Collaborative Mercs: IC thread.

[Elmoth]

Inside the Trojan, the bald man dismounted from Martha, the heavy recovery vehicle of the fledging mercenary unit. He massaged his right leg and, taking his cane, limped to where Captain Amanda Medvedev was waiting for him. The dry air of Galatea made her sweat, and she was not wearing her dropship captain jacket. Hello Amir. How was the trip to the Quickscell distributor?. They moved a few paces back to allow a newly arrived flat truck bed to park and start offloading ammo crates. The bay was busy.

Good enough considering they just had to replace ANOTHER brand new Scorpion. It is the third one that has a total breakdown before 20 km. Manuel is desperate and telling me his tech team cannot work miracles. Fortunately, he seems to contradict himself and so far has been able to keep the Scorpions running so we can drag them back to the distributor for changes. Those bastards wanted to charge me half again the cost of a new Scorpion. Only that Hans and Ivar convinced the seller otherwise. They both watched the 2 junior astechs unload the Scorpion LRM from Martha. They were young, but almost 2 metres tall and 90 kg each. They would make good brawlers if they were not astechs. Amanda smiled at the thought of the astechs negotiating with the distributor.

The last of the MechWarriors just arrived. He also brought a Striker with him.

Good, the more the merrier.

Do you think we can pull this out, Amir?

I am quite sure. Otherwise I would not have pushed Miranda so far to expand Reach Enterprises’ back to mech business and would have kept with our old and trusty military hauling business. He grimaced at the idea But you know well enough that the big money is in mech operations, not in cargo hauling.

If we can’t make this work we are dead. Amanda said.

Kowalski smiled. Not the first time I have been declared KIA, darling. We can pull it out. At least the older mechwarriors are quite competent. And then we have the kid. He is not much yet, but he brought some crack foot troops with him and his mech is brand new. And you know how difficult it is to get either of those in Galatea.

Amanda looked at the unit's XO. He tended to be somewhat cranky in his veteran age, but she could still see the cunning and survivor instinct. She remembered how he was a MechWarrior in his earlier years. Reach Enterprises were his and Miranda Aguilera’s business enterprise after they retired as mechwarriors. The Old Woman was certainly an overbearing behemoth in negotiations, but it was the cunning and backstabbing tactics of Kowalski that had kept the company afloat. This project was his idea to get the company up and running again after a few lean years and that disastrous campaign in Buchlau, when the last of their mech assets were obliterated by the FedCom invading force. At the time it seemed that Reach enterprises would follow its namesake periphery realm down the drain of history, but somehow they survived switching the focus to cargo hauling. Survived barely. She hopped that Kowalski was right and that this was a good idea.

I have scheduled a staff meeting for 1600.

Good. We will see if they are up to the task. See you there.

With these last words, Amir Kowalski went to the lift and towards his quarters.

[AlphaMirage]

The bright white glare of Galatea was harsh burning the clouds from a cereulean sky and reflecting off the dirty alabaster construction of the city.  Qasim put his sunglasses on before exiting his family's residence.  Through the lenses Galatea City sprawled out before him, concrete and steel over bloody sand.  This was the Mercenary's World, for good and ill. He kept to the shaded alley ways navigating by instinct to the Bazaar.  The spicy smell from the vendor's carts wafted on fans set up to cool the people who cooked on an open grill and attract interest.  The alleys around the main bazaar were a daily gun show, Nakijima laser pistols like the one on his hip and Magna laser rifles like the one slung over his back were available. Brand new or "slightly used" TK, Imperator, Sternsnacht, Rorynex, and Eagle brand slugthrowers along with melee weapons of every imaginable configuration were laid out on ornate blankets for perusal. 

The heavier stuff was only available by bonded vendors under the vigilant eyes of the 518th Military Police Regiment of the 17th Skye Rangers, locally called "stripers" for their red and black striped uniforms that look more Drac than Elsie.  A series of holographic billboards blared canned images and commentary for Quicksell and other weapons manufacturers.  A new ad was mixed in to the rotation; this one was taken out by the legendary Wolf's Dragoons mercenary company to advertise opportunities on their personal planet, Outreach, for mercenaries.  Images of the brand new Guild hall were a stark contrast to the grimy one on Galatea where less than a third of the outbound contracts were signed, the other two thirds were hammered out in smoky bars, the back rooms of glitzy clubs, and dark alleys.

He walked past a pair of stripers, Galatea was mostly self-policing but the 17th had been brought last year after a grudge between rival mercenary companies escalated to open war.  The pitched battle burned down a third of the city and killed a few thousand people so security was increased.  They looked at him with thinly veiled disgust, he could sense they were looking for a reason to rough him up and weren't trying to hide it by the way they were clutching their stun batons. They found none however or didn't want to risk it against an armed merc without a few more bruisers on their side and continued patrolling the outer Bazaar.  He smiled at the little victory, the Arkab Legions had a long proud history of raiding the Commonwealth's Isle of Skye one he had participated in frequently during his enlistment, and they had no intention of ever stopping.  It was the Isle of Skye's own fault for having such nice things so tantalizingly close to the border.

