BattleTech! MechWarrior!

[dinosaurJR]

Thats right; GMT - Greenwich Mean Time (Or UCT - Universal Coordinated Time) is always GMT.

CET (Central European Time) is GMT+1, but right now we are on CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is GMT+2...

Therefore 19:30 CEST = 17:30 GMT...

And Cabal, as you are In Oregon (at least I think so...), you are either GMT-7 or GMT-8, depending if you are Pacific or Mountain time...

Time CAN be fun...

 

[Terra_Inc]

Seems like the .0024 patch is finally here. Not yet on the front page, but there's a forum post named 'MP3.1.0024 final'. Go and get patched, people!

 

[Terra_Inc]

The new .0024 patch is stable and works great. A few dedis are already running .0024, so go and get patched!

 

[CABAL]

Yep, I'm at GMT-8 so 1730 GMT would be at 9:30 AM for me. I should be able to make that.

 

[Terra_Inc]

Yep, I'm at GMT-8 so 1730 GMT would be at 9:30 AM for me. I should be able to make that.

Don't forget, you'll need the new patch. My system is running .0024 so everyone who wants to connect will need to have the new patch installed.

By the way, the new patch brings some really cool features, like Narrow-Span Radar (also called LOS radar), an improved version of Target Tracking, more cool HUD features, new widescreen resolutions are supported and you get the BattleCobra 'mech!

So, looking forward to fighting against you.

 

[thunderfoot]

Extract from Battlerom BL 201006290934.45.

"Don't worry, Masters. We'll be there. The S4 informs me we have a shortage of lance commanders who are wannbe comedians. I'd hate to lose one today. Black Six, out."
"Stryker, X-Ray. Sitrep."
"Five minutes out from Alpha, X-Ray. Still running silent. No contact."
"Stryker, when you get to Alpha, Eye Dee the stores point and confirm."
"Roger, X-ray."
*Sounds of Stryker's Hellspawn moving through a field of crystals.*
"X-ray, Stryker. On point. Identified storage tanks for Oh Two and water. Looks like they have a small water processor here as well. Still no contacts. This is odd."
"Stryker, X-ray. Weapons free. I say again, weapons free. Engage."
"Roger, X-ray."
*Sounds of Hellspawn firing light autocannons and missiles. A five second pause, and then firing resumes. Several explosions in rapid succession which get louder.*
"X-ray, The Oh Two tanks are gone. Engaging processor."
"Roger."
More sounds of firing.
"Almost done X-ray. One more burst should - got it! What the..? Ohgawdogawdohgawdohgawd! MadcatMadcatMadcat! X-ray,Stryker!Contact!EyeDeeoneMadcat!Engaging!"
"Stryker, say again!"
"More of 'em! ****it, X-ray! You should have told me! Stryker reports contact with one Madcat, one Thor and one Uziel. Out!"
"Stryker, X-ray! Move to Echo Alpha Knight! Acknowledge!"
"X-ray, I'm a little busy right now. Call you later. Break. Black Six, Stryker. Moving to Knight. Alpha Lance better be ready when I get there!"

Extract from the Legion AAR report.

