Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/20(Thu)09:30 No. 359613 ID: 8fc114
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I am Marius Wolfram and I am currently travelling through some fairly flat landscape with dusty patches, long grass and the occasional hill towards the Wolfram family estates. The weather is hot and sunny with only a few clouds providing occasional shade. I kind of wish I could open a window, but the cockpit is far too heavily sealed and armored for such a thing to be feasible. The air con is passable at least. Not as good as the one in my room at home however. That one that can regulate moisture, heat and fragrance at the touch of a button!

With me I have the support and maintenance trailers for the mech. They just travel along the road carrying ammunition, parts and maintenance equipment. I think they've got at least a ton of spare oil for this beast. The titan is best kept off the road to prevent damage. Damage to the road that is...

At my side piloting a medium-light Ravager type mech is my teacher and bodyguard Rob Tranverston. He's the one who trained me in piloting and it's nice to have him along although it's always annoying when he gets all overprotective, but that's his job. I try not to get too angry with him or father will just shout at me for being childish. The Ravager is a pretty common model really. It's solidly built and quite resilient with a assortment of light weapons supporting the single over-sized laser cannon that lets it threaten almost any foe. His bodyguard services is a bit superfluous now though. I'm actually inside an even bigger, meaner mech. Contemporary warfare generally comes down to using mechs. Their giant frames can hold powerful reactors which power hellish weapons. They're highly maneuverable, responsive for their size and take well to even the harshest terrain. Aircraft and ground vehicles mostly end up filling supporting roles like the support convoy with me or as light scouts, a task that is sometimes also handled by smaller mechs. I like to consider myself an OK pilot although I've only really done simulations and exercises.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/20(Thu)09:33 No. 359614 ID: 8fc114
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Anyway I really look forward to getting home so I can show off this lethal building sized monstrosity to dad and the others. I haven't even been able to test fire the weapons yet! I should be able to do that at the gravel pit outside the estate. Oh wait what is my mech armed with again? I need to remember this or I'll be screwed in a fight. For starters it has...

[Customisation time! Suggest (and describe if necessary) potential LIGHT ranged armaments for Marius' mech. These can be almost anything. From utterly versatile to something incredibly specialised.]

Well, for starters, there's the localised EMP warhead missiles. They can't take down an entire war mech, but if they trigger near critical unprotected systems it could cripple them. Also, they're still missiles. They might not go boom but they're still fast moving objects slamming into objects that aren't so fast.

I vote for armaments along the same lines as Tranverston's. One or two heavy energy weapons (so they won't run out of ammo), and then a few light projectile weapons so we aren't entirely overheating constrained.

Numerous low powered precision lasers designed to intercept oncoming missiles. Their lack of power makes them relatively useless for attacking mechs, but aircraft straying too close can be quickly and accurately picked off in addition to their normal use.

>>359614
Kinetic manipulator array. Because being able to kick out the legs from under an enemy mech from medium range is priceless.

It's also useful for a variety of utility purposes when tuned to somewhat more controlled settings.

What kind of weapon technology exists?
I think that going around firing push-rays to knock everyone down would be hilarious.

>>359615
>>359619
These sound good for a variety of situations.
>>359618
This as a defense mechanism if possible.

Is there shield tech in this setting? If so, we may want some of that. Knowing the weakness of shields is also good (the emp missiles might work for that depending on the power source).

light weapons? this is assuming next we choose our big gun, so i'd say 2 medium pulse lasers and 1 heavy ER laser on each arm, good flexibility and a narly punch. watch the heat.
Add a light gause rifle each arm and we are set with range strikes.


torso gets the good stuff. 8 Streak SRM 6's and 1 Variable PPC will give everything a good reason not to get too close. I dont think I want to trust your skillz with bombast lasers yet.

And we finish the small stuff with anti-personel pods on the legs; never underestimate the little guy.

... wait, this is a hundred tonner, right? assault mech?

I don't think this is strictly Battle Tech. Inspired by it sure, but not bound by the same rules.

Ballistic and missile CIWS (e.g. Phalanx, Rolling Airframe Missile respectively). CIWS everywhere.

>>359688
not enough kill/weight

not strictly battletech, huh?
fine

but you get the idea.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/22(Sat)03:54 No. 359961 ID: 8fc114
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Right this mech has a Streak Missile Rack with EMP warheads. They'll probably be very situational as they cause little direct damage, but they could potentially punch well above their weight if the electrical effect manages to stun enemy systems or hit near a spot where shielding has already been weakened.

>359657
>359657
I wish we had did have some kind of forcefield shields. Then I could just sit back and watch gunfire bounce off like it does from spaceships in the Star Sundiata films! Don't think such things work out in the real world though. I guess even if our technicians can make something like that it then it just wouldn't be effective enough to stop many of the weapons we can field. There's certainly a vast selection of bizarre energy weapons and projectile weapons around, including energy and exotic matter weapons that use specialty ammunition and hybrid projectile weapons that draw energy - gauss/rail weapons and their kin. There are some crazy things that have been tried over the years.

Instead of 'shield's I've got an Active Defense Turret AND 2 very accurate pulse lasers! The lasers are quick and flexible enough to take down small targets like aircraft and missiles while the defensive turret will automatically try to intercept incoming threats with a wave of gunfire. I did ask father if we could replace one of the lasers with a custom made kinetic manipulator, but that's when he said a manipulator capable of significantly shifting a mech at long range would need to be able to draw on most if not all of the reactor output and a dedicated mount in a body-integrated frame just to handle the recoil, Newton's 3rd law and all that...

There's even some anti-infantry pods on the legs. Good for clearing out all light foliage within 50 metres of the feet I guess. Hope I never have reason to actually fire these in anger. Think I would have nightmares about salsa for years...

However that's just the small stuff! Next up we've got the...

[Suggest MEDIUM ranged armaments for this mech. These are usually the destructive staples of most mech combat, but don't feel afraid to experiment...]

Obviously, you need a gun that shoots saw blades.

I mean, who doesn't love saw blades?!

PPC!
(Which is kind of like a very large laser, for those who have not played any BattleTech games.)

ELRM-20, if available, though LRM-20 would do fine as well. Would be a useful really long range support weapon, since it does not seem that we are aiming for any real specialization.

>>359961
Don't know the setting so I can't really make any specific suggestions. Correct me if I make any mistakes please.
From your description it sounds like most people rely heavily on active defense systems, so let's get a nice big rapid-fire projectile weapon (cannons, railguns, gauss guns etc) that can overwhelm defense systems by sheer volume of fire. It'd also give us a good weapon for dealing with light units that are too big for the lasers but too small to waste our big guns on (whatever they may end up being).

Anything that does decent damage and gets past the defenses, possibly a gauss gun as suggested, if it won't draw too much power to be effective.

Ooh, I got an idea:
1. A Gauss Cannon or other general armor piercing weapon to turn them into swiss cheese.
2. Since we can't get a kinetic blaster, we could get some sort of weapon which we fire into the enemy mech's feet and use to trip them up and render them defenseless. Like a giant robot bolas. Maybe put some EMP shit in those too, for added kick.

>>360030
>Since we can't get a kinetic blaster
Actually, to me
>would need to be able to draw on most if not all of the reactor output and a dedicated mount in a body-integrated frame
Sounded like "this would have to be your heavy weapon choice", not "you can't have it".

Would totally be worth it, I think.


Our medium weapon should be something pleasingly blasty. A particle or gauss cannon sound good, preferably with lots of penetration and rapid fire. I'd lean towards the particle cannon on the grounds that ammunition is expensive and a pain in the ass.

>>360045
Ah man, I want to have a Heavy Gauss Rifle as our heavy weapon, once we get to choose.

A pair of Gauss Cannons sounds good to me

>>360045
now see, to me that sounds like heavy weapon, sacrifice some armor, and cannot so much as MOVE when firing it, much less fire another weapon in the same period. Mobility is key, and there are easier ways to make things fall down at a distance.

Anyway, I like plasma cannons. In the end, protecting against most weapons is simply a matter of having sufficient armor. At some point even a gauss riffle falls foul of too much armor, but a steady stream of superheated plasma will eventually penetrate ANYTHING, and it will generate excess heat on enemy targets in the mean time, to endanger their retaliatory systems.

Failing that, autocannons are okay I guess, especially if ammo comes in alternating Armor Penetrating and White Phosphorous round belts.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/23(Sun)08:21 No. 360213 ID: 8fc114
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>>360010
>>360029
>>360030
>>360045
>>360050
>>360176
(Seems to be plenty of support for gauss/rail weaponry)

We've got the Twin Thunderhammer MK4 Gauss Cannons. They're sophisticated and demanding projectile weapons that are normally only found on heavier mechs and some very specialized medium mechs. Basically they fire a thin high-velocity solid alloy slug, then an incredibly powerful electric charge is triggered that further accelerates the projectile to ridiculous speeds. Unfortunately the ammunition needs to be supercooled before firing, the barrel has to be flushed with low-pressure insulating gases and the large internal capacitor bank has to charge up power between shots.

The potential for accurately punching holes through any armor type in the middle of a snowstorm from several kilometres away is what justifies all that weight and complexity. The recent MK4 model we have solves most of the maintenance and electrical discharge issues that have traditionally plagued gauss weapons... The fire rate can actually be varied a bit depending on power availability and willingness to sacrifice damage output.

Incidentally Rob's Ravager has a small shoulder mounted particle projector cannon or PPC as they're commonly called. We did consider fitting a bigger version on the Titan. They fire a stream of charged particles and hit with kinetic force, heat and electricity all at the same time. Rob's always complaining about the recoil, heat, power drain and inherent dangers though.

Finally there's the weapon the mech was built for. The thing that makes it stand out...

[Suggest a HEAVY ranged weapon for this mech. Holy shit guys, this is the devastating weapon that strikes fear into the enemy and defines the mech. No nukes, but feel free to go crazy. May come as a symmetrically mounted pair or as one single object]

Ok, since our medium weapons are ammo users we will definitely want an energy based weapon for our heavy.

Hmm, Mechs tend to have windows on their cockpits, right? (Of course, they are more than normal glass, but still at least somewhat transparent.)
I want a powerful and extremely accurate light/heat laser to be able to target the enemy cockpit or attack specific weapon systems to overheat and damage them.

The EMP missile lack power, and the Gaus Cannons have a slower RoF. I think we need something that would allow us to deal with groups or larger numbers of enemies.

I'm think a high-powered sustainable laser.

Thumper or Long Tom artillery cannon.

The Thumper is an artillery cannon capable of direct fire, the Long Tom really is not. Both are artillery weapons with presumably decent AoE and really, who would not want a mech centered around a giant gun.

>>360213
I'm going to dodge a bit off the expected here and go with a high powered, long ranged detection and targeting system. Make sure we know where everyone within miles of our position is located, make it completely impossible to hide from us- and make those missiles, pulse lasers, and gauss cannons strike with unerring accuracy at precisely the part of the enemy mech we desire.

>>360221
Form what I recall, they don't do AOE, they do an extremely powerful kinetic armor piercing shot.

>>360223
This works too, provided our pulse lasers are strong enough to do damage/overheat the parts they aim for.

>>360227
Not so certain about the AoE part, myself, but I presume the shell type can be changed between the usual HE and AP selection. Later on, the ammo stocks could probably be spiced with mine shells, chemical shells, etc.
Or at least, that is what I hope.

Subspace Cannon. Unless that's far too dangerous and stupid, in which case >>360223 seems like it would give us a nice sniper mech, with these highly specialized weapons to target enemy weak points.

yessir, going crazy.

Large swarm of semi-autonomous missile-like tunneling drones, capable of carving through most soil and rock with speed and coordination sufficient to render the ground under a mech target unstable. The ground is likely to collapse, leaving the enemy mech largely immoble and half buried, easy pickings for more traditional weapons, or even potentially for capture. Deployment against other types of target has a variety of effects.

>>360223
Another vote for this. Pack in every RADAR, LIDAR, SONAR, thermometer, barometer, seismometer, uplink, downlink, and who-knows-what other sensor that will fit. And a few racks of surveillance drones too.

[It appears that people want to sacrifice the heavy weapon slot altogether for an ultimate sensor suite. This would certainly make for a different experience as Marius' mech would be relegated to a back line support/command role, being outgunned by more or less every mech in his class.]

[So far suggestions seem to be:
*Sustained/Precision Super Laser
*Artillery Cannon
*Subspace Cannon (Only dangerous if you're stupid enough to be in front of it!)
*Tunnel Drone Swarm
*Sensor Conversion
*Anything else people feel like suggesting

Choose carefully...]

downvoting the sensor conversion.

So we CAN get a Subspace weapon? Hell yes, +1 to that.

Voting for Sensor Conversion.

Laser. The whole reason we wanted the sensor thing was to be able to hit precisely, and if the laser can do that we should go with that.

Sensor/Communications suite! If you can provide tactical or strategic intel, and assist others through orders and situation reports, you'ld be sure to gain prestige. May want to have some kind of countermeasures too...

>>360366
Sensors.

The gauss cannons are quite heavy for medium weapons and already make us well suited for a role in the back, and the sensors will help with long-range targeting as well as command and control. And it never hurts to be the guy giving other people orders and critical data.

The ultimate sensor suite, Marius shall be a finesse fighter and the CCC mech. He shall be the war-leader.

the light and medium armament so far actually sound quite heavier than seemed appropriate for their designations. (Our light weapon sounds like a medium weapon, and the medium weapon sounds like a heavy weapon) though i will trust wolfram in that enemy mechs are going to bring something more fierce than both, needing something of offensive and not supportive quality to match it.

Sustained laser with manipulator / redirector drones. Drones can double as a crappier sit-analysis network.

If we go for the sensor suite, can we get some remote control hover drones to go with it?

They could be used for further sensor support, added firepower and defense, since we would be a major tactical battlefield asset and other cool stuff.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/24(Mon)12:42 No. 360671 ID: b43e5b
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My father decided that he didn't want me endangered in a front line assault mech so he ordered the titan to be redesigned as a sensor/command type. That meant no city flattening artillery, no tesla projectors and no mountain-carving subspace cannon. I nearly blew my top when I found out! Hopefully he didn't put his heart before his head... We don't have that many mechs to command and we have no heavies apart from the titan.

Instead I have an incredibly comprehensive sensor package that outstrips any mech on the planet. Maybe even any mech ever made. Detection oriented large walkers are incredibly rare. This thing has an unbeatable radar, precision laser targetfinders and various information gathering drone launchers. The real secret weapon is that the core of the mech holds a heavily modified grid sensor. The name is deceptive... I didn't know it was possible to mount one on anything other than a starship. It hooks onto the underlying framework of reality and reaches out for several kilometres, carefully sampling quantum reflections created by objects in the 'real' world. It doesn't give a very clear picture, but the dense, esoteric materials used in mechs and weapons stand out like... uhh... spots on a... cow?

It's all linked into my pilot suit and cockpit environment as well. I can feel the surroundings pressing against me, I can hear the seismic vibrations coming from the truck engines (when standing still) and I have a strange sensation of being watched as Rob's radar bounces off my armor... I can even taste the fabric of the universe if I focus on a spot on the grid! For example there's something metallic and a bit hot up the road... Oh wait is that what I think it is?

"Rob I think there may be three mechs up front behind some steep hills. They're in low-power mode. Reckon father sent them to check on us?"

It takes a while before the radio crackles with Rob's response: "I think we should stop. I can't see why Lord Wolfram would divert three units. This feels really bad. They could be rogues who've heard that a new mech with a newbie pilot has just walked out of the Aldarl Munitions factories. Can you get tell anything more about them?"

"Let me stabilize the dirigible drone, give me a second... There's a squarish blocky one, probably a missile mech. Then there's an upright one with long arms and... Shit that's got to be a heavy model! The shoulder projections taste strange as well!"

Rob's mech slowly swivels its torso as if glancing over at the titan. I find myself rotating to look back. The vaguely humanoid shapes of mechs give them a lot of personality. It really feels like I'm talking to a smaller mech across the road as he deliberates "Taste....? Nevermind. Then they're not ours and they sound like a textbook strike formation. We're definitely outnumbered and outgunned. Shall we go off the road and around?"

[How should Marius Wolfram react?!]

no shielding ? leave the road and go around; can you line up simultaneous emp warhead strikes ? try not to provoke an engagement until they let up their strength or there is good indication additional strength is inbound. steep situation is good, hug the height difference for cover while you can since missiles have the indirect advantage over our line-of-sight loadout.

>>360671
Go around, yeah. No reason to start a fight we don't have a good chance of winning.

>>360680
That sounds goods. Two addendums though. The if you can tell where the missiles bays on the blocky mech would likely be, if it's possible to be this accurate, getting some emp missiles to hit that and set them off it could take it out of the fight immediately and possibly cause some damage to the others near it. The bigger priority would be disabling the shoulders for the heavy mech though. Hopefully low-power mode means it'd be easier to fry it with emps.

I'd guess the upright one is a sniper of some sort, so making use of indirect fire would be great.

>>360683
This sounds good.

>>360681
This shouldnt be a problem.our biggest variable is wether our train of suport vehicles can follow us of-road.if they cant, we take a stance a sixth-killometre back while our wingman goes forth with the convoy. at first sighn of agressiveness, begine moving forward at speed while taking shots to cripple with the gause weapons. rob's mech is built for a medium close fight, and your accuracy can serve you where their missile-boat cant harm you on account of you exelent point defence systems.

OR we go around. Fucking cars...

>>360671
Well, make sure that those trucks don't end up collateral damage- they either need to go around or hang back while we deal with the problem.

To engage them, we can leave the road, circle around behind them- it should be easy enough to keep out of their line of sight, with our sensors and considering that they're on low power- and hit them from behind with everything both of our mechs are carrying when they don't expect it. Hopefully we'll be able to precision-target into disabling all their nastiest weapons, and if we can manage that it'll all be cleanup from there even against a superior force. Nothing like a turned ambush to crush the enemy with shock and confusion.

>>360713
You do raise a good point though I'm starting to suspect your grammar is just for the sake of trolling
>>360729
Changing vote to this. An ambush would work better than a straight up fight in this case.

>>360729
I would strategicaly agree. and if we get closer, there is a good chance we can figure out what that wierd "taste" the enemy is packing is.
but we want to avoid atacking if they are, say, just guarding their own oncoming convoy...

>>360797
sorry for posting too much, but this guy has a point:
ALWAYS GO FOR A PILOT-KILL UNLESS YOU WANT THEM ALIVE.
mechs mach the bestest salvage when you can just buy a new bucket seat and go.

If we do end up fighting, be sure to use the long range of the Gauss cannons and the ridiculous accuracy you should get from the sensors to disable that heavy before it gets into range. Aim for the cockpit, maybe? Also, discuss your plans with Rob before acting on them and see if he has any modifications or objections.

>>360683
This

How good are we with decoys? Could we detail drones to imitate our convoy slowly moving along the road for cover while we circle them?

Since Marius found them while just trying out the sensor suit, I also suggest he takes a careful look if that is the only group around.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/26(Wed)12:46 No. 361252 ID: dc3884
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I decide we should go around without being spotted. Those lurking strangers are right at the edge of my vastly superior senses. I don't think there's any way they can see us at the moment unless they have some kind of spy satellite, and I have it on quite good authority that such satellites are being shot on sight.

"Shut down your radar Rob, we'll go around well out of their range. Do you think the support vehicles can handle it?"
"They're built to assist in all sorts of terrain, dry ground on hillsides should only slow them down a little." Rob replies casually as the Ravager abruptly stops emitting anything but focused short-range communication transmissions, going into stealth mode. I do the same as we hug the landscape, moving well around the stationary mechs near the road. I disconnect and leave behind two dirigible drones floating next to the road. They're highly expendable and I have plenty more. They can also potentially act as decoys for a minute or two by overloading their little radars and batteries. Then the world fades away to become silent and damped as I focus on the sensations and information pouring in from the grid.

I eventually manage to build up a fairly good image of our potential foes. Those exotic shoulder weapons are most likely thermobolt cannons. They prime and fire spears that superheat and expand on impact. Terribly crippling weapons with high rates of fire and good range. I can tell because of the multiple tons of exotic metal ammunition it carries.

"What do you think our chances are if we get in the first shots, crippling their missile launchers and heavy weapons?" I ask. Never hurts to double check with a veteran.
"Pretty grim to be honest Marius. The real issue is that the heavy will most quickly flatten me up close with its secondary weapons alone. That's also assuming you manage to hit it and the 'Rainy Day' missile boat multiple times with weapons you've never even tried before." Rob answers with a tired tone, like I'm planning to make his life difficult already. Maybe he's just exaggerating things so I won't get into unnecessary danger?

