CHAPTER 6
A SIMPLE SURVEILLANCE
Starring: Barone Umberto Pepperoni (Graham)
Zeus Voyager Bond (PJ)
Turkey Creek Jack Johnson (Sukh)
Jennifer Penelope Jones (Rich)
Co-Starring: Judas Storm (Phil M)
Sven Knobbly Krow (Rod)
Ferdinand of Altringham (Kell)
Jacques Scarfe (Phil J)
Part One: Breach
of Contract!?
The previous mission for the Black Crows didn’t quite go as planned. You did not return with much information regarding the expected new offensive by the Clan Jade Falcon other than the storing of supplies on the Warship Emerald Talon would allow it to operate for up to a year unsupported. Also, no data was gathered on the use of the new Protomechs.
The up side to the mission was that an old SLDF Warship Manassas had travelled through time (some 400 years). You helped the crew destroy the ship before it fell into Jade Falcons hands and escaped after a combat trial on a moon with no atmosphere.
You managed to get back to Outreach by February 3062. However, once on Outreach an appearance in front of the Mercenary Review Commission (MRC) beckoned. Your Employer (Comstar) insisted that they would not pay the remaining monies owed the unit because they did not fulfil the terms of the contract.
After both sides put their case (Barone & Ferdinand for you), the MRC made their ruling:
The Black Crows are deemed to have broken the Contract by failing to complete the mission. To this end their Mercenary Rating will be reduced by One level and an employment note posted on the MercNet stating that said unit should not be employed for any contracts that are to be conducted within the Clan Occupation Zones. This restriction will be in effect for One Standard year. However, due to the repatriation of the Manassas Officers and preventing their ship falling into enemy hands, this will be suspended for Two Standard years.
Comstar will not pay any further monies to the Black Crows but must honour the Salvage exchange rights of the contract. To this end Comstar have agreed to provide all equipment (of the same quality) necessary to fully repair the damaged Mechs as payment for the captured Clan Mechs (Galahad and Warhammer IIC). Comstar are also to provide the following equipment:
25 tons of Clan Ferro Fibrous Armour
5 tons of Clan Endo Steel Internal Structure
One Clan Artemis IV FCS
One Clan LRM-20 Launcher
10 tons of Clan LRM Ammo with Artemis IV Warheads.
Three other major items of the Units choice
As a final note to the hearing, The Black Crows have the opportunity to complete the contract and negate the restrictions imposed by the MRC. If the Black rows decide to complete the mission, then a Liaison Officer will be sent with you to ensure it’s completion to Comstar’s satisfaction.
Needless to say, there was a lively discussion by the group as to whether to take up the challenge or not. In the end they decided to accept the ruling of the MRC and go about finding new work.
The three major items chosen (after much debate) were:
32 tons of Clan Ferro Fibrous Armour (2 Items)
Bloodhound Probe
Ferdinand and the Barone went to the Hiring Hall from the Ruling whilst the others found a Bar for the night.
The group in the bar had an enjoyable time but nothing really happened.
In the Hiring Hall, there were only three contracts available for Ferdinand & Barone to choose from:
A Recon Raid for the Lyran Alliance, duration 1 month at 950,000 per month. The start date was 13 March 3062.
An Objective Raid for the Draconis Combine, against Clan Ghost Bear. Duration, just under 2 months at 2,000,000 per month. This had a start date of the 26 May 3062.
Garrison Duty for the Outworlds Alliance. Duration, 1 year 8 months at 600,000 per month. The start date was 30 April 3062.
The details were taken away to discuss with the rest of the group in the morning.
The others left the Bar and headed back to the Hotel where they were staying. On the way back Krow suddenly staggered and slumped to the ground. The others looked horrified when they realised that he had been shot in the head. There was an entry hole and a massive exit hole.
Turkey creek & Judas Storm did a visual search of the skyline but couldn’t see anything. Nobody saw or heard a thing.