Finally he found his way to his rendezvous point, an upscale bathhouse just off the bazaar.  He took off his sunglasses before parting the beaded curtains. A small early 30s Asian woman was behind the polished desk, black hair and dusky skin so she wasn't Kurita more likely Liao.  Then three clean shaven, shirtless Slavic heavies stood up from the couches nearby.  Each had intricate tattoos, brands, and scars running all over their bodies, Vory enforcers.  The markings were a language all their own which Qasim couldn't read well; however he knew that each man had served time on Brazen Heart, the Cappelan Confederation's prison planet.  They closed in popping knuckles and necks along the way, the Azami stood firm even as they neared close enough that he could smell their rancid breath, "Mr Yang is expecting me."

The leader of the trio kept an eerie steady cadence, Standard was not his first tongue, "We know Pustynnaya Krysa, hand over the hardware."

Qasim removed his pistol, rifle, and knife handing them to the Slavs.  One of them took the weapons and locked them into one of the contraband lockers in the lobby.  The leader returned to the door and one of his subordinates guided him to the men's locker room and watched him undress making sure to notice if he was wearing something that could listen in to the impending conversation.  "Take off the fancy watch too."

He made a grand gesture of undoing the latch on his watch and placed it into the locker with his other clothes.
"Satisfied?"
"No but I'm leaving any way."
"You do that living door."
"Dorien"
"Right of course.  Go on ahead Dorien.  I have a meeting with your boss."

The man retrieved a room number written on a note taped on the top of the locker he used.  Before leaving the room he grabbed one of the thick white towels hanging on a rack near the door wrapping it around his waist to cover himself.  When he reached the room and knocked three times, "Come in Q"

Inside was an older Asian man mid fifties perhaps, he shirtless with a towel covering his waist.  His tattoos marked him as a Tong, an organized crime syndicate long associated with the Chancellor's secret service.  Now they were allied with a different Liao than acting Chancellor Romano, considering her an unreliable and dangerous partner. 
"Salamo Alaykom, Mister Yang"
"Wa Alaykom el Salam, Qasim.  Why don't you have a seat and share a cup of tea with me.  How's the family?"

Qasim sat down next to the man who ladled some water onto the sauna's coals filling the room with warm perfumed steam.
"Good, my son just had his first birthday but of course you know that.  Tahira appreciated the gift you sent.  However, you're not one for social calls Yang,"  Qasim poured himself a cup of tea from the kettle on top of the sauna's grill, "Surely you have plenty of companions to amuse you with idle chatter."
"An astute Azami is such a rare breed, do you think so little of me, maybe I do just want to touch base. Perhaps come over for dinner and talk about business while eating your wife's cooking.  But of course you know otherwise You missed a lot of choice opportunities while you were off world Q.  I have a new one and I'm giving you the first shot at it.  Tormana needs someone removed."[/b]

Both men paused to sip the tea from the small mugs, "Removed?  Like killed or just removed?"
"Just removed from a maximum security facility .  I heard very exciting news that you were helping put together a new crew.  With its own dropship no less!  Been a while since the last one fell apart and we know that you have been floating on Tormana's credit during that time.  Thought you all might like some work to keep up your payments."

"Why don't you give me some more details?  This isn't the first time we've done business together.  You know what I want and how I like it."
"Everything is prepared in a nice package that one of my men left in your locker.  Limited time offer, Free Capella can always find Mechjocks for rent."
"Quality is worth the kroner."

"Exactly why I offered it to you first.  We parsed the records of your associates and think this will match nicely with their capabilities.  Do well and perhaps we will have more work in the future."

"I'll present your offer Yang, no promises though.  Thank you for the tea."

Qasim and Yang stood up and looked at a mole on the man's shoulders, "You should get that mole looked at, the cancer might kill you."
"I doubt it will have the chance in my line of work.  Goodbye Q, I hope to see you soon."

He left Mr Yang and headed back to the locker where he put his tan fatigues, dusty brown boots, and an worn but well cared for Tharkad Tempest watch back on.  The heavies returned his guns and he put his sunglasses back on before walking outside with a thick bright pink envelope in his hands.  It immediately attracted stares and shouts from the citizens of Galatea and a stony expression from it's bearer.  "You think you're so funny Yang."

[Nav_Alpha]

