Lancer: Louder than God’s Revolver

[n0ble]

Act 1: The Pale Blue Dot

5020-Trass System

The city of Parad has seen better days, but then again you could say that about most of Trass-system at the moment. Sekkur’s been hitting the planet hard, it’s main civic centre even harder. What was once a planet of sweeping greens and vast oceans of cobalt blue water has become smeared over with blacks, muddled with browns and scarred over with the odd molten band, revealed in the slow turn of Edth. Or would when viewed from space.

As is the skyline before you burns a lurid orange, backlighting Parads towers, famed the system over for the white stone they’re made from. Once the towers spiralled high from the tiered walls of Parad, beacons of cooperation, of the drive to nurture and make better espoused by not just Paradians, but Edthia as a whole. Now they crouch low like the broken teeth, blunted down to jagged stumps by whatever munitions Sekkur used to take the city. There’s years and the fighting hasn’t ended. Intermittent kinetic fire rackets the periphery and interiors of the walls, finding odd harmonies with the sizzle of Armory Sol-fire through the air. If you squint and ignore the telemetry on heat emanations, you can even make out the flash of the lasers amidst Parad’s tiers. Survivors. Edthian-Parad holdouts against Sekkur. Reasons to fight.

Your battlefield is Parad’s eastern crossing. The wide spar of alabaster-like bridge has been stained all the colours of war, come together to chip and wear away at the white of the stone, so much so that the spar has turned from a reflective white to a jaundiced yellow-brown. Whatever mechanisms were built into the bridge for hydroelectric power have given up, sunk to the quagmire below the bridge where it’s gummed and blocked the river it spans with cabling and oils. In place of what should be a river, there is a thin film of water layered over mud: after taking the city Sekkur hunkered in for the coming long siege. It tracks. If the briefing from Staff Sergeant Cilla was any indication Trass’s descendants have always been better at holding onto things than taking them, and Parads water supplies are no exception. Another casualty, if you will. Sekkur has sunk containers and crates into the Northern side of the river, while they’ve clearly judged the souther section’s boat graveyard sufficient to hamper any advances. The bridge is a mirror of this: military vehicles, gutted civilian transports (notable for how they still run on disel-Edth’s focus on health notwithstanding) and the odd tank trap have come together to form a maze on-bridge.

The bridge’s custodians, your opposition against egress into Parad, stand the other side like some sort of alien menagerie that’s been half painted Sekkur red. There’s a wide, block-like mech that wields a shield almost as tall as it is wide and made from a suspiciously white rock. The Bastion is flanked by a dyad of Assault mechs with complementary yet opposite paint jobs on their right. To their left is another mech with a proboscis-like matter fabricator. The Barricade momentarily rises on a heptarcal skirt of legs-almost to a height equal to the Bastion-then lowers itself back down from the challenge it’s posed in your direction. Liquid print materials drool from the mouthpiece to pool on the ground in white clods. Behind the tetrarch, a crab like mech possessed of a column that towers from the mech’s thorax. The cylinder on their back is honeycombed. Little drones flint to and from the openings where they find charging ports. For a moment the sky is lit purple-bruised even-as the cylinder separates into four thick disks, each of which orbits the Hive in a single lazy pass before stacking back into a column. Each segments weeps drones and nano-cloud into their wake. The sun backlights the chassis arrayed against you, casting them as the silhouettes from some sort of Armoury recruitment poster.

You are the spear point. A ping from the Cilla, then the shrill notification: the time to advance is now.


Trass Sysyem has been at war with itself for some 7 years. Naturally, with 5 different civics each with their own goals and desires for what constitutes as “victory” in-System, alliances made between these civics are largely a matter of convenience crossed with the aims of any patrons one of these civilizations have. The fluid nature of this conflict, along with the fact that Trass is a fairly large solar system in terms of “diameter” (ie planets are months apart, a little over a standard year and a half to go from Holloway to Rahast/outermost to innermost) are what’s prolonged the conflict.

Sekkur-a term used to refer to those people who live on Trass (the planet, not the system, second closest from the Sun). Ironically, Trass the planet is a death world completely hostile to human life outside a chassis/vacuum sealed hardsuit. Consequently, habitation is largely confined to the planets 2 moons (Ferrox & Gustthel), and the odd HA research station or survivalist holdout found planetside. Having largely consisted of Security crew members aboard the Vigil, Sekkur are a proud, readily militant bunch, and typically employ diplomacy aimed down the barrel of a kinetic discharger when it comes to negotiation. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on who’s sights your in) the Armoury has stepped in and done a great deal to bring Sekkur into the current age. Fun fact: The first casualty Trass the planet claimed was the system’s eponymous founder, despite what Sekkur contests regarding the history of their own origins. This foundational myth is largely responsible for the planets main purpose today: a shared proving ground. What better place for the Armoury to train prospective Sekkur Legionnaires?

Edth-5th planet from the Sun and, barring the underwater technopoli found below Holloway’s surface, host to the most advanced medical technologies in system. Sekkur has deemed this technology, and it’s operation, a huge priority for their war effort. Fairly unsurprising, given the knowledge of Union-sanctioned cloning facilities on planet. Edth has 3 continents, the capital Parad having been found on a river close the equatorial band of the western continent (Corod Major). The planet has 3 moons, one of which (Thelcra) has been successfully terraformed over the past 2 millennia into resembling something of a breadbasket for the system. Fun fact: the concentric walls and hightowers that make up Parad weren’t built by the first Medinin that fled Trass (the person)’s persecutions for a new life planetside. Parad is unique amongst cities in Trass (the system) in that it was found, not founded. There are rumours that some of the unique gene sequences not kept in Holloway’s vaults are on Edth-ostensibly because they’re markers for several rare genetic diseases in need of curing.


This is a gauntlet scenario as per the Lancer core book-your to push through, secure the bridge and then continue on into Parad from there. The map isn’t up yet, but when it is you can find the roll20 link here (https://app.roll20.net/editor/)

The enemy NPCs before you are:
1 Bastion
2 Assaults
1 Hive
1 Barricade

Your deployment zone is the bright green area you and the engineers occupy at the top of the map.
The area you need to reach and contest as part of the gauntlet scenario is the red area the enemies have deployed in.
Enemy reinforcements come in from areas that are Red on the North and South sides of the map.
Size 1 hard cover is Pink Assume that both you and the enemy have LOS for shooting over this cover to each other
Size 2 hard cover is Dark Blue
Size 3 hard cover is Orange

(This will all probably have more meaning once y’all can uh…actually see the map :smalltongue: )

[Bitter]

Drifter

“Confirmed Cilla, Drifter moving in.”

Grabbing hold of his controls, Drifter performs one final check of his systems. Green all across the board.

The only flicker of something wrong was the data coming from the AI that Drifter has been putting together on-and-off over the last few years. The intention was for it to simply be a comp/con assistant, something to handle all the computational data that a hacking specialist pilot needs to handle. Over time it had become more and it was hard to dispute that the code strings being sent by the AI we’re worry over the coming combat combined with a desire to prove itself.

The implications that the AI had developed into a fledgling NHP we’re both worrying and not the kind of thing that Drifter had time to concern himself with now.

“We’ll be fine,” says Drifter, feeling only a little stupid for possibly talking to himself. “Just focus on managing the reactor output and watching for weak points in the enemy firewall.”

The output from the AI seemed to calm at that. Troubling.

At the deft touch of Drifter’s piloting, Vagrant moves forward to close the range with the enemy combatants.

[Rakaydos]

The Everest with the jet pack moved ahead, not waiting for the rest as it dashed toward debris to the south of the bridge.
"TAC HERE, MOVING TO FLANK, REQUEST DISRUPTIVE FIRE ALONG THE BRIDGE." The voice did not sound like a person on the radio, but entirely synthetic.

Move and boost. Explosive mine the square behind me.

[Caellath]

"You have all heard Cilla, let's get moving. I'm heading down the bridge to try and get a targeting solution on the enemies as soon as possible. Anyone who likes hitting their shots should stick close to me so I can share the spotting data."

"Prepare long range fire and anyone with indirects get ready, we're moving in." Wall called over the comms as the Willing Victim's joints groaned slightly as its pilot tested them.

[Awful]

"Spindle state green," crackled the delicate voice of Atys over the comms. "Cyclone cycled up and ready."

Despite herself, Atys was nervous. The familiar feel of tension gnawed at her guts and tingled her fingertips. This would be the first true combat - rather than simmed tests - the petite woman had encountered since their final fatal conflict with KAIROS.

Nous, for its part, showed none of its pilot's trepidation. The mech carried the bulky cyclone cannon without difficulty, the internal sensors reading a clean, steady charge.

Within its shell of code, the fragment NHP seemed to give a long, low chuckle. It waited, patient as ever: it waited forever and no time at all.

[Amaril]

Standing in the larger Sagarmatha's shadow, the Everest with the skull-patterned helmet makes for a mirror to the assault units flanking the shieldbearer. The cockpit isn't too different from that of Ash's old Type-I, probably rusting away in some scrap heap back home by now. Funny how even lightyears apart and thousands of years out of contact, humans will build the same machines to do the same things.

A moment's focus through the neural interface fires up maneuvering thrusters. "I'll keep the frontliners off your backs as long as I can."

[Llyarden]

"On it!" Siobhan replied to Wall over the comms, her voice as light and casual as though he'd asked her to pass the sugar. The massive rifle attached to her mech's back ratcheted up and locked into place over its shoulder, the barrel telescoping out as Pine Needle crouched, ready to fire or spring forwards in equal measure.

[n0ble]

The enemy Hive spins into live, its frame gambolling forward on a set of vaugley arachnoid legs. The spire atop its back remains steadfastly where it is, despite the speeds the mech reaches. The last bit of its movement is punctuated by a flurry of microjets inserted into the hulls of the Hive's legs: some spurt and send the Hive forward while others array themselves to counter thrust. Working in concert, the jets allow the Hive a relativley soft impact into the cover of an old tank trap. The honeycombed edfice atop its back spills open as it comes to a stop. Hundreds of micro drones spill forth to pinged location. They un-spool and drape burning hot razorwire between them while other, larger drones seed more of the small ones into the airspace on the bridge, their own apertures spinning with a drill like motion all the more menancing for how the drills "teeth" seethe with a molten glow.


