Part 700: Aeaea - Turn 1

Aeaea 1

Designed to carry a company of ‘Mechs alongside a full battalion of tanks and Infantry the Excalibur-class DropShip lacked the typical repair facilities found in dedicated ‘Mech carriers like the Union and Overlord class. A refitted design, the Roseau’s vehicle bays had been gutted in favor of satellite launch platforms, ground-portable HPG units, and the most vital—and highly classified—piece of equipment the expedition carried: a single—and likely sacrificial—Super-HPG and the massive array of power generators required to operate it.

Capable of transmitting data up to fifty light years away through an artificial jump-point, the HPG was the foundation upon which human society was built. Without it, there was no real hope of long-term control as planets, isolated by distance and silence, would simply grow so culturally different they would lose any capacity to understand one another. The Super-HPG was built along similar lines, but rather than creating a single pinprick the SHPG tore a man-sized hole into trans-dimensional space.

It was theorized that, in a pinch, the Super-HPG could transmit a person over interstellar distances—providing the receiving unit was large enough to accommodate them. As most weren’t, that theory hadn’t—to Serena’s knowledge—ever been tested.

Instead, it meant as soon as she had the data in hand, the Republic’s Jump Torpedoes would take out most, if not all, of the orbital factories used by the Clans. The entire plan hinged on the Clans keeping tabs of their neighbors’ assets—not an unlikely scenario, they fought over them often enough. Contrary to Stefan Amaris’s stated desire to return Clan society to an agrarian state, he meant simply to deprive them of the means to create the high-quality endo-steel and ferro-fibrous armors their ‘Mechs needed and starve the Clan invasion of its ability to effectively repair its damaged BattleMechs.

The plan had been simple enough: a force of four JumpShips would land forces on the Clan capitol of Strana Mechty, while another three ships landed troops on Roche—the Widowmaker capitol—and the last three, lead by the Roseau, landed on the Wolverines’ former capitol of Circe where, Stefan Amaris was confident, sympathetic Clan scientists would aid them in exchange for sanctuary in the Republic.

The loss of two JumpShips had likely put the assault on Roche in jeopardy, the fortress of Spiderholm was of SLDF construction. Burning it to the ground had been the Wolverines’ weregild for undertaking what was very likely a suicide mission. Serena could only hope the two-and-a-half regiments that had made it to Roche would be sufficient to the task. The Four full regiments that three JumpShips could carry would have been far preferable. Not to mention a company of the Legion to defend the DropShips.

The assault on Strana Mechty was likely in no immediate danger, however. Four regiments or five-and-a-half hardly mattered, the amount of chaos they’d sew simply turning up in Nicholas Kerensky’s Dreamland was sufficient.

That left the most vital task to Serena and the four regiments the Wolverines had put down on Circe. If they could hold Circe, the Wolverines could repudiate their supposed annihilation and, with luck, their influence would liberalize the Clan sphere. If they couldn’t, the Jump Torpedoes would have already done their work.

“Touchdown in five,” Serena’s helmet microphone didn’t crackle. Her Dragoon was firmly ensconced in a modified MechBay and she still had a direct line to the bridge. The Excalibur-class only barely managed to fit twelve ‘Mechs in single cramped bay, but some of that space had been sacrificed to make room for more high-capacity water tanks to fuel the fusion generators. They’d barely fit nine ‘Mechs in, but their target should have been lightly defended: a communications hub owned, as of their last intelligence report, by Clan Snow Raven.

“Satellites do show movement on the ground, ‘Mech units taking cover.” Colonel Marduk grunted. “Looks like a binary. Blue bodies, with gray on the arms—that’s Clan Coyote’s Beta Galaxy.”

“Of course,” Serena made a few precise blinks and eye motions, calling up the satellite feed on her helmet’s heads-up display. “I see new construction, looks like they’re in the process of turning the communications array into a full-blown testing facility. Every invasion needs to replace battlefield losses, I guess. What are the odds our opposition are rookies?”

“Slim to none,” Marduk replied. “Beta Galaxy’s a line unit. Even if they’ve never seen combat before, every Mechwarrior down there has taken out at least one BattleMech in a real fight.”




[N/A]




[N/A]





Map Link



Player Status:




Opposing Force Status:




Special Rules
– Aces Some enemy ‘Mech units may become aces if certain conditions are met
– BattleArmor Aces All battle armor units are aces



Primary Objectives
- Destroy Enemy BattleMechs (0/10)

Secondary Objectives
- Destroy Enemy BattleArmor (0/5)



Orders Due: Midnight Tuesday!



Attention, Mechwarriors! You will be receiving a PM / E-Mail soon.