[center][color=fdc68a][h1]Chapter 2:
[u]Retaliation[/u][/h1][/color]
[img]https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/064/468/803/large/pawel-balcer-concept41.jpg?1687986757[/img]
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[b][i]~Lamar IV, Glacial Valley~[/i][/b]

Just as quick as the enemy lance appeared, a brilliant symphony of laser and autocannon fire erupted from his own lines, and sent a warm welcome towards the hostile mechs. He knew they must've been surprised, because one of the Locusts barely managed to fire off a burst of laser fire that tore up the dirt in front of his own mech before a friendly volley turned a good chunk of its right leg into slag. With a mighty mechanical scream the Locust's leg crumpled under itself, and the machine tumbled mid-gait, falling on the ground and kicking up an enormous dust cloud as it proceeded to slide for a good 30 meters before coming to a halt on the ground. A flash of green laser fire erupted from its guns in defiance, whizzing off harmlessly into the air, and the small machine shuddered as the pilot tried to wrangle with the controls to get their mech up and running again. As the Locust pilots so often say: speed is life. And right now, this Locust had none.

With the Javelin still out of sight for him, and the other Locust receiving several barrages from the long-range weapons of his Lance that tore off both its arms, he now turned his attention to the greatest threat on the battlefield: the Jenner, already engaged in a deadly melee with their own Firestarter. The enemy mech glowed a soft orange hue as Overkill's flamers and its own return volley spiked the heat, the fast gait of the mech noticeably slowed down as the heatsinks desperately tried to cool the myomer bundles and other internals. 

Slow and preoccupied: the perfect target.

There was a loud [b]crash[/b] in the air as Ulrik pulled the trigger, and his Large Laser crackled to life, the sudden discharge of so much energy vaporizing the thin atmosphere in a brilliant flash of light. The right torso of the enemy Jenner lit up in a shower of sparks as the laser dug deep and turned the armor into molten slag within a second. He always adored the large laser, much more than the AC/5 that it replaced. With this one burst the cockpit already felt like the bathrooma after a warm shower, and it was only going to get worse. Not wanting to be a sitting duck in an already cumbersome mech if he fired an alpha strike, Ulrik decided that a salvo of LRM fire would surely scare off the pesky light if it managed to strike something important. With another squeeze of the trigger he let loose a salvo of brilliant orange lights, dancing in the air like fireflies on a moonlit night, before they disappeared in a flourish of brilliant explosions as they impacted the Jenner's hull. The majority of the missiles managed to strike their target, but the fresh puff of smoke obscured Ulrik's vision from seeing what damage they actually caused. 

[b]BANG[/b]

In an instant dust and smoke was blown in all cardinal directions as the Jenner exploded violently and sent a shockwave through the thin atmosphere that buffeted even his own 55 ton centurion, pieces of metal and other debris sent flying through the air across the battlefield. Only a smoking husk remained of the Jenner after the LRM salvo tore into the exposed structure of the mech, tearing it apart with the help of the Jenner's own SRM ammo exploding. A spectacular show, one that surprised even Ulrik as he marveled at the rising cloud of dust over the battlefield. A few moments later as the moment faded, he'd look at the Firestarter now covered in a thick layer of dust and scraped with thousands of tiny shrapnel from standing in the proximity of the explosion. At least there wasn't a risk of the Jenner's salvo cutting short the life of one of his fighters in the first engagement. [color=f7941d]"One mech down, focus fire on the mechs that can still walk."[/color] He hesitated for a moment, and then continued as he throttled up on the Centurion and continued advancing towards the primary facility, his sensors scouring the horizon. [color=f7941d]"If they rout, regroup on me. I'm picking up additional sensor traces from the facility, moving up to get a better reading."[/color]

As skeptical as he was just an hour ago of his pilot's capabilities, he now felt much more confident that they could take on a pirate scout lance. Though some of them struggled to hit their targets, nobody hesitated even for a moment and focused their fire effectively. He even caught a glimpse of a glorious ramming action as their friendly Locust slammed into the enemy LCT-1V. Maybe a little but foolish, but certainly brave, it certainly rattled the enemy. 

With one enemy mech already down, and another one trying to stand up, the enemy had been cut down to half strength in just the span of a minute. The now armless Locust saw the writing on the wall and decided it wasn't going to stick around any longer, and with some fancy footwork it disengaged from the melee with Hamazasp, but not before scorching his mech's Center Torso with a burst of its sole Medium Laser. Good riddance. 

[b]Beep. Beep. "Incoming Long Range Fire"[/b]

This time the missiles from the Javelin weren't aimed at him, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. With no cover to speak of, seconds passed with breath held back to see where they would strike, before a series of explosions peppered Jaromir's Trebuchet. It buffeted the mech, as a little over half the salvo managed to connect with their sharpshooter's mech. Not enough to eat through the armor, but enough that it would surely need some time in the bay once they got back. [color=f7941d]"Damnit... Overkill, Karel, take out that Javelin, or make it run away. If that salvo hits a Light mech, we risk losing a few arms."[/color]

They might've made easy work of this first lance, but the pirates surely had more than a handful of antique tanks and a lance of light mechs. If that Javelin managed to escape, it could pepper them with long range fire whilst they are fighting the main garrison force of the enemy compound, and that was something Ulrik really didn't like the idea of.

[hr]
[h3][color=fdc68a]Combat Info Panel[/color][/h3]
[table=bordered][row][cell]Enemy Mech:[/cell][cell]Distance (Hex):[/cell][cell]Difficulty To Hit:[/cell][cell]Other Modifiers:[/cell][/row]
[row][cell]LCT-1V[/cell][cell]6 / 11[/cell][cell]8[/cell][cell]ROUT[/cell][/row][row][cell]LCT-1E[/cell][cell]3[/cell][cell]4[/cell][cell]DOWNED[/cell][/row][row][cell]JVN-10A[/cell][cell]8 / 13[/cell][cell]7[/cell][cell]Can't target from Valley[/cell][/row][row][cell]JR7-D[/cell][cell]N/A[/cell][cell]N/A[/cell][cell]DEAD[/cell][/row]
[/table]

The 1V Locust is running away, if it isn't killed this turn it will leave combat. The 1E Locust is currently on the ground, it cannot move until the start of next turn, so its easy to hit. No other rules for this, just make sure to shoot them good. JVN-10A is still in combat and not fleeing (yet), so expect to get another volley unless you manage to disarm it.

Hamazasp took 5 damage in the Center Torso from the Medium Laser, and Jaromir took 5 damage and 4 damage to Right Torso and Right Arm respectively from the LRM-15 salvo of the JVN-10A.

I updated the distance part of the table, now the first number is for the light mechs who fought on the ridge, and the second number is for everyone who remained in the valley with Ulrik. 


[hider=Combat Rolls]
https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/25629
Large Laser To Hit Against Jenner - 6 (Hit)

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/25630
Large Laser Hit Location - 6 (Right Torso)

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/25631
LRM 10 To Hit Against Jenner - 9 (Hit)

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/25632
LRM 10 Cluster Roll - 10 (8 hits)

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/25633
LRM 10 First Cluster (5 dmg) Hit Location - 7 (Center Torso)

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/25634
LRM 10 Second Cluster (3 dmg) Hit Location - 6 (Right Torso)

Somehow poor Jenner took EXACTLY the damage it needed in both the Right Torso and Center Torso to finish it off, so I can say that was a pretty damn lucky roll.
[/hider]


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