On their turn the enemy Hive moved forward 5 spaces.
For their 1st Quick action: The enemy Hive Boosted 1 space forward into hardcover.
For their 2nd Quick action: The Hive deployed a Razor Swarm drone, as per the ability: The Hive deploys a burst 1 razor swarm in a free area within Sensors. Allied characters gain soft cover as long as they are at least partially within the affected area. Hostile characters start their turn at least partially within the area or move into it for the first time in a round take 2 burn. The Hive can deploy any number of razor swarms, each of which persists for the rest of the scene or until the Hive is destroyed.

[Caellath]

Wall moved the Willing Victim forward, the lumbering mech breaking into a slightly hurried jog before stopping just short of a piece of cover too small for it. It was a whole lot of dust and noise for such a short run.

"Just in case." he chimed in as he sent some computing power Spindle's way to protect her mech (and the targeting solutions of the very punchy gun it was holding).

Movement: 4 squares East.
Quick Action: Boost 2 squares East.
Quick Action: Bolster Spindle.

[n0ble]

Once hidden cannisters buldge and swell with print-fab materials, feeding it into and out of the the strange aperture on the enemy Barricade. Their strange dripping appendage forks a spray of print material into the machines rear arcs, some sort of in-built device causing the spray bisect into two lumpy piles. A paired array of mechanized arms snap out to the Barricades rear to sculpt and mould the dual piles into cubes that firm into a stone like consistency as they bake under the heat of the apertures. Whatever little flecks of material are still wet are caste off as the Barricade engages its motor servos and goes forward. Even before they boosts forward to the middle of the bridge, the extra support struts webs to the exterior of the mech's legs buckle and groan with its weight. The installed jets take over to relieve the strain on the structures before easing the barricade into a short boost-near halfway across the bridge. As they come to a hault, the abdomen of the Barricades chassis unfurls to reveal a glowing lance like apparatus. Little motes of dust collect and build around the brightening weapon, as though the Barricade is daring one of you to come forward with the priming of its gravition lance.


As protocol, the Barricade used its Mobile Printer feature to extrude 2 Pieces of Size 2 Cover, each with 20 HP and evasion 5. Normally it would only be able to extrude one, but I gave it the Extrudite optional system which lets it put out 2.

The barricade then moved 3 squares.
For their 1st Quick Action: The Barricade Boosted another 3 squares.
For their 2nd Quick Action: The Barricade is holding a skirmish action to shoot the next PC that comes within range & LoS of its graviton lance.

[Amaril]

Matching pace with Wall, Revenant darts forward into the shelter of the crates on the north side of the bridge. His HUD marks the superheated razor wire with red warnings as the drone swarm starts spreading it, as if he couldn't have guessed it was something to avoid. "The one with the drones looks like trouble."

The barrel of the heavy thermal lance on No Redemption's shoulder mount glows faintly. Glancing across the bridge to where Willing Victim towers, Ash sends a data burst Wall's way, marking the targets from his angle.

[n0ble]

Theres a groaning sound as the Sekkur's Bastion raises their shield into a guarded stance, shielding the Assault mech directly behind them. The angle of their shielding makes clear who they protect the Assault from: Wall. What protection is given by the gesture-if not the sheer width of the Bastion's frame-is quickly lost to the Assault as the larger mech makes for cover of their own. The burned out hull of the Sekkur tank is sufficiently large to obscure the Bastion from view, though your able to see the barrel of their grenade launcher spin in preparation before the cover of the tank-carcass obscures it. Sensors pick up the slack, registering audio that indicates the Bastion is making ready to fire on whoever comes forward.


As protocol, the Bastion engaged its friendly interdiction field, giving themselves resistance & the Assault resistance as long as it maintains adjacency to the Bastion. This resistance is from damage dealt by Wall.

The bastion moved forward 3 spaces into hardcover, broke adjacency with the Assault as a result.
For their 1st & only quick action: the Bastion held an action to Skirmish with its rotary grenade launcher against the First PC that came within range. The weapon has arching so it can fire over the size 3 hardcover the bastion currently occupies.

[Bitter]

Drifter

As the team moves forward Vagabond moves forward with them, but at a faster pace. As the others start to drop off behind cover, Drifter pilots Vagabond on for another dozen feet before slamming to a stop.

Unlike the others, Drifter hasn’t hidden behind cover. Instead he plans to put down his own cover.

From a shoulder mount two balls of goo shoot out onto the bridge in front of him, expanding in moments into a solid defensible wall that Drifter moves his mech to huddle behind.

“In range of my big gun, give me a second to organise a targeting solution.”

[n0ble]

The first of the enemy assault mechs maneuvers forward into the Bastion's wake with little fanfare and even less noise. They slam a fresh clip of ammunition into their magazine en route, coming to a stop within their upsized counterpart's shadow. Their voice comes out tired, but even. "Cover acquired. Holding position." Like they might well be talking about the rain.


On their turn Assault 1 moved into adjacency with the Bastion-it has hardcover from the Bastion's Guardian trait. Additionally, it has regained resistance to damage from Wall because of its adjacency to the Bastion.

[Llyarden]

Jets fired from the Pine Needle's back, launching it towards the same cover that the No Redemption was behind, but as the jets disengaged, it dropped into a crouch, one hand reaching down to catch the edge of the bridge as it skidded forwards - and levered itself off the bridge entirely, disappearing amongst the wreckage.

Quick: Boost 4 squares kinda ENE.
Quick: Hide.
Move: Move another 4 squares down the riverbank.

[n0ble]

The first assault's twin moves forward to occupy the narrow span of bridge afforded to it by the Barricade's width. They swing their assault rifle into position and square up alongside the Barricade in a manner that speaks of a readiness for violence: rather than seeking fire the Assault traces lines of fire in concert with and past the friendly mech it's saddled up along. The position looks familiar to the Assault mech, like they know it and take comfort from the fact that theres an ally adjacent to them.


On their turn, the second Assault Mech moved forward 4 spaces
For their 1st Quick Action: The Assault Mech boosted forward another 4 squares, bringing it into adjacency with the Barricade.
For the 2nd Quick Action: The Assault mech Prepared a quick action to skirmish with their heavy Assault rifle vs. the First Target to come into LoS and rang of the Heavy Assault Rifle.

[Awful]

Spindle

Atys breathed in, out, in, out, feeling the slightly-too-cold conditioned air inside her cockpit move in and out her lungs. Then she advanced, Nous' clanking footfalls taking her up into the freshly-deployed cover by Drifter.

"Firing for effect," Spindle radioed, and clicked the trigger. There was a heartbeats delay before the deafening crack-boom of the cyclone fired. To her dismay, though, the enemy barricader didn't fall, the ferrous slug cascading off the slope of their armour in a shower of sparks; bruising, but not deadly.

"Went off the plate," she muttered, and set Nous to crouch behind its cover. Damn it.

[n0ble]

The barricade takes the fire from the cyclone pulse rifle on the chin, so to speak, emerging from contact with the kinetic relatively unscathed for being shot with superheavy weaponry. "On me." The Barricade's voice booms out over the bridge, summoning a pair of cyclopean Assassin mechs to the east and west of the bridge. And in the southeast: a hulking biped mecha of a chassis not dissimilar to that of the Bastion-though in place of a grenade launcher and shield combination this one wields a massive, two handed maul of a proportion to match the newly arrived Demolisher's width.

The Hive once again spins up the tower edifice on its back even as code bleeds out from the stacked disks, egging the already existing swarms onward toward Vagabond and Spindle's Positions. At some unseen signal another razor swarm is deployed as the four discs separate from the shape of a tower, loosing more razor drones and their burning wire as they do. The Hive follows in the wake of the second swarm's formation, moving then boosting around the Barricade and into the hardcover of the gutted jeep.


2 Assassins & a Demolisher arrived as the Reinforcments for this sit-rep.

On the beginning of their turn, the Hive moved their already existing swarm 2 spaces as per their Motile Swarm optional system. They also recharged their ability to use Razor Swarm.
For their 1st Quick Action: The Hive used Razor Swarm to spawn Razor Swarm (marked as 2 on the map) within sensor range.
For their 2nd Quick Action: The Hive boosted into Hardcover after moving a full 5 space normally.

[Caellath]

Wall didn't like how the enemies were awfully prepared to meet him on his way down the bridge, but he honestly didn't have many options. After contemplating leaping down the bridge to find less dangerous cover amidst the muddy waters and containers, he decided against it and steeled his nerves. "Let's run the gauntlet." he voiced just as he had the Willing Victim start on a short sprint aiming to reach an enormous vehicle sitting a third of the way through the bridge.

It wasn't the first and it likely wouldn't be the last time Wall was running into waiting fire, but it never got easy. Sure it'd be a lot easier if he just turned off his brain, but you just couldn't give yourself that sort of luxury if you wanted to raise your chances of avoiding harm while sprinting into cover. It'd be easier to be suicidal rather than face the tension every time. Luckily for Wall, the tension paid off as the Willing Victim hauled its metallic ass as fast as possible, leaving several footsteps on the concrete and dodging fire from two enemy mechs.

Ultimately only grazed, Wall slammed his mech against the vehicle amidst a small cloud of dust, debris and shrapnel. "Drifter, hit them before they split." He'd barely even arrived at his point and he was already making his move: instead of opening fire he had all of the Victim's processing power working on providing targeting solutions to his allies, painting all of the three enemies within his Sensor rage with the digital equivalent of bright colors even as the mech's reactor began heating up above the norm thanks to him pushing it past factory limits.

Movement: Wall moves 4 forward, slamming into Size 2 cover and triggering two enemy readied actions.
Full Action: Full Tech: Lock On to Hive and Barricade.
Free Action: Leadership Die to Drifter to get his howitzer blasting on the bunched-up enemies.
Overcharge (1 Heat): Lock On to Assault 2.

[n0ble]

Some critical mechanism in the Barricade's feeder apparatus jams-gummed and clogged with 3d print liquids the device sputters and fails to output anything that could be moulded and cooled into cover. A frustrated chirp sounds from the Barricade as it engages the jets inbuilt into their chassis and zooms forward into the grey nano haze that suffuses the Razor wire. A bright discharge of light-the graviton lance-momentarily shears through the drone-fog and hits Falling Leaf, stripping a few outer centimeters from the main chassis. Sensors in the mech register a localized increase in gravity, one that adds enough that it becomes a struggle for Pine Needle to maneuver properly.


