The next hour or so the Wild Stallions all get familiar with the X-3s.  Lance Commander Evans considered it important that the Stallions get up to speed to understanding what they were capable of, since they would be educating the Academy's cadets in its usage.

A half hour is used for verbal operations and options of the Power Loaders that are not available to normal mechs.  The remaining half hour is spent to allow the Stallions a chance to test the Power Loaders out.

A loaded X-3's mobility was nothing to brag about for a light mech.  It was on par with a Panther or Blackjack, but with the exception of the Urbanmech, was slower than most light mechs in use in the inner sphere.

Claims to 'heavy' armor were just claims, and hard to prove till the fighting started, regardless, it was still a light mech and battle harden mercs would remember that there were limitations on how much a light frame could handle.

The one area that the Power Loader seemed to shine was it's payload of weapons.  The Omni Corporation has developed specific 'light' weapons to fit out the mechs.  Innovating new lighter auto cannon and missile options, that were fitted with a munition explosion friendly safty magazine to spare lethal ammo explosions from smearing a crater on the landscape where a mech might have once stood.

Cowboy gets to test out their Ballistic Assault Rifle.  A light weight rapid firing short range ballistic cannon capable of firing single rounds or double round burst.

Cade gets to test out their BFM, a hand held weapon that looked a little like a bazooka, that fired a single rocket to deliver a notable payload to the target instead of multiple smaller warheads.

Caitlings Power Loader was loaded out with a bunch of missiles that looked like LRMs but something they called LRRs.  Long Ranged Rockets.  'Guidance' was removed, from the LRMs which were designed with stabilizing fins to 'fly straight' allowing them to target like SRMs.  The shorter effective range Negating the need for a lock arm period, making them effective even at near point blank ranges.

Thantos to test out their Energy sniper rifle, which test fired to be much farther than any Large Laser they've used before.

Lance Commander Evans, goes through basic drills with the Stallions showing how hand held weapons can be exchaged in the field.  {done between two adjacent mechs during the intiative phase}  A useful process to share weapons in the field.  The process to 'dump' torso modules is shown, very similiar to 'dumping' ammo, except the entire weapon system is ditched.

The 'Smart' Actuator is explained to the Stallions.  The default setting seems to be 'Combat Loaded', and a reduced 'Skimish Load'.  The actuator is capable of reducing unecessary 'torque' to channel energy to move a lighter load faster.  She explains that for the most of the X-3's the loss of 5 tons of equipment is necessary to use the Smart Acutators to gain 'skirmish' speeds.

The Skirmish speeds put them on par with Johan's old Valkyrie, though with a much reduced payload in weapons.  Commander Evans explains this is acceptable if weapons are damaged and are just dead weight... or if limited weapons are being shared between pilots because of equipment damage in the field.  The greater mobility will help offset the reduction in firepower.

After the hour is up... she gives a brief lecture on the Power Loaders variants.  The lighter scout with it's EW suite, the heavier non-jumping Assault variant with it's melee weapon, and the converted Assault mechs with out the melee weapons which are the Power Loaders Command vehicle.

After this, It's late enough that classes are over and Millie indicates that the male members of the Wild Stallions may use the showers for the next half a hour.  Mille departs to catch an early dinner and will clean up 'later', after confirming that the members of the unit know where the Cafeteria is.

While it probably should have held his attention, the captain caught his mind wondering a bit during the long lecture.  No doubt, the fact that he wasn't piloting one of them contributed to his inattentiveness.  Instead, his eyes shifted here and there, looking past the talking head and around for something...or perhaps someone....

Make a Mental Roll Check.

OOC:  Barely...if no modifier....

20:30, Today: Capt. Johan Jakob Hinklemeyer-Schmidt rolled 5 using 2d6. mental.

Cade is very attentive during the whole lecture and on hands segment of "getting to know the X-3".  It helps when the instructor is a pretty lady, however with the subject being mechs, it didn't have to be this time.  It looks like he particularly enjoyed using the BFM.  Someone close to him would have heard him whisper "Big Badda Boom" to himself.

