BattleTech: Trial Under Fire

Trial under Fire

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Mechwarrior 3 is a first-person mecha simulation game, where the player pilots a Mech in each mission. Mechs are giant armored robots and fitted with various projectile and energy weapons. Mechs engage in combat with other mechs as well as traditional military vehicles such as tanks , helicopters , and occasional weapon emplacements. During combat a Mech's weapons and critical components can be damaged, and it is even possible for entire limbs to be blown off of a Mech.

Mech customization is a major aspect of gameplay. The player has near total control over the configuration of each of his or her Mechs. From the type and amount of armor used to various internal components, and all of the Mech's weaponry and ammunition. In the campaign additional parts, weapons, and ammunition are acquired through the missions, captured supplies, and salvaged enemy Mechs.

Also in the campaign, the player controls up to three squadmates, with the ability to issue basic orders such as attack, move, and return to the Mobile Field Bases MFBs for repairs. The Mobile Field Bases are a unique feature not seen in any other Mechwarrior game. The player starts the game with three MFBs, although these can be destroyed. The MFBs travel with the player throughout the missions advancing when ordered to by the player. They carry all the player's supplies, which means there is a weight limit to the amount of supplies the player can keep. The MFBs can provide field repair and resupply provided they are carrying suffient armor and ammunition.

As Mechs do not have shields, and are only protected by armor which is damaged in combat, the MFBs can become crucial in enabling the player to complete a mission. The story opens with a short briefing of the Inner Sphere 's Operation: Bulldog, a daring plan to eliminate the most hostile and vicious clan in the Inner Sphere: Operation Bulldog and Task Force Serpent have already completed their objectives, but there is one last operation left—the one with which the player is tasked—the disruption of a ranking Smoke Jaguar officer's attempt to rally and restore the Clan forces.

Damocles is to destroy key Smoke Jaguar installations on the planet Tranquil, including a mech factory, a starport, a geothermal power plant , and the Smoke Jaguar control structure. The mission is a commando operation with limited forces, and does not include elimination of the enemy as an objective. Two dropships are deployed to release the BattleMech force to destroy these installations. However, while in orbit above Tranquil, a dropship is attacked by naval laser fire.

The Blackhammer is shot down and the remaining dropship, the Eclipse , retreats to safety. The player was already deployed from the dropship, which had been slightly off target before it was destroyed. The player's first mission is to rendezvous with the MFBs and secure the area from hostile forces. As the Gargoyle fired its first salvo from its autocannons, Scott sidestepped his mech at running speed and continued charging. The evasive move dodged the autocannons, but the seeking SRMs that followed struck dead center, shaking Scott up.

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Scott continued moving forward, unleashing everything he had at the enemy mech with the same devastating effect they had against the Summoner except for the fact that the pilot held his mech in balance and stayed standing. Better lucky than skilled , Scott thought. Scott kept on charging and stopped only meters from the assault mech, a bad move as it turned out.

The large mech swung its arm using the whole momentum of tons, combined with the mechs leg to knock and then trip Scott's Cauldron Born to the ground. As the assault mech brought its weapons to bear on his downed mech, Scott swung his autocannon arm into place and mashed down on the trigger so hard his hand began to bleed. He held the trigger down, sending a stream of at least six autocannon shells into the huge mech. The second shell was enough for the big mech, but the other four kept it standing until the stream ended.

The massive ton assault mech collapsed to the ground. As Scott maneuvered his mech to its feet again, he managed a, "Well fought," over the open comm channel. The newly blood-named Scott Masters now needed to engage a Star Commander in single combat and defeat him in order to win his rank of Star Commander. Scott has no doubt he could win this fight. The other warrior was old and past his prime. Although he was only 36 years old, in the clans, that was old.

If they were going to renew their invasion against the Inner Sphere, they had no room for older warriors. Scott was going to get his rank and his command. He was not going to let an old veteran has-been keep him from his destiny. It had been two weeks since his battle with the Gargoyle , and his mech was in top shape.

Scott had had it repainted and he liked the new look. The preparations had been made, and his Trial of Possession would take place the following day. Not a bad mech at range, but even at range, it could not compare with Scott's extended range lasers. Scott knew that even if he did not get the rank, the Steel Vipers would renew their invasion, and he knew that they would be better off with him in command of a star. Scott was not about to let his clan down. Two days later, the two mechs were facing off. Scott has stayed with the Cauldron Born configuration that had won the blood-name for him.