Leftenant Masters: ...right after the processor blew, they powered up. Almost didn't see 'em because of the interference thrown up by the explosions. A Madcat and a Thor. An Uziel joined them from the right flank. He was running flat out to get into range and the other two were turning to shoot.
Major Kelly: And what did you do next?
Leftenant Masters: I had about thirty seconds before any of them could engage me. I jumped towards the the closest one, the Thor, and engaged. I was moving to the right and he was trying to lock me up and shoot. As soon as I had tone, I fired. I destroyed his left arm and made him stumble backwards a step. I then moved to place the Thor in between myself and the Madcat so he couldn't...
Colonel Lawhorn: What you were supposed to do was hightail it back to the ambush point! A Hellspawn is a recon ride, not a brawler. Especially that one! The Legion's spent a lot of money to make that Hellspawn into the best sensor we can afford. If things hadn't turned out the way they did, you'd be working for free for a very long time. At your current paygrade. Until you were too old to pilot a wheelchair, let alone a 'Mech!
Leftenant Masters: Yes, Sir. I understand.
Colonel Lawhorn: Do you, Erik? Really? I know you're a hot hand with just about everything in the inventory. You've got a gift for fighting which quite frankly, I don't understand. You're smart enough to know when to fight and when to run. My intent was for you to lure them into the kill zone where Alpha Lance was all set up to take them down quickly. My orders were for you to shoot up the stores and draw their attention. You pretty well ignored all this, didn't you? So instead of me seeing a Hellspawn which was a little scorched being hotly pursued by three enemy 'Mechs, you decided to display some excess initiative and drop a heavy all by yourself. I commend you on the kill. But I cannot have lance leaders in the Legion who suddenly decide to win the war all by themselves.
Major Kelly: Sir, with respect. Could you have run off if you were presented with the same situation? Masters saw the Bad People were acting slowly and had an opportunity to hurt them. Those tanks nearby would never have joined in if he hadn't done what he did and we'd just have to kill them later.
Colonel Lawhorn: Major, I know Masters here is rapidly turning into your fair haired boy but how long is it until he doesn't 'get lucky this time'? Consider yourself in hack, Leftenant. You're off the duty roster until I say different. You are confined to quarters, the Mess, and your garrison duty station. You new garrison duty station will be the 'Mech Bay, where you will assist the techs in prepping the medium 'mechs I am reassigning to Stryker Lance. You are authorized to use your personnel to assist you in any way you see fit. Might as well keep all the crazies in the same place. Easier to keep an eye on them this way. Leftenant Masters, unless Legion Base is directly attacked by all the Clans at once, I absolutely, positively do not want to see you anywhere near the cockpit of a fully powered up 'mech with all weapons hot. Do you understand the orders I've given you, Leftenant?
Leftenant Masters: Yes, sir.
Colonel Lawhorn: Good. Maybe you could be a little more diligent about following my directives this time as well. One more thing, Erik. Wipe that grin off your face. Makes you look silly. This ain't no reward, boy. Those mediums do not leave Legion Base until they are at one hundred percent. And I will be the one deciding when they are.

From the personal journal of Leftenant Erik "Stryker" Masters.

Today, Stryker Lance got an upgrade. 'Nuff said.

 

[thunderfoot]

I have successfully D/L'd the MTX thingie and installed the mercs4free from MekTek! I can currently play the SP Campaign and am allowed onto the MekMatch server with version .0023! I am hoping to successfully upgrade to ver .0024 either tonite my time (17:27 CDT currently) or tomorrow.

I am going to see if I can resurrect some of my favorite variants for others to try out. MW4 is just as fun as I remember!

Now to go and show those Clanners a thing or two about combat....

 

[thunderfoot]

Somehow, I upgraded to ver .0024 while attempting a re install and this game(MW4:Mercs) still frakkin' RRROCKS! YEEEEHAAAAWWW!

Really do want to play online this weekend against someone, somewhere. I am getting reacquainted with my long disused gunnery skills by swatting bots. It is satisfying to find I haven't completely lost my touch. I am not in the same form as in my ladder tourney days, but with enough hapless victims...errr, worthy opponents, yeah, that's what I meant to write, "Worthy opponents", I should be all the way back to my "A" game in no time.

 

[Terra_Inc]

New patch! The .0025 bugfix is out. Get patched!

 

[CABAL]

I sent Terra a PM about custom decals in MW4 such as personal and company emblems and thought it would be a good idea to let everybody know how to use them. The following is almost, but not quite, a copy of the PM.

To add custom emblems, first go to your MW4Mercs directory. Next, go to content/textures and create a new folder called "customdecals" without the quotes. In customdecals, create a .txt file called cstmdcal with the following content:

ECHO is on.

Now all you have to do is add the textures. They must be in uncompressed tga format and be 32x32 pixels and placed in the cstmdcal folder. Name them whatever you want; the game will rename them by adding a number when it accesses them.

When you select your emblem at the options page, just make sure that the box by "use custom decals" is checked. Scroll through the set and you should find yours!

I'm also attaching a png to this. It is a shrunk down version of the MSFC Majestic Army emblem from the Community Fleet thread for anybody that wants to use it as an emblem. Personally, I'm using it as my company emblem.

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv290/frostmourne4/smallemblem-1.png

 

[Terra_Inc]

And another bugfix! .0026 has been released, you'll want to get patched before going online.

