[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/eLoQcAy.png[/img][/center]

[hider=Rolls]
Shadow Hawk into Wolfhound: 2 Punches; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24116]Right Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24117]Left Torso[/url]

Wolfhound into Shadow Hawk: 3 Medium Lasers (Target Number=7); [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24118]Miss[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24119]Hit[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24121]Left Leg[/url]), [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24120]Hit[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24122]Right Leg[/url])

Archer into Raven: 2 LRM 10s; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24123]6 Missiles from Cluster 1[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24125]8 Missiles from Cluster 2[/url], 14 total (3 clusters, 5, 5, and 4), [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24126]Right Leg[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24127]Left Arm[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24129]Left Arm[/url] [color=Lime](LEFT ARM DESTROYED)[/color]

APC into Raven: 2 Inferno SMRs; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24130]Center Torso[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24131]4 Heat[/url]), [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24131]Right Torso[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24133]8 Heat[/url])

Ziska into Raven: 2 Medium Lasers, 1 SRM-6; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24135]Center Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24136]Center Torso[/url] (Internal: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24139]1 Critical Hit[/url]= [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24140]Gyro Hit[/url]), [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24137]4 Missiles Hit[/url]: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24138]Right Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24143]Center Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24144]Right Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24146]Right Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24149]Center Torso[/url] (Internal: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24151]2 Critical Hits[/url]= [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24201]XL Fusion Engine[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24203]Gyro Hit[/url]

[color=lime]ENEMY MECH DISABLED: GYROSCOPIC STABILIZER CRIPPLED
[b][i]RVN-3L RECOVERABLE FOR SALVAGE[/i][/b][/color]

Jenner into Ostroc: 2 Medium Lasers, 1 SRM 4 (Target Number= 7); [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24204]Miss[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24205]Hit[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24206]Left Arm[/url]), [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24207]Miss[/url]

Von Luckner into Wolfhound: AC-20; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24167]Left Leg[/url]
Von Luckner into Jenner: 1 SRM-4, 2 SRM-6; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24169]3[/url] + [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24170]4[/url] + [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24171]5[/url] = 12 Missiles Total. [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24172]Right Arm[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24173]Left Arm[/url] [color=Lime](Left Arm Destroyed)[/color], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24174]Left Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24175]Right Leg[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24176]Left Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24177]Right Leg[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24178]Left Arm (becomes Left Torso)[/url],[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24179]Left Torso[/url] [color=Lime](LEFT TORSO DESTROYED)[/color],[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24180]Center Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24181]Center Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24182]Left Arm (Becomes Center Torso)[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24183]Left Arm (Becomes Center Torso)[/url]

Phoenix Hawk into Jenner: 1 Large Laser, 1 Medium Laser; [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24226]Right Leg[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24228]Left Arm (Becomes Center Torso)[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24229]1 Critical[/url]: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24231]Jump Jet[/url])

[color=Yellow]ENEMY MECH CRIPPLED: JENNER JR-7D RETREATING[/color]

Longbow into Von Luckner: 1 LRM-20 (Target Number=6); [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24208]Hit[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24209]16 Missiles Hit[/url] (Clusters of 5, 5, 5, 1): [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24210]Front[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24211]Front[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24212]Right Side[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24213]Minor Motive Hit[/url]), [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24214]Front[/url] ([url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24215]Moderate Motive Hit[/url])

Longbow into Phoenix Hawk: 1 LRM-20 (Target Number=7); [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24216]Hit[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24217]12 Missiles Hit[/url] (Clusters of 5, 5, 2): [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24218]Right Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24219]Center Torso[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24220]Right Arm[/url]

Longbow into Water Truck: 1 LRM-5 (Target Number=7); Miss

Longbow into Ammo Truck: 1 LRM-5 (Target Number=7): [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24222]2 Missiles Hit[/url], [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/24224]Front[/url]
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[center][h3][b][i]KRA-KOOOMM![/i][/b][/h3][/center]

Thunder cracked overhead as the sullen gray skies of early morning gave way to a wall of thick black storm clouds. The weather system rolling in from the eastern coast of the continent had been even more severe than the forecasts had predicted, and an enormous cell of brutal thunderstorms blanketed the land for dozens of kilometers. Thick, blinding sheets of hard salt rain pulverized the ground, and gale-force winds of over 90 kph threw debris along. Anyone unlucky enough to be caught out in this dreadful mess risked being knocked off his feet by the wind, beaten into the ground by the stinging rain, or electrocuted by the arcs of blue-white lightning that danced through the clouds and struck the ground.

