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The [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Leopard]Leopard Dropship[/url], Rat Lance was riding aboard was of a fairly simple design, easy to maintain. This particular ship was built on Galax at Federated-Boeing Interstellar. Its primary purpose was to carry a Lance of BattleMechs. The 1900-ton drop ship measured 66 meters (216.5') from bow to stern, 51.6 meters (169.3') in width and its height was just over 22 meters (73.5'). While most drop ships have a fairly modest weapons loadout, the Leopard's was quite impressive with five large lasers, seven medium lasers, three LRM-20s and two PPCs. There was also room for two aerospace fighters as prescribed under the old Star League Defense Force doctrine for an Air Lance.

Nero considered their current assignment while sipping an iced beverage from the galley. They were testing four BattleMechs, organized into a Lance while getting field experience with fellow Academy students from Nagelring and New Avalon Institute of Science (NAIS) on a quiet planet manned by a private military unit considered to be one of the best in the system. He felt about as safe as a young officer could feel and was actually quite hopeful, possessing a tinge of excitement about the mission. Peter Mattlov, a student from NAIS was already running checks on his Cicada. Nero thought Mr. Mattlov was smart for doing this. He believed he should follow Mattlov's example. He eyeballed Aveline Lott, also from Nagelring, still not sure how to take her as he headed toward the Mech bays. Along the way he ran into Mr. Staudinger. In a loud enough voice for Ms. Lott to hear him, Nero addressed his other Nagelring classmate, "hey Ansgar, let's go check out our Mechs! Mr. Mattlov is performing diagnostics on his Cicada. Besides, we should be arriving on Steelton soon, we'll need to be in the cockpits for the drop." Nero did not wait for a response, continuing to walk toward his Wolverine in bay number two.

He walked around the outside, of the [i]Wolverine[/i], eyeballing the vehicle looking over its armor, paying attention to the joints, searching for hydraulic fluid leaks or anything out of the ordinary. Once he was satisfied, the exterior was operationally fit for service; he climbed up into the cockpit. Peering inside, he familiarized himself with the interior. Satisfied with that visual inspection, he climbed in and fastened the seat belts. He began conducting a similar set of diagnostic tests on the various systems that make up the Wolverine Mech.

Nero placed his gold colored neurohelmet over his head, which immediately seemd to wake up his Wolverine. 'I need a name for this beast,' Nero thought to himself. 'Beast? no. Emperor? no.' Nero giggled to himself. 'Cobra? no. Champion? no.' He paused in his thought process has a he pushed a few buttons, checked scans and watched the readouts. 'Bah, it'll come to me. Maybe when we are on solid ground.

As he was completing a diagnostic test, he noticed the bay doors open with a loud bang. Warning indicators sounded loudly. The drop light remained red, indicating a drop was imminent, just not now. As the vehicle neared the surface, Nero felt a rush of emotions, excitement, anticipation, anxiety, fear and confidence all wrapped in one. He knew he would do well, but it was all just so new and there was still so much to learn.

The drop indicator on his HUD flashed green, meaning it was time to go. The drop indicator then flashed to black as the datalink between the Mech and the drop ship was severed. Nero looked down, viewing the surface below him. His neurohelmet allowed him to see the ground below. It was a smooth drop zone, preplanned just for this exercise. The drop could have been about ten feet, not significant for the Wolverine. Nero felt the drop ship disengage as his his Mech fell the few meters to the smooth surface below. The knees absorbed the slight impact, giving Nero that same feeling you may get from a descending elevator.  He checked the balance and the yet to be named Wolverine was operationally fit for service. He checked the weapon systems which were all loaded and ready for whatever cardboard cutouts the lance would be required to engage.

Peter Mattlov communicated his status, which reminded Nero to do the same, "RAT one one. Status is nominal. Over." 

Once everyone checked in with RAT company, a command voice came over the net, [i]"RAT, proceed along waypoints to rendezvous with Task Force Rusty."[/i]

Nero checked his map and topographical overlays. They were not complete. He remembered the briefing stating that Tactical Communications had gone down, which affected the topographical database. It would take time to update the geographical system. The lance would have to rely on the onboard database for navigation. As it turns out, RAT Lance would provide escort to an Engineer detachment from Star Guard, assigned with maintaining the back up sensors.


As the Lance moved forward, Nero found his Wolverine on the right side of the formation watching the right side and forward, covering Mattlov's Cicada. His HUD transmitted the locations of the four mechs and the engineer vehicle traveling in the center of their [i]diamond[/i] shaped formation.

Nero found the Wolverine to be somewhat  clunky or temperamental at first, but man and machine slowly melded together in a single functioning entity. It took time, which is exactly what they had. He quickly became familiar with the data readouts on the screens as he moved his eyes up and down to view through the canopy at the terrain around them. Everything looked beautiful to him. He took everything in as the Mechs and vehicles maneuvered across the ground. The stony outcroppings and desert like floor gave him a view of the landscape unfamiliar to him. These new experiences were all overwhelming to him, flooding into his brain and he loved it. It was quite thrilling to say the least.

[@Eisenhorn][@Noxious][@HeySeuss]