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Post by Lieutenant Kei-teh Kintaru on Apr 15, 2005 16:36:52 GMT -5
I was starring into my sloppy mixture of pasteurised tofu and artificial UHT milk when it happened. I was in the mess, about to eat my “meal” when chaos irrupted. The first crash caused my meal to spill all over me.
What the hell are those guys in control playing at?I thought to myself, wiping the mixture off.
Christ im gunna stink of sour milk---
The second crash, stronger than the first, indicated something was wrong.
*All hands to battle stations* - Captain Gunmann’s voice screamed over the comms (not literally, but with the state of the old megaphones his voice screeched and crackled).
Just as I was about to report for duty, I heard a bloodcurdling scream from the kitchen of the mess. Stumbling to get there, I opened the swinging doors to she what had happened. I finger rolled in front of my feet as I headed towards a whimpering figure. It was Kyle Bennadetto, the head chef onboard the ship. He had been preparing the meal for out return from the battlefront when the ship began to violently rupture – another hard shake helped overstate the situation. The knife he was using to cut the vegetables for his “special broth” slipped and sliced his index and middle finger clean off. I couldn’t leave him like this. Using basic medical procedures, I wrapped the wound and tried to stop the bleeding. I rushed him to the medical bay, only to catch a glimpse of more pandemonium within the bay. Most of the beds were taken, some people were laying on the floor, nurses and doctors struggled to give shots to some and their final rights to others… I grabbed a doctor by the collar who was rushing by me.
“This man has severed his fingers with a knife, the wounds clean but he my need to have it quarterised to prevent infection." I said loudly and clearly as the ship shock again. The doctors expression wasn’t what I had hoped for – blank. He gripped his bottle of "Head-ex". He hadnt been helping these people - he was just trying to help himself.
“For god’s sake man!! Pull yourself together and help these people!”I shouted, shaking him just as violently as the ship was shaking us. The doctor gathered his thoughts.
“Follow me sir…” he said to Kyle with a little more consideration and understanding than he had before. After giving Kyle a brief pat on the back, I ran out of the medical bay and straight to the Mech bay.
Since the first irruption I thought only seconds had passed. On the contrary, nearly 20 minutes had past and there was no sign of the panic ending in the Mech bay, let alone the Thorin. I arrived to see techs shouting orders to each other, frantically trying to defuse the situation. I saw Sergeant Zhukov jumping out of a Raven, which had collapsed, and jumping into another mech. Looking around I noticed several mechs had fallen over and required a new berth. Taking the Sergeants heed, I jumped into a Mech to help out. Christ I wish I knew what was going on…
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Apr 15, 2005 17:04:47 GMT -5
Taking in the recap of events from Captain Gunman, and witnessing firsthand the carnage that was taking place, I sprang into action.
"Ortiz! Bring weapons online, and get me an overview on the main screen!"
"I'm working on it, sir, but it's going to take some time...target acquisition is offline - the main dish took some damage when we hit that grav mine. We can't even track targets manually right now. I can get you one...maybe two gauss cannons. Not much else."
"Damnit! So we're blind as a bat and chained to a derelict. Options? What about the drop fighters?"
"I wouldn't advise it, sir. They're not equipped to handle a strike force this large."
"What about the Laser AMS?"
"With all due respect sir...what about it? It's functioning, but..."
The Thorin jolted violently as the ship took another direct hit, and the bridge lighting flickered momentarily.
"How much power can you boost to the lasers? Can you get enough output to damage the fighters?"
"I think so, sir, but why..."
"Just do it!"
I ran to one of the twin uplink interfaces that flanked either side of the bridge. Pulling out the bench, I slid into the seat, and shoved an access key in that would allow me a direct interface with the ship's tactical computer. As I logged in, Captain Gunman appeared to look over my shoulder.
"What are you doing, Maxwell?"
"Something that's very ill-advised," I replied, without taking my eyes off the screen. "I'm lying to the computer about what a missile looks like."