Just another. Just another drink and I’ll call it quits.
Gustav Strom reared back on his bar stool, the flimsy wood groaning in protest, and signalled to the nearest bar maid.
“Another, please.”
While the woman, who seemed to be wearing more fake jewellery and feathers than actual clothing, hurriedly poured, Strom peered around the darkened bar.
The lunchtime crowd was mostly made up of mercs, wannabe mercs and a smattering of locals looking to live dangerously via their proximity to intoxicated killers who all insisted on carrying their weapons with them at all times.
On stage, in the centre of the room, three women gyrated lustily to the booming music that drowned out most conversation.
When the double whiskey came back, the big Rasalhagian knocked it back with a flick of his wrist. His reflection watched him from the grimy mirror above the bar.
“What are you looking at,” Storm growled, heedless of the bar maid who was now staring at him, wide eyed.
The mirror showed a heavily built man about 30 - short but large enough through the shoulders he looked a little squat. Hair the colour of dark honey that’d had blood mixed in was cut short on the back and sides, while his thick beard had been tightly braided into a thick plait that hung to his chest.
“Another!” He barked, slamming the glass down.
It had been another rough night. The dream had come again - always the same: his Warhammer lamed and limping, the cockpit lit up like Luthien at New Year, the heat roasting him alive. And the Drac Awesome that just kept on coming.
The fighting on Gunzburg had left him with the scar that bisected his face - but there were deeper scars left behind.
“Another!”
“You cut off. Pay now,” said the new voice.
It was an effort for Strom to drunkenly shift his bulk while not falling off the bar stool.
After several aborted tries, the Warrior was facing the tiny, teak skinned Asian woman who ran the bar.
“C’mon, Miss Wong - you know I’m good for it,” he said, drunkenly putting on what he thought was his best charming smile.
“Always same with you,” Miss Wong replied, folding her bony arms across her breasts.
“Drink, drink, pass out, vomit. Drink, drink, break things.”
The big man reached out with both arms, but misjudged his balance and pitched forward off the floor into a pool of spilled liquid and muck.
Shaking his head like a dog, Strom rolled to his feet and groped his way up the bar until he managed a wobbly stand.
But the woman had now been joined by two men. Shaven headed, muscles bulging under their knock off Crocale leather jackets and one was already reaching into his waistband.
“Why is it, that the paces I need to bail you out of get increasingly seedier, brother?”
The muscle turned in unison at the new voice.
The woman’s green Lyran flightsuit was perfectly tailored, tapering to her thin waist and slight curves. Her heart shaped face, framed by pitch black hair, would have made her a fortune on the catwalk of Tharkad or Skye.
But it was the short, stubby stun lance clutched in her right hand that held everyone’s attention.
“Or is day drinking in these dives just a particular skill?” She asked.
Pulling a crumpled was of S-Bills from his jacket and tossing them on the bar, Strom walked past the two toughs, before turning to Miss Wong.
“I’ll see you soon, Ma’am,” he said with a grin.
She let forth a stream of shouted Cantonese as the brother and sister left the bar.
Outside, the bright noon day sun forced a groan from the Mechwarrior’s lips.
Hot, dry air seems to suck all the moisture out of him in an instant and he felt deflated.
The sun was suddenly blacked out and a defeating roar cut off Freya mid sentence as a Dropship lifted overhead. Nearby windows rattled.
“I said - You have a staff meeting in an hour,” Freya growled, shoving the collapsed stun baton into a pocket on her flight suit’s side.
“You can’t go like this!”
In 45 minutes Gustav Strom was a different man. While he and Freya had been separated by war almost at birth and had not reunited until their late 20s there was no awkwardness as she forced him into his rented room’s shower stall and forced him to wash.
“You can’t screw this one up, ok?”
Freya handed him a towel as he staggered out of the stall.
“I’m sorry, Frey.”
At 1600, Strom strode into the meeting room relatively clear eyed, uniform pants pressed and tucked into high boots, KungsArmé issue jacket pulled snug.

[Daryk]

Lieutenant Moro meticulously cleaned his pistol.  The weapon had served him well for over 20 years, and had been issued to him by the Free Worlds League.  He'd lost count of the number of Free Worlders who'd been in its sights.  Duke Anton had promised 'mechs for loyalty, but making it stick had fallen to a much younger Stefano Moro, and it took him 15 years and too many compromises to count to escape the League with his prize.

Even when that happy day finally came, he found he was still tied to La Famiglia as firmly as ever.  Their tentacles reached throughout the Inner Sphere, and they knew everything he'd done to smuggle a Wolverine over the border.  The last job his previous mercenary unit was torn to pieces by had been for La Famiglia.  The fact he was still alive meant that it must have counted as some kind of success, despite the loss of three 'mechs and many more lives.  He could only hope this next one ended better.

His first job would be to persuade the unit he'd just joined to do any job other than jailbreak a rival.  The local consigliore had been very clear on that point.  If it was the job that kicked a certain yakuza clan in the teeth, so much the better.

[Elmoth]

The small room was packed. The smell was better than in other staff meeting all the present people had attended, but just because they were still planetside and everybody had been able to shower in the past hours. Most people looked at each other calmly, not disclosing anything. However, some of the greener officers looked more nervous. That included Anton and lieutenant Ambrose as well as the crews of the armor lance of the unit. They looked eager and slightly uncomfortable at the same time. Anton looked periodically at lieutenant Cornelia Ryan that noded reassuringly. He clearly tried to look tough, but was quite unsuccessful at it. Most people were drinking water or coffee.

Wearing what seemed to be a military uniform with the letters “AR” sawn over the heart, Kowalski entered leaning on his cane and moved to the head of the long table. He looked at the assembled people in the room. There were 4 mechwarriors, 2 aerospace pilots, the dropship captain, the lieutenants of the 2 infantry platoons, 2 vehicle platoon commanders and Manuel, the senior astech and representative of the non-fighting personnel. 12 people in the room counting himself. He looked at the all. Most faces were eager but serious. That was good.

