[center][color=fdc68a][h1]Chapter 2:
[u]Arrival at Lamar IV[/u][/h1][/color]
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[b][i]~Ankhanne, Briefing Room~[/i][/b]

The chirp from his watch woke Ulrik up from his daydreaming, and indicated that it was time for him to begin the briefing. Looking over the info on his tablet one more time, he finally placed the rugged device down on the table and then stared into the eyes of his otherwise silent pilots. Once more the only sound in the room for a few second was the sound of people shifting, and the sound of barely functioning fans rattling in the air conditioning system. Last time he was here, he wasn't really sure what to say to his pilots given how little info he actually had available. This fact remained mostly unchanged: he still wasn't sure what to say, but at least they finally had intel which did bring a small smile onto the otherwise stern man's face. 

He gave himself a second to look over the faces of all the MechWarriors one more time before he sat down on the edge of the table and tapped the tablet besides him with one hand. [color=f7941d]"I see everyone has had their beauty sleep like I recommended. Good. Hopefully we won't die today then."[/color] Hopefully. Taking a mix of rookies and misfit veterans into a dropzone against unknown hostiles was a gamble he didn't like the odds of, but at least fatigue won't be the reason they get shot. At least not mental: he wasn't sure about the metal fatigue of the rustbuckets they received from the Republic.

[color=f7941d]"I'll keep it short and sweet this time. About an hour ago we entered orbit, and we've had some time to analyze our scans. The good news is that we have a reasonably detailed topographic map that we've updated to all your rides. The bad news is that we'll be fighting an uphill battle in what appears to be a small valley."[/color] Grabbing his tablet momentarily, the screen behind him flickered to life and showed a much more detailed version of the map they had seen before. At one end of the gently winding valley nestled at the foot of the crater was a large circle marked as the "drop zone", whilst on the other end a sizeable military structure embed into the side of the hill was marked and outlined in red. [color=f7941d]"We'll be landing at the foot of the valley, as close as the Ankhanne can get us. Even the best of these eggships don't like it when you land them on an incline, and we're not risking a mission failure before we can even embark."[/color]

Ulrik walked besides the screen and pointed at the middle of the valley with two fingers. [color=f7941d]"This is our route. We identified the enemy base, and it seems to have minimal static defense. However, we've seen an unknown DropShuttle land there just a few hours ago, and we've picked up a few mech signatures patrolling the area, mostly below 40 tons in size. No transponders on either the shuttle or the mechs, so we still don't know the identity of the OpFor."[/color]

He slowly switched sides in front of the screen, and dragged a line with his other hand on either sides of the valley. [color=f7941d]"Zohra, Karel: we'll have the two of you scan either side of the valley in case the patrols start coming back: I don't want to be surprised by a few Panthers peeking over the edge and picking us off from a distance. Fuka, Alvin"[/color] He turned over to the two Mechwarriors before patting the screen with his fingers at the mouth of the valley. [color=f7941d]"You two are with me, we'll take point and push up in the valley. We'll need to take the brunt of the fire if combat ensues, preferably without getting our mech shot out from under us. The rest of the lance will stay behind and follow at a distance. Until we know what we're up against, I don't want anyone to run towards our target."[/color]

Turning to the screen, he zoomed in on the compound and used the tablet to highlight a few key points. [color=f7941d]"We know there is a hangar inside the facility for mechs as well as aersopace fighters and shuttles, but we don't know how big it is under the surface. Our Scans show the facility is old: it must've been established some time after the planet was abandoned and the radiation hazard was gone. Once we get here, we'll make our way inside and secure the facility, by force if necessary. We take any equipment we can move, and destroy anything we can't: remember, the goal is to make sure that our mystery friends can't conduct raids on Rasalhague territory anymore. Bonus points if we figure out who they are."[/color]

Ulrik waited for a few more seconds before he looked down at his watch, eyes narrowing as he examined the time: 12:11. That didn't leave them much time before planetfall. [color=f7941d]"Alright, let's wrap it up and head to the bay. We're landing in 20."[/color] With that, he quickly turned off the screen and motioned at the door for everyone to get going. [color=f7941d]"If you have any other questions, do it once we're all strapped in."
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[i][b]~Ankhanne, Mech Bay~[/b][/i]

Strapped into the cockpit of his Centurion, Ulrik finally felt at home. He preferred the cold, calculating action of combat to the often confusing role of trying to lead their merry band of mercenaries. But now that he robotically turning switches and pressing buttons, movements that have been burnt into his memory over the years, his mind was finally clear. Finally he pressed the ignition, and the machine hummed to life around him, fusion core and myomer bundles coming to life as the displays in the cockpit lit up. Running a quick diagnostics check, he looked around the bay to see his MechWarriors doing the same, and the mechtechs doing the last, final minute adjustments as the klaxons began to blare and a warm, orange light filled the bay.

