Highlighting the October 3334 Axe Attacks
Another event was announced. Axe Bots this time. All right, so you could bring up to two other Mechs as well, provided they had a weight of no more than 20 tons each.
The last Axe contests I had used a pair of Novums to good effect, but now the Commissars would be given their time in the limelight. Problem was; I had none.
What I had was a trio of Axe Bots, and some Shocklites, I could of course use the War Horse instead, but...
My reminiscence was cut short as Bruno approached. "You are not thinking of joining up in this event are you?" He snorted "Not that you would have a chance anyway, using just a single line"
This brought my ire up. "Oh Yeah, I could just go ahead and win, but then you would moan and complain and..." I broke off as he started a deep belly laugh that eventually had him rolling on the floor. I was not amused by this mirth, and ended it by pouring a bucket of water over him.
He got up, still smiling, and handed me a sheaf of now soaked papers. "Here are the meetings you must get to to secure parts the coming week. But how about a wager? If you win this event I promise no complaints for the rest of the year, but if you don't win, no more events for you this year?"
I paused, but seeing his smirk, I decided to wipe it off his face by winning. "It is a deal" We shook hands, and I slowly realized what I had agreed to.
Not that winning would be impossible, but to have any chance I would have to stock up on supers and be ready to hammer home counterattacks for the whole scramble. When the opponents had up to 40 Levels on me, and could bring close to 40 Mechs to the table I was in for a world of hurt.
Registry was as usual a pain in the posterior, but finally we were let inside the gates. Most of the contenders were still in main, so securing a spot on the slopes wasn't a problem. Then it was back to the compound and administrative duties.
At t-3 hours something, Lt Lee, my XO, entered the office. She looked quizzing at me and asked if I was ready. My lifted eyebrow made her push the schedule towards me. I had a five hour meeting with suppliers starting in twenty minutes.
That cheating bas... He had set me up! Only microscopic chance was to make a detour to the mountain, grab the top and hope Rijnk and the rest could fend off all comers in addition to taking notes and footage.
The top was secured after six hairy battles, then I had to run.
When I returned Rijnk met me and asked where they should put the newest Nephilax, Bruno had fainted dead when they arrived with it.
A quick glimpse at the award ceremony showed the winners this time had been:
- Div 1 253+ (23 Commanders): Sheriff Leary Wretham, Warlock (31m,46m)
- Div 2 -252 (12 Commanders): Christine Mainer, Spirit of Bunny (56m,13s)
- Div 3 -186 (13 Commanders): Sten Hugo Hiller, Star League (3h,27m)
- Div 4 -142 (18 Commanders): Leeboy Wegenast, B.S.L.R. (56m,27s)
- Div 5 -113 (17 Commanders): Jay Davis, T.B. BlackWatch (7h,17m)
- Div 6 -95 (22 Commanders): JessicaBRabbit, Defenders of Bunny (1h,1m)
- Div 7 -74 (24 Commanders): Monte Wehr, Death`s Curse (16h,39m)
- Div 8 -57 (15 Commanders): Paul Olenen, Behemoth (3h,48m)
- Div 9 -45 (14 Commanders): Arikel (1d,3h)
- Div 10 -33 (8 Commanders): Rick_Howes, Heroes Light Brigade (11h,37m)
- Div 11 -26 (9 Commanders): Luan Cam, Heaven Feel (56m,54s)
- Div 12 -19 (10 Commanders): Lyn Smith (17h,50m)
Total Contestants: 183, Total medals claimed: 156 (of 180 possible)
3+7(2S)+10(2S)+11(1S)+6+6+6+4+8(2S)+6(3S)+8(G,3S)+8(3S)= 1 Gold, 16 silvers and 56 Bronzes went to obviously overweight Commanders. I suspect quite a few of the rest had more than 2 non-Axebots as well.
Compared to the recent Progressive Pileup Chrono, this event was a disaster if you look at the participation. 117 fewer Commanders showed up, and a total of 24 Bronzes from six different mountains were unclaimed and sent for resmelting.
When it came to fighting, this was the first event I can remember where not even one single Gold changed hands the last half-hour. Seven Golds were held for more than two hours, and one of them for more than a day. In fact, successful fighting was almost nonexistent during the scramble as witnessed by the number of medals held for more than 30 minutes in this event:
.............Silvers......Bronzes
Div 1 ....2 of 4.........2 of 10
Div 2 ....4 of 4.........7 of 7
Div 3 ....4 of 4.........8 of 8
Div 4 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 5 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 6 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 7 ....3 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 8 ....3 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 9 ....4 of 4.........7 of 9
Div 10 ..4 of 4.........3 of 3
Div 11 ..4 of 4.........4 of 4
Div 12 ..4 of 4.........5 of 5
A mere total of 18 medals changed hands, ten of them on Mount Olympus. The only other tops who had at least one new medal holder was K7, K8 and K9
Again an event where no clans got more than one Gold. The sole repeat winner was Leeboy Wegenast from Black Star Lycan Rangers. In addition we had two unaligned winners; Arikel on K9 and Lyn Smith on K12.
Lyn Smith is an old hand in the Climbs. Her first medal was won as far back as the Double Rainbow contest in August `71. But after a few medals, there came a long pause. The next series of contest entered was in `18 and `19, then came another, albeit shorter break. A short reappearance in `22 and then back again this year. This Gold is the first ever.
At lvl 12 Lyn probably operates out of Base Egira who have room for 9 Mechs. Skill points spent so far have raised the energy Budget to 20, and given a decent boost to both Lasers and Cannons.
Upcoming Event: Progressive Pileup
This is just like the Pileup we had in September. Except this time it is a sudden death event and not a Chrono. Whoever holds a medal position when the light flashes, get the prize. And yes, top Mech in the front line, the two top Mechs in the second etc is who will be allowed to fight.
Equipment and weapons work as normal
Event ends May 1 between 2200 and 2230 New York Time.
Any fresh winners can try to get in touch to tell their story, the first to grab hold of me before the report is finished might get a few Niodes for sharing their thoughts.
(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184)
