Part 528: Rise of the Phoenix - Turn 6

Rise of the Phoenix: Tactical Update 6

“They’re just lying there,” Augustus Cole murmured. The young academy graduate had proven to be a poor MechWarrior, but he was the scion of a relatively minor but important noble house. Skye couldn’t afford to turn away officers, and piloting ability wasn’t an indication of a soldier’s ability to command. If it hadn’t been for his poor simulator scores, Augustus might have graduated in the top ten or fifteen percent of his academy class. Instead of letting him take the field in his family’s aging Hunchback, Jeana had offered him a position as her aide and let his family do the rest.

His mother had done the bulk of the work, pushing him into a position where he stood at Jeana’s right hand. That put him nearly as close to Melissa and Clovis both. As Jeana’s aide, Augustus would make strong connections and alliances and was practically guaranteed to be able to negotiate a beneficial marriage. His family’s power would grow significantly and if he regretted not having much opportunity to pilot a BattleMech he would still officially be a MechWarrior with all the pride that entailed.

“It’s creepy.”

Jeana had to agree. The enemy downed enemy Marauder’s engine was still cycling, but in thermals its outline had stabilized. It’d be up and moving again soon enough. But the Warhammer seemed fine and just—lay still. The pilot might’ve been unconscious—even a short fall could be devastating to seventy-odd kilos of meat strapped to seventy tons—or perhaps the Warhammer had sustained some crippling internal damage that wasn’t immediately obvious. Whatever the reason for its stillness it was still a threat.

Jeana stepped forward, dropping her crosshairs over the downed Marauder. That pilot, at least, seemed to be actively working to bring his machine back online. Her thumb depressed the firing stud, pushing the BattleMaster’s heat a little to carve through the Marauder’s torso. It exploded, its foamed steel-titanium bones running molten in an instant.

“On the right!” Augustus warned suddenly as the Warhammer rose in a smooth, graceful motion that seemed at odds to the way its legs refused to respond. The Warhammer’s hips screeched audibly as it spun in place, propping itself up with its right PPC. The left rose and fired, striking the BattleMaster in the arm. The shot splattered, sending lingering tongues of flame down the BattleMaster’s right breast. It burned like an inferno round, clogging Jeana’s already overworked heat exchangers. Adding insult to injury, one of the Warhammer’s torso-mounted flamers bathed her cockpit in flame, neatly blinded her for a second.

Jeana kicked it, her barely-aimed shot striking the Warhammer’s right shoulder. The joint gave way, the arm tumbling free as the outer actuator cracked. It was hard to say if that was shoddy worksmanship or something else entirely. Jeana knew House Kurita’s machines often suffered from issues due to their often rushed construction practices, but she had very few experiences with the Capellan Confederation. More likely it was just the new-model blues. The number of revisions the Wolfhound had been forced to undergo before they’d finally worked out a method to stop pilots from accidentally shooting their own arms off had been, in a word, depressing. Designing and building new BattleMechs was only a recently rediscovered art, and she expected every nation would bump into hang-ups along the way.








Movement Phase
Gallowglas
- Attempts to stand (4 base = 4): rolled 6, succeeds!



Shooting Phase
Grand Titan (Player)
- Fires Large X-Pulse Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 4): rolled 7, hit Right Arm (7/21 armor remaining)!
- Fires Large X-Pulse Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 4): rolled 6, hit Center Torso (17/26 armor remaining)!
- Fires SRM-6 w/Artemis IV at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains 28 heat, sinks 34!

