Full Metal Mercenaries - Rookie AAR

[Burzmali]

Introduction:
I've been debating starting a new AAR for a while, and since no one seems to be able to produce a better game then ToS, I've taken the plunge and started tracking the progress of the Full Metal Mercenaries. As always, I have randomly picked the teams ATs, this time selcting a Pest, Lancer and Club. I have relaxed the restrictions on team members since my last AARs, as this time I will be seeing how long I can keep a viable team active. Aside from the starting AT, the only AT the team will be using will be those recovered on the battlefield. Aside from that, all the Hardcore rules apply (i.e. no recalls etc.).

In addition, I will be trying to keep the missions in a consistent RP story. Not that I think it will be too good, but I will try.

P.S. This time I made sure my team survived at least 10 battles before posting the AAR, as in another AAR that I loathe to mention, my team got wiped out clean after only two battles, making for an embrassing AAR to say the least

[Burzmali]

Team Information:

The Full Metal Mercenaries began operations with four members and three ATs.

As always, the MRC ensured that the team received a skilled, if untested, leader, Steel, a female Replicant I and a Energy Weapons specialist who would pilot the Pest.

Steel's first recruit, hired under MRC guidance was Quicksilver, a male human and a Cannons specialist and a shrewd business person, was tasked with piloting the Lancer.

The third recruit, and team mechanic, was Chrome, a female Cyborg who had training in both Cannons and Energy Weapons, and would pilot the Club.

The final initial recruit was Gunmetal, a male Replicant D and unguided missile specialist, who remain as an alternate pilot once an appropriate AT was captured.

In addition, Full Metal adopted several guidelines for future training.

For Piloting training, training to use a Recon/Light AT was of prime importance, with Scouting and Jump secondary.

For Combat training, training in a jock's specialization(s) came first, but all jocks were to receive training in hand-to-hand combat as well.

For Other Skills, aside from the skills needed for their jobs, all jock's concentrated on Electronic Warfare and Survival first, with Scanners, First Aid and other skill to be added later as needed.

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Mission 1: Baptism in Fire
Map: Small Savannah
Employer: Ares Planetary Government

Steel in a Pest
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Club

vs.

Marshall in a Dart
Tracker in a Fang
Madonna in a Dagger

For their inaugural mission, the Full Metal Mercenaries were sent the savannah plains of the planet Ares to eliminate a small group of ATs piloted by a local terrorist group known as Pearson's Brigade. Credited with several car bombing in the last year, the Pearsons planned to escalate their terror campaign with a shipment of ATs they managed to smuggle in from off-world. Tipped off by an informant, the Ares government sent a contract to Merc Review Company (MRC) to deal with the threat. Despite having only green recruits, the MRC awarded the contract to the Full Metal Mercs, seeing it as a good opportunity to get the newcomers some much needed training.

Based on satellite recon of the Pearsons' usual hideouts, Full Metal was deployed in some broken terrain few kilometers NW of a hideout with signs of recent AT activity. Full Metal began a cautious approach towards the facility, breaking cover only to directly recon the area. However, the rookie jocks piloting the Pearson ATs showed less restraint, and soon after making contact with Full Metal broke from the cover of their defensive facilities to engage the Full Metal ATs and prove themselves in combat. Seeing their reckless charge, Steel ordered the squad to fall back to defensive positions and to prepare to engage. The first shots of the engagement were fired by a Pearson's Fang which, together with a Dagger, sought to drive Quicksilver from his observation post on a nearby mountain top. Despite scoring a few good hits, Quicksilver was receiving the worse of the exchange and begun to pull back to heavier cover. By then, the Pearson ATs had broken into two groups, the Fang and Dagger approaching from the SE and the Dart approaching from the East, separated from his comrades by a forest. With Quicksilver in retreat, the SE group posed little immediate threat, and all three Full Metal ATs could concentrate fire on the Dart. Chrome lead the attack, successfully charging the Dart but loosing her footing and falling in the process. As the Dart broke cover and closed with the remaining Full Metal Mercs, he was quickly brought to a halt by a barrage from Steel and Quicksilver, loosing his RT as he fell to the ground. Quicksilver continued to pound on the Dart while Steel and Chrome targeted the rapidly approaching Dagger. As luck would have it, a series of hits to the Dagger's LoT quickly disabled it shortly before a blast from Quicksilver's PL trimmed off one of the Dart's legs. Isolated, the Fang was determined not to go down easily as he ruined one of Chrome's Gyro's as she charged by. Quicksilver carried on the fight despite having heavy damage, with Steel as support. After a fierce exchange of fire, the Fang succumbed to a PL to the reactor detonating it. Fortunately, all the Full Metal Mercs in the area survived and the remaining Pearsons ATs' jocks ejected, abandoning their ATs. Victory!

With their contract fulfilled, the Full Metal Mercenaries boarded their transport, bring along the remains of the Dagger, which Chrome assured the squad she could salvage, and headed towards their next assignment.


Salvage: $20600
Bounty: $14000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$23542
Repairs: -$81909
Profit: $54149 + Dagger

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Mission 2: Tempering the Metal
Map: Small Core
Employer: Hermes Provisional Administration

Steel in a Pest
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Club

vs.

Wolf in a Exhuminator
Hulk in a Banzai

For their Sophomore mission, the Full Metal Mercenaries where dispatched to the burning waste of the planet Hermes where the provisional administration continued to face opposition from rebel factions that opposed the planet's transition from a loosely run mining camp to full-fledged colony under the direction of the Colonial Administration. Typically, the Provisional Administration only had to deal with occasional attempts by the rebels to hijack ore shipments and assorted vandalism, but recently an unknown party had supplied the rebels with a couple of ATs that were more than a match for the local police forces. To counter this new threat, the Provisional Administration contacted the MRC and a contract was issued to the Full Metal Mercs to deal with the threat.

Based on recent encounters with the rebel ATs, Full Metal was deployed along an important ore shipment, near a likely staging area for an ambush. Full Metal approached from the NW seeking to gain the high ground before engaging the rebels. The rebels had similar plans, and first contact was made between Quicksilver and a rebel Exhuminator across a naturally formed cul-de-sac. While at the perfect range for the Exhuminator's LRM racks, both side continued to maneuver preventing either side from scoring too many hits. With Full Metal concentrating on the long-range menaced, a second rebel AT, a Banzai, closed with Full Metal undetected, broke cover and opened fire on Quicksilver with his MGs. Quicksilver's perch, which proved to be a good defense against the missile wielding Exhuminator, was a liability against the close range Banzai, and he was forced to retreat to the cover of the rest of Full Metal as the damage continued to mount. Fortunately, the rebel's weren't communicating well, and the Banzai advanced in the cul-de-sac and quickly came under fire from all three Full Metal ATs. After successive charges Quicksilver lost an arm, in exchange for the Banzai's RT knocking it to the ground and dissuading it's jock from trying to stand. Safely out of LoS from the Exhuminator, who was quickly running out of ammo, Full Metal proceed to pound the downed Banzai into scrap, with all members achieving yellow or better scans, kneeling at point balance range and firing salvo after salvo at the Banzai's cockpit. Shortly, the jock attempted to eject, but in his wounded state he failed to clear his eject route and dead on impact with an utcropping. The remaining rebel AT began to advance, still without significant damage, but without ammo. Frustrated, he attempted to pin down Chrome long enough to pound her with his ATs fists, but the agile Full Metal ATs easily evaded his attacks and trimmed armor plate after armor plate from his AT. Finally, sensing that his end was near, the Exhuminator's jock lit up his jump ports and jumped clear of Full Metal, landed on a nearby peak and ejected. Victory!

With their trump card eliminated, most of the rebel factions returned to the negotiating table, and were welcomed into the fledgling colony without prejudice. The Full Metal Mercenaries were awarded the option to accept any further contract to deal with action by the remaining extremists before the contract were submitted to the MRC at large.

Salvage: $13560
Bounty: $12000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$28393
Repairs: -$95297
Profit: $26870 + Exhuminator

[Burzmali]

Mission 3: Bandit Bash Pt. 1
Map: Small Terran
Employer: Rhean Regular Army

Steel in a Pest
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Club

vs.

Arthos in a Porcupine
The Hun in a Mosquito
Iggy in a Viking

With their skills improving, the Full Metal Mercenaries were next sent to the planet Rhea, that despite it's calming landscape, had been locked in a civil for the better part of a decade. With the Rhean Regular Army (RRA) locked in a stalemate with the Rhean Liberation Army (RLA), law and order on the planet Rhea had begun to decay as the years passed. Banditry was particularly rampant as the RRA couldn't afford to supply escorts for any but the most important shipments. Though the RLA denies supplying them, eventually several groups of bandits equipped themselves with ATs and became capable of all but interdicting smaller cities. It was to thwart one of these blockades that the RRA sought help from the MRC, and the Full Metal Mercs were deployed.

With the blockade setup on a N-S road that served as the city's only connection to the global transportation network, Full Metal was deployed to the west of where most encounters with the bandits were reported. As they approached the target area, Full Metal spread out taking up firing positions along a series of hills that flanked the road. Simultaneously, a group of three bandit ATs broke cover on the east side of the road and opened fire on Full Metal, determined to drive them from their vantage point. Surprised that the bandits would seek combat when they were outmaneuvered, Full Metal took advantage of the situation, disabling an advancing Viking as it closed. The remaining bandit AT, a Mosquito and a Porcupine split up, with the Mosquito attempting to defeat all 3 Full Metal ATs in melee combat, while the Porcupine fell back and lobbed volley after volley of SRMs at Full Metal. Heavily out numbered, the Mosquito fell to numerous close range blasts from Quicksilver and Chrome while Steel attempted to keep the Porcupine busy. Finally, despite reducing several of the Full Metal Mercs locations to red, the Porcupine's SRM supply started to run low and he was forced to engage in hand-to-hand with several all of Full Metal which quickly reduced his AT to a pile of scrap. Victory!

With the bandit ATs eliminated, supplies once again flowed freely through the region, at least until the next batch of bandits decided to strike. The RRA liaison was equally puzzled as to why the bandits attacked while outmaneuvered, when they could have easily fallen back to fight another day, but with the bandit jocks dead or missing, he was happy enough that no one in the city would be starving on his watch.

Salvage: $46850
Bounty: $12000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$31359
Repairs: -$52077
Profit: $100414

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Mission 4: Bandit Bash Pt. 2
Map: Small Polar
Employer: Rhean Liberation Army

Steel in a Pest
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Club

vs.

tiger 1 in a Mosquito
Falcon in a Viking
Mr. D in a Stingray

Shortly before boarding the transport off-world, Steel was contacted through a secure line from the MRC. Various intelligence agencies in the RLA had confirmed Full Metal's presence on Rhea, and had requested that the MRC deploy them for a similar duty in RLA controlled territory. Steel accepted the mission, as earning a quick paycheck without having to send the time travelling to another star system was always a good deal. The Full Metal Mercs still lifted off on schedule, but instead of meeting with a jumpship, they were transferred to a second dropship and return to Rhea in the frozen tundra held by the RLA. The MRC was forced to employ this deception to prevent the appearance of favoritism in the Rhean Civil War as both sides had paid the MRC well to remain neutral in the conflict.

Once again, Full Metal was deployed to break a bandit blockade on an isolated city. Immediately upon entering the combat area, Full Metal began making intermittent contact with a trio of bandit ATs far to the East. Always seeking the high ground, Full Metal approach a solitary mountain with a gentle slope on their side, and a sharp slope facing the bandits. As the bandits closed, Quicksilver was about to identify a Mosquito and Viking that bore similar markings their siblings they had faced in RRA territory, as well as a Stingray. Chrome came under fire first, as she chose her route up the mountain poorly. Despite taking several damaging hits, Chrome continued her ascent as the Stingray positioned himself at his optimal firing range and the Viking and Mosquito closed on her. With the Viking and Mosquito circling the mountain, the trap was sprung and Steel and Quicksilver moved into short range with the Stingray, negating his PG and leaving him scrambling to fall back. The Stingray quickly fell to the ground under the barrage and upon stand decided to charge forward to engage both of his attackers in melee combat. Only too happy to comply, Steel and Quicksilver returned the charge, out manunevering the Stingray and tearing a leg from it as it lay on the ground stunned. Meanwhile, the Viking had turned and was approaching Steel's and Quicksilver's position. Once again, Full Metal's Hand-to-hand training paid off as the Viking fell to a series of blows from Steel and Quicksilver, as Chrome supported them nearby. With only the Mosquito remaining, the Full Metal ATs once again attempt to close the distance and engage. Quicksilver and Chrome lead the attack this time, as the Mosquito's insessient nibbling had damaged several of Steel's system. In the end, after a charge and blast after blast from Quicksilver's AC7, the final bandit ejected from his mauled AT. Victory!

(Side Note: Quicksilver's charge on the Mosquito achieved the lowest damage I have ever seen from a charge, racking up a mighty 4 points of damage on impact )

With the bandits eliminated, Full Metal was once again left wondering why the bandits fought to the death, instead of withdrawing once the tide began to turn on them...

Salvage: $29215
Bounty: $12000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$33433
Repairs: -$98051
Profit: $34731 + a Viking

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[Burzmali]

Mission 5: Biochem Beginners
Map: Small Biochem
Employer: Primus Waste Disposal

Steel in a Viking
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Club

vs.

Wolf in a Pharaoh
Craven in a Duelist

Not all jobs are glamorous, for their next mission, the Full Metal Mercenaries were deployed to Waste Asteroid R2384. The Primus Waste Disposal Company, who held the Disposal Contract for R2384, had been having problems with scavengers attacking their shuttles during drops on R2384. Fearing that they would eventually lose a multi-million dollar shuttle to the raids, Primus contacted the MRC, who dispatched the Full Metal Mercenaries to the asteroid.

Full Metal was deploy to the East of the most recent disposal sites and immediately headed for cover under some scrap radiator fins in the center of the engagement zone. As they arrived, a Duelist emerged from the hills to the West followed shortly by Pharaoh. Staying clear of his deadly chainsaws, the Full Metal Mercs quickly pepper him with laser and autocannon blasts until several of his locations are in the red. Quicksilver leads the charge along with Steel in his new Viking, dropping the Duelist in the first pass, and disabling him before he could land a hit with his Saws. The Pharaoh followed suit, also trying to close in and bring his melee arsenal to bear, but despite landing several good hits on Full Metal ATs, he could keep up with the fast moving recon ATs and quickly began racking up hits to the head and cockpit of his AT. As his heads armor went red, the scavenger must have decided that his life was worth more than he AT, and ejected. Victory!

The mission proved lucrative to Full Metal as Primus paid well for their services and the amateur scavengers failed to cause any appreciable damage to Full Metal's ATs. In addition, this victory allowed Steel to test the Viking the team recently capture as well as earn her first promotion.

Salvage: $47402
Bounty: $0
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$37530
Repairs: -$27380
Profit: $107492

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Mission 6: Trapped Levers
Map: Small Polar
Employer: Hades Research Outpost

Steel in a Viking
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Club

vs.

Sirene in a Wraithchild
Toth in a Dart
Master in a Prowler

It was a cold on Hades when the Full Metal Mercenaries had their first engagement with the Marauders and suffered their first casualty. At the time, the Marauders were a persient nuisance in the sector, raiding weakly defended outposts for supplies and prestige. Each Marauder ship consisted of a single extended family that "adopted" new members from the outcasts of society, and were lead by the member who could boasts the most of what we would call prestige. When the Hades Research outpost was challenged by a smaller Marauder force, they contacted the MRC for defended, a call that the Marauders were more than happy to allow.

After making contact with the Marauder ship while still in orbit, an MRC representative abroad Full Metal's dropship negotiated the time and location of the engagement, along with the cost to Hades should Full Metal lose. Both forces arrived on the Northeastern edge of the engagement area, Full Metal to the west, the Marauders to the east. The combat began immediately, as each team had line of sight on at least one member of their counterparts. As the area between them offered little in decent combat terrain, mainly mountains and swamps, both sides headed for a large open area in the center of the engagement area. Full Metal fired the first shots as Chrome targeted a Marauder Prowler that had circled to the SE corner of the clearing and was fast approaching Full Metal's position. Meanwhile, a Marauder Dart and Wraithchild opened fire on Steel from some light forest on the edge of the clearing. Unwilling to trade blows with a Wraithchild at range, Quicksilver and Steel charged across the clearing to force a close combat battle. As they ran, the Prowler threatened to encircle Full Metal, trapping them between his CC weapons and the Wraithchild's NB. To prevent this, Chrome and Quicksilver traded opponents, and Quicksilver successfully drew the Prowler out of the primary engagement. But, without Quicksilver's CC skills, Steel and Chrome were not able to score a knockout against the Dart and Wraithchild. The intial attack left both Full Metal Mercs dizzy from the Wraithchild's NB, but left the Wraithchild disabled on the ground. Unfortunately, between the Wraithchild's PL and the Dart's constant missile barrage, Steel's AT was quickly suffering heavy damage. In a valiant effort to eliminate the Dart, Steel smashed her AT in it as it charged forward sending them both crashing to the ground, Steel without either a LoT or RL. On standing, the Dart continued it's heavy assault, despite attempts from Chrome to draw it's attention. In fear of a reactor breach, Steel began to eject, the Dart sensing this began to retreat. Sadly, due to only modest training in ejection procedure, Steel failed to notice a large tree in the path of her escape pod and died on impact. Shortly after, enraged, Chrome smashed the Dart to the ground tearing its engine apart. Likewise, after a short match of tag, the Prowler's jock ejected ending the engagement. Victory, if at a price.

The staff Hades Research Outpost, grateful of everything the Full Metal Merc had done, attempted to console the team by organizing a funeral for Steel with as much pomp and circumstance an outpost with a staff of 30 could muster, but the lose of Steel left a hole in the Full Metal Mercs that they feared they would never be able to fill. Of the remaining Full Metal Mercs, Chrome was nominated to be the interim team leader and was promoted accordingly. The MRC hoped that she would be able handle the mantle of leadership at least until Full Metal could recruit another member with as much natural leadership talent as Steel.

Salvage: $26956
Bounty: $0
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$34388
Repairs: -$76211
Profit: $41357 + Wraithchild

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: Burzmali

Team Information:

The Full Metal Mercenaries began operations with four members and three ATs.

Why did you recruit the 4th guy if you're not gonna use him? Costs you maintenance, and recruting him later on, when your leader has better leadership, is much better, he'll have better stats.

[Burzmali]

Several Reasons:

1. If my leader buys it, a spare jock or two can ease the transistion to a new leader.
2. DP without XP, one of the rules of the Hardcore AAR is that you never challenge below your level, if you level too quick you will find that all the enemies are far better trained then you. 15 a battle might not be much but it adds up over time.
3. You could accidently buy the wrong ATs to start and choose to forego restarting and just tough it out minus an AT. Not that that happened or anything [;)]

[Burzmali]

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Mission 7: Bounty Hunts Pt. 1
Map: Small Polar
Employer: Mercenary Review Company

Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Wraithchild

vs.

Wolf in a Shredder

With a leader, the MRC feared that the Full Metal Mercenaries would be driven from the business. In order to protect their investment, and to allow remaining members a chance to blow off some steam, the MRC awarded the Full Metal Mercs a series of bounty contracts for criminal known to have ATs in their possession. Their first target was a deserter from the Barsoom Defense Force known as Wolf who was wanted for numerous assaults against lightly defended transports in addition to his desertion.

Piloting the captured Wraithchild, Chrome and Quicksilver hoped to subdue and eliminate Wolf quickly using Chrome's NB in combination with Quicksilver's ability to selectively target locations on opposing ATs. Full Metal approached the last known location of Wolf through a series of swamps and forests to the SE. After a little trouble clearing the swamps, both members were able to meet up at a grove of trees in the center of clearing. As they lay in wait, Wolf comes into sight piloting a Shredder. With a brief signal, the trap is sprung and both Full Metal ATs charge forward blasting the Shredder with AC7 and NB blasts. The combined speed of the two Full Metal recons allowed them to quickly bracket the slower Shredder, preventing it from facing both Full Metal ATs at a time and keeping it from closing to with either as well. As the Shredder's armor wore thin, Quicksilver risked a frontal assault, driving the Shredder to the ground and further injuring Wolf. In his injured, Wolf was unable to quickly right his Shredder as Chrome's NB blasts continued to nibble at his health. However, the final blow was landed by Quicksilver, as a carefully aimed blast from his AC7 tore the head off the Shredder killing Wolf instantly. Victory!

With the victory, Chrome gained valuable experience in leading the team.

Salvage: $37948
Bounty: $14000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$33699
Repairs: -$46645
Profit: $96604

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Mission 8: Bounty Hunts Pt. 2
Map: Small Biochem
Employer: Mercenary Review Company

Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Wraithchild

vs.

Luna in a Paladin

Still in the employ of the MRC, Full Metal was next given the task of eliminating a convicted war criminal known as Luna. Based on her last known whereabouts, a survey vessel had located Luna's ship touched down an acid-ridden dust ball in the Praxus system. The MRC contacted the team, and within hours, Quicksilver and Chrome were dispatched to the sight.

After the drop, Full Metal attempted to repeat their prior performance, by setting an ambush in some cover in the middle of a wide expanse, however they were separated from the most favorable terrain by a river of acid. As they followed the river looking for way to cross, an unmarked Paladin came into sight in a canyon behind Quicksilver and opened fire scoring a hit with it's NB. Unable to sustain a prolonged battle with NB blasts flying about, Chrome ordered a charge and both Full Metal ATs charged into the canyon, desperate to close the distance to Luna. As they approached the Paladin, Quicksilver's health had been worn down heavily by the NB, and he continued passed the Paladin, eager to break contact. Knowing that her augmented body could more easily withstand a blast from the Paladin's NB, Chrome flung her AT into the Paladin in an effort to buy Quicksilver a few extra seconds. As Luna returned her Paladin to its feet, she fired one last NB blast at Quicksilver, hitting his AT squarely. Chrome held her breath as she watched he teammates health monitor flicker and then stabilize ... Another close call. Determined to prevent another close call, Quicksilver run full speed behind some cover, breaking LoS to the Paladin, and buying himself time to clear his head. Meanwhile, Chrome continued to hammer on the Paladin with her PL and NB, succeeding in wounding Luna several times. After a few choice shots, the Paladin's Head armor melted away, and in her haste to escape and wounded state, Luna forgot to clear her escape path and her escape pod landed in the middle of a nearby acid pond, killing her within seconds. Victory!

With two victories, even without Steel at the helm, the Full Metal Mercenaries morale began to return, and they hoped with one final bounty hunting mission from the MRC, they be able to hire a new recruiter and expand the team once more.

Salvage: $47841
Bounty: $14000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$34135
Repairs: -$18207
Profit: $134499

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: Burzmali

Several Reasons:

1. If my leader buys it, a spare jock or two can ease the transistion to a new leader.

I don't see Gunmetal being used in the following missions. And you talk about hiring a new recruiter.

2. DP without XP, one of the rules of the Hardcore AAR is that you never challenge below your level, if you level too quick you will find that all the enemies are far better trained then you. 15 a battle might not be much but it adds up over time.

Well, the jock must be assigned a titan to gain the DPs. So you have to have a titan. If you do, why doesn't it go to battle? He'll gain a lot more than 5DP/category. And the titan is costing maintenance too. As for challenging below level, how does that change anything? He's a rookie while on the HQ and that won't change, he'll be a rookie when you recruit him. Unless you're using him to lower your squad's average rank, which sounds like cheating to me.

3. You could accidently buy the wrong ATs to start and choose to forego restarting and just tough it out minus an AT. Not that that happened or anything [;)]

Well, that's why you can leave the HQ without saving... [;)] But this doesn't have anything to do with unassigned jocks, does it?

[Burzmali]

ORIGINAL: Thorgrim

ORIGINAL: Burzmali

Several Reasons:

1. If my leader buys it, a spare jock or two can ease the transistion to a new leader.

I don't see Gunmetal being used in the following missions. And you talk about hiring a new recruiter.

Wasn't lucky in the intelligence / charisma / leadership with Gunmetal ... would have had to nerf him as a jock to make him a decent backup. So I decided to train him at what he was good at (with the intent to use him in the AT I failed to properly requistion).

2. DP without XP, one of the rules of the Hardcore AAR is that you never challenge below your level, if you level too quick you will find that all the enemies are far better trained then you. 15 a battle might not be much but it adds up over time.

Well, the jock must be assigned a titan to gain the DPs. So you have to have a titan. If you do, why doesn't it go to battle? He'll gain a lot more than 5DP/category. And the titan is costing maintenance too. As for challenging below level, how does that change anything? He's a rookie while on the HQ and that won't change, he'll be a rookie when you recruit him. Unless you're using him to lower your squad's average rank, which sounds like cheating to me.

Bingo, the first AT I captured (the Exhuminator) is currently serving as a training AT. Yes, I know I am paying extra for it being a light AT, but I have yet to capture a recon as useless to me as it is (I've never been a fan of LRMs in anything smaller than a medium AT). In addition, I use the average rank of the combat team, not the overall team, to determine the ranks of my opponents, so I am not gaining too much of an advantage by benching him. The problem I have faced before in these AARs is that a team will have it's leader and manager quickly advance in rank due to their high charisma advancing the level of the encounters while several team members lag behind. To combat this, I try to get those that level slower more DP to keep them in the fight until they catch up.

3. You could accidently buy the wrong ATs to start and choose to forego restarting and just tough it out minus an AT. Not that that happened or anything [;)]

Well, that's why you can leave the HQ without saving... [;)] But this doesn't have anything to do with unassigned jocks, does it?

True enough, and if I had wanted to remake all four members of the team over it, I would have [:'(]

[Burzmali]

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Mission 9: Bounty Hunts Pt. 3
Map: Small Terran
Employer: Mercenary Review Company

Quicksilver in a Lancer
Chrome in a Wraithchild

vs.

Avenger in a Ghost

For their third mission with hunting bounties for the MRC, Full Metal was tasked with eliminating Avenger, a merc jock who skipped out on a mission taking a sizable down payment with him. Thinking that the MRC had given up tracking him, he foolishly returned to his home planet, where he was and come under surveillance by the MRC.

Deployed to the SW of Avenger's makeshift camp, Full Metal headed towards a small forest at the opening of several mountain passes. As he approached, Quicksilver deviated to a low hill to recon the area and identify likely avenues of attack. As both Full Metal ATs met in the forest, a Ghost came into sight at the mouth of one of the canyons, slowly making it's way through a forest. As he approached, Avenger fired his Ghost's PG and GME at every opportunity, but after the first salvo, both Quicksilver and Chrome were charging to close the gap and negate the Ghost's PG. After falling to a charge, the Ghost tried to put some distance between himself and Full Metal, but the lighter ATs easily kept pace with him, staying close enough to pepper him with NB and AC7 blast, but inside the minimum range of his PG and out of melee range. Eventually the nibbling at his head and armor caused Avenger to lose control and his Ghost crashed to the ground smashing into a small outcropping which drove itself through the Ghost CT smashing its engine. Avenger successfully prevented his AT from exploding, but without an engine he was at the mercy of Full Metal. Victory.

And with the experience gained from this and prior encounters, Chrome was finally confident enough to hire a new recruiter, callsign Wolfram a human female Energy Weapons specialist, who would also pilot the team's Pest. In addition, Wolfram's first act was to hire Beryl, an android Energy Weapons specialist to pilot the Wraithchild (allowing Chrome to return to her Club) and serve as the teams backup mechanic.

Salvage: $0
Bounty: $0
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$34571
Repairs: -$23949
Profit: $66480

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Mission 10: Fist of God pt. 1
Map: Small Savannah
Employer: Altarian Theocracy

Quicksilver in a Lancer
Wolfram in a Pest
Beryl in a Wraithchild

vs.

Naragon in a Prowler
Pain in a Club
Panthera in a Gremlin

With the team largely rebuilt, the MRC paired up Full Metal with the veteran Dagons Guards for the invasion of the planet Xerses. The Altarian Theocracy and the Free World of Xerses had already been a war for several years with strikes being limited to raids on each other's colonies and outposts, when the invasion was announced. Dwindling support for the war at home forced the Altarian leaders to risk a full out invasion of Xerses before they themselves were ousted by their own populist. As neither side had any AT units of their own, Altar hired Dagons Guard and Full Metal to cover the invasion force once they landed. Likewise, the Free World of Xerses had hired a mercenary AT unit for its defense once a spy reported the planned invasion.

The first thrust of the invasion was to establish a beach head within striking distance of the capital city. Dagons Guard provided cover for the shuttles, while Full Metal patrolled the area to alert the invasion forces of any counterattacks. During this patrol, Full Metal encountered elements from Jove's Brigade and fired the first shots of the ground war. Full Metal approached from the NW corner of map, all three Full Metal ATs set course for a plain overlooking a swamp to the SE. As Beryl entered the clearing, he spotted a Gremlin emerging from a hill to the east. As the rest of Full Metal tried to catch up with him, Beryl charged towards the Gremlin, hitting it but fulling to the ground. AS he tried to stand, a Prowler came into sight a short distance away, and slightly further away, a Club began pelting him. Quicksilver and Wolfram ran full speed to rescue Beryl, but the continued assault sent him crashing to the ground every time he tried to stand. After losing a leg, arm, and torso, Beryl called it day and ejected, battered but alive.

Even with the odds against them, Full Metal was determined to hold the line and keep the enemy ATs away from the landing zone. They first targeted the damaged Gremlin, quickly injuring it's jock with a blow to the cockpit, and crippling his AT by tearing off a leg. Next, Full Metal targeted the Club as evading the Prowler, a CC AT, was preferable to absorbing the punishment the Club's PL could hand out. Full Metal began a deadly dance with the two Jovian ATs as the Prowler's jock was eager to close on a Full Metal AT with the Club trying to either herd one into his range or knock one down, and Full Metal agility dodging attempts to pin them down while wearing away at the Club's armor. Eventually, Full Metal broke the stalemate, when both members charged the Club, driving it to the ground and rattling its jock. After being smashed to the ground a second time as he tried to stand, the Club's jock attempted to flee by ejecting only to be killed when his hatch malfunctioned. With his support eliminated, the Prowler stood little chance against Full Metal, but true to Jove's Brigade's reputation, he carried on the fight. True to their own reputation, both Full Metal ATs threw all they had at the Prowler until shot from Wolfram's ML blasted the Prowler's nearly armorless head sending it spiraling into the ground headfirst collasping what was left of the cockpit. While the MRC awarded a bounty anyways, Wolfram was awarded the kill even though it was unclear if her ML blast kill the enemy jock or his inability to control his fall did him in. Victory!

With this victory, Full Metal prevented the Free World of Xerses's army from launching a coordinated assault against the landing zone, and earned the enmity of the commander of Jove's Brigade for costing him the lives of two of his jocks.


Victory

Salvage: $47353
Bounty: $24000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$48224
Repairs: -$69256
Profit: $78873

[Burzmali]

Mission 11: Fist of God pt. 2
Map: Small Savannah
Employer: Altarian Theocracy

Chrome in a Viking
Wolfram in a Pest
Beryl in a Wraithchild

vs.

Gorman in a Guruni (Light)
Hulk in a Guru (Recon)

With the landing sight secured, the bulk of the Altarian 1st Invasion Force (God's Will) was able to safely arrive on Xerses. The invasion plan called for an immediate assault on the capital city by the 1st Invasion Force supported by Dagons Guard while the Altarian 183rd Armored Regiment (Divine Fist) accomplished by Full Metal feinted an attack on the region's primary supply depot to the north to draw off the capital's defenders. As they approached the depot, Altarian air units confirmed that the feint was successful as both armor and AT elements had been detected leaving the city to reinforce the depot. The 183rd Armored Regiment and Full Metal were quickly ordered to engage and destroy the approaching forces to prevent them from returning to the capital once the feint was discovered. As they approached, friendly air units identified the enemy unit as a regiment of Armored troopers from the 3rd mustered militia and elements of light platoon of Jove's Brigade, looks like they wanted a rematch.

As the forces closed, both quickly discovered that they were divided by a river. Unable to ford the river, the 183rd Armored broke off and headed north to intercept the Xersesian armor closer to the depot. After receiving that the AT unit was continuing toward the river, Full Metal decided, hold their side and cross if need be. However, the terrain offered much better cover on other side of the river, and Beryl was forced to seek out a high point to get a better view of the area and find a ford if necessary. With Beryl winding his was up a hill, Wolfram and then Chrome spotted the first enemy AT, a recon a good distane across the river which quickly retreated only to be replaced by a light AT. Eager to ID the enemy and obtain clear LoS, Chrome and Wolfram advanced towards a forest at a bend in the river.

As they progressed, they continued to make intermittent contact with the ATs, IDing them as a Guru and Guruni, two of the best ATs for smashing recon ATs. With the successful IDs, Full Metal set their goals to eliminate the Guru with conventional fire while killing the Guruni's jock with NB fire. To this end, Chrome and Wolfram hunkered down in the forest while Beryl climbed and remained on the hilltop providing telemetry to Chrome and Wolfram. As stable LoS was established the Guru, Full Metal opened fire, but they couldn't track the Guruni as well as it stayed behind the cover of hills. As the Guru reached the river, Beryl sent it to the ground with his PLs. As he tried to stand, he continually fell due to injuries sustained from Beryl's NB. After further peppering from Full Metal, the Guru eventually tore off a leg trying to stand, putting it out of the fight before it got a single shot off.

Not dissuaded, the Guruni charged passed his fallen comraded and forded the river. He crossed successfully only to be charged by Wolfram and hammered by Chrome and Beryl in the forest. Despite scoring a TB hit on Wolfram, the Guruni was unable to outgun all three Full Metal ATs and soon, lost both arms. Disarmed, he tried to ram, but mounting leg damage slowed him down allowing Full Metal to easily evade him. Finally, he tried to flee back across the lake, but his slow speed gave Full Metal time to light the woods he was walking into on fire. With his HRs destroyed from accumulated damage, his temp quickly spiked shutting him down. Victory!

Salvage: $22799
Bounty: $12000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$49036
Repairs: -$18216
Profit: $92547

---------------------------------------------------------

Mission 12: Fist of God pt. 3
Map: Small Polar
Employer: Altarian Theocracy

Chrome in a Viking
Wolfram in a Pest
Beryl in a Wraithchild

vs.

Parsifal in a Guru
Aramis in a Porcupine
Ajax in a Viking

With Full Metal's successful feint and delaying action, the 1st Invasion Force struck before the Xerses military could regroup, invading the capital city spearheaded by Dagons Guard. The heavy ATs easily brushed aside the city defenders and the remainder of Jove's Brigade. With the city under control, the Altarian liaison reveal that the true objective for the attack had escaped! Fearing rebellion or invasion, the ruling party had planted a series of Neutron bombs across the country-side, and now, a detachment of recon ATs were delivering the detonation codes to the Xersesian command post in the planet's artic northern wastes. As Full Metal were the only ones with the speed and firepower to intercept them, they were carried to the waste by shuttle and dropped ahead of the last known heading last three ATs on planet from Jove's Brigade.

Visibility was near zero at the landing site, and Beryl was separated from rest of the team due to the hasty drop. As they moved forward, they spotted a prominent outcropping that straddled the east-west pass the Jovian ATs were likely taking. As they approached the ambush point, Chrome began making contact with a pair of recons far to the east. As they climb the peak, she IDs the first as a Porcupine and the second as a Viking. Wolfram spots the final AT and IDs it as a Guru. The enemies target Wolfram first, but she is able to evade contact and allow Chrome and Beryl to take several unreturned shots. However, while the ambush spot provided great cover, it also blocked a small window through which the enemy ATs managed to close on Chrome and Beryl. At close range, a furball quickly developed, with Chrome and Beryl throwing everything they had at the Porcupine and Viking. Unfortunately, the Guru ended the debate by severing Beryl's LL with his first TB blast. Grounded, Beryl tries to hold off all three enemy ATs by himself, as Chrome falls back with a damaged engine (took an LL hit to the CT with full armor ... sigh, nothing I haven't said before). The Guru advances and smashes in Beryl's weakened CT with his second shot destroying his engine and disabling his AT. Now, outnumbered, Chrome and Wolfram continue the fight, but displaced from their hiding place they are easy pickings for the nearly full strength Jovian ATs. Chrome risks engaging the enemy Viking in melee combat, run passed the Guru as it charges Wolfram. Wolfram counter charges taking both of them to the ground, but the Guru is the first to its feet and easily trims off one of Wolfram's legs with a TB blast. Down but not out, Wolfram manages to knock the Viking to the ground in time for Chrome to stand over him and swing his PA around like an idiot (53% against a downed opponent with the axe, when she would have had >90% with an MG ... ). Unfortunately, the Guru's next TB shot tears into Wolfram's CT detonating her AT, killing her instantly. The blast damages everyone in the region (though the Guru took a surprisingly little damage on breakdown, ~40 from the blast, but <20 got attributed, huh?) In addition, it sets off the Porcupine's engine, starting another round of explosions. Fortunately, no one else exploded and the Jovian commander offered a draw, and Chrome accepted. Draw.

Altarian Command wasn't pleased that Full Metal failed to secure the detonation codes, but the damaged the Jovian ATs suffered forced them to undergo extensive repairs before continuing their journey. By the time they reached the command center, it was firmly under Altarian control, and no one was left to pay their contracts.

Salvage: $0
Bounty: $12000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$41997
Repairs: -$131830
Profit: -$36827

[Burzmali]

Mission 13: Revenge
Map: Small Savannah
Employer: New Manhattan Colony

Chrome in a Viking
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Beryl in a Wraithchild

vs.

Calypso in a Pike
Samurai in a Lancer
Night Owl in a Zealot

Full Metal's second encounter with the Marauders occurred when the newly founded New Manhattan Colony contacted the MRC when a marauder ship landed and declared their intent to strip the colony bare should they be unable to defend themselves. Given the suspected size of the attacking force, and their prior experience against the Marauders, the MRC assigned Full Metal to defend the colony.

En route to New Manhattan, Chrome designated a plain punctuated by a series of plateaus as the battleground. After landing, choose a plateau near their land zone to launch their attack from. As the approached the slope, Quicksilver made first contact with the enemy, IDing a Pike rounding a plateau to the East. As the continued their ascent, Beryl and Quicksilver IDed a Lancer and Zealot approaching from the South. Choosing to concentrate fire power, Full Metal opened up on the Pike first, knocking it down once, and then knocking its jock out with an NB shot as it closed from the west. Meanwhile, the Lancer attempted to close to CC range, and the Zealot settled on a second plateau and began raining down LMG and AC4 rounds on whichever Full Metal AT held still long enough. While he scored some initial success, as a shot from his AC7 to Chrome's HD injured her and forced her to withdraw, once all three Full Metal ATs where able to change targets, the Lancer quickly lost both arms and a leg while being knocked senseless by Beryl's NB. With Chrome injured and Beryl cleaning up the Lancer and Pike, Quicksilver took on the undamaged Zealot, charging down Full Metals plateau and up his. As he closed, he continued to take withering fire from the Zealot's cannons and quickly ran out of MG ammo, limiting him to his AC7. Just as the Zealot seemed ready to finish Quicksilver, Beryl put the Pike's jock out of his misery and turned to force the Zealot to fight a two front battle. With blast after blast from Beryl's NB tearing away at the Zealot's Jocks health, while Quicksilver tore away at his weakest armor segments, the Zealot's jock gave up and tried to eject. Victory!

Full Metal received a heroes welcome as they returned to the New Manhattan settlement which was only interrupted to announce that not only had Full Metal soundly defeated the marauders, but all three enemy jocks would not be returning to their ship. When news of the victory reached the MRC Chrome received her promotion to Green.

Salvage: $28168
Bounty: $42000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$47484
Repairs: -$68149
Profit: $79535 + Lancer

---------------------------------------------------------
Mission 14: Savannah Kings
Map: Small Savannah
Employer: Deus Government

Chrome in a Dagger
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Beryl in a Wraithchild

vs.

Joanna in a Enigma
Athena in a Pike
Nymph in a Shadow

With their unbroken string of victories on Savannah battlegrounds, it was no wonder that the MRC turned to Full Metal to deal with a hostage situation gone bad on Deus. After a three day stand off with a group of kidnappers, the local police raided the kidnapper's hideout only to run into several ATs! In the end, the hostages were secured, but the kidnappers escaped into the planet's hinterlands with their ATs. Fearing retaliation, the government contacted the MRC to neutralize the threat.

Full Metal was dropped off SW of a camp surrounded but heat signatures. After the team formed up, they began climbing a nearby mountain to get a better view of the area. As they climbed, Chrome spotted a Shadow in the distance, which was joined by two other 2 unIDed recons. Using the forest halfway up the mountain as cover, Full Metal lined up on the Shadow and attacked picking away at its armor uncontested. As the kidnappers closed, the trailing ATs were identified as a Pike and Engima. As the Shadow neared CC range, Quicksilver charged it, driving it to the ground and quickly crippling it with concentrated fire on its damaged LL. Meanwhile, Beryl switched to attacking the Enigma, severely wounding its jock with his NB and damaging one of his gyros, leaving him falling over time after time as he tried to stand, and eventually convincing him that ejecting was preferable to death. Isolated, the Pike quickly gained the attention of all three Full Metal ATs. Quicksilver lead the attack, driving the Pike back, and forcing it into melee combat. Eventually, after knocking the Pike to the ground, Quicksilver was able to saw off one its legs and the jock ejected. Victory.

The Deus police were waiting for the ejected kidnappers when they landed, taking them into custody without a struggle. In addition, the battle earned Beryl his promotion to green.

Salvage: $30237
Bounty: $0
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$52912
Repairs: -$39436
Profit: $62889 + Enigma

[Burzmali]

Mission 15: Ares Revisited
Map: Medium Savannah
Employer: Ares Planetary Government

Chrome in a Dagger
Quicksilver in a Lancer
Beryl in a Wraithchild
Gunmetal in an Enigma
Zinc in a Lancer

vs.

Samurai in a Thunder
Witch in a Apparition
Leander in a Apparition

Despite the best efforts of the Ares Planetary Government, the situation on Ares continued to degrade, with Pearson's Brigade launching more and more attacks against both civilian and military targets. Even when the government contacted the MRC to deal with ATs the Pearsons acquired, it was only a matter of time before they brought in more. At one point, Pearson's managed to smuggling in no less than 3 light ATs. Given their success in their first engagement with Pearson's Brigade, the Ares Military specially requested Full Metal to dealt with this threat.

Given the firepower advantage of 3 light ATs over Full Metal's typical 3 recons ATs, Chrome choose to hire a new jock (Zinc) to pilot the captured Lancer, while Gunmetal would finally get off the bench and pilot the captured Enigma. Full Metal approached the Pearson's base camp from the East, split into 2 teams to maximize their chance of spotting the enemy before they could close. Zinc scouted the area to the north and failed to make contact with the enemy, though as she advanced to the West she made contacted with a light AT, an Apparition, far to the SW. As the North team, consisting of Chrome and Zinc, closed, they spotted the second and third light AT, IDing them and as a second Apparition and a Thunder. Full Metal settled on a pair of hills, preparing to meet the enemy one at a time. As they closed, the enemy ATs split up, with the first Apparition targeting Chrome and Zinc and the others heading South towards Quicksilver, Beryl and Gunmetal. As the light ATs charged passed, Chrome took serious damage from the lead Apparition's chainsaws, knocking her on her head and forcing her to flee with both her HD and RA in the red. Without Chrome, Zinc continued to spare with the first Apparition while Gunmetal hurried to support her. Beryl temporarily disabled the 2nd Apparition with an NB blast, and Quicksilver pummelled the advancing Thunder. As the Thunder closed on Beryl and Quicksilver's position, Quicksilver charged it to slow it down, while Beryl switched to firing on it. His brief assault left his AT crippled and shutdown from the Thunder's FTs, but several solid hits from Beryl's NB convinced its jock to eject. Meanwhile, Chrome was forced to rejoin the battle to distract the 2nd Apparition while the 1st ran out of ammo and began charging Quicksilver with his chainsaws. It looked grim for Quicksilver, but an ammo explosion in his CT destroyed his engine, disabling his AT, before the Apparition could shred him with its chainsaws. As the Apparition focused on Beryl, a shot from Gunmetal's HMG cracked one of its Gyros and a PL blast from Beryl sent him to the ground, where he didn't even bother trying to stand. Unfortunately, around this time, despite dodging nearly 75% of the 2nd Apparition's fire, Chrome took one too many hits to the HD and was killed instantly as her cockpit collasped... Leadership in Full Metal is a dangerous position to hold as Chrome is the third leader to die in combat. Enraged by the lost of their leader, the remaining members Full Metal turn their full attention to the remaining Apparition, and after a brief but deadly dance, it's jock succumbs to Beryl's NB, quickly to be followed by the jock in the downed Apparition. Victory, at a price.

The Ares Planetary Government thanked Full Metal for their efforts, but the thanks gave neither side much comfort as the government knew this wasn't the last time that Pearson's Brigade would strike, and Full Metal was bring their leader home in a box, a very small box...

Salvage: $85560
Bounty: $28000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$45580
Repairs: -$163161
Profit: $29819

---------------------------------------------------------
Mission 16: Metal vs. Mineral
Map: Small Core
Employer: Icon Mining Company

Beryl in a Wraithchild
Gunmetal in an Enigma
Zinc in a Lancer

vs

Tormentor in a Spear (light)
Chaos in a Club (Recon)

As mining technology has developed, it has become possible to chase profitable mineral vein further and further into a planet's interior. However, the deeper the vein, the higher the risk to the miners, leading to many disputes between miners and managers. One such dispute turned ugly when miners on the resource planet M213 attacked the onsite offices killing several low level managers and taking others hostage. The miners demanded passage off-world in exchange for the lives of the managers, but execs at Icon choose to contact the MRC to deal with the situation. And despite their lack of experience in Core environments, the MRC choose Full Metal to lead the assault on the AT assets the miners managed to bring in while a small covet merc team rescued the hostages.

Dropped to the SW of the mining camp, the Full Metal jocks quickly discovered that they would have to walk to avoid building up heat. Their first destination was a mountain ridge from which they hoped to locate the enemy, but the enemy was impatient, and Beryl spotted the enemy light AT in the distance rapidly approaching. Splitting off from the rest of the team, Beryl choose a mountaintop with cover surrounded on 3 sides by lava to attack from, while Gunmetal and Zinc would mix it up with the enemy. After settling on a mountaintop, Beryl spotted a recon AT trailing the light AT and IDed them as a Club and Spear. Beryl first the first shots, rattling the Club as it approached an ambush by Zinc and Gunmetal. As it approached, Gunmetal charged in, smashing into the Club, but only sending himself to the ground, which the approaching Spear took full advantage of by damaging his HRs before he could stand and flee. With his HRs damaged not only was he out of the battle, but the mounting heat threatened to shutdown his AT and eventually detonate it. As soon as he was clear of the enemy ATs, he been the ejection procedure, but just as he reached for the final lever, his cockpit went dark as his AT shutdown. Even with one teammate down, Full Metal held the superior position pincering the enemy and possessing the high ground. Starting with the weakest first, the Club quickly fell, its LoT smashed, but he didn't give up quite yet, continuing to fire on Zinc forcing her to retreat as he CT went red. However, Beryl continued to prosecute the battle with robotic efficiency, knocking the Spear's jock unconscious and killing him, and then turning his sights on the Club. In a race against time, Beryl pummelled the Club as fast as he heat would allow trying to kill the jock or at least cause him to flee before Gunmetal's AT detonated from its mounting heat. In the end, the Club's jock choose not to share his partner's fate and ejected after minimal persuasion. Victory!

With the hostages rescued and miners AT forces quelled, Full Metal packed up to leave. Though, as they passed the demoralized miners, they knew that unless policies changed, this wouldn't be the last time the saw this scarred environment.

Salvage: $20411
Bounty: $12000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$44807
Repairs: -$91552
Profit: $21052 + Spear

[Burzmali]

---------------------------------------------------------
Mission 17: Winter Wonderland
Map: Small Polar
Employer:

Beryl in a Wraithchild
Gunmetal in an Enigma
Zinc in a Lancer

vs

Brutus in an Enigma
Big Jim in a Dragonfly
Arthos in a Wombat

One of the oddest missions undertaken by Full Metal involved pacifying a riot on the resort planet of New Aspen. During a convention of eclectic millionaires, despite any appreciative military training, a fight erupted over who was the best AT jock. In the end, they decided that the only way to find out would be to buy some ATs and duke it out. Fearing the damage the millionaires would cause, the resort's management contacted the MRC to provide security for the event. Unfortunately, the convention-goers took this as a challenge and attacked the security troops as soon as they landed. Fortunately, the MRC had foreseen this possibility and had hired Full Metal hoping to subdue the millionaire while dissuading them from pulling such a stunt in the future.

Informed of the ambush by resort personnel, Full Metal deployed along the ridge of a valley to the West of resort. As Beryl settled onto a mountain peak he spotted a pair of recons in the distance approaching at top speed, not bothering to maintain formation. As they closed, Beryl IDed the lead AT as an Enigma, followed by a Dragonfly, and then quickly joined by a Wombat. Be the time they closed to firing range, all Full Metal ATs had settled into heavy cover and they easily disabled the enemy Enigma, tearing it's LoT off. The Dragonfly and Wombat continued to advance, but as the Dragonfly took to the air, it received a sharp lesson to keep its feet on the ground when a blast from Zinc's AC7 sent it spiraling to the ground. The Wombat charged Beryl and Zinc, both stood little chance and was quickly dispatched with a missing leg. Gunmetal, continued to pound the downed Wombat from his mountaintop while Beryl and Zinc turned to the Dragonfly slow winding its way up their mountain. After firing several salvos, the Dragonfly's badly shaken jock ejects. Victory!


Salvage: $49465
Bounty: $14000
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$44059
Repairs: -$14017
Profit: $130389

---------------------------------------------------------
Mission 18:
Map: Small Savannah
Employer: Arms Governing Board

Beryl in a Wraithchild
Gunmetal in an Enigma
Zinc in a Lancer

vs

Prowler in a Whip
Gaia in a Club

With the diaspora of humanity among the stars, many colonies sought to bring ATs with them, but few could support the technological base to maintain a standing army. As colonies began disposing of mothballed ATs to private concerns, fear of high-tech banditry ran so high that an interstellar body, the Arms Governing Board, was formed to prevent ATs from entering unsavory hands. At a branch of the AGB, the MRC acted as a relief valve, purchasing ATs from various colonies and using them to support fledgling Mercenary Groups. Another function of the MRC was to provide muscle when the AGB needed to use harsh methods to enforce arms trading. In one such case, Full Metal was deployed to Tokyo Prime to disrupt the illicit sale of several ATs and capture both dealer and client.

Full Metal was dropped behind some mountains SW of the location informants IDed as the trade site. However, soon after landing, Full Metal received word that the jumpship carrying the dealers had jumped back out of the system immediately after arriving. Full Metal was instructed to capture the client, knowing that if they waited too long that they too would slip through Full Metal's grasp. Accordingly, Full Metal set course to the NE, climbing the nearest mountain to establish contact with the enemy. Gunmetal made first contact, spotting a Club far to the north, across a river. Next, Gunmetal spotted a Whip, but quickly lost contact as Full Metal charged towards the river, intent on securing their side before the enemy could cross. As Full Metal neared the river, they reestablished contact with the Club, just as it took flight attempting to jump the river. It landed safely, but all three Full Metal ATs were waiting, and in a brief melee lead by a charge from Gunmetal the Club lost and arm and leg. Meanwhile, the Whip was having trouble linking up with his partner, falling several times as he tried to cross the river. Beryl closed first, and score a few hits with his PL from the security of the shore. However, as the Whip came ashore, it fired on Beryl, missed, and lit the woods he was hiding in on fire. Trying to avoid the fire, the Whip veered up a steep slope only to run into Gunmetal and Zinc. Unwilling to engage in a melee, the Whip began to walk backwards, but it was too late as Gunmetal and Zinc charged forward snapping a leg off the Whip with their successive charges, disabling it. Victory!

AGB agents rounded up Prowler and Club as they tried to flee the planet on a commerical transport, but why the dealers bugged out was still a mystery, though many suspected a mole in the AGBs ranks. Speaking of ranks, it was during this mission that Gunmetal and Zinc where promoted to Green.

Salvage: $10608
Bounty: $0
Payment: $125000
Upkeep: -$51401
Repairs: -$35097
Profit: $49110

[Burzmali]

Eighteen battles down with three casualties. Not even close to my run with the Knights, but so far I had a much better record, going 17-0-1. I'll do a more through wrap up after an even 25 battles.

Aside from that, any comments from the peanut gallery? Any thoughts on personnel or anything like that? Or has my horrid prose driven everyone away from this forum by now [;)]