Most of the Rat Packers move out and spread out in an effort to avoid being easy targets.  They stay well out of range of the locust and phoenix hawk how seem content to stay dug in and hold their positions.  It's only when they brush too close to the border of what they consider to be 'safe' that they spark a response.

Avenger scoots in at an angle trying to see what the medium mech looks like in the hanger bay, staying clear of LRM range.  That's when light auto canon open up on him and he seems a popular Davion mech, a Black Jack starts to spew light shells at Avenger, startling him into falling back.

Word comes from the Trinite, that theyve taken command of the dropship and only need five more minutes to boost off to safety.

While five minutes might not sound like alot, entire battles are often decided in a fraction of that time span.

Seeing the shells cross Avenger's path,  "Well it looks like they brought something with a bit of range. Anyone see what that 4th light mech was?"

Traxx modifies the plan, "Maidens hang back and loiter in some cover if you can find it, Avenger gain some distance and lets loop around and see what we can see."

Standard light mech lance tactics, flank the enemy and if they give you a chance to stab them in the back.  Of course the enemy lance had an excellent counter. They were dug in around buildings and could use their longer ranged mechs as a center while not turning their backs on the flanking mechs.

Traxx was real glad they did not have to go in there and dig them out.




Lance Comm
"I'm going to try and talk to these guys."


OPEN COMM short range
"P-hawk and locust lance I think you guys might be lost. No civilians here for you to butcher.  I hear their might be some West of here though."

 He stalk over to a small low ridge of furrowed dirt and looked down at the layout. "It would seem to me that they want to stay and hold the ground they have, i would have to guess commander that they intend to bring their heavier brothers in to cut off any exits this way.

 I can see that the hangers give some protection but it also cuts off any good scans to the sides of the hangers. If they are inside the hangers they can only shoot front and back or shoot blind thru the sides or roof, any way we can exploit that advantage lance leader?."

(Subject line wrong, out for Simon says)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:59, Wed 13 Nov 2013.

“All right everyone, I just got word from La Trinite she’s getting ready to lift off so we only need about five minutes of making this LZ too hot for reinforcements to drop in.  Once La Trinite is up we can break contact and withdraw.”  watching the pair of fast moving mechs moving off to the northeast, he asked: “You’re awfully quiet Dirtnap, are you picking up anything on your sensors or still coming up empty?”

Unconsciously looking off to his right to where the Valkyrie was adjusting position he continued, “Still looking for them to bite, Viking.  Let’s close the distance a bit and see if they take the bait.  I’m moving in.  Just to the edge of LRM range.  No closer.”  Olaf consulted his nav comp again quickly then keyed back onto the command channel.  “We need to make this LZ too hot for the incoming dropships.  If we succeed and draw them out of the hangars then the fast movers either counter-attack or flank.  I’m no dropship pilot, but I gotta think that landing a Union on an improvised LZ like those airstrips would be tricky business and something they likely wouldn’t want to chance in the middle of a firefight.”  Lights flickered on his targeting computer as the range began to close and his reticule danced over the distant hangars.  “Either we make it too hot for the scouts to hold their ground or we take advantage of their limited fields of fire from inside that hangar complex and allow the Locust and Firestarter get around them.  If we can pincer the enemy then we stand a good chance of turning the runway into our kill zone.  I wouldn’t rule out putting a few volleys of LRM into the pavement either, maybe we can damage it enough to make them balk at trying for a landing.  Either way, everyone stay flexible and don’t get pulled in so deep that you lose your escape route.”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:13, Wed 13 Nov 2013.

The cockpick shuddered and jumped as she pushed the engine to try and keep up with the nimble form of the Locust.  Out here in the open, she had to rely on speed and positioning to keep her in one piece.  The Hatchetman's autocannon was a real threat to their light lance, but somehow she couldn't keep a smirk off of her face.  She squinted and traced her tongue over dry lips, a shadow on the wall of one of the hangars catching her attention.  Even knowing she was out of range for her lasers, she tightened her grip on the control sticks.  As the long looping path of she and Echo's flanking team brought her to the corner of the building, she centered her aim on the shadow and punched up her HUD's image magnifier.

"Nothing on sensors beyond the heat signatures, Boss-man ... but ... I think I see something."

---

11:00, Today: Zoe Hargrieve rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,4. Scouting the Hangars 11+.
... I'm probably going to regret this, but I kinda want more intel on this group.  I spend my Edge to get to 11 (Pass)
This message was last edited by the player at 16:29, Thu 14 Nov 2013.