I uploaded the tactical data we had gathered into the computer, and logged out of the system. Moving to the tactical station, I pulled up the tracking grid, and ordered the software to accept targeting data from an internal source. The computer balked at the recommendation that the LAMS system should be guiding the ship's weapons, and I brought my fist down hard on the override key as I finished the modification.
"All right, Mr. Ortiz. Bring up the tracking grid."
With a few deft keystrokes, the modified tracking grid appeared on the main screen, and the marauding fighter squadrons could once again be seen, appearing as three-dimensional models against a red wireframe grid. They were performing strafing attacks, which was exactly what I was counting on. The closest squadron was formed into a delta wedge - an arrangement of five fighters stacked in a "V" formation, and they were coming about in an obvious flanking maneuver on the Thorin's rear quarter. The DTT counter ticked off their distance in meters, and the Thorin shuddered as their weapons fire began tearing into the engine cowling as they approached.
"Captain...the weapons aren't tracking. May I suggest..."
"Hold on, Mr. Ortiz. Let them come."
With a pensive look, Ortiz turned back toward the targeting grid, where the Thorin's weapons showed as dormant. The gauss cannons and LAMS stayed motionless as the lead fighter closed to within 700 meters of the Thorin's mighty fusion drives.
And then, it happened.
The aft dorsal gauss cannon sprang to life, pivoting on its axis to bring it into a painstakingly accurate lead on the approaching fighter as the LAMS domes glowed an angry red. With a thunderous concussion that resounded throughout the ship, the gauss cannon fired a supersonic round that collided with the fighter's underbelly just milliseconds after leaving the gun's muzzle, and ruby-red LAMS lasers cored into the fighter's propulsion systems as its smoldering remains passed overhead. The fighter exploded just aft of the bridge, sending flaming bits of wreckage bouncing harmlessly off the Thorin's hull. The mid and fore weapons systems sounded off in near-unison as the reprogrammed LAMS system identified the remaining fighters as "incoming missiles" and dispatched them with ruthless and extreme prejudice.
A second wing of small corvettes screamed inbound just in time to witness the demise of their squadmates. The LAMS system, in conjunction with the Kerensky's now-active point defense system, eradicated the helpless vessels before they could get off a single shot. As the weapons systems cooled, the chirp of an incoming hail broke the stunned silence of the bridge crew. I motioned for Yeoman Machia to open the channel.
"DropShip Thorin...this is the JumpShip Kerensky. Sorry for the bumpy transition. Hope you guys enjoyed the ride. Better suit up and get ready to go in hot...it's gonna get nasty from here on in."
There was a pause.
"Oh, and Thorin... tell your gunners...'nice shooting.'"
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Post by Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf on Apr 16, 2005 1:28:12 GMT -5
I watched in amazement as Captain Maxwell reconfigured the entire weapons system into a haphazard point defense system and shook my head slowly as the final fighters were obliterated by the concentrated fire from both the Thorin and the Kerensky
"DropShip Thorin...this is the JumpShip Kerensky. Sorry for the bumpy transition. Hope you guys enjoyed the ride. Better suit up and get ready to go in hot...it's gonna get nasty from here on in."
There was a pause.
"Oh, and Thorin... tell your gunners...'nice shooting.'"
Clasping my hand on Maxwell's shoulder I smiled and shook my head a little before saying, " I don't know where you come up with this stuff, but great job Ben."
The congratulations were cut a little short by Ortiz as he rather pensively interupted with, "I hate to interupt the congratulations sirs, but our little feat just blew out 2/3's of our LAMS system. We've only got 5 turrets left operational and 4 of the 6 targetting arrays are out of commission..." Looking down at the floor as though it was his fault, both Maxwell and myself assured him that it was an acceptable consequence.
Walking over to the nearby comm station, glad that our normal communications were back operational, I hit the shipwide channel and issued a few orders.
This is Captain Gunman to all Legionnaires, we were just ambushed by a carrier class naval vessel and a few squadrons of aerotech fighters, nothing to be worried about. From here on out I want all Battle Stations to be manned and all MechWarriors are to report IMMEDIATELY to the 'mech bay. I want all 'mechs up and running, fully ready for combat, we're going in hot. Operation MoonShield II will commence as soon as we hit atmosphere. Captain Gunman, out.
