ISN NEWS FLASH

Mon. Dec 24, 3049: Ship Company opponent’s cry “government subsidies for decades” as company struggles to recover from Succession Wars.

WEEKLY SCREENSHOT 29!

Thursday screenshot time!

Got a tonne of PM's, emails, and so on about people loving the Fang/Flame Dragon Hero Mechs, so I though I would post a shot of one here for all to see. I added a wintery scene for some extra holiday spirit. I'm digging the teeth - makes me feel like a Flying Tiger.

Feel free to link pics of your own Fang/Flame - we'd love to see them!

Here's to a happy holidays, and I hope to see you in game this friday for another twitch.tv event with the guys at NGNG!

If you have requests for future shots, let us know!

Cheers,
The MechWarrior Online Team

ISN NEWS FLASH

Wed. Dec 19, 3049: Alliance Defenders Limited board to discuss possible expansion into vehicle manufacturing for Alliance Mechanized Corps.

BATTLEMECH 19: ORION

“Sir, I feel I must again protest that you do this alo-“
“Noted.”
“This far into the Per-“
“I am aware this is a non-sanctioned drop – if you do not want to be here, feel free to return to the dropship.”
“It’s not that sir, we are simply worried about your exposure this far out. They may just be pirates, Sir, bu-“
“I said noted, son, but if I am going to outfit my pilots in this design, I want to test it myself. Your engagement reports do not give me the info that a real engagement will. Out.”

His lancemates immediately formed a defensive triangle around him – two in front and one in back.

“I may be an old Mechwarrior, but I am not an invalid. Get into a real formation. Now.”

Chastised, they moved back. Operations drilled into them, the Commando moved ahead to scout, while the support Orion moved to the side to screen for attackers. Another Orion held back, ready to support. Getting a feel for his Orion, he scanned left and right, ready for a contact report from his scout.

Suddenly, red triangles popped up with the familiar ‘ping’ following.

“Targets spotted sir, looks like.. six enemy Mechs. Five, wow, Kyudo-D-01s held together by duct tape and tinfoil, and.. a Mackie. I cannot believe I am seeing this. Kyudos are ’custom’ with a medium laser and SRM-4 each. All with very patchy armour, awful colours and skulls – definitely pirates sir.”
“Roger, I’m on the Mackie. Priority targets are the eastern-most Kyudos, Stevenson. Darius, Johnson, you’re on the western-most. I will join you shortly.”

Fifteen LRM shots sailed out of his Mechs chest, as 15 in his side view sailed off towards an unfortunate Kyudo. As he crested the small hill, another 15 LRMs arced out, and the cobbled-together Mackie was already showing red armour. As the second volley hit, the Mech lost its left arm. Closing into range, he let loose with his two medium lasers with his SRMs, and then an AC/10. Just as the Mackie turned to fire, the AC/10 round hit the right torso, blowing up the non-CASEd ammo, rocketing the Mech to the ground sideways – it did not return to its feet. One Kyudo already a smoldering ruin, he turned and saw its twin. Watching as the pilot attempted to get behind cover of the LRMs, he got a glancing shot on the centre torso with his lasers as It disappeared behind the rock - only to see it suddenly fly outward, flat on its face – centre torso nearly cored through. It apparently had not seen the other Orion as it flanked him, somehow, though the AC/10 had certainly not needed a second chance.

“One Kyudo down, two headed your way sir!”

He hooked left, scanning for the approaching enemies – spotting one as it came out from behind a small hillside. His medium lasers drew across its chest, and two of his four SRMs managed to hit the Mech as well. Leading carefully, he fired his AC/10 as the first enemy laser hits began to draw across him. As if a puppet with its strings cut, the Kyudo dropped forward, unmoving – an AC/10 sized hole almost dead centre on it.

“Sir that shot was-“
“Cut the chatter, lad.”

Veteran senses kicking in, he pivoted left and backwards, in time to see the other Kyudo jump out and fire both the medium laser and SRM-4. He replied with three of his four SRMs across the Mech, and two parallel lines of lasers down its left leg – his AC/10 round narrowly missing. He abruptly stopped moving forward and to the left, jammed backwards, then swung right, bringing the circling light Mech into his crosshairs again. This time the AC/10 hit its mark, and the Kyudos leg buckled. The twin medium lasers and SRMs finished the job, cutting both legs off of the Mech.

Shattering the silence, ‘Betty’ calmly informed him:

WARNING! INCOMING MISSILES.

“And so it begins, friends. Let us see what we can really do.”

SERVERS DOWN FOR PATCH - 10AM PST

Just a reminder everyone - we're patching today at 10AM PST (in about 30 minutes), till around 1PM PST. That means the servers will be DOWN for that time. Thanks for your patience everyone, and have a great patch day!

ISN NEWS FLASH

Mon. Dec 17, 3049: ComStar presents supposed path of already year-long expedition to find 295th Division ruins and hopefully Exodus Road.

WEEKLY REVIEW - DEC. 14TH

Weekly Review – Dec. 14th

 December is just sailing by!

We had Ask the Devs 28 – Answers up first and I hope everyone found some new information there. The next one is up for questions, so head on over :)

Due to a very popular response to our American Thanksgiving MC sale, we’ve decided to run another one from Dec 13th to the 18th, this time on all MC purchase options! That means 20% extra MC on all packages! This was a heavily requested option, and we're glad to give it to you. So go enjoy!

Yesterday we had an attack on our forums, but we quickly sorted that out. You can read more about ithere. We’re on it, and are happy to report that no passwords were stolen. And again, we don’t even have your credit card information on site, so it’s safe.

Oh and for new and veteran players out there, Penny Arcade wrote up an excellent Pilot Safety Information Guide that you can check out here. You get a free day of premium time for it, so what are you waiting for?

Also, today I (Garth) will be doing a ride-along with the NGNG crew on twitch.tv at 2pm PST. We hope you can join in and watch – see just how badly I can make them lose!

Thanks for tuning in, and we hope you all have a great weekend!

Cheers,
The MechWarrior Online Team