“Well damsels and gentlemen, welcome to Reach Enterprises. You all have been contacted because we have a contract offer and we need people like you to carry it out. You all have agreed to form this new mercenary venture and now it is time to lay the details of the operation.”
“As you well know Reach Enterprises used to run successful battlemech forces, but some setbacks 5 years ago disrupted that.” He grimaces slightly. “Now it is time to step up into that area again, and we think you all are what could constitute a good unit for the task at hand. If results are satisfactory we will consolidate the operation. Now, the mission”.

He got up and moved to the wall. Kicking the controls with a deft swish of his cane he made the screen light up and display a contract in half of the screen and a planet in the other half.

- Contractor: undisclosed, corporation.
- Objective: Raid on Halimar Industries in Kaus Media. Destroy 3 designated targets (fuel deposit, control tower, research building.
- Intel: Halimar Corporation is a major power in Kaus Media, even if they are not in the broader universe. They control the production facilities around the main city of the planet, and according to the contractor "need to be taught a lesson". Go in, cause as much damage as possible to infrastructure and get out. There are 3 buildings specially marked in the satellite map images as top priority. Defenses are likely to be a few infantry platoons and some light mechs at most.
- Military intel: Halimar industries has foot and armor security on site. A lance of light mechs cannot be ruled out. Kaus Media has only DCMS militia as a garrison.
- Command: Full rights. 
- Salvage: 50%.
- Payment: 30 pts + 5 points per destroyed priority building. An additional 5 pts if all 3 are destroyed.
- Jumpship costs paid.
- Distance from Galatea: 4 jumps
- Jump point distance: 5 days. No satellite defences. Medium dropship traffic (a Trojan will not draw attention)

Obviously the temperate planet tag name read “Kaus Media”, a Draconis Combine planet 3 jumps away from Galatea. The image of the planet changed slowly as he talked to that of a medium size industrial complex with a small spaceport and air strip in one of its sides.

“We have been tasked with a raid on Halimar Industries through an intermediary. We do not kknow the name of the contractor, but given the grapevine of corporate rumors, it seems it might actually be Halimar industries’ ex-associate wanting to get some payback. In any case the money is good and safe in ComStar’s for safekeeping. All is legit on that side.” He paused and turned towards you. In the screen, the information kept rotating following his words. This looked like a rehearsed presentation. Clearly Kowalski was serious about this.

“I am fairly sure most of you do not know who Halimar Industries are, and neither did I a few weeks ago. Research shows that they are a producer of consumer goods and civilian craft, but they are trying to get into arms production as well ramping up a new hover tank if rumors are true.”

“Our mission is to hit the industrial complex where said weapons research is being conducted and cause damage to those 3 key buildings. 2 seem to be transportation facilities, whole the third looks like a lab, no doubt the research facility. Any questions?”

At this point Qasim put a bright fucsia envelope at the center of the table. Some people smirked at the unexpected appearenc eof the package, but the veterans did not. Regardless of color, an envelope could be anything. And in this kind of meetings it usually meant work or intel.

“If I may Sayyid, I have another proposal to make. The presented mission looks halal to me, but a contact of mine has put forward another mission if we want it.” With that he sent a holodrive disk sliding through the table. Kowalski took it, ands after evaluating for a few second the face of the ex-Akbar agent he said “very well, let’s see it” and plugged it into the holoscreen.

The image of Kaus Media was replaced for that of a muck bleaker place. Devil’s Rock, a FedCom planet appeared on the screen. All present knew the planet from its reputation. Besides its active usual economy it was a den for black market ops as well. And it had a large prison complex. This last facility was what appeared on the screen. The prison was formerly dedicated to host FWL high prodfile prisoners, and the Lyrans had kept it doing the same for them sicne their acquisition of the planet a few years ago.

The contract read like this:

- Contractor: Free Capella (Tormano Liao)
- Objective: Retrieval of a person of interest (Cara Fallone) from the Devil’s Claw, a FedCom prison.
- Intel: The prison is lightly garrisoned, with a light mech lance or a few vehicles. However, the place has fixed defences.
- Command: Full rights.
- Salvage: Full rights.
- Payment: 45 points.
- Jumpship costs paid.
- distance, 2 jumps from Galatea.

Qasim added a few details on the mission. Miss Fallone seems to belong to La Famiglia. Why Free Capella wants her rescued I have no idea. It looks like a grab and run mission in any case, so should not be very difficult to achieve. Hoewever, there is a note in the dossier that points out that Miss Fallone might not be leaving willingly due to some pressure put on her by third parties.”

Kowalski looked at the proposal. “I do not like that last detail, but it seems good enough. A distraction by the mechs while the drop troops enter the compounds should be able to get her out.”

Well damsels and gentlemen, any comments on this?



NOTE: 30 points is 1.5 months worth of regular maintenance for the unit (we consume 20 points of resources per month in vehicle maintenance and wages), the time to go and return from Galatea to the target planet (6 weeks).

[Daryk]

Lieutenant Moro shrugged with practiced nonchalance and said, "The Halimar job looks cleaner to me.  It gets my vote."

Fallone's name was familiar, but he didn't know her personally.  That made not batting an eye that much easier.