Turning from the comm station I headed back towards the commander chair where Captain Maxwell and Yeoman Hobson were discussing something.
"... yes sir, the clamps are still non operational, were stuck here for the moment."
"Alright, inform the Kerensky of the situation, hopefully they can activate the manual release from their side if needs be."
"Docking clamps still frozen I see? Damn I hope they can fix it before we reach Rochelle," I said more to myself than anyone in particular, turning to Hobson as he reached his station I asked, "What's our current timeframe Hobson?"
Punching in a few commands on his console he turned back to me and responded, " About 3-4 hours till we should hit planet side, we lost about 30 minutes in that fight, and because of the earlier exit from the jump it added another 45 minutes to our run." He then turned back to his console and proceeded to notify the Kerensky of the docking clamps status.
Turning back to Maxwell in his command chair, I chuckled lightly and said, " Well this certainly is turning into and interesting OP, I wonder what joys we will find once we actually reach the planet."
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Post by MechWarrior Sergei Zhukov on Apr 16, 2005 9:31:45 GMT -5
This is Captain Gunman to all Legionnaires, we were just ambushed by a carrier class naval vessel and a few squadrons of aerotech fighters, nothing to be worried about. From here on out I want all Battle Stations to be manned and all MechWarriors are to report IMMEDIATELY to the 'mech bay. I want all 'mechs up and running, fully ready for combat, we're going in hot. Operation MoonShield II will commence as soon as we hit atmosphere. Captain Gunman, out.
Well, I'm already here. So, that's taken care of.
The last mech to be moved was my Shadowcat Panther. Another Mechwarrior was assisting the re-allocation of mechs to new berths so that repairs could be made on the damaged section.
After setting in the clams I popped open a cockpit and looked for a tech. I saw one I didn't recognize walking past with a clipboard documenting the new locations of the mechs.
Hey! You there, send a medic my way if you get the chance. It's not serious, but regardless I'd like someone to take a look.
No problem Sargeant. I'll grab one as soon as I catalog these last two mechs new positions.
Thanks.
No sweat Mechwarrior. I'll be right back.
The tech finished his task and scurried off. A few minutes later he returned with a rather bloodied medic who seemed relieved that he was going to treat a light injury.
Just a scratch, but I'm stubborn and combat hardened. So, you know how it is.
Yeah, well better safe than sorry. Besides, at least you waited. I had some guy get a cut half as bad as yours, just bled a lot and he freaked out.
Blood does that. Especially when you know it's supposed to be on the inside you your body.
The medic worked quick and ended up putting in 2 stitches. After that he offered me some pain relievers, but I declined and added that if I needed anything, I had some asprin on hand.
The medic and tech left quickly and headed off to probably treat some more injuries.
This ought to be a fun Op.
I keyed up Panther's radio to let the Captains know my status.
Sgt. Zhukov reporting that I am in my mech and ready for orders.
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Post by Lieutenant Kei-teh Kintaru on Apr 16, 2005 17:10:09 GMT -5
I let out a sigh relief when Captain Gunmann concluded his words. However, I will still shocked at the time the enemy attacked us and how they knew where and when to hit us… I began to think… these guys might be a little tougher to beat. After jumping out of the mech I had just “berthed”, I decided to see if “Tou Chou” was still ok. Luckily she was one of the only mechs that hadn’t collapsed. Another sigh of relief. Looking over to my left I saw Sergeant Zhukov getting treated for an injury by the same doctor that had seen Kyle a few moments back.
“Right… I’ll pick up my gear from my quarters and get you all power up and ready to go old girl.” I said reassuringly to “Tou Chou”. I had developed quite a relationship with “Tou Chou”. I knew every screw and fuse built within her. Even though I let the techies load her ammunition and supplies, nine times out of ten I would be repairing her. The techs didn’t mind, it was less hassle for them, as long as I made sure how every single thing worked on her I didn’t care. Like Captain Maxwell would say:
“A tech isn’t going to be on the battlefield to repair your mech.” – that’s something I learned from Legionnaire training.