[color=f7941d]"This is your 60 second warning for atmospheric entry. Strap in, everyone."[/color] He made sure that everything inside the cockpit was secured tightly, and had just enough time to adjust the chins traps on his neurohelm before the ship began to rattle underneath them. At first it was gentle, almost unnoticable, but over the next few seconds it slowly intensified into an ungodly rollercoaster that felt like they had been put into a paint shaker. 

It only lasted a minute before the ship had finally slowed down, but it was enough to remind Ulrik why he hated large DropShips like this over the smoother entry of smaller shuttles. Few seconds later a message popped up in his helmet's HUD, and he frowned as he adjusted his mic into position. [color=f7941d]"Final checks everyone, make sure your diagnostics show green, we're doing a running start. Plasma blackout is over, and scanners show that the hostiles have finally noticed us: we'll have company as soon as we land. Remember the plan: Karel, Zhora, take the flanks, the rest is with me up the middle. Fall back if you meet anything you can't outrun our outshoot. If things go tits up, we run back here and hope the captain kept the engines warm. Let's not lose a mech on the first assignment."[/color] With that he slowly reached down and grabbed the stick of his trusty Centurion, enjoying the familiar touch of the time-worn plastic that had been smoothed to near perfection over years of use.

Suddenly a mighty roar filled the hangar as the retro boosters fired up for the last meters of the landing, and an uncomfortable 2,3 Gs weighted down on the crew for a few moments before disappeared, and with a loud [b]THUD[/b] the Ankhanne came to a halt. As the rockets finally died down, an eerie silence follower for a few long seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity, before the gates of the mech bay slowly began to open. Leaning forward in his seat and pushing up the throttle, Ulrik got his Centurion into a light stroll as he walked up to the opening gates, and saw as his MechWarriors left their cubicles too and joined him. 

Behind the opening doors laid a long and winding valley covered in lychen and snow, with small glacial flow running up it's length like a river. Either sides the slops of the valley ran at a steep angle upwards until they quite suddenly disappeared into the plains behind at an altitude of 200 feet. It was certainly much more jarring than the orbital pictures made it out to be, but not as bad as Ulrik had feared. Over the slopes that laid in the valley's bends, they could just make out in the distance the blinking lights of the compound they were supposed to storm: a leisurely stroll in a light mech on a good day, but a potential marathon if they ran into stiff resistance.

[color=f7941d]"No hails from the garrison: treat all contacts as hostile."[/color] The ramp had just finished lowering and he got his Centurion to start jogging down the ramp when Ulrik spotted a tiny flash in the distance, from atop one of the ridgelines surrounding the valley. Moments later a thunderous crash could be heard as a supersonic shell crashed into his cockpit, leaving a spiderweb of cracks on the armored glass as it hit it's mark but failed to penetrate. Instinctively raising one of his hands to cover his face, his Centurion did the same, and after a heartbeat of hesitation he let loose a shot from his Large Laser towards the ridgeline, missing the top by a few feet as the bright laser shot off towards space. [color=f7941d]"Motherf-..."[/color] It was startling to receive a blow like this so soon after landing, but he wasn't surprised: he and his infantry platoon had used the same strategy countless of times before. 

[color=f7941d]"Infantry contact on the ridgeline, 1 o'clock! Everyone spread out and keep your eyes peeled! Karel, take the right flank and gives the welcome party a roast! Zhora, take the left, check to see if we have more friends waiting for us. Fuka, you're up front!"[/color] He barked orders as yet another shell zipped past, just narrowly missing his cockpit this time and shooting off on a ballistic trajectory as it ricoched off his mech's shoulderplate. Such anti-mech infantry rifles were only useful in numbers, but a direct hit on the fragile cockpit was still a viable tactic. As the rest of the lance began to unload, several more shots rang out, and shooters on both sides began firing in an attempt to score some critical hits. Shrugging off a few more shots as the Dragon began to take the brunt of the rifle fire, Ulrik let loose a few bursts of his Medium Lasers at the ridgelines to keep the infantry pinned as he checked his sensors. [color=f7941d]"Two lances of vehicles coming just around the bend: they seem like J. Edgars and... Goblins? That can't be right, they still make those?"[/color] Ulrik didn't have time to ponder whether or not his sensors were lying to him or not, as the very real beams of the Large Laser from the first Goblin taking the corner managed to hit Fuka's Dragon directly in the Right Torso, sending sparks and molten metal flying in all directions. [color=f7941d]"We've got mech signatures closing in fast, we need to deal with these tanks before they get here!"[/color]

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