The Barricade's Mobile Printer failed to recharge this turn.
The Barricade moved 3 spaces
For their 1st Quick Action: The barricade boosted forward another 3 spaces into the softcover of the Razor Swarm
For their 2nd Quick Action: The barricade fired their graviton lancer at Falling Leaf, ignoring the soft cover because the weapon is accurate. The Barricade hit, inflicting 2 energy damage and slowing Falling Leaf until the end of their next turn.

[Bitter]

Drifter

Staying in position, Drifter let’s lose with everything he has. Small mobile drones, his assault rifle and not least the massive Howitzer mounted on his mech’s back.

As the data and literal smoke clears, he spots clear indications of hits on two enemy mechs.

“That’s some damage done, but none out.”

[n0ble]

Talk from the Assassin rings out into the silence that follows the massive detonation. They're clearly speaking to the Assault that Vagabond has just savaged with their howitzer. It broadcasts on all comms, spilling out into the vaccancy between the newly arrived Assassin and TAC's mech. "Dont worry, friend." The Assassin begins striking to their right, banking sharply before gunning forward with installed microjets before seemingly bracing against the ground and gracefully launching themselves into the air. "Help comes from on high." The Assassin somersaults and lands palms to the ground first, spinning their legs in a wide circle that sees Vagabond and drifter knocked prone to the ground under the flurry of blows.


Assassin 2 moved 6 spaces this turn.

For their 1st quick action: they boosted an additional 6 spaces.
For their 2nd quick action: To cap off being an absolute MADLAD the Assassin used their Leap ability: The Assassin flies 6 spaces in any direction but must land on a surface. When they land, characters adjacent to the Assassin must succeed on an AGILITY save or be knocked PRONE. Vagabond & Revenant both failed their Agility saves and were knocked prone. They must expend their standard movements getting up, but this does not count as actually moving and so will not provoke an Overwatch attack from Assassin 2. Spindle passed the Agility save and wasnt knocked prone.

[Rakaydos]

"WE CANT HAVE THAT, NOW CAN WE."
Behind the assasin, the flanking Everest rose on a pillar of flame, moving with the alacrity that was the chassis's signature. Diving after the assasin, thermal lance and assault rifle fire chewed into the lesser mech and the bridge below it.


Activate flight. Move 4
Inititive for boost 4
Barrage:
-Thermal rifle- hit, 9 energy
-Assault rifle- hit, 4 kinetic
Overcharge skirmish: Assault rifle- hit, 6 kinetic

EoT: 5 heat, flying, no cover.

[n0ble]

The Assassin topples over dead, seemingly following after Vagabond and Revenant to the ground though with thoroughly less motion about its frame. The Bastion registers this with a mechanical roar, boosting forward into the Barricade's wake as the defender's grenade launcher whirs out the mechanical chuffing of ordinance being displaced from its cylinders. The explosives burst around Wall with flashes of orange and red to match Edth's Burning sky, and though their armour takes some of the shrapnel more than is stopped finds its way through into the Willing Victim.


The Bastion engaged it's Friendly Interdiction Field as protocol, they have resistance to damage from Revenant & Assault 1 has resistance to damage from Revenant when it has adjacency to the Bastion.

The Bastion moved forward 3 spaces
For their 1st Quick action: The Bastion boosted forward 3 additional spaces
For their 2nd Quick action: The Bastion Skirmished with their Rotary Grenade Launcher and hit Wall for 4 explosive damage, reduced to 3 after their armour.

[Amaril]

It all seems to go off in the blink of an eye. The first shot rings out, the shattering clap of Spindle's rifle; Ash sees the shieldbearer flinch before the howitzer explosion envelops the bridge in smoke and fire. He hefts his sword, ready to take advantage, and then he's looking up at the burning sky, HUD flashing alerts, the assassin standing over him. Before he can react, again, it goes down in another barrage--Wall? No, that was a thermal lance beam....

As No Redemption regains its footing, servos groaning, Ash glances over to behold his savior: the dog-man. He feels a twinge of regret for that name, even unvoiced. "Good shot."

Through the clearing howitzer smoke, his sensors pick out more razor wire: another drone swarm. The skull helm swivels to point sockets at the controller, hiding behind its burnt-out car shell. "Yeah, that's not happening." Slamming on thruster controls, he rockets out from behind his container, skidding to a halt on the other side of the debris from the hive. The Everest plants its feet as the barrel of its lance begins to glow even brighter, vents blowing steam. "Revenant, going hot!"

The shot rings out, a crack of ionizing air. Filters shield his eyes from the blue plasma radiance, but it still leaves him squinting to see the results...a groan of annoyance registers through his comms. "No joy!" The drone controller is undamaged; the smoking hole bored through the debris between them doesn't even reach through to it.

[Llyarden]

"Going!" The loud crash of her mech's rifle fire revealed Siobhan's new position just beneath the bridge, as a heavy slug winged its way towards the grenade-launching mech. She didn't stay there for long, though, jets engaging again to launch her back onto the bridge, and she sprinted along the railing, springing towards the Hive with her segment knife before spinning, her mech drawing its pistol with its other hand and snapping off a quick shot towards the drone controller before vaulting back off the bridge and taking what little cover there was in the river behind one of the drifting cargo boxes.

As her first Quick Action: Siobhan Skirmishes to attack the Bastion with her antimaterial rifle, for 6 to hit for 4 AP Kinetic damage.

As her second Quick Action: Siobhan Boosts back onto the bridge.

She moves 4 squares east with her movement action.

As a free action due to Initiative, she Skirmishes again to attack the Hive twice, first with her segment knife for 8 to hit for 4 energy damage, and then with her pistol for 1 to hit but with Reliable 1.

As a free action, she Overcharges for 1 Heat to Boost again back into the river.

[n0ble]

The Hive rears back under Falling Leaf's assault. The latter's tactical knife finds and pulls something vital from the Hive as they bank off the bridge and down into the muck of the river. The Assault closest to the Hive is quick to give answer to the offence, moving forward into cover with the same familiar discipline that saw it previously saddle up alongside the Barricade. Targeting reticules snap out to lock onto vital points on Revenant before a fusilade of kinetic fire from the Assault finds its mark on No Redemption's chassis, scoring deep gouges into the mech that are mercifully stopped before boring too far.

The first Assault mech, unwilling to abandon their position as sole defender of the still to be contested zone on the bridge, cuts north across the strucuture as they watch Falling Leaf land on the riverbed below. Absent adjacieny to their allies the Assault's aim is a bit less steady, a little less sure, but this does nothing to stop them from readying their heavy assault rifle. The weapon first aims over where Falling Leaf tumbled to the river, then tracks for possible egress points that could be met with kinetics.


On their turn, Assault 2 moved forward 1 space into hardover and adjacency with both the Hive & Bastion. This activated its Rank Discipline optional system, giving it +1 accuracy on attacks as long as its adjacent to a friendly mech.
For their 1st Quick action: the Assault took the Lock-on quick action on Revenant
For their 2nd Quick Action: the Assault consumed the Lock-on condition on Revenant and fired their Heavy Assault Rifle at them. Consuming lock-on combined with Rank Discipline negated the hardcover revenant was sitting behind. The Heavy Assault rifle hit for 6 kinetic damage.

On the turn following Falling Leaf/Llyarden's Assault 1 moved 4 spaces north into Hardcover
For their 1st Quick Action: the Assault prepared an action to Skirmish Falling leaf when next they're in LoS
For their 2nd Quick Action: the Assault Locked on to Falling Leaf

[Caellath]

"We need the Hive mech down quick. Anyone got eyes on further enemy reinforcements?" The Willing Victim had just been rocked by explosive hits, but luckily neither the explosions nor the shock had caused any serious damage aside from fracturing shock plates and causing Wall's mech to shed crumbling pieces of pitch-black, spent ablative armor from its upper body area.

[Rakaydos]

"DEMOLISHER APPROCHING SOUTHEAST." The everest with the unpronouncible name hovered off the Willing Victum's shoulder. "THREAT LEVEL HIGH, SECOND AFTER HIVE."

[Amaril]

Ash sees the assault unit drawing a bead, but he can't bring his shield up in time, still stabilizing from his lance shot. Rifle rounds punch through his armor, rattling him in his cockpit. He grits his teeth. "Closing on the hive now," he calls out. "I can handle it. You all worry about the one with the hammer."

[Awful]

Spindle

Atys grit her teeth. Her eyes were narrowed behind the flashglass as more enemies arrived. One was gunned down, but the Hive was causing problems.

With a heavy clunk, she cycled her cyclone cannon. A burst of steam and smoke emitted from the breach before she shut it again, loading a new slug into the accelerator chamber.

"Give me a second, preparing second shot!"

[n0ble]

The Demolisher lumbers forward, seemingly in answer to your calls. It moves with the same ponderous gait as the Barricade before it, though this one bares little in the way of external support struts. Instead its frame is macro sized, of proportions to match that of its hammer. The Assassin is the Demolisher's opposite in movement: svelte, sleek and limber of frame, the smaller mech surges forward from the north. They grip the handle of their knife-a functional mech proportioned trench spike-with the stabbing end pointed down, performing an almost sarcastic salute towards Revenant before the thrusters in their limbs push them forward into another burst of speed.

Perpendicualr to the bridge.


Note: because there are no more PCs left to take actions this turn, both of the remaining NPCs took their turns.
On their turn, the Demolisher plonked forward a mighty 2 spaces.
For their 1st Quick Action: The Demolisher boosted forwards 2 more spaces. Times like these I wish NPCs could take MULE harnesses.
For their 2nd Quick Action: The Demolisher prepared to Lock-on to the first PC that comes within sensor Range (10) of it.

Assassin 1 moved 6 spaces, considered leaping onto Falling Leaf, remembered what happened last time an Assassin did that, and considered better:
For their 1st Quick action: The Assassin applied their Assassin's Mark (represented by the bloody eye symbol) to Revenant: The Assassin chooses a character in line of sight. For the rest of the scene, these effects apply:
• It has RESISTANCE to that target’s damage.
• Damage it deals to that target cannot be reduced.
• It gains +1 accuracy on all saves forced by that target.
The Assassin can only choose a new target if the current target is destroyed.
For their 2nd Quick Action: the Assassin boosted another 6 spaces.

[Amaril]

From the far side of the bridge, Ash spots the second assassin closing, light catching off its blade as the pilot raises it to him. A whole lot of memories flash through his head at the gesture. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbles. "Be with you in a minute!"

