MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries/Fox Hunt

Fox Hunt

MechWarrior’s Campaign Journal

September 6, 3046

I have received a message from ISF agents here on New Ivaarsen. They want to lift us off-planet before the FedCom forces track us down. It looks like they’ve sent half their entire armed forces here to New Ivaarsen. I have the unit hidden in a tiny valley in the mountains, where we’ll hide until the rendezvous. We are protected from prying eyes by snow drifts and pine trees, but the mountains may have garbled the Draconis transmission.

October 17, 3046

Still waiting for the DropShip. I have examined a map of New Ivaarsen and I can guess at the garbled coordinates in the Draconis transmission. There are really only a few places that a DropShip could set down and still be safe in that area of the planet. If I’m wrong, then there will be no DropShip, and I won’t get off. I’m betting the Combine won’t send the DropShip back for a second pass if I miss it the first time.

November 2, 3046

The journey has been a disaster. I guessed incorrectly at the coordinates for the DropShip landing. The area was covered in trees and was a high avalanche risk. I triggered the avalanche when we were ambushed by a recon lance from the 19th Arcturan Guards, which helped cover our escape.

Briefing

Decoding…Decoding…Decoding…

WARNING: Decoding Failed – Transmission Data Corrupted

Kobo Fukuzawa, DC Mercenary Liaison Officer: Congratulations Mec~+rrior, your efforts have been successf%#). It is time X&~,&ou to flee before ou are captured .. Comm&nw_+lth troops.

Fukuzawa: The DropShip will wait for you through the night %#t will lift off at ^&# Once the DropShip is discovered wait+ng, the Commonwealth will ga6her as many ‘Mechs together as they can and try to attack XX. At dawn, the DropShip will no longer be safe, and will be forced to flee. However, there is another alternative. A small ^%)~ wiXl be *_@#$...

• Codename: Fox Hunt
• Planet: New Ivaarsen
• Terrain: Snowy Highlands
• Time: Pre-Dawn
• Mean Temperature: -35 Celsius
• Mission Pay: 3,000,000 plus bounty
• Expected Resistance: 1st Chasseurs, 19th Arcturan Guards
• Your Call-Sign: Strike-Alpha

Fukuzawa: Go to NAV RHO and cross the bridge there to get across the can*)+. Avoid all e@*@$my patrols and get to NAV SIGMA to es*&^pe from New Ivaarsen.

Objectives

• Target: Escape from New Ivaarsen at NAV SIGMA

During Mission

DropShip: Strike-Alpha, this is the Combine DropShip. Don’t worry about the bridge. Geo-survey shows there is another crossing point a few hundred meters to the south.

DropShip: Strike-Alpha, if you can’t get to us in time, you can still get off New Ivaarsen. Follow the road south until you meet our spy. They will get you out on their ship.

MISSION SUCCESSFUL

Aftermath

Debriefing

Code Detected – ISF protocol BV5690

Kobo Fukuzawa, DC Mercenary Liaison Officer: Your escape was successful. House Kurita will reward you well for your efforts on New Ivaarsen. You accomplished the impossible, making an entire Successor State believe that a unit smaller than a Lance was, in fact, an entire Company of ‘Mechs. You have given our Diplomatic Corps a great deal of ammunition to use against the Commonwealth. Even now, negotiations have begun for a general withdrawal of Commonwealth troops from our border.

Fukuzawa: Keep in mind that your silence is part of our contract. You must never mention the Combine’s involvement in this operation. If you do, you will not live long enough to regret your transgression.

New Ivaarsen Radio KIVA-78.3 News Transcript 11/3/46

Colonel Deltra of the 19th Arcturan Guards announced today that a small group of pirates successfully escaped from New Ivaarsen aboard an unidentified DropShip. The pirates evaded nearly 600 tons of Federated Commonwealth ‘Mechs to reach their landing zone, and the DropShip evaded six aerospace fighters on the way to its rendezvous with a JumpShip hidden behind New Ivaarsen’s smallest moon.

Colonel Deltra still believes there are a “significant number” of pirate units in the field, and that an attack on a Federated Commonwealth facility could come at any time. The 1st Chasseurs have been assigned the duty of watching over New Ivaarsen’s cities and Federated Commonwealth military posts, while Colonel Deltra and his Arcturan Guards search the frozen wastes for the pirates’ secret base.

The terrain and the weather are working against the Commonwealth. With temperatures steadily dropping as we enter the first months of deep winter, it has become more and more difficult to operate conventional engines. Fusion engine craft and ‘Mechs are the only units that remain reliable under the harsh conditions. Continued snowfall also obscures recon satellites and slows search teams. Colonel Deltra said today “I’m not confident that, if the remaining pirates stay in hiding, we will be able to find them this winter.”

Meanwhile, the war of words grows worse between the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine. Negotiations continue in an attempt to reestablish a peace treaty between the two powers. Already, the Federated Commonwealth has agreed to remove the equivalent of an entire BattleMech regiment from the Draconis-Commonwealth border. These latest peace talks are expected to last well into the summer.