Chapter 5

Mission 16

Planet: Weldry
Battle against Directorate forces

Lance:
Poltergeist – Centurion
Glitch – Panther
Dekker – Shadow Hawk
Medusa – Vindicator

This contract was a simple battle against Directorate forces who had been reported to have dropped a heavy lance in a tundra region on Weldry. They were reported to be in a mountainous region which is going to be a pain to fight in. And just to make things more interesting, it is cold and windy.

After being dropped close by the last reported position, we moved up in a combat line trying to use as much of the terrain and forests as possible. Every little bit helps when the enemy is shooting at you.

We detected three mechs coming our way and got ready for a fight. We had no detailed information on them as they were moving through deep forests and behind terrain that confused our sensors. Glitch moved up and got a sensor lock on a Firestarter. Not good.

Dekker got damaged from the Firestarter but it just did minor damage. As the sensors cleared up from the interference of the firing, we suddenly saw reinforcements appearing in the forest and unfortunately they were for the enemy, not us. It was an ambush.

Dekker took damage from a flight of missiles that came over the hill from an unknown mech. A Locust appeared and fired on his Shadow Hawk doing more damage and he opened up in revenge and blew it’s right arm off in an explosion. Medusa opened up on the Locust and got a critical hit on it’s ammo which turned it into more pieces than it’s pilot would want. He fired on the Firestarter but missed.

Dekker got another set of missiles from an unknown mech and if he isn’t careful, that damage will start to be dangerous. Glitch fired on the Firestarter and blew out one of it’s jump jets. But as she did that, A Javelin moved into view and fired on her Panther doing damage. I fired into the Firestarter trying to take it down but while doing damage it was still combat effective.

The Firestarter pilot moved into range of Dekker’s Shadow Hawk and hit him with med-lasers and flamers. The damage was bad enough but the heat from the flamers can be deadly. Medusa got an angle on the Firestarter and with some good shooting blew through it’s left torso and sending it’s left arm flying. Dekker added damage to it and blew through the right torso and sent that side’s arm falling to the ground. He also sent some missiles at the Javelin and scratched the paintwork.

Glitch sent her Panther’s PPC and SRM4 missiles into the Javelin doing damage but it is still standing. The Firestarter pilot showed that Directorate pilots are not idiots and retreated due to not having any working weapons remaining. It’s only damage will be melee attacks so it’s combat effectiveness is greatly reduced but it is still dangerous.

Yet again, an unknown mech sent a flight of missiles into Dekker’s mech. Hiding in the trees is only doing so much to protect us. A Commando and a Jenner crested a hill and fired on Medusa’s Vindicator doing damage. He is okay but damage is damage. He fired on the Firestarter and Javelin doing damage. Splitting fire like this is a risk but sometimes it gives you the best chances of hitting with all your weapons because of the different effective ranges.

Dekker split fire at the Commando and Firestarter and damage was done but they are still in the fight. I decided to put the Firestarter out of action with a salvo and the pilot was able to eject. The salvage and security teams will find them after the battle if we win. Glitch took serious damage when a PPC came in and removed a ton of armour from her left arm. She fired on the Commando and got a good hit.

Glitch was in trouble when the Commando, Jenner and Javelin all focused their fire on her Panther. The Javelin jumped in behind her and damaged the rear of her Panther. She is still standing but I don’t know how. That was a lot of damage and must have rattled her. I attacked the Commando as it’s SRM’s are deadly in this close combat.

The Commando pilot fired at Dekker’s Shadow Hawk and did a fair bit of damage but nowhere near critical. Dekker walked his mech backwards to get a rear shot on the Javelin and split fire on it and the Commando doing damage to both. Medusa fired on the Commando and blew through it’s left torso and arm and leaving it with just scrap metal in those parts. The Javelin took some damage as well.

Glitch had a flight of missiles come in and do some serious damage on her heavily damaged mech. She then fired at the Javelin and blew through it’s left torso and removing the arm as well. Unfortunately that only removed half it’s weapons. I had a flight of missiles come in and hit my Centurion as well as the Jenner unload on me with med-lasers and SRM’s. The nasty Javelin got in behind my mech and hit my rear. Not fun, we are getting surrounded and that’s never good.

Medusa opened up on the Javelin for more damage and then cored out the Commando with shots right through it’s engine. Another enemy pilot ejected and to be captured afterwards. Dekker split fire on the Jenner and Javelin but couldn’t take either down.

As they were fighting, I moved my mech up the hill and got sight on a Panther and Locust. That is where the missiles were coming from. I took a snap shot against the Panther and did damage but not enough. Glitch took a shot at the Javelin but then the Locust damaged her already heavily damaged mech and then tragedy struck. The enemy Panther opened up on her mech and sent a PPC shot right through her cockpit killing her instantly.

