Event: Frozen Forest (D17, EN, Combat)

[Comstar]

The ambushed lance continued to contract formation, firing all they had in a desperate attempt to push back the attack. The Toro again lanced into the Marauder with PPC, and 1 of the 10 LRMs it fired. (hit LA+RL, 10+1 damage). The Orion, seeing the Battlemaster bearing down on it, pivoted and fired everything it had - SRMs, autocannon shells, and lasers all hammering into the Battlemaster as Andrea thundered forward, and while many missed, two SRMs, an emerald beam, and a heavy autocannon shell all smashed into the charging assault. (Hit CT+RT+RT+LT, 2+2+5+10 damage).

The Crusader, keeping remarkably calm, pivoted as Bruun leapt through the air, spearing him with one of two beams (Hit CT, 5 damage), and then pivoted to fire twin volleys of LRMs at the Archer on the hill, 30 missiles blossoming out from its arms (hit RT+CT, 5+4 damage), and then triggering both leg mounted SRMs as Ryougi pushed her Marauder forward, the 8 missiles mostly missing, but 2 managing to land glancing blows (hit CT+LL, 2+2 damage).

Andrea's charge spoiled her aim, all four emerald beams slashing only snow, and then six missiles exploding among the trees... and then the machine guns from the left hand spat out and thundered across the cockpit of the Orion, sending shattered splinters of glass scything into the enemy pilot. (Hit HD, 2 damage, pilot injured).

Ryougi, opening fire with both PPCs, her autocannon, and a laser, only managed to clear some forest, shattering ancient frozen trees into splinters. Marik was no more lucky, his gauss rifle digging a deep furrow in the snow. Bruun, with his missiles and pulse laser also failing, did at least get his autocannon on target and enjoyed the sensation of the medium caliber gun burst firing twin shells into the left torso of the crusader, blowing away chunks of armor (Hit LT+LT, 10 damage)

The Orion tried to fend off the Battlemaster, kicking hard into the Left leg and shearing away a massive chunk of armor (hit LL, 15 damage), but it wasn't enough to stop Andrea from pivoting and delivering a massive shin-kick which crunched away almost all the armor left on the Orion's right leg (hit RL, 17 damage). The Orion pilot, trying to compensate, staggered away, slid on the snowy ground, fell, face first, to the ground. Or to be more precise, onto an ancient frozen tree which punched through the mangled cockpit canopy - destroying the cockpit and everything... and everyone... inside. (hit HD, Head destroyed. Pilot Killed)

The proximity alert sounded, showing more enemy units coming from the south-west, though not yet in combat range.

-------- Situation --------

Battlemaster-- Minor damage -- 0 Heat
Wolverine -- No damage -- 0 heat
Archer -- minor Damage -- 0 Heat
Sentinel -- minor Damage -- 0 Heat
Marauder -- minor Damage -- 7 Heat
Crab -- No Damage -- 0 Heat

Hostile Status -

Orion -- DESTROYED
Crusader -- +1
Panther -- +1
Toro -- +0

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea smiled wickedly as the Orion fell and did not rise again. She turned and stepped into the woods, her eyes fell on the Crusader. "Lance Leader I am going to put fire into the enemy Crusader near you. Maybe we can bring it down with combined fire."

--------------------
Turn to face 0912, walk into 0912.

Fire PPC and 2 MLs at the Crusader.

[Gillian Chow]

With the Orion down, Gillian redirected her targeting radars at the enemy Crusader. The range was longer, but it was standing in the open.... Gillian pressed the fire button, and another salvo of LRMs rocketed out into the night.

-
No movement. Fire LRMs at Crusader (medium range). Fire lasers if I can hit on an 8, hold lasers otherwise. I think I have LOS from where I'm at, but if not, advance to 0708 to get LOS.

[Dorgan Bruun]

Bruun cheers as Andrea topples the Orion, then as the combat sensors pick up new hostiles, realizes his exposure. "Well, f--" he pushes the Wolverine into a run, ending up among some heavy old trees as he turns back to line up shots at the Crusader.

"Y'all, we gotta get Chick out from under that Toro's lucky PPC. Concentrate fire on the Toro if you've got target lock," the lance leader calls out. "Abs, try to hold and cover Chick shifting north."

Amid the reports from other pilots, he has no idea who's heard him and who hasn't.

---------------
Running
Forward, face 0513, forward, forward, face NE, face SE
Fire everything, double with AC, at Crusader

[Comstar]

The exchanged fire continued to frame the world in flashes of strobing light, the pitch black intermixed with momentary frames of mechs in motion, lit in eerie green, blue, and red flashes. The Panther scored a glancing blow on the Marauder with its PPC, (Hit CT, 5 damage), followed by the Toro PPC (hit RA, 5 damage), and a cloud of LRMs rose, falling on the sentinel with a handful of impacts (hit RA, 3 damage). The Crusader, seeing the Battlemaster pacing closer, fired everything it had, shredding trees and stones into fragments, but only landing a thin volley of LRMs as the swarming missiles howled past Andrea (Hit RA+CT, 5+4 damage)

Seeking to press their advantage, the Fortunate Onespoured on the fire - Bruun found his SRMs and LRMs missing, but his pulse laser sent a flickering emerald beam across the Crusader's body, carving deep pits into the armor (Hit LT, 6 damage). The Sentinel, up on the hill, steadied itself, and though Marik couldn't land the Medium laser, his Gauss slug whipped out, again igniting the air itself as it flew, creating a flaming trail from muzzle to target, in this case, the left leg of the Toro which buckled under the impact, the armor fragmenting into slivers and the foot and knee joints cracking under the force of the impact (Hit LL, 15 damage, crit foot+lowerleg) The Crab added twin azure beams to the assault, one of them scraping armor from the right arm of the light mech (Hit RA, 8 damage), while Ryougi's Marauder didn't land any shots.