We keep moving further around and away, but there's no reaction from our implicit enemies. half an hour later we're safely out of range. We can probably leave stealth mode now and communicate freely at range. I also have those drones back on the road...

[What should Marius do?]

>>361252
stay in stealth mode for another 15 killometres.
leave the drones, their expendable as fuck. wait, no, on second thought, have them self destruct.

Don't be an idiot, listen to Rob and head home.

>>361252
Keep a low profile. If those nasty fuckers were there to hit you, then it's quite possible there are MORE.

Don't even actively alert them to your drones. Just leave 'em floating there so you get a heads up if they get blown up.

>>361279
This, but send the drones as decoys anyway. Always good to gather intel.

>>361252
Stay in stealth mode a while longer, but then go active again in case there are other unexpected encounters ahead. If your drones can move with any decent kind of range, set them on a return path so that you can recover them later.

Go home, disappointed to have missed excitement but secure in the knowledge that you have managed to listen to wisdom.

...What resources does your family have, and just how close are you to home? If it's a short trip is there any chance you could go there, get back-up, come back, and focus your EMP missiles on the heavy, and potentially claim another heavy mech for your family?

the presence of a heavy mech probably rules out bandits, so whoever was trying to ambush you is probly coming after your family specifically, and have committed a good sized chunk of there forces to ambush you. you know exactly where they are. you could probly gather renforcments and amubsh them. possibly using emp weaponry to try and take the heavy intact. or if that's to risky use long range artillery to blow them apart from well beyond there weapon range. (some sort of emp cruse missal would be ideal right now)

If the drones can be easily replaced, program them to wait until you're sufficiently far away that you're in no danger whatsoever and then advance up along your original route until they encounter the attacking force, and transmit as much high-resolution sensor data as they can (broadcast but encrypted, so it can't be traced to your location or sniffed by third parties). Check this plan with your mentor first. The goal is to work out who's laying a trap for you (as well as catch anything your long-range sensors might have missed), as good intel is more valuable than gold. If identifying them is unlikely, reconsider the waste, unless the drones are capable of operating at sufficiently high altitude that they will not be shot down.

The ambushers won't wait forever there. Try to keep the drones on them, far enough to make discovery unlikely, close enough to follow the strike group.

Maybe sacrifice one for a close up to get the colors of the ambushers if tracking isn't feasible.

For yourself, getting the convoy home clear with the info you gathered is likely more worth than giving the ambushers battle.

1/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/27(Thu)12:52 No. 361451 ID: 3e272f
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We stay quiet while traveling another 15 kilometres. More than enough to be on the safe side. After some tough deliberation I decide against sending in the drones and instead command them to return to me using a different route while staying low to the ground. I don't want to alert those guys. Those little mini zeppelins have only spotted some rare civilian traffic heading the way we were going anyway.

>361307
Our family has a few light and medium mechs as a deterrent and border control force. Eleven of them altogether. I believe we had one or two heavy ones before I was born, but they were sold off since there didn't seem to be any point to maintaining them at the time... We also have 6 armed aircraft and our 'infantry' police force with their various vehicles, but they're unlikely to do accomplish anything against anything other than the lightest walker.

In fact I'll try to call father to see if he can send up some support from Zenit city so we can confront those guys back there with backup. Yeah he'll know what to do with strange mechs so close to our territory. Maybe we can confront and capture them! "....... Unable to connect, try again later....." Damn. Can't even reach his secretary? Not even his automatic answering phone? No way. I'll try to reach someone else at the house instead...

2/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/10/27(Thu)12:53 No. 361453 ID: 3e272f
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Three different attempts later I finally manage to get through to Iason, my uncle. He starts shouting as soon as the line connects. "MARIUS?! Where are you? Don't come near the city! We've been attacked, the estates and the defence force hangars have bee- *SSSHHKKRKRKKK* -ed and we're completely overrun. The whole estates are just a firestorm now!" Sounds like he's running. I can hear loud noises in the background and static cracking noises with set intervals.

"WHAT?! I'll be there to help, I'm only about one and a half hours away! Is everyone ok?!" I scream back.

"That's way too late for backup, kid. *KRRRrrrKRRRrrr* -nd no defenders left that I can see. I think all the Wolframs were in the house preparing for your arrival banquet... I was only out walking the dogs. I don't think they made it... The shockwave was immense. I'm so sorry..." Iason goes quiet for a brief moment. I can hear more explosions in the background over the phone. "I think we need to take charge of what's left. This city is already lost. I'll try to escape with anyone else I can find. Will try to contact our lawyers in the capital. I suggest you do the same. It's the Henriette Lagrave Foundation behind this by the look of the attackers. Civilian phones probably aren't safe."

"OK... I will do that..." I feel completely feverish, shocked. I might throw up. The Henriette Lagrave Foundation is a powerful and wealthy interplanetary organisation. Also one of the top three major forces on this planet.

"Don't do anything stupid. Check the news. Don't die. We should be able to speak later. Take care Marius! *click*" He finishes the call abruptly and the cockpit is suddenly very, very silent. I think my father, mother, sister and brother might all be dead along with almost everyone i know...

"Sylvia, check the news for me. I think Zenit's been attacked." Sylvia is the head of the titan maintenance support crew. She's nice.

"That's ridiculous... Oh my god there's a breaking news announcement. It says house Wolfram has been neutralized after they broke a non-aggression treaty and allied with a warring faction!" I almost don't recognize Sylvia's voice. She sounds hysterical. Almost crazy.

"Bullshit!" Rob pipes in.

[What now? ]

>>361453
Find somewhere to hide out. What locations are nearby?

>>361453
we go to ground.
ask Tranverston if he knows any merc commands of friendly millitary units we could "fall in" with, its hard to hide a titan class mech outside of a military unit, and we may garner some suport among those who can do something about it. for that reason I suggest a mercenary unit, its unlikely you will be able to divert the cause of a formal military unit to your personal needs.

also ask Sylvia if she has any ideas.

>>361453
If your house has been framed and one of the big players was responsible, it's a safe bet that they're not going to half-ass it. Those three mechs might well have been an ambush by them, specifically to finish you and the convoy off. When they hear you escaped their trap, they'll be coming for you and yours with intent to kill. Your uncle said to contact a lawyer- but they'll have more lawyers and more contacts all over the planet; there's no way to fight out this battle legally.

Good thing we've got those sensors. Best keep our eyes wide open. Your only real option here is to flee to a different faction, someone who either won't care about your past or would find it useful to have a Wolfram on hand for their own political purposes.

Tell everyone to stay calm, that you'll get through this sticking together. Then discuss options for where to run to.

>>361530
mostly good advice but he should contact his lawyer, powerful people have powerful enemies. so if he goes after them legally he will have help of anyone who would stand to gain from the truth coming out. also the firm his lawyer works for is a big player in its own right so depending on how committed to there contract they are taking legal action on your own might be feasible.

Yes, lets take stock of of the Lagraves' major enemies, as we will likely need to side with one of them.
Were you allied with anyone if particular beforehand?

And is that news widely regarded as neutral, or is it considered by most to be biased towards the Lagraves? Depending on that and the other factions' lawyers we might be able use the framing of our house as anti-Lagrave PR once we join one of the other factions.

>>361528
This. But do also contact your lawyers (over secure line—if you would have to use a civilian phone, it can wait). Never hurts to be working on multiple angles at once.

You shouldn't get distrustful or anything, but what's the basis of your mentor's loyalty, now that the estate (and most likely fortune) paying his salary is gone? What about the support crew? Can you rely on everyone sticking with you? Pay and food/etc shouldn't be a problem if you go to ground with a mercenary company, and if you're decisive enough everyone may follow you out of habit regardless if they have a real reason to.

If you do contact anyone, bounce it off the drone rather than contacting them directly.

Contact the lawyer. Without a life sign from you, your lawyer may have to bow to claims from other people. If nobody knows you live, all kinds of people, most likely the Henriette Lagrave Foundation, can make claims on the Wolfram estate.

So long as you life and he knows that, he can take much more action to protect you and your house. Your father was the head of house Wolfram and you are the only confirmed living member at large. As long as your clan set up inheritance rules properly, the Wolfram estates are yours, and your uncle's.

Set the following tasks for your lawyer:
1) Ensure nobody else takes control of the Wolfram estates on the basis the house is not dead as you are alive and at large.
2) Demand to see the proof for the alleged break of the non-aggression treaty and the alliance with a warring faction. Knowing what you are framed for is important if you intend to prove you are being framed.
3) Make note of everybody who tries to take control of the Wolfram estates and research them.
4) Keep a special eye on the Henriette Lagrave Foundation and provide you with any information he can dig up.
5) Make sure he is protected against attacks if he doesn't think of it himself.

Also warn your lawyer your last contact with Iason was while he tried to get out of Zenit. He may be captured, so look for any strange behavior or orders when/if your uncle makes contact.

For closer to home, first try to calm Sylvia down.
"There is still fighting in Zenit. Iason is still free and he will try to get as many people out as he can. House Wolfram is not neutralized. We will get through this."

Then >>361528

As a side note, the strike group you encountered might have been planned to be the incident where the Wolframs broke the non-aggression treaty beside a strike against yourself.

>>361637

I forgot, question your lawyer on the current state of affairs in regard to your family, it's properties, alliances and feuds. You know outstanding contracts and debts, both held against you and by you, people you have on retainer outside Zenit. And get any messages for the head of house Wolfram your lawyer may hold in trust.

1/1 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/03(Thu)13:47 No. 363447 ID: 5004a5
File 132035327444.png - (301.01KB , 425x550 , Ravager_mech.png )

We continue watching the news for a while. Things look grim. Rob, Sylvia and the rest of the maintenance crew occasionally make frightened remarks regarding their families, friends and various other concerns.
>361637
"There is still fighting in Zenit. Iason is still free and he will try to get as many people out as he can. House Wolfram is not neutralised. We will get through this," I say to catch their attention, my voice cracking a bit "Follow me, we need to lie low so I can call our contacts,"
After a brief scan of our surroundings show a promising hiding spot I lead the others to a valley where a shallow stream of water runs through a mostly dry riverbed. Tall trees form thick cover along the steep banks. Probably as safe as we'll get unless something passes directly overhead.

It takes some time to arrange, but I eventually manage to contact the family legal representative and get them to set up a fully secure line, bouncing the communications through the two drones I still have out there.
"I'm so glad to hear from you Marius! Is your father with you?" the man on the videophone says while leaning up close, seemingly agitated. It's our head lawyer Jean-Jacques. He's often around at our manor house for both business purposes and family events so I know him fairly well. He's wearing a dark blue suit and his hair is completely ruffled like he's been pulling it. He's normally the kind of guy who stays immaculate when doing business.
"No I've only spoken briefly to uncle Iason, but I have no idea if he's still alive... He didn't think anyone else made it," I say and find myself blinking quickly to try to keep my eyes from tearing up.
"Ah... I suspected that might be the case... Shit. I can't believe it. You know I've known your father since we were children right? My dad used to tend the Wolfram affairs as well," Jean-Jaques says while burying his head in his hands. Now he's crying and the sight of it just makes my throat seize up. It's just so unexpected. Tears start streaming down my face again as the gravity of the situation hits me again. We don't manage to do much for the next few minutes. Every time one of us tries to say something we just bring up some old memory and we break down into sobs again.
"So what can I do to help, Marius?" Jean-Jacques eventually says as he pulls himself together, coughing slightly and blowing his nose on a silken handkerchief.
"For a start we need to go over our remaining assets and what we can do regarding the Foundation's accusations..." I reply. Our conversation progresses quite well from there on...

2/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/03(Thu)13:53 No. 363448 ID: 5004a5
File 132035362678.png - (227.03KB , 500x450 , valley-sunset.png )

In the end we talk for nearly an hour not noticing as the day gets late. Turns out emergency measures have already been triggered and all our funds that were kept in bank accounts is safe. Unfortunately most of our actual assets were tied up in Zenit, the city the Wolfram family founded during the colonisation era. We've at least retained most of those shares and investments we had outside of the city territory. I have enough funds to get by, but they will run out if I have to maintain two mechs on my own.
I am also told that father was just in the latter stages of trying to join the Aegis Defense Pact, which might arguably be the reason for the attack. Jean-Jacques was not aware of any non-aggression treaty. The Foundation have naturally provided a copy of the treaty, but the Wolfram legal archives do not hold such a thing. Normally in cases like this the planetary central archives would be consulted, but those archives are held in contempt by all parties by now. Nevertheless Jean-Jacques' team has checked and there is a file in the planetary archives with a matching date and reference number, but the contents have been deleted. Fairly typical story these days...
In general this attack actually seems to be the violent culmination to a number of one-sided offers and outright demands made by the Henriette Lagrave Foundation. They seem to have had their eye on the Wolfram territory and mining rights for some time. In the end I ask Jean-Jacques to keep up his work while monitoring the Foundation and the situation in general. I also warn him that Iason Wolfram is trying to get in touch although he may have been captured or compromised.

>361528
>361608
With that business concluded I need to ask my comrades what they think we should do. The sun is setting and the little valley is getting dark. My instrument panels dim suitably in to compensate.
"Sylvia, Rob. What do you think we should do?"
"Me and my team will stay with you Marius. We are all sworn knights of the Wolfram family and we want to take back the city our friends and family live in," Sylvia replies. Of course. I'd forgotten she and the Titan team were hand picked for their loyalty and merits. Makes sense for what was going to be the Wolfram cornerstone military asset I guess... "I think we should try to join one of the other Big Four. If things escalate they're the most likely to come out on top." she continues. The Big Four is an appellative that started being used in the news some time ago. They are the most important organisations on the planet.
"What about you Rob? You've told me stories of when you used to be a mercenary ace," I prod Rob. He's been with me for years now and believe it or not I feel a lot better with him at my side.
"Well... I've done a bit of thinking and I'll watch your back for another week as per my contract, but after that I'll resign from being your protector. I care a lot for you Marius, but I think that keeping you safe is going to become a whole lot more dangerous," Rob says quietly while looking away from the camera like he's not happy telling me this. "I want to pick my own battles. Guess I could join a mercenary company for a while so I can retire with a nice girl and a lot of money. You could join me if you like?"
No way.

[What should be Marius' current objectives? Should he aim for some kind of alliance with a faction and if so which one? What should he say to Rob?]

See Discussion thread for Marius' list of known factions:
>>/questdis/355136

Hmm, I like House Rosenvinge for moral reasons. Perhaps it would be possible to get in contact with them and see they would be willing to ally/support you to build a prosperous future? Maybe even try to merge both your houses and try to turn it into a major faction.. Their reputation speaks well of them and I believe they would be unlikely to sell you out now or at a later date, even if an accord could not be reached.

On a side note, if we need to make some more money and contacts before trying to regain our city, I would advise joining with Raptor Security for a bit. I am sure an organisation known for well thought through activities could see the value of a command mech with an advanced sensor kit.

>>363448
rob want to be safe, you want to be safe, rob feels safe under a mercenary comand, you feel safe with rob.
Solution:

Offer to help him find a suitable mercenary company,(suitable for both his wants and your political needs), and fall in with him.

but seriously, if theres a powerfull merc group out there thats antagonistic to the Lagrave foundation, THEY WILL WANT YOU WITH THEM.

and any merc company is happy to have a pilot that comes with his own mech.

>>363453
I agree with this, though my reasons for favoring House Rosenvinge has more to do with their uncertain position. Sounds like it'd be ripe with opportunities to become a major player within' the faction.

I like discussing plans with Rosenvinge. They seem to be in trouble too, so maybe you and they can help each other out.

If that doesn't work out, check out Raptor Security with Rob. It would get you combat experience, training, and money to get things together.

>>363448
Of the Big Four, the Verdia Union seems like the only organization which might reasonably back us in our position. Not sure how militant they are, but presumably they've got a sizable combat branch and would be glad to have someone fighting for them with the kind of PR spin that could be derived from someone in our position. Q&H is out because they're unlikely to want to escalate their stake in the conflict in order to back our claim, and the only way we'd have to convince them would be basically handing over the mining rights that our family died for. Aptus Teneo sounds more likely to treat us as a hireling goon than a dispossessed noble.

Of the lesser powers, House Rosenvinge is definitely the most promising; they could definitely use our help, would almost certainly accept the truth of our position and be interested in helping us reclaim our family's position, and are trustworthy enough that we wouldn't need to worry about being used and discarded (or just assassinated for our mech). The Aegis Defense Pact might accept us but it would be iffy and they're not strong or centralized enough to really help us out. None of the others seem reasonable.

I have to oppose signing up for a mercenary group. While it might be profitable, we could end up working for the very people who slaughtered our family, helping them do just the same to others. We need to seek out a faction who would be reasonably in line with our political positions so that we can fight for them with a clear conscience.


So, overall, I'd try to give both the Verdia Union and House Rosenvinge a call and see how they feel about giving us sanctuary and a military position so that we can fight to reclaim our family's rightful holdings from the bastards who slaughtered them for their expansionist greed.

>>363474
I generally agree with this.
An argument that we might use to get the Aegis Defense Pact on our side is to argue that the Lagraves' attempt to prevent House Wolfram from joining them is a sign of the Lagraves working directly against the interests of the Aegis.

>House Rosenvinge
How the fuck is a noble house on hard times going to help us when we, a wealthy noble house, got our ass kicked?
>Verdia Union
>political group
Unless these guys are political in the same way FARC is they're about as good to us as the Hollywood Foundation.
We don't have time to screw around guys.
We need money, honey. If we got crumbs from Q&H or the pseudo-nazis we'd still have mercenaries begging to fight our wars for us, If we could actually get a slice of their pie we could rebuild our city and make it so beautiful that the old city would look like a pile of shit by comparison and we could add so many defenses that never again would we have to worry about invasions.
Hell, even a cult would be useful if we could get it to throw bodies at our enemies, time is of the essence think of all of Our people who will be killed by our enemies think of all the people we employed who will either starve or be forced into horrible living conditions.

>>363542
What would the non-military Q&H want with us?
And history has shown that growing cults as weapons really doesn't turn out well in the long term.
Even with the Aptus, just working for them is not equivalent to getting huge sums of money from them unless we have something that they find extremely valuable.

Rosenvinge would be useful in a more political sense to try and mobilize the Aegis rather than for their immediate resources.

>>363474
Aside from Q&H I agree with you on the major and minor factions. I don't believe Q&H is as reserved in this conflict as they appear. I think they are more a behind the scenes player. Using mercs and giving material and informational support to minor groups to advance their position.

>>363542 On Verdia the political process seems to include a generous dose of actual warfare. If the Verdia Group cannot defend their assets, they won't have any.

For actions I suggest contacting the Verdia Union, Q&H and House Rosenvinge. But be careful to not tie yourself to close to any of the Big Four or you'll be in danger of getting your lands and position back in name only.

The Verdia Union mainly to ask for support. Trustworthy and friendly places for rest and resupply and their assistance in the court of public opinion.
Contact Q&H to essentially leave the message, you are going to hurt the Henriette Lagrave Foundation and you'll appreciate any help.
House Rosenvinge is the best bet for a closer alliance in the future.

But a problem will be Marius is untested. He hasn't made a name for himself, being the old Lord Wolfram's son is all he currently has to his name.

For that reason I think it is necessary to do some mercenary work. But I am against outright joining a company. For one it places us under their authority and our group will loose control over who we fight. For another aside from Rob our people are Marius's vassals, which means there are duties and responsibilities between Marius and Sylvia's team a mercenary company will have problems to accommodate.
I believe the best option is to subcontract to Raptor Security or Metal Militia for a few jobs. It allows Marius to keep control over who he fights, keep his responsibilities to his knights and make a reputation.

>bargaining chips
As it stands, we don't really have any. However, the Grid Sensor is pretty much something unique (unless any of the factions happen to have full-fledged battleships at their disposal): if you can perform long-range (planetwide?) reconnaissance with it, you can bargain with that information. Even knowing force concentrations and movements would be worth quite a bit.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/08(Tue)13:50 No. 364542 ID: 1bdd8a
File 132078905307.png - (271.25KB , 500x450 , Karl_Rosenvinge.png )

"Rob do you reckon we'd be able to join Raptor Security together? They're probably the best balanced mercenary outfit out there aren't they?" I ask.
"If by balanced you mean businesslike then yes. They'd probably take us on and they might just love the idea of fielding a mech that can evaluate the value of each battle beforehand. Make sure they have a clause in your contract that says they won't sell you out though," Rob answers with a humorous tone in his voice.

