[center][color=fdc68a][h1]Chapter 3:
[u]Assault[/u][/h1][/color]
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For an ambush, things were going well. [i]Suspiciously[/i] well. Trained by paranoid officers and forged in the lames of the 4th Succession War, Ulrik was no stranger to an ambush, and yet the hairs on his arm stood up as he watched the Hunchback get scorched by weapon fire from just about every member of his team, and despite that keep charging towards them as if it was nothing. Kept charging towards [b]him[/b], having already positioned himself between Fuka's injured Dragon and the menacing Hunchback. [color=f26522][i]"Stupid idea Ulrik..."[/i][/color] He muttered to himself, but the fact of the matter was that he didn't want to lose a Dragon, or worse, a pilot in the first mission. He made sure to read everyone's reports several times before they boarded the Ankhanne, and he knew Fuka was a great shot, but a terrible pilot. If the Hunchback got to him, chances are she'd be ripped to shreds before the rest of the lance could get through it's armor to save her.

No, that's why he was up in the front. The Gladiator was an equally menacing brawler in the same weight class as the Hunchback, and as long as he could keep it tied down without taking an AC 20 to the cockpit, the rest of his lance should melt the enemy before it could do too much damage.

His eyes darted across his scenner as the Huncback approach: 100 meters. Then 80. 60. A slow mech or not, it had waited until they were close enough to where it could reliably immobilize someone and then charge them. Smart. Too bad they targeted the Dragon: they would hopefully soon find out how big of a mistake they've made. Squeezing the trigger to unleash a bolt of bright blue laser fire towards the Hunchback, the Large Laser hummed angrily and managed to strike exactly where he had wanted: like a scalpel it had cut a gaping hole through the armor plates of the Left Torso on the Hunchback, exposing the internals where the armor for it's monstrous gun was located.

Clearly not impressed by this, the enemy Hunchback returned fire, and it's AC/20 once more threw up a cloud of dust all around the mech, as the muzzle flash temporarily blinded Ulrik's scanner. A moment later his mech jolted and shook, as warning lights began to flash and his VA babbled warnings about a hull breach. [color=f26522][i]"Fuck..."[/i][/color] The impact was enough to give him a small whiplash, and it took a few seconds for him to assess the damage: the shell had torn right through his Centurion's Right Torso, leaving a nasty wound on it. Thankfully, there wasn't anything too important there: only Heat Sinks, which whilst annoying when lost in battle for an energy boat like his mech, weren't too hard or expensive to replace in a mechbay. Far too close for an LRM return fire now, all Ulrik could do was attempt to land a salvo of Medium Lasers on the Hunchback before it crashed into him. With a green flash, Ulrik aimed to finish off the mech once and for all, but with the damage he had just suffered still straining his Gyro, they just barely missed: instead tearing up the Center Torso of the Hunchback. For a moment the damage wasn't obvious to Ulrik, but then a bright blue flash emerged from the hole he had just torn, telling him that he had managed to hit something important. The Hunchback's stride faltered, but at this point it was so close already that it didn't really matter.

Moments later the metal beasts clashed, arms locked as the two brawlers tried to gain the upper hand and blast each other in the process. There was precious little time before the AC/20 would fire again, and Ulrik tried his best to stay away from the barrel of the weapon. [color=f26522]"Quick, shoot him now! I'll keep him in place!"[/color] He shouted into his comms, focused on trying to keep the Hunchback in the same position so that the rest of his lance could take potshots at it.

At the same time, the remaining transport that had witnessed their squadronmates get ripped apart by laser and SRM fire decided that their lives were not worth it, and made a hasty retreat towards the base, dipping below the edge of the crater to break line of sights. The remaining jump troopers weren't so frightened however: if anything, witnessing their allies get turned into fine red mist and crispy chunks by the Firestarter made them much, much more angry. Now that they had time to assess the battlefield, they began to zip across the battlefield with their jetpacks, hitting them nearly impossible as they targeted the lance below them: before long, a good number of them had clung onto the Firestarter's back, and began to use Remi's machine as a firing platform as they peppered the other mechs with laser fire. At the same time, they began to plant explosive charges on it's back: soon enough, they could blow a hole right through the machine if they weren't stopped. 

The rest, realizing that their Hunchback was their only real shot at winning, swarmed Alvin and Jaromir's mech: taking out the guns would do them good. 3 Troopers landed on Alvin, and 4 on Jaromir's, one clinging to their cockpits to obscure their vising, laser rifles unloading into the thick glass window for more confusion. At the same time, the rest of the soldiers began to plant charges of their own onto the backs and head of the mechs: though not swarmed nearly as much as the Firestarter, they would surely do a great deal of damage, or even cripple the respective mechs if they weren't dealt with in time.

[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]HBK-4G[/cell][cell]1[/cell][cell]5[/cell][cell]In A Brawl[/cell][/row]
[row][cell]Troopers[/cell][cell]N/A[/cell][cell]6[/cell][cell]Mounted[/cell][/row]
[/table]

The long awaited GM post of 2024 :)

There are two important gimmicks for this encounter: When rolling to hit either the Hunchie, or any of the troopers, rolling ANYTHING below their to-hit, except for a crit, causes you to hit the mech they are attached to. This means back armor for most, but in case you attempt to hit the ones clinging to Jaromir or Alvin's cockpit, it would be a Head hit, so watch out.

These two can attempt to swat them off, which means spending your "attacks" on removing them. Alternatively, you can shoot at anything else, but you'll take 2 damage to your head, and you have a -3 to hit any other target.

As a qiqck recap, the Hunchie has both the CT and ammo exposed, and both legs are below half armor: there's a chance it goes critical and you get no salvage, but it might be worth fishing for a Gyro hit too, if you're feeling lucky.

Sorry for the wait once more, I feel like I say this every time, but I think we've really just become a slow burner RP haha

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