[color=Olive]"How's it looking?"[/color] Colonel Wayne asked as the Mobile HQ plowed into the storm, its massive oversized wheels digging deep ruts into the mud. With Alley Cat's ECM field countered by the enemy [i]Raven[/i], the Colonel could at least monitor the Knights' status as the battle continued.

[color=SkyBlue]"Not much damage on Family Man, Desperado, or Giggles,"[/color] Lieutenant Lyons reported as the Mechs' diagnostic computers fed information wirelessly back to the Mobile HQ. [color=SkyBlue]"Alley Cat isn't going to survive another salvo like that, though, and Ramrod's lost an awful lot of armor."[/color]

[color=Khaki]"And Family Man sounds like he's losing it,"[/color] Cadet Higgins added. [color=Khaki]"Are we sure we want someone like that piloting a 'Mech?"[/color]

The Colonel didn't answer. Rivers was one of the first people Gaius had hired when he founded the Green Knights. He'd always handled himself as a professional in the past, not the type for that kind of outburst. Then again, he'd never had his wife and kid in enemy hands before. Under normal circumstances, after seeing something like that, he'd pull Rivers off the line, and not let him anywhere near the cockpit of a Battlemech until Dr. Nakajima had given him a full psych evaluation. But these weren't normal circumstances; he had to work with what he had left.

He just needed Rivers and the rest of the Green Knights to hold it together long enough to make it home. Then he and the doc would have a long talk with him.

[color=Olive]"How's the storm?"[/color]

[color=Crimson]"Getting worse, sir,"[/color], Cadet Windham answered, his monitor showing a bright red splotch over the map of the region. [color=Crimson]"Visibility is going to be near zero before much longer."[/color]

The Colonel nodded. Targeting with the naked eye was difficult enough in heavy rain, but even advanced technology would be of little use. Water droplets in the air absorbed infrared radiation, reducing the range of thermal imagery. The hard impacts of the rain kicked up a thick fog as well, reducing the range even further. Under normal conditions, the thermal radiation from a Battlemech reactor shined like a beacon to IR scanners, but if they kept their speed low and didn't fire off their weapons, the enemy would struggle finding them without being right on top of them.

[color=Olive]"Almost time to give them the slip,"[/color] he said. [color=Olive]"On my order, one last burst transmission, then we go into silent running."[/color]

[color=SkyBlue]"Yes, sir."[/color]

[hr]

Meanwhile, the melee between Gawain's Green Knights and the Crimson Fists had become a cacophony of explosions and twisting metal. After nearly losing Alley Cat to the [i]Longbow[/i]'s opening fusillade, the Knights had turned the battle to their favor by concentrating fire first on the enemy [i]Raven[/i].

A salvo of long-range missiles from Giggles' [i]Archer[/i] obliterated armor off of the smaller 'Mech's limbs, the incoming warheads smashing its left arm into useless scrap. As the [i]Raven[/i] staggered from the impact, it caught two shoulder-fired Inferno rockets from Sgt. Dalton's infantry, the superheated gel bathing the avian 'Mech's torso in fire even in the pouring rain. Myomer muscles seized up and servos groaned in protest from the sudden buildup of heat, slowing the [i]Raven[/i] down considerably. This gave Alley Cat an opening to return fire, with her own medium lasers and short-range missiles punching into the [i]Raven's[/i] torso. A sickly green cloud of smoke signified the 'Mech's gyroscopic stabilizer had been hit, and the [i]Raven's[/i] legs seemed to turn to rubber, the pilot desperately fighting against the machine's mass in a futile attempt to keep it upright.

The [i]Raven[/i] lurched forward, and suddenly the 'Mech's head section blew open. Blasting out from a hatch on top, the [i]Raven's[/i] Mechwarrior shot skyward on a streak of white flame and smoke, the ejection pod ostensibly protecting the pilot from the elements, at least for a while. Once the pod's parachute opened, however, it caught the buffeting winds, which swept the pod and the unfortunate pilot off to gods-know-where.

The smoking, mangled remains of the [i]Raven[/i] splashed down into the mud, its internal components still intact enough to salvage. Assuming, that is, that the survivors would be able to claim it.