 

[thunderfoot]

Apologies are in order to those of you who waited (and waited, and waited, and waited) around last Saturday for Thunderfoot's Game to appear in the Mek Match server. My son decided Friday to upgrade the security on our home network without consulting me. He then botched the job to the point where everyone in the family had internet access except myself. Maybe now he'll understand why I always keep a notebook and pencil beside my laptop on my desk. If it is written down, it cannot be forgotten or misspelled. At least he may understand provided I decide to give him access before the turn of the next century.

It is not all bad, I now have 34 metres of shiny new RL45 cable providing me with access to the gateway. No more evesdropping by my neighbors and my ping rate should go down with the new wired connection. *crosses fingers*

 

[Terra_Inc]

Apologies are in order to those of you who waited (and waited, and waited, and waited) around last Saturday for Thunderfoot's Game to appear in the Mek Match server. My son decided Friday to upgrade the security on our home network without consulting me. He then botched the job to the point where everyone in the family had internet access except myself. Maybe now he'll understand why I always keep a notebook and pencil beside my laptop on my desk. If it is written down, it cannot be forgotten or misspelled. At least he may understand provided I decide to give him access before the turn of the next century.

It is not all bad, I now have 34 metres of shiny new RL45 cable providing me with access to the gateway. No more evesdropping by my neighbors and my ping rate should go down with the new wired connection. *crosses fingers*

Ah, teh network horrorz, hm? I'm glad it's fixed. So we can maybe play a game this weekend.
Anyway, I know that configuring your network to allow Mercs multiplayer can be nasty. If you should need any help with it now or later, post here or drop me a PM.

 

[thunderfoot]

Thanks for the offer, Terra. Much appreciated. The network will now be wired and all of our 'puters are Vistas 64 bit OS, The router is a Belkin and has Plug and Play capabilities and everything will now be wired. My ping rate is now 85ms, which seems comparable to the ones I've viewed in the MekMatch Servers. "Lag is BAD and must be avoided." I will try again on Saturday to host a game. The game name is "Thunderfoot's game" and the password is "biloxims". I have been doing map recons for the past two hours or so and I must say I am quite impressed with the number, diversity, and above all quality of the available maps. Should be possible to recreate some of my favorite fights from the old days quite easily.

I have a proposal to make. I would like very much to have an MSFC based MW4 clan. With specific logos and callsigns and ranks and everything!
Not so much to go forth and engage in glorious combat in the name of MSFC(yet), as to simply have some online quality time with people we know and like. Add in a VOIP app, such as TeamSpeak, and one has a very enjoyable, cheap way to spend a couple hours. And in this economy, cheap is very good. I haven't yet thought of a good name for the clan. I have only the most basic ideas as of yet. They are as follows:

- People are assigned to a Section(two 'Mechs) and a Lance(four 'Mechs).

- Best MechWarrior based on training scores and leadership abilities leads the Section. Same for the Lance. Please note this means being in the clan longer than anyone else does not automatically make one a leader. I learned a very long time ago one is elevated to a position of leadership so one can serve those whom are led.

- When possible and practical, Sections and Lances train and fight together.

- When new people join the clan, they are assigned a mentor. This mentor is responsible for them making it to meetings, training, and matches. This mentor should not be the next available person but someone who has the time and energy to ensure newbie MechWarriors enjoy and interact actively with the rest of the clan. Upon certification, the new member is assigned to a Section and Lance immediately. Even if this makes a Section or Lance over strength.

- Ranks
MechWarrior, Basic = MW(b)
MechWarrior, 2d class = 2MW
MechWarrior, 1st class = 1MW

Corporal = CPL
Sergeant = SGT
Senior Sergeant = SSGT
Sergeant Major = SGM
Command Sergeant Major = CSM

Leftenant = LT
1st Leftenant = 1LT
Captain = CPT
Leftenant Commander = LCDR
Commander = CDR
Colonel = COL
General = GEN

Now if I just had some spiffy looking rank insignia...(hint hint. lol)

- Rank is not awarded based upon time in the clan but rather upon service rendered to the clan. Match and training scores will also be considered. When someone is promoted, there is a two month waiting period prior to their next promotion. This is to ensure we all do not wind up at the rank of General at the same time. This should also ensure all of our various talents and skills are utilized.

