Battletech - Operation Revival

[pornomancer]

Tyra clicks her tongue in irritation. How dare these fools insult Clan Ghost Bear, claiming that the batchall was not received? Did they besmirch the honor of the Clan so easily, implying that the Clan did not perform in line? Tyra switches to her private comms with the leaders. 'Johannes, Hsieh, on me. Klein, flank around the mech, make sure there are no surprises in the immediate vicinity. Zarla, stay on the high ground, maintain long distance recon. I want to no reinforcements to arrive unnoticed.'

With her plan acknowledged, Tyra clicks back to the comms with Uchi. 'Defender of Porthos, Uchi Tikimodo, I am Star Commander Tyra, of Clan Ghost Bear. Your claim that this world did not receive our batchall is a lie that must be punished with a trial of grievance,that of your world against the entire might of Clan Ghost Bears invasion force. If, however, you were the one lied to, and your pathetic overlords are deceiving you to absolve themselves of responsibility, then do not die for such pathetic cowards. I shall take you as my bondsman, and I shall be a better master than your current lying and soon to be dead masters.'

Tyra hoped this would work. Destroying the mech would be no problem, but advancement would be limited. To take an entire planet and seize its defender with no casualties, and to capture a bondsman... that would give Tyra more leverage to try for a trial of bloodright!

[Gorbaz]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Sorry - Was waiting for dnd. I'll have updates for you all within the next 24 hours

Aesa Kerensky

The commlines flared open, the sound of weapons fire ringing through as the battle continued elsewhere. On it came the voice of Natasha, barking out to all commands. "Push forwards wolf packs! We are in sight of the command centre, and the defenders weaken! Take targets of opportunity as they come, but best speed to my mark, and we will have this won by nightfall!" A nav check revealed that Natasha's unit was some distance off, but at cruising speed the journey would be well within an acceptable timeframe, barring interference from Innser Sphere raiding surats. However, a detour to the airfield, followed by a full speed sprint would achieve the same.

Tyra

The three subordinate commanders all call in their acknowledgement before splitting off, Johannes an Hseich going wide in preparation to flank, and Klein moving at full speed to do further recon. Upon switching back to Uchi, you hear the man sigh. "It is no lie, warrior of the Ghost Bear. I am this world's only defender, and am honour-bound to accept all challenges. If that means I have to fight everyone, then so be it". The comm clicked off and the mech started to move, weapons raising and selecting targets before opening fire.

Slayiana

Moving through the mountain pass was tricky enough, it being thin enough that the only way to safely navigate was single file, but the pings kept moving in and out of the mountains themselves. There were no static defences set up, or at least none that activated as your mechs stomped onward, and to have the only passage in mined would be foolish, considering the Inner Sphere barbarians use it themselves. No, if this was a trap, it was far more elegant than anything they had shown the capacity for before.

Rounding a bend in the pass, a large tunnel comes into view, dug into the mountainside and descending down at a gentle angle. Old run-down cart tracks led inside, along with signs of recent use by vehicles and battlemechs. The tunnels would be tight to go down by the looks of it, but if the sensors were anything to go by, that is where your targets were.

Leo Caldwell

The call went through, being picked up by the Raider's dropship captain. "Roger that Wickerlord. Confirming perimeter defences down, coming in for a landing". No doubt Dominic Brown would be at least a little ticked off that you called down for what he would consider his salvage, but that would just be his lick for not getting there first. Besides, between this haul, claiming highest cost salvage rights, and a probably percentage cut for the trip back home, there was a fair chance you'd be able to afford a ship of your own. And, if you or your lancemates can convince a couple of Raiders to jump ship and join as extra crew, you'd be golden.

A huge shadow fell over the salvage yard as the dropship re-entered the area, setting down right outside the breach in the wall, ramps lowering on all sides. "Better make it snappy" came the captain's gruff voice over a general channel. "We got a visual on a dust trail heading this way. If we don't load up fast, the Dracs will start hitting back, and my contract doesn't cover replacement ship parts"

[exalted]

Aesa was relieved when she heard the Star Commander's voice over the comms, even if it was Natasha's. It meant her comms hadn't been damaged at some point and that even if her Star Captain was a buffoon someone was still organising and tracking the battle.

Bringing up the team list she checked the designations of the Star, finding the Mad Dog to be Point 4, before switching on her own mic.

"Point 5, to Star Captain," She barked forcefully, yet respectfully, "Requesting permission to break off to hit the Air Field with Point 4 while you continue on mission."

