We were still on Rockwellawan at Week 11 Day 6 when the Lance was finally back at full strength. We took a contract to clear out pirates in the equatorial jungles, and Sumire dumped us on a tropical beach that would have been great to relax on. Timing, Sumire!
The enemy strength was a bit more than expected, but teamwork is starting to show; TigerTail got past them and started leading the trailers away. When they finally engaged us, it was a stream of individuals. Much easier to deal with. Rebound took another hit here, and is nearly out for 3 weeks. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a fire on the Dropship knocked 2 of our ‘Warriors out. At this point, the Boss conceded that Rockwellawan is probably cursed and moved us to Herotitus.
We got to Herotitus about 3 weeks later, with most of our crew rested and the Firestarter refitted. I can tell the Boss is hankering to get heavier Mechs, because that Firestarter is obviously loaded to disable Mechs. It’s also good that Ghoul can move to this Mech, because this pairs better with the Phoenix Haw. TigerTail just kept getting into trouble on her own, it’s better if someone is there to help.
Sumire dropped us onto a pretty flat plains for our next mission, and as we moved up the Canopus Commando and LRM Javelins started shooting at us. Recognizing the obvious, the Boss pushed the Lance under the minimum range of the Javelins and that forced them into brutal melee that they can’t win with our superior mass.
We started taking more work from Liao, including one that got us to destroy a local base. The Boss wasn’t too bothered by local rep since we won’t be around long enough, and pleasing a Great House is useful. Base was located deep in some crater/ mining camp, weird but wasn’t overly bad. But Ghoul still took two hits that laid him out for a month.
Given the casualty rate, Boss decided to recruit one more ‘Warrior, Rugby. Boss kept taking milk run missions from Liao, supposedly to get Beetle and Rugby to get more experience. But I was getting suspicious. Definitely something up. Still, we got better at this; on one escort run, we guessed somewhat right where the enemy ambush would be, but positioned wrong. It was still good that we were beginning to not suck.
Finally the Boss let us knew what was up: a Canopus contract to mop up Liao stragglers. I can see what the Boss is working towards: capture of a bigger mech. We badly need more staying power, and this mission is a grab for a good chassis. It’s risky, but also worth the shot.
We dropped in on the stragglers’ camp to see a Commando, a Hunchback and an Orion. The engagement was tricky because of the Orion’s firepower, but a combination of positioning and overheating it with the Firestarter knocked the pilot out. We managed to pull it off the field intact, in exchange for half a Blackjack and Beetle going into the medbay, but… a Heavy Mech! Worth the trade.
That was also the end of our time on Herotitus, as the contracts have pretty much dried up. Boss is moving us to Lyreton for a change of pace and to work out on our new Mechs.