I've still got my secure link up and running so I contact Raptor Security's recruitment office. I get referred twice once they find out who I am.
"Greetings mister Wolfram you're through to Michael Nguyen of the Raptor Security Verdia head office. How may I be of... assistance?" the man on the screen answers eagerly. His short hair is drawn back away from his long face and somewhat slanted eyes as he smiles as a matter of course, appearing somewhat mischievous somehow.
"I'm interested in the possibility of joining Raptor Security together with an associate. I can supply our own mechs," I simply tell him. I don't want to get too specific when it comes to our capabilities yet.
"So soon? We've heard the news of course and you have my sincere condolences," he says, but somehow I get the feeling that he's not particularly sorry. Thats stings a bit, even though I understand that he probably has no emotional ties to my family. "There will need to be a formal evaluation and interview although I have little doubt that you will pass. I would certainly welcome you on board," he finishes while making some tentative gestures with his hands.
We briefly conclude our talk. He gives me the location of two bases where I can stop by for an evaluation and also offers to send out a mech squad to escort us there, but at a very hefty price... It would cost at least 30% of the money available in my bank accounts.

While I'm in the swing of things I also call the Rosenvinge family. I've met a fair few Rosenvinges over the years and my father once even referred to them as the trustworthy cornerstone of Verdias nobility. After giving my name to a cute secretary and asking to speak to Lord Rosenvinge himself I am still somewhat shocked when Lord Karl Rosenvinge's face appears on my screen!
"Oh- Ah! Lord Rosenvinge it's an honor to speak to you! My father is always... emm was always..." My throat suddenly seizes up at the thought of father not having any good advice ever again.
"Marius is it? I heard about your problems and I think I know where this is going, but please proceed..." He says looking at me through his frowning brow, wise eyes peeking out from within the tormented shadows.
"I want to propose an alliance. The Henriette Lagrave Foundation have attacked and well.. slaughtered my family under false pretenses of us having broken a promise that never existed. I may not have much left, but together I'm sure we can-" is all I get to say before he interrupts me.
"Look son I fully empathise with your situation, but I just can't afford to support you at the moment. Rosenvinge doesn't need to invite more trouble by harboring an enemy of the Foundation. If you can lie low for a few months until the heat dies down until your situation is stable then we can talk. I feel that openly taking your side right after this conflict is too dangerous for us." Karl says with a stern if somewhat apologetic expression on his face, shooting down my bright hopes with just a few sentences. So I'm the proverbial hot potato now?
"Ah that's all right, i do understand," No I don't. "We'll have to speak later then," I say my farewells while trying to hide how his revelation makes me feel. I don't think I do a very good job of it.

Gravely disappointed at the response from Rosenvinge I also send simple messages asking for assistance to the Q&H public relations office as well as to the Verdia Union before I winch myself down from the cockpit in the dark of night. It feels odd to walk on my own legs on the soft riverbed and I suddenly feel insignificant. The titan looms over me like a monumental god, blocking out a vast portion of the dim night sky.

We have a simple meal of lamb stew with couscous, fresh bread and an ice cream desert, not quite what we'd have at home, but filling. The whole event is rather downcast. Just as we finish and the crew starts to clean up my suit sounds an audible alert. Four or more large moving ground objects has been detected by the titan sensors!

[How should Marius and his crew react? The detected objects are still roughly 15-20 minutes away at standard speeds.]

Man the mechs, examine approaching forces with grid.

>>364542
Get the support out of the area, preferably not in a direction viable for ambush.

get the mechs ready for combat and give us a map uf the area for pending strategic suggestion.

And in the future may I suggest you rasion your suplies perhaps better than that extravagant deal, unless you are still so well of that it is no problem. (or if you have something like nano-fabbers, in which case disregard that statement, feedstock is cheap.)

>>364542
Get the support out of the area, preferably not in a direction viable for ambush.

get the mechs ready for combat and give us a map uf the area for pending strategic suggestion.

And in the future may I suggest you rasion your suplies perhaps better than that extravagant deal, unless you are still so well of that it is no problem. (or if you have something like nano-fabbers, in which case disregard that statement, feedstock is cheap.)

>>364553
sorry.

>>364542
>[How should Marius and his crew react? The detected objects are still roughly 15-20 minutes away at standard speeds.]
It's only rational to assume that they're coming to kill you- it's a decent bet that there's a quiet bounty on your head from the Henriette Lagrave Foundation, since they've likely heard of your survival by now and are interested in finishing off their problems. You could have been located by satellite or other difficult to avoid detection systems from well beyond your available resources.

Given that, go to full combat footing. Everyone assume that this is an attack, prepare for battle; get on that grid sensor and get a better look at these likely enemies while relocating to the nearest potential ambush position in case you can't get away in time- hopefully you scanned the surrounding terrain and picked out points of potential strategic advantage earlier? If not, make a habit of that. Never get out of the mech without having at least two spots to go if a fight breaks out picked out.

Anyway, the important part is to get a good look at them. If they're not enemies, you lose nothing, but if they are it's important to know what they have so that you can manipulate the situation to the greatest possible advantage- you're greatly outnumbered here, so it's essential to leverage your advantages, primarily massively superior detection abilities.

First get your people to mount up, keep silent and prepare to leave.

Second get inside your Titan and use your sensor suit. Get heading, speed, formation and type of the ground objects, but don't spend more than, say, 2 minutes for detail work. Send drones to get the colors of the ground objects.
I don't think you have time to get to a better battleground than the valley, but check anyway if there is something in reach.
Does the mostly dry riverbed go anywhere? Could your convoy use it to get away with cover and speed? - Remember to check for convenient dams you or the opposition may damage.

If the riverbed doesn't provide cover to get away, can you get on the other side in relation to the ground objects and a some way up the banks before they arrive?. That would give you the cover of the trees, while they have to cross the clear riverbed under your guns.

If they move directly toward you, I am inclined to think Ace Raptor sold you out. They referred you multiple times, which makes a long talk, and the contact was acting strange. They may have managed to trace your call back.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/11(Fri)10:03 No. 365060 ID: c3ec0a
File 132103460237.png - (543.67KB , 800x550 , dronedata.png )

I start striding towards the titan while ordering my subordinates about. The built in winch quickly pulls me up towards the cockpit entry hatch.
"Sylvia make sure all the cars are ready to move away from here as quickly as possible! Let's get ready for combat Rob!" I shout just before the mech seals up behind me and sublime input starts flowing across all of my senses.

>>364546
>>364612
>>364552
Looking over my screens the titan has managed to compile an excellent geographical map of the surrounding area. I can't tell much about moving objects from the grid though other than the fact that 5 large, roughly humanoid things composed mostly of iron with hints of reactor matter are crossing the terrain. They are coming from the direction of Zenit heading roughly in our direction. They're moving in a loose spearhead formation with one of them, maybe a scout, is leading the other 4 by quite a margin.

"Get the trucks moving up along the river. The banks will level out into a forest. Should be good to hide in," I command Sylvia and the support crew after surveying the map.
"Roger that!" she replies.

>>364699
I quickly scale the slope with Rob so the river and trees are between us and the newcomers. Then I launch one of the titans rotodrones. They're fast, but expensive. I only have two. While the drone rapidly accelerates away we have some time to talk.
"Do you think we should take a stand on the large hill behind us? I could probably snipe them from that height?" I ask Rob.
"That's not a bad idea. One or both of us could also go into low-power mode somewhere in cover to surprise them or just hide altogether," he responds, the ravager pacing around anxiously.
"There's also some less dense forest at the side of the hill. That should slow them down right?" I say.
"Unless you get trapped in it yourself." Rob says back, although he doesn't sound too disapproving.
We're both patched into the information stream coming back from the drone and as it comes over a hill the first mech comes into its line of sight and it's tagged as... friendly???
"That's Leanne's mech the 'Mike Hunt'! It's one of ours!" shouts Rob. The mech is heavily scarred and damaged with burn marks all over and its warm guns turn to track the drone as it flies past.
"One of the new pilots father hired?" I say to Rob. I think I've seen Leanne around, but I don't think I've ever spoken to her. Last I heard she was still in training.
Any further discussion is cut off as the small rotor driven craft spots the other mechs... Then it is promptly annihilated by a white-hot flash of energy.
"They were Henriette Lagrave units," I say to Rob. Even when using light amplification the dark purple colour scheme is quite blatant.
"Yes," Rob replies in a serious tone. "Looked like three medium units chasing her with one lighter mech taking the flank." I'm not sure how he could tell so quickly. Those guys shot the drone down as soon as it came into line of sight. It also occurs to me that they're most certainly aware that there's something out there launching drones...

[What is the plan? Should Marius try to communicate with anyone or stay silent?]

contact the mech they are chasing. as for dealing with the pursing mechs , what we could do is have you stay in plain sight on the hill, but have rob go into low powered mode, then have him flank them once they are about halfway into the forest.

>>365063
Not a bad idea, I think. The long range weapons of Marius' mech should be able to keep them pretty distracted and hopefully destroy a mech or two before they are in weapons range. By then, Rob should be in a position to go for their rear or flank. If he gets a nice flanking or rear first shot, taking out a leg from a moving mech would pretty much finish it.

On a side note, the rearmost mech looks like it is packing missile racks. It will probably be in range at the same time as Marius, or before.

>>365093
we have superior anti-missile defences. we take the hill and wathch them firgure out how hard it is do dodge steel-tungsten slugs moving at mach 25.

is it possible to turn our point defence systems to an agressive mode at close range? we need all the advantage we can get, for all that miniguns and a miropulse laser will help.

>>365063
This

>>365063 Good basis. Maybe add the following refinement if the time is sufficient and Rob thinks it's doable.

Since the drone got shot down, they know someone is out here with them. It could help if they find someone hiding, but not doing too good a job of it with a typical rookie mistake.

Do you have anything you'll not miss that can convince the HLF mech sensors there is a mech where there isn't? It needn't last long, just a minute or two? Perhaps heating some rocks or some such with the ravager's laser to lock like a low power, but hot piece?

Then place the decoy so you get a flank or rear target for the opening salvo from the hill and you both go on low power. If Rob stays not too far from the decoy, he will get a flank or rear shot, too, when they turn to you and add some confusion when they get fire from near the decoy's position.

Also when contacting the fleeing mech be careful how much you say. The pilot is new and you don't know her well. This might be a trap to flush you out with a fake ally in trouble. Since Rob seems to know Leanna, check with him if that is indeed Leanna you are talking with.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/15(Tue)11:00 No. 365784 ID: 6f96b2
File 132138361865.png - (216.61KB , 500x450 , Targetting.png )

>>Take the hill with Rob in a flanking position
I swiftly decide that the best move is clearly to take a position on the hill where I can use my long-range advantage to its utmost.
"I'm taking that high ground to start shooting as early as possible. Rob do you think you could find a good flanking position so you can hit them when they go near the forest?" I suggest as I turn the titan, starting to literally run for the hills.
"Roger that!" Rob says back.
"Could you also contact Leanne to make sure it's really her? You're the one who knows her," I say. Best make sure it's not a captured mech or a trap of some sort.
"Will do. Give me a minute..." he says and his voice fades out to a murmur.

>>365106
I turn back around and start loping at full speed towards the hill, rapid footsteps shaking the earth below me. Less than a minute later I've scaled it and I use the curved top as cover. The titan is then settled with my legs mostly covered and my cannons charged and ready. The pulse lasers and active defense turret can also be toggled between defensive and offensive modes at the blink of an eye. The small caliber turret is unlikely to damage mechs though...

>>365215
An idea strikes me. Perhaps some heat and a drone could make for a decoy of sorts, enough to at least have them turn around so we can get of a flanking shot? Better run this by Rob.
"Rob what if we laser up a rock or something to heat it up? Think we could make a decoy?" I ask him.
"Hey yeah that could work, especially if you put one of your zeppelin drones next to it... Hey put one here on this rock next to me, It should only be visible once they cross the river. I'll move a bit further upriver at the 'S' bend where they probably won't spot me unless they get lucky." Rob says, the ravager already turning around and running towards the terrain he mentioned.
"Why don't you do it with YOUR laser?" I ask back. Seriously.
"The added weapon heat signature might give me away. Just do it. They're still out of sight," Rob says back, while running at full speed through the dark, the Ravager effectively leaping down the slope as he speeds off.
"Arrgh!" I growl at Rob as I aim the pulse lasers at the rock a few hundred metres away. I hold down the trigger and a oscillating, thrumming sound travels intermittently through the titans body as two flickering lines of energy strike out from my shoulders to hit the truck-sized stone boulder one... two... three times. Then suddenly the side of the boulder cracks and splits with a sound like thunder with the moss and weeds growing on the rock catching on fire for a moment before they burn out, sending out a cloud of black smoke.
"Fuck." I say out loud. Forget that while the pulse lasers are lightweights in the scale of mech combat they're still powerful enough to tear buildings and small vehicles apart... I then inflate a dirigble drone and tell it to land next to the superheated remains of the boulder in standby mode.
"What was that?" Rob asks me.
"Nothing major, the rock kind of exploded a little," I tell him.
"Oh yeah that happens more often than you'd think," he says. I never thought of rocks as likely to explode before. What a treacherous world we live in! "Also that's definitely Leanne... No one else would ever plead for a rescue like that. She's heading this way now," Rob explains. That settles that then. I finally lay eyes on Leanne's mech a moment after Rob speaks. Her medium mech is actually limping a little.

While I'm still thinking of what to say I see the first two HLF (Henriette Lagrave Foundation) mechs come into my line of sight over a small hill further away. They're much faster than I thought they would be! A chill travels down my spine as I realize that this is it. I'm in combat. A lance of hot death could annihilate me at any time. The titan sensors switch into full combat mode and data flows in at the speed of thought. I adjust the targeting reticule just so and my finger pulls the trigger...

A sound like the world spitting rings out as both of my gauss cannons fire, the entire titan jerking back before smoothly swaying back from the recoil. I see sparks fly from the body of the hit enemy mech as it staggers from the impact. However when i review the projected lines of fire only one round hit?! DAMNATION! The guns are still set to infinite range, the projectiles flew in parallel and didn't cross over to focus on the smaller bodied mech! I'm lucky even one of them hit!

[Suggest combat actions. The gauss cannons take 12-15 seconds for a full recharge]

back up, you sensors let you see them even if the hill is between you so putting the hill between you and them while your guns recharge would be a good idea. if possibly try and make it look like your panicking. if we can sell that we are an over equipped rookie they will probably get overconfident.

>>365784
if you think you can make that judgement, fire a small salvo of the short range missiles right before they get in range. this will make them scramble and put some load on their targetting computer while you can keep pummeling them with the gause cannon. at some point we will have to decide wether to crest the hill and fight with a hight advantage, or back up to give yourself more time and a chance to fight one on one (for a few moments)

>>365784
Those gauss cannons are your best weapon for killshots here- you must get them working properly. Pull back behind the hill in case the enemy have long-range weapons capable of returning fire, and try to calibrate them correctly while keeping track of the enemies' locations. Quickly check the rest of your weapons for similar horrible problems while you're at it. Make sure that Rob stays apprised of enemy movements, since his sensors are nowhere near as good as yours and he's got the combat experience of judge what he needs to do from the data. If you can multitask really well, also try to identify what weaponry the enemy mechs have so that you know what range they'll be deadliest at and generally what the threats before you are.

By the time you have the gauss cannons something resembling working, it's likely the the enemy will have reacted significantly to your presence- either charging the hill, tried to get into cover, trying to flank you, or some combination thereof. If possible, get to a position where only the one you're planning to shoot has line of sight to you- it's important to being exposed to any fire you don't have to be, both for safety reasons and because mech repairs are expensive and you aren't exactly flush with cash.

>>365889

Don't even bother trying to get the convergence on those guns working correctly. You don't have time to fuck with an unfamiliar system like that.

Instead, unlink the guns and fire them one at a time. Aim each individually, that way you can be sure the shot will go where you tell it to.

>>366011
whatevers faster, man.

Take a few deep breaths and keep your head. This isn't all that different from training. Then work on the guns as the others suggested. While you are at it, check if your communication gear for the right settings, too.

Use your warbook to get most likely models and armaments and check for known weak points or issues of the identified models. Don't forget to share the information with Rob and ask if he has anything to add not in the warbook.

Primary targets should be vulnerable points, but give some covering fire for Leanna, too.

Make sure Leanna's advance won't interfere with your shooting. It would be good if she can choose a path that isn't a direct line towards you. If I've got the geography right, a path going past the decoy should keep her out of your line of fire and get her close pursuers in position for Rob.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/18(Fri)09:46 No. 366423 ID: c3ec0a
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Draw the battleplan

o 2011/11/18(Fri)22:52 No. 366473 ID: 0ef5d9
File 132168553675.png - (345.88KB , 770x550 , map+1.png )

If she is still alive, she must be outside of their weapons' effective range. That means you should be able to expect them needing to get considerably closer to you in order to fire. Without some sense of scale I don't know how long that will be, but lets just look at this as two completely arbitrary time units.

Leanne can be counted on to keep running, but there is no way to be certain how they will respond to taking fire. For now, they will probably continue moving forward on sheer momentum though. Leanne can curve away south though, so they cannot continue chasing her without exposing their weaker rear armor to our fire. Rob was supposed to be outflanking, so what he is still doing next to us I am not sure. Get on with that sneaky outflank thing Rob. And where was that hot rock at?

Suggestion 2011/11/19(Sat)22:31 No. 366632 ID: 252e1b
File 132177069668.png - (320.13KB , 770x550 , battlemat1.png )

>>366473

We can set up a simple flank, with us doing the flanking and Rob running interference from the brush. We'll get one shot at bushwacking these assholes, let's make it good.

I kind of feel like we should not get too close to Leanne's mech in the middle of the fight, because I am still slightly suspicious of this situation.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/21(Mon)14:42 No. 367071 ID: d1de73
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>>366473 - Leannes move
>>366632 - Marius and Robs moves
>>366744
Leanne has been managing to evade these guys for some time, she can probably keep it up. Might also be good to keep her away as well in case she's up to something...
"Leanne, if that is you then move straight over the river into the forest. If they follow then hit them from the side Rob, I'll move north to try to split them up." I radio over, trying to get a strategy together.
"Sounds sugary sweet to me! Oh no they've got missile lock! OHNOFU-" Leanne says back, abruptly cutting off the line. Her voice is surprisingly girlish and melodic with a burst of panic at the end. No missiles seem to be pursuing her as she weaves aside and slides down the river bank. Rob is silent, but I sense his mech turning around slowly, ready to strike.
>>365831
>>365791
Then a volley of laser fire cuts through the night as the mech I wounded retaliates. The first shots miss, but a small laser bites into my armor and a larger laser blast tears into the Titan's shoulder with a cracking noise and accompanying cloud of evaporated metal! More shots impact the hillside as well. How many lasers do they HAVE? The damage isn't serious however. I start walking towards the river while trying to put hillside between my body and their line of sight. At that point a target lock rings out as my sensors get a full lock. I fumble for a second from the surprise, but pull the right trigger and a multitude of missiles abruptly roar as they propel themselves out of the launch tubes above my cockpit. The exhaust fire lights up the terrain beautifully as they rapidly arc up and curve down to impact my foe resulting in a shower of blasts full of crackling electrical sparks. The laser attack stops, but instead a series of explosions suddenly light up the hill where I was standing just a few seconds ago, sending soil and rock flying for hundreds of metres. Holy shit, that's not autocannon fire!
>>366011
>>366085
>>365889
I duck down and give my equipment a rapid check. I'm quite used to communications gear so my links with Rob and Leanne are separate and secure. The pulse lasers worked perfectly against the rock. EMP missiles just lock on and do their job, but it's too risky to adjust the gauss cannons. Dual firing is faster, but firing each cannon individually might do good for their accuracy and for reducing reactor symptoms. But, do I need to be faster? I simply switch them to individual fire as they're still building charge.

>>366419
There's also little time for deep analysis now, but the titan databanks have identified the enemy mechs. I skim the information as fast as I can, trying to figure out what I'm up against:
*T1 is a large medium type called a Sunshine. It has the wide angle radiance lasers that shot down the drone earlier, low damage, but good for air defense, heating up mechs and taking out light targets. Other than that they usually pack a varied set of laser weaponry. Notable weak point is the cooling rig on the back.
*T2 is a a Buraq. A modern model with big arm mounted grenade launchers and electrolaser shoulder guns. It also packs a body-integrated missile launcher. Agile and well-rounded. Seems to have a reflective armor coating making it stronger against lasers and some energy weapons.
*T3 is a Provocateur medium mech. Classic durable design with twin missile launchers, powerful autocannon arms and a multiple mini laser anti-missile system in the head. No particular weaknesses, but somewhat slow.
*T4 is a Termite light mech. It's armed with a medium sustained-fire rotary cannon and a small laser. Legs are relatively weak, but hard to hit with precision weapons.