After grabbing my gear, I hurried back to catch up with a tech on the ammunition checks and other details I needed to know. After checking that everything was “green”, I sat in “Tou Chou” and awaited any further commands from the Captains.
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Post by Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf on Apr 16, 2005 18:36:16 GMT -5
The Thorin dropped into the atmosphere like a rock, the entire ship shaking and shuddering as we came in at a steeper angle than is generally safe, and the ship let us know she didn't like it. As the ship lurched and creaked and groaned under the strain, a small computer beep could be heard just above the noise from re-entry. Hobson quickly opened the comm and played the transmission through the bridge.
Free Worlds Guards to Legionnaires dropship Thorin. Do you copy?
Tapping the comm controls at my station I replied,This is the Thorin, we read you Free Worlds Guards.
Legionnaires, we have recently lost contact with a partol in a canyon to the southeast of the base, our instruments show that your vessel will pass directly over that canyon on your way to the base. We would like to request you drop a small unit detachment to find out what happened to the patrol. We are transmitting all relevant data now.
My console lit up with several lines of data, heavily encoded. After a breif moment the computer chirped and displayed the decoded data.
Objective : Find patrol and assist as necessary ETA : 10 minutes at time of transmission Details : A small patrol unit was lost in a nearby canyon, you are requested to dispatch a unit to find the patrol and assist in any way necessary. The patrol consisted of 2 Mad Dogs, contact was lost approximately 3 minutes ago by an unknown jamming source. Enemy presence should be minimal as there have been drastically reduced enemy activity in the area recently.
After breifly scanning through the transmission I tapped the comm again Copy that Free Worlds Guards, we have recieved the transmission and will dispatch an appropriate unit.
Thank you Legionnaires, Free Worlds Guards, out.
Getting up I turned the comm off and transfered the breif data onto a datapad, heading over to Captain Maxwell, I showed him the datapad and we both got up and headed towards the 'mech bay, leaving Yeoman Hobson in charge of the bridge.
Heading down the corridors I breifly discussed with Captain Maxwell who we should dispatch for the rescue OP.
"Ben, who do you think we should send, I don't want Aegis wandering off on us so he's out of the question, but the others in the lance don't have a powerful enough 'mech for me to be comfortable hot dropping them alone."
"Simple enough, I'll go. I've been dying to try out Vengeance and if a Stone Rhino isn't heavy enough to hot drop alone, I dont know anything that is.
"Alright fine, I'd rather have you on the bridge til we touchdown, but your right, the Stone Rhino is about the only thing that would be safe down there without knowing more." Looking down at my watch as he enter the 'mech bay, I look back up to Maxwell and continue, "looks like we've got about 8 minutes til you get to drop, better get ready."
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Post by Star Captain Killian Bekker on Apr 16, 2005 19:18:06 GMT -5
[glow=Green,2,300]- 2 hours outside the Rochelle System -[/glow]
Sir, we've made some good time. We are about 2 hours outside the Rochelle System.
Outstanding job. That puts us almost back on our original timetable.
I pulled up a current situation report and saw that everything was back to 100%. I keyed up the ships communications.
All hands be on your toes from here on in. We are about 2 hours from the Rochelle System and things are more than likely going to be dicey.
All assigned mechwarriors prepare your mechs for a hot drop. Backup units are now on full alert.
All gun batteries, I want weapons pre-loaded and tracking computers running full scans.
Comms, I want all radio traffic in the area to be monitored. Begin radio silence until I say otherwise.
Helmsmen, bring us to max power. Keep tabs on all ships in the area. First sign of trouble, goto flank speed and manuever for combat.
All unassigned personnel are to report to your assigned damage control sections and medical units.
That is all.
(Confirmations from various parts of the ship.)
Sir, all combat boards show us at green and ready to rumble.
