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First Mission
Chapter 10 - Aurigan Dreams (BattleTech CYOA)[]
Launching the Mission[]
"Do you think we can pull this off, Lord Espinosa?" I ask my liaison in his temporary office aboard the Joyeuse, one of my Fortress DropShips.
"Tamati has stacked the deck as best he can, Colonel Nora." replies Lord Espinosa, "It is entirely possible that the Argo is truly beyond recovery, but if it can be recovered, we are set up to do that. Between House Karosas' experts and Doctor Murad, we should be able to get this DropShip functioning enough to make it to Lyreton."
"Even if we can't get it working, we might be able to find something useful that the various scavengers have missed over the centuries.“ I say, "Perhaps something hidden away in its computers."
I suppose that I am cheating in my analysis. If there is anything to that knowledge from another reality, I can be confident that the Argo will be stripped of any useful LosTech, but its computers should hold secrets. A map to various LosTech sites including Outpost Castle Nautilus and technical data on a multitude of 'Mechs that can be used to make replacement parts. Not to mention that the Mech Bays have the potential to be real impressive if they are fixed up.
"Tamati believes that the Argo holds mysteries to be uncovered.“ says Lord Espinosa, "I can't say that isn't just wistful thinking, but it was enough to lend you that electronic codebreaker. A shame that Lord Karosas couldn't come himself, but Simon has his hands full back on Smithon."
Now that is something I have mixed feelings on. On the one hand, I was able to convince Lord Arano to give me that electronic codebreaker of his and boy it is a beauty. On the other hand, the fact he does have it strongly implies that my otherworldly knowledge of ComStar being secretly evil is correct. Which is actually kind of upsetting because they do some good work out here in the Periphery. Or maybe they don't since I vaguely recall reading that they only pretended to invest in the Periphery as a recruitment gimmick at the start of the century.
"I'll take your word for it since you know both of them and I don't." I reply, "So back to my original question and my part in this, what sort of opposition can I expect to find at the Argo?"
"Small pirate band.“ answers Lord Espinosa, "We don't have too much detail, but they have nothing more than a Leopard and a lance of shoddily maintained 'Mechs with nothing heavier than a Medium 'Mech. They might have some vehicles or turrets to defend their base at the Argo, but we have no way of gathering intelligence on that. You won't be facing anything beyond your ability to handle. This is a barely meaningful group of pirates who are only noteworthy because of where they are rather than anything they've done or have at their disposal."
"We can take them.“ I agree, "I am surprised that we are taking the Argo to Tyrlon rather than Lyreton once we get it flying again."
"The shipyards at Lyreton may be closer, but the ones at Tyrlon are more reliable.“ answers Lord Espinosa, "They answer to House Parata and the Aurigan Coalition while the Lyreton shipyards are supposed to be neutral, it looks like the Lyreton moons are gearing up for another round of civil wars."
For a moment, I wonder why Kamea used Lyreton instead of Tyrlon in the Arano Restoration. I suspect that it has something to do with how early the Argo was retrieved since she got it before liberating any worlds from the Directorate. The Directorate that was run by the man I am currently speaking to and-no, not thinking about bad futures and what people might do. Back to Tyrlon, which was in Directorate hands until the final stages of the Arano Restoration. In fact, I remember it being the site of the final mission-nope, not thinking about video games from another reality and its existential implications for this reality. Nope.
"Are civil wars common at Lyreton?" I inquire, genuinely curious at this new information.
"They are more likely to be in a state of civil war than not.“ replies Lord Espinosa, "When the Capellans abandoned them in the Succession Wars, Lyreton never truly unified as in the sudden absence of central government, each moon found itself independent and civil conflicts between them. The only thing that the moons can agree upon is that destroying or damaging the shipyards is a bad idea. Damaging further anyway since the place can only produce DropShips these days. Back in the time of the Star League, they used to produce Invaders at Lyreton, but they lost the capability at some point and I personally suspect losing the ability to produce JumpShips is what made the Confederation abandon the place."
"Well, that is interesting to know.“ I say, wondering if there is any way I can make use of that information.
Journey to the Alloway[]
With a single JumpShip, it would normally take over a month to reach Alloway from Coromodir, but since I am only bringing a single DropShip with its combined arms battalion, I am able to sort out a quicker journey. The Aurigan Reach isn't rife with JumpShips like the Inner Sphere, but thanks to the trade between the Canopians and Taurians, the Rimward Periphery has more JumpShips than any other region in the Periphery.
Sometimes we have to wait a few days for a JumpShip to finish charging its drive, but by switching JumpShips throughout our journey, the trip to the Alloway ends up only taking little more than three weeks. Three weeks to get as much time in the simulators as I can, to improve my fledgling MechWarrior skills as best I can before I face real combat for the first time.
I'm not improving enough. Tom gave me a crash course in how to pilot a 'Mech and Raju helped with the basics, but the bare basics is all I can do. I don't even rate as green, just a half-trained recruit.
Hopefully a lance of Atlases, half a dozen Marauders, an Archer and single Phoenix Hawk will be enough to overwhelm whatever pirates we face. Because I'm bad enough that as we burn for the moon Axylus, I am seriously considering staying out of this fight. I could just order it as the owner and justify it on my lack of skill and training, but it would look bad, sending my soldiers into battle while I stay behind.
Logically, the sensible thing would be to stay behind on the Joyeuse and not needlessly endanger myself in battle. Unfortunately, we live in a feudal and martial culture where appearances matter. While I doubt I would get too much flack given my circumstances, it would be a bad start to my mercenary career to avoid my first battle and give me a negative look.
It isn't like I have to get into the thick of it. The Marauders will outpace my Atlas and with my LRM/20, I could hang back and pepper the enemy with missiles. That could work and even if I won't be covering myself in glory, I wouldn't start off my career as a mercenary looking like a coward.
Author's Chapter Notes[]
- Word from the Author
- This update is setting up the Argo mission. Discussing what to expect with Santiago Espinosa who is tagging along and showing Elizabeth's status as a mech tech by having her modify her Atlas. For the modification, I decided that swapping out the AC/20 for an AC/10 would be a suitable change to make since it helps off-set the short range of the stock Atlas and it frees up a couple of tons whilst giving more ammo per ton.
Beyond that, I want to show that Elizabeth isn't ready for this mission. She has got some training, but she has only mastered the bare basics. She can fight, but only barely and she knows it.