T1(Termite) is moving incredibly quickly now, heading south behind cover, possibly to cut of Leanne. T2(Buraq) is moving up with the damaged and shocked T1(Sunshine) towards me and both will have cover in the riverbed soon, but Rob lies in wait there not far from the decoy. T3(Provocateur) seems to be heading east, perhaps trying to flank me?

Then green lights and distinct clicks announce that my gauss cannons are fully charged.

"I think you've angered them. Guess this girl gets an early grave now," Leanne mutters over the comm.

[How should Marius fight? Are there any particular aspects he should focus on?]

Drop an EMP missile on the Termite. You just need to slow it down while you deal with the others.

Fire gauss rounds at the Buraq and Sunshine, two on the Buraq, one on the Sunshine.

Re-acquire the Termite and fire your remaining gauss round at it. If it hits, Leanne is to move toward the riverbed and assist Rob. If it misses, she's to divert and come straight to you.

Use your lasers against the Provocateur.

>>367071
Pump both your gauss shots into the Buraq and your lasers into the Sunshine before they get into the riverbed. Hopefully with both of them significantly damaged Rob will be able to handle them fairly effectively, freeing us up to focus on the Provocateur and Termite.

Hit the Termite with missiles if you can get a lock on it. Since those are indirect-fire and you've got incredibly superior sensors, you should be able to blast it with them even if it tries to hide behind cover- the missiles will just go up and over, right? Hopefully since it's a light mech that will be enough to significantly weaken or disable it; even if you can't, Leanne might be able to handle one significantly damaged light mech even in her condition.

With those shots fired off, with any luck the only significant threat on the field not mostly handled will be the Provocateur. Keep track of its location (obviously) and don't give it a clear shot at you with its autocannons; hopefully your defensive turret will be able to take out any incoming missile fire so you shouldn't suffer too much more incoming fire.


In case it wasn't clear, the overall objective here is to try to ensure that the enemies facing Rob and Leanne are weakened enough to ensure that they're not in serious danger, preferably while avoiding taking damage ourselves. We can't afford to lose anyone- or any mechs.

>>367082

Dont fucking waste any gause rounds on that termite, this is what the missiles are for. that mech is lightly shielded, so the EMP will tear right through that bastards systems. we might even see the fucker go into meltdown , but there are failsafes against that. (I fucking hate light mechs, except when im in one.)

drop all your gause shots (2? 4?) on the Buraq. it is the most dangerous mech they have, and rob will me relatively innefective.
if we kill the buraq at this range, before the REAL fighting starts, rob can sweep in from behing and have the sunshine out faster than you can say "retarded wolfhound".

fuck the provacatuer, its a basic fighting rig. it goes last.

Rob's mech only carries a heavy laser supported by light weapons, which is less effective against the reflective coating of the Buraq. The grenades and missile launcher also mean the Buraq can attack you without line of sight if someone gives him targeting data.

I don't think the Provocateur is trying to flank. The mech seems to be the slowest of the bunch and has a weapons mix that works well at long range. More likely he tries to keep the range open(with the decoy and your mech) and keep you in line of sight, both for his own weapons and for targeting data for the Buraq.

The Sunshine seems about equivalent to Rob's Ravager, but it is already damaged and the ambush should give Rob a good chance at the back-mounted cooling rig. I think a good time for him to attack would be when the Sunshine-Buraq pair has shifted their attention back to you a little after they have discovered the decoy to be a decoy.

The Termite is mostly dangerous because it can give the missiles and grenades of the enemy targeting data for indirect fire. Its main defense appears to be the speed. Just what weapons does Leanna's 'Mike Hunt' carry? Can she go after the Termite's legs if she doesn't have to worry about the rest of the targets?

>[How should Marius fight? Are there any particular aspects he should focus on?]

I think the Buraq should be his focus for now. Try to damage the reflective armor coating with the gauss cannons and try to disable the arm weapons with your EMP missiles. That should soften the pair well enough that Rob isn't in danger of being overwhelmed. When the Buraq and the Sunshine have cover, switch to the Provocateur.

Your pulse lasers should be agile enough to track and able to throw enough fire after the Termite to give him cause for worry whenever he leaves cover.

>>367548 Again. Sorry, last sentence got lost.

Don't spend any gauss shoots on the Termite.

Animated! Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/11/26(Sat)02:24 No. 368215 ID: fa8fc9
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"I'm going to focus on the Buraq, it's the most dangerous at the moment. Leanne what weapons do you have? Can you fend off the Termite?" I ask. Need to find out what my new ally can do.
"Um, I've only got a single good laser left... Everything else is spent or broken. Help me?" She replies in a timid voice. Rob is still silent. I guess he has shut down all emissions to stay stealthy.
>>367099
My sensors give me an excellent idea of the Termite's position and heading. I could fire an EMP barrage and hope the missiles are smart enough to do the rest.
"Go for it now, I'll give you supporting fire!" I shout while uploading sensor information for the missiles to work with and turning the heavy body of the titan. This is a longshot. Streak missiles are intended for direct fire with confirmed lock-on data. Smoke and fire fills the air as a full load of 8 smart bombs spread out and fly over the hilltop to bombard the Termite mech.
>>367548
I don't waste any time to see if they hit. That Provocateur mech is definitely heading for the high ground! Need to hurry or I'll have missiles raining down on me instead. Piloting the titan around I emerge from my hillside cover, the Buraq in my focus as soon as it is in my line of sight.

Then I find out that they were expecting me. The Buraq gets in the first shot and its electrolasers strike me dead on! One right in the chest and one in the arm, cutting up armor and simultaneously sending powerful bolts of electricity through the ionized air channels made by the lasers. My intruments flicker dangerously from the shock and my stride staggers. While I'm still getting my bearings the Buraq pilot follows up with a grenade barrage. My defense turret reacts to the incoming projectiles and there's a sound like tearing fabric as an intercepting stream of bullets blow up two grenades before they reach me. Then my world shakes violently as I'm hit.
"Not so high and mighty now are you, newbie?!" Screeches a voice over the radio. It's the Buraq pilot, taunting me. Arrogant bastard!

But I am still mighty. I'm lightly to moderately damaged at worst and the sensors are only temporarily shaken with backups already coming online to compensate. Heavy mechs are not nearly that easy to take down! "My turn, foundation dog," I reply back as the titan steps through the cloud of smoke, savoring the resulting recoil and fireworks as I fire the Thunderhammer gauss cannons in rapid succession. The ultravelocity rounds strike the Buraq squarely in the right side of its torso, blowing off its entire right arm and a large chunk of mass, sending sparks flying for hundreds of metres. The wounded Buraq staggers sideways as it regains its balance and takes evasive action, but it's too late. If only I had taken my shots a bit later I might even have hit it just as it was going down the riverside slope, making it slide or fall over... Missed opportunity.

Meanwhile the Sunshine is running downriver towards Robs position. Its torso is still rotated in my directon and it sends a few laser shots my way, but only one hits, causing a warning light to come on for my front left armor plate. It's not firing as quickly or accurately anymore either. Perhaps the EMP missiles scrambled its weapon systems? With a twist of my hand my pulse lasers swivel on their mounts and return the favour, scoring the Sunshine with quick successive blasts of focused radiation.

In the distance I also pick up sounds and flashes of light suggesting that the Mike Hunt is engaging the Termite.

[What is Marius' next step? The enemies are at the river close to the decoy. The Provocateur will probably get a missile lock at any time.]

>>368215

Pelt the Sunshine with more dakka (lasers), then get moving toward Leanne. While enroute use the gauss on the Provocateur.

>>368505
if possible, stay behind the ridge as long as you can, put 2, mabe 4 more streaks on that sunshine just to watch him squirm. your goal right now is to MAKE THE SUNSHINE FOCUS ON YOU, so you might stay in its sight more than strictly necessary, even if that means also giving the Provocateur more visible as well. the easier rob can hit the sunshine's back, the faster this becomes a success.

because I cant figure out how to use spoilers, I aint gonna tell you Im worried about Rob backstabbing us.

Naw man, Robs cool, he wouldnt do that shit.

>>368215
>[What is Marius' next step? The enemies are at the river close to the decoy. The Provocateur will probably get a missile lock at any time.]
Start moving towards the river- and the Termite beyond it. Hopefully our missiles did enough that Leanne will be able to fight it effectively, but if not she might need a bailout on short notice and we're way out of position. Closing the distance here also has the advantage of lengthening the distance from the Provocateur's missiles and causing the Buraq and Sunshine to focus on us, increasing the odds of Rob managing a devastating strike when he makes his ambush go off.

Be ready for the Provocateur to emerge and fire at us; if we can, pump our lasers into it as soon as it comes out, and be ready with point defenses to blast those missiles down.

Keep in communication with our team; neither Leanne nor Rob have an easy job and if they get in trouble we are their only backup. Be ready to use our gauss cannons and missiles to hit any of the enemy mechs that seem to be about to win over our allies; if Rob and Leanne are both handling themselves well, then we can blast the Provocateur with them.

>>368532
I agree with making the Sunshine focus on you, but don't give him a good target.
I don't trust the situation with the Sunshine. While Marius hit the him and only took light fire from the mech, why is he still advancing?

I think as soon as the Sunshine gets close enough for a good targeting solution, Marius will face an alpha strike from him. Either because
a) the Sunshine carries short range main weapons,
b) his targeting is damaged or
c) because he faces overheat shutdown from firing his main weapons and after an alpha strike Marius will have to much worries about the Provocateur exploiting the damage to worry about a mech that's effectively out for a count.

I don't think Rob will backstab us. He had a good chance during ambush on the way out of the factory by just not cautioning Marius against a counter ambush. Also Rob is a freelance hired gun. Anyone having proof he doesn't keep his contracts can destroy his livelihood.

For actions, keep the Sunshine between you and Rob. Give the Provocateur something to worry about with half your gauss cannons. The other half goes to the Buraq. And the Sunshine gets the pulse lasers and the EMP missiles.

It might be a good time to let the drone of the decoy increase the noise level as if the decoy is starting to leave low power mode. I'd prefer if Marius only does this however if one the others here agrees.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/12/04(Sun)10:05 No. 369725 ID: f48141
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>>368505
>>368846
I need to head over and make sure Leanne is doing OK. She's gone strangely quiet, but I can tell she's in close combat with the Termite. They're circling each other and I'm picking up weapons fire. Turning the titan around I start accelerating up the hillside. Shouldn't take long before I'm in range...
"Rob you need to hit the Buraq and Sunshine. I'm moving to help Leanne and counter the Provocateur!" I say over the encrypted line. For a brief second a chill runs down my spine as Rob still doesn't respond. Is he selling me out somehow? The enemy mech should just about be detecting him, but he's not doing anything...
"YES PLEASE! This little rotter is so annoying! *Krrshsh* FUCK! I want to tear him APART!" Leanne shouts over the comms, breaking up briefly. She makes for a very strange damsel in distress. Not very ladylike at all...
>>368532
Then I see several beams of energy suddenly strike the Sunshine in the side, sending up a cloud of black smoke and leaving coruscating discharges of electricity running over its hull. Hah! Looks like Rob's with us after all. That was definitely his full set of weapons discharged all at once, PPC included! As the Sunshine jerks to a stop, turning its torso to face Rob I grin to myself and launch another volley of EMP missiles at it while keeping up the pulse laser fire, raking it across the back.

The warheads have an easy time hitting the stunned mech. Explosions light up the night and seem to be the final straw as the Sunshine falls over face first in the muddy riverbed with no signs of getting up.
"One enemy down! Excellent follow up there, Marius. Leave the Buraq to me, just trigger that decoy!" Rob pipes in. The Ravager is already moving at full sprint towards the shaken Buraq, sending large clumps of dirt flying behind it as its feet grasp tons of soil and push it onwards. I activate the decoy as he asked.

As I reach the crown of the hill I am greeted by the strangest sight possible. Leanne must have tackled or otherwise tripped the Termite somehow because it's lying on the ground. The burnt and damaged Mike Hunt looming above, KICKING the prone Termite while occasionally blasting the squirming light mech with its remaining laser. Whoa. Seems like Leanne can get vicious up close. I think I can faitly hear her laughing maniacally over the comms.

I'm torn away from the brutal beating by the shrill, desperate sound of the lock-on warning. I even FEEL the radar waves washing over me as the Provocateur seems to have finally got a good line of sight. A hill some kilometres away is lit up dramatically as missile after missile is launched my way. Again the stark seriousness of the situation returns. My chest tingles as pilot suit transmits subtle sensations to represent the approximate damage the titan has already taken to the front armor.
>>368602
Still I get a chance while the missiles are midflight and my guns are ready and pointed in the correct direction. My blocky foe is also standing still, providing a n excellent skyline silhouette. Guess he's not used to fighting mechs that can reach out at extreme ranges with accurate direct fire! I instinctively lean forwards in my seat trying to see better, despite the excellent magnification as I fire. One. Two. The shots ring out impressively, both hitting the Provocateur. I don't see what happens to it after that as my defenses react, the autoturret filling the air with lead and my pulse lasers firing on overdrive, shooting down the first five. Then the other fifteen hit.

[What steps should Marius take?]

Retreat back down the hill until you can assess the damage to you and the enemy mech. If it is just waiting up there for you to come over the hill again you should wait there for Rob to help you flank it, as waiting to ambush you will effectively keep it inactive. If it takes some action against your allies you should take the opportunity to attack it while it is busy.

you probably got the better of that exchange, but his weapons probably fire faster, fire off a volley of emp missiles if you have a shot, and then duck behind the hill.

>>369725
Damage assessment. Hopefully those missiles didn't knock out anything too critical; we've still got a lot of fighting left, even if it seems that our team is firmly taking the upper hand here.

Ask Leanne if she still needs backup; it looks to me like she's pretty much got this handled and your assistance may not be required. Not to mention that in melee range there's a nontrivial risk of friendly fire if you try to assist. If she still wants help, hit the Termite with some with pulse lasers, since those should be accurate enough.

If she's fine, then the only one we need to focus on is the Provocateur. Get a lock on its position- and a missile lock with our streaks, if we can- and move towards it somewhat as our cannons charge up for another shot, but keep out of effective autocannon range if possible. Our best weapons are long-range so there's little reason to expose ourselves to shorter-ranged threats unless we have to.

Assuming that Rob handles the Buraq, we've got by far the better combat position at this point- and we might be able to exploit that by demanding surrender. "You're outgunned. Surrender and power down your mechs, or none of you will leave here alive."

When our cannons are ready, hit the Buraq if Rob is having any trouble or the Provocateur otherwise. Note that if they start to retreat, don't let them get away- we can't afford to let them escape and give their bosses information on our existence, status, and equipment. That means if they run, shoot them in the back.

Launch missiles where it was, and head down the hill just enough to be out of it's line of sight, then reach out with your sensors to see what damage it's taken. If it's still reacting to being attacked, pop back out and lay down some more missiles. Otherwise, still pop out but keep it's attention for Rob, trying to intercept missiles with your own. They're EMP, so if his missiles are in too tight a cluster, yours may very well take out the entire load it fires.

Find some cover and assess damage while your gauss cannons recharge, both your own and what you did to the Provocateur.

Don't waste EMP missiles on the Provocateur. You don't have the weight of fire to overcome multiple anti-missile laser system.

Also prepare your decoy drone to go silent and withdraw at a moments notice. You don't want to loose it when someone opens fire on the decoy.

he just took a massive hit, his anti missile system might not be working, and if it is an emp missiles detonating nearby might still be able to mess with his electronics if his armor is breached to the same extent as the last mech we hit with our rail guns.

1/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/12/09(Fri)10:13 No. 370901 ID: de01b0
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>>369730
>>369745
>>369805
>>370218
>>370390
I reluctantly open my eyes, feeling a drop of sweat run down my face. That was the single most frightening thing so far in this battle. I start slowly stepping backwards downhill to take cover and bring up the full damage report. Let's see... Looks like a few of the missiles actually hit the hillside on front of me. It could be much worse!
Front torso - 68%, outer armor almost completely destroyed. Some deeper holes from the earlier energy weapon hits.
Head and missile rack- 79%, outer armor heavily damaged, some nose sensors destroyed. That'll affect my nightvision, but I can still target just fine using active means like radar.
Shoulders/arms - 49% Left/88% Right, Left arm mobility affected. It has been taking a lot of hits.
Left Thunderhammer - Damaged. Insulation gas leak. Still operational, but the barrel has to be flushed with gas manually before it can be fired so there is a delay before each shot... There's a light advisory recommending against it though.
Pulse lasers - both damaged. Quickly test firing them at a point further down the hill quickly shows that they still fire, but the left laser mount has stopped rotating entirely. It's stuck off-centre and the output is definitely down. The right one has been knocked out of alignment so it's just not as accurate at range. That they still work is probably down to lasers generally being robust and reliable.

Other than that everything is go. The titan is fully mobile. The missile rack did take some hits, but it is just as well protected as the body. I aim and fire a rackful of 8 EMP missiles at the Provocateurs rough location. It is unlikely to be hit, but maybe its anti-missile defenses have been damaged. I have another 8 volleys left anyway. The internal silo is well stocked. That buys me some precious seconds to review the sensor data from the gauss hits I got in earlier - the Provocateur took two hits in almost the exact same spot just beside the cockpit... Also the grid sensor just picked up a hint of some exotic reactor matter in the air near the Provocateur. I've probably damaged its energy reactor, causing a leak! That could be really good.

As my rocket artillery reaches the hill the Provocateurs counter measure lasers blow three out of the air. Two of the missiles hit within 30m of the Provocateur and the last three merely impact the hill too far away to do much, although it looks impressive even at this distance...

2/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/12/09(Fri)10:17 No. 370902 ID: de01b0
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>>369764
Thinking about it we're in a good position here. There are only two enemies left and both have taken critical damage. I should apply some pressure to make them surrender...
"HLF, this is the commander of the Wolfram force. You are outgunned. Surrender and power down your mechs, or none of you will leave here alive!" I say over an open channel, trying to sound every bit the noble Wolfram heir. I'll check in on my subordinates while waiting for the response. "Leanne, do you need any help with that Termite?"
"Aah!? No actually he has stopped moving. Think I broke him." she says back, sounding a bit disappointed. "I'll just hide behind the hill. I've taken a good flogging on top of the damage from before," she continues. Well that's fair I guess.
Turning my attention down towards the river something awesome seems to be happening. Rob has always talked about weapon timing and learning the way your enemy works, but now I really understand what he was on about. He's circling his enemy like an ace, turning and reversing to avoid grenade and electrolaser shots, somehow predicting them while peppering the burning Buraq with laser shots. He takes some hits doing a head on run, seems to turn right, but instead passes the Buraq on the left! Then all of his guns simultaneously alpha strike into the earlier side wound from the gauss hits!
"YAAAAHH! Fuck you Wolfram! I'll never surrender!" The Buraq pilot shouts over the open line in what seems to be a fit of rage. Flames and electrical discharges burst out of its body in a beautiful, but violent display of destruction as the powerful mech stumbles and falls to its knees. something shoots out the top with a flash and I then realize it's simply the pilot ejecting. The small pod shoots up into the sky surprisingly quickly as the evacuated mech topples over in the dirt like a burning puppet with its strings cut.

I shut down the decoy to hopefully prevent it from burning out. My gauss cannons are ready, but when doing a scan of the Provocateur it seems to be... retreating? Did we just win this battle? Unfortunately I have no idea of what to do next...

[Should Marius pursue the Provocateur or leave it be?
Is he to attempt to shoot the ejected pilot out of the sky?
Should the support vehicles return to loot the battlefield or should everyone move onwards as soon as possible?
If staying to salvage then what should they focus on? (Entire mechs, weapons, valuable parts, undamaged parts, other?)
Should any field repairs be attempted before moving on?]

>>370902
Pursue the Provocateur- if it gets away and has a chance to give a detailed call to its bosses about us, we'll be in a heap of trouble. With our gauss cannons we should be able to shoot him in the back or legs and take him out relatively easily before it gets out of range; those things can fire accurately at absurd distances and we've still got unmatched sensors even while damaged. Use just the undamaged cannon if possible, since there is a warning about using the damaged one and we can't really afford for it to break.