‘Shit man, he’s a gonna’ Zeus gasped.
‘Yeah, you’re right. Lets get the fuck outta here’ replied Penelope.
And with that they rapidly made there way to the hotel.
The following morning, a news article on the TV mentioned: ‘ …… a man was found dead in the street from a single gunshot wound to the head. Police are looking for witnesses.’
Who wanted Sven Knobbly Krow dead? Is it a blessing in disguise? Only time will tell…..
The group discussed the available contracts the following morning. The details of each contract were obtained from the Employer of each one via vidphone.
Recon Raid: The target is the planet Ko in the Lyons Thumb district of the Lyran Alliance. This is disputed territory and the Draconis Combine would like to regain control of the area. Ko is under LA jurisdiction. The Governor is Duke Atto Greer (a DC sympathiser). The LA would like you to determine the defences of the Duke’s base and forces he has under his control. This will allow the LA to send the appropriate ‘Liberating’ force to take control of Ko with minimal casualties. In order to avoid being noticed it is suggested that a civilian Dropship is used and Mech use should be kept to a minimum. The LA agree to provide you with a Buccaneer Class Dropship for the duration of the contract. 50% of the contract will be paid up front, the remainder on completion.
Objective Raid: The target for this raid is the planet Alshain within the Ghost Bear Dominion. As this is a raid into Clan territory there will be no salvage rights and a Liaison Officer will accompany you. The mission is to obtain plans and data on a new second-line Mech the GB are working on. It is being built at the Alshain Mechworks factory and is the designated the Locust IIIC. It is believed to be fitted out with new weapons systems. DC want this info so they can work on a counter to these weapons. If a Mech can be obtained then DC will offer a bonus payment. The other part of the mission is to recce the Joint Equipment Factory and obtain details of the new vehicle being produced. Again these incorporate new weapons systems. DC agreed to provide the Battle Loss compensation of 30%.
The Garrison duty contract was ignored by everybody.
Discussion ensued as to which contract to take. After what seemed like ages a decision was reached. The Recon Raid will be undertaken and then the Black Crows will go straight onto the Objective Raid. The units Jumpship & Dropship will follow the group to Ko and then take them onto Alshain.
Commercial passage was obtained for the group to Ko and will take them 3 weeks to get there.
The transit to the Ko system was uneventful and the Dropship headed in system to the planet. Clearance was given for them to land at the main Starport and it started the descent through the atmosphere.
Everything appeared to be routine. Zeus, Penelope and Il Barone were on the Bridge along with the pilot. The others were in the cargo bay area. Suddenly Penelope noticed a red light flashing on the control panel.
‘What does this light mean’
‘Shit! someone has locked onto us and is firing at us.’
‘Shit!!’ Zeus, Penelope and Il Barone shouted in harmony.
‘Hold on, I’m going to turn towards the missiles and hope some of them will miss’
‘You’re going to do what!??’ Zeus exclaimed.
Meanwhile, in the cargo bay area Turkey Creek dashed for an escape pod and the others braced themselves for the impact.
About 10 seconds later the first in a series of explosions rocked the ship as no fewer than 11 missiles hit them. Severe damaged was taken on the nose section of the Dropship and the pilot was severely injured (and knocked out). Pepperoni was also knocked out but the rest suffered minor injuries.
The Dropship was now heading, uncontrollably, towards the ground at a very high speed. Turkey Creek got into an escape pod and launched immediately. Zeus and Penelope managed to get Pepperoni out of the Bridge and headed for the remaining escape pod.
Everybody got into the escape pod and Penelope hit the launch button. Nothing happened.
‘Shit!’ cursed Penelope.
They all looked around and realised the problem could only be fixed back in the ship.
‘I’ll fix it, won’t take more than a few seconds’ Scarfe said, and so he got back out of the escape pod.
In fact the repair was going to take a full minute and the ship will impact into the ground in 50 seconds.