Rampage (Player)
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1611!
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 4): rolled 4, hit Left Leg (11/20 armor remaining)!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 6, Left Torso (0/21 armor, 10/15 structure remaining (TAC!))!
- Fires Medium Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 11, hit Left Torso (5/15 structure remaining (Crit!))!
- Fires Flamer at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 10): rolled 9, miss!
- Fires LB-10X Autocannon (Cluster) at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 cluster = 5): rolled 6, 10 submunitions hit Center Torso (16/26 armor remaining (TAC!)), Center Torso (15/26 armor remaining), Right Torso (9/21 armor remaining), Right Arm (6/21 armor remaining), Left Torso (4/15 structure remaining (Crit!)), Right Arm (5/21 armor remaining), Center Torso (14/26 armor remaining), Center Torso (13/26 armor remaining), Center Torso (12/26 armor remaining), Right Torso (8/21 armor remaining)!
- Gains 21 heat, sinks 20!

Guillotine (Player)
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 targeting computer = 5): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 targeting computer = 5): rolled 3, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 targeting computer = 5): rolled 9, hit Center Torso (7/26 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Warhammer Jade Girl (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 targeting computer = 5): rolled 10, hit Left Leg (6/20 armor remaining)!
- Gains 24 heat, sinks 28!

Gallowglas (Player)
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 2115!
- Fires ER PPC Laser at Pillager Liu Bei (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 10, hit Left Torso (12/31 armor remaining)!
- Fires Large Laser at Pillager Liu Bei (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 8, hit Center Torso (24/48 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Pillager Liu Bei (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 6): rolled 8, hit Right Torso (10/16 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Pillager Liu Bei (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 6): rolled 11, hit Left Leg (28/42 armor remaining)!
- Fires Small Laser at Pillager Liu Bei (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 3 enemy movement = 8): rolled 5, miss!
- Gains 34 heat, sinks 36!

BattleMaster (Player)
- Fires Large Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 8 to confirm, hit Right Torso (0/24 armor, 2/16 structure remaining (Crit!))!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 4 to confirm, hit Right Torso (0/16 structure remaining)! Torso Destroyed! Engine destroyed! Mech destroyed!
- - Damage transfers to Center Torso (22/35 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 7 to confirm, hit Center Torso (16/22 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 12 to confirm, hit Center Torso (10/22 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 8 to confirm, hit Center Torso (4/35 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 6 to confirm, hit Right Torso (0/35 armor, 5/23 structure remaining)! Crit!
- Fires Medium Pulse Laser at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = -2): automatic hit, rolled 10 to confirm, hit Left Torso (0/24 armor, 15/16 structure remaining)! Crit!
- Fires ER PPC at Marauder Lu Bu’s Right Torso (2 base + 0 range + 2 movement - 4 enemy movement = 0): automatic hit, rolled 11 to confirm, hit Center Torso (0/23 structure remaining)! Torso destroyed!
- Gains 56 heat, sinks 42! Overheating!

Archer (Player)
- Fires LRM/20 w/Artemis IV at Shadow Hawk Qing Long (2 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 4 enemy movement = 7): rolled 9, 20 missiles hit Right Leg (11/26 armor remaining), Center Torso (23/28 armor remaining), Left Arm (13/18 armor remaining), Right Arm (13/18 armor remaining)!
- Fires LRM/20 w/Artemis IV at Shadow Hawk Qing Long (2 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 4 enemy movement = 7): rolled 7, 12 missiles hit Right Torso (14/19 armor remaining), Right Torso (9/19 armor remaining), Left Torso (17/19 armor remaining)!
- Fires Medium Laser at Shadow Hawk Qing Long (2 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 4 enemy movement = 7): rolled 6, miss!
- Fires Medium Laser at Shadow Hawk Qing Long (2 base + 0 range + 1 movement + 4 enemy movement = 7): rolled 9, hit Left Arm (8/18 armor remaining)!
- Gains 19 heat, sinks 20!

Wolverine II (Player)
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Warhammer Jade Girl (2 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement = 8): rolled 8, hit Right Torso (0/21 armor, 8/15 structure remaining)! Crit!
- Gains 6 heat, sinks 20!

King Cobra (Player)
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 0823!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Shadow Hawk Bai Hu (3 base + 2 range + 2 movement + 4 enemy movement + 1 glare + 1 partial cover - 1 targeting computer = 12): rolled 7, miss!
- Gains 7 heat, sinks 26!