[AlphaMirage]

Qasim looked at Moro from across the table through the perfumed steam of his small ornate ceramic cup of chai,

“I disagree that the smash mission is on the up and up, Mister Moro.  I don't like not knowing who I am working with especially when they seek to have a claim on my kills.  Yang has never given me a bad mission and Tormano pays on time and in full.  We don’t even need to cross the border. Get in, get out, before the authorities can even respond,"

He looked at Stefano and Anton, "We could even go in disguised as Free Worlders if we need to. 
Kaus Media may not have a permanent DCMS garrison but there are plenty of them between us and there.  You don’t want to be on their bad side.  Isn’t that right Gustav?”

[Elmoth]

Anton moved forward before Cornelia Ryan could stop him. It was fairly clear that Anton was trying to look big among bigger men and woman than him in this actual trade. After years of being in the social spotlight and graces of the Andurien court (well, a minor player but still) he had no idea how to operate among mercenaries, and he felt diminished. He was trying to regain his position of prominence in the new field, so he moved forward to talk. And he didn't do an impressive job.

"I say why..." His impetuous sweeping opening gesture sent his mug of coffee spilling all over the table and he turned red as a tomato and clearly wanted to disappear from existance while the mess was cleared away by the assorted mercs, that groaned while using napkins and tried to save notepads and other valuables from the black liquid tsunami.

Still, Kowalski threw him a lifeline. "You were about to say Mr. Gilenius?"

The younster spoke with a much lower voice than before, with arms crossed in front of him. "I was going to ask why dont we do both? Neither pay a lot, but combined they earn us some money." After t¡hat he retreated back into his seat and mental castle.

[Sharpnel]

Badrani looked at Anton, "Are you serious? What happens should the first mission not go as planned? Their eyes did not meet, "Do you have an answer, Anton?"
With no answer immediately forthcoming, Badrani continued, "As for which mission, I would choose the rescue mission. There are too many chances with Kaus Media. Too many Dracs in the way on the way in and on the way out." Akane seated next to him, simply nodded in agreement.

[Daryk]

With a hint of a grin, Moro said to Qasim, "I never said it was on the up and up, just cleaner than pulling someone out of a prison they don't want to leave.  For all we know, Fallone is due to be released in a month, and breaking her out will extend her sentence when they catch her again.  Halimar is just smash, maybe grab anything that strikes our fancy, and run."

Turning to the wider group, he added, "Badrani has it right.  Taking both contracts presumes absolutely nothing goes wrong with the first one.  There will be more jobs when we get back from whatever we do."

[Nav_Alpha]

Gustav had been sitting closest to the young pup when he’d spilled the coffee. Flicking the liquid off his jacket’s arm, he speared the young noble with a withering glare.

“Looking through the topo now I could see how the Devil’s Rock job could be easy,” he said, glancing down at his noteputer.

A shower and coffee had dispelled most of the effects of the alcohol and Gustav felt clear headed. It was always like this when action beckoned. It was the waiting around that got to him.

“If you don’t mind?” He asked Kowalski, indicating the main screen. When the older man nodded his approval, Strom quickly linked his ‘puter, changing the display so that it now showed a barren surface.

“The way I see it, we can set down here on the plains and then this ravine takes us almost all the way to the prison,” as the big man spoke, red circles cropped up, indicating his chosen locations.

“Leaving our armour behind in case we come back running, the Mech lance and jump troops pop out of the canyon. I’d say our two Wolverines can pop out here, while myself and the P-Hawk move another 500m down and emerge from this wash here.
“We provide covering fire - anything moving gets a PPC or Large Laser to the face, while the infantry and Wolverines go over the wall and spring our target.”

The big man drew a single arrow back to the dropship.

“And then we all come home.”

He sat down, suddenly awkward at being the centre of attention.

“At least that’s how I used to run raiding ops when I was running a company with the Tyr.”

[Daryk]

Arching an eyebrow, Moro looked toward Gustav and said, "If we do that job, 'spring' is the wrong term.  'Extract' is the word you're looking for.  And what about the fixed defenses?  Also, who exactly are we turning this woman over to at the end of the job?  I'm betting it's not Tormana Liao himself."

Linking his own computer, he switched the display to the Halimar facility and its surrounds.  "The drop port is close, and means we can be at the facility within minutes of debarking the ship.  Drop port security is a couple of platoons of infantry that ours, backed by the ship, can fend off with ease.  At most, the factory has a lance of light 'mechs, but more likely just tanks, backed by infantry.  In any case, we're not really interested in them.  The buildings we need to hit are here, here, and here, on the drop port side of the facility.  If we had artillery, we could drop them in about two minutes, but it won't take much longer with 'mechs.  We don't have to sweat dragging anything back with us, just drop the buildings and bug out for a fat payday.  But if we do something worth dragging, there's nothing stopping us."

[Sharpnel]

"Don't worry about the fixed defenses, Moro," replied Badrani, waving his thumb between him and Akane, "we will take care of this." Akane added, "Bombed and strafe, getting down in the dirt."

[Kitsune413]

Lel had slipped in and sat besides Manuel, the technician who was apparently representing the medical teams as well. The Field Surgeon led a four nurse staff in the MASH unit as well as the Paramedics that supported infantry operations. Though the disgraced Dr. Max led the medical team aboard the Trojan dropship.

