Fortune Squadron 1 - Operation Rapid Mazarin 01 - "Assault on Riccorluvio"

 Operation "Rapid Mazarin"

The 13th Havenite Volunteers had been deployed to the embattled Eparchy of Velania, to the "Faithian Corridor". This swath of territory was tenuously in control of local insurgents-- the "Free Faithian Legion" which had been violently resisting the Prime Ascendency for years.

The operation called for the 13th Havenite Volunteers and 23rd Margravite Guard to expand the Faithian corridor; combined operations were aimed at the cities of Campi and Monagosco to the south, and Foialattilet and Jenti to the north.

Additionally, part of the operation's aspirations were to drive a wedge between the 6th and 8th Riofria Regiments.

To that end, Fortune Squadron had been dispatched for special operations.

"Solar Lance" --Ingvar Ragnarsson, Farquhar Ascenso, and Eftichios Tolotis--were to drop on Riccorluvio, aiming to disrupt the mech repair facilities there.

"Lunar Lance"--Nora Davies, Ceredig Clough, and Fatimah al-Hassan--were going to deploy closer to friendly lines, harassing the enemy held city of Montorano.

Mission 1

This mission was being made on "sketchy intel", which in WeaselTech impacts deployment. The better your intel, the better/more forgiving your deployment. I would be facing four initial "Blips", which represent enemy contact. In WeaselTech, you have to reveal enemies which may range from a gaggle of mooks to an ace pilot with a grudge to bear.

Solar Lance would be dropped into Sector 3, with three objectives. To the north-west (Sector 1) was an administrative building and to the south-east (Sector 4) a religious center, both of which were to be cleared/captured. To the north-east (Sector 2), the mech repair facilities which needed to be destroyed.

Left to right:

• Kell of Kells, an X-1 "Archer" mounted with MRL-4 and RPG-5 missile launchers, piloted by "Fortune-2" Farquhar Ascenso
• Hobson's Choice, an X-1 "Nieru-C" mounted with PL-a and PL-b beam cannons, piloted by "Fortune-1" Ingvar Ragnarsson
• The Human Condition, a B-1 "Shadow Hawk" mounted with an AC-3 autocannon, piloted by "Fortune-3" Eftichios Tolotis

Solar Lance dropped right on top of a patrol of four "Macaw"-class mechs, who barely had time to react before a flurry of missiles and an azure beam turned their frames into wreckage.

Kell of Kells provided overwatch as Human Condition made a beeline for Sector 1's objective; a prudent choice, as it turned out to be protected by an Elite pilot in a "Python"-class mech. Though Farquhar's missiles stripped the Elite Python of armor, Eftichios was unable to finish the enemy off with his autocannon.

Hobson's Choice squared off against a second patrol of Macaws, which proved as unwise the second time as during the landing. The brilliant flash of the PL-a beam vaporized myomer-fiber and ablative armor alike.

Eftichios' attempts to kill the Elite Python were further hampered by a new swarm of Macaws-- though the plucky pilot was able to avoid the worst of their incoming fire, his own AC-3 salvoes were also spoiled.

Not to be denied, Eftichios eventually outpaced the Macaws and cornered the Elite Python near Sector 1's objective. A trio of depleted slugs tore through what precious little armor remained on the mech, and a plume of reactor-flames signaled the enemy's end.

In Sector 4, Ingvar had little opposition securing the religious center-- even managing to extract a religious icon for return to the Faithian revolutionaries.

Similarly, Farquhar's advance on Sector 2 and the important mech bay were only nominally contested.

 By the time Farquhar emptied his missile racks into the mech bay, Eftichios had secured Sector 1's objective and skirmished the pursuing Macaws to exhaustion.

With all objectives complete--and little OpFor remaining--Solar Lance was able to exfiltrate without complication.

Aftermath & Social Scenes

In the wake of the mission Ingvar and Farquhar would advance to Level 1, while Eftichios would advance to Level 2.

The first two Social Scenes (the part of the game in which you explore the melodrama of these pilots and command staff) both occurred at a concert; I imagine some celebration being held back in Fortune Squadron's home base of Fonza.

Ingvar Ragnarsson--an impetuous and ill-tempered young man--got into a spat with the Intelligence Officer, Captain Levi Keller. Undoubtedly, Ingvar felt that their job had been made more difficult due to some deficiency in pre-op intelligence analysis. The two would become Rivals.

Farquhar Ascenso, seeing an opportunity to ruin his own rival's reputation, attempted to badmouth Ingvar to Fortune Squadron's commanding officer-- Major Ragnar Magnusson. He might have made a better decision had he recognized the patrynomic surnames, and realized that the Major was in fact Ingvar's father. The two would become Rivals.

Not everything was hot-blooded drama, however. The young and optimistic Ceredig Clough invited both Eftichios Tolotis and Nora Davies to meet up at a bar, with the aim of resolving their differences. Ceredig's relentless desire to find common ground (and at least two bottles of Fanza Reserve) would eventually settle the matter. Eftichios and Nora were persuaded to put their rivalry to an end.

And that's that for Turn 1! I'm already finding this game to have a lot more moving parts than 5 Parsecs; from the movement and revealing of Blips, the impact of staff officers during and after missions, the social system. But it's all a lot of fun and I can't think of any part which is particularly onerous.

Mission 2: The Long Patrol