Bang!!!, crash!!!, creak!!
The ship hits the ground and the sound of metal on metal and electrical sparks are flying all around. More injuries are sustained, mainly by Zeus, Ferdinand and Judas Storm.
The only way out of the ship is through the rear cargo bay door, which is currently 100ft above ground. The group salvage some rope from the field kits in the ship and get to within 15ft of the ground. Pepperoni then uses the inflatable bed from a field kit and drops down onto it. The rest follow.
Having survived being shot out of the sky by an unidentified craft the group have determined that they are near a small town in the semi-barren wilderness. There is also a forest to the Northeast of there crash site. From the terrain map provided by the LA they have deduced that the base to be scouted is probably to the east of the forest.
Before heading off, you decide to get healed up. You never know what’s waiting around the corner! A quick recce of the town reveals it is more like an old Wild West hamlet with only basic facilities. However, there is a Doctor’s surgery. Turkey Creek and Ferdinand enter the town and head to the surgery. The town folk don’t seem very keen to have you around and keep to themselves. At the surgery there is a notice on the door:
Opening hours – 1000 to 1300, 1500 to 1700
In emergencies go to Dr Shipman’s house – The Lodge.
The time is now 0915, bugger. So Creek & Ferdi search out the Lodge and knock on the door.
‘Yes, what do you want?’
‘We have some friends that need medical assistance’ Ferdi said
‘You’re not from round these parts are you?’
‘Well, no. Does that matter? You’re a Doctor’ Creek said
‘The surgery is open at ten, I’ll deal with you then.’ And the Doctor shut the door.
With that they head back out of town to where the others are waiting.
‘Well, what did you find out?’ Pepperoni inquired.
‘We have to go to the surgery after ten and then Doctor Shipman will attend to us’
So time passed and the group headed into town at 1000. Again the town folk ignored the group.
At the surgery, the Doctor saw each one in turn and treated all the wounds. Scarfe and Zeus were not fully healed but all the others were.
Pepperoni asked the Doctor about the Duke. He wasn’t told much other than you ought to get out of here before something happens. Further questioning didn’t reveal any other useful info.
The group bought a van to get around in. It was solar powered and not very comfortable to ride in. They headed out of town to the north, towards the forest. When they were about 5 miles from the forest Zeus noticed a vehicle near the crash site of the Dropship.
The group decided to investigate. They stopped the van behind a small hill and sent Pepperoni and Scarfe on foot to get a closer look. They got to within 300m then just watched. There was a standard wheeled APC and four troopers looking over the wreckage. One guy had full armour whilst the others had standard flak suits. They were all carrying either rifles or SMG’s.
After about ten minutes Penelope moved the van closer in. This got the attention of the troopers and the APC was sent to investigate. The van stopped and Penelope got underneath. Storm stayed in the van, Zeus hid ahead of the van, Creek behind the van and Ferdinand off to the left. Those not near the van were at least 20m away in cover.
The APC approached to within 200m and stopped.
‘You in the van, get out and stand clear of the Van!’ Boomed a voice over a loudspeaker.
Storm got out and stood there still for a few seconds, then turned and ran for cover. With that the APC turret turned and fired. A burst of heavy machine gun bullets clattered all around Storm, but missed. The APC moved closer to the van and stopped about 20m away, right next to Zeus.
‘Hey, you behind the ridge. Come out. Who are you and what are you doing here!’
No response.
Just then Zeus decided to take control of the situation. He ran to the back of the APC, opened the door and fired at the nearest trooper. The guy was so startled, he just turned and looked at Zeus. The shot from his laser pistol totally destroyed the trooper’s abdomen.
Panic ensued. The guy in the turret dropped into the cabin and Zeus fired again, hit him in the leg. Turkey and Ferdinand ran towards the APC, whilst Penelope crawled out from under the van.
