7
Assault, Caustic Valley, group queue. Our group is a mish-mash of different groups, we're up against a full 12-man. We start up, and run to the center preparing for the right-hand circling attack. A pair of lights run ahead to scout. They've already found a couple slow-moving enemies in the open. We're all advancing to try to pick them off, when one of our assaults types in teamchat "We're going to need help getting to middle".
Of course, an organized 12-man had their fast-moving clan mechs move to cut them off. We have two DWs and a KC pinned behind a pillar; not wussy pinned, but legitimately drawing lots of firepower. The 12-man had the same idea we did, except they were faster. I make the call in chat, we're going to cover them, and my group of 4 all turn around, and double back.
We arrive on the scene, hugging the edge of the calderra, our assaults behind a pillar on the other side of a large, dangerously open hillside. We push up, there's the enemy lance. ER Lasers, Guass, LRMs, and all that fun stuff. We start trading fire.
"You're covered, move, now!" I quickly glance across, the assaults aren't moving. They're still hiding. Well, I have some less than savoury words. "We *bleep* came back to *bleep* cover your sorry *bleep* *bleep* not so you can hide behind a *bleep* pillar like *bleep* *bleep*".
I'm sure most people would say, 'well then, we're not helping you'. But much to our surprise, the three of them came out and pushed up the hill. They drew fire, but my lance held firm. We weren't poking, we weren't hiding, my lance stood out in the open drawing LRMs and lasers and firing back at anyone who poked. We said we would cover them, and we did as we said. The first Dire pulled up alongside us, when suddenly, to my horror, an enemy Atlas DDC and Dire Wolf pushed over the hill from the Calderra, me in their sights.
I torso twisted hard, turned, hugging one of the nubs that made up the edge of the calderra I circled around desperate to hide from the enemy DW's UAC5s. I checked the calderra, and found it empty. I jump-jetted atop the nub, and what I saw before me is what made this one of the best matches, ever.
Clearly the 12-man shot-caller had made the all-important call; PUSH. With my lance, united with the assault lance, and our third lance finally arriving on the scene: all hell broke loose. I saw enemy lights running the low side of the hill trying to encircle us, Hunchbacks dueling Timberwolves, a jumping Victor ripping into a Stormcrow, enemies and friendlies intermingled in a dance of duels, focus, and fire. UAVs for both sides were high in the air, missiles flying every which way. Our King Crab and Guass/PPC DW teamed up to rip the enemy DDC to peices. Our UAC5 DW was going head-to-head with the enemy UAC5 DW point-blank in a beautiful ballistic fireworks show.
I resisted the urge to cry... just. Bringing myself back to the task at hand, I blew my coolshot and alpha'd into the enemy DW. Between myself and the friendly Dire, the enemy DW went down quickly. Low on armour I stayed on the outskirts of the brawl, but quickly identified which mechs needed to die. I managed to nail their missile Battlemaster with an airstrike and focused him down quickly, apparently earning myself a bounty as two enemies ran up the hill toward me. I played ring-around the rosy around the nub just out of reach for the enemy Timberwolf, and downed the Firestarter as it ran infront of me. I don't think he expected me to be a crack-shot (or perhaps very lucky). Making full circle around the nub, our friendly King Crab pegged the Timber, I turned for the kill-
When the dust settled, we had won 12-8. Myself and a lancemate, along with the UAC DW and the KC had survived, barely.
Heck of a fight, though!
