[center][color=fdc68a][h1]Chapter 3:
[u]Assault[/u][/h1][/color]
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Shots rang out all around Ulrik, the organized chaos of the battle unfolding in the blink of an eye. One lucky shot after the next, the ragged lance of light mechs that came to greet them stood no chance against the firepower of their small, but otherwise swift lance. With the Thumper and Javelin out of the equation, indirect fire was no longer a threat to them or the Ankhanne, and neither would they turn any of his new pilots into a fine pink mist with a lucky salvo. So far so good.

Leaning forward in his seat, Ulrik pressed his Centurion forward as he began to gather speed on the 55 ton brawler, taking steady steps through the labyrinth of burnt out husks that remained of the enemy tanks. They should've known better that to send vehicles out into a narrow shooting gallery against almost two lance's worth of mechs, whatever the weight class. Chances are, the enemy wasn't expecting a rustbucket dropship like theirs to unload 'Mechs, much less any force they couldn't deal with. But now that the gunfire had died down and only the crackling of ammunition fires remained on the battlefield to cover up the sound of their Mech's mechanical thumping, it was evident that the enemy severely underestimated their firepower. Any infantry that remained after Remy's stunt had either fled already or curled up under their thermal blankets and probably hoped they wouldn't accidentally get stepped on by a rouge mech. 

A quick glance through the ferroglass cockpit window to the left and right, Ulrik made a mental note about the location of all his squad members, before he adjusted his neurohelm and updated his scanners with the newest data from the Ankhanne. The straggling scout mechs they've picked up earlier halted their advance on their position, and seemed to be taking a detour as they headed towards their compound, likely trying to avoid the same fate as the lance that met them head-on. Good, if they pushed the advantage now, they could get to the facility before the enemy and capture it before this battle escalates any more. 

[color=f7941d]"Good job everyone, excellent shooting. Let's keep the momentum and push forward. Keep an eye out on the flanks, the valley's coming to and end in 500 meters, and then its a straight climb to the top. Regroup at point Delta-2 once you're through the valley."[/color] With that, Ulrik adjusted his terminal and sent a ping to his squadron's mechs to highlight the desired coordiantes on the map. With Fuka already pulling ahead and Alvin not far behind, he pushed his throttle to the max, sending the Centurion running forward at a blazing 64 kph. Better get there later than never.

The route up the valley seemed longer than it really was, several twists and turns making the journey take longer than it really should've, but Ulrik preferred not getting shot the moment his mech was poking out from behind cover. Still, the high walls eventually flattened to a point where he could see his lance on either side on the high ridge, the difference in elevation becoming less and less as they approached their destination. At the same time, visibility began to worsen as they climbed up the hillside: snow had begun to fall, large white crystals that quickly started to eat away at his visuals. At least the sensors were working, but if something was waiting for them up at the top, they wouldn't know until it had already fired on them.

First thing he noticed of the enemy compound were the blinking lights perching atop its antennas and towers, flashes of light that penetrated the slowly brewing storm. Warnings began to sound in his cockpit by now: the weather was turning for the worst and a storm was quickly brewing that promised to worsen the already questionable visibility to essentially stumbling around in the dark. He forwarded the information to the lance, his leg fidgeting as he leaned forward in the cockpit. [i]"Come on baby, give me a little more..."[/i] Mumbling under his breath to his machine, and eyes squinting as the first buildings of the enemy compound appeared, he finally regrouped with the rest of lance. He loved the Centurion for many reasons, but at times he wished it wasn't so damn slow. Even the Fuka had managed to outrun him, despite riding in a Dragon and being one of the least experienced pilots on his team. Nevertheless, he was glad that nobody tripped over or got ambushed.

[color=f7941d]"Take point Fuka. Move as a team now, we don't know what to expect. If we're lucky, they don't have any more surprises."[/color]

Pushing up as a team, the first buildings of the compounds finally came into view: four large mechbays with doors open on all but one, warning lights flashing inside and the sound of distant sirens absorbed by the snow. The rest of the reinforced concrete buildings lined the hillsides behind them, a few dozen grey faces that poked out from their underground foundations. No turrets in sight, or any signs of a welcoming party. The sort of silence that made any mechwarrior anxious. Last time he barely had time to leave the dropship before getting shot, but this was making him much more anxious.

A quick glance at his rangefinder gave him the distance to the compound: 720 meters. "Eyes open everyone. Alvin, Jaromir, keep check on that mechbay. If the doors open and it is anything other than a bunch of pirates waving a 'Mech sized white flag, don't stop shooting until its slag." He too trained his guns on the 'Mechbay doors, but so far sensors didn't indicate anything to be worried about, and they continued to push up without opposition.

[i]640 meters.[/i] The quiet whirring of the myomer bundles and fusion engines from his lance pierced the sound-absorbing blanket of snow falling from the sky. 