The Battlermaster pivoted, firing a volley into the Crusader, PPC and one laser slagging more armor into molten beads (hit RT+LA, 10+5 damage), while the volley of 30 missiles raining down courtesy of Gillian thundered over the mech torso. (Hit RT+CT, 5+4 damage)

The Crusader, overwhelmed by impacts and balance shifting from armor loss toppled, the gyro squealing in metallic protest, landing hard on the right side, the cockpit slamming off the ground with a concussive impact that left the pilot inside bleeding as they bit their own lip. (Hit RL+HD, 5+2 damage, pilot injured, pilot injured) The mech, struggling with heat from firing everything it had repeatedly, shut down as the stunned pilot wasn't able to slap the overrides. (Mech Shutdown)

The Toro, after the shot from Marik nearly tore the leg off, wobbled, and then tipped over with a crash of its own. (Hit RA, 4 damage, pilot injured) Staggering to it's feet it turned, attempting to limp into cover.

The alerts materialized as an Assault and three Heavy signatures came into visual range, Warhammer, Thunderbolt, and Rifleman sweeping in from the side while a Cyclops command mech strode toward the fallen Crusader, tracking it's AC/20 looking for targets. A sultry, feminine voice came over the open frequency, taunting, "I can see why you gave my boys so much trouble - If you surrender now, I might find a useful place for you in my kingdom." The offer, and that voice, were tempting enough that they may cause hesitation...

-------- Situation --------

Battlemaster-- Light damage -- 0 Heat
Wolverine -- No damage -- 0 heat
Archer -- minor Damage -- 0 Heat
Sentinel -- minor Damage -- 0 Heat
Marauder -- Light Damage -- 4 Heat
Crab -- No Damage -- 2 Heat

Hostile Status -

Orion -- DESTROYED
Crusader -- Immobile - Shut Down
Panther -- +1
Toro -- +0
Cyclops -- +1
Thunderbolt -- +0
Warhammer -- +0
Rifleman -- +0

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea began the slow retreat as planned, her laser fury was now turned on the Toro. She let fly with 3 MLs and the PPC. Hoping for a good hit in the rear.

On the open comms, Andrea gives a reply to the sultry pirate.

She laughs, loudly.

--------------
Assuming the Crab moves, back into 0910.

Fire PPC and 3 MLs into the the Toro.

[Dorgan Bruun]

"That's the way, Fortunate Ones!" Bruun encourages as the enemy mechs topple. "Now let's start moving it back. Crabby, can you close on Chow's position at the ridge? Chow, help me slow down this Rifleman" Bruun tries to give guidance as he fires up jump jets again, trying to keep up the threat to the enemy's flank.

--------------------
Jumping
0112, Facing SE
Fire everything, including double AC, at Rifleman

[Gillian Chow]

A sultry, feminine voice came over the open frequency, taunting, "I can see why you gave my boys so much trouble - If you surrender now, I might find a useful place for you in my kingdom." The offer, and that voice, were tempting enough that they may cause hesitation...

"So what kind of pay does your outfit offer, Miss Cyclops?" Gillian bantered over the comms. "I'm kind of in the middle of a job right now, but it's nice to have options," she added, while simultaneously turning her missile launchers towards the incoming enemy lance.

-
No movement. Fire LRMs at Rifleman.

[Comstar]

There was no further response as the hostiles opened fire, their weapons finally seeming to lose the lock they had on the Marauder... just in time for the Rifleman to track Bruun's jump and pour twin autocannon fire into his mech, the heavy shells shaking it as armor was blown away in twin impacts bracketing his cockpit, and a laser spear the arm. (Hit LT+RT+LA, 10+10+5 damage) The Cyclops tracked the battlemaster, massive cannon shell digging a deep divot from the hillside behind her, bits of ice and rock falling with a clatter. The Warhammer pivoted to fire twin PPCs and emerald beams at the Archer, but only one PPC struck, scoring armor off the left torso (Hit LT, 10 damage)

Counter fire suffered similar issues with accuracy as energy barrages from Marauder and Battlemaster both missed the Toro, and the Sentry missed a laser at it also... but did turn and nearly rip off the arm of the Panther with a Gauss slug (hit LA, 15 damage) Bruun and Gillian both missed their volleys in the darkness.

Sensors beeped as they detected the Crusader powering back online and standing up. The hostiles pressed forward, a slow and inexorable march of heavy guns.

-------- Situation --------

Battlemaster-- Light damage -- 0 Heat
Wolverine -- Light damage -- 0 heat
Archer -- Light Damage -- 0 Heat
Sentinel -- minor Damage -- 0 Heat
Marauder -- Light Damage -- 1 Heat
Crab -- No Damage -- 1 Heat

Hostile Status -

Orion -- DESTROYED
Crusader -- +0
Panther -- +0
Toro -- +0
Cyclops -- +0
Thunderbolt -- +0
Warhammer -- +0
Rifleman -- +0

[Andrea DeTroyes]

Andrea continued moving back, her target now switched to the Panther. Lining up the PPC she sent a bolt in its direction.

----------------------
Back into 0909, turn to face 1009, back into 0808, back into 0708

Fire PPC at the Panther.