The battle began, and Scott pushed his throttle to its top speed, knowing that if he could close the gap, the Rifleman IIC would not have a chance against his superior firepower. As he closed, Scott unleashed his deadly autocannon, but he was too late as the Star Commander took to the air with his jump jets, avoiding the mech-killing weapon.

Scott followed through with all his lasers, hitting the mech in mid-air. The Rifleman IIC rocked under the attack, and fell back to the ground, landing on its feet and firing its quad-pulse lasers. Scott again fired, this time holding back only his flamer. The other numerous weapons struck the ton adversary dead center, and finished the job that the previous laser attack had started, as the gutted heavy mech fell lifeless to the ground. Scott had won, and was now a Star Commander in command of a full Star of mechs. This also meant that he was now a member of Beta Galaxy.

The invasion was going to begin soon and Scott was going to be a part of it. Ever since their loss to the Jade Falcons, the Steel Vipers had been planning to renew their invasion when the treaty of Tukkayid expired. Until now, they had not decided how.

The plan was to take Clan Wolf's invasion corridor away from them as the Steel Viper's was taken from them. Ever since the great Refusal War between the Wolves and Jade Falcons, the Wolves had had it coming to them, and Scott was happy that the Vipers would be the ones to finish them off. The plan was simple; the Vipers would invade Clan Wolf's corridor and sweep across it, destroying any and every Wolf in their path.

They would leave no room for escape, and would crush the Wolves once and for all. Scott and his Star would be a part of the first wave of the attack. The resistance would be fairly light, but it would still be some action. He had also heard that any units in the first wave that did not take heavy losses would also be fighting in the second wave. The invasion was to begin in three weeks while all of the forces got into position. Scott was finally there; he and his lance had landed and were en route to meet an enemy Star in combat. When the Stars met, Scott opened a channel with the enemy commander.

You and I shall fight in single combat to decide the victor of this battle. The winner claims the losers battlemechs as Isorla. The response from the enemy commander to the challenge was, "Hahaha! You are a fool. I accept your challenge. You will not survive the day Freebirth! With that, the commanders of each star were about to engage in a one on one battle, not unlike the battles Scott had just fought for his blood-name and rank. Scott knew they were in a hurry to reach Tukkayid on time for the expiration of the treaty, and therefore had chosen to speed up this battle by only having two warriors fight.

He felt he had an advantage because of his recent experiences in single combat. His opponent, in a Crossbow , came at Scott at top speed, unleashing every weapon at its disposal. Scott weathered the damage, and returned fire with his own alpha strike. The damage was tremendous, but not enough to put the enemy mech down. Scott held the trigger down and let his Medium Pulse Laser and Autocannon fire numerous more times until the enemy mech fell. Scott's Cauldron Born was a ruthless mech, and an unstoppable one it seemed, as the battle was over as quickly as it had begun.

My star will be fighting in the second wave now, Scott thought. We have not taken a single loss, and only one mech has been damaged. The planet was under the Steel Vipers' control after only five hours on planet, and plans for the next wave were already beginning. At this pace, the Vipers would sweep through Wolf Clan space and be at Tukkayid on time. Scott received word that his Star would be in the upcoming wave, and that any unit from here to Tukkayid that was not completely destroyed in combat would move on, taking any needed replacements from crippled stars.

There was no time for organization. There was a tight deadline to be followed. In three months, the Tukkayid treaty would be up, and the Steel Vipers did not want to be left behind when the invasion began. Two weeks passed, and the second wave had just taken all of its objectives. Resistance from Wolf forces was picking up as the neared the front lines. At this pace, not only would the Steel Vipers take the invasion corridor and make it to Tukkayid on time, but they would also absorb Clan Wolf into their own clan the same as four other clans had been absorbed in the past.

This was not just about getting a part of the corridor for themselves; the Steel Vipers were going to take away the whole Wolf corridor, and with it, all the forces the Wolves had. Scott's Star had already seen significant combat and even more significant success, having taken one Star in the first wave, and annihilated another two Stars completely in the second wave. Scott himself had claimed a total of five kills in the affair, including the commander of the star in the first wave. Scott had received word that his Star would also be present in the third wave, and that Scott was up for another Trial of Possession.