As the last word leaves his lips, No Redemption snaps into motion again, launching out from behind cover. A burst from the thrusters launches it up onto what remains of the traffic barrier; with surprising agility for a machine that size, the Everest runs nimbly along it, left arm held out in front. A shimmering plane of force unfurls in front of it, the emitter held within the ornamental buckler plate attached to its arm coming alive.

The drone controller's chassis rotates as the pilot sees him coming around the corner, but it's too late. His sword comes down into the hive's leg, cutting through to myomer. He pulls it back in a draw-cut, feeling a few more strands snap. Before his opponent can recover, he follows up with a ripjack strike to the core, the twin short blades extending from his shield driving deep. One of them hits something vital--maybe the pilot. The hive jerks, and its signature goes dead on Ash's HUD.

In a deep part of his memory, a tally is marked. Twenty-two.

[n0ble]

The four discs that comprised the Hive's spire become eight as the savage up cut from No Redemption's blades jerks what remains of the Hive's drone spire clean from their thorax. Blood and oil mingle together on the blades. The Hive is dead, and with it come the death of the razor swarms: each of the larger ones falls inert to the ground, while the fine silver mist around them dissipates in time with the evapouration of the unspooled razor-wires.


The Hive is dead!

On their turn the Barricade's 3d printer (yet again) failed to recharge.
The Barricade moved 1 square then
For their 1rst Quick Action: the Barricade Locked on to TAC
They moved up another 1 space to try and get at TAC without hardcover, it was agreed that TAC still had HC from being behind Wall.
For their 2nd Quick Action: the barricade consumed Lock on and hit Kzinit'R'Rit with their graviton Lance for 2 damage. Kzinit'R'Rit is also slowed until the end of their next turn.
The Barricade then moved its final 1 square back into adjacency with the Bastion

[Rakaydos]

Cutting the flight system, TAC avoided the worst of the gravaton shot. Ducking past Willing victum, he took up position between the edge of the bridge and an abandoned vehical, spraying assault rifle fire at the barricade as steam surged around his mech, his systems flushing the heat it had accumulated.


Cut flight system
Move
Overcharge d3, assault rifle (2 damage, armor, resist)
Stabilize

[n0ble]

Upon seeing the eveiscerration of the Hive by Revenant, the Assault mech next to the now-destroyed Hive concludes that discretion is the better part of valour and promptly vacates the spaces near the Hive's corpse. It pauses on the retreat back to the zone you've been told to take and hold, taking solace in the comfort of their twin for a moment. Its almost enough, ranking up next to the other Assault mech. The one thats just moved away from the pieces of the Hive looses a vengeful burst of fire at Revenant, nearly hitting No Redemption thanks to the surety they take in being next to the Assault's twin. Nevertheless: the tight burst of fire finds some purchase, scoring the hull of the Hive-killer.


Assault 2 moved 4 spaces the hell away from Revenant
For their 1st Quick Action: Assault 2 Skirmished at Revenant with their heavy assault rifle, rolled a 1 to hit (2 total), then promptly rolled a 5 on their accuracy dice, missing by 1 overall. They did inflict 2 damage from their assault rifle being reliable 2, however.
For their 2nd Quick Action: Assault 2 boosted 4 spaces away into the zone.

[Caellath]

"Moving out." With the team moving around like angry skirmishers staying behind the safety of cover wouldn't be too helpful. Wall first deployed an energy shield against the most distant assault frame before moving the Willing Victim out from behind the damaged vehicle and into the middle of the bridge, facing the two gigantic enemy mechs. Once more he preferred to spend his time and his mech's energy establishing targeting solutions for the team.

"Spindle, stay sharp. Fire at the foe presenting the most threat from your LoS." he said over comms, giving his teammate the judgement call on that matter. Meanwhile, both the usage of the shimmering shield and overusage of his mech's processing power had made the reactor's temperature rise dangerously, all vents on the Victim spread wide open and expelling enough heat that the air around the large mech became distorted like in a desert.

Protocol: Projected Shield against Assault 2.
Movement: Wall moves 4 forward. Soft cover from Skirmisher.
Full Action: Full Tech: Lock On to Bastion and Assault 1.
Free Action: Leadership Die to Spindle to destroy the most immediate threat to allies.
Overcharge (3 Heat): Ready Action to apply Lock On to any enemy lacking it within range and LoS.

[n0ble]

Willing Victim locks onto the Bastion & Assault, all while their reactor runs hot-skirting the edge of capacity even as the mech's sensors prepare to target weak points at whichever mech next enters their range and view. The flurry of new targeting vectors and optimized pathways is answered by two sounds from the Sekkur Bastion: the first is a jangle pulled taught as the massive slab of Parad stone snaps out on a chain. The great flank of stone buries itself in the the ground to form a wide angle of ablation against attacks Vagabond might aim at the pair of towering mechs. The second audible sound is an ominous clicking as the Bastion begins racking a series of grenades into the rotating apparatus of their grenade launcher.


As protocol, the Bastion used their Friendly Interdiction Shield to give themselves & the Barricade resistance to attacks from Vagabond.
For their full action: the Bastion reloaded their Rotary 'nade Launcher

[Awful]

Spindle

"Ten-four."

With heavy footsteps, Nous lumbered up behind Wall, taking cover behind its reinforced bulk. Spindle aimed her cyclone cannon, targeting the assault hunkering down behind a tank trap.

This should keep their head down.

"Firing for effect!"

She clicked the trigger, and once again the crack-boom of the pulse rifle split the air. Sh clicked her tongue in irritation as the enemy mech failed to disintegrate under her shot. It was damaged, but it had managed to brace at the last minute.

"Tch. Hit, no kill."

[n0ble]

The kinetic from Spindle's cyclone rifle catches the first Assault flat in the thorax of their chassis. What would have promised to be a devastating blow, one that carries ruin in how the air spirals about the round before impact, hits. Hits and does substantially less damage in the face of the Assault's armour locking into place, as if to welcome the attack. As the smoke clears and the scorch mark on Spindle's target becomes more pronounced agains the red paint of the mech, the Assault acts. It moves south, closing ranks with the more damaged Assault mech-the one savaged by Vagabond's initial mortar salvo. Electronic warfare spills from the visor plate of the first Assault, joining into a dirgeful litany as they set Revenant's reactor to near-overload with help from their adjacent twin. The first Assault is not yet done. Their spray of their heavy assault hits Revenant centre mass with a crunch that threatens to rob No redemption of something vital.


Assault 1 Braced as a reaction to being hit with the cyclone pulse rifle, reducing the damage by half.

On their turn, Assault 1 moved 4 spaces, acquiring adjacency with Assault 2. Both now benefit from their rank discipline optional system. They also dropped their prepared action to shoot Pine Needle.
1st Quick Action: Assault 1 successfully invaded Revenant with Fragment Signa, not even using the extra accuracy dice from Rank Disicpline. Revenant is now at 5/6 heat ,and is Slowed (the snail Symbol) & Impaired (the net symbol) until the end of their next turn.
2nd Quick Action: Assault 1 Skirmished vs. Revenant w/ their Heavy Assault Rifle-they hit for 6 damage and structured No Redemption (who has Custom Paint Job)

[Bitter]

Drifter

Knocked onto it's shiny robotic ass by an droid jumping out of nowhere, Drifter start to move Vagabond to it's feet to defend itself but doesn't manage it before the attacker is disintegrated in a hail of firepower. Drifter doesn't even have time to see which of his allies he needs to thank.

Moving forward he boosts behind Wall, sending strings of malicious code into the enemy hardware and both gumming up the servos of the Bastion mech but also causing it's reactor temperature to rise precipitously.

"I think we're pushing through," says Drifter.

[n0ble]

As the wave of information attacks and ramps up the heat output on the Bastion's reactor, the mech stumbles, stalls and grinds to all but a halt under the onslaught of viral warfare. The first assassin is seemingly galvanized into action by this, all but sprinting along the causeway and near to the end of the enemy's original deployment zone before skiriting into the hardcover of a burnt out civillian transport. Their free hand drives down onto the dead vehicles hood, leaving a clear hand imprint that increases in depth as they apply more pressure. This increase is met with the jets in the Assassin spinning up, as though they dare someone to come close and slash at the Assault mechs huddled together.


Assassin 1 (hereafter just Assassin as theres just the one of them) moved forward 6 spaces
1st Quick Action: The Assassin boosted 5 spaces into HC
2nd Quick Action: Assassin readied Leap. If an enemy PC enters the Zone, then Assassin will leap to a space adjacent to them.

[Llyarden]

Another burst of jets launched the Pine Needle back onto the bridge, and Siobhan smirked from inside the cockpit as she saw the assassin's threatening demeanour. Sloppy. It might look impressive, but take off like that and nearly half your momentum will go into bouncing that car up on its front wheels and force you to correct your altitude. Which means...

"You'll have to try better than that!" she said, cheerily, levelling her mech's second, lighter, shoulder rifle at the assaults and opening fire with it and the pistol, letting the Pine Needle's jets create a cloud of obscuring dust around her before launching herself forwards towards the two damaged mechs.

Free: Overcharge to Boost back onto the bridge, taking 2 Heat.
Move: A couple squares southeast.
Full: Barrage, first with a Thermal Rifle at Assault 1, with an 8 to hit for 5 AP Energy damage, and then with a pistol at Assault 1 (or Assault 2, if the Thermal Rifle took #1 down) with a 16 to hit for 2 Kinetic damage. And then Lunging into the zone (ignoring reactions due to Lunge) to attack Assault 2 with her Segment Knife and miss laughably.

[n0ble]

The Assault's armor plating burns and curls against the heat the thermal lance applies to it, the sizzle of air interrupted by the audible crack as one of Pine Needle's pistols find's results firing in between the armour plating of the Assault Mech. The Demolisher mech speeds forward in answer-or does as much as their bulk allows. Something critical hums into life within the hammer-wielding mecha, promising the same sort of electronic attack.


The Demolisher moved 2
1st Quick Action: the demolisher boosted forward another 2 spaces.
2nd Quick Action: The demolisher Fragmented Signal on Pine Needle and missed

[Llyarden]

Siobhan quickly switched the frequencies on her mech's controls to negate the attempt to disrupt her sensors, bringing the Pine Needle around in a spin to counteract the momentum of its lunge, turning her weapons against the more damaged of the two assault mechs in an attempt to bring it down before the hulking Demolisher got too close.

