[hider=1 Hour Ago]
[i](Open Comms)[/i]

[color=Yellow][i]"Splendid work, lads, ha-ha, a merry jest indeed! The Green Knights will have quite the time wiping the egg from their faces after our little jape! Heee-heeheeheeheeee!"[/i][/color]

[color=Orange][i]"Ahh, yes sir, the mission was a success, sir."[/i][/color]

[color=Yellow][i]"Oh, no need to be so formal, Jester 2! Or should I say, Mister Dimples?"[/i][/color]

[color=Orange][i]"Sir, I'd prefer my callsign not be--"[/i][/color]

[color=Yellow][i]"Are you questioning me, Mister Dimples????[/i][/color]

[color=Orange][i]"....ah, no sir."[/i][/color]

[color=Yellow][i]"Good! And don't be so dour, we're nearly in the clearly! Once we make it through the pass, we'll be scott-free and going wee-wee-wee all the way home, ha-haaaa!"[/i][/color]

[color=Gray][i]"Ummm sir?"[/i][/color]

[color=Yellow][i]"What is it, Slinky?"[/i][/color]

[color=Gray][i]"....am I Slinky? I--...oh wait, sir, my hip actuator's starting to grind, sir. I think something got lodged in it when I stomped through that retirement home. If I take her all the way back to base like this, the whole assembly will be pulverized by the time we get through the mountain pass. Requesting I break off and head back to the Nui Awa base for emergency repairs?"[/i][/color]

[color=Yellow][i]"Hrrrmmm, grumbly-grumble. Yes, Slinky, you may break away. But there's a spot in the mountain pass that makes us vulnerable, and I don't want to have our prank turned back on us. Bing-Bong, Honk-Honk!"[/i][/color]

[color=Green][i]".....ummm, are those our call-signs now, sir? Or are you just--"[/i][/color]

[color=Yellow][i]"Yes, Honk-Honk! We're going to move at half speed while I call for a substitute! Once Captain Waffles joins us, we'll make a break for the pass!"[/i][/color]

[color=Green][i]"....er, yes sir."[/i][/color]

[i](Private line between Jester 2, 3, and 4)[/i]

[color=Orange][i]"Hey, any of you guys think that Jester one is, I dunno, kinda losing it?"[/i][/color]

[color=Tan][i]"I hear ya. I'm not above doin' some dirty work on a job, but he's gettin' way too into this whole goofy-ass character he's made."[/i][/color]

[color=Green][i]"No kiddin'. The Duchess didn't tell me anything about working for a psycho."[/i][/color]

[color=Orange][i]"I think the gimmick's getting to him. Some of the guys in Fire Witch's lance are sayin' the same thing about her.[/i][/color]

[color=Green][i]"So what do we do?"[/i][/color]

[color=Tan][i]"I mean, we're already in on some pretty heinous shit. The MRB isn't gonna be kind if we roast civilians [u]and[/u] break contract. And that's if 'Crimson King' and the others in gimmicks don't go full loony and turn on us."[/i][/color]

[color=Orange][i]"Bing-Bong's right, let's get this contract done, waste the Knights, get this rock primed for the Duchess, then go our separate ways."[/i][/color]

[color=Tan][i]"Don't call me Bing-Bong, Mister Dimples."[/i][/color]

[color=Green][i]"Yeah, these call signs are ridiculous. I don't wanna be Honk-Honk."[/i][/color]

[color=Orange][i]"Shut up, Honk-Honk."[/i][/color]

[color=Tan][i]"Yeah, shut up, Honk-Honk."[/i][/color]
[/hider]


[center][color=Silver][b]M I S S I O N   S T A R T[/b][/color][/center]


[b][i]Hiyan-Chia Mountain Pass
50km Southwest of Geum Haebyon
0400 Hours
27 March, 3030[/i][/b]


[color=SkyBlue]"C-c-coffee, Colonel?"[/color] Lt. Lyons held up a tin cup of steaming hot brown liquid, her hands trembling from the cold. Further down in their positions in the mountain pass proper, the Mechwarriors of Gawain's Green Knights were nice and toasty, their cockpits environmentally sealed. Even with their reactors shut down to avoid giving away their positions, the residual heat inside their mechs would keep them good and warm for hours. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for the Mobile HQ. Once upon a time, when the vehicle was a top-of-the-line piece of SLDF hardware, it had its own fusion reactor, environmental sealing, and creature comforts to keep a crew operating comfortably for days or weeks on end. Everything from the fusion engine to much of the heat insulation had been scavenged over time, however, leaving the Colonel and MHQ crew to layer up in heavy coats and huddle around battery-powered heaters while they waited.