- Promotions require approval by a simple majority vote of the clan membership. Lance Commanders can award promotions up to the rank of Corporal within their own Lance. Promotions beyond the rank of Corporal require a vote by the clan membership.

MISSION STATEMENT: The purpose of ______ is to promote fellowship and good gaming manners and practices while playing MechWarrior 4 online with others for enjoyment and entertainment.

UNIT MOTTO: Haven't thought of one yet but since Boss and Boss Lady are Aussies, with the incomparable ability to mangle the Queen's English as only true Aussies can in pronunciation and phraseology, I thought something uniquely from Down Under which is not already badly over used would be nice. This means, "G'Day, Mate", is out although if I could get my mech to say this just before launching an Alpha Strike, it would be verah kewel. lol

 

[Terra_Inc]

Thanks for the offer, Terra. Much appreciated. The network will now be wired and all of our 'puters are Vistas 64 bit OS, The router is a Belkin and has Plug and Play capabilities and everything will now be wired. My ping rate is now 85ms, which seems comparable to the ones I've viewed in the MekMatch Servers. "Lag is BAD and must be avoided." I will try again on Saturday to host a game. The game name is "Thunderfoot's game" and the password is "biloxims". I have been doing map recons for the past two hours or so and I must say I am quite impressed with the number, diversity, and above all quality of the available maps. Should be possible to recreate some of my favorite fights from the old days quite easily.

I have a proposal to make. I would like very much to have an MSFC based MW4 clan. With specific logos and callsigns and ranks and everything!
Not so much to go forth and engage in glorious combat in the name of MSFC(yet), as to simply have some online quality time with people we know and like. Add in a VOIP app, such as TeamSpeak, and one has a very enjoyable, cheap way to spend a couple hours. And in this economy, cheap is very good. I haven't yet thought of a good name for the clan. I have only the most basic ideas as of yet. They are as follows:

- People are assigned to a Section(two 'Mechs) and a Lance(four 'Mechs).

- Best MechWarrior based on training scores and leadership abilities leads the Section. Same for the Lance. Please note this means being in the clan longer than anyone else does not automatically make one a leader. I learned a very long time ago one is elevated to a position of leadership so one can serve those whom are led.

- When possible and practical, Sections and Lances train and fight together.

- When new people join the clan, they are assigned a mentor. This mentor is responsible for them making it to meetings, training, and matches. This mentor should not be the next available person but someone who has the time and energy to ensure newbie MechWarriors enjoy and interact actively with the rest of the clan. Upon certification, the new member is assigned to a Section and Lance immediately. Even if this makes a Section or Lance over strength.

- Ranks
MechWarrior, Basic = MW(b)
MechWarrior, 2d class = 2MW
MechWarrior, 1st class = 1MW

Corporal = CPL
Sergeant = SGT
Senior Sergeant = SSGT
Sergeant Major = SGM
Command Sergeant Major = CSM

Leftenant = LT
1st Leftenant = 1LT
Captain = CPT
Leftenant Commander = LCDR
Commander = CDR
Colonel = COL
General = GEN

Now if I just had some spiffy looking rank insignia...(hint hint. lol)

- Rank is not awarded based upon time in the clan but rather upon service rendered to the clan. Match and training scores will also be considered. When someone is promoted, there is a two month waiting period prior to their next promotion. This is to ensure we all do not wind up at the rank of General at the same time. This should also ensure all of our various talents and skills are utilized.

- Promotions require approval by a simple majority vote of the clan membership. Lance Commanders can award promotions up to the rank of Corporal within their own Lance. Promotions beyond the rank of Corporal require a vote by the clan membership.

MISSION STATEMENT: The purpose of ______ is to promote fellowship and good gaming manners and practices while playing MechWarrior 4 online with others for enjoyment and entertainment.

UNIT MOTTO: Haven't thought of one yet but since Boss and Boss Lady are Aussies, with the incomparable ability to mangle the Queen's English as only true Aussies can in pronunciation and phraseology, I thought something uniquely from Down Under which is not already badly over used would be nice. This means, "G'Day, Mate", is out although if I could get my mech to say this just before launching an Alpha Strike, it would be verah kewel. lol

Great idea! You can't know, but me and CABAL discussed something like this during our recent Mercs match. We came up with the name "Majestic Tigers", which we liked quite a bit.
If this really comes into existence I will try to participate. I'm well trained, you know...

