Part 84: Combat Theater Vote 4 Results

Combat Theater Vote 5 Results:

The ComGuards win with 42 votes!
The Marik Militia could only muster nine troopers before the arrival of their honored guests!
The Goliath Scorpions sent three seekers out for votes, but only one and a half of them returned!



A Precentor in white robes stood in silence, running a bare palm over the foot actuator of his beloved Grasshopper. He quietly lamented the poor machine’s fate—the white and gold looked so wrong, so unfamiliar.

The things he had done in that ‘Mech. The things he’d done for Gunzburg. The things he had lost for Gunzburg.

Tor Miraborg turned away, his long white robes trailing behind him. When the Smiling One had finally, inevitably put out the death warrant for Miraborg and his family for their ‘subversion,’ he’d turned to the only bastion capable of sheltering a Rasalhague Separatist.

ComStar had taken him in, gladly; and had sheltered his beloved daughter. It was his greatest joy that she would grow up on Gunzburg… and his greatest lament that she would grow up without him. He’d wanted to give her the world—his world, free of the Draconis Combine’s mindless oppression. Instead, he’d cost her a life with her father.

With the careless confidence of a man who knew he was absolutely in charge, Miraborg stepped onto the bridge of the Sword of Damocles. The Overlord-class Dropship was finishing its final preparations landing while its sister ships, the Gordian Knot and the Quality of Mercy did likewise. The engines changed pitch as they found and fought the first traces of planetary atmosphere.

Below his feet, the world of Richmond—a stark desert of great mesas and interminable dust storms—spun silently through the darkness. He regarded it on the holoscreen in the center of the bridge.

“What’s the status of the Blake’s Blessing?” he demanded.

“They’ve begun deceleration, Precentor. They’ll be at the Nadir point in less than twenty four hours.”

He nodded quietly—the Blake’s Blessing had been the one concession he’d been willing to allow Precentor Mori. A single ship, dispatched to the Nadir Jump Point, to look for traces of Myndo Waterley’s passing. Miraborg wasn’t sure whether he hoped she’d passed from the system, or from this world entirely.

He regarded the tiny white dot on the sensors: the Blake’s Blessing was a Union-class vessel, carrying only two Level IIs. The first consisted entirely of vacuum-trained jump troopers: an assault force, should the unthinkable happen and Myndo’s jumpship be found still in-system. The second was a group of six Battlemechs he was already regretting conceding to Mori’s plan. Fighters would have been better—but they simply didn’t have any to spare. At least, he thought, the ‘Mechs could stand on the hull and be ablative armor if the Clans had any real force at the jump point.



**********



Captain Njangu White stared into his holoscreens with the intensity of a man trying to unhear whatever joke the universe’s sick sense of humor had just made him the punch line of. The usual hum of activity had died in uncomfortable, nervous silence. Njangu jumped as someone coughed—it was as loud as a gunshot. He shot the rating a dark glare.

Finally, he asked the question, “Well? Can we abort?”

“N-no sir.”

“Sensors?”

Another crewman replied, mechanically. “Diagnostics are fine, sir. The readings are accurate. It’s a Lola-Three.”

He’d have killed for a glass of water, his throat so dry his response came out a croak, “I see.”

“Sir!” another officer called, “Mass readings have shifted. They’ve cut their sail, they’re launching dropships! Sir, the Lola is accelerating!”

Njangu ran a hand over his bald head. “Blake’s Will be done,” he whispered under his breath. He was about to order them to ram—even though they’d simply never survive to get close enough—when his communications officer reported a hail from the enemy commander.

His holoscreen was filled with the image of nightmares, a man-beast straight out of Kuritan mythology—a demon with a horse’s head and massive, fang-like teeth. The mask was so lifelike, it took Njangu a few moments to realize its nature.

“Unidentified Dropship,” the enemy commander announced, “you are trespassing in sovereign territory of Clan Hell’s Horses. If you attempt to run, we will destroy you. If you attempt to hide, we will destroy you. If you attempt to fight, we will destroy you. With what forces will you defend your dropship?”