[color=Olive]"Thanks,"[/color] Colonel Wayne gladly accepted the hot beverage, and quickly gulped some down. The coffee--if it could even be called that-- was bitter and sour and had an aftertaste like a mouthful of dirt, but at least it was hot. Even the Colonel, his composure almost always rock-solid, couldn't drink the stuff without making a face. [color=Olive]"Any signals yet?"[/color]

[color=Khaki]"S-s-some scrambled ch-chatter, s-sir,"[/color] Cadet Higgins, answered, deeply regretting the thin T-shirt he'd been wearing to show off his abs. [color=Khaki]"D-don't think we can descramble it without their c-c-codes, but th-they're in the area."[/color]

[color=SkyBlue]"The airspace s-s-seems clear for now as well, sir,"[/color] Lyons added. [color=SkyBlue]"If their p-p-patrols are on their regular s-s-schedule, their response t-time should be about s-s-seven minutes."[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"S-seismic sensors are q-quiet, but the m-maps we brought along show some p-p-potential weak spots that match what I got on my initial s-s-scan,"[/color] Cadet Windham piped in. [color=FireBrick]"A g-g-good shot into Bravo-Bravo 2 could bring d-down a rockslide, and a sh-shot into Quebec-9 can collapse the b-bridge. But there's the s-s-same risk on our s-s-side, in Ch-Charlie 13."[/color]

[color=Olive]"Then we don't want to play that card too early,"[/color] the Colonel commented, using an incredible amount of self-control to not let his own voice tremble. [color=Olive]"If they see us try to bring down the mountain on them, they can try the same to us."[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"S-s-sir! Seismics just picked up incoming s-s-signals!"[/color] Windham said as his monitor began to [i]ping.[/i] [color=FireBrick]"F-f-four contacts. A thirty-five tonner..."[/color]

[color=Olive]"That's the [i]Firestarter[/i],"[/color] the Colonel nodded, his blood beginning to boil as he pictured the faces of the innocent people that pilot had burned.

[color=FireBrick]"A f-fifty-tonner..."[/color]

[color=Olive]"The [i]Hunchback,[/i]"[/color] he confirmed. The monstrous AC/20 on the [i]Hunchback[/i] was going to be a problem if they let it get close; the Knights would have to engage it at range to avoid risking a crippling shot.

[color=FireBrick]"One s-s-sixty-f-five tonner..."[/color]

[color=Olive]"There's the [i]Crusader,[/i]"[/color] Gaius said. The opposite problem of the [i]Hunchback[/i], the [i]Crusader[/i] was a potent missile boat, with a mix of LRMs and SRMs, and he'd seen from the news footage that its SRMs were carrying Inferno warheads. Infernos were dangerous to a Mech thanks to the risk of excess heat, but since the Von Luckner wasn't environmentally sealed like the Mechs, one of those could kill Aroxy and his crew outright.

[color=FireBrick]"And....and a second sixty-five tonner, sir?"[/color]

This made Colonel Wayne pause.

[color=Olive]"Can you confirm that?"[/color]

[color=FireBrick]"Ah, yes s-sir, sixty-f-five,"[/color] Windham double-checked his readings. Gaius frowned.

The fourth Mech they had seen on the footage of the attack was a [i]Warhammer[/i], a seventy-ton Mech. Theoretically a lighter mech would mean an easier target, but not knowing what Mech the Crimson Fists had called in was troublesome. A second [i]Crusader,[/i] maybe? A [i]Jagermech?[/i] A [i]Thunderbolt?[/i] Depending on what that fourth Mech was, their entire battle plan might be thrown into question.

[color=Olive]"Higgins, open up a short burst to the Lance,"[/color] the Colonel ordered. Higgins nodded, and the Mobile HQ's comms antennae aligned to send out a short ten-second transmission down into the mountain pass.

[color=Khaki]"Fingers crossed the Fists aren't paying attention,"[/color] Higgins muttered to himself. [color=Khaki]"If I'm d-dyin', I d-don't wanna d-d-die while freezing my dick off."[/color]

At the Colonel's signal, Higgins switched on the comms equipment.

[color=Olive]"Green Knights, Gawain Actual,"[/color] Colonel Wayne spoke. [color=Olive]"Targets 1, 3, and 4 inbound. Target 2 not located. New unidentified target inbound. Plan remains the same. Stay sharp, shoot straight."[/color]


[hider=Mission Profile]
[center][b]M I S S I O N   P R O F I L E[/b][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6mLERal.png[/img][/center]

Gawain's Green Knights will enter the map from the point marked by blue crosshairs in Sector C-7. All Knights will have 1 turn to move up to their Run Speed from that point to find where they want to deploy. Once the Green Knights have deployed, the Crimson Fists will enter from the point marked by red crosshairs in Sector GG-15.

[b]Mission Objective:[/b] Destroy all members of the Crimson Fists' Lance.

If any member of the Crimson Fists makes it off the Green Knights' side of the map, they have successfully fled the battle.

[b]Time Limit: Air Support Inbound:[/b] Once the Green Knights initiate combat, the Crimson Fists will call for air support. When that happens, the Knights will have 7 turns to destroy the Crimson Fists and escape back out from Sector C-7 before NPDRE air strikes arrive. 

[/hider]