Very well.
Now the question is, where are the Legionnaires...
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Post by Lieutenant Kei-teh Kintaru on Apr 17, 2005 13:09:23 GMT -5
As Captain Maxwell climbed into his mech, he looked over to his right. “What do you think your doing Kintaru?”He said in a stern voice. “You wont be asking questions like that when I’m saving your ass… sir.” I replied, smiling slightly. Maxwell let out a hard sigh.
“Ok kid, I bet you could use the walk too. Just remember to keep a coherent squadron formation.” “Aye sir!” I replied, getting comfortable in “Tou Chou’s” cockpit. Now damages were seen from the attacks, and all systems showed green. I was ready this time. I started up the OS of “Tou Chou”, again systems showing green. She rose to life, her systems humming proudly.
“Ready and waiting sir!” I shouted, awaiting my orders.
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Post by Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf on Apr 17, 2005 16:22:48 GMT -5
Having just found out the new location of my BattleMaster BLR-2 from a tech, I headed over their quickly to see Keith and Maxwell climbing into their respective 'mechs. Having just breifly overheard the conversation between them, I turned to Keith and said.
"I'm sorry Keith, but I can't let you hot drop with the Captain. We just received an additional report from the base, one of their outposts just reported having massive numbers of enemy contacts moments before the main base lost all contact with them. We can only afford to have one unit go on this rescue OP. The rest of us need to be at the base to defend it. The enemy is expected to hit the base a mere 20-30 minutes after we hit the dirt and I need all my units available. Besides, you don't have to worry about Maxwell, I don't think there's anything out there that can stand up to that beast right now, and the Stone Rhino is no push over either.
I know your anxious to get out their Keith, we all are. It'll only be another 5 minutes or so after he hot drops before we hit the dirt ourselves. I'm sure Captain Maxwell appreciates the offer, but unfortunately this time MechWarrior, you'll have to wait your turn."
I could tell Keith was really getting anxious, hell we all were, we all wanted to get into combat immediately, but right now I just couldn't afford to have any more units out on a possibly useless rescue OP, the chance of a mere 2 Mad Dog unit surviving a hostile encounter like what we've been told about in the breifing is dire at best. But if there was anyone left out there, I knew Maxwell would find them, and with the Stone Rhino would be able to handle just about anything they could throw at him.
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Post by Lieutenant Kei-teh Kintaru on Apr 18, 2005 5:46:43 GMT -5
I grinned a little as Captain Gunmann spoke to me, he could tell i was very ancious... and he was right to pull me out of Captain Maxwells task. Weighing out the lesser of two bad situations I knew i would be needed for defense.
"Yes sir captain. Understood. Im preped and awaiting your orders sir" I replied. I wasn't anoyyed i had been assigned to a different task, in fact i liked the sound of defending a base, at least then i could get a broader picture of things. No i wasnt anoyyed, just concerned about Captain Maxwell. But hay! a Rhino will be plenty... i hope. I sat in Tou Chou's cockpit awaiting my next orders...
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Apr 18, 2005 11:20:52 GMT -5
The drop light cycled to yellow as the Thorin made its final approach over the canyon into which I would be making my hot drop. It seemed that this was becoming my trademark entrance into battle - the last Op had found me making an eerily similar deployment into hostile territory at high speed and low altitude.
And I hated doing it.
The Stone Rhino's cockpit was immense, much larger than that of any other BattleMech I had ever piloted, save for a captured Daishi that I had fielded in my previous life with ComStar. Its interior outclassed, by far, that of any Star League or Inner Sphere technology currently stomping around the galaxy's battlefields. The sweeping instrument panels, contoured pilot's chair, and no-nonsense heads up displays, along with the advanced neural interface, served as trademark reminders that this 100-ton monster had once been wielded by a Clan pilot. A faded imprint, still visible under a coat of paint which had been applied in an attempt to cover it up, still bore the distinct mark of a falcon, bearing a katana with wings spread. A cold tingle ran down my spine as I envisioned the victories that this machine had taken part in, and the atrocities which it had no doubt committed.
