Forest Ambush 1 (D9 LA Kerkina Combat)

[GM Yuusha]

Multiple Angels lances are approach Kerkina Camp through the forests on its east and west. You're part of the eastern assault force. There is intelligence suggesting two mechs and some infantry are doing a training exercise in these woods somewhere. Fortunately, you notice them before they notice you. Setting up an ambush in the woods, you prepare to strike!

Objective: Defeat the enemy.

[Gianna Rains]

Perhaps she was being cocky, or perhaps was still bothered by the embarrassment she'd felt since Day 1 on this planet, but Gianna Rains was spoiling for a fight. Her lance mates in the "Kindergarten" were similarly confident as their mechs strode to battle, even young Princess who'd had only two fights worth of real life experience in her mech seemed upbeat to be part of this attack.

"Alright Kinders," Gianna said into the lance's private comms channel, "looks like these guys weren't ready for us, and let's keep it that way. Fire teams stay together, and watch out for the infantry amid these trees. They aren't much of a danger, but that doesn't mean they're no danger."

[GM Yuusha]

Gianna moves her mechs into a prime ambush spot. Most had high ground. The Cyclops was there to block off any attempts to escape...



The Militia drew closer. There was a hover APC and a large traditional APC, backed up by a Blackjack with its large lasers and a generalist Griffin variant.



And closer...

The Kindgarten lance wasn't revealed yet.

[Gianna Rains]

When the militia forces were almost absurdly close, dangerously vulnerable, Gianna flips open comms.

"Light 'em up, Kinders!"

[GM Yuusha]

The lance emerges from the trees. No doubt an unwelcome sight to the Militia!



The Griffin slows and moves into some trees as the Blackjack continues to follow the Vargr APC. It slowed just enough for some lasergun carrying infantry to dismount. The Maxim, meanwhile, speeds up. It heads north-east where it disgorges a platoon of SRM infantry.

[Gianna Rains]

Fluff delayed.

---------
Wyvern walk to 1813, facing NW, fire SRM and small lasers at Blackjack
Dragon stand, fire all weapons at Blackjack
Cyclops stand, fire all weapons at Griffin
Gianna/Crusader stand, fire all but 1 ML at Griffin

[GM Yuusha]

Princess makes herself the obvious target by moving out of the trees and so close to the enemy. The Blackjack turns and targets her with both its primary weapons and a secondary medium laser. Each large laser hits her centre torso, slagging away most of the armour there (16 damage CT). The APC swivels its turret to contribute, firing both medium lasers. One hits, also lighting up Princess' mech's centre (5 damage CT, armour destroyed, 11 internal structure remaining). She was very lucky it hadn't burnt through anything important. Nonetheless, her mech was now one bad hit away from heavy damage. Princess nearly loses control of her mech, but she keeps it upright and fires back. None of her shots hit. She's likely cursing in her cockpit! Fortunately, some of the Dragon's LRMs and AC fire dings up the Blackjack's paintwork on one of its legs (6 damage LL). So, that was something,

Elsewhere, the Griffin turned to fire at the assault mech that suddenly appears from the woods. It scores the mech's armour with numerous hits (8 damage RT, 5 damage LL, RL). Its armour held. Gianna shoots at it first, but the mech sidesteps most of her weapons fire (4 damage LA). That was fine. Lights Out had spent an extra couple of seconds aiming with her new prize. A gauss rifle. She releases the fire button and the large slug of metal is shot at hypersonic speeds right toward the medium mech. The shell slams through the ferroglass of the cockpit, killing the pilot and blowing apart the head. The medium lasers and SRMs she fires in the same volley connect a moment later, ripping up some of the headless mech's armour as it drops to the ground (Griffin is headless and destroyed!).

'Lights out' indeed.

(Crusader on 3 heat, Cyclops on 2 heat, Wyvern on 1 heat)



Seeing the heavier Griffin essentially one-shot, the Blackjack hurriedly backs up! The hover APC tries to get around the back of the mechs to threaten their rears as the tracked APC turns around and backs up. More infantry pour out.

[Gianna Rains]

"Princess, you--" Gianna starts to warn as the hits keep landing impossibly all in the heart of the Wyvern.

"Yeah, I gods damn know it, Gi!" And the Wyvern hops skyward, away from the immediate threats, to land in the trees nearby to monitor the flanking tank.

The twins and Gianna, meanwhile, mostly blaze away at the retreating Blackjack, though Lights Out and Gianna each direct some fire at the tank and unloaded infantry in front of them, hoping to scatter or sufficiently discourage them to keep them out of the rest of the day's fighting. Lights Out is grinning like a happy daemon at the feelings she gets from her new toy...

---------
Wyvern jump to 2015, facing NE.
Dragon stand, fire all weapons at Blackjack
Cyclops stand, gauss and LRM at Blackjack, 1 ML and SRM at Vargr
Gianna/Crusader walk to 1912, fire SRMs at infantry in 1910, LRMs at Blackjack.

[GM Yuusha]

The Dragon was packing anti-infantry AC/5 flak ammo, so the hit on the Blackjack did a little less damage than usual (3 damage LL). The other weapons all missed. It was nonetheless more than enough as an assist for what followed...