The tactical change made the most sense to Elsa, while it did draw off a large part of the missile superiority of the Star that could be used to support Natasha's assault it still left a significant long range presence in the Star. As the Mad Dog was damaged, it use in a protracted engagement with other mechs was dubious and put unneeded risk on losing the valuable mech.

After clearing the air field the speed of her Wolf and the Dog should allow them to reach the main battle and support with their missiles as they advanced.

On a personal level, Aesa knew hitting the air field with only two mechs, instead if the full star, increased the challenge and hence the honour. If given permission she would advance and observe the air field before attacking, making sure their were no obvious threats or ambushes waiting before storming out. She did not want to use her missiles on the field as they would be needed later, but if the field was too heavily guarded she would launch barrages at the control tower, hangers and air strip to knock the field out of use. Then use their speed to get away again.

Either way, if someone else didn't challenge the Captain for position after this was over, she would.

[MelissaB]

Slayiana looks around her mech slowly making it's way forth, leading the star. "Alright looks like they trapped inside the caves..." She trails off getting a thought, looking around the pings on her radar confirming her comment. "Corral, Levi, stay outside, I've got an idea for these honorless dogs." She grins motioning the others with her, the two she got to remain behind in the Mad Dog and Timber Wolf before heading inside. "When we get clear blow the entrance to this place, I want it to crumble down." She grins in her cockpit before heading about 50 meters inside, her mech on the look out for anyone to ambush them before she begins to fire at the roof and walls, trying to collapse the cave and ordering those of her star to do the same as they slowly back back out of the tunnel making the first 50 meters of the caverns collapse in on themselves before ordering the vulture and mad cat to blow the entrance and make the mountain cover the caves completely. "What's our next objective?" She calls over the comms before bringing up a tac map.

[RavenLord]

"Don't worry about that captain. Me and my lance will keep them off your backs. You and your boys just focus on hauling off everything that isn't nailed down as fast as possible." Leo replied to dropship captain.

As salvage crews moved out and begun hauling the loot Leo and his friends secured, Leo himself turned his attention towards the incoming Drac retaliation. He quickly switched back to his lance's private comm channels before taking a deep breath. As leader of their small lance, it was his job to keep the morale and everyone eager. As such it had become a habit for Leo to make speeches before important engagements. "Alright guys. This is it. We are on the homerun. We make this and we make it big, and we can finally sleep inside our own dropship after years of slumming it with low-class losers. Sophia, you can finally get your own bathroom and James, you can finally invite your girlfriends to your own place. Hell, you can even invite your new Raider girlfriend and her mech. But for that to happen, we must now dig in our heels, grit our teeth, clench our assholes and stand our fucking ground so the worker boys behind us can clean this place out in peace. This can be the glorious start we have been working for so long. Only thing we have to do in return is to school some Drac morons on Mech to Mech combat. What do you say Soph, James?" Leo called out to his lancemates.

"I say someone should ring the school bell because class is now in session." Sophia answered with fire in her voice.

"Let's teach these fuckers a lesson in pain and humiliation." James chimed, pumped up.

Leo smiled fondly at their responses before moving Wickerlord into a suitable position to meet the incoming attack, good distance away from where the dropship had landed. He noticed Ironwitch taking position behind him to cover his flanks and support while Havoc set up further behind to make use of its long ranged firepower.

"By the way, Leo? You are such a dramaqueen buddy."

"Screw you too James."

[pornomancer]

Tyras mouth twitched inside her rebreather. A single old warrior, left alone to defend his entire planet against invaders. Forgotten and abandoned, he still did his duty with tireless, unrewarded, loyalty.

He would make a useful bondsman.

'All units: maintain commands. Klein, on me. Take the left flank, I'll take the right. Destroy optics and weapons first, then go for a mobility kill on the legs. I want this warrior alive.'

Tyra knew her elemental star was excellent at frontal assaults. Darting between sensor beams and avoiding targeting locks, the nimble elementals were difficult to target by large mechs.

But there was always the problem of machine guns or small laser banks. Mech machine guns did nothing to other mechs, but they were effectively AC20 rounds to an elemental. One or more salvos hitting an elemental would annihilate the entire suit. Tyra had to identify the make of the enemy mech first.

And to make sure there weern't any hidden surprises.