The drop light cycled to green, and the Thorin's release arm extended my Stone Rhino out of the starboard 'Mech bay door. Clouds whipped past my cockpit's ferroglass canopy as I realized that we were dropping much higher than anticipated. Slapping the "emergency stop" key, a control built into the 'Mech's console which overrode the drop cycle, I keyed the comm channel open.
"Thorin drop control, this is Spectre-2. Please advise change in drop altitude. I read current vertical distance from target as 3.0 kilometers - briefing specified 1.5 kilometers. Over."
There was a pause.
"Aff, Spectre-2, you are on-target for drop at 3.0 kilometers. Unexpected presence of anti-aircraft artillery in immediate vicinity necessitated the change. We do not expect this will impede your mission profile. Your jump pod fuel has been adjusted to compensate. Over."
Nice of them to let me know...
"Aff, Thorin control. Initiating deployment."
I tightened my harness, and re-activated the drop sequence. Cringing ever so slightly, I hit the drop toggle, and felt gravity give way as I plunged toward Rochelle's surface.
"Thorin control, this is Spectre-2. Operation Phoenix Down is commencing."
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Post by Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf on Apr 18, 2005 15:47:50 GMT -5
The fact that there was enemy anti-aircraft artillery in the vicinity was not a really good sign as to how the base was fairing at the moment, I only hoped that things wouldn't get too rough down there for Maxwell. I knew he could handle just about anything they threw at him, but there was a limit to the beating even the Stone Rhino could take. Shaking my head slightly to clear my mind, I focused on the task at hand, bringing the Thorin in to land through the hostile AA artillery...
"Hobson, what's the coverage of AA in our vicinity?"
"About 2.5km radius with each cannon sir,"tapping a few commands on his console he sent a small 3d image to the command chair's arm display showing the known cannons and their area of coverage with the Thorin hovering just above them. Continueing on he said"From the looks of it sir, we can't bring the Thorin down at the base itself, not without getting nailed by 2 or 3 cannons at least."
Dammit, I thought to myself as I tried to decide what we should do.
"Hobson, bring us down as close as possible to the base while being in range of no more than 1 cannon, notify the base of our new landing co-ordinates once they've been calculated."
"Copy that sir, ... the new co-ordinates puts us at 800m from the base, we'll be in range of one cannon but they can't hit us once we drop below 600m due to the terrain. Transmitting the new co-ordinates to Free Worlds base now."
"Excellent work Hobson, set us down as soon as possible." I turned to the small console on the right arm of the chair and tapped in a few commands, opening the shipwide comm channel.
This is Captain Gunman to all Legionnaire units. All MechWarriors are to report to the 'mech bay immediately, all 'mechs are to be powered up and fully combat ready, we land in... pausing for a moment I looked over to Hobson, he quickly mouth 6 minutes to me and I nodded in thanks. We land in 6 minutes, all units must be prepared to disembark immediately, we're going in hot.
Flipping off the comm channel, I stood up and gave bridge command to Yeoman Hobson for the final landing procedures, I quickly headed off the bridge and down to the 'mech bay. Grabbing my heirloom Katana from my quarters along the way, and ensuring that my MAG-18 was firmly holstered to my hip, I broke into a quick jog to the 'mech bay.
Arriving at the 'mech bay, things were a little more chaotic than usual, most of the MechWarriors had already been at the 'mech bay, but a few were having a small amount of difficulty finding their 'mechs after being moved. Having already found the new berth of my BattleMaster, I quickly ran over to it and scrambled up the ferro-steel emergency ladder, not wanting to wait for the slow lift.
Sitting down in the cockpit chair, I firmly secured my Katana in its custom holster, as well as mounting the MAG-18 on the side of the emergency kit behind the seat. Powering up Feral Wolf I watched the systems read off as being online and all green. Checking the docking clamps systems, I ensured they were still securely latched for the time being. I then toggled the external comm system and set it to the 'mech bay's internal channel.