 

[thunderfoot]

"Majestic Tigers" is pretty good. Anyone else got any suggestions for a name?

 

[thunderfoot]

For those whom are interested, Thunderfoot's Game (version .0026) is online on the Kurita server at 0800 CDT(1400 GMT) today. Time is two hours. Password is biloxims. Later on today there will be another one at 1400 CDT(2000 GMT) which will also be two hours in length. Same password.

 

[thunderfoot]

MC2 better missions

have run into a serious snag on this. Cannot improve the Stock Missions. They will not work without decompiling and recompiling the exe. No point in making a mod for release which violates the EULA. The improved missions do work with both Magic's and Wolfman's Expansions. The AI is now brutal, quick and above all ruthless. Anything nearby will pile on the second you open fire and they will chase you until you are dead.

Been trying to get MW4 online to work. Cannot seem to get the settings right yet to host a game. Gonna do some reading and thinking this week about this. I have discovered the folks at MekTek have made a game breaker. It is the Wildcat 'Mech. Equipped with dual RAC20s, this thing wins about 95% of the time. No matter the quality of the pilot. I really do not like facing them and when I used one, it did not seem to matter what my opponents did. They all died rather quickly and it got boring after a while. It is a cool looking 'Mech and all. it just us too imbalanced to play one on one with. Add in the Jump Jets and this thing cannot be defeated.

 

[Starfox1701]

And that is the reason their is no RAC20 in table top BT. A weapon that is mech portable with a proabable 120 DP a round is broke as the day is long. bigest RACs in TTBT are the RAC5. Have you tested it in conjunction with the new mech data I sent you?

 

[thunderfoot]

Send 'em again, please. Either I never got them or I deleted them when I was purging my emails. The second is the more likely.

 

[thunderfoot]

Forgot to post these earlier. They are pics of my 'Mech in MW4 Online. She's a real beauty, this one is. Fast and lethally elegant. Been working her pretty hard this weekend. Even with all the screwups I've had.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Thanks to CABAL and Terra_Inc, I have been able to make some custom badges for my 'Mechs. The one seen here is a low visibility version. Tagged myself as, "[MSFC]thundrfoot" in game and have, "MajesticSciFiCentral" as my unit. Should be easy for someone to Google this way. I also have only the coolest badge ever suggested by CABAL. I have the Brotherhood of NOD symbols as badges. Both the original from CnC '95 and the one from CnC 3. Usually wear the CnC '95 version and one of my MSFC badges at the same time. Causes some raised eyebrows, I'll tell you. Got shot right out the saddle once while recruiting. Head shot from a Heavy Gauss Rifle. This was not good.
He bloody well better register right quick! Or else!

 

[CABAL]

Another name that Terra and I briefly considered for a clan was MSFC First Regiment.

For rank insignia, we could use the old ones from the site if Maj still has them lying around. Failing that we could make our own. Maybe we could use the style of the site as a basis, like I did with the Community Fleet/Majestic Army thingy.

I think that the clan should have several different company emblems so that they are all clearly for the clan but people can choose their favorite.

As a side note, I probably wouldn't work as a mentor for new members because I'm only available half the week now because of my schedule.

 

[thunderfoot]

The old rank insignia would work well, provided they are still available. As to the mentoring thingie, that's best left up to the mentor. It isn't necessary to spend a lot of time, provided the time ones does spend is productive. As to names for the clan, I have some suggestions. Some are serious, others less so. I like a little fun in my games and some people take online gaming waaay too serious.

- Minions of Maj
- Katala's Kommandoes
- United Federation of Planets Marine Corps (UFPMC)
After all, most of us are here because of Star Trek, lol.
- Roo Rollers
- Drunken Klingons
Hoo boy! Bet we'd all fight better after some bloodwine and gagh, lol.
- Da Mek Boyz
- Da Mek Gurlz
- Viper Squadron 17(U just know I couldn't pass up a BSG reference, right?)
- Enterprisers *crickets*
- Aussie Strike Personnel (ASP)
- Majestic's Assault/Strike Kommando (MASK)
- Walking Thunder
- The Lightnings (with a nod to David Drake)
- The Assimilated
- Da Mek Peepuls
- The Wraiths

This is all I can think of right now. It's almost my bedtime and my brain stopped functioning about 45 minutes ago.

