COMPLETED: It's a Bug Hunt, Man! (October, 3023 - December, 3023)

Your Jumpship crew is very leary of making the Jump into a relatively unknown sector of the Periphery. The Jump data provided by Comstar is exemplary, however, and you arrive in the Periphery region known as the Minos Cluster, so named because of the seemingly vast quantities of valuable ore that is predicted to be found in the various planets, planetoids and asteroid belts.

Again, the Comstar data is accurate and your Dropship is able to make a slow and uneventful burn to the surface of Planetoid X9532R-Q. From orbit the Planetoid looks blurry, like it is slightly out of focus. The reason for this is apparent as you descend through the atmosphere. A fine layer of dust permeates the entire lower atmosphere of the Planetoid. Once close to the ground, you can see an undulating terrain with many crevasses and outcroppings, virtually devoid of vegetation.

The Comstar Explorer Corps scientific headquarters is a pre-fab ferro-crete and alloy structure, consisting of administrative and research buildings, along with what must be an infirmary, mess hall and several barracks buildings. There is also a small Mech repair bay. The entire campus is surrounded by a 12 meter wall, with gates at two ends.

Once safely on the ground, you are met by Comstar administrative personel and instructed where you can park your Mechs and Vehicles and also where your living quarters are located. You notice that there is another Mech force already on the surface. There are 2 lances of parked Battlemechs in the depot, painted white, black and red and decorated with various insignia like Jokers, Poker Chips and Card Hands. You later learn this is another mercenary unit, called The Willde Karrdes, hired by Comstar on the same contract, and apparently they have just arrived as well.

Once your gear is stowed, the officers are called to the HQ building of the outpost and given a briefing on Planetoid X9532R-Q and the expected opposition. The surface atmosphere, as you've already noticed, is filled with microscopic dust particles that make it difficult to breath for extended periods. It is advised that you wear a filter mask as much as possible while outdoors. According to the Comstar topographical survey, most of the Planetoid surface is rocky desert, with a few small areas of sand dunes. The elevation differential of the planet is relatively small, so Mechs should be able to travel just about anywhere without having to navigate mountainous terrain or large crevasses.

Now on to the fun part! The indigenous species of the Planetoid are an insectoid race that the Comstar Explorers derisively call 'Bugs'. Scientific classification of the 'Bugs' is underway. Who knows, if one of you cozy up to a lab rat you just might get a 'Bug' named after you! So far, the Explorer Corps has encountered three distinctly different 'species' of large 'Bugs', although admitedly they may just be different life-stages of one species. The 'species' have been temporarily named in the order they were encountered and are as follows:

Bug Alpha: These are the smallest of the large 'Bugs' and measure in at just about 6 meters. They have 6 legs, like all of the 'Bugs', with a hard chitonous body and powerful, scissor like jaws. In addition, the front legs of Bug Alpha end in long, razor sharp serrated blades that are able to cut through Mech and Vehicle armor.

Bug Beta: Larger than Bug Alpha and without the sharp fore-legs are Bug Beta. They are the ambushers and hunters of the 'Bug' race and are capable of traversing over 200 meters in a single jump. They also have liquid filled sacks just under their jaw that can expel a flammable substance up to 90 meters. The liquid is ignited by Bug Beta by vigorously striking its mandibles together to produce a spark.

Bug Gamma: Bug Gamma seems to be a leader class of the 'Bugs'. They are much larger than either Bug Alpha or Bug Beta and can reach weights of up to 40 tons. Their bodies are wider and their movement is slowed by their need to drag their bloated bellies on the ground. The bellies are bloated becasue they carry some sort of ionized plasma that Bug Gamma can spurt great distances. In addition to the plasma blast, Bug Gamma also has a spiny tail that is capable of launching a remarkable number of sharp projectiles with amazing velocity.

There may be other 'species' of 'Bug' on the planet as well. In fact several Explorers have reported seeing flying creatures that move at remarkable speed, but none have been captured or observed for long enough to determine much about them.

While on planet, your unit is expected to have at least one lance patrolling the immediate area of the outpost on a rotating schedule with The Willde Karrdes, as well as one lance on-call in case of an attack on the outpost (so basically 8 hours patrol, 8 hours sleep, 8 hours on-call). Of course, you pay is determined by the number of large 'Bugs' you kill so you can try to push that schedule however you wish.

Would you like to know more? <CLICK!>

"Can a helicopter fly in this shit?"

Lol, you got it! Yes a Helo can fly in this atmosphere, although long range visibilty is limited.

Your unit got it's first look at the 'Bugs'. On a perimiter patrol the command lance was attacked by a horde of the creatures, including several Beta Bugs and a Gamma Bug. All were defeated, bringing the unit kill total up to 16.

Stirred up by new meat on planet, the 'Bugs' launched an attack at the Comstar Research Outpost and it's up to Scooby's Scrappers to defend it.

The Bug assault on the CEC Outpost was a failure. Only a couple of the enemy were able to penetrate the compound and were quickly dispatched. The fields surrounding the HQ are littered with blood and guts of the assaulters, to the immense pleasure of the Comstar Scientists.

Over the next 2 days your Mechs are put to the somewhat degrading tasks of hauling the carcasses of the larger bugs into the research facility for autopsy and study. Too bad you couldn't have found crews for those tanks on Solaris!

Just when it looks like things are getting back to normal, all officers are summoned to the Comstar HQ building urgently. Once there the senior Comstar Adept informs you that an unidentified Union Class Dropship has been detected making a rapid burn for the surface of the Planetoid. No scheduled transports are due for over 3 weeks and the spacecraft has ignored repeated hail attempts from Comstar communications, therefore, it must be assumed to be hostile.

Comstar wants you to move to intercept any units leaving the Dropship away from the HQ, stating that collateral damage is inevitable if a pitched Mech battle takes place around the facility. One lance from either Scooby's Scrappers or The Willde Karrdes must remain to defend the HQ. That leaves you with the option of moving now with the 2 active lances (Scooby's Command Lance and The Karrde's Command Lance - Archer, Marauder, Hatchetman, Grasshopper) and being able to set-up an ambush (you will be allowed to deploy anywhere on the map ahead of the enemy and be given a pretty good idea of where they will be coming from) or waiting for a third lance (either your second lance or Karrde's) to power up (you will start at opposite ends of the map from the enemy and engage in a standard battle).

Ambush the mutha fuckers!

Colonel,

If we continue with this mission and kill or capture this "Brain BUg", perhaps we could renogiate to get the salvage from the invading forces instead of the cash. We could use those Mech's to fill out our company, and just hire some disposessed Mech Warriors when we get to Solaris.

Captain Ghent