Zeus fired again and did minor damage, the gunner shot at Zeus and caused serious damage to Zeus’ left foot. Ferdinand and Turkey arrived together and shot, Turkey hit and severed the guys arm off. He dropped to the ground.
The driver overcame his panic and floored the accelerator, in reverse. Turkey and Ferdi managed to jump into the APC. The driver tried to slide the APC round and head back to the crash site but failed. Instead, the APC turned about 90 degrees and skipped to a halt. Turkey took the driver prisoner.
Meanwhile, at the crash site. Pepperoni and Scarfe started shooting at the troopers. Scarfe shot the full armour guy and only lightly wounded him. Pepperoni took out one of the other guys. They returned fired and missed. The firefight that followed was quick. The Armour guy went down after being hit in the right arm and right leg. Pepperoni was hit in the right arm and the third trooper was taken out by a chest hit.
The others arrived in the APC & Van and eventually captured the remaining trooper. Some of the weapons recovered appeared to be standard DC military issue and the armour guy was wearing DC Samurai armour.
The wounded members of the party went back into the town to get Dr Shipman to heal them up. Zeus was the worst, his foot was treated but still reduced movement by half.
Judas Storm & Jennifer Penelope Jones carried out the torture (or should I say interrogation) of the prisoners. The driver of the APC talked freely, but mainly about not be killed. He didn’t know a thing, apart from roughly where the base was.
The other guy was more relaxed. Didn’t say much, even after some particularly brutal cuts performed on the driver.
‘What can I say. There are a few DC advisors at the base. I’ve seen two Mechs and a few Heavy tanks. But that’s all I know.’
With that Penelope decided enough was enough. She got hold of the driver and literally sliced him into little pieces with a vibroblade. Storm and Ferdi were appalled, but didn’t stop the brutal savagery. The other guy was stunned at the attack and became speechless afterwards. Penelope was so frustrated that she shot the other prisoner.
The wounded group returned from the town to find two dead prisoners. All they knew was that the base was to the east of the forest and may contain two mechs and some armour.
Everybody got into the APC and Van and headed for the base. They parked up in the forest, about 15 miles from the base, and Pepperoni, Ferdinand, Turkey & Scarfe went by foot to recce the base. It took them about 4 hours to reach the base (time now 1700). As they got closer to the base it became evident that there was no sign of activity. Finally they were close to see the buildings, or what was left of them. The base is nothing but a pile of rubble. The place has been decimated, laser burns and bullet holes galore can be seen. The remains of the Mech bay had four mechs inside. These had been sabotaged, with all the joints & gyros destroyed and weapons stripped. The mechs were all old 3025 models of a Charger, Banshee, Cicada and Urbanmech. There are signs of vehicle tracks but there direction could not be determined. From the state of the place it looked like the base was destroyed about a month ago.
This news was called in to the others and the APC was sent out to pick them up.
A short debate about what to do next began:
‘That prisoner lied to us’ Pepperoni said ‘pity, he’s not still alive, hey Jones!’
‘Where else could the base be? Why not make camp here tonight and really give the town a good seeing to!?’ Turkey Creek stated.
So, the group rested. During the third Watch (Pepperoni), the motion sensors that were set-up warned of movement coming towards the camp. Quickly most of the group were awake and four intruders were spotted approaching the camp. In quick succession Pepperoni, Turkey Creek and Scarfe fired. Two of the intruders were hit (both in the arms).
Further shooting took place and after about a minute three intruders were dead or dying. They had all suffered arm and leg hits except one, which took a nasty hit to the head. Zeus had hit one of the intruders and rolled 19 on 2D10 for location. He decided to use a point of edge to re-roll the 9. This was done and the luck paid off. A 10 was rolled. This meant that the guy was hit in the head, which promptly exploded.
The fourth intruder made a break for it and was chased by Pepperoni and Penelope. They didn’t managed to catch him, but Pepperoni was attacked a few times by some 2 foot long slimly creatures with many claws. Fortunately Pepperoni didn’t suffer any injuries.