Call up the support vehicles immediately- while there's substantial risk in staying in this location for long, we have fuck-all in terms of budget and the salvage from some mechs could make the difference between getting enough repairs to win another battle and all getting killed. If any of the enemy mechs' parts can be used to repair damage to friendly mechs, or to restore our ammunition or what have you, that takes first priority. Second priority would be getting any of the disabled enemy mechs walking; even a heavily damaged mech should be something that we can sell for quite a bit of cash- enough to get all our other mechs repaired, hopefully. Last is any quick patches that we can do before moving out.

Track the ejected pilot's location and have someone go capture him when he lands. There's no way that ejection system will be taking him that far; he should be easily within range for a quick recovery, probably even before the support vehicles are done with their salvaging.


We can probably assume that the enemy will start combing this area looking for us/their lost team before too long, so we'd better be scarce by the time they arrive. We need to keep plugged into our grid while salvage operations are ongoing, keeping an eye out for anything approaching that might be enemies so that we can get the hell out of here on short notice if necessary.

Immobilizing or destroying the retreating mech should give us considerably more time for salvage and repairs. Make that first priority. Plus, you made a promise over the coms just now, and he didn't power down.

If you cannot stop him, then you need to be moving as far from here as possible as fast as possible, because you are a huge target, and if your general location is known, they will mobilize everything to chase you. Assuming you can manage to stop him, call up the support team for salvage work and some field repairs.

Since we know the most about your mech's damage, I'll start with your triage. Get the alignment reset on the right laser, and try to get your left Thunderhammer's gas leak patched. Have someone look at the external damage, and if any arm mobility or armor integrity can be restored with fifteen minutes and a welder, get someone on it. You'll have to let us know how Leanne and Rob's mechs look.

Load the enemy light mech onto a truck wholesale. We can salvage it properly later when we are more secure. On the other mechs, these guys don't appear to have anything too spectacular that needs looted, so your team needs to strike a balance between valuable and intact parts, paying special attention to components which could be used to assist in your own team's repairs later. We can't take forever looting here, so no cracking open whole mechs to go after entire body-integrated systems.

I suppose it would be really sweet if you could scavenge the Provocateur or Sunshine's air defense lasers for your own mech. You could probably use some better missile defenses.

>>370919
>>370904
these guys know what they are talking about.

send Leane to capture the ejected pilot, she has fuck all to do right now anyway. you and rob get to the hill and take the runner out.

as for salvage, we go for armor plate and any modular equipment we can find, we want as much versatility and ease of use as possible.

most of our mech's damage is armor only, and it will be hard to repair the gause rifle and some of the sensore systems, but the rest aught to require nothing more than spare parts, so the modular stuff should do for that. if we see anything to seal our gass leack, grab it. I figure it cant be to hard to find replacements for thermal night vision if thats all that got broken.

other than that, the only thing I can think of to salvage is ammo. trust me when I tell you the bullets are easier to deal with and carry around than the guns that fire them. that means EASY MONEY.

Were you employing any jamming during the battle? If not, we can probably assume they reported as soon as they contacted new enemies. If they also kept them updated on your mechs capabilities, or the pilot got off a transmission after you announced yourself as a Wolfram force, then the HLF may have already know of your presence (or are likely to in the near future).

>>370904
>>370919
>>370929
Have my support.

We have left Sylvia and the support crew in the dark so far. It's high time we give her an update on the situation.

I'd suggest calling the convoy up and leaving Rob to provide cover for them. Leanna can follow the escape pod and provide a threat of imminent death, so the Buraq pilot doesn't run. But we actually need boots on the ground, i.e. the support crew, to capture the pilot properly.

Also have yourself, Rob and Leanna give as complete as they can damage reports to Sylvia and inform her of the downed enemy mech models and rough estimated damages.
That should enable her to begin planning the salvage and repair op.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2011/12/20(Tue)13:27 No. 373757 ID: c3ec0a
File 132441642184.png - (327.77KB , 600x550 , salvage4.png )

I can't leave things here though. If I can eliminate that Provocateur it'll be one more strike against the Foundation and I might be able to restrict the amount of information they get about our mechs and situation.
"I'm going after the last one. Rob you're with me. Leanne, can you try to capture the ejected pilot? I've got a good fix on his trajectory so it shouldn't be too hard," I say as I start building speed on the downhill to chase the last fleeing enemy mech.
"I'm with you"
"Sure thing, baby"
"Sylvia can you bring in the crew to try to do some quick salvage? Try to focus on replacement parts and easy to carry things like ammunition, maybe a whole mech if you can," I ask Sylvia. They haven't gotten far.
"Which one should we take? Any preferences in equipment?" She replies. I can hear the truck engines in the background and there are men and women in the background making excited chatter. Guess the engineers are getting riled up.
"I'd like to have the air defenses from the Sunshine, potential replacement armor plus as many modular parts you can grab. Other than that I'll leave it up to your judgement, just remember we'll have to get moving shortly," I tell her.

We then set off on our separate paths chasing separate targets. I chase the Provocateur for a few kilometres , taking advantage of my battlefield awareness. Eventually one of my shots hit it square in the back, causing its damaged reactor to explode quite violently. Might not be much to salvage there. Unfortunately I picked up some long range transmissions coming from it during the chase so I assume the pilot managed to give at least a partial report.

After returning to the salvage site I dismount to see how the crew is doing. Again it feels odd to be outside. I can smell hot metal and fire as the engineers work with plasma torches on the Sunshine and Termite, but I catch myself trying to reach out to sample the grid. I also miss the omnidirectional radar imaging...
"Hey Marius!" I hear a female voice. Kind of hard to tell in the darkness with only a few floodlights lighting up parts of the battlefield, but that's Sylvia.
"How is it going?" I ask casually.
"Pretty well actually. I decided to take the entire Buraq hull. It's relatively compact and the damage is critical, but local. Most of it is still in excellent shape." She says while occasionally glancing down at the little tablet she's carrying.
"What else?"
"Surprisingly, the Buraq's missile launcher was empty and there were few grenades left. Judging from the carbon buildup I suspect it may have been involved in the Zenit attack. The Termite also shows signs of having seen combat earlier today. Scratches from infantry weapons and the like. The Sunshine is a mess. At some point the pilot disengaged some safety measures. Your finishing EMP strike seems to have got in a very lucky hit, piercing the gauss wound and causing the internals to overload, destroying the mech from the inside," Sylvia reports, glancing back at the ongoing salvage efforts.
>>370919
"Well if I felt bad about this before I don't anymore. Can you take a look at the titan? The left thunderhammer has a leak. Other than that try to patch the armor and straighten out the right pulse laser. Leave the left, I doubt you have time to fix it, " I say and a thought occurs to me - "The Termite is also relateively small. Any chance we could rig it to one of the other vehicles?"
"Will try. I'm worried we won't have much time to look at the Mike though. Leanne's still searching for that ejected pod," Sylvia says with a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"It was my choice to send her out. Besides you still wouldn't have time to make that mech combat worthy. With the titan around we can keep it out of harms way," I state. Like father said - take responsibility, keep others focused. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me in an hour or when you're done," I say as I turn and head for the command vehicle. Father also said you have to care for yourself to keep a clear head...
"OK Marius! One more thing - we captured the Sunshine's pilot! What should we do with her?" Sylvia shouts after me. That's not something I want to even think about. Maybe Rob can deal with her...

I make my way into the command vehicle and just throw myself into the bed reserved for me, not even bothering to take off my suit. Then I just have to fight off all these thoughts and emotions. I am so tired, both mentally and physically...

[Should Marius and the rest keep going towards the Raptor Sec. base?
Any suggestions for how to handle the captured pilot?
Should the victory be announced publically or kept under wraps?
Any other ideas?]
[ROLL 1d10 FOR LEANNE'S SUCCESS AT HUNTING DOWN THE EJECTED PILOT]

rolled 5 = 5

---

Keep heading to Raptor and keep the pilot under gaurd and restrained. Preferably female or gay guards, to avoid at least one trick she might pull to escape. When capturing prisoner sin the field, unless you intend on executing them, you don't deal with them in the field. Especially not while hoofing it someplace to avoid your enemies.

I'd say keep the victory under wraps until we get to Raptor, at which point let it be publicly known.

rolled 7 = 7

---

>[Should Marius and the rest keep going towards the Raptor Sec. base?
Don't see anywhere else to go at the moment, particularly as we're quite damaged.

>Any suggestions for how to handle the captured pilot?
Are there specific rules of war in effect on this planet, either in theory or in practice? What kind of treatment can a captured soldier usually expect? A baseline would be good. I am inclined to interrogate her and find out everything she's got about our enemy and their plans, though.

>Should the victory be announced publically or kept under wraps?
Keep it quiet for now- we don't know how much data was sent off in that long-distance transmission, and we can't exactly trumpet our great victory over four mechs when our family was slaughtered and our holdings seized.

>Any other ideas?]
I got nothin'.

>Should Marius and the rest keep going towards the Raptor Sec. base?
The general direction is OK. But before we get there I want to spend some time to properly inspect damages and take a full day for field repairs. I don't quite trust the person from Raptor Security we talked with.

>Any suggestions for how to handle the captured pilot?
Basic military medical aid. Ask Silvia and Jean-Jacques(secure connection) about any treaties about prisoner treatment House Wolfram holds up and follow them as much as you are able. Some light questioning for name, unit, general situation.

>Should the victory be announced publically or kept under wraps?
For now it is better to inform Jean-Jacques, but otherwise be silent. We don't know how much HLF knows about what happened. Informing Jean-Jacques makes sure he doesn't get blindsided if HLF makes claims about our actions.

>Any other ideas?
First find a place you can spend a day or two of rest. Leanna has been in a running engagement for at least half a day. Silvia can use the time to go over the 'Mike Hunt' and your Titan properly and effect further field repair and reloads.
After Leanna rested, debrief her with Rob and Sylvia. Rob and Silvia are the most experienced people you have - use them for an after action review of the entire fight.(your actions, too)
Taste your own forces, the Buraq and any salvage to train yourself better to identify the interesting parts of a mech. Sylvia can assign a tech to identify the parts you taste for you.

1/3 Dreaming Marius!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/01/15(Sun)13:52 No. 379974 ID: 4f6150
File 132666434134.png - (616.64KB , 750x800 , Dreams_of_demons.png )

I am a demon lord. Where I walk the ground burns. Tiny insignificant creatures scuttle around my feet like helpless insects, their screams and requests for mercy unnoticed. I had something once. Something great! I was part of a group where I could be happy. Now I have fallen, destruction is my element. In front of me another demon suddenly materialises with hateful eyes and arms that simply end in gore coated claws. I simply reach out, lay my hand on it and press down, quickly crushing it into a red, gory mess as it flails about and bubbles. That isn't what I want and I feel sad...

2/3 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/01/15(Sun)14:00 No. 379976 ID: 4f6150
File 132666484401.png - (379.07KB , 550x800 , Titan_moving.png )

[Roll average of 6 - Pod landed near difficult terrain]

>>373787
>>373948
When Sylvia woke me up one hour later I felt like I'd hardly had any sleep at all. What little I did have was filled with strange dreams that were more unsettling than anything else.
Leanne got lucky when searching for the Buraq pilot as he nearly managed to reach and hide in a forest after getting out of his pod. Instead she ended up firing a laser cannon shot some metres next to him; the resulting gas and heat radiation burns meant she had to give him some first aid and painkillers before cuffing and transporting him back. Seems his name is Raoul or something. He's being kept in a separate vehicle from the other captive; both have been cared for and should recover fully in time.

The dirigible drones I recalled earlier returned and have been stowed on one of the supply vehicles. Things were quickly packed up and we managed to make good speed towards the nearest Raptor Security base. I also contacted Jean-Jacques briefly to update him about the battle. He's taken a few testimonials and said he'll try to work on some eventual PR package if we decide to go public about it.

I had a lot of time to think while traveling. The rules for handling prisoners of war aren't very strict on paper. Human Federation regulations are generally laid out to prevent genocides and harm against larger groups based on prejudice and the like. There isn't any protection for individuals as long as a logical reason can be provided for the actions taken. So say if a city or army is subjugated one couldn't torture or kill them. Each person would have to be judged individually or the Federation would be likely to bring down the hammer of interplanetary justice.

It sounds like a very cruel system. The reason is that all the human civilizations have a great variety in moral standards and beliefs. Attempts to enforce universal human rights have generally only led to more strife, warfare and conflict without accomplishing much in the long run. In practice getting a bad reputation isn't going to make you popular with other people and faction. The Thousand Petal Lotus allegedly did some very cruel interrogation during a conflict some years back and there are still factions supporting and maintaining a trade embargo against them for that and other 'inhuman' acts...

>>374620
In the end we marched through dawn and most of the day, only taking a minimum amount of breaks. I didn't enjoy it in the least; the lack of sleep made me skittish and uncomfortable for most of the day until Rob pointed out a good elevated area with steep cliffs providing potential cover. We made camp and with a surveillance drone floating at maximum altitude above us to provide ample warning if anything approaches. The plan ended up being an overnight stay to finish field repairs and resting to recover.

3/3 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/01/15(Sun)14:02 No. 379977 ID: 4f6150
File 132666497120.png - (131.95KB , 1500x1100 , Leanne_evening.png )

With some good hours of sleep behind us the repairs are finally underway. The damaged armor and useless parts are being cut off the Mike Hunt to lighten the load and make for an easier refit later on while the titan is undergoing maintenance.

It's fairly late in the evening and me and Rob are playing with grid sensor simulations when Leanne approaches us. She's still wearing her pilots suit like me and Rob, but she looks quite upbeat.

"Hey Marius, what are you doing?" She says while sitting down next to us on the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"We're trying to get a better hang of the titan main sensor. Rob's looking at maintenance references for mech equipment and I'm trying to set up sims for how they would actually appear and taste in the field," I say.
"It's a lot of guesswork though," Rob adds while glancing over at Leanne briefly before looking back at the portable computer on his lap.
"Yeah I heard you've got some weird device installed. Your mech does seem lightly armed for its size. How does it let you taste things?" Leanne asks while looking quite puzzled. She doesn't seem like a very technical person and I consider giving her a more technical explanation before deciding against it.
"Well basically it picks up traces of atoms in a rough 12km radius and the way it's set up I normally taste objects before I get anything useful visually. Makes it easier to make intuitive decisions," I tell her. She seems to think about it quite intently and she glances around at things in the dark around us while frowning a bit. At my guess she's trying to imagine it for herself.
"So... What would I taste like? Sweet or sour?" She pokes me and grins mischeviously.
"Ehh... Like hydrogen, oxygen and carbon mostly. It combines into a sort of basic breadlike flavour. You'd mostly blend in with all the plants and mosture in the air," I respond.
"Wah... That's so boring." Leanne says with a sigh.

We sit about for a while talking about mechs until Leanne seemingly gets a new idea.
"Hey we should celebrate the win. I know a couple of the techs have some drinks and stuff! Can we party?" Leanne says while looking really enthusiastic. She's gesturing a lot. It's kind of cute actually and I'm very tempted to let her...
"That doesn't actually sound too bad. We used to have some good victory parties during the Feldor conflict. Go for it." Rob says. I'm a bit surprised at that. Then again father always said it's important to socialize and connect with the people around you. The staff HAS also been working under high pressure...

"By the way. Have you named your mech yet? It feels wrong referring to your mech by factory designation when it's a super custom fight winning flagship unit. It should have an awesome name!" Leanne says while waving a hand in the direction of the titan.

[Should Marius go with Leanne's idea to celebrate or should something else be done?]
[Any new thoughts on questioning the prisoners?]
[What should Marius titan heavy mech be named?]

Marius should definitely celebrate, just don't over do it.

As for a name, How about Odin.

celebrate but don't get too drunk. also seconding naming the titan Odin.

Pretty well every Norse god is already a type of armored vehicle in the setting that inspired this, and while this is a distinct version of that universe, I would still rather not go reusing those names. (no matter how much better this mech fits the name 'Odin' than the Odin scout tank.)

Assuming 'Hammer of Preposterous Hyperbole' is already taken, how about something like Eye of the Storm

>>380057
Oracle maybe?

I mean, it has a super advanced sensor system, and it can't really fight, so it's just like the Oracle at Delphi in those respects.

>[Should Marius go with Leanne's idea to celebrate or should something else be done?]
Marius needs to comport himself as a leader and let those men and women who remain to him see him as someone worthy of following. A celebration is one good way to do that, assuming that Marius keeps in mind that it's not a time for him to kick back- he can relax a bit, but mostly needs to take it as an opportunity to raise morale and reassure the troops of his leadership. Also, of course, the team isn't out of the woods yet- so even in a celebration following victory, Marius needs to be ready to respond to an alarm if his mech detects any incoming hostiles.

Also, there's still work to be done, of course; discuss with the maintenance team how long the more critical repairs will take and time the party so that it doesn't begin until after the essentials are complete. That way if something does go wrong you'll be in a better position to respond to it.

>[Any new thoughts on questioning the prisoners?]
Given that there's no protection for individuals in the common morality involved here, I think we'd probably be able to defend shooting them both and dumping them behind us- after all, we need to conceal our position and numbers, both of which are intel bits they could share with others; we also have limited resources and thus little ability to keep prisoners. There's risk and little else in letting them go; it's not like we can ransom them at a profit.

So. First, get a solid list of things that the prisoners might know, or at least might know more of than you do. Discuss this with all your seconds- Rob is experienced enough to help with making sure you get tactical insights, and the others are all loyal to your family and intelligent so they might have important questions to ask that you haven't thought of. Here's some suggestions to get started: What battles they were in while wiping out your family, what the attack plan was, the numbers of their force, its leadership, who gave the orders, what happened in the battles, what reports if any they made about you, what they recognized about your force that they could have reported, any communications with or orders from their superiors, if they knew about any other forces of your family's which might have escaped or still been holding out, what their group's plans were for after the battle was won.

With that ready, my inclination is to not bother with a forceful or drawn-out interrogation; just tell them (individually) that they'll answer your questions or be killed and their body disposed of in the wilderness, where in all likelihood it will never be found and their fate will go entirely unremarked upon... just another casualty of war. Then start asking for everything they know. If at any point they prove reluctant to answer, shoot them somewhere nonfatal and tell them it's their only warning. If they continue being unhelpful, kill them and dump the body. If they answer all the questions you can think of, lock them back up.

>[What should Marius titan heavy mech be named?]
Amphiaraus, after the king and diviner of Greek myth. In it, Marius too shall (hopefully learn to) act as a wise leader and puissant warrior for his people.

>>380057
We are looking for an individual name, not a design name. Like in BT a pilot might call his Warhammer Mech 'Zeus', for the lightning-PPK connection, 'Black Knight' or 'Grashopper'.

>>[Should Marius go with Leanne's idea to celebrate or should something else be done?]
Party is OK, but only after the work is done, the camp is cleaned so we can get going fast without leaving things behind. Also generally limit the inebriation, nobody should drink past a buzz. Marius should remain mostly sober and keep an eye on the security. Don't forget to guard the prisoners.

>[Any new thoughts on questioning the prisoners?]
> torture and questioning
Torture in questioning is one of the most unreliable ways to go about it. It is even less useful when done by people who aren't even trained for interrogation. We don't have any people trained for interrogation, so no matter the method the results will be of low quality. Given that I prefer to treat them humanely, maybe try to build relations with them, get them on Marius side. They are corporate employees, not fanatics, so the fight was just a job. Maybe we can get Marius Lawyer to get their history? At least what's publicly available?
We are fighting a PR battle with HLF, too. I can't help but thinking that just killing them wastes a potential PR asset. We might be able to hire a professional interrogator later on, for example lease one from Raptor Security, too.

>[What should Marius titan heavy mech be named?]
Eye of Horus, Horus's Eye

1/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/02/06(Mon)10:27 No. 384791 ID: 307b84
File 132855284143.png - (212.16KB , 750x550 , Interrogation_of_Rosaire.png )

>>379979
>>380057
Yeah I guess some festivities are in order. Better check with the engineering guys first- "HEY HOW LONG UNTIL THE REPAIRS ARE DONE?!" I shout in the direction of the people currently climbing all over the titan and get a barrage of responses back-
"MAYBE LIKE THREE HOURS?!"
"I THINK TWO!"
"IT'S FUCKED!"
"AROUND TWO TO THREE HOURS!"
There's a joker in there somewhere...
"OK Leanne we'll pop the corks in three hours, but we can't have people go over the top," I say. Leannes face lights up with a grin.
"Sweet! I'll let everyone know, maybe they'll get it done a bit faster!" She exlaims before effectively jumping up and running off, shouting out the good news for the world to hear.
"Rob."
Yeah?"
"Let's get Sylvia and think of what we're going to ask the pilots we caught." I say with a sigh. Really not looking forward to this.