Timber Wolf H (Player)
- Fires LRM-20 w/ Artemis IV at Warhammer Jade Girl (2 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 9): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires LRM-20 w/ Artemis IV at Warhammer Jade Girl (2 base + 4 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 9): rolled 8, miss!
- Gains 14 heat, sinks 36!

Shadow Hawk Bai Hu (White)
- Fires Heavy PPC at King Cobra (3 base + 2 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement + 2 glare = 11): rolled 2, miss!

Warhammer Jiangshi (Black and Blue)
- Props itself on its right arm!
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1027!
- Fires Plasma Rifle at BattleMaster (3 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement + 2 firing while prone = 6): rolled 9, hit Left Arm (9/28 armor remaining)! Target gains 5 heat!
- Fires ER Small Laser at BattleMaster (3 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement + 2 firing while prone = 6): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires ER Flamer (Heat) at BattleMaster (3 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement + 2 firing while prone = 6): rolled 12, hit!
- Fires ER Flamer (Heat) at BattleMaster (3 base + 0 range + 0 movement + 1 enemy movement + 2 firing while prone = 6): rolled 6, hit (technically another Headshot )!

Warhammer Golden Boy (Gold)
- Holds fire!

Warhammer Jade Girl (Jade)
- Fires eER PPC at Rampage (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 8, hit Center Torso (28/40 armor remaining)!
- Fires eER PPC at Rampage (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 8, hit Left Torso (14/26 armor remaining)!

Shadow Hawk Qing Long (Blue)
- Flushes Coolant!
- Torso-twists to threaten hex 1132!
- Fires Large X-Pulse Laser at Archer (3 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 pulse laser = 5): rolled 10, hit Left Torso (15/24 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Archer (3 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement = 7): rolled 7, hit Center Torso (28/33 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Archer (3 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement = 7): rolled 5, miss!

Marauder Guan Yu (Green ACE!)
- Fires Large VSPL at Gallowglas (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 pulse laser = 4): rolled 5, hit Center Torso (4/30 armor remaining)!
- Fires Large VSPL at Gallowglas (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 1 pulse laser = 4): rolled 7, hit Left Arm (0/11 structure remaining)! Arm blown off!
- Fires Snub-Nose PPC at Gallowglas (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 7, hit Left Torso (0/23 armor, 13/15 structure remaining)! Crit!

Marauder Zhang Fei (Silver and Red ACE!)
- Fires ER Large Laser at Rampage (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 10, hit Right Arm (18/26 armor remaining)!
- Fires LRM-15 at Rampage (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 7, target’s AMS shoots down some of the missiles! 9 missiles hit Right Torso (11/26 armor remaining), Center Torso (24/40 armor remaining (TAC!))!
- Fires LRM-15 Rampage (3 base + 0 range + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement = 6): rolled 7, 9 missiles hit Right Arm (13/26 armor remaining), Right Leg (28/32 armor remaining (TAC!))!

Pillager Liu Bei (Red and Gold ACE!)
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Grand Titan (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 5, miss!
- Fires Gauss Rifle at Grand Titan (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 7, hit Rear Right Torso (0/11 armor, 17/21 structure remaining)! Crit!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Grand Titan (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, hit Left Leg (23/38 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Grand Titan (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 10, hit Head (2/9 armor remaining)!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Grand Titan (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 4, miss!
- Fires ER Medium Laser at Grand Titan (2 base + 0 range + 3 movement + 2 enemy movement = 7): rolled 4, miss!