Free: As a Protocol, activate Steady Aim from Crack Shot.
(Free: Remember why rushing to get a post in so the GM can respond without a twelve-hour gap is a bad idea. Thank you for letting me retcon actually doing this.)
Full: Barrage at Assault 2. Thermal Rifle for 8 to hit for 5 AP Energy damage, Pistol for 16 to hit for 2 Kinetic damage, and then another whiff with the Segment Knife.

[n0ble]

Even as Pine Needle's thermal lance skewers one of the Assault mechs is a violent conflagration cabling, ash and smelted armour. The dead mech & pilot topples over with a groan, one echoed by a scream that sounds from the ally flanking them. A shadow falls over Pine Needle and the remaining Assault-dented by the fire of their opponent's pistol-as the Assassin leaps into the fray. They spin forward in mid air, driving both a palm and the butt of their knife at Pine Needle's chassis in a shove that's backed by their flight & fall forward. Both blows miss, with Pine Needle's piloting proving too adroit for the enemy Assassin's leap, as well as the follow up slash from their heated knife: thin red contrails backlit by the orange sky trace a missed slash at Pine Needle's "head".


Assassin
Quick Action 1: Leap adjacent to Pine Needle, who passed the agility save.
Quick Action 2: Assassin skirmished w/ their Heated blade and missed Pine Needle (and with 2 accuracy base too!)

[Rakaydos]

Walking along the edge of the bridge, TAC's mech opened up on the paired heavies with his thermal lance and assault rifle, almost dropping the less armored of the two. Opening a channel to invade the remaining, he caught the backfeed from his allies hack, however, and he barely cut it off before his own systems overloaded.

Move
Barrage, spending both lockons- Thermal lance for 7 (-1) on the barricade and 5 (-3) on the bastion, Assault rifle miss for 2 reliable (-1) on the barricade
Overcharge d6- 6 heat
Tech attack on Bastion: miss

[Bitter]

Drifter

With eyes on the heavy Demolisher mech lumbering into the field and not wanting to get bogged down before reaching his objective, Drifter boosts vagabond past the Barricade and Bastion and into cover in the south side of the bridge.

Thankfully the Demolisher’s anti-virus systems are several years out of date and Drifter easily slips in code that confuses its targeting systems and slows the already lumbering mech to a crawl.

[n0ble]

Still standing from TAC’s barrage, the Barricade floods the atmosphere around it with harmful signals and codes. The malware gains little when set against the electronic defence systems but into Wall & TAC.

Elswhere, the Demolisher looses an series of micromissiles at Vagabond in revenge for the electronic assault they've received. The missiles come at irregular intervals, more stymieing Vagabond then anything else. The demolisher follows it up with a deluge of electronic code signalled to Pine Needle's electronics. The attack results in the same ineffectuality as that of the Barricades attempt.


As protocol, the Barricades 3D printer failed to recharge (again)
As a full action: the Barricade used a full tech action to take Fragment Signal actions, targeting Wall (miss) & TAC (hit, TAC took 2 heat which reset them down to 1 and sans 1 reactor stress, after rolling on the Stress table, TAC is now exposed.

On the turn following Vagabond's, the Demolisher went next, I've edited their turn into this one.
1st Quick Action: The Demolisher used their Concussion Missile optional system on Vagabond:All characters of the Demolisher’s choice in line of sight and range 5 must succeed on a HULL save or become SLOWED and IMPAIRED until the end of their next turn. Vagabond failed the Save
2nd Quick Action: The Demolisher tried and failed to Fragment Signal Pine Needle

[n0ble]

Roaring with fury at the death of their comrade, the sensors from Sekkur's assault mech converge onto the clavicle of Pine Needles chassis. They unsheath their combat knife and flip it into a reverses grip in a smooth, practiced motion, one that the Assault is clearly comforatable with as their hand snaps up to catch the knife at the apogee of its ascent. Caught in its apex, the knife swings down in a violent stabbing motion to contact with where targeting reticules have appeared.


Eek double post!
On their turn, the Assault took 2 quick actions:
1st Quick Action: Quick Tech to Lock on to Pine Needle
2nd Quick Action: Skirmished, consuming Lock-on. Hit with a 15 and inflicted 4 damage on Falling Leaf

[Caellath]

With his mech's reactor riding close to the edge and the enemies trying to take advantage of it, Wall decided to give his mech a break. "Stabilizing."

First shifting the target of his shimmering energy shield from the defeated enemy to the remaining assault frame, he kept the Willing Victim in place and opened all vents on maximum capacity to let all waste heat flood out and clear the systems, granting the overheating frame a much-needed thermal respite.

Protocol: Projected Shield against Assault 1.
Movement: Nothing.
Full Action: Stabilize, clearing all heat.

[Awful]

Spindle


With another hiss of escaping gas, Atys cycled her pulse rifle and spoke aloud to her cockpit and the listening presence within.

"All right, you. Make yourself useful. Initiate digital attack gamma-4 on the Barricade."

Instead, she was met with a long, low chuckle. Her reactor heat briefly spiked, and she took the oppotunity while reloading to vent it before it could reach meaningful levels.

What will be has been. What has been will be.

"Shut up," Atys hissed at her NHP. Now was not the time for it to act up!

She glanced up out her cockpit viewscreen. Time was getting short to clear out these last few enemies.

[n0ble]

Viral coding and glyphs splay themselves across TAC's viewscreen, tripping safeguards and failsafes that cause their reactor to blow its heat limit. The massive mech is not yet done, sounding off with a volley from its rotary grenade launcher that catches both Spindle & Wall within the radius of its explosion, though the shrapnel and thermals put to both mechs inflict damage only on the former. Their attack done, the enemy Bastion lays a momentary hand on the "shoulder" of the Barricade before moving back towards the end of the Bridge.


1st Quick Action: Fragment Signal on TAC with a 20 (difficult from impaired wont make a difference), inflicting one reactor stress on TAC.
2nd Quick Action: Skirmished with rotary grenade launcher, inflicting 4 damage on Spindle, none on Wall.
Moved back 3 spaces.

[Amaril]

Ash is pulling his ripjack out of the downed hive, repositioning his shield as he turns to face the assault units, and then there's a bone-rattling jolt, and a ringing in his ears, and sirens are blaring in his cockpit as alerts go off warning him of structural damage, and sweat is pouring down his face inside his helmet as his reactor is pushed to the brink. Some kind of noise escapes him, he doesn't really hear it. Through the neural interface, he can feel No Redemption staggering, threatening to overbalance and topple off the bridge....

He rights himself just in time. He expects to see hostiles bearing down on him, but there are none. None of his teammates seem to have taken notice. Good. They shouldn't care.

Recover, recover, recover from Slowed, Impaired, and Stunned :smallbiggrin:

[n0ble]

The Assassin skids low as they slip under a cut from Pine Needle’s knife. As they all but five under the bridge, the enemy mech stabs their knife into the ground and pushes from it into a half vault. The Assassins legs contract and telescope forward into a duel kick aimed straight at Pine Needle’s torso. The latter is no more affected by the pair of foot compared than they are by the sound of errant gunfire from Parad. They spring backwards onto their foot comps after the failed kick, yanking their knife out of the ground into a savage vertical slash that cuts up and into the area where one of Pine Needles arms meets the rest of its chassis.

On their turn, the Assassin moved one space.
1st Quick Action: The Assassin used their Spinning Kick optional system on Falling Leaf, who passed the hull save to not be moved 4 spaces away (and what would’ve been into Demolisher-bonking range :smallbiggrin: )
2nd Quick Attack: The Assassin Skirmished w/ their heated blade and hit Pine Needle for 4 damage.

[Amaril]

That hotshot assassin is pulling some flashy maneuvers further up the bridge, laying into Pine Needle. "Oh, hell no." The shieldbearer is in the way, but Ash doesn't hesitate, leaping off the traffic barrier and launching straight toward the melee. He sees the shield coming up to intercept; he's too slow to evade, another impact rattling his teeth, but it's fine, he's ready for it, pushing off and using the force to ping-pong himself in the right direction.

His sword sends sparks off the pavement as he comes in with an upward slash. The assassin is already out of the way, giving him nothing but air. No matter. Skidding to a halt, Ash faces them and gives a flourish, sword coming to point at their cockpit. He hails them on an open channel. "You owe me a dance."

[Rakaydos]

With his reactor in emergency dump mode, TAC didnt wait to recover. Dashing foward to the next piece of cover, he ignored the glitching targeting computer and lined up a manual shot on the wounded barricade, trying to finish it off.


Move
Lockon barricade
Thermal Lance on barricade (spending lock to cancel impaired) for 7 energy damage.

[n0ble]

The Assault's knife finds something vital sealed underneath Falling Leaf's chassis, cutting deep enough to momentarily overload whatever compensatory mechanisms are inbuilt into the mech. Its enough to trip something critical, rocking Pine Needle and putting them momentarily on the backfoot. The demolisher heaves its bulk up the stairway, some sort of e-war system whirring to life inside it like the promise of more broken signals.


The Assault's turn:
1st quick Action: hit Falling Leaf with Fragment Signal
2nd Quick Action: hit Falling Leaf with their Assault knife, inflicting 1 structure and 4 damage

The demolisher took their turn after Revenant. They moved 2 spaces
For their only Quick action, they prepared to invade the next enemy PC that enters the zone and is within Sensors.

[Bitter]

Creeping forward slightly in his cover, Drifter supercharges his Everest’s processors to send a digital barrage of hacking code towards the heavyweight Demolisher mech. Not only does the enemy mech start to heat up to near disastrous levels, but Drifter also manages to get control of the mech for several seconds and start walking it into the river away from the combat.

“Heh,” grins Drifter, the challenge of working out such complex coding on the fly giving him a strong measure of satisfaction.

[n0ble]

As the Demolisher is walked towards the drained riverbed by Vagabond's hacking, the Bastion moves into action. It skirts around the husk of the burned-out Edth tank and jets forward at an angle perpendicular to Drifter. The Bastion swings around the corner of the cover in a tight turn, one thats surprisingly adroit for the enemy mech's bulk. They skid to a momentary halt, swatting the hacker back a few meters with their assault shield before gunning the microjets inserted into their brachial structures to move back towards the end of the bridge.


The bastion moved 3 spaces
For their 1st Quick Action: they boosted 2 spaces, did their 2nd quick action (see below) and boosted 1 space in the ED
2nd Quick Action: Skirmish vs. Vagabond w/ the Assault Shield was sucessful, doing 3 damage to them and knocking them back 1.

