Part 798: Let's Read Warrior: En Garde - Part 8

Let’s Read Warrior: En Garde (part 8)

Book 2
Chapter 20
Pacifica (Chara III)
Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
1 March 3027

Kell Hounds time. Patrick is still a bro, and reassuring one of “his” soldiers (actually a Lyran Commonwealth line trooper assigned to the Kell Hounds as a technician by the LyrCom) who’s about to retire that yes, he’ll be able to do so and won’t be stuck for six months on the backwater Pacifica. He’s nervous because a Lyran Colonel is here, as is Ardan Sortek and Andrew “What am I doing here?” Redburn.

Colonel Kell welcomes them all to Pacifica, even though the Lyran Colonel is a bit of a bitch. Patrick Kell then suddenly reveals to Patrick Kell and the Lyran Colonel that elements of House Kurita’s Second Sword of Light have been lurking near Chara IV waiting for Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn to land so they can assassinate them with a BattleMech attack.

No, seriously, that’s their actual plan. Patrick Kell just happens to know their entire plan, he’s just that awesome (and Phelan Kell is pretty much his reincarnation, so yes, it’s entirely possible that I’m implying Patrick Kell is a Mary Sue). That tears it, I’m putting together a Mary Sue Bingo card for the thread.

Anyway, the Lyran Colonel is totally freaked out when Patrick Kell asks Ardan Sortek to join the Kell Hounds in killing some Snakes. In fact, Patrick seems just a touch batshit here because “Pacifica is boring” and killing Sons of the Dragon is far more fun than living peacefully on a planet prone to beautiful thunderstorms. Fortunately, the Colonel is at best tangentially involved in the story, and Ardan Sortek agrees to kill snakes without a moment’s hesitation.

We then cut to the Kuritan DropShip momentarily, which is disembarking `Mechs. We’re supposed to infer a time skip here, but fuck it if Stackpole is too lazy to make a new chapter and slap a date on it I’m going to imply that this is occurring on the same day. The Second Sword of Light is mostly Panthers, but they’ve got a medium lance of Shadow Hawks (-2Ks, the version with PPCs) and Griffins. We also learn that they’ve got at least one Dragon (possibly one of the new Grand Dragons!)

Anyway, it doesn’t matter since the Kell Hounds launch an immediate assault taking out three or four Panthers to no retaliatory fire. So the Kell Hounds pretty much rofl-stomp the disembarking Kuritans. Dan Allard, our viewpoint character (not mentioned before since it’s not relevant) then gloats because the Kell Hounds have badly damaged six enemy `Mechs to no major damage, so he’s confident the 2nd Sword of Light will have to withdraw.

Then an Awesome steps off the dropship, and OMFG it’s an Assault `Mech! They’re horribly rare and there’s no way everyone will be piloting one inside 30 years time!



Book 2
Chapter 21
Pacifica (Chara III)
Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
1 March 3027

Ha! It is happening on the same day! So somehow the Kuritans teleported from Chara IV to Chara III in a matter of goddamned minutes/hours instead of the days/weeks the trip should have taken.

OH NO AN AWESOME, I FORGO—oh wait. Ardan Sortek’s here, and he’s got a Victor nobody’s mentioned before. After wait—what?


Gross.

So, after taking a PPC Facial we’re treated to two pages of Ardan Sortek casually taking the Awesome apart with his Autocannon/20. Then the Kuritans withdraw. Results? One Awesome destroyed, a few Panthers badly damaged, no major damage among the Kell Hounds.

We then cut to the Kell Hounds having a beer and gloating over their defeated opponents. We then learn that the Kell Hounds’ Aerospace company painted their machines in Kurita colors and took out a full company of enemy troops. We’re then told that another DropShip came down in a swamp, but the math says it launched fully loaded. The DropShip was down for two hours and Andrew Redburn (who is here, but hasn’t said anything for over a chapter) points out that two hours is plenty of time for the Kuritans to offload their cargo and take on an equal mass in water from the goddamned swamp.

This is a plot point. Patrick Kell advises that at least a company of Panthers must be on Pacifica, and everyone needs to be careful.

The Kell Hounds then promptly forget all about the guerilla force to get fucking hammered.




Book 2
Chapter 22
Solaris VII (The Game World)
Rahneshire, Lyran Commonwealth
30 March 3027

Fuh Teng is now Justin Xiang’s right-hand man. Justin has bought himself a Centurion, and Gray Noton and Kym turn up. Gray scoffs since the Centurion is a piece of shit in a Solaris match. We then learn that Kym Sorenson bought it for Justin because he’s sleeping with her.

100% serious.

Justin Xiang-Allard whored himself out to buy what is perhaps the most famous BattleMech in the Inner Sphere: Yen-Lo-Wang. This is not an implication.


Subtle.

We then learn that Justin’s Centurion is unbalanced, since some armor has been stripped from the left arm and added to the right.

Noton then comments on the fight being fixed, but Justin points out that it’d be stupid to bet against him; he’ll never accept a fixed fight that ends in a Davion `Mechwarrior beating him. Noton is amused by this, and invites Justin to Valhalla (read: the bar where Shang Tsun lives) if he wins the match against Armstrong.

We then cut to the start of the match, and learn that Justin’s already beaten three other `Mechwarriors. He then quotes Sun Tzu while pulling up a diagnostic of the Griffin, since apparently most Solaris `Mechwarriors go into battle without trying to assess what sort of damage they’re causing to the enemy (really?) and it gives Justin a tactical edge.

They’re also fighting in the Factory, and it sucks since it’s hot and nobody can see a damned thing. Justin then makes a series of (100% correct) assumptions deductions about how his opponent, Armstrong, is going to react to his Centurion. Justin then monologues like goddamned Fu Machu for a while.

We then learn WAY MORE than we goddamned need to about how the Tharkan Broadcast Company controls and airs the fights across the Inner Sphere. After going on for about a page and a half, Justin then shoots Armstrong’s Griffin in the back with his Autocannon/20. Armstrong fights back for about half a page before his reactor shielding goes and the Griffin’s cockpit electronics catch fire, burning Armstrong to death.

THIS IS A PLOT POINT (but not for the Warrior Trilogy. Armstrong’s daughter is going to crush on, hate, hate-fuck, and eventually have a son with Justin’s future son).