Captain Gunman to all Legionnaire units participating in Operation MoonShield 2, we are going in hot, so keep your 'mechs and equipment firmly secured until we give the all clear. Spectre Lance, once your 'mechs are powered up, check in with me. Once we disembark I want all units to form up on me, and we'll head straight for the base.
Toggling off the comm system, I sat back and waited for the rough ride awaiting our landing.
As the Thorin dropped its altitude to come in for a landing, the deck seemed to just drop out from under everything, Hobson was bringin her down fast, and for a good reason too. As soon as she leveled out at what I guessed was around 1.5km the first AA round struck the aerodyne dropship's port side, the round richocheting off at a steep angle doing minimal damage. Bracing myself for the next round I waited in anticipation for the impact, but it never came. Several moments went by but there was no impact, no warning alarms or anything. I thought perhaps we had already cleared the AA artillery's range, but checked the altimeter on my 'mech and it showed us still at 1.2km and dropping slowly. Suddenly it happened, the dropship rocked from side to side from not one, but 3 seperate AA artillery rounds, apparently there were more concealed units than we had anticipated and things were starting to get nasty. The klaxons went off in the 'mech bay as the ship shook and lurched violently to the right as the next set of rounds impacted the hull.
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Post by Lieutenant Kei-teh Kintaru on Apr 18, 2005 16:38:08 GMT -5
The ship rocked and shook violently, more so than last. Isolated deep thuding sounds could be heard in seperate areas of the bay as the rounds hit the Thorin.
"hmm.... looks like they are aiming for the bay doors..." I said under my breath, making sure my radio was set to VOX recieve. As the hurrendos sounds of mechs crashing and rounds impacting... i took a long deep breath. I gave "Ryu" a quick squeeze while i watied for my order to move out.
I have changed this from what it orginally was because it was TOO far fetched ^__^ lol forget my orignl post
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Apr 18, 2005 17:24:53 GMT -5
The ground shuddered violently as my Stone Rhino's feet plowed into the earth, the noise from the jump packs blowing away blending with the roar of anti-aircraft artillery which thundered overhead. The canyon into which I dropped appeared to have been hewn from the bedrock, and withstood the numerous concussions erupting around it quite well.
My nav computer rattled off the local time, ambient temperature, and various other quasi-useful information, as the HUD plastered my field of view with nav points, tactical readouts, and weapon status grids. The enhanced satellite image which had been loaded into my computer prior to the hot drop showed that I had landed facing the direction I needed to be headed in, and that the last reported position of the Free Worlds' League Mad Dogs was only a kilometer away. Throttling my Stone Rhino to full, I charged down the narrow canyon, watching the nav point count off distance as I closed with it.
"Mayday...mayday... -his is the -ee Worlds Lea -...requesting imm-...are under attack by superior -orces...taking heavy dama...to any friendly units...please respond..."
The communications interface whipped up a triangulation pinpointing the direction the transmission had come from, and it corresponded with my current trajectory. The concussion of autocannon rounds began resonating across the rock walls as I whipped around a 90-degree turn in the narrow valley, and my mind went into overdrive as I bore witness to the final moments of a Free Worlds' League Mad Dog, as a Thor with a hostile IFF drove a punishing barrage of LBX autocannon fire into its crippled body, and a blossom of uncontrolled reactor mass engulfed the stricken 'Mech.
A second Mad Dog, nearly as ravaged as the first, made its way slowly toward me, dragging its left leg as it moved, golden rivulets of superheated ferrosteel trickling down its torso. The Thor chased after it, pounding away at its savaged rear armor with relentless machine gun fire, intent on scoring another kill.
I'll never be sure if the pilot of the Thor was aware of my presence in the vicinity, or if he was consumed with the same bloodlust that often caused my vision to tunnel down to the red crosshairs that signaled a hard lock. What I am certain of, however, is that before he was able to victimize another Free Worlds' pilot, he found his Thor face-down on the ground, its right leg actuator literally blown away as my twin heavy gauss rifles and rotary autocannon found their marks and obliterated it. The Thor writhed on the ground as my Stone Rhino entered into a slow, plodding circle of death around the 70-ton biped 'Mech, hammering away at its battle-scarred chassis with round after round of concentrated weapons fire. Each time the Thor attempted to stand, it was driven back into the earth by the impact of the heaviest magnetic projectile weaponry available to Inner Sphere pilots.