[Llyarden]

The Pine Needle was fast, but surrounded from both sides by the knife-wielding mechs there was a limited amount of space to dodge into, and warnings blared across Siobhan's heads-up display...although at least in the short term, the glitchy text that was already running across her displays was a bigger concern.

Ignoring its immediate aggressors, Siobhan spun her mech around and snapped off a wild energy blast from the thermal rifle - but her real focus was on the space between the assassin and assault mechs, and with a hiss of microjets, a small drone popped free from her mech's back where it had been hitherto hidden underneath the cloak. The drone jetted back between the two hostile mechs and attached itself to the barrier that had been printed when they'd first been discovered, unfolding a turret and taking aim at the assassin. And lucky for me, its targeting system is separated from mine...

Free: Activate Crack Shot.
Quick: Deploy a turret onto the Barricade's printed barricade.
Quick: Miss laughably with a thermal rifle shot.

[Caellath]

"Ok, I'm moving forward since it looks like they need to remember I'm here." Not that they had quite ignored Wall. The enemies had tried to get him a few times but he'd been either lucky enough to dodge or duck out of the way in time or defend his mech against hacking attempts. He really needed to push forward now to be able to help his squadmates better though.

The Willing Victim first avoided the wreckage of the destroyed barricade and ran towards the disabled armored vehicle in front, cutting a tight corner around it to get line of sight to all the remaining hostiles. It was noisy, dusty and it wasn't particularly elegant, but the lumbering Sagarmatha quickly managed to reposition and rest its machine gun's bipod atop the edge of the defunct vehicle's engine block armor.

With a wide selection of foes to pick from, Wall locked onto the Assassin frame with his systems, sharing the predictive work of his sensors with his teammates before once again pushing his reactor a bit over what's safe to muster enough processing power to mount a debilitating electronics attack on the Bastion

Movement: 4.
Quick Action: Boost 3.
Quick Action: Lock On to the Assassin.
Overcharge (2 Heat): Invade the Bastion.

[Awful]

Spindle

The time-displaced pilot moved up to the ruins of the enemy mech, using it as a rest for the cyclone cannon as she aimed at the enemy assassin. It was flanked on either side by friendly mechs, and friendly fire wasn't, especially with a gun like this; but Atys was determined to make a clean hit this time. She fed the lock-on to the targeting computer, cutting through the digital chaff inherent to mech warfare.

"Spindle, taking a shot."

Once more, the cyclone pulse rifle let out the crack-boom of launching munitions. The assassin was carried clean off it's feet by the power of the shot, crashing down as scrap metal and smoke.

"X-ray neutralised!" she smiled thinly, but the fight wasn't quite over yet.


Spindle moves up, shoots cyclone for 12 hit, 14 damage, which should be enough to kill. If it isn't, she'll OC and plink it to death with the AR's reliable.

[Amaril]

Just as Ash is squaring up with the assassin, there's a peal of thunder, and it's gone, a smoking wreck ten meters off. He doesn't need to look to see who's responsible.

"Hey, that one was mine." There's a faint hint of a smile in his voice on the channel.

[n0ble]

Spindles sniper barrage cuts the assassin in two at the waist. As the smoking upper half of Revenants assailant topples over themselves, the Bastion lumbers back and away farther still from their enemies, yet closer to hostile nonetheless. It’s sensors go wide, sweeping the battlefield for incoming hostile activity even as it raises the huge slab of shield-rock high, cocking it back, then telescoping the entire hunk forward in a blow that knocks Pine Needle into the wreckage if the assassin.


As protocol, the Bastion chose to get resistance from Revenant
Quick action one: skirmished Pine Needle w/ heavy assault shield for 3 damage.
Quick action 2: prepare fragment signal on whoever attacks the assault next.

[Bitter]

With the Demolisher hindered and limping slowly into combat and the assault and barricade tied up, Drifter feels confident enough to come running out of cover and closer towards the end of the bridge that they need to hold.

A variety of options run through his head and the thought of trying to gun down the Assault is tempting, but Vagabond has never been designed as the most gun heavy mech. Instead Drifter focuses on the Bastion. He’d already created a backdoor to its system with his earlier attack and now it’s reactor was running hot.

Typing out a string of hacking code, Drifter launches a two-pronged attack on both the Bastion’s reactor and it’s servos. It was impossible for the enemy to stop either attack, but it would be able to defence against at least one. It would just about be able to stop it’s reactor from overheating if it let him get total control over lower motor functions, which would allow him to make it jump off the bridge, or it could just suffer some jitters and poor aim while it’s reactor overheated and exposed itself to critical damage. Drifter smiles in his hardsuit, finding satisfaction in outmanoeuvring an opponent.

[n0ble]

As the Bastion's reactor becomes exposed, the Assault mecha takes comfort in the discipline it can draw on for being in the Bastion's shadow. They loose a barrage of attacks against both Pine Needle & Revenant, raking the latter with automatic fire that kicks their rifle back. The Assault rides out the momentum of the assault rifle burst, spinning wide and low in a slash that misses Pine Needle.


Bastion chose to take the heat rather than be moved.

On their turn, the Assault mech took a full action to barrage with their heavy assault rifle vs revenant, hitting for 6 damage, while they missed Pine Needle with their combat knife.

[Rakaydos]

Systems still unstable, TAC lined up another shot on the remaining enemies... only to have the bastion no-sell his most powerful weapon. The shielding it used visibly fell. "TARGET UNHARMED BUT OPEN."

Move to the edge of cover
Hit Bastion, damage nullified.
Miss Assault
Miss cube

[Amaril]

More autofire slams into Ash's plating, shocks through his bones. His armor holds, this time. Regaining his balance, he takes a quick survey. Shieldbearer and the little guy still standing. Falling Leaf takes a nasty hit off the wall.

"No you don't!" The big boy's left himself exposed with that attack. Ash goes in ripjack-first, blades biting into a leg actuator. The bastion groans as the leg gives way, sending it teetering--right into sword reach.

This time, Ash is pretty sure he got the pilot.

Twenty-three. "Hostile down." He forms up with Leaf. "I got you."

[Llyarden]

As the Bastion raised its shield to block TAC's attack, Siobhan managed to recover the Pine Needle's balance and stabbed at a button on her cockpit, triggering a command for the turret drone she'd deployed to open fire on the mech before it could close its heat vents again, ducking the Assault's knife attack and managing to place a pistol bullet into the Bastion through a chink in its armour as well. And then Ash came charging in to finish the job. Siobhan grinned - not that any of them could see her. "Thanks!" she replied to Ash, still sounding as cheerful as ever.

[n0ble]

Despite the low calibre ammunitions used (well, light calibre for a mecha) Falling Leaf's pistol shot rocks the Bastion off balance, a credit to their aim as much as it is a fact that the Bastion is now incredibly damaged. For a moment it looks like the towering mech might right itself before Revenant hamstrings the defender, causing it to topple to death on the tip of Asher's blade. Dead.

Then the Assault looses a burst of assault rifle fire Falling Leaf's midriff. The burst of kinetics shatters the silence, even as the lateral follow up slash from the Assaults knife once again cuts nothing but the air where Falling Leaf once was.


The Bastion is dead :smalltongue:

On their turn the Assault Barraged, hitting Pine Needle for 6 kinetic damage with their Heavy Assault rifle but missing with their Tactical knife (again)

[Llyarden]

At first Siobhan thought she'd gotten away luckily from the burst of assault rifle fire...right up until she saw all the little warnings on her screen telling her that the Pine Needle had lost its connection to two of the three turret drones. "Oh, come on!" she complained, flicking switches to disengage the receivers that were still desperately trying to reestablish a connection to the turrets that now littered the bridge in many pieces. "At least let me deploy the things before blowing 'em up!"

As she reset some of her mech's beleaguered systems, she also tapped another series of commands, causing the massive shoulder-mounted rifle she'd fired on landing to begin the laborious process of reloading.

And in contention for the world's simplest turn, behind only that one turn where someone was stunned, Siobhan Stabilises to fix her heat issues and reload.

[Bitter]

Piloting Vagabond behind Wall, which incidentally makes Drifter feel a little odd about using one of his own comrades as a human shield, Drifter fires off a series of shots at the Assault-class mech that was still standing and in their way.

The shots from his assault rifle target it in the shoulder and the miniature drones from his nexus bracket it in small arms fire, dozens of small bullet holes trailing across the mech’s exterior.

[Caellath]

Piloting Vagabond behind Wall, which incidentally makes Drifter feel a little odd about using one of his own comrades as a human shield

An armor plate located on the Willing Victim's behind protecting its rescue gear reads, in big blocky lettering: THIS SIDE AWAY FROM THE ENEMY.

"Locking on." After his whiffed shot, Wall proceeds to do what he does best: return to being cover and focus his efforts on providing his team with targeting solutions. His mech answers with what feels like eagerness, electronic systems swiftly providing what he needs to share the information with the squad.

Movement: Nada.
Full Action: Full Tech Lock On to the Assault and Demolisher

[Awful]

Spindle

Spindle clanked forward, working the action of her oversized cannon. As she rounded the hulk of the destroyed megatank, she fed in Wall's targeting data and snapped off a quick burst of fire from her mech's wrist-mounted PDW. Gleaming brass casings bounced on the bridge as bullets cracked into the hull of the assault mech.

Almost done. It'd be over in less than a minute, one way or another.

[Rakaydos]

Moving carefully up along the edge of the bridge, Tac took the moment to stabilize his mech's systems, the vents of his mech finally shutting.

[Amaril]

Leaf's taking more fire. Before Ash can engage the assault unit, however, return volleys rain down on it from multiple directions. He can hear Wall's Sag rumbling in on his six.

His knuckles whiten on his controls. It's right there.... Sirens are ringing in his ears, heat warnings. Sweat's pouring down his forehead inside his helmet.

He lets go of the throttle, reaching for the vent releases. The others can handle this one.

[n0ble]

There’s not much left to the Assault as they topple over dead. A arm cut off at the brachial joint attached to a vaguely scapulary shoulder piece. Half a head remains, and by the time it impacts with the ground the lone optical scanner in it is faded to a charred black.

In the face of the onslaught, the Demolisher begins to retreat. It’s an unceremonious lumber that takes the hulk down the stairs.