As to badges My low-vis badge is the MSFC logo and my registry number. Pretty easy to do and the number tells us who you are without letting anyone else know (sneaky! me like!)

 

[Terra_Inc]

Been trying to get MW4 online to work. Cannot seem to get the settings right yet to host a game. Gonna do some reading and thinking this week about this.

Don't forget, if you use a router to access the internet, you'll have to forward several ports to make it work. There's an article at the mektek forums - I'd give you a link if it was allowed. Just search for Getting MP3.1 Online.

 

[CABAL]

A game is up on the Steiner servers named MSFC Combat Zone. The password is firestorm. My Mech and I are awaiting targets.

 

[Starfox1701]

Files sent Thunderfoot

 

[CABAL]

A mock up of possible rank insignia based on the ranks presented by Thunderfoot.

Spoiler: Ranks

Cadet
MechWarrior, Basic =

MechWarrior, 2d class =

MechWarrior, 1st class =

Enlisted
Corporal =

Sergeant =

Senior Sergeant =

Sergeant Major =

Command Sergeant Major =

Officer
Leftenant / Lieutenant =

1st Leftenant / 1st Lieutenant =

Captain =

Leftenant Commander / Lieutenant Commander =

Commander =

Colonel =

General =

 

[thunderfoot]

As usual, CABAL, you've taken a half baked idea and turned it into something wonderful. These are perfect!

 

[thunderfoot]

Been working MC2 lately and I have some questions for people to answer.

- Since the Stock Game is very limited in terms of both weapons and 'Mechs, is there any point to modding for it?

- Since Wolfman's Expansion v.35 includes nearly all of Magic's 'Mechs and weapons, is it necessary to make a mod in versions for each?

- Wolfman's Expansion includes some rather weird, for lack of a more polite term, weapons. Should these be listed as available for any future missions or campaigns? I have rather ruthlessly purged them from my own install because they are not 'canon'. (MIGAWD! He used the 'C' word! Must be really serious! lol)

- I find I like Wolfman's Expansion for the game, but I prefer Magic's for the weapon sizes. Always thought Magic got it right and it is possible using his ballistic weapons to recreate a TT Shadow Cat exactly. Which something not currently doable in either Stock or Wolfman's versions. Can Magic's compbas(Weapon specs) file be used with Wolfman's Expansion?

- Been so busy play testing and dealing with Real Life, I've not worked on the Black Legion Campaign for awhile but it still is moving slowly. Are there any other books or BT stories which someone would like to see done for MC2?
Not really anything grand or sweeping just yet. Not quite up to the task. But there are hundreds of choices available even with this restriction.

- Been trying to learn how to make new 'Mechs by kitbashing what is currently available. The results have been dismal, to say the least. My current wish list is to improve some of the ones already available and add in a couple of favorites. I am trying to make a Grizzly and a Kingfisher and am trying make a few more more closely resemble their MW4 counterparts. Does anyone have any 'Mechs they'd like to see improved or added?

 

[thunderfoot]

With apologies for the double post, I present the next installment of Fighting for S****s

From the personal journal of Leftenant Erik "Stryker" Masters.

Finally out of hack with the Old Man. Knew he couldn't stay mad at me forever. I am too good at this for him to sideline me for very long. What is more, he and I are more alike than either cares to admit. He was more upset I didn't save him any targets than he was I disobeyed orders. The Lance has been drawing all the hard assignments which call for cold blooded killers lately. Ben and Izzy have no complaints at all, either. The bonus cheques for kills have made them both pretty happy. I suspected Ben was a better shot than he let on but he has taken this to new heights lately. By making a specialty of kneecapping pirate 'Mechs. Dropped two of them by himself on the last mission. And Izzy. Hoo boy! Three days ago she ran right into the middle of a bunch of tanks and dared them to do something about it. The leader of the pirate tank lance took one shot and then Izzy blew him right out his hatch without even scorching the paint on the vehicle. The rest just ran. Spent a pleasant afternoon playing hide and seek. We found them all. Stryker - 5, Pirates - 0. Awwww!