Soon, shafts of bluish-gold light began spilling from within the Thor's weakened frame, and the familiar rumble of a fusion drive about to go critical could be heard. The Mad Dog had not yet managed to drag itself clear of what would soon become the Thor's blast radius, and I knew that the wounded 'Mech could not survive the shockwave that was soon to come.
Toggling all my weapon groups to "active", I took aim at where the Thor's SRM ammo bins protruded slightly from its body, and alpha-struck them. My heat indicators wailed as my suite of lasers, gauss rifles, and the rotary autocannon fired in tandem, causing a massive chain-detonation within the Thor that tore through its body, destroying the fusion reactor, and setting off an instantaneous explosion that shredded what was left of the 'Mech down to component parts, but preventing the classic atom-bomb aftermath that was typical of a breaching reactor. As the Thor consumed itself, the pilot's ejection pod could be seen jettisoning horizontally from what was left of the 'Mech's head, only to slam into the canyon wall at a speed so great that it collapsed in on itself, falling onto the canyon floor like a crushed beer can.
Poor bastard, I mused. I hope they had his dental records...
I pivoted my Stone Rhino around to see the Free Worlds' League Mad Dog peering out from behind a rock formation. I toggled my comm channel open.
"Free Worlds' League Mad Dog: This is Captain Benjamin Maxwell of the mercenary unit Legionnaires. Looks like you could use a hand. How are you holding up over there?"
A silence dominated, and through my zoom window, I could see the pilot of the Mad Dog pounding on his half-cooked comm unit.
"...-aptain Maxw-...-ood to see yo-. You guys -ure know ho- to make an entrance."
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Yeoman Hobson
Yeoman
Senior DropShip Pilot
DropShips...the only way to fly!
Posts: 18
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Post by Yeoman Hobson on Apr 18, 2005 17:43:45 GMT -5
"Hold on, ladies and gents...this is gonna be a rough one!" I exclaimed to no one in particular, as I brought the Thorin into its final approach on the Free Worlds' firebase airstrip much faster than I had ever envisioned a DropShip could safely touch down. The old Star League vessel shuddered violently as I brought the landing gear down, the 220 KPH wind shear causing extensive wobble and vibration throughout the ship's spaceframe. On the main viewer, heartrending death and destruction played out as BattleMechs exploded, infantry were immolated in firey infernoes that spilled from crew barracks, and the unknown hostiles pushed closer and closer to the base's perimeter.
"Free Worlds' League firebase Scorpio, this is the Legionnaires DropShip Thorin...we are coming in hot and are requesting immediate clearence to land and deploy...over."
The radio transmission was more of a courtesy...the Free Worlds' League was about to get nearly five hundred tons of reenforcements dropped on their doorstep whether they liked it or not.
And there was no way I was staying airborne any longer than I had to.
"Legionnaires, good to see you. Get your DropShip on the pad and your 'Mechs in the field as quickly as possible...it's getting ugly down here."
"Roger that, FWL control. Touching down in thirty seconds."
All eyes fixated on the main viewer as the ground came up rapidly beneath us. I pulled my harness tighter as I yanked up hard on the control yoke, bleeding off speed as quickly as the Thorin could handle, and the spaceframe creaked loudly as the ship set down hard, sending a crash across the ship's many decks as the landing shocks absorbed as much of the impact as they could. The external cameras showed that the landing had literally displaced the ferrocrete beneath the Thorin's struts, but no consequential damage had been incured.
As the bridge crew breathed sighs of relief around me, I toggled the shipwide comm open.
"Yeoman Hobson to all hands: We have made planetfall on Rochelle. Operation Moonshield II is commencing. All hands, man your battlestations."
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