[i]500 meters.[/i] The faint blaring of klaxons could now be heard, small windows and details on the compound becoming visible to the naked eye through the snow. 

[i]420 meters.[/i] The ever increasing snowfall was starting to leave their mechs steaming as their fusion cores were evaporating the water on their vehicles. 

[i]280 meters.[/i] A faint buzzing sound began to fill the air as they approached the base, but the sensors still didn't read anything. Then again, Ulrik wasn't sure if they were designed to be all-weather, or if they were supposed to work in temperatures so far below freezing.

They were less than 200 meters from the base now, and Ulrik was starting to think that the job was as simple as they had expected it to be, when all of a sudden a sound that would terrify any mechwarrior sounded in his cockpit. [url=https://youtu.be/AWejx45zvbM?si=dJR9NYzcKuFGe6Yi&t=52][b]MECH POWER UP DETECTED[/b][/url]. 

[color=f7941d]"Open fire, open fire!"[/color] Ulrik shouted, but before he could even squeeze the trigger on the stick, a thunderous boom echoed through the snowy landscape as a brilliant orange light appeared in place of where the mechbay's doors stood just a second ago, as it was blown into pieces by the AC/20 firing straight through it. Whirring through the air with a ghostly whine, the 203mm shell tore through the right leg of Fuka's Dragon, taking half the damn structure and all the armor with it as a deadly cloud of shrapnel covered the snow behind them for at least a hundred meters. 

Through newly formed hole in the mechbay's doors, the smoking barrel of a Hunchback slowly appeared as all the snow it kicked up finally settled down. The mech was painted in a simple off-white color, a single red stripe running down across its left torso as the only identifiable marking. Several extra pieces of armor were welded all over the mech's torso and arms. Taking use of the confusing, the enemy mech pilot quickly pressed his mech into full speed, the Hunchback running out of the bay at full speed towards Ulrik's lance. 

Seconds later, the Hunchback was illuminated by gunfire, and Ulrik squeezed the trigger to join the onslaught and unleash a beam of blue light that cut into the Hunchback's center torso with a shower of sparks, melting through the additional armor plates and digging into the enemy mech. [i][color=f7941d]"Take that you bastard!"[/color][/i] Squeezing the trigger again, his Medium Lasers impacted the enemy's left torso, and he cursed under his breath he had missed the same location with his other attack: cooking the ammo of the Hunchback was a quick way to get a dangerous foe out of the equation.

At the same time, the buzzing sound from earlier intensified and grew louder, and just when Ulrik had thought a sneaky Hunchback was their only problem, a flight of fourp Ripper VTOL's emerged from beyond the crater's edge, unleashing a volley of Medium Lasers that kicked up snow all around Ulrik's lance but scored no direct hits. Tilting forward as the began their advance, Ulrik caught a glimpse of the infantry bays opening, before bright sparks of light appeared in the sky like shining stars: the light of jump packs as their owners jumped out of their transports and headed towards Ulrik's lance, small beams already cutting across the air as their rifles began to fire on them.

[color=f7941d][i]"Fuck!"[/i][/color] Ulrik cursed as the situation went from bad to worse, the transport VTOL's starting to circle around now that they ahd dropped their troops for an attack run. It would seem that their opponents weren't out of ideas just yet. [color=f7941d]"Spread out, don't let them board your mech! Focus your fire on the Hunchback, we have to silence that AC/20 before it tears us to shreds!"[/color] Groaning angrily, his Centurion tilted to the left as she jumped in front of Fuka, taking up ground between her injured Dragon and the charging Hunchback. He readied his Centurion like a Solaris Gladiator or an old-earth boxer, waiting for the imminent clash between the 55 ton mechs. If the enemy pilot wanted a brawl, he'd give them one.

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[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]HBK-4G[/cell][cell]4[/cell][cell]5[/cell][cell]N/A[/cell][/row]
[/table]

I know you all love the Hunchback, so here it :)

Maybe if you don't turn it into slag, we can have another medium mech that can barely keep up with the rest of the lance. 

For this round, there's a few simple rules to keep in mind: Hunchback can be targeted as normal, but if you want to melee it, it will also get a free guaranteed charge hit on you, since its already charging. I didn't want to list the VTOLs in the table to keep it clean, [b]but to hit them you'll still need to roll an 8[/b]. Any damage will kill them instantly. The troopers won't land or make attacks until the next turn, but you can only make attacks against individual ones unless you have specialized anti-infantry weapons: flamers, machine guns and small lasers. A cumbersome AC or SRM is not going to do much against a mobile floating target that can change its movement rapidly after all.

That's it, if you have any questions, ask them on the Discord as usual. 

Also, Merry Christmas for everyone, hope you have great time during the holidays :) 

[@Letter Bee][@Psyker Landshark][@AndyC][@Smike][@Abstract Proxy][@QJT][@Starlance]