He would be testing for the rank of Star Captain and command of a Trinary of mechs. The third wave had struck, and Scott again found himself locked into another single combat battle to decide the outcome of the battle. Although, this time, he was not the one that had proposed it. It had been proposed by an enemy Star Colonel. He apparently was confident of himself and his mech, because he put his whole Cluster on the line against Scott's Star in just one one on one battle. Scott could understand the Star Colonel's confidence however. His Cauldron Born was about an even match in a point blank firefight, but the Supernova' s long-range, jump jets, and heavy assault mech armor gave it a gross advantage.

Fortunately, the battle was going to begin at point blank, eliminating one of the enemy mech's advantages. The fight began and cut into Scott's thoughts. Scott weathered a blow from all six of his opponent's lasers, returning fire with only his Autocannon. Scott quickly emptied his entire ammo bin, having unleashed all twenty of the shells.

The damage was tremendous, but if it had not been for the Supernova 's attack on him, Scott would not have downed the assault mech. The barrage of laser fire he thrown off Scott's aim, and the autocannon shells had dug into the leg of the other mech. They had worked their way up the leg of the mech until the last two shells dug into the vulnerable hip actuator, freezing the join and leaving it useless.

The weight was too much for the dead limb and the mech collapsed to the ground. Within hours, the rest of the planet had been secured. The third wave had been a success. Already, Scott was having his star's mechs repaired and planning for the forth wave. My people cannot stop them. I can't help you. All my forces are tied up fighting my wretched brother, and even if I could help you, I wouldn't. Not with Victor breathing down her neck. That would only serve to ruin her position even more. We had an agreement. We are going to be completely destroyed soon without reinforcements.

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And even if it did, you know as well as I do that I do not have the troops available to help you. We are losing this battle and I do not see it turning around in the future. Fortunately for you, they are not. You have seven regiments to guard the planet you are sitting on right now, while all my forces are being eaten away rapidly by the Vipers. I fear defeat is imminent. Remember this opportunity you had when the treaty of Tukkayid expires and the Vipers attack.

My brother defeated them at Strana Mechty and there they signed a treaty to end the fighting permanently. I was also going to attack when the treaty expired, but I was going to leave your territory out of my invasion route.

Valid Initial Trial Of Position Question

I doubt the Vipers will go out of their way to get around you. Scott found himself battling a point of Elementals, the five armored men were coming at him again with their armor piercing claws, lasers, machine guns, and SRMs. Scott unleashed a trio of shots from his autocannon. One of the shells tore into an Elemental, instantly crushing the fragile body inside.

Scott unleashed his Machine Guns and medium pulse laser on the other Elementals, shredding the thin armor on each of them, but downing none of them.

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Scott stopped firing the pulse laser and continued firing the paired machine guns. In a few more seconds, they had tore into and mutilated the bodies or two more Elementals. The other two Elementals had made it close enough to Scott and took to the air in an attempt to cling to Scott's mech and dig their claws into its armored hide. Scott swung his mechs arm, and caught one of the Elementals on its side, sending it flying and instantly killing the Elemental.

The other Elemental landed on Scott's cockpit. The enemy troop raised its deadly claw and prepared the strike directly through the thin cockpit armor. Scott jostled his control stick sending a massive shudder through the mech and throwing the elemental off balance. It delayed its strike in order to hang on, but Scott popped the cockpit hatch open throwing the Elemental off. Without closing the hatch, Scott placed his foot over the Elemental, which was already getting up and stepped down. With his fight over, Scott took the time to close his cockpit before observing the rest of the battle waiting for one of the other battles to end.

The Wolves had come at his Star with a full binary of elementals, fifty of the armored men. Another point of Elementals came at Scott almost immediately. Not wanting to risk another close call like the last time, Scott hit them with a full alpha strike while they were still in their tight formation. When the smoke cleared, all that remained were ashes and twisted bodies. Scott saw that the rest of his Star was not faring as well against the Elementals, but they were surviving.

All that remained of the two stars of Elementals was two points. In a desperation move, all ten of the Elementals charged on of Scott's starmates and attacked. It was at that moment that the code of Zellbriggen had been broken by the Wolves, and the Vipers were now free to gang up on the two points without any loss of honor.

The five mechs demolished the ten Elementals in seconds. The Wolves were doomed and they knew it.

Their breaking the law of Zellbriggen told everyone in Scott's lance that the Wolves were desperate. The Steel Vipers were preparing to launch their second to last wave. It could be thought of as the last wave, because the final wave only had one target, Khan Vlad Ward's planet. Before the wave was launched though, in the stages of preparation, Scott's Trial of Possession was to take place. Scott had been lined up to face a Star Captain in the present invasion, and if he won, he and his trinary would be guaranteed a spot when the invasion of the Inner Sphere, and ultimately, Terra, began.

