missiles hit Center Torso (9/26 armor remaining), Right Arm (9/18 armor remaining (TAC!)), Center Torso (5/26 armor remaining)!
- Fires LRM-15 (Narc Capable) at Shadow Hawk (3 base + 2 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement + 1 secondary target = 7): rolled 7, 12 missiles hit Left Arm (1/18 armor remaining), Left Arm (0/18 armor, 6/9 structure remaining (Crit!)), Right Arm (5/18 armor remaining)!
- Gains 34 heat, sinks 24! Overheating!



End Phase:
Crab (Player)
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 1 massive damage = 5): rolled 7, succeeds!
- Critical chance in Right Arm! 1 critical hit sustained!
- - Shoulder Actuator hit! +4 ToHit penalty with Right Arm weapons!

Shadow Hawk (Player)
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 1 massive damage = 5): rolled 11, succeeds!
- Through-armor critical chance in Right Arm! No critical hits sustained!
- Critical chance in Left Arm! 1 critical hit sustained!
- - Lower Arm Actuator hit! +1 ToHit penalty with Left Arm weapons!

Woodsman
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 1 massive damage = 5): rolled 6, succeeds!



Physical Combat Phase:
Crab (player)
- Kicks Truck 1012 (4 base + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 kick = -1): automatically hit (5/15 durability remaining)!









Player Status:


Neutral Forces:


Opposing Force (level)
Cyclops (Mk. 6) – Disabled!
Woodsman Prime (Mk. 6) – Stationary +0
Mountain Lion (Mk. 4) – Disabled!
Thunderbolt (Mk. 2) – Ran +0
Kintaro (Mk. 2) – Disabled!
Wolverine (Mk. 7) – Stationary +0
Coyotl A (Mk. 6) – Jumped +4
Commando (Mk. 4) – Disabled!



Mission Objective:
Plunder Recovered (0/1500 points)

Secondary Objectives:
Enemy Units Damaged (150/400 points)
Penalty Accrued (-200/-300 points)



Orders Due: Saturday Night!