COLD DEATH

HOT DEATH

As a pilot, you get plenty of danger and excitement. You also get a choice between cold death or hot death. You can die in the icy void of space or in the flames of reentry. If you're good, you might live to fight another day. The Succession Wars are fought over land. But the battles don't start on the ground, they END there. The first action is in space, usually about 160,000 kilometers from the target planet, as fighter pilots come screaming in at 1,000 kilometers per second in their DropShips.

The defending fighters are in the air, too, weaving in and out, watching for shots at the DropShips or the attacking fighters. As the battle moves closer to the planet, all craft will have to deal with gravity as well as their opponents. You've either got to fight against it or find a way to use it.

If the DropShip pilots live through the initial battle, they can drop their 'Mechs from high altitude atmosphere. For two long minutes, the DropShips are sitting ducks, giving you a chance to shoot the 'Mechs on the way down. All surviving fighters dive into the atmosphere to strafe and bomb the battlefield.

MechWarriors take all the glory for conquering planets, but they should never forget who put them there and saved their tails with a strafing run or a bomb dropped at just the right moment.