[Bitter]

Taking no joy in shooting down a fleeing enemy, Drifter allows his reactor to cool as he slowly lumbers back to collect his portable cover that he deployed earlier.

"Victory for us," he exclaims cheerfully over the comms to their CO. "This is Drifter, I can confirm we have secured the Bridgehead successfully. Damage to our mechs is... minimal to moderate. It would be good to have a chance to repair but we can push forward if needed."

[Caellath]

"Yeaaah, we've got the bridge secured. We have a single enemy retreating. Very slowly." Wall commented as he watched the Demolisher's undignified attempt at biding a hasty retreat.

[Rakaydos]

Tac scanned the wrecks, seeing if there was prisoners to detain until reinforments arrive.

[Amaril]

Ash watches the heavy retreat, sword lowered.

Kill him.

He doesn't move.

He's the enemy. He's like you. He deserves to die.

He turns away, moving to form up with the team.

You're pathetic.

"Took some internal," he reports. "Could use some patch time."

[Awful]

Spindle

Historically, this battle had been bloodier, I think. She didn't say it out loud.
"Good work," She broadcast instead, watching the demolisher retreat. While shooting him might be the sensible choice, it felt sour in the rush of victory.

[Llyarden]

"Hmph." Siobhan kinda frowned at the remnants of her turret drones, which were in round about as many pieces as the Assault, and sighed, tapping a button on her controls. The one turret drone she'd managed to deploy let out a quiet whirring noise as it powered down, detaching from the flash-printed barricade and rolling across the bridge like a tumbleweed, eventually coming to a stop near the mangled remains of the Hive. "Well, that was obnoxious. Shall we?" She gestured to the city with the Pine Needle's knife-wielding hand.

[Bitter]

Having restocked his portable cover, Drifter returns to the rest of the group.

"Does anyone have an update on our next objective?"

[n0ble]

The silence that settles into the air affords all of you a better look at Parad's lowest tier of walls, speaking to the abscence of survivors to take prisoner. From the higher tiers the same echoes of sporadic gunfire or loosed artillery can be faintly heard, but nowhere near the volume that came before your push across the bridge. Beyond the bridge & river landing you've just secured, a path of white cobbles spills out to both sides. The pathway is banded with mud before giving way to an expanse of cultivated grass, worn down to a sallow colour under the conflict. Beyond that the faint outline of whilted agrarian sites can be made out. Bits of detritus-toys, blankets, even the odd vehicle or corpse strew across the dying fields denote where the populace of the city left remnants of their old life behind as they fled to or from the conflict. The tableau is broken up by the odd scorch mark or cratered out area, lending the entire area a oddly pockmarked look. Occasionally theres even a small home thats still standing, dome shaped and yellow white eggshell in colour.

Up further, where the white of the pathway ends, your sensors can make out the triumphal arc that marks Parad's western gate. Tracking closer, its plain to see that most roads this side of the city lead to a sort of nexus at the gate. Cast from the same white stone as everything else in the city (and sporting more than a few laser-induced scorches), the piece of human artifice looms tall over the pathway that takes you through it, casting a shadow just deep enough that its visible agains the orange sky. Records indicate that, times past, the arc was inlaid with depictions of humanity's progress, from settling the planet and the founding of the city to the various internicine warfares that saw Trass system through its growing pains, all the way up to the coming of Union & Edth's integration into SCC's territories as a protectorate. Now theres precious little detail to be made out amidst the missing chunks of masonry or the burns carved into things.

Chatter breaks up the grim vista as Staff Sergeant Cilla hails you over the comms. Their voice sounds a bit gruffer than usual-a tell that they've seen recent combat-and perhaps a bit more tired for it as well. An external camera from their mech's PoV queues in, giving you a good view of the team members accompanying Cilla. While there are six total-the same as you excluding the sergeant-two are briefly viewable on screen.

Katrina "Query" Genovese-the team leader absent the Staff Sergeant-strides into frame, her mech almost sauntering for how its four upper limbs sway with an odd sort of alternating synchronicity. All four them have bracers inlayed with octagonal honeycomb-pores. Well. Technically three & one half. One of the right limbs has been torn off into a ragged end of wiring and broken structure. The paint job splashed across the gold of her mech's chassis changes to alternate tessellations of black and yellow depending on what angle it's filmed from, while the dorsal area of the mech's torso sports a mounted dispersal unit that hums with strangely coloured ionizations. Small disks flit from ports on the nexus' ports, hovering or coming into their own lazy orbits about the mech-the Queen Bee. She might as well still be in combat for all the verbalization she doesnt afford you. Even odds its professionalism against frigid superiority that guides the swaying walk of her mech. One way or another, misplaced or otherwise, that paint job definitely speaks of confidence if nothing else. A few of the disk spew two dimensional triangles that scan down across a ruined chassis near the feet of Cilla's mech before returning to the hive on her back. A few more land on the mech-carcass and extrude cutting lasers, allowing them to sample the alloy composites that makeup the dead Assault's outer armour before they buzz back to the vambraces on the Queen Bee's arms.

If Genovese's mech looks like a surreal fusion of mantis and apiary, Luca "Legwork" Kensington's mech is opposite for how simple it is. Dull grey and simian of posture only to the point of functionality, the Strongman clearly favours performance over something like their CO's flair for the personalization. Then again, it could also be the size of the artillerist: the silhouette of Kensington's mech takes a sizable bite from the ochre-orange of the skyline, looming larger for how spartan the outer hull is. Perhaps the only concession to this functionality over vainglory is a wide brimmed hat-more of a helmet-coloured the same unexceptionally dull gunmetal as the rest of the armour plating that covers them. Hat to toe. As part of Cilla's camera focuses on the mech, small apertures snap open on either side of the helmet. Arms extend from the holes. One salutes, the other waves. A friendly voice chimes over you comms as the Helmet rotates to reveal a small blue LED that blinks. "Greetings friends, not sure we got the chance to properly meet before deploying. I am Gregarious-" An NHP. "I'd happy to maintain any sort of communications you want to forward to my friend and co-pilot Lucas Kengsington, call sign Legwork, Employee of Union, Deliverer of New Madra-" A cough sounds off across the calm, cutting the NHP off. "Sorry about that, Greg's personable but can talk. A lot. Dont worry" The multi-barrelled artillery piece on the mechs back cycles through shell calibers, each denoted by increasingly longer barrel lengths. He selects a smaller one before quickly loosing it off-screen. "We've got your back."

The camera flips as the proximal sound of Legwork's munitions detonates in the distance. Greg offers to initiate a text-dialogue with anyone, or verbal if its more comfortable-and promises to appraise their squad of any important or flagged as must-read communiques sent their way. It coincides with the camera switching from external to internal, giving you a good view of the Sergeants face. The view shakes only a little bit in the aftershock of the detonation.

"Good work, Lancers. With the exits..." Its not hard to catch the hesitancy in their use of the next word, "...secure, general rally point on this tier has been called." A digital waypoint marker pings your comms: straight through the gate, into the deeper parts of the city. "Khusrau-" The Lieutenant "Says we're to meet there while they debrief on the next stage of things. Areas to act as a centre for safeguarding any civic elements-food water, people, things that can be saved-in the interim while we go and crack some heads up-tier. Communication is back on to verbal now that things are underway, so update as you go. Or run into any trouble." The enthusiasm in their voice give way to weariness, as though all the energy or motivation has dropped out from under them with the realization of more fighting. Maybe tinged with a bit of sympathy. Regardless, Cilla continues in a professional monotone: "Get them here if you see them, and get yourselves here too." Terse now. Back to the business. "Questions?" A waypoint pings on your HUDs, beckoning you to the rally point further through the arch and deeper into the city.


If this were a movie, Staff Sergeant Cilla would 100% be played by Temuera Morrsion (https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2020/11/jango-fett-3b11d6d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413)

[Rakaydos]

With no prisoners detected, Tac walked up to Wall, and opened his hatch, grey fur and screen-face visible inside. "Loadout didnt quite work out as well as I'd hoped. Is there a commercial printer on the way we can commandeer for a bit?"

[Llyarden]

Siobhan took advantage of Greg and Kensington talking to straighten her hair and generally make herself look more presentable before flicking on her own internal camera. The staff sergeant's hesitation didn't go unnoticed, though she didn't remark on it openly. "Are we expecting to run into any trouble on the way?" she asked aloud.

[Bitter]

With his portable cover recovered or possibly decovered, Drifter pilots his mech through the debris of the bridge and back towards the group.

"It's also been quite a pressing engagement," he adds over the comms. "Do we have time for tea? I'm sure some tea would raise moral."

[Caellath]

"I can check." Wall replied to TAC after he was approached.

"The team did well but a few of our frames lost more chunks than expected. We'd appreciate being given directions to the closest printer after he push inwards, so we can go for field repairs before another scuffle."

[Awful]

Spindle

"Let's save the tea for when we find a better place to stop," Spindle said. "I'd keep an eye out for trouble, even if the enemy is falling back; it's not hard for infantry to hide in buildings, or even smaller mechs."

[Bitter]

“You’re probably right,” says Drifter despondently, “I just hope the lack of tea doesn’t impact moral and lead to a decrease in our combat efficiency.”

[Awful]

Spindle

Feeling a little awkward, Spindle clicked her comms back on.
"I-I think," Spindle replied, "A bullet through the faceplate would impact morale and effeciency more."

[Amaril]

"Yeah, somehow I think we'll manage." It's hard to tell if Ash is kidding. "Ready to move."

[n0ble]

"Tea?" Momentary confusion tracks across Scilla's face, then is gone just as quickly. "Plenty of time for that once we all get where we need to." A curt tone creeps into the Staff Sergeant's voice. He looks offscreen for a moment before resuming. "I wouldnt expect much, Khusrau's done a decent job of getting the civies to the plaza-" the rally point-"And absent their outer tiers Sekkur's consolidated back to more defensible positions in the upper burgs." Absent any more questions, Scilla confirms the end of communications with an offered "Still, be careful eh? Safety first." Then they flick off their camera. They dont insult your intelligence by suggesting that any friendly civies encountered should come along.

The interior of Parad is much in the same as outside its walls: quiet and gutted. Oddly, there are no civillians to be found-they must have already made their way further inside or are dead. The odd corpse, burnt or splattered across the white stone in inhuman shapes, is at least a testament to the latter, just as subtle signs of foot traffic across the cobbles hint at the former. Occasionally your sensors pick up life-vermin on-ground scurrying from your advance. Avians circling low for their chance at carrion. Canines that momentarily bare their teeth before whimpering and skittering out of conventional sight. Furtive and hesitant in their motions, like their not sure what to make of the new apex predators that walk the street.