He mostly ignored the briefing however, assuming his words wouldn't carry much weight with mercenary adrenaline junkie mechwarriors.

Until Moro mentioned the Mercenary infantry fending off enemy infantry, he leaned towards Manuel, "I like the Prison Job. Sounds like less triage. Besides, that prison has political prisoners. If they happen to escape during the raid they might be sympathetic to us later."

He looked down at his datapad, getting a text message on his medical teams group chat.

Sára (Nurse): Someone on the ship has scurvy!

Lel: … We're not in the Federated Suns outback. How do you get vitamin C deficiency on Galatea?

Sára: Apparently he was on an all meat diet because he thinks that's how our ancestors ate.  :toofunny:

Lel: Give him some vitamin C supplements and tell him to eat some fruit. Also call him an idiot for me.  >:(

Sára: Will do. ;)

[AlphaMirage]

OOC @Nav_Alpha – I'm trying to provoke your character.  If we are going to work together my character needs to trust yours.  Better to get it out before we are in our Battlemechs.

Qasim took another sip of chai listening in to the conversation and liking where it was going.  He had tried to get a normal job taking three years off being a mercenary to begin a family on Dar-es-Salaam but the money was too good and he was excited to be back in the game. “I like this guy Kowalski.  Lei was it?  Its a good plan. 

If we are already breaking out one person, we can take a few more high profile ones for misdirection.  We'll drop them off on Lipton on the way back to Galatea.  It will give Yang's associates some time to make Cara disappear.”

He pulled up a holographic wire-frame projection of a ST-46 Shuttlecraft, “Moro, Last time I did a bag job for Yang, a shuttle was on call to facilitate delivery of the mark.  The Trojan has two shuttle bays.  I'm sure Akane and Badrani won't mind their birds sharing one on the way back. 

The shuttle docks, a rep comes aboard, inspects the package, transfers payment, we confirm, and then we part.  Its all very clean, they do it all the time.”

Qasim kept a sharp focus focus on the Rasalhague Viking, the greatest danger to him in this band of mercenaries.  The Azami clans fought the Von Rohrs DCMS to a stand-still by themselves during the Age of War.  The Principality of Rasalhague, now the Free Rasalhague Republic, had won their freedom as the result of a shrewd power play by Coordinator Takashi Kurita and it was only secured with heavy assistance from Archon Katrina Steiner.  The Rasalhague still had issues stemming from the Ronin Wars and long, at times brutal occupation of their worlds and he wasn't sure he could trust him in his battlemech.

“As for you Gustav, I don't like talking tactics without actually seeing it with my own eyes.”  He zoomed in on the holo-projector to the date line, “These images were taken years ago, things could of changed since then.  Footing could be bad on that wash.  How wide is that ravine really?  Are there pinch points?  Is it wet this time of year?  Is it mined?  Too many unknowns, including with the persons involved.  Especially with the persons involved.”

[Nav_Alpha]

The big Rasalhague ex-pat reclined back in his seat.
“I’m the only one here who’s fought both for and against both the Kuritans AND the Feddies and I think the Devil’s Rock job will be the easiest,” he said.
“You brought this job to us, Arkab- if you don’t want my Warhammer doing all the heavy lifting: say the word and I walk.”

Taking fingers through his thick beard, Gustav shrugged.

“A quick fly by from our aerospace fighters can feed us new intel as we drop. And like I said, my experience tells me the Feddies are a lot more relaxed when it comes to security, compared to the Dracos.”

As he flipped over his noteputer, the big man suddenly smiled.
“Actually, Arkab - is you’re feeling so hesitant about dropping with us all. Why not a short training run as a lance?
“I have a contact with the Galatea Proving Grounds who owes me a favour.
“We could ease out any kinks and allay any of your... fears.”

[Daryk]

Having lost the argument, Moro withdrew from the conversation.  His thoughts turned to how he was going to explain the situation to the Consigliore.  Maybe Fallone could get a transfer to another facility before the mercs hit the place.  Or maybe a higher paying job would change their minds.

[Sharpnel]

Akane wasn't paying much attention as the tension was rising in the briefing room. Her attention was on the tablet resting on her lap. Liam, the chief aerotech had just sent over the latest reports on the Spad and the Sabre. The boss' Spad'was going to need a new power regulator for the PPC. Power to the capacitor was down by more than 50%. This meant the PPC was basically stuck in training mode and minimal combat capability. The problem was that the PPC was a Parti-Kill Heavy Cannon which is produced out in the periphery. Liam was hopeful that he could jury-rig a regulator from a Donal. It would be cheaper than replacing the whole weapon.

Akane's Sabre was in much better shape with her main problem being with the bird's radar. She was limited to narrow band for the moment, which gave her only 120° arc, vice the full, yet compressed, 360° view she was used to. Alba, the avionics tech, believed that a new circuit board and a software upgrade would do the job. The hard part was finding a software patch that wasn't filled with bugs and virii.