The rest of the night passed peacefully.
The group decided to search the edge of the forest for a track or path leading in. After about 6 hours searching they found a track that was hidden from view (on the West Side of the forest). They drove into the forest for about 15 miles along a dirt track that wound its way through the trees. They came to a clearing and saw a fenced compound. The APC was backed up and they got out on foot to scout the ‘new’ base.
The clearing was very large, with the base in the middle. There was a high fence around the base with numerous searchlights. The entrance was guarded by two towers either side of the gate, each with a heavy machine gun & crew. Various building could be seen. One in particular looked like a Mech bay and the silhouette of a Mech was visible. There were also plenty of people in the base, some armed. APC, trucks and jeeps were also evident.
A lengthy discussion (argument) ensued about how the group were going to get into the base. One of the suggestions included making remote controlled birds and flying them into the searchlights, which would cause a distraction for the group to get in (Zeus).
Finally they all agreed to drive upto the base in the APC and pretend to be a group from the base. The patrol was long and made worse by problems with the APC.
They drove up to the base Scarfe in the open turret. He acknowledged the guys in the towers who waved back, but the gate didn’t open. The APC got closer and Pepperoni (who was driving) noticed a light flashing momentarily on the dashboard. The gate then opened and the light stopped flashing. Pepperoni parked up by the Vehicle repair barn and everybody got out.
The group split up to look around the base.
Pepperoni and Storm went into the repair barn and spoke to the mechanic
‘When can you get our APC fixed?’
‘Not until the morning, we need to get this Patton tank running for the morning patrols’
‘Mind if we look around?’
‘Not at all, but don’t touch anything.’
With that Pepperoni and Storm could see two Patton tanks (one being worked on), two coolant trucks and a Mobile HQ Truck. Pepperoni took a few discrete photos on his mini camera.
Turkey Creek went into the Mech bay and was greeted by the sight of a Komodo Mech
‘Hey, you. What are you doing in here’
‘Er..’
‘This area is restricted. Now leave before I have to call security’
‘Oh, okay’
The others were wondering around the complex and found the Armoury, Barrack (two off), and a Control building. Another building was seen but they could not determine what it was for. Whilst Zeus and Penelope were near the Control Building they heard a noise from above. They saw a large satellite dish being deployed.
‘Baron, we need to get in this building’ Zeus said on the communicator
Pepperoni was just leaving the barn; ‘I’m on my way’
The doors had security keypads so pepperoni used his bypass kit to get the security code. Zeus and Penelope get watch and had to intercept two guys heading for the Barone.
‘Hi, have you seen Jeff Bobcat?’ Zeus asked.
‘Er, no. I don’t think I know anyone by that name? Maybe try the barracks’
‘Great thanks’
Pepperoni was in and Zeus & Penelope followed. Storm & Scarfe kept watch outside.
The ground floor rooms were empty and the so they got into the lift. There were three buttons (up, down, unmarked), a display and a keypad. Pepperoni pressed the up button and the lift went to the third floor. Three rooms were found. One had some beds in and a few people were sleeping. Another room was the generator room, but no one was in. The final room was the computer room. Pepperoni opened the door and could a guy with his back to the door. He was working at a computer terminal. Pepperoni sneaked up behind him and was about to shoot him with a tranq gun when he turned round. That didn’t really make any difference, the guy went down easily.
Penelope had a look at the computer and saw that the guy was logged into the ventilation system. A quick check around revealed the routes for the air ducts in the building. Penelope then started to get into other areas of the system, starting with communications. This proved a little tricky so help was called for from Ferdi.
Ferdinand & Turkey Creek got into the building and made their way to the third floor. Penelope had decided to go through the air ducts to get the fourth floor. Pepperoni and Zeus had no luck figuring out the lift controls.