[dndman997]

"great" she muttered to herself moving her mech away from the autocannons "those will hurt if they spot me" she manuevered her mech into firing range of one of the mech stables and unloaded her large laser into it as well as a salvo of streak SRM 4s.

[Gorbaz]

Aesa

Natasha's voice crackled through the comm after a short pause. "Permission granted point 4. Good hunting!" The line snapped close as the rest of the assault moved in on the central command centre, the flash of sporadic weapons fire able to be seen in the distance. It looked like the veteran Wolf was pushing hard at the lynchpin of the Inner Sphere operations rather than hold back and wait until the airbase was removed, trusting to Aesa to neutralise the threat, while using speed and precision to her advantage.

Following the shift in direction, the rest of the Star moved up with Aesa towards the airfield. It only took a couple on minutes before it was within sensor range, then very shortly within visual range. The airfield itself had been laid out in an open plain, obviously the thought of it coming under attack being a secondary deciding factor in where and how it was constructed. It was already a hive of activity as close support attack copters were being prepared to launch, even as a huge Starfighter was being slowly wheeled out of its hangar. It appeared that the airstrike from before were just the fastest craft to hand, and now the heavier armaments were being readied. A scan across the airfield also showed three autocannon emplacements - likely anti-air flack emplacements.

Slayiana

Moving into the tunnel system there are clear signs that it is in use as a resupply depot. Lighting strips built into the walls give a soft glow while carts pushed to one side contain various mech and human supplies. Sensors continued to pick up multiple contacts, some moving in on her position, but none getting there fast enough to stop weapons fire from starting a collapse. The cave system itself started to crumble faster than expected, causing a rush out to avoid being crushed, but once the dust cleared, the entrance was sealed.

Levi checks the sensors and logs once the rockslide had stopped. "By my calculation, there will be at most four mechs left out there. It is probably best if we move out and raze anything we find to draw them out"

Leo

With the dropship crew making use of any and all equipment to pull gear onto the ship, attention was free to be focussed outward. Dust on the horizon gave the first indication that the enemy was nearby. The comms chirped open, a familiar voice coming through. "Blindside here. I've got contacts - lots of contacts!" Dominic's voice cut in quickly after. "Numbers Blindside! We need numbers here!". "Sir!" she replied sharply. "At least 12 contacts... all moving together. Getting active sensor pings on some, but not all... looks like there might be crawlers in the mix". The comm shut off abruptly, Leo's lance apparently being cut out of the rest of the conversation as, very shortly after, the Raider's light lance all moved off to one side, looking like they were attempting a flanking manuver. The retort of weapons fire told of contact between them, before two Centipides and two LRM trucks crested the nearby hill. Missiles launched from the trucks, streaking overhead to directly toward the dropship.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Two LRM trucks are attacking the dropship, with Centipides providing close support for them. The light lance of the Raiders are taking on two DCMS light lances on the other side of the hill - mixed lances of Spiders and Venoms

Tyra

Klein took his squad and moved in on the Archer with established military prescision, flanking round the side while letting Tyra take the other flanks. Uchi, for his part, backed off slightly before unleashing a barrage of LRMs at short range at the flanking elementals. While conventional tactics had LRM systems wait for a lock on before engaging, and their explosive charges only activated after travelling a certain distance, the sheer shock value of having 40 steel lances fill the air directly in front was still effective, as one of Klein's squad found out, taking the blunt trauma of a missile casing directly in the side, cracking the armour and throwing the unfortunate warrior away from the rest, while acting to disrupt the rest of the attack. The arms opened up with their lasers, fire exchanging between the mech and the elementals. Scorch marks quickly told of hits against the mech, but the nimble elementals were able to avoid the worst of the return fire.

With attention on the other elemental star, that left Tyra free to attack with impunity. Light lasers and SRMs pounded at the side armour, a lucky hit crippling the elbow actuator of the left arm, rendering its effectivements almost non-existant. The missile racks, now revealed to be housed in the torso, would be trickier to take out. Any weapon detonation there would carry over to the reactor and cause a meltdown. Still, another salvo to the knees fused the joints, locking the machine in place and limiting it to torso twist manuverability only.

Velom

Backing away from the autocannon, it selected another target and begun to spit out shells at the other Clan mech. However, with a burst of laser fire and missiles into the closest hangar, Velom was rewarded with the sound of explosions as the reserve ammo and fuel went up, killing everyone inside and crippling the emerging Awesome. The massive mech staggered forward as the shockwave and shrapnel struck it from behind, causing it to collapse forward onto the ground. The rear armour of the machine was shredded, but it was apparently not out of the fight as the pilot struggled to start righting the machine.