Akana looked at her chrono. Damn it's getting late, she thought, Leaning towards Bardani, "Look at the time. Our gig is at 2000 and we still have to set up." Badrani with an air of nonchalance, said "No worries, Shredder, I've sent Torri and the crew ahead with the van. As long as we get out of here within the next hour or so, we should be good." Akane nodded and pulled up the set list on the laptop. Time to switch out a couple of songs.

[Elmoth]

Cornelia Ryan intervened as well.
"Well, the prison job seems to be easier. For battlemechs. For my infantry it is going to be tougher, but if we draw the armor out and neutralize the turrets we can pull it out."
 
Looking at the "My experience with turrets seem to be less positive than that of our aerojocks. My unit will need to rely in you to neutralize the turrets so we can drop from our Karnov. I hope you are as good as you claim with that statement."

Kowalski intervened again. "OK gentlemen, seems we have a decision on the target and now we need more intel on the Devil's Rock prison facility. I will provide it in a few days. In the meantime, the idea of a few war games to bond the unit for the operation seem like a good idea. We can work on a simulated approach similar to the one being suggested by Mr. Strom and see if we can start looking at how each of us work. I will reserve the necessary facilities. training in the grounds tomorrow at 800. Dismissied."

[Kitsune413]

Lel looked to Elmoth, "The Jump Infantry would do better raiding the Prison than attacking weapons emplacements or enemy mechs and tanks. Our mechs and tanks will be useless once we reach the prison, though I'm sure some of these mechwarriors wouldn't mind gunning down the walls and injuring everyone inside. Might want to have them practice fighting in corridors and cutting through bars. Also if the emplaced defenses are remotely operated instead of manned they may be able to disable that layer of security. If they don't get shot down by them, but jump troopers love that kind of HALO stuff don't they?"

[Elmoth]

Raising up as the meeting was coming to a close, Cornelia Ryan answered Dr Lel. "Well, we all know that HALO 802 was a great console game that they screwed with 803. And everybody in the business knows that they are fun, but too light on the realities of actual warfare. Just that I have seen more karnovs shot down by turrets than I like. Hopefully our big and flying friends can take care of those before we go in."

[Nav_Alpha]

Lel looked to Elmoth, "The Jump Infantry would do better raiding the Prison than attacking weapons emplacements or enemy mechs and tanks. Our mechs and tanks will be useless once we reach the prison, though I'm sure some of these mechwarriors wouldn't mind gunning down the walls and injuring everyone inside. Might want to have them practice fighting in corridors and cutting through bars. Also if the emplaced defenses are remotely operated instead of manned they may be able to disable that layer of security. If they don't get shot down by them, but jump troopers love that kind of HALO stuff don't they?"

Gustav nodded at the infantry leader.
“That was always my intention - two Mechs provide the covering fire, the two jumpers go in with the infantry and they can spread a little mayhem while the PBI snatch the target,” he said.
Tipping his head at the infantry CO he smiled.
“No offence, of course. We can plug holes in the turrets and any Mechs while the grunts grab our girl.”

[Elmoth]

Cornelia smiles. "Heh. I guess you have not seen what PBI can do to overconfident mechs. As long as you we can get in, we will retrieve the woman".

[Kitsune413]

Raising up as the meeting was coming to a close, Cornelia Ryan answered Dr Lel. "Well, we all know that HALO 802 was a great console game that they screwed with 803. And everybody in the business knows that they are fun, but too light on the realities of actual warfare. Just that I have seen more karnovs shot down by turrets than I like. Hopefully our big and flying friends can take care of those before we go in."

Lel blinked at Cornelia, "..... I meant High-Altitude-Low-Opening. The Jump Troops deploy from an altitude above the weapons range of the emplacements so that they can't be targeted... Then the only problem is that extraction is difficult. So you're gambling your Jumpers lives in a bet that they can make the route safer for your tanks and mechs. I personally don't like risking soldiers that way but... they're Jump Troops. They're a bunch of peak testosterone adrenaline junkies." he shook his head, still surprised at the comment, "But it only matters if the weapons emplacements are controlled remotely. If they're manned then you have to take out each individually anyways."

[Elmoth]

"As you point out entry is not the problem. extraction is. We need a clear path for the karnov there, specially as we will be carrying at least 1 civilian with us."


OOC: High altitude drop of course *Elmoth hits his forehead* what was I thinking? xD Well, the fact that I have never used jump troops in any game, I guess ;)

[AlphaMirage]

“Oh, I'm not afraid Baiking.”  He moved his hand over his own face but tracing the pattern of Gustav's scar before brushing his hair back, “I'm sure we could all use some time on the proving grounds.”

As everyone departed Qasim packed his things into a satchel leaving behind the mission media with the unit.  He listened in on the conversation concerning infantry while waiting for a turn to talk to the man, “I will inform my associate we have accepted the contract Amir.  A courier will deliver a bag with a clean phone and additional intel tomorrow.”

He walked out across the tarmac past the Trojan dropship that dwarfed everything around this hanger pad.  Badrani and Akane were leaving in a haste not saying anything to the others on the way out.  Gustav and Freya remained while Anton and Stephano departed after young grass green Anton offered to trade drinks for war stories and tough guy protocol from the obvious League veteran.