Your scanners ping with recognition of friendlies before you reach the rally point, though the noise of accumulated humanity cues you in long before that. Coming to it from the street, you see that the point occupies the fulcrum of a y-shaped intersection: a broad plaza paved with the same stained rock that makes up the rest of the city, ringed with buildings tall as (if not taller than) a Barbarossa. Odd stains, craters or scorches occasionally mar the scene, though its hard to tell given the number of refugees milling about. It seems as though all population of the city's lower tiers is present here. Lines have begun to form for food and water, and while there are no pre-fab shelters present there are several bulk transporters that have clearly been brought here for the purpose of evacuations. The people's countenance is a harried one, as though they cant decide between getting a meal and taking the first transporter out of here. A functioning 3d printer stands ready off to the forum's left, complete with enough material to print for both your team and Scilla's, the latter of which has arrived before you. Union personal thread their way through the crowd with offers of medical attention or aid-more than a few Paradians are looking for someone amidst the swell of people-while DoJ infantry stand guard at the plaza's two entrances and exit.

Hannah "Angel" Janhee looks frail out of her mech, like a strong breeze might blow her thin-framed body and white-blonde bun of hair straight into the sky at any moment. She directs the personnel in charge of medical aid with a tight, professional look on her face, a sort of pained sympathy creeping into her visage whenever the medic sets to personally addressing a person's injury. Her ride- a Lancaster you know as Do No Harm-has disgorged a fully operational medical suite onto the plaza's cobbles to supplement things where her first aid kit proves insufficient. The device whirrs and clicks as it synthesizes various analgesics and casts from an inbuilt collection of fluids and print material. The mech itself is your standard lancaster olive-green. One of it's legs looks fresh, like its just be reprinted and grafted on. A singular diagnostic drone accompanies her, far too large to be for personal use. A cyan light comes from the tool, scanning the person that Angel is working on before going back to the deployed medical suite to retrieve what is needed. Agnes looks up, gives you a tight smile, then resumes helping a civillian with their arm.

You have to pan up to see them, but once you do it's fairly easy to spot Dominick "Hideaway" Hyde's mech. Eschewing the traditional dyad of legs that most chassis use, the Tarentella has more in common with your standard Cradle arachnoid than a human-shaped mecha. With their clamps engaged, Team Two's vanguard is splayed across the wall of one of the two buildings that flank the exit. A massive blade is scabbarded across the Tarentella's "back", while two of the lower legs, the ones that terminate in hands-hold a pair of progressive knives readied for downward stabs. Like bared fangs. They occupy the area like a stain, the black paintjob of the mech a poor fit for the white stone. It makes it all the easier to note their stance: there's a certain intensity to the pose, like they're primed to spring onto whatever might encroach on the square. No acknowledgment comes from Hyde, not even on e-channels.

Noah "Babble" Birch's mech is a collection of at least eight disarticulated arms that swirl around some sort of odd energy lodged in the navel of the chassis' torso. Balanced on four hind "legs", the Tower's insectile communication array clears any nascent static from your comms as you enter the square. The hands on the end of each limb blur across exposed wiring while another pair remove what looks like a dented panel. Team Two's resident techy shoots a disinterested nod your way-a minimum of acknowledgement-before they resume calibrating the box and dish combination that serves as the uplink to Union forces in-orbit. One of the mech's limbs gives the box a slap, seemingly to no avail.

Legwork is out of his mech and taking a knee, one hand on the shoulder of an awed Parad child, the other gesturing with a wrench at some of the Strongman's more pronounced features. A group of kids has begun to clot around Kensington, sharing in the fascination of the youth he's interacting with. Sans a chassis to occupy, the artillerist's Sparri heritage is plain as the prostheti arm holding his wrench. Occasionally, the helmet portion that Greg occupies points to the same location with their arms and the child's smile grows larger. Upon seeing you the Lancer gives a salut with his wrench, then aims the child's attention your way with a friendly point. "Hello friends!" Greg chimes in with a wave of their arms, "I hope your journey here was a safe one, there is a tea, coffee, juice-" The list of liquids goes on for a minute, including several different types of MREs "-icken parmesan too. Please, let me know if I can be of any assistance." A happy diagnostic chirp comes from the NHP as the Strongback lifts a limb from ground, testing it for functionality.

Genovese is off to the side of the plaza area, still ensconced in the Queen Bee. A few of her drones orbit the chassis, blinking with diagnostic lights. One of them tracks your arrival. The broken arm of her mech has been repaired and given a fresh coat of paint. Both sets of manipulators are crossed. A small figure speaks to both her and Scilla. Well. Small relative to the pair's mechs, especially the Staff Sergeants fresh off the line looking Sargamartha- the Last Call. The figure stands tall over the Paradians. The crowded populace seems to be giving the trio a wide birth, concerned as they are with other priorities at the moment.

It gives you a good view of the third person they're conversing with: Lieutenant Jermaine Khusrau. They cut something of a dashing figure, garbed in the standard officers uniform. A sweeping blue longcoat is wadded about and cradled under their arm, revealing the functional sword and laser pistol hitched to their belt. It looks like both have seen action. They hail you over the comms, breaking contact with Genovese and the Sergeant. A series of tattoos rim their face: what look like dots from a distance become planets as you zoom in, with each of the nine easily recognizable as a celestial body from Cradle's solar system. The professional tone of their speech does a bad job at hiding how clipped and awkward the Lieutenant sounds. "Lancers. Welcome. Glad to see your alright. Please, get yourselves situated. Make necessary repairs if you have to. Progress into the city has gone better than expected. Briefing on whats happening can wait. Until after your back up to par."

[Amaril]

No Redemption's stride slows as the civilian crowd comes into view, the skull-helmed Everest falling a step behind the rest of its squad. So many people, crowded so closely around three teams' worth of mechs, practically naked, completely defenseless...it's so easy to imagine the spider leaping into the press fangs first, Queen Bee's drones tearing into the mass of humanity, carving lines of red across the white stone, people falling by the dozen, the panic erupting, the screams....

Legwork's NHP is talking. As he snaps out of it, Ash realizes he's still hanging back at the edge of the plaza. Come on, breathe. Repairs. "Yes sir."

He heads for the printer, giving the civilians as wide a berth as possible.

Spending 1 repair to fix my 1 structure damage, and 1 more to recover full HP. 4 repairs remaining.

[Bitter]

Trooping Vagabond into the rally area alongside the other mechs, the tide of human suffering around him is a shock to the senses that makes Drifter realise their successful combat has accomplished very little.

“Vagabond manages to make it through mostly unscathed,” says Drifter over the comms, “So I’ve got time to sore. Let me know if I can help with anything.”

His first consideration is whether he can do anything to help with the relief effort, but his list of relevant skills is pretty much non-existent.

He’s no medic or humanitarian relief expert, so instead he makes his way to the snack and drinks table that Greg had mentioned. The first thing Drifter spots is a large tea urn. Walking over, Drifter takes a small cup and opens the spigot, letting out a trickle of brown water. Holding the cup to his faceplate, Drifter recoils and let’s the cup fall to the ground and shatter. That was not good tea.

Looking around and seeing that no-one is looking, Drifter puts his shoulder against the large tea urn and pushes. The urn doesn’t shift. Looking around again, Drifter takes a step back and slams his body into it. The urn very slightly rocks, but not close to tipping over.

Frowning behind his face mask, Drifter goes away to take another run at the problem. Five minutes later and the urn has a sign on it proclaiming “Warning: Low quality tea. Do not drink.”

Satisfied that he has spent his time well, Drifter goes to see how the rest of the team is doing.

[Rakaydos]

TAC also made his way to the printer, queuing up his changes.

- GMS EVEREST @ LL0 --
[ LICENSES ]
N/A
[ CORE BONUSES ]
N/A
[ TALENTS ]
SKIRMISHER 1, SIEGE SPECIALIST 1, STORMBRINGER 1
[ STATS ]
HULL:0 AGI:0 SYS:0 ENGI:2
STRUCTURE:4 HP:12 ARMOR:0
STRESS:4 HEATCAP:8 REPAIR:5
TECH ATK:0 LIMITED:+1
SPD:4 EVA:8 EDEF:8 SENSE:10 SAVE:10
[ WEAPONS ]
Main Mount: CHARGED BLADE
Flex Mount: MISSILE RACK / MISSILE RACK
Heavy Mount: THERMAL LANCE
[ SYSTEMS ]
PATTERN-B HEX CHARGES x4, PERSONALIZATIONS, TYPE-3 PROJECTED SHIELD, MANIPULATORS

[Caellath]

A few scratches aside the Willing Victim is mostly intact so Wall decides he might as well let everyone have a go first. "No repairs needed here, so knock yourselves out."

In the end, he spends his time maneuvering the Victim into position and lowering its back to see if the miniature trauma center on it can help Hannah and the medical team.

[Llyarden]

Siobhan saluted the lieutenant before turning to queue up her own modifications and repairs at the printer. A short time later, the Pine Needle was patched up from all the gashes that had been carved in it during the battle, once again sporting its two remaining turret drones on its back - she'd originally been planning to replace the one she used as well, but instead decided to repurpose its programming suite for a microdrone nexus that she hadn't managed to fully wire into her mech before deployment. The mech certainly didn't look quite as sleek as it had when they'd first deployed - its cape was more or less in tatters, if nothing else, and a lot of the repairs were a bit of a bodge, but it would do for now until the mission was complete.

Spending 1 Repair to put my turret drones back together, and another (via Replaceable Parts) to heal my lost Structure.

And as was allowed in Discord, doing a bit of respeccing; swapping my rifle out for a nexus and Crack Shot for Infiltrator

[Awful]

Spindle

Spindle didn't really know the team well, and didn't feel all that comfortable making small talk. Thus she ran a quick purview on what repairs she might need and found them minimal.

She parked her mech out of the way of the press of the people and, digging out a set of tools, spoke aloud to the NHP lurking inside her systems.

"Keep an eye out. No causing trouble, OK?"
The low chuckle the NHP gave back was inconclusive, but she chose to take it as an affirmative.

Away from the handbook but I think I'm just spending a repair to get my hp to full and reset my overcharge?