"So, if we have shoulder modules that no longer work, there is a way to dump them as well to get to 'skirmish' speeds?", he asks at one point.

Rabbit was dubious about the capabilities of the rickets. They were dumb, and trajectories weren't good, but they weren't that bad either. She figured there might be a place for them in the battles, but wasn't quite sure where. The power loader she trained in was a disappointment, it seemed to slow for a Light mech. Thankfully her own vairant was supposed to be much more nimble than this one. She was expecting the built in sword to be a major bonus in close combat. Her memories tinged with sadness as she recalled how she made her Valkyries sword.

Her new Mech would need a name. Something to call down a spirit to keep her safe and protect her from harm while she piloted it.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Wed 18 July 2012.

Someone was too busy going Badda Boom... to listen to the whole lecture...

So Commander Evans, repeats it again for Cade.




(To be fair it was one line in a long post so it's forgivable, but it was there.)

Millie doesnt let you pilot the X-3c or X-3a tonight, indicating that they were in for 'work'.  This is more a subject of availability.

There are (4) Cs, (6) As, (12) standard Power Loader and (2) Scouts.  Of the four models the X-3s are the easiest to configure and get on the move for the techs, so those were the ones selcted for introduction instructions.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Wed 18 July 2012.

In reply to Lance Commander Millicent Evans (msg # 114):

OOC: I caught it... just wanted to clairify.  DAMN, need more modules!!!!

Millie's light blond eyebrow archs as Cade still gives her a blank look and she has to wonder about Dr. Ward's selection of mercenaries...

"The process of dumping ammo.  You need to position the mech perfectly still for a few seconds to get the safeties to disengage.  For the locks to open and for the modules to drop off.  If still functional, the module shutdown as a prelude to ejection, in an attempt to keep the unit intact though to be honest to quickly drop them from a hieght of several meters is not inducive to keeping the equipment working.  While... brief... it can feel like forever in combat conditions."

"Weapon use a hard modular 'clip' most weapons use a single 'clip'.  Hand weapons may use a 'flip clip'.  This is to allow different munitions to be used for certain weapons."  (Flipping ammo, say from normal to flak missiles is done during the intiative phase and requires a piloting skill roll, failure mean the operation fails , though no further harm is down. Rolling a natural '2' indicates the clip was dropped leaving the pilot with no clip and an empty gun.)

You announce during intiative that you will be ejecting your module.  You may not move or use that module.  (you may fire your hand weapons)  The modules drop off at the end of the turn.  Roll 2d6 to see if the unit takes critical damage from the ejection.
{It could be the difference between damaged and repairable ~> Broken and trash}

Dropping hand weapons is more forgivable and is done in the intiative phase.  A pilot roll means you dropped it gentle enough not to have to roll for possible critical damage.  A failed pilot roll means you just threw it sort rough and it might be further damaged.

2H weapons... in a pinch may be treated as a club.  Though doing so will trigger a critical check, so it's not advised to be done with a working weapon.

The things you miss in the manuals can be inconvient... *grins*
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Wed 18 July 2012.

The captain makes some mental notes and stifles a yawn.  He watches his subordinates conduct a questions-and-answers session with the liaison officer.  Even if they didn't show it on the battlefield, they at least seemed to care about their survival in briefings.  After a while, the captain finds himself checking his watch more often that he really should have.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:57, Wed 18 July 2012.

Camille leaned forward a bit, this wasn't her mech, true, but she would be fighting aside a small contigent of them none the less, so she stayed attentive to the winded presentation.

Devlin manages to not actually fall asleep during the briefing, but he was not paying attention. The damn things were just wrong.  Loaders and construction mechs were made for just that purpose and trying to change them wasn't a good idea.  But the Captain had gotten sold the load and they were going to be using them.  Hopefully, bad guy mechs would be the same type of set up.

In reply to Sgt. Devlin Masters (msg # 120):

Meanwhile the brand new Corporal just took notes furiously.