>>380394
>>380644
>[Compromise?]
Between Robs experience, Sylvias reasoning and my skills we come up with a fairly good plan for playing the two captives against each other. It works. The Buraq pilot Raoul is some kind of Foundation-raised hardliner. He absolutely refuses to give away information, but he has the worst poker face you could ever imagine.

The Sunshine pilot is named Rosaire. and she's a lot easier to work with. Turns out she was a promising mech pilot when younger who quit because of the risks. Ten years on her husband left her and her two children. With no real education to speak of Rosaire turned back to piloting to support her family. She doesn't really hold any loyalty towards the HLF and gladly tells us anything as soon as we promise to reunite her with her children who are currently being cared for in the town of Braley. It's actually hard to believe her at first, but when we double check with Raoul it turns out he vehemently denies any true facts; his behaviour is very childish when he's not spouting insults. In the end we get our answers.

They were part of the HLF Verdia Third Company. They've been training quite intensely for the last month with hints of this upcoming assault trickling down to soldier level around five days ago. The operation was apparently led by Commander Romain Chabert, the official company leader. A bespectacled grey-haired type who rarely speaks to the troops and is usually only seen in the company of other overweight officers and HLF VIPs. The attack itself was a fairly simple rush. The majority of the company - 3 heavy mechs, 9 medium and 13 light mechs made a beeline for Zenit through Wolfram territory, pulverizing some installations on the way. Rosaire gathers that there was some sort of sabotage involved that prevented warning from being transmitted. On reaching the city they split into squads and hit our hangars and defenses using the element of surprise, there was some resistance, but our side was outgunned from the start and in being caught unprepared the Wolfram mechs and fortifications were quickly taken down by focused fire. Rosaires squad was then told to pursue a fleeing mech (Leanne) with orders to try leaving a recoverable wreck before returning to assist in pacifying Zenit. While chasing Leanne they spotted the incoming drone and reported it up the command chain. They were then promised a reward if the could find and take down an enemy heavy mech with some unexperienced noble child piloting it.

It also turns out the Buraqs missile launcher was empty because Raoul joined in the barrage on the Wolfram estates... That's the last nail in the coffin. Rosaire will answer our questions and could potentially testify against the HLF.
"I think there's no point in having him around. You agreed with Rob when he said Raoul is just going to try an escape, hurting someone else in the process." I say to Rob and Sylvia. We're discussing what to do with Raoul.
"I don't feel too good about this. Isn't there another way?" Sylvia says, frowning and glancing nervously around us as if checking if anyone can hear what we're saying.
"He is personally responsible for killing a lot of innocent people. He is basically a war criminal and a scumbag. I'll end him if you like." Rob says with a grim expression on his face. I'm in some way tempted to take up the offer, but I know that I have to do this myself.
"No. I'll do it. Help me bring him outside though." I say as a matter of fact, trying to steel myself.
"Sure..."

Ten minutes later a short distance from our camp I feel a strange sense of Déjà vu as I summon the cold feelings of sadness and hate inside myself. I reach out, push a plasma spitter pistol against the back of Raouls head and squeeze the trigger. With a cracking sound his head pops like a melon and he crumples to the ground, dead. I feel ill until imagine the fate that befell my sister, my aunts and my father. One down, many more to go.

2/2 Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/02/06(Mon)10:28 No. 384792 ID: 307b84
File 132855292770.png - (277.18KB , 750x550 , Party_hard.png )

When we get back most of the engineers already have cans in their hands and two guys are even rigging up a vapourizer. Not quite like the noble events I'm used to, but they seem cheerful. Time to do what I'm good at I guess.

I start walking around, talking to people and asking how they're doing. It's a good routine that father taught me and it keeps me busy. There are a lot of concerns about family and friends back at Zenit. I do my best to reassure them, telling they they should be ok unless they resist the occupation and that we'll try to find out more as soon as we can.

Some time later on we're made a fairly big fire. Rob and a couple of others are trying to cook cuts of meat on the fire using various methods while the rest of us sit around occasionally making fun of them when they drop things and mess up. I've probably had more drinks than I intended, but I've also shot more people in the head than intended this morning. Thinking about it that way helps a lot.

They've gone so far as trying to rig up an armor plate over the fire as some sort of griddle when Leanne sits down next to me. She's been running around a lot so I've not spoken much to her tonight.
"Hey Marius did you decide on a name for your titan?" She asks.
"Well I had a lot of classic mythological names in mind. Few people would have the education to understand the symbolism however so I've decided to name it Oracle. I think it fits a mech that is meant to see all and direct battles," I say.
"That's really deep..." Leanne mutters quietly.
""Do you think there's anything toxic in that metal sheet they're using to cook food?" I say trying to change the conversation away from mechs and work related things.
"No fucking clue. I have no idea about these things... There's something I want to tell you though... You know I never really got to thank you for you know, saving my ass and all that," She says, coyly holding her can of drink up in front of her face as she glances over at me.
"No problem. You just do your best from now on." I say, smiling at her. It's nice when someone appreciates the things you do. Then Leanne suddenly puts her hand on my leg, pushing up against me. I can smell alcohol and some other things on her breath as she hesitates with a husky look on face. "You're pretty cool, and I know you're really sad and I really like you Marius. I just want to you know, hold you and stuff..." She's clearly a bit drunk, not that it makes the way she's rubbing herself against my arm any less sexy. Too bad her attentions are in vain.
"Thanks Leanne, I'm glad to have you with us as well..." I say diplomatically. Any time now Rob will intervene and break us up. He's got the routine down pretty well.
"Wanna kiss?" Leanne asks me, pointing to her puckered lips as she leans forwards expectantly, her fingers squeezing my thigh. It's at this point something in my head puts two and two together. Father ordered Rob to keep me from causing any potential scandals by acting as a chaperone. He might disregard that idea now. Peering over Leanne's shoulder my fears are justified. I see Rob sitting over at the fire looking my way, giving me a sly little wink and a hearty thumbs up of all things! My most loyal knight has abandoned me to the proverbial wolves!
Then Leanne's soft, petite lips lock with my own as she pushes me down to the ground, where I find myself unable to resist...

[CHAPTER 1 END]

Chapter 2 Start Steel Wars!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/02/14(Tue)10:13 No. 386680 ID: 307b84
File 132924318355.png - (390.59KB , 750x550 , Raptor_Security_Base.png )

One week later the Wolfram faction has settled in at the Raptor Security base. Marius and his legal aides have drawn up some very favourable working contracts where Marius retains full command of his mechs. The newly named Oracle has been repaired along with the Mike Hunt, the Ravager and the Buraq. All are ready to be refitted and equipped at short notice.
The three pilots Marius, Rob and Leanne have been summoned to a cinema-like briefing room. It is dark, with the only light coming from a large screen that shows a map of Verdia. Once it seems that all participants have arrived an officer dressed in a businesslike suit with rank markings on the shoulders steps up. He then proceeds to clears his throat with a load 'harumph' and the twenty-plus spectators in the seats quickly quiet down.

"All right people, we've taken on a few contracts. Most of you should know the drill for this, but we have a few new recruits. You may know them already. Say hello to Marius Wolfram, Rob Tranverston and Leanne Neill," the officer sweeps his hand towards those three mentioned who appear to be sitting together. The rest of the room briefly fill the room with various hellos and greetings before the officer continues. "We have three contracts. I will give you the rough outline and most of you will get to choose your missions within reason. Payment will obviously be split somewhat depending on the number of participants and tactical capacity. If mission requirements can't be met or your equipment is unsuitable then you may get shifted around, but we would prefer not to do that," the officer says, gesturing in front of himself while he speaks.

"Anyway, the first contract requires mostly stealth and firepower. The Verdia Union will be withdrawing almost all their defensive forces from a shore refinery. They very much expect that this information will leak out. We've been hired to move in covertly to trap and ambush any would-be attackers. Standard base guard duty pay, but a lot of set extra pay for combat and enemy takedowns." The screen image changes to show a map of a large shoreline facility and the surrounding area.

"The second contract is the odd one out. The client will somehow be causing a spacecraft to crash. They've not been to clear on the why and what, but they've given us a time and a very rough location for the crash. They have asked us to have a well-armed party retrieve something from the wreck. They also want to keep this thing very hush-hush and they're paying a fortune. They've also put some impressive bonus rewards in, mostly high-tech mech equipment and wepaons. Definitely worth it. I'll let you know the full picture if you sign up." The picture changes to show 'Confidential' in red text on a black background.

"Finally we're still looking for more people to join the Athkelage-Margrave conflict. Margrave are still paying us for support and anyone who wants in will be directly assisting their forces in battle. Pay is bad, but we did get some salvage rights. Big George has already managed to bag two somewhat intact mech captures to make up for the one he lost three months ago. If you want in on this job then try to be careful and play for keeps in true RaptorSec style. As usual we will want a percentage of any captured equipment..." The screen displays a number of images depicting mech warfare and maps and conflict timelines.

[Which mission(s) should be taken?]

[Select a character:]
[Marius - The inexperienced leader. Has a very broad range of knowledge and talents.]
[Rob - Highly experienced mech pilot. Highly rational and specializes in defense and evasion.]
[Leanne - Mildly experienced pilot. Very aggressive with exceptional damage compensation abilities.]

Marcius! Wooo, Marcius! There's no point in taking the absurdly huge command and control suite if we don't COMMAND AND CONTROL.

Marcus.

Ah, I think that the the command and control mech would be most useful on the third mission, so voting for that.

>the first contract requires mostly stealth and firepower
>move in covertly to trap and ambush any would-be attackers
This seems perfect for the Oracle. Pick out attackers with the grid sensor and drones and direct other mechs to intercept (or act as CIC for the other mercs if they don't want to be under your direct command).

>>386680
Mission one seems all but tailor-made for Marius. The Oracle is almost perfectly suited to detecting incoming forces and coordinating defenders in ambushing them. Let's take him on that mission.


If we could get a report on the state of Marius' finances and assets, that would be good. What happened to the salvage- was it enough to cover all the repairs we needed? Enough to turn a profit? How are we doing on money, are our personnel (not the mech pilots) sticking with us, all that. We need to keep careful track of our group's state if we want to recover our standing.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/02/17(Fri)09:26 No. 387323 ID: 307b84
File 132949957876.png - (65.93KB , 500x500 , Mech_Blueprints.png )

>[4 votes for Marius. Mission 1 got 2 votes / Mission 3 got 1 vote]

"We'll take on the guard and ambush mission" I say. Oracle should be perfect for this.
"That includes you Marius and your two subordinates?" The officer known as Michael Nguyen asks. I nod confidently, prompting him to continue. "Excellent. We should only need a few more applicants for that one then." Glancing aside at my comrades it looks like Rob approves of my choice. His arms are crossed with a content look on his face. Leanne on the other hand gives up a sigh, slumping back in her seat. I guess she's not looking forward to staying still and stealthy as opposed to secret ops or open warfare.

The rest of the room eventually make their preferences clear in a chaotic manner and with a bit of prodding from Michael the teams even out fairly well. We'll have 6 other mercenaries with us, but I'm not sure what kind of mechs they have. Probably fair to assume most will have lighter, less expensive ones. As we're dismissed and I head off for the mech bay I get the mail with the mission details.
- The facility itself is a massive, largely automated multi-refinery that processes ore from deep water mining operations as well as oil from offshore wells. Flammable and volatile materials is stored in giant tanks and they will be obvious targets.
- It is located inside a large bay that shelters it from the harsh storms and weather. The surrounding terrain is largely mountainous. Access is mostly done by boat or through an underground passenger and freight train line.
- We have around 4 days to prepare before moving out. We are then expected to take up positions under the cover of the frequent bad weather. We will be on site for no more than two weeks.

I majestically stride into the mech bay with Rob and Leanne in tow. Time to gear up for the mission.
"What do you two think about the preparations?" I ask Rob and Leanne.
"I want some big fat guns for the Mike!" Leanne says in a cheery tone She is clearly not too interested in the specifics, but excited at the prospect.
"We'll have a base nearby and it'll probably be a short high-speed engagement. Running out of ammo probably won't be an issue." Rob says. I get the feeling that I can probably make some good assumptions about our enemies equipment as well... Either way it is time to invest in some effective loadouts!

---------------------------
FUNDS:
21.3 million 'Verdo' Verdia dollars. Roughly 3.9 million has been spent on repair costs. Salvaged parts helped reduce the repair costs significantly.
Average cost of a new fully-fitted medium mech is normally around 6-10 million. The capture of the Buraq results in a net financial gain.

MECHS:
Oracle (Titan chassis) - Armed with 2x 'Thunderhammer MK4' gauss cannons, 2x swivel mounted pulse lasers, a streak missile rack (EMP loadout), a CIWS active defense turret and anti-infantry leg pods. Custom sensor suite integrated.

Ravager - Armed with a large laser cannon, a compact shoulder mounted particle projection cannon and a medium laser cannon. Has uprated armor.

Buraq - Armed with an arm mounted 'Hades' burst fire grenade launcher, a limited swivel shoulder-mounted medium 'HLF Raie-55' electrolaser and a revolver-type torso missile rack. Also has a reflective armor coating. Normally takes another arm and another shoulder weapon.

Mike Hunt (Devastator chassis) - Currently de-equipped. A solid medium mech type from the makers of the ravager. Normally has two arm and upper torso mounted weapons, but is very versatile.

PARTS:
2x 'S.U.N Emitter' wide angle long-recharge laser beam emitter
1x 'M5RAC Oerlikon Infinity' rotary 45mm autocannon
3x Medium laser cannons of misc. makes
2x Light laser cannons of misc. makes
---------------------------

>Equipment phase explanation - Mech custom loadouts will be determined in two stages.

>1st stage will be for asking questions and speculating about possible parts and weaponry. Raptor Security has a well-stocked armory and will happily charge employees full price for equipment. Raptor also has very good relations with most arms manufacturers on Verdia. If you can imagine it, they can probably get it. If suggesting something original then please explain roughly how it would work and if it has any particular advantages or disadvantages.
>A price list with final item descriptions will then be generated.
>2nd stage will be actually deciding on the sales and purchases as well as equipping mechs with the desired items. Do note that you have 4 mechs, but only 3 pilots at the moment!

>wide angle beam emitter
This means increased field of fire not a bigger beam diameter right?

There are three possible approaches: from the mountainous surrounding, from the sea and from underground.
I think we need to check the size of the underground rail in the mission details first. If that is too small for mechs to walk or be shipped as cargo, we can dismiss that approach.
Mountains and sea are good for indirect fire and high mounted direct weapons for pop-up attacks.

For weapons, missile deployable mines are good as an alternate load for Oracle's Streak missile rack. We should also take a look at missile systems for the Mike Hunt or the Buraq.
Also decoys, both mobile drones and simple drop decoys.

>>387353
Even if the tunnel is too low for mechs to walk in, they could still try and sneak a few tanks though. On the other hand, if we can see into the tunnel with our sensors we should be able to have them intercepted at the tunnel exit.

>>387323
I see two ways to maximize the advantage of the Oracle's build here. First, have everyone load up with potent long-range weapons, particularly indirect fire ones. Then invest in some extra sensor drones- even if the Oracle can't carry them all, since we'll be in a static position that doesn't really matter. Establish an awesome sensor net around the whole area, and use your mechs' indirect fire hardware to pound the hell out of anyone foolish enough to get near the base long before they ever have the chance to see you or encounter more than your expendable drones.

The second option is to emphasize weaponry which packs as much punch in as short a time as possible, probably at the expense of range and ammo capacity. The idea here would be to find ambush positions and get the drop on the enemy, trying to take the down in as short a time as possible- preferably with a massive first strike burst.

Of the two, I'm inclined to go with the first plan. It's got far less risk. So let's get some solid long-range indirect weapon loadouts that our mechs can use, preferably ones which can interface with and benefit from drone or Oracle sensor systems for improved targeting.

Are missile-launching submarines a thing we have to worry about?

we should look into buying some sort of long range artillery, something that can fire over the horizon. oracle lets us pinpoint ever enemy unit on the battlefield. combine that with some range artillery and we can keep our enemies under pretty much constant artillery barrages. something that can do in flight course corrections to take advantage of updated targeting information would be ideal. if something like that is too expensive to outright buy we might want to see if we can get hire an artillery company on a mission by mission basis.

>second option is to emphasize weaponry which packs as much punch in as short a time as possible
Well there are the thermobolt cannons that made an appearance in >>361252. Another is heavy autocannons and rocket launchers. Rocket launchers might have low endurance but they typically have high fire rates and do more damage per missile since they pack more explosive instead of guidance.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/02/29(Wed)10:25 No. 389571 ID: 307b84
File 133053995559.png - (261.93KB , 992x1498 , Weapon_Catalogue.png )

>[Apologies in advance for the long list!]

>>387402
Attacks from the sea are certainly a possibility. Warships have similar firepower to mechs, but suffer from a lack of cover. Submarines are mostly a threat because of the suprise factor, but once spotted they are easily destroyed with anti-submarine weaponry. Mechs walking across the seabed is also a threat...

>>387353
>>387374
Looking at the train specifications it is a high-speed low profile maglev system for transporting personnel and metal products. The tunnel is too narrow to fit any real mech, but tanks and infantry is possible. The tunnel is deep underground as a safety measure so any countermeasures would require preparation or intervention at the refinery station.

>>387431
Hiring artillery support is unfortunately not viable for this mission. We will be approaching off the roads and they would be too troubled by the terrain. However I will instead suggest to our Raptor allies that they could bring more long range and artillery weapons.

In the end i produce a list of key items that Raptor Security can supply in the artillery, missile, rocket, anti-submarine, thermobolt and landmine categories. I also look up the S.U.N Emitter weapons, apparently they're fairly valuable. Good thing we took them from that sunshine. Raptor even has rights to buy TeneoTech plasma cannons like the ones we considered for Oracle, but even a single one costs a fortune. As a measure of comparison this mission has a measly base pay of 250,000 for me, Rob and Leanne altogether, but we can expect a contractual payout based on threat level and size for any eventual enemy takedowns. The estimate is around 1,000,000 or more for destroying or incapacitating a dangerous enemy mech. We do not have looting rights. Spending a lot on equipment might still not be a bad long-term investment...