Ferdinand got to work on the computers and Penelope got crawling in the air ducts. Penelope got to the fourth floor and looked out through an air vent. There were several comm stations and a raised platform with two seats. Also there were four people in the room. Suddenly, two of the guys started pointing at one of the screens.
‘I think we might have company soon’ Penelope reported.
Sure enough, the lift started moving from the ground floor to the third floor. Two troopers entered the far door and were quickly taken out Zeus and Turkey. Two more guys came through the other door, these too were taken out by Pepperoni.
Ferdinand managed to get into the personnel system and downloaded the payroll details to a central file. Also he managed to get into the communications system, which provided details on the location of the Duke’s bases on the planet and links with the 17th Ghost Regiment of the Draconis Combine.
Penelope set off two gas grenades in the air duct and the people on the fourth floor were knocked out.
Turkey, Pepperoni and Zeus set some explosives in the generator room and rigged the lift. Ferdinand finished getting the data from the system but needed to get to the fourth floor to transmit the data.
‘Leave that to me’ Penelope said and she got out of the air duct and over to a computer terminal. She managed to log on and set up a transmission to their Dropship.
‘Okay, guys it’s time to leave’ Pepperoni said.
With that everybody made their way to the ground floor and left the building together. A group of troopers were heading for the building.
‘Hurry guys, there going berserk inside. Be careful’ Zeus shouted at them.
The group managed to get into the APC just as the explosives went off. In the confusion that followed they managed to get out of the base. Just as they thought they had escaped, Penelope noticed that the machine gun towers were turning to fire at them. A hail of bullets streamed towards the APC and struck the rear. Minor damage was inflicted on the rear of the chassis, but the turret was almost striped clean of armour.
The group made their way back to the deserted base and prepared to be picked up by the Dropship. However, it would take about 18 hours for the Dropship to arrive, plenty of time for the garrison to find and attack the group.
The group busied themselves trying to get the crippled mechs up and running. After several hours the Charger and Cicada were powered up and positioned so as to look functional. Eventually the Banshee and Urbanmech were also powered up.
Turkey Creek and Judas Storm managed to move some explosives to a place on the main route into the base and set them to be detonated remotely.
Time passed and eventually the enemy troops arrived: 2 Patton tanks, 2 LRM carriers and a couple of APC’s. The LRM carriers stopped and set-up to fire whilst the rest continued in towards the base. Everybody was taking cover. The LRM carriers opened up at the powered up Mech hulks, soon followed by the approaching Patton tanks.
The crippled mechs became even more so as bits of armour and internal structure were blown off.
One of the Patton’s drove right by the explosives set earlier and Turkey Creek hit the detonate button. A massive explosion occurred, and when the dust settled there was only the remains of a tank chassis.
The Crows Nest could be seen high in the sky approaching rapidly and the group started to get ready for a quick dash to get on board. Just before it landed the Dropship fired on the LRM carriers, which blew up in a hail of missile and laser fire.
The remaining enemy vehicles started to back off and the Dropship landed to allow the group to get on. Once they were all on the Dropship took off and headed to the nearby Pirate Jump point to meet the Jumpship waiting for them.
Only minor injuries were sustained in the barrage of the base and everyone was patched up. However, Zeus needed more treatment.
‘Hey, Doc. See what you can do with my left foot’
‘Sure.’ The Doc looked at his foot and said ‘What or who did this?’
‘I got shot up a bit and a local doctor saw to it on the planet’
‘He certainly saw to it alright. I’m not sure what else I can do, it’s been in this state for a long time’
After about an hour of surgery the Doc said:
‘Short of replacing your foot with an artificial one, that’s the best it’s gonna be’
‘Really. Shit man. Oh well, you may be cutting it off yet. Thanks Doc’
Zeus left the sickbay and felt he could walk okay. In fact, he would be able to run alright but not as fast as before.
Time passes…..
The data collected from the hidden base is properly collated and sent be secure transmission to the Lyran Alliance as part of the contract agreement. The remaining money is paid and everyone is happy….