Meanwhile, Family Man's [i]Shadow Hawk[/i] attempted to bring its fists down onto the smaller [i]Wolfhound.[/i] The enemy pilot bobbed and weaved enough to keep the 55-tonner's fists from connecting with its head, but the [i]Wolfhound[/i] still caught a pair of crushing blows to the torso before it managed to wrest itself free. Given that it wasn't capable of keeping up with the [i]Shadow Hawk[/i] in a brawl, the [i]Wolfhound[/i] pilot put some distance between itself and the bigger 'Mech, then opened fire with its medium lasers. While one went wide and set a tree alight like a torch, the other two caught the [i]Shadow Hawk[/i] in the legs, carving off rents of armor as the [i]Wolfhound[/i] hoped to hamstring Family Man's machine.

It would not get a chance to continue this assault, however, as a massive shell from the Von Luckner's autocannon slammed into the [i]Wolfhound's[/i] left leg, the single shot shattering the armor and mangling the limb into a twisted mess. Barely enough of the leg's structure remained to keep the [i]Wolfhound[/i] standing, and as the two larger opponents bore down on it, the [i]Wolfhound[/i] began to withdraw.

Merry-Go-Round then turned its attention to the enemy [i]Jenner[/i], who continued to harass Ramrod with another laser slashing into her [i]Ostroc's[/i] left arm. The heavy battle tank let fly with its trio of short-range missile launchers, covering the [i]Jenner[/i] in a maelstrom of high explosives. Over a dozen of the missiles hit home, ripping the entire left side of the light 'Mech away and leaving only a few pockmarked scraps of armor on its center. As the [i]Jenner[/i] reeled from the sudden burst of intense violence, it was struck again, this time by the lasers of Desperado's [i]Phoenix Hawk.[/i] The 45-tonner's large laser scorched the [i]Jenner's[/i] right leg, while the medium punched through the last of its center armor, frying one of its Jump Jets in the process.

Crippled by the immense damage, the pilot of the [i]Jenner[/i] also broke away, joining the [i]Wolfhound[/i] in retreat.

[color=Maroon][i]"Impressive, Green Knights,"[/i][/color] the [i]Longbow[/i] pilot who called herself the Fire Witch bellowed over open comms. [color=Maroon][i]"You have managed to draw first blood today, but that small victory is the only one you will find on this field. And even this small victory you will find to be tainted."[/i][/color]

Raising the huge, cylindrical launcher tubes to an upward trajectory, the [i]Longbow[/i] once again let fly with a massive salvo of long-range missiles. And again, the swarms of missiles split in the air and came down on multiple targets.

The first flight smashed into the Von Luckner, warheads crushing into its front and side. While the tank's armor held, two of the warheads had smashed into Merry-Go-Round's treads, snapping off one of the return rollers and dislocating the front drive wheel. This would make the tank significantly harder to control, especially in miserable terrain like this. If the Green Knights and Crimson Fists continued the fight, Merry-Go-Round would be a sitting duck.

The second flight bore down on Alley Cat's [i]Raven[/i], but as he had intended to protect Ziska from further damage, Desperado lunged his [i]Phoenix Hawk[/i] into the way, taking damage across the arm and torso.

The third flight of missiles was intended for more precious cargo: one of the water trucks. However, without the [i]Raven[/i] to guide the missiles, splitting fire between multiple targets became that much harder for the [i]Longbow[/i], and the flight of LRMs sailed overhead, blasting apart a thicket of trees a hundred meters away.

The fourth flight, however, found its mark on one of the ammunition trucks. The resulting explosion was forceful enough that it titled the closest truck by it onto two wheels, nearly knocking it onto its side. For a few seconds, the secondary crackles and pops of munitions filled the sky with noise and light like fireworks. It would be almost festive, if not for the fact that the two people inside the truck had died, and the Knights had just lost several tons of warheads and autocannon shells they would need for future battles.

[color=Olive][i]"Green Knights, this Gawain Actual,"[/i][/color] Colonel Wayne's voice crackled over the Knights' secure comms channel. [color=Olive][i]"Cover the convoy and withdraw into the storm, lose them in the rain. You're not here to win the fight, you're here to complete the job. Going dark-- see you back at HQ."[/i][/color]