Lights Out really liked her new mech. The Sergeant split fire between the Blackjack and the nearby APC. Her gauss rifle tore through the other mech's leg, chopping it clean off and sending it tumbling. She adds a few more LRMs because she can (15 damage LL, section destroyed, 1 damage transfers to LT, 4 damage RA, 5 damage RA from fall, 1 pilot hit). The Vargr APC also suffers her wrath, becoming immobilised under a barrage of close range weapons (5 damage TU, 4 damage LS, major damage, vehicle immobile, 2 damage TU, 2 damage FR, major damage again!). It was effectively two kills in mere seconds. She'd already net a hat trick in the time it took her gauss rifle to fire twice. She wasn't leaving much for her lance mates!

Gianna herself focused on the nearby laser foot platoon. Her SRMs killed a dozen of them, which was remarkably good shooting. Her LRMs also hit the fallen Blackjack (6 damage RT, 5 damage LA, 1 damage LT). It looked pretty miserable.

Return fire was fairly minimal. The Crusader is clipped a few times by different weapons simply by being in the front and the easiest target. Gianna is forced to shield her cockpit from a pesky medium laser with her right arm, but her mech remains operational (5 damage LA, 2 damage LA, edge used to avoid HD hit, 5 damage RA, 5 damage LA).

(Crusader 5 heat, Dragon 1, Cyclops 1)



The legless Blackjack was still reading as a threat. It was trying to prop itself up to fire its lasers. Foolish. Aside from it, the only other enemy of concern was the remaining APC, which speeds over the hill toward the downed Blackjack. Infantry bailed out the back of the destroyed Vargr to try making a difference.

[Gianna Rains]

"Son of a!" Gianna gets startled by the hurtling APC. "Spare, help me out here!"

The Crusader and Dragon converge on the Maxim as most of the lance continues to fire on the same targets. Princess, off of tank-monitoring duty, moves toward the fallen Blackjack and aims her longer range weapons to contribute to the barrage at the stubborn pilot in the prone mech.

---------
Wyvern walk to 1915, facing NW, fire LL and LRM at Blackjack.
Dragon walk to 1914, fire AC, LRM and 1 ML at Blackjack, kick Maxim.
Cyclops stand, gauss and LRM at Blackjack, 1 ML and SRM at foot platoons in 1710.
Gianna/Crusader backward to 2012, fire SRMs at infantry in 1809, 1 LRM at Blackjack, kick Maxim.

[GM Yuusha]

The Blackjack is a very appealing target on the ground like that. The Dragon hits it with LRMs (3 damage RT) as does Gianna's Crusader (5 damage LT, 5 damage RA, critical hit on shoulder). She also takes out a few of the infantry hiding in the woods for good measure with SRMs (3 dead). It's the Cyclops that one again scores the main damage however. That gauss rifle was scary (15 damage RA, section destroyed, 11 damage transfers to RT and right arm would be blown off if not destroyed, critical hit on heat sink). Lights Out was trying to knock the pilot out if the LRMs that then smacked into the machine's cockpit was any indicator (5 damage HD, 2nd pilot hit, 1 damage RT). She also shot some nearby infantry with SRMs (6 dead). Princess misses her weapons fire, but it mostly goes unnoticed in the chaos.

The Maxim whizzing past hits Gi's ride with SRMs and machine guns (6 damage LA, 2 damage CT, LT, LL, RA). The SRM equipped infantry also decide to shoot the nearest mech in the open, causing the mech to shake from repeated impacts (2 damage RT, LT, RA, RL, CT, 1 damage LL). Then, to add insult to injury, the laser platoon ping it for a bit more damage too (2 damage LL, 1 damage CT). The armour is holding, but Gi's mech cannot continue taking such damage for too long. She has to battle to keep her balance.

Having used her leg mounted SRMs, Gianna can only watch the Maxim move past her ideal kicking range. Not to worry. The Dragon gives it a good boot that renders it immobile (12 damage FR, major damage, vehicle immobile). Now only some infantry and that persistent Blackjack were left.

(Wyvern 2 heat, Crusader on 1)



There was little else to do but persuade the pilot to give up or force the issue.

[Gianna Rains]

"Power down, Blackjack pilot," Gianna says firmly on a general comms channel. "This is over and you don't want to end up like your fellow pilot, do you?"

"Let me have one more shot, Make It!" Lights Out calls into the channel from the Cyclops, starting to really maneuver the intimidating mech. "This gauss rifle is amazing!" she gushes, perhaps too frighteningly.

--------
Mostly holding position, but
Crusader reverse to 2113 and
Cyclops face N then reverse to 2012

[GM Yuusha]

The Blackjack doesn't comply. In a final act of defiance it tries to stand on one leg. Inevitably it falls. The mech goes still. It stays that way. The pilot likely hit their head, hard, and blacked out.

A few seconds later and the infantry lay down their weapons.

That was that then!

By the time the Blackjack pilot wakes up again they find themselves surrounded by mechs. Surrender is the only option.

(All enemies eliminated! Congratulations!)

(Lights Out - Capable Underling - gains bonus XP for an amazing performance)

[GM Yuusha]

Gianna Rains gains 0.2 fame for her contributions toward a successful combat.

Combat closed.