Episode 3 - The Marik Contract

Round 3

The Action

Kasumi's weapons the Harasser, it goes up in a ball of flame. The crew die with the explosion.

Dice Roll: 4dF
dF Results: 0, -1, 0, 0 (Total = -1)

Random Chance to blow up bridge on -4, -3 (-1)

Thor maneuvers a bit and opens up on the infantry, laying down death and melty bits everywhere.
(Maneuver 2+4 pilot + unknown speed = 6) vs (1 pilot + 1 + unknown speed =2) Flanked and outmaneuvered.
Attack --- lots. Damage 4.
Thor finds his systems starting to run hot because of all the fire around him.
RUNNING HOT, next turn you can use an MO point without actually spending one, or can use that point to clear the condition.

The skirmishers have enough and break, running back through the trees towards the approaching APCs. The APCs halt and start loading them.
The APCs are VULNERABLE WHILE LOADING, granting a free +1 to any attack against them.

Somehow, Sergey still manages to kill a few guys. That's enough for this crew as well, who can damn sure hear the screams from the other teams. They break and run as well.

The call to retreat appears to have made it to the Harassers- they turn and scoot up the river in a hurry.

The convoy keeps "beeping" as they back up the road.

Statuses

PNT-9R (Thor). Zone 2. Normal
FS9-K (Jennifer). Zone 1 (River). Normal
VLK-QA (Kasumi). Zone 1 (River). Normal
UM-R60 (Sergey). Zone 2. Normal
WLF-1 (Ceph). Zone 2. Normal
Supply Vehicles (12 of 12). Zone 2.
Swift Wind. Zone X. Observing

Harasser (0 of 2). Zone 1 (River). Pilot 1. Gunnery 1. Armor 1. Destroyed.
Harasser (2 of 2). Zone 1 (River). P1. G1. Armor 1. Normal.
APC Hover (2 of 2). Zone 1 (River). P1. G1. Armor 1. Vulnerable.
APC Hover (2 of 2). Zone 1 (River). P1. G1. Armor 1. Vulnerable.
Skirmishers 1 (12/30). Zone 3. P1. G1. Armor 0. Broken.
Skirmishers 2 (20/30). Zone 3. P1. G1. Armor 0. Broken.

Explosives on Bridge (2 of 2). Zone 4. Normal

The Battlefield

MAP UPDATE

Zone 1: The River and Riverbank. EFFICIENT COOLING IN WATER Any unit on/in the actual river can only be attacked by Jumping units in other zones.
Zone 2: The Road. Any unit on The Road can only fire on units that are immediately adjacent to them unless they are Jumping.
Zone 3: The Woods. FLAMMABLE, HIDDEN PATH! Any unit in The Woods must be quite close on the map to shoot at any target. Judgement call. Reduces Speed to Slow.
Zone 4: The Bridge. VULNERABLE TO FIRE The Bridge is targetable from everywhere else and an exposed position.

Rules

Combat Rules
There are no special rules for number of actions or such for this battle, beyond the Zone-specific rulings.

Piloting skills of the vehicles shown now so you can probably guess if you hit.

If you move- either specify which zone (minimum) or move yourself to where you are going on the map and update the url.

Go

Thor

All units, cease fire and regroup. The enemy is leaving the field; let's leave a few for next time, OK? Our employer owes us a sizeable combat bonus, and I'll be splitting it with everyone after expenses. In other words, the more ammo and armor you take home, the bigger your paycheck this month.

Thor follows his own order and regroups with the convoy. Blood and mud hide the cheerful pink on his mech's lower regions, with splatters almost up to the cockpit.

Convoy, they mined the bridge. If you can ford the river here, we can do that; otherwise we'll have to either reroute or abort. Please advise.

Thor allows his mech to cool rather than spend his mech op point.

Convoy

The radio hisses for a moment, and then, "We can't ford the river. We have to cross the bridge. We'll have to try to remove the explosives. Can you get a closer look?"

Perception for anyone that wants to look. Bonus if you get out of the mech to do so.

Sergey kept an eye on the retreating soldiers making sure they don't get any funny ideas. He then moved forward for an area sweep. Even though his PPC doesn't use up ammo, tempting it may be to fire at the APCs, he decided not to squeeze the trigger. Heck, it'll be a nasty surprise if those buggers ever come back.

He checked his sensors for more targets. Would be a good idea to have advanced sensor suites if powered down mechs are waiting to ambush. Too bad his rust can doesn't have any of those fancy stuff. Still, Mk 1 eyeballs and Infrared should be reliable if it weren't for the smoke and fire...

Kasumi stands down.

"Dog 4 to Dog leader. Am closest to bridge. Using magnification to view explosives on bridge. Sending video feed."

Kasumi sends a video feed of the bridge.

Thor

Thor glances at the convoy vehicles, trying to appraise if the mechs might be able to carry them across the river.

Copy that, dog 4. Saving transmission to relay to our boss.

If whoever laid those explosives had half a brain then standing near them is suicide, much less trying to disarm them. I can't order anyone to make the attempt.

Convoy, is there an alternate route available? If not we may be stuck here until we can fly in a demolitions team or find a fordable stretch of river.

Thor has a (very) basic understanding of demolitions; he knows just enough to realize that if someone is going to be able to disable the explosives, it's not going to be him.

Jennifer

Jennifer moves deeper into the water in the middle of the river, and from that angle she can get a good look at the explosives.
"Commander, looks a bunch of sticks of dynamite wrapped around the column. I still can't see any wires."

Convoy

"This is the only bridge that'll get us where we need to go. This isn't exactly Terra with roads everywhere!" The convoy vehicles have stopped backing up, but are now in a big mess in the middle of the road.

The fires still burned in the trees on both sides of the road, but at the moment, that didn't seem to concern anyone.

Eagle

"The hovers are moving off to the west, making speed. I just lost sight of them."

"I have some experience with explosives, I can check out the bridge if you want," Eagle radioed helpfully. Taking it upon himself, he headed back down the road and approached the bridge, stopping just on the far side. He crossed the bridge again on foot, and then climbed down the bank. Several long minutes pass by, but with a blessed shortage of massive explosions.

"Hey, I'm not certain without crawling up into the structure, but I'm not sure these are live. They might be a fake. Damn sure looks like crap from here. Want me to explore closer?"

"Dog 4 to Dog 1. Heading to other side of river to cover the road."

Kasumi waits until she gets a response from her commander. If permitted, she will proceed to the other side and watch the road. If denied, she stays right where she is standing.

Thor

Roger that Dog 4.

Eagle, stand by. I'd rather risk my mech's hand than your life.

Thor moves to the bridge, and very carefuly, very slowly rips one of the explosives bundles from the bridge with Charity. Charity's stuck digits won't help the process at all, but he figures he should be able to work around them.

Sergey hasn't defused an actual bomb but he thought the "bomb" might trigger other explosives in the surrounding area. The old man was the cautious type. In this case, he can't be careless when his life and his prospects of a paycheck were on the line.

"See first if there are wires laying around. They should be visible in thermal if the wires are live."