----=====================------

Aldarl Munitions Type 3c Autocannon
Description: A classic projectile-based mech to mech weapon, this compact and effective Type 3 autocannons delivers high-velocity armour-piercing cannon shells. It will outperform light lasers at close to medium range due to its rate of fire.
Advantages: Good damage, good rate of fire, easy to use.
Disadvantages: Less accurate and effective at long ranges, ammunition based.
Cost: 170,000

Aldarl Munitions Type 5a Autocannon
Description: The Aldarl Type 5 models were designed as medium mech primary armaments. They are reliable weapons that will steadily deliver destruction as long as the firing trigger is held down or the ammunition runs out.
Advantages: great damage, good rate of fire, easy to use.
Disadvantages: Less accurate and effective at long ranges, somewhat limited ammunition, annoying recoil.
Cost: 280,000

HMR33-S Howitzer
Description: The 33-S model mech artillery weapon can be fitted to any mech and is very suitable for both direct and indirect fire. A very popular weapon for support and sniper mechs.
Advantages: Extreme long range (max 25km), superb damage and penetration, plenty of ammunition.
Disavantages: Slow rate of fire, slightly difficult to use against close moving targets.
Cost: 140,000

HMR66-M Howitzer
Description: The 66-M is heavier than the 33-S, but otherwise does the same job. The larger shells are somewhat slower and suffers from decreased range as a result.
Advantages: Very Long range (max 11km), excellent damage.
Disadvantages: Slow rate of fire, difficult to use against close moving targets.
Cost: 250,000

HMR 99-H Howitzer
Description: The 99-H is a massive gun that delivers enormous shells. The relatively short range and tendency for ballistic arc makes this weapon more akin to a city-levelling mortar. Can just about be fitted onto a medium mech, but the weight is rather overwhelming, reducing mobility and may require bracing to fire.
Advantages: Long range (max 4km), utterly devastating damage.
Disadvantages: Slow rate of fire, difficult to use against close moving targets, limited ammunition.
Cost: 440,000

Q&H ML6 'Star'
Description: Missiles provide excellent value for money. This compact self-loading missile launcher adds excellent range and damage output to any mech.
Advantages: Extreme range, good damage.
Disadvantages: Needs to lock on for true homing capability, ammunition based.
Cost: 80,000

Q&H ML12 'Halo'
Description: A solid mech missile platform that can deliver a 12-missile salvo.
Advantages: Extreme range, good damage, difficult to counter.
Disadvantages: Needs to lock on for true homing capabilty, ammunition based.
Cost: 190,000

Q&H ML20 'Dawn'
Description: No one ever asks why you would ever want to fire 20 missiles at once. You just do.
Advantages: Extreme range, great damage, will overwhelm most defense systems.
Disadvantages: Needs to lock on for true homing capabilty, easily runs out of ammunition, heavy.
Cost: 380,000

Q&H RRL 'Tremor'
Description: This design is a variation on the Q&H missile system designs. The unguided warheads pack a significantly stronger punch, although the lack of guidance makes them hard to deploy against more mobile targets.
Advantages: Very powerful for its weight, good rate of fire.
Disadvantages: Bad against moving targets, ammunition based.
Cost: 130,000

HLF Industries 'Hades' burst fire grenade launcher
Description: By firing up to four explosive rounds at low velocities this grenade launcher provides excellent area saturation. Great at clearing light and non-mech targets from the battlefield. The burst fire is not to be underestimated.
Advantages: Widespread damage, great rate of fire, lightweight ammunition.
Disadvantages: Short range, slow projectiles, low armour penetration.
Cost: 220,000

BTDS 'Battletoads' amphibious missile launcher
Description: Originally developed for warships, this launcher can fire 4-missile volleys with land/sea/air capability. The added super-cavitating underwater capabilities makes it a nightmare for submarines and smaller ships. Can even be fired from underwater.
Advantages: Incredibly versatile, highly programmable, extreme range, strong individual missiles.
Disadvantages: Does less damage for weight than other missile systems. Vulnerable to interception.
Cost: 180,000

LMN 'Lizardman' torpedo system
Description: The Lizardman add-on hunter-killer torpedo launchers are easily strapped to a mechs legs or waist. When given a target area the torpedoes are launched and will search the area for matching targets and destroy any that are found. The powerful warheads have been known to do damage to mech bodies and legs in river battles.
Advantages: Highly destructive against almost all waterborne threats, lightweight and disposable.
Disadvantages: Limited number, useless on land, must be fired within 10 metres of water.
Cost: 20,000 for a 4-pack launcher

Q&H Thermobolt Plus
Description: Fires long spearlike projectiles that react and superheat on impact. Quickly cools down causing the material to expand and harden. High tendency to cause crippling damage by jamming moving parts or overheating components. The sturdy design, good ammo capacity and continuous 120rpm rate of fire makes it a good anti-mech weapon.
Advantages: Crippling, high rate of fire, lots of ammunition.
Disadvantages: Unreliable damage, not very effective against non-mech and non-armoured targets.
Cost: 290,000

>>387353
Uniform Inc. 'S.U.N Emitter'
Description: A mixture between a laser and a searchlight, the S.U.N emits a variable large diameter cone of light over a period of slightly less than a second. It is primarily an anti-air weapon for eliminating aircraft, missile swarms and sometimes even incoming shells. Unfortunately the damage done to armoured targets is sometimes negligible and the emitters can take minutes to recharge and cool down.
Advantages: Excellent projectile intervention, lightweight, highly accurate, area damage.
Disadvantages: Very long cooldown, ineffective against most types of mech armour.
Cost: 180,000

Antlion drone mine
Description: Conventional mines are generally ineffective against mechs. The lower legs are almost indestructible and powerful short range wide-frequency radars can detect dangers under the surface. The antlion overcomes these issues by burrowing deep underground and waits until it senses the heavy footsteps of a passing mech. When one passes nearby the antlion emerges and attempts to launch its short-range missile payload at its back.
Advantages: Difficult to detect, effective static defense.
Disadvantages: Somewhat unreliable, requires soil to burrow, can be countered.
Cost: 40,000 each

TeneoTech 'T2 Nova' respiring plasma cannon
Description: One of the most feared mech weapons. This weapon sucks in metric tonnes of gas, ionizes it into a plasma state and compresses it into a ball only slightly bigger than a human head before expelling it in a briefly self-contained form. The difficulty and timing required to effectively deploy this weapon in combat means that it is usually only deployed on heavy mechs with highly skilled pilots.
Advantages: Incredibly damaging, does not require ammunition, variable rate of fire, good for annihilating mechs or large stretches of terrain.
Disadvantages: Heavy, extreme reactor drain, limited range, takes very long for a full charge that can only be held for seconds at most, loud charging turbine very noticeable.
Cost: 9,500,000

>[What equipment should be purchased?]
>[Which mechs should be equipped?]
>[Be inventive and have fun!]

One or more S.U.N Emitters seem like they would be useful for intercepting any surprise artillery barrages.

We NEED to get some Antlions and Battletoads. The names alone compel me already.

Also: Who doesn't want to FIRE THE SUN!?

I propose we turn the Mike hunt into a dedicated artillery mech. if we can provide lock on data for it we could use it to fire missile at any target on the battlefield(i'm assuming extreme range means in the 10s of kilometers). I propose we arm it with a pair of halo launchers(dawn launchers would be fun but they lack endurance) and a 'S.U.N Emitter to protect it from counter battery fire. we can leave the last slot open mission specific weapons, for example a Battletoads launcher would be perfect for this mission. including the Battletoads launcher this loud out would cost 740000. unless the ammo costs several times the launcher it is well within our price range.

I really like the Thermobolt for re-equipping Leanne's mech, her damage compensation abilities combined with the gun's ability to cripple the enemy in return should see her winning in long fights. Make sure she keeps one of the nice and reliable lasers we have on hand for the other arm too.

Oracle's EMP missiles were nice, but enemy missile countermeasures reduced their effectiveness more than I would have liked. I would like to have its fire combined with one of the larger conventional missile salvos to overwhelm countermeasure systems. ML20 'Dawn' would go well for an overwhelming first strike capability, but Oracle already has extreme range and damage with a low effective rate of fire in the form of the Gauss arms, so mounting an ML12 'Halo' on one shoulder and the EMPs on the other is my preferred outfit.

'Lizardman' 8 a 20,000 160,000 'Battletoad' 1 a 180,000 180,000 'Thermobolt Plus' 1 a 290,000 290,000 'Star' 2 a 80,000 160,000 'Halo' 2 a 190,000 380,000 'Hades' 1 a 220,000 220,000 'Tremor' 2 a 130,000 260,000 'HMR33-S Howitzer' 4 a 140,000 560,000 'Antlion' 10 a 40,000 400,000 ------------------------------------------ 2,610,000

Don't forget to buy reloads. And see if we can bring our supply train in and the 'Antlions' into the refinery by train if they can't make the overland track with us. And strap a 'Lizardman' to each of our mechs for the trek to the refinery.

My preferred load out:
Leanne in the 'Mike Hunt', armed with a 'Thermobolt Plus' and a ML6 'Star' in the upper torso, a 'Hades' in one arm, the 'M5RAC Oerlikon Infinity' in the other. If its just 2 slots in the 'Mike Hunt', the 'Thermobolt Plus' and the 'M5RAC Oerlikon Infinity'.
Rob in the Buraq, add a RRL 'Tremor' for the free arm and a 'S.U.N. Emitter' for the free shoulder.
Marius in the Oracle, replace the CIWS with a 'S.U.N. Emitter' and the two 'Thunderhammer MK4' with two 'HMR33-S Howitzer'. If it is possible to replace one 'Thunderhammer MK4' with two 'HMR33-S Howitzer', go for four howitzers.

>>389733
can we get a quick compare/contrast of the gauss cannons vs the howitzers? I did not mention them because I could not tell where one long range high damage slow rate of fire gun might have the advantage over the other.

From what we've seen, gauss canon looks like slow to moderate rate of fire, superb damage and penetration, plenty of ammunition, long range, direct fire only. So I think the difference would be the gauss canon is slightly faster with no close-in problems and no indirect fire option.
Official word will be appreciated.

Gasus vs Howitzer clarifications EvilPerson&MrBrush!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/03/02(Fri)11:33 No. 389876 ID: 25a3ee
File 133071678579.png - (331.71KB , 1600x700 , comparison2.png )

>>389753
>>389853
Oops. There's actually a mistake in the HMR33-S Howitzer listing. It should not have penetration as a particular advantage!

Gauss cannons could be considered low damage weapons, but they will ignore almost any armour types. Depending on the type and structure of the target there's a good chance to cause critical internal damage instead. The ability to reliably hit moving objects makes them good mech hunting weapons. Situations the gauss cannon would excel in would be on open terrain with line of sight, against highly mobile targets, against well armored targets, against aircraft. Rate of fire is 4 shots per minute.

The howitzers instead excel at large-scale explosive destruction. Situations the howitzers would excel in would be in areas with difficult terrain and cover preventing line of sight (can either pass over obstacles or outright annihilate them), against multiple small softer targets and against large or area targets. The rates of fire are better than the gauss cannons with the light 33-S managing 10+ per minute and the heaviest 99-S managing around 6 per minute.

>>389733
One Thunderhammer can easily be replaced with two HMR33-S Howitzers mounted side by side. The cumbersome in close combat aspect would also be greatly reduced as the heavy frame compensates for the balance issues in the lighter 33-S. Ammunition capacity would be around 100-160 rounds per gun.

The Oracle gauss cannons would have something like this profile:
Aldarl Munitions Thunderhammer MK4 Gauss Cannon
Description: This highly specialized weapon uses electromagnetic principles to fire relatively small projectiles at incredible speeds in nearly straight lines. It will punch through almost any type of armour.
Advantages: Very long range, high accuracy, incredible penetration.
Disadvantages: Very slow rate of fire, somewhat limited ammunition, heavy, requires frequent maintenance.
Cost: 3,750,000

We could go on about the differences, but we hope this makes sense.

In that case, I would support replacing one gauss cannon with a pair of HMR33-S Howitzers. Not both of them though. I would like to maintain the ability to quickly and reliably take out reconnaissance aircraft. The pay scale of this mission relies on the enemy walking into an ambush, and nothing we can get would be better suited to taking out a scout before it has a chance to report in than a gauss shot.

>>389879
Agreed.

Considering our incredible sensor suite, we ought to take maximum advantage of our ability to pinpoint enemy positions. The missiles do good damage, are quite accurate, and are have exelent range. They provide a distinct advantage, especialy to us, as the Oracle is likely able to lock onto a target without exposing itself at all, possibly even without showing up on enemy sensors. They may not be exessively flashy, but they seem the most powerfull ton for ton.

@ !ZhOnAuT5OE/OP: what is the Oracle's ability to provide a lock from full cover, and with minimal active sensors?

>>389882
Actually locking on wouldn't be possible. The missile systems need to fully acquire targets before launch.

However Oracle could fire or direct the firing of an accurate missile barrage at any known or predicted enemy locations. Then the missiles rudimentary target detection gives them a chance to adjust their flight path to perform direct hits.

>>390196
Hmm. Even that seems significantly superior to the howitzers, and presumably with drones deployed in conjunction with Oracle we'd have a chance at an actual lock (?). Given that we can presumably bring additional reloads with us to the site that we're protecting, so ammunition issues will only be encountered on a per-battle basis rather than throughout the mission, missiles seem like a better bet than howitzers overall.

Since underwater assault is a concern here, can we pick up some drones which can extend our sensor net in that area? Presumably we don't come with them by default, but they wouldn't necessarily even need to be deployed in our mech- they could ship in as support vehicles if necessary, so long as they can link up to the Oracle's sensor net.

Getting 3 Battletoads missile systems distributed amongst our mechs is probably enough armament against underwater attack, and if we combine them with multiple Halo or Dawn systems against land targets their superior programmability might let us mix in precision shots on key enemy systems with our attempts at devastating barrage. A few Lizardman systems can provide a similar supplement against aquatic assault.

Ideally those would let us eliminate incoming mechs or aircraft before they become a threat, but in case of missile barrage or shelling a SUN Emitter or two might let us protect our charge. Mix in a modest variety of more standard weapons for close-range against anything truly unexpected and I think we'll be good for this mission.

>>390222
My understanding is that missiles are not usually taken as arm weapons like howitzers. We can take both, and indeed, doing so has already been suggested.

I think what we are currently looking at for Oracle's loadout is
1x MK4 Gauss Cannon
2x HMR33-S Howitzer
1x Q&H ML12 'Halo' OR Q&H ML20 'Dawn'
1x EMP Streak Missile
1x S.U.N. Emitter
1x LMN 'Lizardman' torpedo system (may have to replace leg mounted anti-infantry pods)
0-2 Swivel Mounted Pulse lasers (However many we still have space/weight for)

For Leanne in the Mike Hunt, we seems to like
1x Q&H Thermobolt Plus
(arm?)
(upper torso?)
1x S.U.N. Emitter
1x LMN 'Lizardman' torpedo system

There is little consensus on other weapons so far. She asked for "some big fat guns," but she is very aggressive, so giving her long range, stand-off weapons like the howitzers would likely be a waste.

For the empty arm weapon, there are a couple choices. The HLF Industries 'Hades' burst fire grenade launcher would effectively cover the weakness against non-mech targets the Thermobolt leaves her with. The laser cannons we have on hand have the best reliability, and so would work well with her ability to keep fighting through (and tendency to take) damage.
Her spare upper torso slot could probably take a Q&H ML6 'Star' without complaint, or we could put one of our swivel mounted lasers there.

Rob has been discussed the least. It sounds like he will probably take the Buraq, but even that is up for debate. At this point, simply combining weapons systems from the two remaining mechs would give us a starting point of something like

1x large laser cannon
1x medium laser cannon
1x compact shoulder mounted PPC
1x swivel shoulder-mounted medium 'HLF Raie-55' electrolaser
1x revolver-type torso missile rack
Reflective armor coating (anti laser)

(none of which are things we have explicit descriptions of)

>>390222
I think the Lizardman works for underwater targets, too. The Battletoad missiles are just faster under water than lizardman missiles and can be fired far from the shore. But Lizardman don't take a weapon mount, they are strap on weapons. And for surface targets the normal mech weapons are just as good against them as against land targets.

For the howitzer missile comparation, I think missiles without lock guided into range for their own seekers to try won't be significantly more accurate than howitzer shells. But missiles are much more vulnerable to interception.
There is a possibility of obscuring the position of the launching platform when firing them without lock, which howitzers lack.
There is a possibility to fire MRSI salvos with a howitzer starting at about half maximum range. That is a single tube firing rounds at differing angles with differing propellant charges so that all of them impact at the same time and place. Not sure if that is allowed with the Mech howitzers here.

>>390253
My problem with this loadout is that it's not focused. Getting one of every weapon isn't what we need here, in my opinion- any weapon that we're planning to hit our enemies with we should have at least three of, preferably more. If we detect and target our enemies before they can detect and target us, then we should be prepping ourselves to take them out in one devastating barrage launched from a place they can't return fire to. We should be going with waves of ~80 missiles, or if we do go with howitzers we should get a handful of them, including some mediums or even a heavy.

We do need enough direct-range punch to take out anything that somehow gets close to us- but if we're doing our job right, nothing will.

I changed the loadout a little and will give my reasoning.

Leanne is an aggressive, in your face pilot. Remember she managed to get a light mech into physical combat while using a medium mech herself. The 'Mike Hunt' is her mech, she knows about it, so it will benefit from her damage compensation abilities the most. For weapons
* the Thermobolt Plus: a good antimech weapon with average range
* M5RAC Oerlikon Infinity: good against mechs and vehicle, comparable to the 5a AC, rotary means higher maximum rate of fire with increasing failure risks (mitigated by her damage compensation abilities)
* ML 6 Star: a bit of ranged punch for the fast enemy, light since the other two already are at least medium weight
* Oracle's CIWS: defense against infantry and missile attacks

Rob specializes in defense and evasion. That makes it highly likely he will move around a lot and take cover whenever he can. That's not really conductive to getting missile locks, so I think he shouldn't carry much missiles. I want him in the Buraq since that one already has indirect fire weapons and the Ravager is optimized for direct combat. For weapons
* the revolver launcher in the torso: I think this is an integral part, like Oracle's sensor suite. Lets see if we can get him EMP missiles for it.
* the Hades: can fire from cover, good against light mechs, vehicles, infantry
* 'HLF Raie-55' electrolaser: medium/good damage plus emp, outside cover that can buy the seconds to get to a better position
* S.U.N. Emitter: infantry, drone and missile defense
* Tremor: fast and good damage, makes a good combo with the electrolaser as the emp makes the target unable to react to the rocket salvo

Oracle:
* Replace the EMP missiles with a Battletoad. The Battletoad has more options and range.
* Replace the CIWS with a S.U.N. Emitter: The S.U.N. has better effect against missiles and drones, including flying scout drones
* Keep the lasers for additional power against vehicles, drones and infantry
* replace the two Thunderhammers with four 33-S Howitzers: Oracle has a detection range(without Marius directing) of estimated 15 km. I got the range by using the 15-20 min estimate at standard speeds (50 km/h, estimated) in >>364542. With the light Howitzers we can attack on the full detection range, Oracle's heavy frame counters the close-in problem and four of them hitting simultaneously will deal extra damage.
>The pay scale of this mission relies on the enemy walking into an ambush, and nothing we can get would be better suited to taking out a scout before it has a chance to report in than a gauss shot.
If you are talking scout mech, we'd need to knock out the pilot or power source to prevent a report. To do that with a gauss cannon, we need to be very lucky. On the other hand I think throwing a mech around with a howitzer hit has better chances of knocking the pilot out. If you are talking drones, Oracles air defense is still good enough for that. If you are talking real, manned flyers, they will come in low and fast. I don't think the gauss canon has a notable chance to hit them. But the Battletoad is listed for air targets and should provide enough distraction to prevent them getting close if it can't down them.

>>390949
I think I'll back this. I have a few quibbles, but overall that setup should do well.

>>390949
>If you are talking scout mech, we'd need to knock out the pilot or power source to prevent a report. To do that with a gauss cannon, we need to be very lucky. On the other hand I think throwing a mech around with a howitzer hit has better chances of knocking the pilot out. If you are talking drones, Oracles air defense is still good enough for that. If you are talking real, manned flyers, they will come in low and fast. I don't think the gauss canon has a notable chance to hit them. But the Battletoad is listed for air targets and should provide enough distraction to prevent them getting close if it can't down them.

I was talking about manned or unmanned scout fliers actually. Attack craft come in low and fast. Scout craft come in as high as they can, so they can be as far away as possible when they get eyes on target. The S.U.N. simply won't have the multiple kilometers of range needed to take out an airborn scout. Missiles are great for air targets, but they take many precious seconds to get there. It doesn't take long to say "multiple enemy mechs spotted, taking fire." A gauss shot would already be punching through the thing by the time a missile left the tube.

The Gauss cannons apparently have an effective range of ~11k, so based on those numbers, by the time the detection systems went off and we climbed into the seat, they would pretty much be in range. (This is a two week deployment, we should not count on being in the seat when the enemy shows up.)

Otherwise I will sign off on this. I should have included the M5RAC Oerlikon in the Mike Hunt's list, but I didn't notice that till substantially later.

>>391096
> high flying scouts
I am not sure if such flyers are common around here. Can we get background info on that?

>It doesn't take long to say "multiple enemy mechs spotted, taking fire."
I don't think you can avoid the message 'Enemy around here' by shooting a flyer down. When you start shooting you have no hope of concealing your presence any longer. Just the fact the flyer got downed is confirmation of enemy presence. By then you can only conceal details, like who, how many, where, what kind, etc.

For consideration, it's an ambush not only if the defender doesn't know an attacker is there. If the defender sees things but doesn't correctly recognize them for what they are, you are executing an ambush too.
That reminds me, someone asked for decoys a little earlier. If we can't buy some, how about asking Sylvia about making some from reflective foil, a camp stove or chemical heater and a battery pack?

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/03/19(Mon)10:56 No. 394111 ID: 228285
File 133217979194.png - (350.69KB , 600x450 , Marching.png )

>All suggestions have been carefully considered, weighted and taken into account.

