Mission# 6: SUPPLY - Capolla (-75WP)
0231hrs - Carson Town
Capolla, WOB Protectorate
27 July 3073
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Stacy Church winced as she choked down yet another warm protein drink. She fought an urge to spit the foul tasting liquid back up and then tossed the plastic container into a dark corner where it bounced off the floor several times before rolling to a stop beside her boots. She sat alone at a small desk within her command quarters aboard the Black Widow's dropship. Papers and data chips littered the desk as well as her small bunk, some papers had even fallen to the floor. The room was dark, aside from the soft glow of her noteputer. Stacy forced herself to relax her shoulders as she tried to massage some of the ache in her left shoulder that wouldn't seem to go away. The last couple of weeks had been grueling. After the successful rescue mission on Elgin, the Widows had been on the run and dangerously low on supplies. With the entire Blakist Protectorate aware of her activities, it was getting harder and harder to raid for supplies. Just one wrong step and her entire unit would be dead. Or worse... Soft knocking at the door woke Stacy from her thoughts. "Come in," she said.
A short man in a black leather jacket with large red and black patches on both shoulders walked through. It was Lieutenant Jacob Kincaid, Stacy's executive officer. Jacob rendered a quick salute before dropping a stack of papers on Stacy's desk. "Whitehorse says the op is a go. We should be touching down outside of Carson in less than two hours."
Stacy leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow. "And these?" she said, pointing to the new stack of papers.
Jacob smiled, a rare thing in itself. "Intel," he said. "We've got a target. Real juicy. Whitehorse says we can grab it all if we can get past the local militia." Jacob paused and his smile dropped.
"What?" Stacy asked. It wasn't like Jacob to hold back.
"Whitehorse says there's something hunting us. Some kind of special forces unit." Another pause. "They killed Harrison."
Stacy held Jacob's gaze for a moment then looked down at the stack of intel papers. Another Wolfnet operative gone forever. "Well," she said with finality, "they're not catching us. Have the techs prep my 'Mech. The Widow hunts tonight."
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ATTACKERS
Black Widows:
Command Lance
Capt. Stacy Church (1/2) ZEU-9WD Zeus-X
Kristofur Blaine MAD-4S Marauder II
Francine (3/3) GRF-6S Griffin
DEFENDERS
Planetary Militia - Mixed Lance
VND-4L Vindicator (3/3)
UM-R60 UrbanMech (4/5)
RVN-3L Raven (4/5)
Hetzer WAG (4/5)
Hetzer WAG (4/5
OBJECTIVES:
#1 Search Objective (Reward: 100WP) – Determine which two buildings contain supplies - SUCCESSFUL
#2 Resist! (Reward: 100WP) – At least half of Widows must survive ten turns of combat - SUCCESSFUL
SPECIAL RULES:
Moonless Night - Apply +3 penalty to all weapons attacks. Apply -1 modifier to all targets that have 15 heat or more.
Commander - One of Militia force is a 3/3 field commander.
Salvage - In effect only if Widows complete both objectives.
Game Setup:
The GeoHex city mat has a small communications and supply depot on the NW corner. Two supply buildings are in the depot, the other two are on the East side of the city.
Summary:
An overhead view of Carson town. A few brave members of Capolla's planetary militia stand ready to defend a supply depot.
Mike "Kill Shot" Liu stands ready in his vintage UM-R60 UrbanMech.
Stacy Church advances into Carson, a city ravaged by years of warfare. Her targeting and tracking system tell her there are enemy 'Mechs in the area. "Stay tight, people," she orders. It's difficult to make out anything amongst the dark shadows of a ruined city.
Without warning, a militia
Vindicator leaps up onto a building right in front of Stacy. "Contact!" she yells as she jams her fingers down on the firing studs in her hand. Her hastily fired weapons miss. The
Vindicator's PPC strikes her
Zeus' torso, but her advanced Blue Shield Project particle dampener softens the blow.
A militia
Raven moves in to take a shot at Stacy Church. The
Raven is unable to score any hits.
Stacy moves on, undeterred by the appearance of two Battlemechs. She advances forward and begins to scan the warehouse the Vindicator stood on. She spots an UrbanMech on the main avenue. "That's three confirmed 'Mechs," she warns. What else is she going to find here?
Meanwhile, the newest member of the Black Widows, Kristofur Blaine, finds himself the object of a lot of attention. The
Vindicator and
Raven are now pressing the attack. Kristofur's massive
Marauder II shrugs off the damage.
The
Raven pilot is aware of how exposed he is an attempts to run away, but the 'Mech's feet lose traction and the 'Mech falls down, sliding into the ruins of an abandoned building.
Kristofur ignores the fallen
Raven and pursues the
Vindicator, hoping for a good shot on through the rear armor. Unfortunately, Kristofur's heavy Gauss slug and ER PPC's miss. Kristofur is beginning to understand that it's nearly impossible to hit at night if he jumps.
Meanwhile, Francine has successfully scanned a warehouse in the NE corner and emerges just in time to shoot down an advancing Hetzer. She scores an amazing shot with her PPC and LRM-15, coring out the rear of the Hetzer. Stacy finishes scanning the warehouse in the SE corner.
The Militia forces attempt to disengage and regroup. More shots are traded in the dark, but most weapons miss.
Francine manages to jump behind the
Raven, but her shots go astray.
The Militia forces regroup around "Kill Shot" Liu just outside the supply depot. Kristofur's
Marauder II advances.
The
Vindicator jumps into the supply depot to take partial cover behind the gate. The
Raven runs to support "Kill Shot" but Kristofur catches him before he can make it into cover. The
Marauder II's massive heavy Guass slug and PPC core right through the
Raven's center, tearing out the 'Mech's gyro and engine. The
Raven skids to a halt just in front of "Kill Shot," it's pilot unconscious and bleeding. "Kill Shot's" autocannon roars to life, plinking away at the
Marauder's armor.
"Kill Shot" keeps his fingers down on the firing button. All he needs is one good shot at the cockpit and he'll have accomplished the impossible. But luck is not with him tonight. He narrowly misses the
Marauder's cockpit (rolled 11, needed 12) and scores more damage on the
Marauder's left arm. Kristofur Blaine brings the full might of his 100 ton beast down on the little
UrbanMech, touching off autocannon ammunition. A massive explosion rips the
Urbie in two as the top half of the torso blows off. That's another kill for Kristofur!
Francine sneaks her
Griffin into the supply depot and scores shots on the
Vindicator's right torso. The
Vindicator snaps off a PPC shot of his own, but Francine's reflective armor (and glancing blow rules) mean that a 10 pt weapon only does 2 points of damage!
The Widows press the attack from all sides. Though battered, the
Vindicator weathers the storm.
Just when victory for the Widow's seems imminent, the unthinkable happens. Stacy fumbles a turn and falls down. The
Vindicator pilot, eager to exact revenge, jumps into better firing position.
The Hetzer finally emerges from the depot to score a large autocannon hit on the
Marauder's left leg. The
Vindicator also targets the
Marauder, but neither can score any critical hits.
The Widows combine to pour more fire into the
Vindicator. Most of the shots miss due to the darkness and jumpiness of the target.
The Militia win initiative again and the
Vindicator hopes to score a shot into the
Marauder's rear armor. The
Vindy hits an arm instead. What a mess!
Kristofur swivels his torso towards the Hetzer. BOOM! A heavy gauss slug punches through and cores the Hetzer. That's three kills for Kristofur.
Alone and outnumbered, the
Vindicator retreats. Stacy's heavy PPC vaporizes the
Vindicator's right arm, effectively destroying the
Vindicator's combat capability. The Widows control the field!!!