Cade nods at the full explanation, finally getting it, just not believing it.  By being able to drop the shoulder units, the effective configurations on the X-3s just doubled.  He can already see more C-Bills flying out of his account at high speed as he tries to remember what shoulder missile options were available.  "Shit.  This contract is going to leave me with less money than I came here with", he comments quietly.

"Any possibility of taking an X-3 out for an evening stroll tonight?", he asks both the Liaison and his Captain, anxious to get back into the machine with or without weapons.

Lancer Evans shakes her head, "Negative.  The Pilots have access to them during the day for drills and manuevers.  Come evening the Technical students have access to them for maintenance and training."

It was true, at the moment there werent any pilots around except for the Wild Stallions, everyone running around was in slinky snug fitting black jumpsuits and seemed busy and content with working on the machines in the hanger.  Here and there, were supervisors or head techs, in similiar suits but 'white' directing staff or training students.

Aside from being pleasant eye candy for Cade, they uniforms were practical.  Snug fitted to avoid accidents with clothing being 'caught' in machinary and black, to keep 'clean' easier when they got dirty.

As the introductionary 'hour' passes, Lance Commander Evans leads the Wild Stallions out of the Hangers, leaving the capable army of technicians to make certain the mechwarriors park the Power Loaders correctly.  Once outside, she checks her watch.

"Evening meals are being served now.  The facility supervisor is expect you to freshen up from your prolonged stay in space, though youre welcome to come join us for evening meal if that's your preference."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Wed 18 July 2012.

"Suitable shower and cleanup for me.  4 months on a dropship is 4 months on a dropship no matter how many water rations you save for showers." adds Cowboy as he knows that even in being conscientious about what he was doing during the trip the ships themselves had a...scent.

By the time he made it back to grab spare clothes and finish cleaning up they would be long gone from dinner, "I doubt I'll be able to sit down and enjoy tonight as cleaning up properly will take far longer than your meal.  Thank you for the escort.  Will the techs be in there working and training on the X-3s late into the night?"

Millie shrugs, "I'm not a technician.  They're slated to work the evenings.  From 6pm to 6am, they have full access to all equipment, and pilots and drivers respect their time to work on the equipment.  You've waited nearly four months to pilot the mech, surely another day wont matter?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Wed 18 July 2012.

Cowboy shook his head at her with a smile, "You misunderstand me, piloting it can wait till tomorrow.  Coming in system always kills my ability to sleep, always has.  I can lay in my cot doing nothing but wasting time or if it's not a problem I can find a nice chair and sit down in there till I get tired while listening and watching.  I'm going to need to know the disposition of the techs as much as I will need to know the mech that I'll be driving from this point onwards."

He shrugged a little, "I drove a Clint for years and it had been in the family since Amaris nuked Graham IV.  You've got here what could be the next advancement and hopefully what I pass down to my great-great-great grandkids, I want to get to know my new Iron Horse."

"The Technicians prefer the company of technicians.  Its a rare individual that can tolerate the company of both the pilots and the technicians.  Allowing you after hours access, is a rare privillage that i doubt you appreciate.  You have the technical manuals, and as i've noted, access will be made available in the morning for the the war games exercise."

Camille inhaled deeply, then shuddered.
"I think i will get cleaned up properly as well, before inflicting dropship interior on anyone else, as cowboy said, no matter what you do, dropship clings to you."
she would however wait till all the boys had showered.

Lancer Evans escorts the Wild Stallions outside past the sentries at the Hanger, and departs to to go to dinner, leaving the Stallions to figure out what they're doing next.

Cade will opt to shower and clean up before heading out for a meal.  "Excuse me Lance Commander, but when will be be issued credits?" he asks.

"When Captain Schmidt says to.", she answers simply.

Cowboy shook his head at her response, "The multi-million X-3a that I've purchased through this contract from the blood, sweat and tears of facing off against the Wolf's Dragoons in the previous contract should imply that I do appreciate the magnitude of the privillage.  I do believe that I'm not hungry anymore, but I appreciate the offer."  With that he walked back off to the barracks to gather what he needed to clean up and get to work on things he and Johan had spoken about earlier.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:00, Wed 18 July 2012.