The Shadow Cat is a Clan 'Mech. I am not fond of Clan 'Mechs. But the comm system and EW package him make him an excellent lance command 'Mech. Then there is the Gauss Rifle. If ever there was a one shot one, kill weapon on the modern battlefield, it would be a Gauss Rifle. Only twenty four rounds, so every single one has to count. The three medium lasers are fine for a medium 'Mech, But the slug thrower counts for something special. The fire control needs to be zeroed a little further out. A slug trajectory is ballistically flat between the muzzle and 750 metres. All one need do is place the reticule center of mass at anything at seven five zero or less and pull the trigger. Bang. Wonder if that techie ever got around to finishing up the subcalibre projectile idea he was working on. That would double the range and the penetration. Ah well, guess I cannot have everything.

The Jump jets are a new thing for me as well. Never had a jumper before. First time I tried it, Izzy nearly hurt herself laughing over the comm at the complete lack of grace in my landing. Lack of grace my arse, I toppled over like I'd been shot. Took a bit to get up, too. Ben said nothing, but the grin I saw on the comm screen wasn't completely reserved for his new Bushwacker. Izzy has piloted an Uziel before so it was sensible to place her there. Fuzzys tend to run very hot, though. So we've downgraded her to two large lasers and dropped the machine guns. Allowed us to add some armor to what has always been a thin envelope and now that the heat issues are under control, she's much more effective. Traded some knockdown for some staying power, true, but having Izzy all the way through the fight more than makes up for it.

Ben's Bushwacker is a good all round 'Mech. Jack of all trades and master of none. He can do pretty much anything. The drawback is he does nothing very well. Upgrading his weapons loadout has caused some heat issues and the old fire control system keeps telling him he cannot engage at the new longer ranges. The Old Man came by and saw what we've done and he said he'd look into buying some better F/C 'puters for Ben, but they are really expensive and it would have to come out of Ben's share. Screw it, he's one of mine and he needs to be able to hit what he can see. My parents haven't locked me out of my accounts yet, so I'll reimburse the Colonel and not worry about it. Having lots of money is no good anyway if you're dead. Besides, it's just money. I can always get more if I need to. Mom won't be happy with me, but she will give me more cash if I ask.

Scuttlebutt in the Mess is some Steiner reps contacted the Old Man about a new contract somewhere in the Alliance. Corvatti's CFO invited the Colonel to dinner the other night and supposedly there were some Lyrans in mufti there as well. It's all speculation right now, but if the Alliance wants us for something, then our pirate hunting days may soon be at an end. Good. Now whenever the pirates positively ID my 'Mech, they either run like scared rabbits or surrender immediately. Even ran across the two I spared while making a courier run to the EPW compound. From the way they acted you'd have thought I was Aleksandr Kerenskii himself come back to punish them personally. Been here before and it is just as dull and boring as it was the last time. One of the never to be sufficiently ****ed Clans even gave me a few lines in that silly poem of theirs. The Clanner who killed O'Reillie offered to become my bondsman willingly. Right before I shot him between the eyes. I hate them all for what they did. I would gladly and without hesitation nuke every single one of them right out of existence. We eliminated the Jaguars and made peace the rest of those mutants. This is a mistake and I very much think my great grand children will pay dearly for Victor's misguided sense of compassion. The Clans are not human and cannot be trained or trusted to live with humans in peace. The only thing they'll ever really understand is, "My gun is much bigger than yours and I will hurt you badly if you do not leave me and mine alone." Even then you have to remind them of this every day because they are too stupid to remember it longer than five minutes.

Badger and I have become very good friends. He and Mandrill seem to think I am something special. I suspect his hanging around me is more because Mandrill wants to stay informed about what I'm doing rather than anything else. But still for an Admin puke, he's good people. He has a taste for cards and always seems to know who has the best hooch. He's pretty sharp for a card player as well. Try as I might, the shadow version of me never shows up for a hand of poker and I end up being just a little more behind most nights. I think Badger lets me win one once in while just to keep me on the hook. The booze has been helpful lately. The dreams are starting to come back. Not every night. Not yet. But they are coming back more often. Good hooch helps me pass out. And when I pass out, I don't dream. I really should go and talk to Psych Section right now before it gets worse. But like most 'Mech Jocks, I am too prideful for my own good most days. I can handle it so far. Famous last words.