The Star Captain would not be an easy adversary though, for he piloted a Timberwolf , one of the more deadly clan mechs. Scott ordered his tech to outfit his Cauldron Born with its Alternate B configuration. Although the heat would be greater, Scott would get much more longevity on the battlefield. The use of that configuration would also lend to Scott's long-range firepower, which he would need against the Timberwolf. The time of the Trial finally arrived, and Scott's mech was ready as usual. As Scott walked into the mechbay, his tech gave the mech on last look and then told Scott it was ready to go.

Scott climbed the ladder into his cockpit, then pulled up the ladder and secured it in its storage case. He then sat down in his command couch, strapping himself in, and plugging in his coolant vest. He closed the cockpit and then began the power up sequence. The computer's mildly feminine voice then demanded voice identification.

The Computer then demanded a code phrase. Since the voice could be simulated, all mechs required a code phrase known only to the pilot, in this case, Scott. At that moment, Scott felt his mech come to life under him. The reactor powered up and his weapons and radar came online.

Scott pushed up his throttle to 20 KPH and moved out of the mechbay. When he had cleared the doors, Scott pushed his Cauldron Born up to full speed and lumbered out to the field of battle. Ten minutes later, Scott was in position and the battle began. The two mechs were much closer than his previous trials, and Scott immediately triggered both his ER PPCs, digging a pair of deep holes into the torso of the Timberwolf.

Scott pushed his throttle up to full speed, avoiding the enemy mech's attack.

All four of the extended range lasers scorched the air behind Scott as he closed with the other pilot. Before Scott could get within range of his pulse lasers, the Timberwolf unleashed a full salvo of forty LRMs at him.

BattleTech: Trial Under Fire

Scott quickly switched his AMS on and the system automatically shot down as many missiles as it could. Still, thirty of the missiles got through, but only half of them hit. The damage was tremendous nonetheless, and Scott was barely able to keep his mech upright. In an effort to keep his mech upright, he had pushed his mech forward to counter the backward momentum of the missile impacts.

He had also put himself in range of his pulse lasers. The melting armor bubbled and boiled off of the mech. Steam rose off the damage clan mechs. But this time, Scott's weapon fire went deeper, digging into the mech's vulnerable internal structure. Scott fired the pulse lasers again, sending his heat levels into the red. The only thing keeping him conscious now was his coolant vest, but the heat was worth it.

The pulse lasers crushed numerous supports and destroyed the gyro on their path to the reactor. The reactor shielding was damaged, but not destroyed. Nevertheless, the gyroscope was gone and the Timberwolf was on its back for good. Scott had passed yet another test on his way up through the ranks. The fighting had been brutal.

Instead of moving on the Clan Wolf defenses, the Star Colonel commanding Scott's trinary had dropped Scott's men and another trinary directly on top of the defenders, creating a distraction allowing the other three trinaries to move in. Scott had never seen so much death and destruction in one place. After all the battling, two Steel Viper trinaries remained against a single binary of Wolf warriors.

Scott was still locked in battle. His bruised and battered Cauldron Born was in the worst shape he had ever seen it in, but it was still operational. It still had weapons and he intended to use them to defend himself against this final attacker. The other mech had also suffered a great amount of battle damage, but not to the same extent as Scott. Scott's Cauldron Born had lost an arm, a leg actuator, hip actuator, and his torso had been breached on the left side.

The other mech, a Stormcrow , was in almost as bad a shape. It has lost both arms, and sustained slight damage to the torso, leaving it with three ER Medium Lasers. But the smaller mech's legs and hips were undamaged, and therefore, the ton Stormcrow was still very mobile.

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The enemy pilot fired first, with all of its weapons. The lasers mangled what was left of Scott's torso armor, but did nothing more. Scott returned fire with everything he had. The pulse lasers stitched a long scar across the torso of the mech. A second later, a thick liquid began to ooze from the Stormcrow. No doubt the enemy mech pilot was feeling the results of the damage in his heat levels. The Stormcrow began to overheat, and as a result, Scott got the next shot as well. The pulse lasers dug into the hole in the enemy mech's torso, mangling myomer muscles.

The ER PPC followed the path of the lasers, but struck the fusion reactor, breaching the armor and sending the mech up in a ball of flames. That's the end of that pilot, and the end of the battle for this planet , Scott thought.

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