Elsewhere, the rest of the assault team took down another hangar, pouring their combined firepower into it. A similar explosion rocked the building, the roof caving in. All around people ran in panic from the assault, sirens blared, and the base's limited ground support vehicles were started up.

[exalted]

Aesa bristled as the confirmation for plan was given to Point 4 and not her. The fact that the order had come from the Star Commander Natasha and not her Captain did not go unmissed either and she wondered if she wasn't the only one to think he was more a whipped domesticated dog than a wolf.

"Aff, Commander Kerensky ," She quickly replied, banking her Timberwolf to the right to start breaking formation before she switched comms to the Captain.

"Point 1," She started, trying to hide her mirth at calling him a Point instead of Star Captain, "Points 4 an 5 breaking formation."

She didn't bother to wait for a response from him, accelerating her mech hard for the her assigned target of opportunity. She slowed down after she was clear of the rest of the Star, allowing the Mad Dog to catch up with her before she resumed her pace. Her heart pounded with excitement, not only she was out from under bumbling command of the her Star Captain she now had her own Star to order about. Sure it was only temporary, and the Star only had one other Point than herself and yes, technically that Point was probably in charge... but it was her plan and her Mech wasn't damaged.

As the Airfield loomed closer she order the Mad Dog to hang back, if things got hairy he could provide her with cover without being put at great risk. She made to sure to slave her sensors to his as well, so that her mech could relay back target data and allow the injured Dog to bite safely.

Aesa had to wipe her mouth as the field finally came into sight. She had been right, the field was still active and a present danger to the operation, not only that but she was here at the right time as well. Hurriedly she sent the target data for the Starfighter and Control Tower to the Mad Dog for his missile barrages and instructions to only fire once the Fighter had reached the air strip. She hoped that way that debris, wreckage and whatever collateral strikes to the tarmac would prevent the launch of any more Jets.

The Helicopters were an issue for her to deal with. Powering the long range lasers she raked them across the rotary aircraft as they prepared for take off. With any luck the scramble would have seen them having to rapidly fuel and arm, easily ignitable by the power and heat of her weapons. She would have pitied the poor ground crew and pilots running about and disappearing in the brilliant blue light of the Clan's ER Long Range Lazer.

The three flak turrets she thought were quaint, remembering her favourite ancient Terran's general view on fixed fortifications. What was the use of them when her Timberwolf had the range and mobility to avoid or slag them at will.

[pornomancer]

Tyra gritted her teeth as one of her warriors fell. Hopefully he wasn't dead yet but triage could come later. Tyra issued orders for the attacking elementals to stay outside the line of fire and continue disabling the arms and the optics of the mech. Tyra directed her troops such that they closed in with the Archer where possible and outside its cone of fire. Up close, a mech had little flexibility to engage targets especially if limited to torso twists.

With the mech occupied, Tyra circled around the back of the mech and dashed forward. She aimed to climb the mech entirely and force open the access hatch, getting Uchi to surrender in person. A bondsman mechwqrrior would make a fine first gift.

[MelissaB]

Slayiana nods and watches the rumble settle before hearing Levi. "Rogar that, let's get moving." She calls out the comms to the rest of the star, moving out in standard formation with her and the annihilator bringing up the front while the Loki scouts the flank the two equipped with long range missiles bringing up the rear. Moving out she moves towards the nearest signs of structures and begins to open fire, leveling the buildings and razing the grounds. "Laser fire only, spare the ammo." She calls over to her Star, getting affirmatives across the boards as they slowly make their way along, destroying everything in sight in an attempt to draw out the enemy and force them to defend and fight them.

[RavenLord]

Leo cursed up a storm when he noticed the LRM trucks cresting the hill. He was quick to mark the both trucks before drawing a target lock onto one, James taking the other. Wickerlord and Havoc fired their own LRM's in retaliation soon after noticing the trucks, both pilots responding as fast as possible to this new threat.

"James, remain on overwatch. Sophia, with me. Those LRM trucks are priority targets." Leo ordered his lancemates, Wİckerlord having already begun moving towards the hill, firing its LRM's as it did so.

"Also, comm the ship captain and see if we can get some eyes in the sky James. It would be best if we didn't give future threats a chance at the dropships." ace pilot added afterwards.