End Phase
Warhammer Jade Girl
- Through-armor critical chance in Left Torso! 2 critical hits sustained!
- - Targeting computer damaged!
- - XL Engine Hit!
- Critical chance in Left Torso! No critical hits sustained!
- Through-armor critical chance in Center Torso! 3 critical hits sustained!
- - Gyro hit!
- - VNC3 Computer destroyed!
- - Gyro destroyed! `Mech destroyed!
- Critical chance in Left Torso! 2 critical hits sustained!
- - ER Medium Laser damaged!
- - XL Engine hit!
- Critical chance in Right Torso! 2 critical hits sustained!
- - ER Medium Laser damaged!
- - ER Medium Laser destroyed!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (3 base + 1 massive damage = 4): rolled 8, succeeds!

Shadow Hawk Qing Long
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (3 base + 1 massive damage = 4): rolled 11, succeeds!

BattleMaster
- Must pass a 4+ Shutdown Test: rolled 11, succeeds!

Gallowglas
- Critical chance in Left Torso! No critical hit sustained!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 1 massive damage = 5): rolled 6, succeeds!

Rampage
- Through-armor critical chance in Center Torso! No critical hit sustained!
- Through-armor critical chance in Right Leg! 2 critical hits sustained!
- - Upper Leg Actuator Damaged!
- - Lower Leg Actuator Damaged!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 1 massive damage + 2 actuator damage = 7): rolled 7, succeeds!

Grand Titan
- Critical chance in Right Torso! No critical hit sustained!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (3 base + 1 massive damage = 4): rolled 9, succeeds!
- Must pass a 3+ consciousness test: rolled 8, succeeds!



Physical Combat Phase:
Rampage (Player)
- Kicks Marauder Zhang Fei (4 base + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement + 2 actuator damage - 2 kick = 7): rolled 8, hit Left Leg (9/32 armor remaining)!

BattleMaster (Player)
- Kicks Warhammer Jiangshi (3 base + 2 movement + 0 enemy movement - 2 kick = 3): rolled 3, hit Right Arm (0/5 armor, 0/11 structure remaining)! Arm blown off!
- - Damage transfers to Right Torso (14/15 structure remaining)! Crit!

Archer
- Kicks Shadow Hawk Qing Long (3 base + 1 movement + 4 enemy movement - 2 kick = 6): rolled 6, hit Left Leg (0/26 armor, 10/13 structure remaining)! Crit!

Pillager Liu Bei
- Kicks Gallowglas (3 base + 3 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 kick = 5): rolled 7, hit Left Leg (0/22 armor, 3/15 structure remaining)! Crit!

Marauder Zhang Fei
- Kicks Rampage (3 base + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 kick = 4): rolled 10, hit Left Leg (6/32 armor remaining)!

Marauder Guan Yu
- Kicks Gallowglas (3 base + 2 movement + 1 enemy movement - 2 kick = 4): rolled 6, hit Right Leg (7/22 armor remaining)!



End Phase:
Warhammer Jiangshi
- Critical chance in Right Torso! No critical hit sustained!

Shadow Hawk Qing Long
- Critical chance in Left Leg! No critical hit sustained!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (3 base + 0 kicked = 3): rolled 8, succeeds!

Marauder Zhang Fei
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (3 base + 0 kicked = 3): rolled 7, succeeds!

Gallowglas
- Critical chance in Left Leg! No critical hit sustained!
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 0 kicked = 4): rolled 9, succeeds!

Rampage
- Must pass a piloting test or fall (4 base + 2 actuator damage + 0 kicked = 6): rolled 4, fails!
- - Suffers 9 damage in the fall to Right Torso (6/26 armor remaining), Right Torso (2/26 armor remaining)!



Turn End Phase:
OpForce
- Shuffle VNC3 Networks!








Player Status:




Opposing Force Status:




Special Rules:
Glare – Any unit standing above level 0 suffers a -2 penalty due to intense sunlight reflecting off the local rocks. All units attacking a unit standing above level 0 suffer a -1 penalty due to intense sunlight reflecting off the target unit. These penalties stack.



Mission Objective:
- Break Through (0/1)



Orders Due: Midnight Tuesday!