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Chapter 28 - This is the Way the World Ends - Wolf Skinners (3024)[]
Wolf Skinner bivouac around WSDS Mondez's impact site
Astrokaszy
18th August, 3024
0400-0430 Local Time
The half hour after the meeting broke up turned the camp into a beehive of activity in the pre-dawn darkness. Lieutenant Stevenson and Staff Sergeant Bianchi were the first to muster at the northern edge of the camp, followed shortly by Sergeant Smithson behind the wheel of the APC. Captain Pappas and Lieutenant Novak were still sorting out the platoon while Warrant Cantrell bundled his gear into the seat behind the driver. That gear included the spare radar sensor, and three of the four motion sensors. They'd be emplaced along the route on the way back to the crash site.
A ridgeline overlooking a certain salt pan
18th August, 3024
0553-0700 Local Time
Swiftwind Scout Car
The drive had been nail-biting, but dull. Lieutenant Stevenson had established a laser link to the OLF and was providing terminal guidance to the two squads hiking up the ridge. Lieutenant Novak gave a thumbs up when she halted at the point the OLF had spotted the snoops. Two sets of footprints hadn't yet been obscured by the blowing dust, and she spread her troops out to avoid disturbing them. Warrant Cantrell was taking video and still images of the site, noting the pattern of the boot prints matched their own Marik-issue. Of course, the pirates used the same boots too, probably sold on from Campoleone.
With confirmation of a track to follow, Captain Pappas led a third squad up the ridge to investigate personally. By the time he arrived, Novak's squads had traced the boot prints back to a flat area where a vehicle had obviously been. The tires were wide, and there were more than four of them. That ruled out the jeeps the pirates used, and both Pappas and Novak agreed it could have been the neighbor's Swiftwind.
While the two infantry officers were discussing the vehicle in question, Warrant Cantrell was noting the directions it had come from and went to. Disturbingly, it had come from the west. It's departure to the south was merely interesting compared to that fact.
Wolf Skinner bivouac around WSDS Mondez's impact site
18th August, 3024
0600-1200 Local Time
While the scouting expedition was away, work continued on the "hangar". Ice aboard Snowflake and Lieutenant Haitao, currently piloting the Stinger, were holding a drop chute between them to provide shade to the work crews filling in the ramp that had enabled parking the landing craft below grade. It wasn't much relief from Astrokaszy's harsh sun, but it was better than nothing. Other 'mechs with hands were placing the roof beams and salvaged hull plating to form the roof. The ultimate plan would have earth placed over both to hide the structure. Techs were at work welding the beams and plates together. A detail from the Mondez's crew had already folded the craft's vertical stabilizer, leaving two meters of clearance between the top of the craft and the roof. Another work crew was covering the trench the feed and discharge pipes between the craft and the "well" in the impact crater proper. The craft's life support equipment was going to make water treatment vastly easier, but it was only designed for less than a third the number of people in the unit. That meant additional engineering and fabrication work, but less than having to build the whole thing from scratch.
The wreck of the Ex-FWLDS Condottieri
0813 Local Time
Sergeant Mancini had a cup of coffee in her hand as she entered the bridge of the Condottierri. Nodding to the morning watch, she asked, "Anything out of what we brought back yesterday?"
"Nada, Sarge. If there's anything there, the old girl can't see it. I'd bet my firstborn child there IS something there though. I mean, just LOOK at that thing!"
"Yeah, I know what you mean. But I think the Captain's right. No more poking around over that way until we're on much better terms with the neighbors. They have more 'mech than us, even after tangling with the pirates."
So during some downtime during "construction", Smoke shares his grand Idea with both Sam Horn his personal tech and Lt Ranjeet, on how to make Kat more deadly and less chance to go BOOM from ammo.
Drawn on scraps of paper in a notebook... think back to how we old timers used to mod our mech.. So you see if we pull the SRM4 we can slap in 2 ML and maybe a 3 or like a flamer or maybe a heat sink, then there no chance an unlucky shot cause the ammo bin to go BOOM. So what do you think?
"Also so if we disengage those Field Inhibitor, I think I could use the PPC in knife fight if I had too, thoughts?"
"And any thoughts on how we could rig Kat sensors to give me better long range ability?"
- Writer Note
- What he looking at is swapping Improved Targeting (Short) for (Long) and if these genius have any idea tweak the sensor system to decrease the chance of him stumbling into an Ambush [Improved Sensors]
Section spoken by Smoke was written by DOC_Agren
Section spoken by Lieutenant Ranjeet was written by SANSd20
Section spoken by Blu was written by truetanker