Glitch is gone. Time seemed to stop as I saw her headless mech seem to stand there and then gracelessly fall to the forest floor in a smoking heap. We couldn’t even take time to mourn as we were still facing an enemy lance and were fighting for our lives.

Medusa damaged the Javelin and Jenner and was followed by Dekker who did damage to them in a one-two shot. I sent more damage into the Jenner and the enemy pilot retreated from the storm of damage coming it’s way.

I got a lock on the Javelin and sent a salvo of fury into it’s centre torso and took it down in an explosion of flames and plasma as it’s engine shutdown. Dekker and Medusa moved up and the Jenner hit Medusa with a trio of med-lasers but the missiles missed. I fired on the Jenner and removed it’s left arm taking two med-lasers out of action. Dekker followed up and killed the Jenner with precisely placed shots to it’s centre torso.

Medusa damaged the Panther and then the Locust popped up and fired into Dekker’s Shadow Hawk. And then the Panther added a PPC and some short ranged missiles to his damage list. I had a good lock and fired into the right side of the Panther and ripped through the arm and torso and knocking it off balance. It also removed the PPC so that is good news.

Dekker and Medusa followed up with more damage to the Panther and Medusa hit the Locust as well just to let them know we haven’t forgotten about them. The Locust fired on Dekker but then Dekker got revenge for Glitch and blew the Panther into scrap.

Medusa jumped towards the last enemy mech, the Locust, and fired into it doing good damage and removed it’s right torso and arm but it required my Centurion to put it down with a full salvo going straight through it’s centre torso giving us the win.

But it was Pyrrhic victory with us losing one of our friends and fellow warriors. We held out hope that a miracle had happened but we all knew that there just was no way she could have survived that shot. The salvage and rescue crews gave us the bad news and we sent the med team to the wreckage to retrieve her body or as much as they could. She deserves a funeral in space as she didn’t want to be left behind on a planet.

We also had severe damage to three mechs. The Shadow Hawk and Vindicator will take a few days each to repair and the Panther will take a bit longer but it is a testament to the design and manufacturer that even with all the damage, Yang can get it back into action in three weeks by replacing the arm and weapon and then replacing the cockpit.

Medusa will have to stay in the med-bay for 17 days at least while recovering from feedback damage. Our salvage teams came back with pieces from the Firestarter, Javelin, Locust and Panther but that doesn’t even come close to paying for Glitch.

It appears harsh but we picked up a new mechwarrior to fill in the roster opening left by Glitch. James ‘Hammer’ Adalwulf appears to be a sturdy warrior but we will just have to see. Hopefully he will fit into the company but we have to ensure that we don’t try to make him into another Glitch, he is himself, so we will have to watch it.

Before we go anywhere, we had to have Glitch’s funeral. All the company and crew turned out in sombre uniforms or clothing to remember and give respect to a wonderful person, brave warrior and funny woman. Lost too soon but she will always be remembered in our minds and hearts and with the name of the Panther being hers.

Travelling and playing.

It will be 27 days to get to Detroit so we can repair and recover. This battle left us all with injuries even if they can’t be seen. The time it takes will allow everyone to come to terms with our loss and to deal with it in our own ways. Some of us will throw ourselves into our work while others will find other ways to deal with the closeness of death.

I saw Yang throw himself into repairing the Argo as well as our mechs. He wanted to get the second group of mech bays into actions and with the repaired power systems he was able to get them ready and waiting for some mechs.

Others found a different way to deal with the stress and loss by getting into arguments. I found Medusa and Dekker having a heated discussion down in the crew quarters and it was all about Medusa wanting Dekker to use his Noble title to get his idea seen by someone in command. I told Medusa to bring his idea to me in my office and while he was grabbing it, I sat down and thought on the idiots under my command.

My thoughts didn’t change much as I found that his idea was just totally unworkable and ineffective and I tried to let him down easy but he left my office with a hangdog expression and was moping around for a week before he got back into the hang of things.

We have a fair number of people in our crew for the Argo and I can’t remember how many times I have walked around and found people having some private fun is some of the strangest places. I understand that the crew quarters are still cramped and don’t provide much privacy but when you walk into the training deck and see a a sim pod rocking, you expect that someone is training their skills in a mech.

Not quite. I found a med-tech and her boyfriend of the week doing a bit of training in a set of totally different skills. I left them to complete their fun and when they were leaving I called out that they have to ensure that the sim pod is clean and aired out. Next time they have to find a better place and I will have to ask Darius to look into finding a solution. I really don’t want to sit in a pod only to find that it is sticky and smells.