ComGuards:
CLNT-1-2LT Clint – Jim Westwood (g3 p5) (Shiva Asori)
WTH-1S Whitworth – Ruput Marsden (g4 p4) (Uberjew)
WVE-5N Wyvern – Gwenhwyfar Kerwyn (g4 p4) (Gothsheep)
CRB-27 Crab – Cassandra Przymus (g3 p5) (Mr. Despair)
KTO-19 Kintaro – Kei Katou (g4 p4) (W.T. Fits)
CHP-1N Champion – Tyr Vandal (g4 p4) (DatonKallandor)

Alternates, please stand by:
Revenant Threshold
Renaissance Spam
Xmas Future
Mary Annette
Others (as-needed, but hopefully won't be)



Mission Objectives
Win the Hell’s Horses “Trial of Possession”



New House Rules:
Mystery Box: LeperFlesh got to decide whether the Goon portion of this mission took place on the ground or in Space. He chose space. You should all thank him. Profusely (possibly violently).

Microgravity: LRMs may not be fired indirectly.

Hard Vacuum? I have an app for that! Myomer needs oxygen to function. Like water, Hard Vacuum will render exposed myomer bundles effectively inert. An armor breach (the destruction of all armor covering a part of a ‘Mech) normally results in the total destruction the segment where the armor breach occurred, destroying all weapons and equipment in that section and rendering attached segments (arms, typically) inert. Precentor Mori anticipated the potential of a fight in vacuum and has had each ‘Mech’s myomer muscles coated with a substance to keep them oxygenated. Only an armor breach which also does at least one point of internal structure damage will result in a segment’s destruction, however any through-armor critical roll of 10, 11, or 12 will automatically cause a breach.

Harjel: Regardless of the state of their armor, a Clan ‘Mech will only suffer a breach on a critical result of 10, 11, or 12.

Battledome: The battlefield is the hull of the Union-class dropship “Blake’s Blessing.” Any enemy target 4-5 hexes away automatically benefits from partial cover. Any target six or more hexes away may not be targeted at all. Battlemechs will wrap from one half of the dropship to the other (the “dark side” has been mirrored for convenience / annoyance); and ‘Mechs may cross over at any point save the Dropship’s engines (i.e., the ‘bottom’ of the ‘map’).

Light- and Darksiders: A ‘Mech on the “light side” of the Dropship will gain an additional 2 heat each turn. A ‘Mech on the “dark side” of the Dropship will dissipate an additional 2 heat each turn. A ‘Mech in one of the border hexes generates heat normally.

Fuckin’ Magnets: Your ‘Mechs are equipped with magnetic feet that stick to the dropship and allow them to maneuver almost normally. Losing a leg or failing a piloting test will never result in a fall. Battlemechs will remain standing and attached to the dropship unless that ‘Mech has made a ‘run’ move. Any ‘Mech that runs must make a piloting test to avoid accidentally propelling itself into space. If a ‘Mech runs and fails a piloting test caused by a different source (due to damage or for any other reason) or loses a leg on the same turn in which it ran, it will also drift into space.

Self-Propelled: A ‘drifting’ ‘Mech with jump jets will return to the dropship two turns after it broke loose. It will always return to the hex it left, with the same facing. A ‘Mechwarrior may not use his or her jump jets to intentionally leave the dropship.

Jet-Assisted Recovery: A ‘Mech without jump jets may be recovered by a ‘Mech with Jump Jets, provided the recovery ‘Mech leaves the same (or an adjacent) hex within two turns. Those ‘Mechs return to the battlefield in two turns.

Ring Out: If a ‘Mech (equipped with Jump Jets or otherwise) is the last ComGuard unit engaged in the fight drifts away from the Dropship (due to any of the above reasons, including recovering an ally), the Hell’s Horses will win by default.

Armed and Dangerous: ComGuard ‘Mechs with LRMs may opt to enter battle with those LRMs armed. This renders them more vulnerable to overheating-based ammunition explosions, but removes the normal minimum range penalty altogether.



Finally, the map, in advance: