>Mechwarrior Quest

YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!

>Ludo and his Coolfaces

Did we ever name the unit?

If not, 'Jussi's Coolfaces' works for me.

FUCK YEAH COOLFACE

>figure out way to use Corvatti contract to rip them off
>our face
problem, Corvatti?

You officially have a last chance before signing the contract, to renegotiate and finalize anything you wanted. Reading back through the thread, it's a little difficult for me to see where certain things were agreed upon, but from what I understand, the hazard pay clause was removed in return for Corvatti covering a percentage of battlefield repairs, instead of a specific set amount. I'm probably missing something.

But, anyways, final changes you want to make? This is what you're looking at, in layman's terms right now.

>Salvage Rights: First pick of the salvage, you can take up to half, and need to hand the rest over to Corvatti
>Command Rights: Liaison, so a Corvatti watchdog will be keeping you on-task.
>Payment: 250,000 a month
>Duration: Seven months
>Threat assessment: Unknown; You're going as a security measure rather than a response team to a confirmed threat
>Repairs: Corvatti covers 50% of all combat damage repair fees.
>Supplies: Corvatti will pretty much keep you well-supplied, no worries.
>Transportation: Corvatti will transport you and all the other mercs to Hellhole, free of charge.

>>12546598
This looks good to me.

WTB TIMBERWOLF.

>>12546598
Game on. When do we ship?

>>12546390

Breaking contracts willy nilly is a BAD idea, theres a group that handles all the Mercenary contracts in the IS and if we act like complete dicks it WILL go on our permanent records.

>>12546598
Corvatti is still going to provide all of our groundpounders with heavy environmental suits, right?
Will their replacement be covered by the repair clause?

>>12546733
We're not going to do it too bad; all we have to do is describe all patrols we make as "combat" situations, and that any wear-and-tear to the Vindicator, the Condor, the Goblins, or the Vedettes are thus combat damage. We can preemptively proclaim that all patrol missions are in fact combat missions as we are being deployed as a security force with no threat assessment, and as such will be required to assume that every trip out will result in combat; to do otherwise would be mercenary malpractice.


We need to start discussing this with all the other units on this little nature trail to hell.

>>12546763
It will not. But, that's only if they're completely destroyed. If they're just damaged, Corvatti can probably fix them up and cover the expenses, no problems.

>>12546598
>mfw we only make 1/4 of a light BattleMech a month.

FUCKERS. We're stealing everything that isn't nailed down.

I love you guys and this thread... keep up the good work OP

>>12546777
Not ideal, but considering that we're a newbie merc outfit, I guess we can't really press for more.

As one other poster from last thread asked, will the environment of the planet support usage of Inferno missiles, and of some of our tanks? I don't think all of them are sealed, and so may not be usable.

Fuck yeah, I was hoping to catch the 2nd part.

I think what we have is pretty good, lets get the story moving along.

>>12546791
we do that anyways.

Anything not excluded in our contract.

>>12546777
What happened to the armor crews that went to stock up on SRMs and AC5 ammo?

Oh, and for the record, you DO have bank loans to cover, and you need to make payroll for the troops. Maintenance fees right now are negiligible, since your technicians are actually pretty awesome. That'll change when battlefield repairs need to be taken into account.

So, your profit for the first little while will be small, but once the bank loans are out of the way, it might just be smooth sailing.

Y'know, for mercenaries.

>>12546802
"Like I said before, Mr. Jussi, Mining World LV-515A should be fully compatible with any combat vehicles or munitions you see fit to use. Though, we'll be issuing unarmored EVA suits to your tank crews if necessary. We like to keep our employees alive, you see."

>>12546636
>>12546695
After signing the contract, you hand it over to Henry, who sets it aside on his desk, on a stack of other signed contracts that have been agreed on between Henry and other mercs you'd be working with in the future. "Like I said, good to see we'll be keeping things short here. I've got a few freelancers and one more company coming in later today. All the mercs will be leaving in the next two days. Set matters in order and be at the Harlech space-port at noon, with all your assets and personnel. It's going to be a long trip from Outreach to Hellhole. That barren rock's at the far end of the Lyran Alliance, in Periphery space." Henry seems pleased with himself for some reason. As you turn to leave, Jacobs and Namakara in tow, you hear him quietly chuckling to himself.

Surely, that can't be sinister in any way.

>>12546825
Inb4 Warzone....

>>12546825
If that fucker has us going up against someone with Clan-tech, I say we throw all rules of war out the window, and break out the chemical and biological weapons.

>>12546825
>We like to keep our employees alive

BULLSHIT

I LISTENED TO THE OPENING DIALOGUE FOR THE FIRST MISSION OF BLACK KNIGHT

>"The corporation gives no thought to the miners. They are acceptable write-offs in determining just how safe a planetoid is."

>>12546825
>>12546863

>>12546825
I send Jacobs to supervise the organization of the armor and infantry for boarding Corvatti's DropShips. I send Nakamura to go to the MRBC to dig up some history on the mercenaries that Corvatti has contracted over the last couple years. I seek out one of the other, similarly-situated unit commanders who's going on this mission; I'd like to ask him some questions.

>>12546891
I second this.
If we're going to be working with them, we should start getting to know what kind of people are going to be watching our backs.

>>12546891
Jacobs salutes and heads off in short order. "On it, boss." Namakara gives you a 'look', before sighing. "It's Namakara, sir, not Nakamura. I will seek out the information you request." He follows Jacobs, albeit at a slower and more professional pace.

After this, you do a little digging through various sources, and find that nine other companies have been hired for this operation: The Revenants, Slade's Marauders, Dead Sky, Cain's Claws, the Phalanx, the Shellcrackers, the Wardogs(no doubt one of many companies under this name), Argyle's Armored Guerillas, and the suspiciously-named 'Frenzy Company.'

Anyone in particular you'd like to go and bother?

>>12547164
Shellcrackers, then Argyle's Armored Guerillas, then the Frenzy Company.

>>12547191
Actually, I wanna bug these Dead Sky fellows. Sounds like an aerospace unit.

Cain's Claws? Why does this sound familiar?

>>12547191
>>12547191
Eventually tracking down the unit commander of the Shellcrackers, you find him in a rundown bar later that afternoon. Off in the corner and drinking a beer with another man, they're both wearing uniforms personalized for their own units. One man's uniform insignia is on his shoulder. It depicts a 'Mech(specifically, a Centurion) interposed over a black background. It also happens to be stepping on a large tortoise, crushing and cracking it's shell. This is the guy you're looking for: Major Jake Rolling of the Shellcrackers.

The other man was one you weren't expecting to find here: A man wearing an imitation flight mask and flight suit, and not drinking anything at all. The mask is stylishly decorated with pictures of demonic horns. The insignia on his shoulder shows several aerospace fighters flying in a triangle formation, with another fighter exploding as they shoot it down. No doubt the commander of Dead Sky, who's name escapes you.

>>12547464
Whup, forgot my tripcode. Was posting elsewhere.

Strike up a conversation with the two, gather information on the destination and perhaps raise the idea of watching each others backs.

>>12547514
As you approach, Major Rolling and the Dead Sky pilot both look to you. "Well, hey there, stranger. What can I help ya with?" Major Rolling, a man in his early forties, moves over and allows you a seat in the pair's booth. "We were just discussing a little deal we netted ourselves with Corvatti. I'm sure you've heard by now, they're hiring merc outfits by the bucketful. Some mining rock out in the Periphery. We just got in on it."

The Dead Sky pilot is completely silent, and the effect created by him looking at you from behind his fake flight mask makes it seem as if he's staring at you.

Tell him that we too have jumped aboard the watered down gravy train and inquire to the size of their units.

>>12547601
Tell him we've signed on too, and wanted to get to know the others that are going with us to that rock.
Bring up that it seems a little strange though, to be hiring so many mercs for what should be light garrison duty.

>>12547724
DO NOT let on that you're Capellan in case he's a Capellan March emigrant.

>>12547684
Rolling laughs a little. "Two lances of 'Mechs, and a pair of tanks! Not much, but it's enough to give some folks hell. Doesn't seem all that weird that Corvatti's hiring so many mercs. Everyone's gotten a little crazy with their money before, and I doubt they're any different."

The Dead Sky pilot doesn't respond, and instead leans back on his side of the booth a little.

Rolling waves a hand. "Ah, don't mind him. He's a weirdo. Calls himself 'the Demon Lord.' I've heard of him. He's a real hotshot flyboy, but he never talks. I don't even know why he's here, but he seems willing to listen to the likes of me, jabbering on and on." Rolling seems to be a bit of a chatterbox, a definite contrast to this 'Demon Lord.'

>>12547760
>'the Demon Lord.'
Wait...does his wingman happen to be named Larry?
It might just be a throwaway gag, but let's not mess with the man who survived the Round Table.

>>12547816
Who gives a shit? We need to figure out a way to integrate Dead Sky into our unit, NOW. Anyone named 'the Demon Lord', whether or not he's actually the dude we're thinking of, isn't supposed to be messed with. If he's on our side on a constant basis, we're going to be a lot better off.

>>12547760
I ask Rolling if he's talked to any of the other unit commanders. I also ask him what 'Mech he's driving.

>>12547816
Rolling shrugs. "I dunno, he hasn't mentioned any of his wingmen. But yeah, they're mostly an aerospace unit, and some technicians specializing in fighters. Looked 'em up on MercNet when I heard who all I was workin' with, and they're rated as Elite. F+ Dragoon Rating because of unit size, but damned if they're not good either way."

The 'Demon Lord' makes a slight 'snerk' noise at the mention of his unit's elite rating, but otherwise makes no sound.

>>12546636
>WTB TIMBERWOLF
>madcat.jpg

>>12547940
>F+
>unit size
Oh lawd I can't imagine how they'd take ISAF 118 with a mentality like that.

"It's just one guy, right? No problem!"

>>12547954
You apparently do not into BattleTech well. Timber Wolf is the Clan name, Mad Cat is the IS name.

>>12547940
Have either of them talked with any of the other merc outfit commanders? Heard any rumors concerning this contract, or any Lyran movements in the area we're going to?

>>12548005
>>12547919
"Well, I ride a Zeus, m'self. One of the older models, a 6S. Been mine since my time in the Fourth Succession War, fighting the Dracs. Got drummed out for insubordination, and took my ride with me when I left." He chuckles a little, and gets a far-off look in his eye. "Yep, those were the days. I was a little hellraiser." His thoughts returning to the present, he looks over to you, and frowns a little. "Not much in the way of rumor regarding this place. 'S like Corvatti said, it's not on any public maps, in the ass-end of nowhere. The other mercs are all on the level, I think, 'cept maybe those Frenzy Company psychos. Looked into 'em, they're a crazy bunch. Been brought up on charges of recklessly damaging civilian property during a contract several times, but the MRBC's never been able to get the charges to stick."

>>12548003
and since we're IS, shouldn't we be
WTB Mad Cat?

MechWarrior - Clan Edition would be pretty boring wouldn't it?
IIRC they're not very big on individuality

>>12548087
Oh god, frenzy company probably all has chargers and linebackers and hatchetmen and all sorts of crazy mechs.

Anything else guys or are we moving the story along?

lets move it on OP

>>12548087
"Hey, Shellcracker bro, you seem pretty bro-ly. Wanna join my unit to be a bigger bro?"

Yeah, I think we can move it along.
Oh, how did our little resupply run go last night?

>>12548292
Your little troublemaking tank unit made off with a small load of SRMs and AC/5 ammo, but couldn't make good on that spare 'Mech armor. The warehouse guards were toting assault rifles and nearly caught them, but you have a bit more in terms of expendable ammo now.

>>12548291
The old Lyran laughs loudly, and pats you on the back. "You're alright, newbie! Welcome to the merc business! Hope you do alright! Lookin' forward to workin' with ya!"

Believing yourself to have gotten what you needed, you bid the Shellcracker commander farewell, and stand to leave. The Demon Lord watches you as you walk out, and then turns back to the Major as he continues to speak to the fighter pilot. You hear what sounds like an exasperated sigh from behind that flight mask, which now you're convinced wasn't really fake after all.

You begin to seek out the commander of 'Argyle's Armored Guerillas', a Captain Wilson Argyle. He's hard to find; Eventually, you discover his outfit's own private warehouse, where they store their gear between deployments. Sure enough, he's there, overseeing his unit organizing itself for transfer to Hellhole.

He also appears to be bald, and a cigar-chompin' manly motherfucker. Slightly overweight, but with a military bearing, his uniform is urban-grey, with his insignia being that of a tank 'hiding' behind a bush.

>>12548291
Propably not a good idea. Seeing he runs a Zeus, he'd be our boss and not the other way around.

Still, this whole job seems a wee bit smelly, but then again... who wants to live forever? Besides, a safe 7 month social roundup would be darn boring. So let's compare notes and drink for a good 7 months ahead with our newfound friends tonight, and dust off for Hellhole as soon as we can.

>>12548372
>cigar-chompin' manly motherfucker
>slightly overweight
>tank hiding behind a bush

Why am I getting an image of CREEEEED'S face shooped over the image of a Siege Tank driver from Starcraft II(he really let himself go since SC: BW)?

I don't know if it's just me, but I can't wait to get a-crackin'. Why hadn't anyone thought about MW Quest before? It should have been an obvious choice ever since ZeonQuest started getting off the ground.

I really hope this one'll form into an epic success of similar proportions.

>>12548409
>mfw I get the tank & bush reference in comparison with the commander
God damnit. OP's running wild with the cameos. And considering these are all on our side, I dread what happens when we meet our employers' local management, and the bandits.

Still, great thread. The moment I saw it I forgot about sleeping, made myself a kettleful of tea and parked my fat ass in front of the computer. Won't be going anywhere 'til the fat lady sings.

>>12548409
Probably because that's exactly what I was going for.

>>12548511
Good to hear. I apologize for disrupting your sleep schedule.

As you approach Captain Argyle, you notice his cigar's not even lit. Just looking at his assets in plain view, you can tell they consist entirely of tanks. Twelve of them to be precise. Argyle himself happens to have a tank-driver's combat outfit bundled under his arm.

"No! Damn it, Kitiral, do NOT stack that LRM ammo right behind the fucking tank! You know how Larson gets when he's bored! He's going to kick the damn tank into reverse, and run it right over!" The Captain face-palms in frustration, and then turns to see you. "Oh, great. Someone else coming to bother me. Whaddya need?"

>>12548587
Introduce ourselves, saying that we signed on with Corvatti same as him, and wanted to get a feel for the other merc outfits we'll be working with.

>>12548587

Compliment him on his tactical genius.

>>12548645
"Oh, right. The Corvatti deal. Yeah, that's actually what we're dealing with her-" He seems to show signs of having extra-sensory perception, because he turns around and accusingly points at one of the technicians fixing up a Bulldog tank. "You! I said 'check the treads', not 'tear the fuel tank out and inspect it for leaks!'" Turning back to you as if it was business as usual, he smiles pleasantly. "Anyways, yeah, gearing up for the deployment now." He extends a big, fat ham-fisted hand. "Looking forward to working with you, and all that jazz. Looks like a nice set-up we're going to be getting. My outfit's dealt with a lot of crap, so I'm sure we can babysit you if things get ugly."

>>12548587
Exchange friendly greetings, since we're propably going to have to rely on eachothers' troops in the future. Ask him whether he has the same suspicions toward the straightforwardness of the employer as we do. Ask about his angle on the other merc outfits on the job too.

>>12548696
This guy, he is our bro, and he runs his unit like a IG list, we must get on his good side, if shit hits the fan, we will back him.

>>12548696
Along with this >>12548697
also mention that it seems we'll at least have some good air cover, if all the stories about Dead Sky are right. See if he responds to the name; I'd like to get multiple confirmations of a story.

>>12548696
brofist him then deal with the frenzy folk

... jeeze, for some reason there's an awful lot of Vindicator pictures on deviantart.

Not that I'm complaining.

>>12548697
>>12548730
His cigar promptly drops out of his mouth before his face breaks into a wide grin. "Well, hell! Demon Lord's still kickin'! Dead Sky was the angel on our shoulder back during the Clan invasion! We were both on retainer duty with House Kurita when that little shitstorm hit. Got stranded on a backwater DC rock, and had to work with a bunch of Combine guerillas. Couldn't retake the planet, but we finally managed to hijack a Clan DropShip and get offworld alright. Dead Sky saved our asses more than once. Gonna be good to work with them again."

After hearing your next question, regarding the other merc units, he shrugs. "I dunno, heard some stuff about Cain's Claws. Four battle-armor squads, using Gray Death Legion equipment they supposedly stole. Real commando types from what I've heard. They don't 'do' garrison duty, so something's up. And then there's Frenzy Company. Shit's going down, and if it isn't going down, it'll go down soon after we land, just because of those psychos."

>>12548808
Fuck, this talking is nearly as boring as the DH game i run.

Lets go talk to some psychos, then the thieves.

>>12548815
When we talk to Frenzy Company, ask them what they were told this contract was for. Because they don't seem to be the type of merc you want to garrison; they're more to send against someone to raze them to the ground.

>>12548808
So, the Frenzies don't have much friends. Note to self: warn our men about the outfit. Have everyone keep an eye out for them, in case they decide to wig out and PPC us in the rear.

Milk Argyle for more info on the bad guys. Maybe ask him what kind of contract he signed with Corvatti. After we're done with him though, we could propably jump ahead for liftoff and, hopefully, action.

>>12548815
>>12548835
I have to agree. I really shouldn't have made so many other mercs, but you know how it goes; You get an idea and it seems pretty awesome, so you use it.

Anyways, you take your leave quickly enough, and on good terms with the Captain. There's a small 'cracking' noise, and you hear Argyle start shouting at some poor technician before showing the tech how to do his job right.

As for Frenzy Company, once again, it's difficult to find them, but you find their barracks on the outskirts of Harlech eventually.

There's some sounds of brawling coming from the barracks, and an officer sitting out in front, smoking a ciggarrette as if nothing's going on. "Hey."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he sits upright, showing that his arms are very capable of hurting you in a fistfight. "I was told 'garrison duty', same as you. And if you're insinuating something else, turn the hell around and get off my property." He doesn't wear any rank insignia, and hasn't told you his name.

A cracking noise comes from the barracks behind him, and a scream of pain. Sounds like someone's bones got snapped.

>>12548911
Well, I think that's enough info for me.

Frenzy is there for cleanup, most likely leaving no witnesses.

>>12548911
What kinda outfit you guys running? Infantry? armor? mechs? flyboys?

>>12548987
Yep, we're outta here.

Dude needs to take a chill pill.

Gone, gone, gone. Let's wrap this up.

>"I dunno, heard some stuff about Cain's Claws. Four battle-armor squads, using Gray Death Legion equipment they supposedly stole. Real commando types from what I've heard.

>>12548911
"They're bringing in some surprisingly heavy duty guys for garrison duty. Like Dead Sky and yourself. Shit's gonna go down, and I'm just trying to find out if anyone's got the wind of it. But if you aren't curious, then that's that."

This joker wouldn't give anyone the time of the day, unless suckered into it. If he doesn't take the bait, let's just get on to prepping our own guys and see if Namakara stumbled on something else of interest.

>>12549002
He draws an SMG, pretty much answering that question. "Infantry and 'Mechs. None of that tank shit, no battle-armor bullcrap. Flesh, bone, and giant-ass guns. You mess with Frenzy Company, and you'll see just why we're called that. We're...VERY good at close quarters combat." This little tidbit of info is followed by a rather sinister little laugh, quiet enough to not be uproarous and maniacal, but loud enough to make you think you need to GTFO.

>>12549003
>>12548987
And you promptly do so. After rampaging about Harlech all day, Jacobs finally gives you a call. "Hey, boss, outfit's all set to leave ahead of schedule. We didn't have much to square away, so the Coolfaces are ready to rock."

>>12549050
Have our guys do a bit of last minute shopping. Get some anti-mech explosive pacs, deployable by infantry, then lets boost.

>>12549050
See if there's some infantry-use anti-mech det-pacs we can buy on the cheap before we lift off.
Maybe even some second-hand SRM's.

>>12549095
>>12549178
"Got it, boss. I'll send the word down to Larry. He'll send some techs out to get what we need. Hope we can afford it. Think they'll let us open up a tab?" Jacobs is already concerning himself with your money. Good merc work ethic, no respect for the chain of command.

>>12549210
I think that's it. Success or failure on the techs being able to find a deal, I think we're ready to lift off and arrive at the Hellhole.

>>12549095
Second that. Also have Namakara mark out a group of particularily good-nerved, sharp individuals from our infantry roster that we could rely on in exchange for a hefty bonus. Just in case we'd need it in the future. Because the frenzies just might very easily turn from a liability to an outright enemy one day.

Although if conflict comes to pass, it'd be appropriately Coolface to challenge their leader into a mech duel and then troll him dead with our jump jet combined with PPC and LRM-5.

rolled 59 = 59

>>12549210
rolling for success, though it wasnt requested.

>>12549288
Just for this pic, your techs' hunt for those anti-mech detpacks succeeds. They manage to get twenty at a bargain.

>>12549340
Excellent. Let's get'em loaded and get on the Dropship.

rolled 2, 1 = 3

>>12546791
>1D100

Let me fix that for you. this isn't DH.

>>12549370
TIMESKIP

After an uneventful two days, you're aboard one of the two Union DropShips Corvatti's had sitting the spaceport this entire time. Harlech's not exactly a small city, and the spaceport's pretty decent-sized.

You and the other ten outfits(plus the freelancers), are divided between the two dropships. You have enough hardware between all of you to fill their holds.

After boosting, it's a long, long, boring trip to the world you're supposed to garrison.

But unless you guys wanna talk more, we'll just skip that part.

>>12549396
Timeskip voted for.

>>12549396
Let's skip it.

rolled 2, 2 = 4

>>12549396
Have we any further intel on who we'll be facing, the landscape... etc?

It would be handy to decipher where we should be parking our units.

Timeskip HO!

Captain Coolface and his merry Trolls must be eager for combat. Let's tl;dr the chatter and concentrate on touchdown and our first steps on our new home/conflict zone.

Kind of embarrassed to ask this, but how long would it take to get from Outreach to the Periphery? It's obviously a pretty long trip, giving JumpShip limitations...

rolled 6, 4 = 10

>>12549505
Where in the periphery. I think that can be calculated?

Several months, most likely.

I'd guess "plot speed" would be appropriate. So, uh, just pull a number out of your backside.

>>12549521
Works for me.

>>12549415
>>12549417
>>12549406
>>12549370
Corvatti Corporation DropShip 'Basroil'
Inbound Hellhole Mining Camp Three
The Periphery
May 16th, 3049


Hopefully, things won't fuck up the instant you land, like in the movies.

As soon as you left hyperspace, the DropShip detached from the JumpShip and started burning pretty hard for the surface of Hellhole. The Corvatti reps have called for a holographic/in-person meeting with all of the mercenary commanders. 'Emergency', they said. XOs and lower-ranked officers are not permitted, so you're bumping shoulders with nothing more than the head honchos of your fellow merc outfits. As you arrive in the briefing room, you see several holographic projections of the other mercenary leaders aboard the other Corvatti DropShip, and your comrades here aboard the Basroil sitting around a briefing table. Argyle's noticeably absent at first, but as you take your seat, he rushes in. Henry Jan is sitting at the head of the table. "Gentlemen, it seems that we're a little late."

>>12549532

I think that 4-6 months would be appropriate, considering how many jumps it would take to get from the Chaos March out to the fringes of Lyran space.

'cause it takes a week to charge a solar sail, and about a week to fly a dropship to/from the Nadir/Zenith points to the planet.

So assuming 20-something jumps, probably, it's going to be a while.

Less time if you happen to run into any recharge stations along the way.

>>12549505
Each jump is about 30 lightyears; Corvatti probably wouldn't put a bunch of fuckup mercs on a rush job with lithium fusion batters. We're probably looking at two to three weeks, just as a guess barring any use of recharge stations.

>>12549582
>3049
And that's supposed to say '3059.' My bad, again.

>>12549582
I stay quiet and let Jan talk. Also, I take out my notepad and start taking notes about what he says.

>>12549582
>we're a little late
Well, it didn't take long for shit to hit the fan.
Let's see what kind of mess we've gotten ourselves into.

>>12549582
>"Gentlemen, it seems that we're a little late."

Shiiit.

The only unit that we can really hot-drop is going to be our vindie. Vehicles aren't well suited for atmospheric drops.

We may be forced to wait until they can get back from the spaceport, especially if we're in an aerodyne, like a Leopard. We shouldn't have any problems if we're in something like a Union, where they can land just about anywhere.

Oh boy, oh boy! I can already feel the fun starting. Let's see what kind of goodies we can snag. We picked first salvage for a reason, afterall.

>>12549611
>>12549613
"Late?" Argyle furrows his brow as you remain silent.

Jan stands and pushes a button on the table, showing a hologram of Hellhole. Readouts show the planet's gravity is about on-par with that of Earth. "While we were heading to Outreach to speak with you all about your contracts, and transporting you back, it seems that the planet's been attacked and occupied in our absence. This has officially gone from garrison duty to planetary assault. We have one other JumpShip in the system, and we're getting transponder and beacon signals from the surface, but nobody's responding to our requests for landing coordinates and vectors. This likely means you'll have a welcoming committee when we hit the ground."

>>12549632
Ask if they have a map of the mine and of the area surrounding it. We'll also need to get some recon done before we can start to come up with a plan.

>>12549632
I demand an instant renegotiation of the contracts. Triple pay, full salvage rights, and independent command rights for EVERY command involved in this action.

They can't make us do a damned thing. The MRBC is there for a reason, and they will not stand for a corporation hiring hard-luck commands for garrison duty, then changing to specialized hot-drops.

>deal_with_it.jpg

>>12549632
>>12549396
>Union DropShips

Oh, Phew. Luckily we're in spheroid dropships.

I opt that we try to land them out of the way. The spaceport is bound to be well guarded.

The benefit to spheroid ships, however, is that they can land on most any flat piece of land.

>>12549667
This, if they don't like it the MRBC can and will lower their Employer rating, or blacklist them completely.

>>12549656
"The mining camp we were intending to land at is mostly barren landscape, with the camp itself sticking out like a sore thumb. Inside the camp, it's just mining equipment, living and recreational quarters, and some garages. All of our EVA equipment's in there, so anything that isn't sealed can't be fielded. The infantry and some of the tanks will need to stay aboard the DropShips. This effectively takes the Wardogs out of the picture, as well as the assets of most of your companies." Most of the mercs grumble to themselves. The Wardogs are a mostly-infantry unit, with some armed APCs - Green, and completely untested in combat.

"So, anyone got some bright ideas? We need to seize this EVA equipment before we can take the rest of the planet back. Most of your assets are tanks and infantry, right?" Jan's deferring to you and the other mercenaries to work out a plan. You guys are the experts, here, so at least the suit knows his place.

>>12549656
>>12549677
Our particular unit is going to get its ass handed to it. We're heavy on vehicles and conventional forces. If they do a drop, then Ludo is basically out alone with whoever else has a 'Mech. Let's make Corvatti pay extra.

Anyone with Field Manual: Mercenaries should back >>12549667 up; we're getting dicked here!

>>12549688
Did I hear "double pay"?
Because I think I heard "Double Pay".

>didIhearweeaboo.jpg

>>12549667
Jan's speechless as you spring this on him. "Damn it, this is not the time! Do you have any idea how much this planet is worth to my company? I- You..." He grits his teeth in frustration. You pretty much have him in the same position he had you in back on Outreach. "Fine! 400,000, each, and full salvage rights! Then the garrison contracts come back into effect at half the originally agreed-upon payment, after you retake the world! That's my offer!"

>>12549689
Idea 1:

>Triple pay, full salvage rights, and independent command rights for EVERY command involved in this action.

Idea 2
>The DropShips get closer to the planet and the Demon Lord does a reconnaissance overflight of the camp to see if it's even still there or if it's overrun by those faggot-ass things from "Far Country."

>>12549689
Speaking of assets. You will be providing us with a triple pay, and full salvage rights, before we step one foot onto that rock.

After that's been signed over, take the dropship on a high pass over the target, hot drop all jump capable mechs, land a short ways away, and deploy the rest of the surface capable units we have.

Jumpers are to attack and feint, back to the dropship, all other assets are to power down and wait in ambush, when the opfor thinks that the mechs are running for it, they will follow eager for some salvage.

then we ambush the fuckers, wipe them out, and move on the base.

>>12549709
"Are you deaf or just extremely stupid? No, asshole, I said triple pay. We're the ones with the guns here, and as far as I can tell, we can ice your ass and tell the crew to take us to Kooken's Pleasure Pit. Triple pay, full duration of contract, and you have to sing along to "Alejandro" by Lady Gaga RIGHT NOW."

>>12549725
Ignore this. accept agrement but counter demand that when contract reverts to garrison it reverts to pay as agreed, none of this cutting it in half shit.

then we do the hot drop attack and ambush plan.

>>12549725
(Aside: goddammit, we're the COOLFACES. We've GOT to troll these people as hard as we can. Also, forgot my pic.)
"Well, asshole, what's it going to be? Wardogs, what do you think? Do you want to let the Mech units drop first and gobble up all the salvage and goodies while you sit in orbit with you collective dicks in your hands?"

>>12549698
This is true... and we're looking at tainted atmosphere, no less, meaning that any/all vehicles that we deploy must have environmental sealing.

...and I don't think that comes standard on tanks.

>>12549709

If he cuts it in half during garrison, we'll be making LESS for the longer duration. We can really only expect a month or two of planetary assault pay, and then we're getting screwed.

Triple, full salvage, full command. And Alejandro. Now.

>>12549725
>>12549722
>>12549768
>>12549744
The originally-calm and collected Corvatti negotiator is getting red-faced. The other mercs are all looking at you with approval, and in the case of the Wardog commander, admiration.

"You cannot do this to me! I am a Corvatti representative, and we had an agreement! I also happen to be your only chance for a ride out of here! You will do as I sa-"

"I agree with Jussi." The Demon Lord speaks!

"Same." Argyle crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

"Yeah, you're ripping us off, here." Even the Frenzy Company commander seems to be backing you up.

Jan looks like he's about ready to punch you in the face. If looks could kill, you'd be bursting into flames. "Damn it! Alright! Triple pay, full duration of the contract, independent command rights, full salvage, and I'll top it off with fucking free coffee for you bastards! Just get this cash-pile back under control before I decide to leave you all here."

This is admist uproarous laughter, salutes, and some playful punches from your good buddies Argyle and Rolling. "Nice one, newbie!"

>>12549709
I'd like to point out a flaw in your logic
if we have increased pay as long as the planet is not under your control then we have no proper incentive to retake it quickly. meaning that you will have less time to exploit whatever minerals you are here for.
a flat pay increase would be better for both of us, or a simple one time bonus for the hostile drop and then continuation of the previous contract or a bonus inversely relative to the time it takes to retake control of the planet.

I understand that you are in a dire strait at the moment and I appologise for seeming like I'm a vulture unto you but the tactical situation has changed and MRBC procedure more or less requires us to renegotiate the terms of the contracts

>Tainted Atmospheres: A vehicle must include Environmental Sealing to operate under this condition; WiGEs and VTOLs can never operate under this condition.
>IndustrialMechs and Combat Vehicles must spend 10 percent of their total mass (rounded up as appropriate to the unit’s core construction
rules) on environmental sealing.

We should have forseen this.

I think it's time to get our techs busy... like... now. At least on a few of our tanks.

>>12549793
Actually, with the months in transit, I would hope that this would have been foreseen and done by our technicians.

>>12549783
"Alright then, gents. Let's see what we're up against, kick their ass and take their stuff."

I think this plan works >>12549722
Though Dead Sky might be better served if they deploy and hide over the horizon.

>>12549783
I'm not hearing Alejandro, asshole!

>>12549841
"Yes. The coffee is just a perk. You're singing or we're walking, and then you can explain to your supervisor why you hired two Unions full of mercenaries just to take them across known space and feed them lunch. We're the ones with the power and the numbers here. You just write the checks."

>>12549890
>>12549841
I know we need to make him understand that we hold the power here, but could this be too much?

>>12549890
(aside: This is a really shitty contract. We need to show Jan who's really in charge here. One Union-class DropShip has 14 crew. At best, Jan has 28 people behind him. We have 28 in our infantry complement alone, not counting the guys who will join us. Yes, this is borderline mutiny, but this is how the Coolfaces roll.)

>>12549841
>>12549890
His rage is palpable.

Jan immediately begins to sing, and slowly walk out of the room, giving you the finger as he leaves. "I know that we are young, and I know you may love me, but I just can't be with you, like this anymore, Alejandro..." His voice fades off into the corridor beyond.

After the mercs all stop laughing their asses off, they start adjusting the holographic map and get down to business. "Alright, so, you had a good plan, Jussi. I see it working."

Captain Slade Olin, the leader of Slade's Marauders(one of the outfits aboard the other DropShip) agrees with your assessment. "Don't have any 'Mechs myself. We're all battle-armor and some tanks. Won't be any good for the drop, but we can secure the area after landing, and get some of that EVA gear back here. Then our regular ground-pounders will be set to rock and roll."

THERE ARE FOUR OR FIVE QUEST THREADS ACTIVE ON /tg/ RIGHT NOW, AT LEAST 4 ARE ON THE FRONT PAGE AT ANY TIME.

PLEASE CONDENSE OR OTHERWISE MANAGE YOUR THREADS. THIS IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTACK ON QUEST THREADS, MERELY A REQUEST TO CUT THEM BACK A BIT.

>>12549927
OP, correction: battle armor can do a drop as of the Master Rules, and that continues on in Total Warfare. However, I'm not going to call Major Olin on this; if he wants to be the reserve force, then that's fine. How many 'Mechs do we have in total? How many have jump jets, and what are they? We need to get some ad-hoc units going.

>>12549927
Problem, Corvatti?

>>12549927
Just to check, the idea that we laid out was to do the hot-drop, get the pirates attention, and make it appear as if we were doing a recon-in-force, underestimated their numbers, and we're bugging out.
Should we have Dead Sky launch after the dropships land and hide beyond the horizon, or launch them when the pirates fall into our trap?

>>12549967
Also, whatever happens, I want at least one platoon of mercenary infantry on each DropShip at any given time. Jan's not packing up this circus unless and until we (referring to the mercenaries here) say so.

>>12549958
>AT LEAST 4 ARE ON THE FRONT PAGE AT ANY TIME

This is only because they are actively being posted in. There's nothing more to it.

It's not like there's any real way to "Manage" them. other people just need to learn to browse past PG.0

>>12549958

saging for not contributing, but responding to this post

That'd be why I haven't run mine lately; because we have a bunch going already.

Some of us ARE being considerate about this, just so you know. Not that the GMs of the quest threads aren't, but that those of us with quest threads in the wings are patiently waiting.

>>12549980
I'd say launch now and do aerial recon out of range. It'd be bad if we walk right into an engagement and find out 8 assault lances are the enemy reinforcements.

>>12550015
oh well free bump.

fuck you captcha. But not that much, i do like me some battletech

>>12549980
Behind the horizon. Always good to have an ace up your sleeve for when things go pear shaped. Not if, when.

>>12549958
Sorry for that. I tend to just skim over this stuff, and rarely pay attention to most other Quest threads. Just figured 'Mechwarrior Quest would be pretty awesome. Let's do that.'

>>12549967
After some whispering, all the mercs agree that they've got about twenty 'Mechs spread out among all ten outfits, including your Vindicator. Out of those, only about five are actually jump-capable. Again, including your Vindicator.

"Dead Sky's at your beck and call here, Jussi. Say the word."
And, with that, I need to get to sleep. Work tomorrow, and all. Sundays suck for me.

>>12550015
Get bent.
>>12550018
This. Also, is there any way we can outfit some of our ASFs? If we have them, I'd like to stick a TAG laser pod (occupies slots like bombs) on some of the light ones and Arrow IV (which I doubt we have just chilling around) on the heavy ones to pull a couple early strikes.

>>12550061
Thaaaaaanks OP! See you later!

>>12550061
Alright, when are you running this next? Day and time, to make scheduling easier.
Zerg Quest regularly runs on Wednesdays at 9PM, ZeonQuest (for now) Saturdays at noon.
All of the others run at haphazard times; currently Destroyer Quest is scheduled for Monday at 6PM.

All times EST.

>>12550077

The fuck am I 'getting bent' for, ass?

I was going to sage my own post since it wasn't thread-related, as is the custom, but captcha screwed me over.

I was just saying that of those of us who are running OTHER quests, some of us are waiting on the front page to clear up before we start things up.

Why you gotta be a prick?

>>12550015

That is considerate of you, goodman.

>>12550005

I'm sorry but I must disagree with you, nobody should "have" to learn to browse past pg 0 just because there are busy quest threads. I'm not here to argue the legitimacy of quests, just making it clear that there's a huge glut of them right now.

I don't have a problem with the content or intent of any quest as long as they are well written and enjoyed by their participants, however quest threads should not dominate the front page.

>>12549980
I know very little about BTech so I apologise for the stupid question...
Can Dead Sky hot drop along with the mechs, or will the Union need to touch down before they can deploy?
what sort of operational window do they have, fuel reserve, ammo load etc.? as in: how long after they deploy do we have to secure an LZ?

What sort of intel can we get prior to mission go?

Primary objective should be to secure the Corvatti installation as a base of operation

Thanks, OP. Freakin' hilarious. I was hoping we'd see action tonight, but I suppose good things are worth a little waiting.

Seeing tonight's antics, I am expecting the Jussi's Coolfaces to become a legendary unit before we're through.

Things I want to see happen before it ends:
DFA'ing a Clanner with an urbanmech. Bonus points if during a trial. Because fuck zell.

I'd want to start us with whatever aerial imaging or recon we can get our hands on. Not knowing what's down there proper is going to be the equivalent of walking into a deathtrap.

Also we need to figure out what 'mech assets we have immediately available. There's the bro's 2 lances, for one, and our single Vindie (and the Von Luckner), and whoever else.

Alright, thread's been archived here:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12546242/

Don't forget to vote it up.

bump

>>12551962

bump

Lo and behold, OP returned, and it was good.

Awesome, wrapped up my work early today, so the boss let me leave ahead of schedule. Newborn's doing great, wife's sleeping, and the time has come for more MechwarriorQuest!

Anyways, where were we?

Oh, right. The whole 'rallying a rag-tag bunch of independent mercenary commands to invade a Periphery planet and take it over' thing.

>>12557310
>>12557310
For those wondering, here's a total tally of what Corvatti's Mercenary Coalition(CMC is what I'll be using to refer to your little allied mercenary group from here on) has in stock:

>Revenants: Five 'Mechs
>Slade's Marauders: Six battle-armor squads(IS Standard), three tanks
>Dead Sky: Three Aerospace Fighters
>Cain's Claws: Four battle-armor squads(Gray Death Legion Scout Armor)
>Phalanx: Two 'Mechs, three infantry platoons with laser rifles, five tanks
>Shellcrackers: Eight 'Mechs, two tanks
>Wardogs: Six Heavy Tracked APCs with varying armaments, four infantry platoons with rifles
>Argyle's Armored Guerillas: Twelve tanks
>Frenzy Company: Four 'Mechs, three infantry platoons with lasers and SRMs
>Jussi's Coolfaces: One 'Mech, six tanks, and one infantry platoon

Ready to rock, fa/tg/uys?

>>12557632
I'm kinda curious as to what Cain's Claws are armed with. Rifles? Machine guns? SRMs?

Yes also scavenge every space suit on the ship for the tank crews so at least a few can join us.

>>12557941
Well, 'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for a roll to convince the DropShip captain to let you borrow his crew's EVA suits. On top of that, since you're going with the hot-drop plan, your tanks won't be able to join you in the initial landing. You and four other 'Mechs are all you got for the hot-drop.

>>12557779

Anything that comes Tacticool, I'd wager.

>>12558072
Well what would you like me to roll d6, d10, d20, or d100?

>>12557779
>>12558094
This. They're PA(L)-equipped commandos. Basically, if it exists as infantry hardware, they can use it.

>>12558098
Alright, for the purposes of stuff like chatting people up from now on, I'd say d100 and roll against it, and tell you to add modifiers where appropriate(since I don't have the BattleTech RPG or A Time of War, and thus don't know the rules(plus you got no stats for Jussi in that regard). For the actual combat, we'll switch over to the typical BattleTech system.

If not everyone's cool with this, we'll put it to a vote. Sound good?

rolled 6 = 6

>>12558129
Ok rolling

rolled 51 = 51

>>12558157
Well so much for those suits...

>>12558169
>>12558157
The Captain of the Basroil promptly tells you to GTFO of his DropShip's command center. No suits for you until you manage to secure a facility for you guys to use as a base camp; The mining camps likely have sufficient EVA suits for your tank crews, but the armored ones might not be readily available for the groundpounders.

>>12558191
Alright, the plan was to use Dead Sky for some aerial recon over the target sight, and for them to lay low over the horizon until the ambush is sprung.

We still good with this plan, guys?

>>12558191
Yo OP, you still around?

Can Dead Sky launch before we hit atmo, and make their own re-entries? Or will they have to attempt launch at the same time that we do our hot-drop?

>>12558424
Flipping through 'Total Warfare' to see if they can do that. I think they'll need to launch at the same time you do the hot-drop, though. Not sure.

>>12558456
Okay. Just wasn't sure if you were still around.

I'm pretty sure ASFs can survive reentry. The sensors likely wouldn't work until you dropped well into the atmosphere though

>>12558505
>>12558621
Well, I can't find anything on it, so I'll just go ahead and say Dead Sky's set to launch prior to your deployment. As you settle into your Vindicator and begin priming all of the systems, you hear the DropShip comms officer over the radio. Dead Sky is on the other DropShip, so the Basroil's bay isn't preparing for their launch.

"Galm One is away. Galm Two is away. Galm Three is away. MechWarriors, prepare for hot-drop. Breaking atmo in three...two...one..." The DropShip physically shakes and rumbles as it tumbles to the ground below, firing its thrusters to soften the inevitable landing. The ship likely has a crazy pilot if you're coming in this fast.

"Damn it, Wash! We're coming in too fast!" The Captain isn't exactly happy at the moment with their speed.

"Nah, don't worry. I got this." The pilot sounds pretty assured of himself. "Stabilizing in three, two, one." The ship stops shaking, and stabilizes. The crew begins to clear the bay, and your Vindicator is prepped for drop, alongside a Hunchback from the Revenants.

Any last words before you drop into the Hellhole?

>>12558762
"Hey Revnant, I got dibs on the first mech we see."

Or

"Hey Rev, if you die, can i have your mech?"

Quick, think of something trolltastic to say!

>>12558762
>Pilot named Wash

Anyway, as for last words: "We're going kick ass and chew bubblegum, and we're all out of gum. So let's bag us some salvage."

>>12558786
The Revenant MechWarrior just snickers on the radio. The effect is kind of creepy.

"Alright, dropping now! Saddle up, MechWarriors! I ain't cleaning out your cockpit when we hit the ground!" The radio's receiver says that particular transmission is coming from the other DropShip. Specifically, one of the other 'Mechs.

You step out of the DropShip, and into thin air. Free-falling for a solid thirty seconds, you see that the sun's up. The sky is a nice, sickly shade of chemical green. You wisely fire your jump-jets after the first thirty seconds, and the landing is a rough one, but your 'Mech is thankfully undamaged.

Miles of barren wasteland surround you, with no vegetation, no sign of hostile contact, and a single camp off in the distance. The other four jump-capable 'Mechs land around you - The Revenant Hunchback, a Panther from the Phalanx, two 'Mechs from Frenzy Company(an Axman and a Catapult), and an old Star League-era Hunchback in Shellcracker colors.

The Shellcracker pilot's voice crackles over your radio. "Shellcracker Five, here. On the ground, no hostiles in sight. Dead Sky, what's the word?"

"Galm Two, here. Overflying your position now. Situation normal, no sign of hostile contacts." Sure enough, the Dead Sky fighters fly overhead in a delta formation.

>>12558997
>Derp. OP cannot count, clearly.

>>12558997
Panther and us in front, like a scouting element, with the others behind us in a wedge formation.
Make it look like we were a recon in force lance that bit off more than it could handle.
Let's start moving towards the camp, sensors running active.

We need to buy a Raven with a Beagle Active Probe.

>>12559081
You approach the camp, with the Panther and your Vindicator ahead of the rest of the formation. In total, you make a mostly-medium and heavy lance of six 'Mechs.

You proceed to the mining camp totally uninterrupted, and have yet to pick up anything on your sensors. It's nothing but barren, flat terrain all around, so there's nowhere for you or the pirates to hide. Upon reaching the mining camp, you don't see any activity on thermal, and no signs of pirate 'Mechs having been inside the camp perimeter in the recent past.

"What the hell is this shit?" One of the Frenzy Company pilots starts to gripe. "This shit ain't right. Where're the bad guys? Where're the miners, where's anything?"

>>12559257
"He's right. Somethings not right here. Anybody got ANY readings on their sensors?"

Look for residual thermal readings from the camp buildings, and see if there are any tracks in the soil.
It would be hilarious if the pirates already ran, and we get triple pay for doing nothing, but I suspect the pirates are going to try for a trap themselves.

>>12559257
Why do I get the feeling we're here to be target practice...
Either way check with Dead sky ask if they see anything if not we do a 360 around the perimeter of the camp.

>>12559308
"Negative." The Revenant pilot's emotionless voice is still pretty creepy, but at least he's on your side.

"Uh, nothin' over here, Jussi." The Shellcracker pilot sounds on-edge, now.

"Wait. I've got something...Movement to the north!" The Phalanx Panther swivels its torso to look north. Soon, four contacts appear on your sensors. "Damn! Four 'Mechs, closing fast! They can't be any heavier than medium weight, but there's enough of them to give us some hell!"

>>12559389
Target cockpits, legs, knee's ,anything that would let us have more salvage when we shoot the guys. Alpha strike when they get in range, and go for the heaviest first. Target only weak spots.

>>12559417
No, let's stick to the plan.

We'll target them with a missile volley, put up a bit of a fight, then retreat and make our way out of here back to the ambush site.

If at all possible, I want to bring overwhelming firepower to bear.

>>12559389
We don't want to order people around, what with other people not being in our chain of command, but let's "hope" the Catapult stays back with the missiles, the Axman and Hunchback get stuck in, and the Panther and our Vindicator go mid range with PPCs.

>>12559417
>>12559445
I actually just had an idea for this. We COULD use MegaMek, but for some reason it's all screwy whenever I try to implement certain things. Like Aerospace support. And I'm not 100% certain what the deal is with DropShips.

But, anyways, yeah. Megamek is an option for this, if I can get multiplayer and the like working.

Lets try to get an ID on the mechs.

>>12559473
also contact the mothership and have it look for another base or dropship as there has to be one.

>Galm

Can I say as the asshole that tried stuffing some Ace Combat stuff into Battletech in a thread no one cared about, I fucking love you right now.

>>12559562
Anything can be 40k'd, anything can be Battletech'd, anything can be D&D'd, anything can be DH'd, and anything can be Risus'd. It's all about making it work out in certain ways.

Don't ask me for confirmation about the Risus thing. My friend plays it.

>>12559473
The Pirate 'Mechs are marching in a diamond formation at a walking speed, all medium-weight. One's a Centurion, and then there's a Clint, a Sentinel, and an Enforcer. You can't get a reading on a specific build yet, but you know the general models, now.

>>12559504
"Jussi, there's seven mining bases spread out across five-hundred kilometers from your current location, give or take a few dozen. No signs of a pirate DropShip yet, but that doesn't mean it's not out there. Give us some time, we'll figure things out."

>>12559670
Alright, let's stick to the plan. Attack and feint, pull out back to the ambush and hope they don't pop too many missiles or PPC bolts into our rear.

>>12559670
>anything can be anything'd
>my face

>>12559731
We should probably determine whether or not we're going to use Megamek or the roll dicebots here for the actual combat; As much as this is a quest thread, I would like to stick to actual Btech rules.

Makes things...'interesting.'

>>12559813
what is megamek?

>>12559827
http://megamek.sourceforge.net/
ASK, AND THE INTERNETS SHALL PROVIDE

>>12559813
If you can get it working, then I'm fine with it. Though I'll expect screenshots so that we can better position our forces (if we survive and aren't critted in the cockpit by a lucky pirate).

>>12559883
I just figure, it's better than me spending over 9000 minutes in MS Paint to make a shitty grid.

Now, this is going to sound completely retarded, but, how do I screencap, just to be sure we can do this?

>>12559904
prnt scr, paste it into ms paint, then save it and post it here.

>>12559917
*save it as anything but a .bmp

Cuz those never fucking post.

>>12559917
there should be a button on your keyboard that allows that.

OK, so, we're gonna need Hamachi for this, because Megamek can't figure out how to get past routers.

So, we need someone with both Megamek and Hamachi. For those who don't know, Hamachi's a program you can download that effectively puts a LAN in your LAN, so you can LAN party while you LAN party.

Only, you don't have a LAN.

It's confusing to me. I'm no programmer. But, that's basically it. It lets you do stuff with a certain number of computers, without shitty connections.

>>12559955
You may have to do some port forwarding for Megamek.

>Hamachi
It's like having a LAN with anybody else in your Hamachi network, except over the internet. Much more convenient than having to have people come over to your house and take up your router/switch's ports.

>>12559970
Port: 2346
Hamachi network: Megamek testing

>>12560002
So is this entire game shifting over to Hamachi and MegaMek, or are you keeping the game here but doing combat resolution via MegaMek?

>>12560058
Im guessing we are doing combat on megamek, but questing here...
I am fine with either, once we get it to work.

>>12560117
So we say what we want to have each unit do, OP does them in MegaMek, takes screencaps, posts here, and we repeat until our objective is achieved?

>>12560171
If we get it all hooked up, we can just post the results of the combat.

>>12560171
Well, here's the process as I see it.

>Questing, decisions, tactical choices, etc. are done here
>When combat is initiated, me and another anonymous use Megamek to decide the result, with me controlling the opposition and the anonymous controls your side
>Final results affect the overall questing here

I hope this is acceptable. It's a bit of a departure from normal quest threads. If it doesn't work out, we can always freeform the combat.

Which I dislike, but, y'know what, better than spending bunches of time in MSPaint trying to make a workable grid.

>>12560223
I am intrigued.

Proceed.

>>12560223
>me and another anonymous use Megamek to decide the result, with me controlling the opposition and the anonymous controls your side
This is the only worrying part for me. How do we determine who steps up and controls our forces?

Where can I get Hamachi? Google gives me two different versions, and I'm not sure which to use.

>>12560273
Well, in this particular case, we have a volunteer already: Tripfag Lord HIghlander. Either way, it's better than me controlling the quest-player-character, and the computer dicking us all over by killing the Vindicator, specifically.

>>12560299
Alright. At least we all know who to blame if we die due to getting a faceful of LRMs and AC shots.

I'll admit, this is a big departure from other quests, and will be interesting to see how it pans out.

>>12560323
Consider it a field test of the concept. If it doesn't work out, we've set an example for all of /tg/ - DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.

>>12560323
wait.. volunteer? I never... wait...

Crap.
The dice hate me though...

Thats it... im dead.

>>12560344
Alright, Lord Highlander! We're counting on you! Everything and everyone is depending on you!

...no pressure?

Now lets get the RIGHT version this time...

>>12560430
DON'T COCK IT UP

OR I WILL PUNCH YOU THROUGH THE INTERNET

>>12560516
Im in... And oh fuck...

>>12560516
If I'm reading this right we still provide input to Lord HIghlander and he is the vessel which our commands are input through.

>>12560430

It's okay! You can do this!~

We'll just castrate you if you fail. :3

>>12560552
yeah, works for me.

>>12560563
Give us a screencap so we can see how hard you're about to fail.

>>12560580
will do.
Ive got till about 1830 my time to play, then I am boosting.

1800 currently

How exactly do I set it so that I watch a MegaMek game?

Damn it all, trying to print scrn a screenshot. For some reason, it won't work.

>>12560612
STICK TO THE PLAN, YOU BASTARD

FIRE AND RETREAT, FIRE AND RETREAT

>>12560742
Once you hit Print Screen, it copies the screenshot to the clipboard, and you have to paste it to Paint. Is nothing being pasted?

>>12560812
too large of a file.

>>12560812
THERE we go, much better. Thanks anon.

Meanwhile, aboard the DropShip Basroil!

"Uh, sir, we lost contact with the team on the ground for a minute, there. Managed to get the connection going again."

After some static swallows the comm-channel for a minute, the signal clears. "-advised, this is Shellcracker Five, pirates are NOT falling for the trap! I say again, the pirates are in full retreat! One pirate 'Mech moderately damaged and lying prone, two others breaking and running!"

>>12560830
did you save it as a png?

You might need to get a dedicated screen capture utility. There should be freeware ones available.

>>12560856
New plan capture the prone ones pilot and mech have Dead Sky try and take out the runners.

>>12560894
too late. they got up and ran.

>>12560856
Pursue, with Dead Sky coming in to provide air support.
Aim for leg actuators; let's try to get these as salvage.

>>12560894
"Damn it! Sentinel's up, and the Clint's out of weapons range! He's gone! The others aren't far behind him! Shellcracker Five, giving pursuit!"

Sorry if this is moving a little too fast, but Highlander needs to go two minutes ago, so we're wrapping this up ASAP.

>>12560914
What's the Catapult got? Can you get a missile lock on any of them with it?

>>12560932
art only

>>12560932
>>12560975
"Shellcracker Five, here! Kill confirmed! The Sentinel's down, courtesy of your's truly! That's our's! The other pirates are running for it!"

"Galm Two, here. Giving pursuit, we'll try and find their base camp. Everyone else, settle in and prepare to land. This is going to be one hell of an operation."

The pirates may not have fallen for your trap, but you took down one of their 'Mechs, secured an LZ, and have an opportunity to send out the rest of your 'Mechs, now.

"Basroil, touching down."

"Lester's Freedom, touching down."

The two Corvatti DropShips touch down near the mining camp after another twenty minutes, and you and your impromptu lance secure the area. After a quick sweep, Slade's Marauders and Cain's Claws confirm that the mining camp structures are fully environmentally sealed, and the garages can serve as makeshift 'Mechbays. They also find a rather grisly sight - All of the miners, dead, courtesy of gunshots to the back of the head, execution-style, and piled up in storage closets or bunk-rooms. The pirates almost certainly did it.

Settling in, despite less than five minutes of actual combat(in reality, it was about forty seconds), you realize that it's going to get a lot worse. One easy kill does not a victory make.

Hellhole's going to turn into just that.

I'm sorry OP, but you suck dick at computers. I don't know how you managed to screw up taking a screenshot. You're not resizing it by dragging the handles around and compressing everything, are you? Because you can upload 2560x1600 screenshots. We're manly enough to take it. Or whatever resolution your screen's set to. If you only want to take screenshots of Megamek, you could hit alt+print screen while the Megamek window is focused (ie. you're using it).

I... I just wanted you to know.

And that I still love you.

MECHWARRIOR QUEST, OH YEAH-

Also, goodbye sleep.

>>12561035
Yes, I suck dick at computers.

Doesn't mean I'm not trying to make up for it in every other possible capacity. So, y'know, doing what I can.

>>12561032
>Hellhole's going to turn into just that.

Man, that sounds like something one of the BTech authors would end their chapter with. Hell, any of them. Except Will Keith Jr (Gray Death books). He sucks too much dick to do that (plot development? what's that?).

who got the kill on the pirate? was it us?

OP, everything was going fine till you tried to megamek, now i don't even.
I dub you "not clever"

>>12561032
Let's get the EVA suits handed out, and a perimeter set up. Get the techs to drag that Sentinel in, and let's get some field repairs done if any of our mechs need them. Have the tanks set up a perimeter, and get ready to hit the pirates as soon as Dead Sky gives us a location and before they can organize a counter-attack.

>>12561061
WE'RE HERE TO HELP.

And I love you still.

I love you like a Charger fistfucking an Urbanmech...

Sorry, that was a terrible analogy. But if you put some Chargers and Urbanmechs into the quest, I'd be totally fine with that.

On topic: What's the first thing any savvy ex-military person does when moving into a new facility? STAKE OUT THE BEST LIVING QUARTERS AND MECHBAYS, THAT'S WHAT.

Let's get some people to explore the buildings (armed of course), and keep an eye out for traps, while us officers go handle finding the best garages (tank commander), best defensive positions (NAKAMURA OH WAIT NAKAMARKAKA), and Jussi will find the best beds.

>>12561076
Well, it was our first time trying the thing.

In fact, for a first-time-fuck-up, it wasn't that bad. Time constraints just ran over, and forced us to rush. We'll take more time between turns next time, for the sake of letting anonymous actually make the tactical decisions. Hopefully that 'not-clever' will turn into 'clever.'

>>12561067
That's funny, I actually sent some stuff in for the Battletech line at one point.

Never got published, so that made me a sad panda.

>>12561076
I think it's a great idea, to make up for the lack of drawfagging. My only concern is catching a PPC in the face.

>>12560975
Call Dead Sky and have them drop their heavies into a strike and their lights do a strafing run. After the pirates flee the board though.

How damaged did we get?

>>12561035
Faststone Capture is my screencap utility of choice, it's pretty damn good.

It has the annoying tendancy of naming your files afte the day/month/year hour/minute/second you took it, though.

>>12561157
Another Faststone fan? I've got a hardon for FS Viewer. Best damn image viewer ever.

>>12561102
As stated before, the mining camp structures are completely empty. No pirates inside, but the miners are all dead, executed by the pirates. Looks like the bodies have been rotting for well over six months. The pirates must've attacked sometime during your trip to Hellhole, if not just after Corvatti left the planet to pick you and the other mercs up.

>>12561083
Well, the Shellcracker commander, Major Rolling, is claiming salvage rights on the wrecked Sentinel. After settling into the mining camp, and securing proper bunk rooms and garages for your unit, as soon as you claim that your unit should get it, Major Rolling gets in your face. As much of a bro as he was back on Outreach, here he's all business. "My boy downed it, my boys get it."

>>12561083
Dead Sky fails to report back in for some time, but Jacobs organizes your tank unit into a perimeter around the mining camp. No enemy contacts on the horizon, of course, since they just retreated.

>>12561205

rollings is creed right?
if so, he deserves the sentinel.

>>12561123
Well, your Vindicator didn't get damaged at all. They were too concerned with the oncoming Axman from Frenzy Company, and the Hunchback from the Shellcrackers to give two shits about the little Vindie off to the side, there.

>>12561076
The Shellcrackers' Hunchback got it, by the way.

>>12561109
After all that is done, get the guy who scored the kill, Major Rolling, and the Axman driver from the Frenzy Company. Go and talk to Jan. We hit a patrol; they were ammo-heavy mediums, so this wasn't a recon run, this was a "we've already pissed all over this area, we're just going to make sure that there aren't any other dogs coming around."

>>12561205
"Of course it's yours, Bro
just doing what I can to streamline the retrieval operation. Not to brag but my techs are pretty badass..."

>>12561205
"Woah, calm down. It's just that my techs are free and your own need to be rearming your Hunchback. We don't know if those pirates have any more mechs on the way, so we need to be ready as fast as possible."

Yeesh. I didn't mean to claim the downed Sentinel, just have our techs drag it in while everyone else's techs do rearmament and field repairs.

>>12561218
No, Argyle is Creed.

>>12561260
"Good. Sorry if I'm a little nasty 'bout that, since you scored us the full salvage, 'n all. 's just my unit's kinda...strapped for parts. Same as the rest of you, I s'pose. But, my baby's left leg actuator's been actin' up somethin' fierce these days. I want it fixed."

>>12561218
Nah, Argyle's Creed. The treadhead. Argyle's Armored Guerillas = Creed/Siege Tank hybrid for a leader. Remember that.

>>12561232
Back aboard the Basroil, Jan isn't happy to see you, at all. The fact that you just reported a successful kill is irrelevant. "Alright. And you want me to do what, exactly? You have independent command rights. This is your show, now. Work out who gets what off the rotting carcass yourselves. I've got more important things to worry about." He's being very...indignant.

>>12561260
"In fact, if it's the Ultra version, we've got some spare AC5 ammo we'll give you."

(Aside: We need to preserve Rolling as an ally AT ALL COSTS. Hunchback and being generally 'Mech-heavy, along with good ties to Dead Sky make him damned valuable.)

>>12561032
>miners summarily executed
>mfw
Something tells me there's not going to be much prisoner-taking in the coming campaign.

>>12561287
"Oh, Jan, what is it that you have to worry about? If it's anything related to those 'Mechs we just ran into, we'd sure like to know. I mean, we are the only thing that separating you and your DropShip crew from ending up like those miners we just buried."

Also, did the pilot of the Sentinel survive?

>>12561287
"just keeping you in the loop, 's all.
Also, I don't like that they killed all the miners.
If this was my pirate op, I'd keep them around and turn the mining complex into a forced labour camp...
just claiming the area and not exploiting it makes no sense..."

>>12561287
>Jan
"Just letting you know, these pirates have been sticking around here for nearly 6 months. Doesn't make sense for just a mining operation.
"You sure that Corvatti's the only corp that knows about this rock? Because it sounds more like someone else wanted to take you out of the market."

>Rolling's leg actuator
"Alright, let me get my techs on it, then."
If he okays it, have our techs fix the leg actuator with the spare from the Sentinel.

>>12561300
>we'll give you.
For a symbolical sum, naturally

>>12561342
To be honest, we stole a bunch of AC5 ammo, and we're only giving it to him if he's got the ammo-hungry version.

>>12561336
Rolling's 80 ton Zeus won't take a leg actuator off a 45 ton Sentinel.

>>12561324
The Sentinel pilot managed to eject, pop his parachute, and ride it all down to the ground safely, but due to Hellhole's especially nasty atmosphere, he did not survive the experience.

>>12561325
>>12561336

"Like I said, all I need to know is 'they're dead', and 'you're winning.' As for the pirates...It doesn't add up, you're right. But, this planet has no HPG. I can't get into contact with my superiors to see if we've been the victims of corporate espionage. Just, do what you can. Would you be able to function well with just one DropShip? I could make my way back into Lyran space and get into contact with my superiors."

>>12561336
"Well, hell, if you're offerin', far be it from me to deny you the pleasure. Hell of a favor, though, Jussi." Rolling pats you on the back, in an almost fatherly way. Seems the old Lyran's taking a liking to you.

>>12561352
well, yeah, but let's not go around telling people that...
giving stuff away for free, even if it is to bros and said stuff is stolen goods, is not good merc policy

Actually, these negotiations about salvage and whatnot aren't what we should be doing. We ought to be fortifying the camp and the dropship sites, setting perimeter patrols, scouting and identifying enemy positions and planning the next proper strike op like the fist of the north star before those pirates realize what shitstorm's being summoned down on 'em. Otherwise something picture related might happen.

"Be agressive" is something of a motto for me.

>>12561406
We're having the techs reload all mechs that expended ammo in the previous engagement and enacting emergency repairs on those that need them.
All of our infantry and tank crews are being outfitted with the EVA suits they need to survive in the environment, and will be deployed once ready.

Our aerospace support, Dead Sky, is currently tracking the pirate mechs back to their base. As soon as it's identified, we're going to go there and kill them all.

>>12561382
>The Sentinel pilot managed to eject, pop his parachute, and ride it all down to the ground safely, but due to Hellhole's especially nasty atmosphere, he did not survive the experience.
Can we make sure to wear an environmental suit of our own? At least, have a respirator so that we can breathe and hope that our Mech pilot suit is enough.

>>12561446
>As soon as it's identified, we're going to go there and kill them all.
It's like Christmas and birthday the same day!

>>12561446
This. Let's get all the tanks sealed up.

And Jan can't leave. If need be, we leave a platoon of infantry on each DropShip, right in the bridge.

"Jan, this is just a countermeasure. The platoon is in case a sapper gets through. We don't know who these people are or what they're capable of, and the last thing we want is you and the crew getting caulked. You know that I love you, boy, hot like Mexico; I'd never let anything bad happen to you."

Before we slaughter them all, were there any rules by the MRBC about treatment of prisoners?

>>12561505
Jan just gives you a weird look. "...I see." Well, since you're strongarming him into sticking around with your infantry(note, you have ONE platoon.), he decides to just go ahead and accept it. "Alright, I'll stay. Just do your job."

>>12561488
Well, if you want to boil alive inside your cockpit, be my guest.

>>12561524
Yes. No executions, no tortures, etc. General 'humane' stuff.

And, we need to stop there for the night, anons. I got work in the morning. Hopefully, next time we try to megamek, shit will work.

>>12561524
AFAIK, it's a "reasonable" standard for individuals who surrender. However, the circumstances here are different; we are ostensibly fighting pirates, who are also criminals and are often subject to military tribunal and summary execution under Lyran law when captured by a House or House-hired unit. We're working corporate security, so we've got to be certain to watch for the white flags and surrenders so as to avoid going rogue ourselves.

>>12561540
Okay, what time and what day will you be running again?
You'll need to make another thread, most likely.

>>12561540
For sure on the next time.


ANd after this contract is over, I have ideas for what we are getting...

Spoilerfail: no tanks, but instead helicopters with erppc's.

Popping into the thread before I head off for work

I figure we'll be doing this on the weekends, more than anything.