Leo's plan was to focus the trucks and hopefully kill them on approach before they could unleash a second salvo, mop up the centipedes with Sophia then move on to assist Dominic and his lance afterwards, leaving James behind to guard the salvage teams and provide long range fire support.

[Gorbaz]

[/b]Aesa[/b]

Moving up, you and your team open fire on the airport, lasers raking across vehicles and land alike, missiles launching and slamming down. The flight of attack choppers took heavy damage, one detonating as the ammo store went up, and another careening out of control and clipping another. The final one managed to survive the strikes against its armour and lined up its SRMs with Aesa's mech, four rockets launching from their pods while the nose-mounted medium laser fired, scorching the hull.

The Timber Wolf's twin LRM salvo slammed down onto the heavy fighter, explosions rippling across the surface. Crew scattered in all directions in an attempt to get away from the explosions, but a few seconds later it was revealed that the Starfighter had, to some level of amazement, managed to take the direct impacts and only suffer minor damage to the armoured hull.

Tyra

Uchi proved to be very skilled as a pilot, forcing his Archer to the very limits of what it was able to do. Servos froze and joints melted, but little taps here and there managed to knock another Elemental out of the battle with blunt force trauma of an otherwise useless mech limb. However, the speed an manuverability of the Elemental points won out in the end, as the outdated battlemech was unable to keep up with the far more advanced opponent.

Climbing on top of the mech, your light laser scores into the joins of the metal, the exo-claw pulling and tearing until the armour plating came away to reveal Uchi himself, hands still playing over the controls in an attempt to pull off some final strike. The man glanced up as sunlight entered the cockpit from an unexpected angle, and although young in appearance, the Dracomis man's eyes told of a life inside the machine. Still, even as he was there, nothing between him and you, he gave a slight smile, a nod of the head, and hit the ejection control. What was left of the head armour blasted off and the cockpit launched up into the sky. There was no way it would cause any damage, but it was the last action he could have taken with honour.

Slayiana

The campaign continues on, time being the only real weapon left against you, as the last pocket of unaccounted resistance stays agonisingly out of reach. Intercepted comm traffic indicates that the local mech leader was still at large, but he refused to engage. More and more buildings were razed by the forces on world, until finally there was a signal. A small, previously hidden airstrip had been uncovered by a scouting star, hidden in the ruins of a dome-city, and along with it, four mech heat signitures. Undoubtedly there would be some sort of trap planned, although up to this point the worst one seen was in the opening stages

The dome-city itself was quite small, narrow sreets meant that only single mechs could move down them at any one time, limiting manuverability. Still, the buildings were hardly stable, so an attack from above was unlikely. There were several ways to get to the strip in the centre, each holding the promise of rigged buildings, mines, or cold-start ambushes. Everyone could go together, or perhaps split up? Each tactic had its merits, and its flaws.

Leo

The return fire scorched the area on the hill, one of the flatbeds getting caught and going up in flames, the other taking a knock from shrapnel, and pulling back to re-arm the launcher. Both the centipides revved their engines and raced down the hill towards the towering mechs, light lasers blazing in an attempt to do something to their targets, but achieving little more than scoring the armour. However, the light armour on the vehicles proved less than able to resist the mechs fires, and both were swiftly obliterated.

The familiar sound of the dropship captain's voice cracked over the comms once again. "I run a dropship here, not a mobile Aerotech hanger! Don't blame me if this mech outsit doesn't have fighter support! You want one? Go steal it!" The man cut off suddenly, seemingly more concerned with packing his ship with everything possible from the yard, than actually engaging in a combined arms operation. But then, he was probably employed by the Raiders to just hot-drop, circle around, then dust off with whatever cargo they pick up.

Moving further out, the scene was not good. The Night Hawk was down on the ground and burning, and the Raven had lost half its weapon systems. On the other hand, three of the attacking Venoms had been taken down - two with in-nerving cockpit prescision shots - and one of the Spiders was missing a leg. However, the Raiders were falling back and taking hits. The light recon lance was good, but they were outnumbered and outgunned by mechs that were almost as fast as their own.

Janet

Hauling salvage was dull. Get on a truck, drive it out into the yard, load up, and drive back. Rinse, repeat. Sure, a chance to actually strike back at those Draks was great, especially if it paid the bills too, but with your Urbanmech in the shop, you'd had to come along on Leo's little jaunt with Thor's Raiders as the 'extra help'. And, although you'd managed to get the mech onboard so that it could be worked on during the journey, it wasn't ready for combat just yet - something about that left leg servo that the techs wouldn't fix without adequate compensation (which the haul from the salvage yard could easily pay for!).