MECH LOADOUT

Oracle
4x HMR33-S Howitzers (both arms)
1x ML12 'Halo' missile system (shoulder)
1x BTDS 'Battletoads' missile system (shoulder)
1x Pulse laser (behind head)
1x S.U.N Emitter (nose)
1x LMN 'Lizardman' torpedo system (hip)

Buraq
1x 'Hades' grenade launcher (arm)
1x RRL 'Tremor' rocket launcher (arm)
1x Tornado-6 revolver missile system (torso)
1x Raie-55 Elecrolaser (shoulder)
1x S.U.N Emitter (shoulder)

Mike Hunt
1x Thermobolt Plus (right arm)
1x M5RAC Oerlikon Infinity (left arm)
1x CIWS turret (top)
1x ML6 'Star' missile system (torso slot 1)
1x BTDS 'Battletoads' missile system (torso slot 2)
1x LMN 'Lizardman (hip)

Mech weapon cost: 1,650,000
10x Antlion mines: 400,000
Total remaining funds: 19,200,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the end I make some serious decisions and place large orders. The engineering staff nearly have a fit when they find out that they have to completely refit Oracle in less than four days. They have less of an issue when I tell them they effectively get the following two weeks or more off work as we will not need field support. Taskmistress Sylvia takes the lead as usual and they swiftly get on with their tasks. One of the engineers question my initial loadout for the Mike Hunt and it turns out that "two arm and upper torso mounts" means two arm weapons AND two torso slots. I quickly tell them to add a Battletoads launcher and promptly have the person who wrote the report chastised for the terrible lack of clarity.

At the end of it I feel downright pleased with myself when I bring Rob and Leanne around the hangar to show them the completed mechs. We enter through an innocuous service door and the first thing that hits us is the overpowering smell of burnt metal, machine oil and solvents. The second thing is the majestic war machines standing in their maintenance bays. The fresh paintjobs beautifully reflect the powerful light coming from the myriad of lights that illuminate the massive facility. Surrounding them various complex cranes, specialized transport vehicles, equipment crates, thick shielded cables and even a few workers scurrying about doing the finishing touches.

"Holy shit! Mine is stacked with guns and missiles! Woohooo! Can I test fire it?!" I thought Leanne might be a bit excited, but she looks like she is about to bounce off the walls any moment now. She's holding up her clenched fists and looks like she just won the lottery.
"What kind of frankenmech did you turn that poor Buraq into?" Rob says with a smirk on his face as he idly rubs the stubble on his chin.
"I figured you guys would like it. The Mike should be causing some reliable damage with the defense turret keeping missiles at bay," I comment, but I'm not sure if Leanne's really listening at this point...
"I'm gonna go check this out up close!" Leanne shouts as she quickly takes off at sprinting speeds, quickly disappearing from earshot amid the rumbling machinery, leaving me with Rob.
"I'm glad you kept the Buraqs original missile system. I was worried you'd break up the reflective surface by installing something bigger," Rob says,
"Naturally," I say, carefully concealing my reaction. Arrgh! I hadn't considered that! In hindsight it's obvious. The revolver type launcher only has one exposed launch tube so it makes better use of the special armor coat... Now I wonder if I did anything wrong. [color=#D30015]"Reckon you can work with the Buraq then, Rob?"
"You know I don't think I've ever seen grenade, missile, rocket and laser weapons all together on one medium mech before," he says with a more serious expression on his face. "It's definitely versatile and suited for defense, but versatile setups require judgement under stress. I can handle it though; we had some real patchwork mechs back in the day; lots of salvaged parts and whatever guns we had at hand. Still for future reference you need to consider not just the weapons themselves, but how they work together. If you gave Leanne this sort of mech she would probably forget to adjust for speed and trajectories."
I sigh with dejection. Guess I'm still new at this mech thing... "Got it, Rob. Now let's get some practice done."
"Sure thing, let's suit up."


The next morning we simply mobilize outside the base and start moving in formation after doing some quick checks. The weather is nice and I'm a bit surprised at how smoothly it goes. All ten Antlion mine drones have been strapped to Oracles back using a makeshift container. They'll have to be deployed well in advance, but we should have the time for that. The Buraq also carries some placeable, cheap decoys that Sylvia whipped up. They won't fool anyone for long, but they might cause an inexperienced pilot to panic or make a bad snap decision.

Our Raptor companions have turned up with 3 medium mechs and 3 light mechs. I can see a fair few autocannons and missile pods so. One has even brought some naval sensor buoys that should provide some amount of underwater detection ability. There's no official leader, but inofficially the one taking the lead seems to be one of the medium mech pilots - Hobbins Valeour. I've spoken a bit with him at the base and he's pretty much a middle aged balding veteran warfighter who has been with Raptor for quite a few years. Not particularly intelligent, but a man with military leadership experience.

[Is there anything Marius should bring up or discuss with the rest of the battlegroup?]
[Any ideas for overall strategies? How should the element of surprise be handled? What are the priorities? Will the focus be on deterrence, drawing enemies in, preventing their retreat or something else entirely?]

>[Is there anything Marius should bring up or discuss with the rest of the battlegroup?]
Getting them linked into the Oracle's ISTAR network is the number one priority. Having an entire force able to view the enemies movements and coordinate 'blind' pinpoint strikes is more valuable than all your weapons combined.
>[Any ideas for overall strategies? How should the element of surprise be handled? What are the priorities? Will the focus be on deterrence, drawing enemies in, preventing their retreat or something else entirely?]
We get bonus pay for enemy takedowns, so luring them into an ambush would be preferable. The decoys, in combination with a few light mechs sitting in groups of decoys to provide harrying fire for verisimilitude could be used to lure enemy strike forces into concentrating in a location of your choice, ready for you to flank and bombard.
Get a map of the terrain (and undersea topography) around the shore facility, and sit down with Valeour to discuss strategy and possible tactics.

Oh, and if you have facilities to set up some sort of simulation, see if you can persuade another group of pilots to act as your OPFOR to test out your ideas.

>[Is there anything Marius should bring up or discuss with the rest of the battlegroup?]
Bring up Oracles custom sensor suite. See if their mechs can accept data and target feeds from Oracle as >>394138 suggests.
Inform them about the Antlions and the decoys. It is better if they can get used to their existence and possible uses now. Before they get used. In turn ask if anyone else has externals like your mines and the other guy's naval sensor buoys.
Look over the other mechs for weapons you don't recognize.

>[Any ideas for overall strategies? How should the element of surprise be handled? What are the priorities? Will the focus be on deterrence, drawing enemies in, preventing their retreat or something else entirely?]
The mission is protecting the refinery. That's something you need to keep in mind. While the employer wants you to reduce the enemy forces, that's a secondary objective in the pay schedule.
Deterrence is a bad idea. It just invites the other groups to work together to overcome your force.
Preventing their retreat should be a goal to keep details about your force secret from other groups. But you have to make them want to retreat in the first place. And never forget if the forces between the refinery and them look weak, they might retreat forward, through the refinery. And wreck the mission, too.
Drawing enemies in is equaly dangerous to the refinery. If they get too close, they might decide for a last push and damage the refinery even if you manage to kill the mechs in the fight.

My preferred strategy is to deploy the naval sensor buoys to warn of seaside attacks and fight enemy mechs mostly in the mountains. Nevertheless some units should stay close to the refinery.
Let's look over the map of the area look for bottlenecks, passes, places an force has to go through to get to the refinery. Then shape the paths to your advantage. A little avalanche to close a ravine here, some Antlions to make a pass look much more dangerous there, dam up a creek for a little unexpected lake or shifted place rapids a third place.
One goal is to channel the enemy forces into places we can attack from multiple directions. The other goal is to lead anyone working of the known map of the area into dead ends and dangerous situations.

When there is a seaside attack, you can use the Battletoads and the howitzers to support the group that remained close to the refinery. Oracle shouldn't be far away anyway since it carries primarily long ranged arms and the sensor suite is quite long ranged, too.

>>394111
>[Any ideas for overall strategies? How should the element of surprise be handled? What are the priorities? Will the focus be on deterrence, drawing enemies in, preventing their retreat or something else entirely?]
Pay is given in large part based upon combat and takedowns, so we have three basic tasks to maximize our payout:
1. Ensure that the refinery is untouched to ensure base pay and fulfill contract
2. Ensure that all enemy mechs meet the requirement of entering combat with us so that we can claim combat pay
3. Ensure that all enemy mechs are destroyed rather than escaping so that we can claim kill bonuses

A basic strategy to support all three is to assign all mechs to either an outer group or an inner group. The outer group is responsible for patrolling the various approaches from a few kilometers out and setting ambushes for enemy troops, ensuring that they are engaged and destroyed before ever reaching the refinery. The inner group stays at or very near the refinery and provides mass long-range fire support to bring down the thunder against anyone that the outer group is ambushing, and also serves as a secondary line of defense should an enemy somehow get past the outer group or decide to pitch missiles at the refinery from very long range. Drones should be deployed all over the place and both groups should pool their sensor data, obviously. Hopefully that will let long-range missile and howitzer fire be very accurate even lacking line of sight.

Pool all mission pay and divide it evenly amongst participants, so that there's no reason for people to worry about who gets what kills or being given one job over another. This might be standard already, but if it's not it needs to be because otherwise we have a vested interest in working partially against our teammates here in order to steal all the kills and make the most money, which would be terrible for our reputation but very good for our pocketbook. That's not a choice we want to have to make.

>[Is there anything Marius should bring up or discuss with the rest of the battlegroup?]
Run the above plan past Rob and get his review of it- he's more experienced and will be able to help eliminate any obvious flaws and make suggestions as to who should take what roles. Once it's polished up a bit, suggest it as the overall plan to the rest of the group and Hobbins Valeour in particular. Make sure to spin it not as "we should do this", but rather as "this is my suggestion; can anyone improve it or come up with a better idea?" We don't want to come off as trying to take charge because that would create resentment; instead we want to appear tactically minded and helpful.

Once basic plans are hammered out, engage in some radio chatter with the others and try to get a sense of personalities and build up some camaraderie. It's important to build positive relationships with those you'll be fighting alongside.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/06/18(Mon)10:55 No. 423827 ID: 0faf03
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We start talking while moving. Call signs are established. Apart from me as "Oracle", Leanne as "Mike Hunt" and Rob as "Rob" we have the following:

"Hobbinzero" - This is Hobbins Valeurs callsign. Raptor veteran. He pilots an agile medium mech with autocannons and standard missiles.
"Brockman" - The pilots actual last name and a friend of Hobbins. Doesn't speak much, but seems friendly. He pilots a defensive medium mech with a mix of direct-fire weapons and effective active defenses.
"Cruzifix" - Friendly and laid-back. She pilots a well armed long-range medium mech with howitzers, land/sea missiles as well as some direct-fire weapons.
"Six-Pack" - A macho asshole I do not like. Pilots a light mech with relatively powerful energy weapons and limited missile capabilities.
"Eliah" - Chatty intellectual. Possibly another noble refugee like me. He pilots a hit and run type light mech with a mix of long recharge direct fire weapons.
"PolluxShuttle" - A very confident new pilot. She pilots a missile oriented light mech with backup lasers. She is also the one who brought the naval buoys.

>>394191
"Everyone, I think we need to discuss our exact plans and strategies for this mission" I say
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Priorities here. I want to know how we're splitting the MONEY!" PolluxShuttle interjects.
"Exactly. I'm thinking we should agree on payment model 51C." Hobbins says in a commanding voice.
"No way man, then you can just sit back and let us do the work, that's no good..." Six-Pack comments. What follows is a two hour long discussion. Apparently Raptor Security has a large number of schemes and methods for determining pay. A company specialty I am told. I do my best to argue for splitting it as evenly as possible, but all the medium mech pilots strongly disagree as their mech maintenance costs and effectiveness is a magnitude above that of the lighter mechs. The end agreement is that 30% of the total payout will be split evenly while the remaining 70% is divided based on combat effectiveness and cooperation. This will be judged by a third party afterwards and should discourage outright kill stealing while rewarding success and adherence to the commonly agreed plan. So far said plan seems to be laying ambushes at bottlenecks in the terrain using an outer team with a artillery support team on the defense staying back. Consulting with Rob his suggestion is that we should focus on exploiting our long range firepower by hitting them hard as soon as they come in range rather than holding back for any reason.

When I smugly reveal the Oracles extraordinary abilities everyone is awestruck. I manage to reformat the data using some filters and share it with everyone over our network. It'll only show anomalies as dots to them rather than the deliciously addictive layer of spatial and compositional awareness. They seem overjoyed at being able to detect vehicles behind obstacles, but they just don't know what they're missing...

>>394140
We then start our strategy discussions and run some rough simulations and mock battles as we walk. The software we use is more videogame-like than a full environment simulation, but the manufacturer states that it is modeled based on real combat statistics and experience. There are a lot of arguments and cursing about lack of intel about the refinery and surroundings. We may have a lot of questions for the refinery executive contact we're meant to report in to while on site.

From running the simulations we learn a few things:
- The missile firing Antlion drones are somewhat ineffective unless combined with a second threat like harassing mechs or sustained missile strike. Otherwise defensive weapons tend to destroy the drones as they unburrow themselves.
- Engagements against water surface and underwater enemies are almost always in our favour due to our missile and underwater capable weaponry combined with supreme detection ability.
- An overly numerous force including 15 or more fast light mechs proves surprisingly hard to contain. They can split up and simply rush the refinery while taking some losses. A somewhat suicidal move however.
- A full siege force of 3 heavy mechs with some support is likely to destroy the refinery with ease and destroy us as well if we try to block their path. We have problems with reliably piercing superheavy armour.
- A hypothetical strike force with exclusively medium mechs will suffer heavily from artillery, but is likely to force deadly engagements.
- If enemy infantry somehow get into the refinery buildings through the underground railway or by other means we probably can't do much about it with just mechs without causing serious damage.
- We can't simulate the psychological effect of assaulting through sustained artillery bombardment. Rob says he would probably disengage if he was spotted early and hit accurately at long range while others argue they would just try to rush to disable the artillery.


[Suggest antlion mine placement, decoy placement and force positioning using the map. The client has requested that nothing is deployed within 2-3 kilometers of the refinery as the workers may see it and leak the information to the enemy. The rough terrain and harsh weather makes concealment fairly easy.]
[The sensor buoys will automatically deploy to cover all sea shown on them map with sparser coverage for 10-15 kilometers more outside that area.]
[Any questions for the refinery contact person or fellow warriors?]

o 2012/06/18(Mon)14:03 No. 423861 ID: bdb3f8
File 134005338935.png - (611.06KB , 1550x1250 , mapguides.png )

Map marked with estimated maximum ranges based mostly on >>389571 and refinery exclusion zone. I'm a helper!






*Lasers, being light-based weapons, have theoretically infinite range. Their effectiveness is limited by targeting systems, and at long ranges minor differences in air temperature will deflect the path of the beam noticeably. Lasers on Oracle will likely have a longer effective range than most other mechs.
The harsh weather in this area is also likely to reduce laser damage at long range due to scatter.

By requesting we not deploy close to the base, that means initially, right? Being unable to move through the area to react to attacks from the north or south could be troublesome.

Hmm, the zone we are requested to not deploy into is rather similar in size to our estimated sensor range.
We should probably keep the oracle and other long-range mechs close to the left side of the non-deployment area so they can cover most of the area, with the mid ranged mechs around the north and south ends to be ready for indirect attacks and the short ranged mechs also near the west end so they are centrally located for when they need to move to attack. I think the antlions should be placed mostly near the track, as that seems like the festest approach and the attackers will probably not know we are preparing for them.

o 2012/06/19(Tue)14:27 No. 424125 ID: bdb3f8
File 134014124252.png - (722.88KB , 1550x1250 , mapdeploy.png )

The mountains to the west limit approaches from that direction, though there is a mountain pass which could be attempted. Approaching from along the shore is unlikely because of the clear line of sight it would grant to any defenders. They will try to sneak in close through the mountains.

Since this is a long deployment, we cannot realistically have people spread out all over. We will deploy in three camps designed to be able to react to incoming threats. Light and agile mechs should be able to move to reinforce in the direction of combat as needed. Once battle starts, long range specialized mechs should move to high ground and prepare to provide supporting fire. Brockman's defensive mech will probably be called upon to provide missile defense for either his squad or the refinery itself as the situation progresses.

Oracle must be deployed centrally to make full use of the sensor suite, unfortunately that puts us out of the proximity to water required to use our hip torpedoes. It should not be a problem, we are well equipped for naval engagements otherwise.

Pollux is intentionally deployed with Rob in the hope that his experience will rub off on her youthful exuberance. Decoys placed with them in an effort to discourage the enemy from closing with the under-strength team.

Antlions are placed in valleys along the likely routes, in locations where our own missiles will be able to engage the enemy while the antlions are unearthing themselves, providing the suppressing fire they need to be effective.

A pair of decoys are placed in high ground on the inside of the mountain in order to give enemies approaching from the western routes something to worry about. If we had more forces or more specific knowledge of the enemy timetable, they would be excellent places to snipe enemy rear armor, after all.

If Oracle detects enemy forces using the underground railway, we should be prepared to collapse the tunnel to prevent them from getting through, possibly by rigging the antlions deployed along its path to detonate their warheads while still underground.

Marius Wolfram!ZhOnAuT5OE 2012/06/28(Thu)12:04 No. 427052 ID: e8be8d
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The march to the refinery takes several days. It's tiring, but we just enable cruise mode for most of it so we can talk or watch broadcasts on the move. As we approach the arctic regions it becomes obvious that the harsh weather estimates were rather understated. Several metres of thick ever present snow coat the landscape and even more is rushing down at a furious rate with the powerful winds throwing it around. Visibility is limited to a few metres and our searchlights can barely illuminate the ground right in front of us. Oracle doesn't give a fuck though. The massive, heavy legs barely need to compensate as tons and tons of snow are effortlessly kicked aside and crushed underfoot. My powerful sensors easily cut through the precipitation, giving me an excellent grasp of our surroundings and providing me with a solid sense of security despite the extremely hostile environment.

"Raptor Security to Arcticref One, requesting response." I call out for the Nth time into the snowstorm. Should be in comms range anytime now...
"Wha-? Yes. Yes we hear you. Where are you?" A surprised voice replies moments later, partially broke up by crackles. Guess that's our contact at the refinery then.
"We're about 50 kilometres out Arcticref One. We're going to deploy and set up defensive positions straight away unless you have any objections," I say.
"No no. Go for it. Our guys left the site only three hours ago like we agreed," our contact replies. He sounds pretty casual. Probably not a military man.
>>424076
"We were instructed to deploy away from the refinery. Does that order still stand if the refinery comes under attack Arctiref One?" I ask. The briefing wasn't too clear on that point.
"Right. That. Yeah we think someone on the staff here is selling us out so we just want you to keep a low profile. If any fighting starts or the jig's up then you can go where you want. Try not to destroy anything though."
"Roger that! We'll report in regularly, Arcticref One."
"Good stuff. Keep us safe!"

>>424125
After that placing the defenses is easy enough. The decoys are simply dropped off and the Antlion drones quickly burrow into the snow and proceed to slowly drill themselves deep into the frozen soil, ready to strike. We take our positions and get settled down for standby time in groups.

"Marius you've got a big inflatable sleeping module don't you? I'm coming over now! Warm it up for me!" Leanne hollers over the comms. She seems to have powered down the Mike right next to Oracle. Yes I do have a large heated sleep/camping module. Staying in a cockpit for weeks is hardly ideal, but why do I have a bad feeling about this...?

You have a bad feeling about it because you are on guard duty and don't want to literally get caught with your pants down. If you want to spend some time out of the cockpit, it would be best to do so when your mech isn't the only one that can see anything. Your sensors can be set to automatically detect things, but the time it takes to get back in the mech is much more valuable when the others are relying on you for targeting info.

By the way, can the refinery track your location when you message them?

I suspect you have a bad feeling because you noticed that one time when Leanne kissed you and tackled you to the ground. Probably making you a bit apprehensive about being in close quarters with her.

You should probably figure out what you want to do about her attentions. You are gonna be around her for a while. She probably has a bit of a hero complex from that time you saved her ass, but there are worse ways to start a relationship. Are you looking for someone more ladylike, or is a roughshod tomboy with no fear or decorum turning your crank?

I wouldn't worry too much about staying in the seat 24/7. With conditions this bad, you are going to be detecting enemy units like half an hour before they can engage anything. Lighter mechs won't be able to move at full speed, and without some sort of spotting, they would be firing blind until they could close to within a few KM. Don't get complacent, and be extra cautious if the weather starts to clear, but for now you should settle in for the long haul.

>>427057
Cant say anything better than this.

>>427198
Oh, right, I forgot to factor in the snow limiting enemy range and movement. I still feel a little paranoid this early in the mission though, and if you do leave you should make sure you and your allies can will be able to hear any perimeter alert, and you should definitely not fall asleep outside the mech.
Also keep in mind that this mission will be the first impression you give to both your non-house team members and to the auditors who will be determining pay division.