When last we left off, the Gunmetal Gladiators had been contracted by the St-Ives Compact, called to defend a border world against Capellan Raiders to free up valuable regular forces for use on other fronts.
Before leaving, Grant Johnson, a follower of the Kuritan Baron and pilot of one of the Company's two Atlases, commissions some upgrades to his ride. These involve a rather complex series of replacements among his weapons and a large number of man-hours of work - these factors combine to mean that his relatively new Techs make a couple of mistakes that cannot be immediately noticed or rectified. One, damage to his 'Mechs knee actuators that would make Death From Above attacks more dangerous, is not particularly worrisome. The second, a malfunction in the 'Mech's ejection seat that means an unlucky pilot will be locked in his 'Mech's cockpit if it is killed, would be more worrisome if it were not for the fact that Johnson pilots an Atlas, among the most well-armoured and armed 'Mechs in the Inner Sphere. It could never be destroyed. Never.
20 days later, the Company lands on Brighton. Barely a day later, they are pushed into the field by their Liaison Officer, ordered to defend a friendly force providing humanitarian aid to a local village struck by a landslide.
The terrain in the Gladiators' Area of Operations is mountainous, with a few valleys, surrounded by jungle, containing roads that lead to the area's main urban centre. These mountains, however, have been upset by the gunfire of the last month, and so their muddy slopes have been of great risk to mountainside villages for a couple of weeks now. The ability to bring supplies out to a stricken community would do a lot to bolster the morale of a population that was conquered recently enough and is already seeing more combat.
The Gladiators' two Heavy 'Mechs, the Warhammer of Baronet-in-disguise Davidson and the Orion of Company Commander Cat, check their ranges to the advancing Medium 'Mechs, as yet unidentified visually. Their Weight Class can be established by our magnetic imaging and seismic sensors.
The enemy, who have largely been running rampant over the area of operations so far with their two companies of BattleMechs being opposed only by Ground Effect Vehicles and Irregular Infantry from the planet's garrison, have sent a Command Lance, a Medium Lance, and a Recon Lance, amounting to a mixture of heavy tanks, BattleMechs of various weights, and infantry for securing the supplies. They intend a show of force, and were not prepared for a full Company of Battlemechs to meet them in the field.
The first shots are traded, and the Uziel of the reality show's main character, Jingfrei, is immediately brought down by focused Gauss rounds from the Rommel Tanks advancing from the West. The highly accelerated slugs crack audibly, even through the canopies of BattleMechs, as they soar between the trees to core the Medium 'Mech without any other warning. The entire Company is quickly shaken to the core - their comrade's fate will be uncertain until they can occupy the ground and identify if he ejected successfully. Failure of the mission will leave them unable to confirm even that - he would then be either a POW or dead, to be determined at a later time.
The Gladiators, having seen the power of the enemy heavy weapons and knowing that they are to be on the defensive in any case, cling to cover and prepare to slug it out with the enemy. The enemy, on the other hand, opts for an aggressive approach. Focusing their fire on the largest target in sight - Johnson's Atlas - they push into the river bed, their tanks taking a hull-down position as they tear up the trees around the 100-ton monster.
Against all expectations, the Atlas collapses, setting fire to the trees nearest to it and crumbling into a pile of screeching metal. Another comrade having fallen to the enemy, the Gladiators step up their efforts further. Kojiro, the Banshee pilot accompanying Davidson, takes up position ahead of the friendly infantry, drawing a great deal of fire that would otherwise be directed at them. (Over the course of the game, the Banshee would be reduced to a single point of structure, but with more attacks missing than hitting, survive while having saved the infantry from many shots that could have been sent their way otherwise)
The Nightsky, piloted by Weinstein, Knight of the Federated Commonwealth, leads the lighter 'Mechs in routing the enemy Medium and Light Lances and clearing the South of the field. The Heavies will begin falling back shortly.
In the meantime, the Gladiators' Light and Medium 'Mechs press the South of the enemy forces, and with the combination of concentrated laser and missile fire and the judicious application of the Nightsky's hatchet, drive the enemy from the trees. At this point, it becomes clear to the enemy commander that they have been beat by this unexpected force.
It is too late, however. Their fighting retreat gives them the chance to retrieve some of their destroyed units to prevent them being salvaged, but their Atlas goes down while covering their rear - it is a machine meant to attack, its speed not allowing for a very elegant retreat at all.
The Gladiators' first engagement has been a resounding success! Per their contract, half the salvage goes to the employer, but this still allows them to claim the Atlas, which will be distributed to a worthy pilot for the next battle.
Jingfrei escaped with no injuries, his ejection seat having functioned as intended and thrown him clear of the Uziel when it was felled in mid-stride.
Even Johnson, with his faulty ejection seat, managed to pull himself from the cockpit before the flames rolled over it, escaping with only some injuries after all.
The final tally - 5 damaged 'Mechs for the Gladiators, 4 destroyed for the enemy, as well as a Squad of Heavy Infantry and two Rommel Tanks.
In the down time while the commanders planned their next move to exploit the victory that surprise had given them - and prepared for a more organized enemy force to face them next time - the characters got up to some randomly generated events. Edgar, Light 'Mech pilot of the Drac Baron's Lance, took up Charcoal Drawing, while Marchand and Khalid, pilots of the Locust and Raven respectively, had a romantic entanglement, perhaps fuelled by the adrenaline of their first combat experience as a company. Davidson, the undercover Baronet, and Cat, leader of the Gladiators, went out afterwards to meet the civilians they had helped supply, and become known to the local population - it was not long before the holovid star was pitching this to local news networks, and offering them all access passes to the finest cuts of the footage being recorded by their Raven.
Tune in next time for the next operation on Brighton, as the Gladiators continue their first week of combat operations!
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