After-Action Report
12-22-3048Civilian Escort (Defender) - VICTORY
Henrik Grimm's forces made an airdrop assault on Freya Lance and its Somerset Academy trainee escorts almost exactly at the mid-point of their journey from the Academy Repair & Refit Depot to the Academy Grounds proper. Hostile intent was confirmed early enough that MGST Vicious was able to shift her
Wasp LAM into Fighter Mode and prepare an attack run on the airdropping Mechs, and the trainees were instructed to huddle to the south while the heavy Freya Lance units formed a picket line between their position and the estimated pirate LZ. The severe weather played havoc with the landing; several pirate Mechs were blown off-course and into hard landings, though no truly significant damage resulted from the misdrops.
While the extreme cold clearly assisted the pirate Mechs - equipped as they were with single heat sinks - the mixed swirling snow, punctuated by ravening blasts of lightning, would prove a harrowing experience for both sides. Indeed, immediately after a hard landing, a pirate
Stinger was struck by a tremendous Force 6 lightning bolt that blew clean through its chest and SCRAMed the reactor.
The battle quickly devolved into a close-range action, as much a result of the blowing snow as the combatant's mutual desire for a decisive engagement. To the northeast, MSGT Vicious landed her LAM and converted to BattleMech Mode, engaging and destroying a pirate
Wasp and
Commando in a protracted but otherwise isolated engagement. In the center, SGT Callahan and LTSG Hartmann's
Grasshoppers held off the main pirate strength; an
Archer, Orion, Crusader, and
Thunderbolt,. To the west, the pirate
Wolverine and several light Mechs attempted to force a flanking action around the newly-promoted LTJG Boyle's upgraded
Crusader.
In a brutal close-range melee, the
Grasshoppers prevailed, though at a cost of severe armor damage and a blown-off limb of SGT Callahan's Mech. The western flank eventually collapsed, and the trainees were put into action against pirates not too much more experienced than the trainees themselves. The
LoggerMech had its leg destroyed by a particularly persistent
Stinger, and the
Powerman took several hard hits from the
Wolverine before SGT Boyle brought the pirate down. However, the genuine tragedy of the day came when the hitherto-undamaged
CattleMaster Hunter was itself struck by another Force 6 lightning bolt (one of almost two dozen recorded Force 6 strikes on the battlefield during the engagement), blowing its head clean off and killing the pilot.
In the end, Freya Lance and the trainees held the field; two pirates fled, and the exhausted Rangers let them go; unwilling to continue the battle when they could instead take shelter from the weather. The pirate captain, Amari Riebero, a man uncommonly skilled at the use of improvised melee weapons (notably the
Grasshoppers severed arm) was captured unconscious after the battle, and the pirate
Crusader and
Orion were taken as salvage.
Random Bonuses (3 surviving civilian units)
1)
Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5
Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9
2)
Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2
Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6
3)
Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2
Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13
Author
Topic: Operation KESTREL - Solo Mission (Freya) - 12/22/3048 (Read 1452 times)