"Roger that boss"
She wasn't about to charge into that, not with unknowns around, so she found herself a nice patch of forest to trudge around in, while trying to get a good look into the base.

however she couldn't quite calibrate her scanners correctly, so she kept getting useless garbled feedback data.
She smiled grimly at TRaxx' message to them over the comms, most other jabs coulda been fun, but this one wasn't... not even by a long shot.
Hopefully it'd provoke the last hostile into showing themselves.

Avenger is shaken out of his complacency when the Blackjack appears and starts to lobby AC shells at him.  Thankfully the pilot didn't seem to be used to tracking faster targets and he very quickly opens the range while putting some buildings in between us to force the Blackjack to move if the pilot wanted to carry on shooting.

Avenger acknowledges Traxx's order by accelerating to maximum speed, moving out to range and then swinging around in a broad circle, approximately 750m out from the Blackjack's last known position, to see if the two of them could flank the enemy position while they were dealing with the other two rat pack mechs.

 Nodding his head which was kind of worthless, since they were on the comm channel, he ease's his Mech forward to keep a line abreast with the flanker with him.
 He did try and see something besides the big hangers but could wait till he had a solid tone.

Echo cuts and scoots, working her path north east, moving closer to a position directly north of the hanger, to get into a flanking positions, it wouldnt take her more than a few seconds to get there in her quick moving locust.

"Are we engaging or just teasing them?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 21:13, Fri 15 Nov 2013.

Dirtnap and Princess flit in and out of LRM range and Zoe finally catchs a glimps of a Firefly that opens up with a flight of LRMs to keep her honest and force her to keep her distance or take fire should she choose to close.

Olaf and Roger are too far out to exchange missiles with them at this time.

Olaf may make a tactical roll, at a penalty of 3, at this time for a clue to discern what they're up to.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:21, Fri 15 Nov 2013.

Pax manages to draw a reaction from the Op Force with his challenge.

"That's quite an allegation you have there Mista.

 I dont suppose you'd be willing to walk up and discuss it face to face?

 If not, I'm gonna have to ask you to apologize and withdraw your ac~q~say~tions.", a feminine voice answers in a southern relaxed drawl.


Pax can make a tactics roll, at a penalty of 2, to discern their tactics if any.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:21, Fri 15 Nov 2013.

Tactics is 5 or 4 depending on if the heirloom mech bonus counts.  Pilot 4,  tactics skill (1),  penalty (-2),  heirloom mech ? (1)
15:30, Today: Pax Tarkin rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,6. Tactics roll  TN?

Question: this the same P-Hawk that was from the first mission?

Heirloom, is used for intiative, this isnt initiative, it's an effort to discern what the enemy is doing.  (which should probably be a leadership roll i suppose, but i called tactics so leave it)

It's a P-Hawk, they all look pretty much alike so it's hard to say.

Watching the LRMs lamely pockmark the ground off to his northeast Olaf kept his own target indicator over the hangar where he had last spotted the Hachetman.  As much as he was trying to discern the enemy lance’s intentions, he hoped that his opposite was trying to discern what exactly they were up to.  He flirted with the idea of trying to open comms with the enemy commander, but decided that leaving his actions open to interpretation would better serve to confound the enemy.  Confusion benefited the milita.  Every minute the enemy spent waiting to determine whether or not the LZ was safe for landing was another minute toward a successful delaying action.  “Keep teasing them Princess.  Our task is to achieve five minutes of delay, we’ll engage if the enemy comes into our kill zone or if it becomes necessary to make this airfield too hot for a dropship landing.  All we need to do right now is buy time.”  Inside his cockpit he silently hoped he had gotten this right.  He was happy with the execution of the plan thus far and noted that they were well spaced out and had open withdrawal routes.  Still, the neophyte lance commander felt as if he was skirting a delicate balance and soon it would be necessary to start raising enough hell to keep the enemy from committing a dropship to a hot LZ.  Not wanting to get caught off guard he added: “Viking, I’ve got the hangars covered, once you’re in position keep an eye on the air for signs of an incoming drop.”


Tactics roll: TN 5+ 3 (tactics penalty) = 8
16:27, Fri 15 Nov 2013: Olaf Oleeson rolled 3 using 2d6 ((1,2)) No Joy

"SHIT!"  Red lights flashed and warning klaxons flared as Zoe got a look at the low rounded shape of the Firefly.  Reflexively, she stomped hard on both pedals, jumpjets flaring to life and sending her skyward as the missile contrails spiraled under her, arching upwards and into the sky before they lost lock.  Reaching the top of her arch, she fired the medium laser in her center torso just to keep things honest, though the beam of light lost coherency long before it struck its target.

