Part 8: Mission 2: Blackout Blowup

"Hey guys. Welcome to poker night."
"Yes! I can win now that she's not here!"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Siren, I think."
"Shhh! She'll hear you!"
"Oh, don't be a wuss."
"Yeah! You gonna gabber, or are you gonna play.”
”_{Deal me in, please.}”
”What's that? Speak up son.”
”Uh, it's nice you invited me and all, but I really should be getting back to Battalion.”
”What are you talking about? You did fine by us.”
”I have to agree. You handled that Catapult with good grace.”
”But I'm not a...”
”Not a what?”
”Come on.”
”Speak up kid. You're one of us, and we don't keep secrets from each other.”
”I'm just a kid, alright! My job was to walk Mechs around, not get into combat! Then your Commander and the Colonel yell at me, and then I'm firing weapons at people...”
, , , , , , ”...”
“Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault I got hit.”
“He's right, it's a war, these things happen.”
“But...”
“Nothing having, kid.”
“Doesn't matter how good you are, Rooster.”
“As long as you're on the field, making good on your skills?”
“Then you're one of us.”
“No questions asked.”
“Never.”
“Speaking of, why isn't Falcon here?”
“She's still being debriefed by the Spook.”
“Ugh.”
“Oh, it gets worse. Let's see, I'll open with 5.”
“Gimme one. How so? Bad news from the Commander? Raise.”
“Raise”
“It's about Falcon. I went over the BattleROM and the transcripts.”
“I'll take two. Call.”
“Hitman, Rooster and Scarab were all told they were recovering a DEST operative, right?”
“Uh huh. Oh, Call.”
“Ugh, bad hand. Fold. And yeah, we found Falcon right where we were told she'd be.”
“Well, she's been assigned to Zulu on a provisional basis.”
“So? I heard from the Tech boys that we're keeping her stolen Hunch'.”
“Gimme 5. Makes sense. We need all the MechWarriors we can get.”
“I read her file that Battalion passed down to the Commander and me. It says she's Davion.”
“Oh fuck me.”
“What?”
“This is some grade-A bullshit.”
“WHAT?”
“Why the hell are we getting this?”
“Can someone explain!?!?!”
“Rooster, Falcon's a spy and not one of ours.”


* * *

“MechWarriors, attention!”

, , , , , , , , “Sir!”

“First thing's first. I want to introduce you all to Siren. She's a recent deployment from Battalion, and brings with her a Firestarter-J.”

“Hello.”
, , , , , , , , “Hello.”

“There's also some paperwork to sort out. As of now, we are being divided into two firm Lances, with reserves. Alpha Lance will consist of Lynx, in his Timber Wolf as Lance Leader and pointman. Hunter, Hitman, Beast and Falcon will round out the Lance, rotating as needed. Hawk, you are now promoted to Beta Lance Leader, consisting of yourself, Mystique, Rooster and Siren.”

“Uh, sir?”

“Yes, Rooster?”

“Aren't I supposed to be back at Battalion by now?”

“As of 0600 today, you were transferred from your previous post to 1st Zulu Company, 1st Davion Guards. Colonel put it through. Welcome to the best, Rooster.”




“Thanks to Falcon's intel, our favourite Spook has determined that there is a weak point in the local industrial infrastructure. At this point along the Ai-Ki River, there are two water-cooled power plants helping to power both the industrial zone and the military defences. Our job is to bring them both down.”

“Sending in Alpha then?”

“Negative. Alpha, you will launch a diversionary strike against a nearby AeroSpace field. Your job is to make noise to draw defenders away from the objectives so that Beta can get in and kill the targets. To that end, Alpha will be assigned the Timber Wolf, Catapult and both Hunchbacks while Beta will be given our two Ullers and Firestarters.”

“What about the Raven? I don't relish getting there without EW.”

“That's... ugh. Last night, and Atlas was delivered to us...

, , , , , , , , , “WHAT?”

“Let me finish! Our boys were taking it apart, looking for anything that got knocked loose in transit. They had finished taking out all the components when a recall order was issued for the chassis itself. So Battalion took it back, as well as our Raven, leaving the components behind.”

“Let me guess. Our friend, the Spook.”

“Officially, it was a clerical error. Nevermind that we benefited from it. Now, Beta will ingress here, at F1, and proceed north-east to hit Objective 1. Expect pockets of vehicle resistance, as well as the occasional Mech. Once you've taken care of the Generator at Objective One, I will mark the location of the auxiliary reactor to the North-west. You will then move to cross the water and destroy that before withdrawing to the Extraction point – marked Objective Two, where we will get you out via the waterways. As always, Salvage is a priority, and if you capture the local HQ, you might be able to get locations of depots to raid.”

“Makes sense. Smokies are going to leave something behind, they're not dumb enough to leave this just to bondsmen. Requesting that we get a high-density loadout for our Mechs.”

“Granted. You're going in energy heavy, while Alpha will have a couple Ammo Trucks to support them. We have limited artillery to support you as Battalion has tasked most of it with the diversionary attacks.

“You know, Commander, I think I could do this with just my Timby. A single Mech is easier to sneak in and out, making the diversion more effective.”


“That's probably true, but this profile has come down from Intelligence and Battalion. My hands are tied in so much as deployment goes, but I can still work with what we have to give you the best chance possible.

“Thank you sir.”

“Thank you. That is all. MechWarriors, you are dismissed. Prepare for Combat!”



“Welcome back MechWarriors. I've heard from Hawk, and his ejection was the result of a bad set of wiring in his cockpit when the heat flashed too high. His Kit Fox thought it was overheating due to a reactor meltdown, and sent him to safety. He'll be back in time for the next mission.”

“Oh thank goodness.”
“I trust Alpha made it back safely?”

“Yes, they are on their way back now. They're a little banged up, but nothing they couldn't handle.”

“Those Elementals were a surprise sir. Did Intel say anything?”

“Once again, nothing. I've complained to the Colonel that either they're not doing their job properly, or they're messing with us. We'll wait to see how that goes on my end before we commit to anything. At least it was only a Point of them and not a Star or Galaxy.

- - - - -
Man, the hardest part now is writing the characters. I'm up to 10 Pilots (got to update that), myself, the Spook, the Colonel and the Extra as 'icon-d' characters. Lynx, I've got down. He's the leader type, so naturally he's the one who takes the lead in the briefings. Hawk is working his way up there with Beta lance, but he's still subservient to Lynx. Rooster I can play up as the rookie, which gives him some character. Falcon's characterization comes from her in-game story which was recalled above, while Hitman and Beast share the 'mighty warrior' ethos. Everyone else, I haven't been able to peg yet.

Anyone want to suggest characterizations for people to help me write them?