With the crew of the dropship hurridly pulling all staff into salvage duties, you'd gotten swept up too. A couple of LRMs had hit the ship, but from the sounds of it, the rest of the lance had it covered. Sure, you could drag your mech out there as extra fire support and hope that leg servo holds, or try to use the Dragon - but you'd not know what would be different in that cockpit. Although hauling guns and ammo was as dull as painting a starship grey, it was at least safe. And, there were opportunities to make sure certain salvage ended up in your lance's hands, rather than the Raiders...

[dndman997]

"Alright" she mumbled out to herself "time to back out and get the odds in my favor" she said working her way around the Awesome knowing full well of its arsenal knowing it would do a lot of damage to her mech, hoping her speed and mobility will help her in getting a good shoot, once she had one she would unload with the large laser on the rear armour.

[starwacher]

She sighs as she pulls as much salvage as she can. She really wanted to out fight there but she knew that she would be more helpful here. If she could just get one load back maybe she could repair Hurby herself. She knews of a few trick that would make the leg servo last for 30 minutes. When the LRM hit the ship. She start loading on the double the sooner they got this salvage on board the sooner the drop ship could get out of hot zone

[exalted]

"Point 4!" Aesa screamed through her comms at the Mad Dog, "Repeat bombardment! I want that fighter dead!"

She couldn't believe the thrice cursed Inner Sphere hunk of junk had survived somehow. Obviously, she counciled herself, the first salvo had been damaged during the last attack or during the drop with all that rattling. After this mission - and she had successfully challenged the Captain for command of Star of course - she would make the Mad Dog pilot go through their Mech personally to find the fault.

But Aesa had her own problems as the last chopper made a move for her and he temper rose as she saw the laser mar the paint on her Timber Wolf. The freeborn would pay for that. If he was close enough to use his lasers and SRMS then all her weapons were in range to. Spraying for the machineguns mounted in the Wolf's nose, she tried to coral the annoying insect before slagging it completely with every laser her Mech possessed.

[RavenLord]

Leo didn't respond to Captain's comm as he had more immediate concerns, namely saving the assess of remaining Raiders. He did nonetheless made a note of it in the back of his mind as a good example of stupid behavior. While he hadn't expected any fighters or even any kind of manned aircraft, probes were cheap and really fucking useful for scouting and not even having one while running a dropship was just moronic. Ace pilot couldn't help but let out a sigh as he went over the current situation. While he and Sophia were exposed on the hill, they also did have a good view of their enemies and they were piloting heavier mechs meaning they had better armor and more guns. With no cover nearby and no time to reposition without risking their allies, Leo found that their bet was to attack now and cripple the opposing light mechs before they could retaliate. Most mercenaries in his place would reposition to a safer place- no scratch that. Most of those greedy, self-serving assholes would have let Raiders hung out to dry. Unlike most of those morons though, Leo knew the importance of a good reputation and how little goodwill went. Plus, he had his principles and abandoning allies went against those. So after sending a quick signal to Sophia, he started to move Wickerlord, firing it's weapons at the enemy mechs as he did, announcing his presence to the both sides. Sophia moved in sync, adding Ironwitch's firepower to the Wİckerlord's as they advanced on the enemy. Leo cycled through the general comm channels, trying to reach the Raider pilots on the field.

"To all raiders listening, cavalry has arrived. This is Wickerlord, me and Ironwitch are here to provide assistance. Respond if you hear." he said, broadcasting in every open friendly channel.

[pornomancer]

Tyra roared triumphantly into her rebreather as she tore away the armor covering the mechwarrior. She was irritated enough as it was with one of her elementals knocked aside by the mech, but victory was on hand!

So it was especially perplexing that the mechwarrior did not cower in fear when his protection was removed, and even more infuriating when he seemed to... smirk... at her! Before Tyra could reach down and claim her prize, the coward ejected, causing Tyra to lose balance slightly and take a few seconds to react. By the time she figured out what was going on, the mechwarrior was already far away, flung by his ejection unit. 'Johannes! Take care of casualties! Zarla, keep the town secure, Hsieh, contact command and let them know I have secured a landing zone for our heavier elements to arrive. Klein, on me.

You and I are going to follow that ejection pod and get me my first prize of this war.'