"Positive ID on a Firefly." she signaled, feathering the jets as she began to arch back down.  Licking her lips, she looked down to make sure she was going to land clear of Princess, landing lightly enough to keep on the run.  She raised up both of Knave's arms, working to put another hangar between her and that LRM.

"You wanna force stand-off with these guys?" she asked incredulously, pressing her lips together.  She was toothless from this far out, and the Team Banzai Recon Lance was hunkered down in a fortified position.  Maybe they could tie them up for the five minutes they needed for La Trinite, but between the two forces only the invaders had reinforcements waiting in the wings.

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but if they wanna stay boxed up, we might be better off just making the air strip an unsuitable landing point." she suggested, out of turn admittedly, "Say, by ruining visibility from the air?  It's a tricky enough landing to stick even as it currently stands ..."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:38, Sat 16 Nov 2013.

Following Pax's orders Iron Maiden looked for some cover to sidle up by well out of the range of the mechs and use her mechs electronics to see if she could crack in on their communications since she wasn't going to be busy dodging LRM's or AC rounds.  Something else was going on here and the hairs on the back of her neck were tingling...
This message was last updated by the player at 00:51, Sat 16 Nov 2013.

 Receiving the transmission he again nodded his head and then smacked himself,"Roger that, scanning the nice clean air now". Twisting the gain slightly to use more power but to increase his range for signs of trouble inbound.

 He knew only to well, how fast a air strike could roll over the airbase and anything under it. Still, the idea of the recon force content to just set in the hangers made him want to scratch an itch he couldnt reach.

Lina you may make a Technician check, at penalty two, to try and hack into the Op Force command channel.

(If you had a beagle probe you would have been at a plus two bonus instead, but you dont have one)

Running through the other teachers instructions she worked on isolating the bandwith between their own signals and the enemy.  She really wished she had a Beagle Probe now and resigned herself to working on gaining modules for the shoulders to replace her pulse lasers with both the Beagle and the Guardian...though she wasn't sure at the moment if they could on the X3a.  The momentary hitch in her mind over the power layout and distribution gave her an idea and she put it into action...



---
20:56, Today: Lina Todd rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,5. Hack the OpFor's Network...with my Hatchet.
Mental 6 + 2 Penalty...TN8 for the win?

"I like where your head is at, Dirtnap." Olaf replied over the comm.  "If you see anything you can burn to create a smoke cloud that obscures that airstrip then say the word."

nice roll

The run ways and buildings are pretty clear of hazards that burn, unless youre going to burn the buildings down.  Dropships have alot of hot plasmas flinging about so, maintenance would be to make certain such things are weeded out and burnt out ahead of time to prevent compications.

From they way they were hashing since Pax's accusation Lina began to wonder if the initial wave of mechs were actually part of Team Banzai or if they were being used to further the agenda.  Opening comms to Pax she let him know, "Traxx, from their chatter I'm getting the feeling that they don't know about the massacre...and it seems like standing orders are to hold unless provoked.  We might be able to sit them out...and someone else either isn't telling their people what they are really doing or the ones we've been dealing with aren't really Team Banzai...just a hunch, no solid data yet but it's a feeling I've got."  Continuing to keep the tap low level she listened in to follow subsection seven point three and create a mental dossier about the enemy based on their comm traffic.
This message was last updated by the player at 17:33, Mon 18 Nov 2013.

Henriette growled at the refusal of their guilt.
"Hardly an allegation, considering we have it on video.
I was there myself, your people murdered dozens of civilians, even going as far as ignoring military targets in the vicinity, Those targets including myself."

She said her voice clearly carrying strong disgust at their cowardly acts, as she chimed in on the channel pax had opened communications on.

"For obvious reasons we don't carry such footage around, but rest assured, it will be forwarded to the authorities at first opportunity!

ooc: did we get  any footage from the previous fight, of their warriors shooting down a building filled with their own people?

Realizing that he might have lumped all of the OpFor into one mech Pax softened his reply.


"There was a P-Hawk involved I thought it was you. I'm willing to admit that you might not have been present at the attack at Miller's Crossing, perhaps you have heard of it from some bragging by another unit?"