Reaching the temporary shelter, effectively a shipping container turned on end, he saw the one Capellan tech that was left on watch to prevent sabotage or theft.  “Wanshang Hao Shui”
“Wanshang Hao Q”
“How is everything?”
“Well.  Your mech is in good condition sir, did a full reactor service cycle yesterday with no problems.  Been a while since it has been fully powered up.”
“Almost three years.  How is the lower left leg actuator?”  

The Phoenix Hawk had suffered critical damage when it had been kicked by a Lyran Zeus five years ago.  The green tech team his unit had contracted at the time screwed up the repairs and he had continued to use it for two years.  For his return he made sure to contract a better tech team familiar with the assembly.  One that was similar to the CCAF's workhorse Vindicator in hopes that it would repaired properly this time.

“While it hasn't been combat tested yet, all the diagnostics say it is a complete repair.”
“Good I'm taking it out on the proving grounds tomorrow at oh eight hundred.”
“I'll make sure to get one of the other guys to rig it up for training then.  We'll all be here around noon sir.”

He looked toward the currently supine Warhammer aboard "Martha" the Heavy Transporter, “I hope I won't need you before then.”
“Want me to put some sugar in the Rash's heat exchangers sir?  Might be tough with that Zanshi de Nuren he has in the tech pool.”
“While that would be amusing better to not give him more reason to dislike me.  We'll be working together closely.”
"Then ten hundred sir."

[Daryk]

At the word "dismissed", Moro picked up his computer and headed for the door.  He kept his expression as blank as possible while his mind turned over how to present his failure to the local organization.

Several hours later, Stefano ducked into a familiar bar.  Pausing to buy a drink from the bartender, he headed for the back and the pair of toughs standing to either side of the door that said "Private".  "Ciao, amico," he said easily, "Sono qui per vedere la signora Fallone."

The tough on the left spread his hands to indicate Stefano should raise his arms.  Drink still in hand, Stefano wore a bored look as he was patted down and relieved of his pistol and vibroblade.  Grunting and nodding, the toughs opened the door into the back.

After a few more twists and turns, Stefano stood before a door labeled "Consigliore".  He took a slug of his drink, squared his shoulders and knocked.  "Entra," was the reply.  Opening the door, he quietly stepped inside and closed the door behind him.  The middle aged woman seated behind the desk glanced up from her computer screen and said, "Sedersi".

Continuing in Italian after he sat, she said, "So, why the long face, Stefano?  Your new friends not like the Halimar job?"

In the same language, Stefano replied, "No.  They think Devil's Rock is an easier target with better pay.  They've never done a prison break before, so..."

"Mama's not going to like this, you know..."

"Why do you think I'm here talking to you?" Moro said with a sardonic grin.

Rolling her eyes, the Consigliore nodded once.  "All right, here's what you're going to do.  Since your unit is determined to do a prison break, make sure they bring these people back with them."

She pushed a piece of paper with a list of names on it across her desk, then continued, "And make sure these two die."

A worn business card with two more names followed the list.

Stefano's eyes widened slightly, then said, "I can't make sure all that happens from inside a 'mech..."

"That's not my problem.  Your unit will be more than adequately compensated for this work.  Not as well compensated as if they had simply taken the Halimar job, but you knew that."

"Yes, Ma'am.  I'll see what I can do.  Any chance I could hire some extra muscle for this job?"

"Fine.  Just make sure we get our people back.  Cara can handle the Tongs and Tormana Liao if necessary.  Mama has faith in her.  Now go, I have work to do, and so do you."

Stefano made a hasty exit from the stuffy office, list and business card in one hand, drink in the other.  In the hall, he flipped the list of names and cell numbers over and found the rest of the contract details.

Code: [Select]

Contractor: La Famiglia Fallone
- Objective: Retrieval of additional persons of interest (see list) from the Devil’s Claw, a FedCom prison, and returning them to Galatea.
- Intel: The prison is lightly garrisoned, with a light mech lance or a few vehicles. However, the place has fixed defences.
- Command: Full rights per first contract.
- Salvage: Full rights per first contract.
- Payment: +10 points.
- Jumpship costs paid by first contract.
- distance, 2 jumps from Galatea.
The business card had no such extra detail, but he knew if those two didn't die in the course of events, he could expect to.

[Elmoth]

Captain Medvedev and Kowalski were looking doen on the cargo area from their vantage point oin the congference room. There was quite some activity, with final supplies being loaded. They also saw some personnel using a crane to build a makeshift CQB area with supply crates for use by the infantry during the 2 weeks of travel time. they observed the evolution of a large TEU being moved to its correct position in the structure.


“Well, this training session did not play as well as we expected. Having to cancel it early due to too many unwanted observers has not helped.” Said Medvedev

“Yes, it was quite packed for a new merc unit training exercise. Seems that most intelligence agencies sent a representative or 2 to take a peek at our training. And some that were not official intelligence but that might be relevant for the mission. Luckily they sent the non-premium stadff members and we could detect them a mile away. We will have to train en route to the target. I saw quite a few long faces when we recalled everybody in but better that than to alert our target. At least the basic skills of everybody seem OK, even if the young Marik is only good following the older wolverine like a puppy.”

“Do you think we are ready?” pointed out the dropship captain.

“We need to be. There is a deadline we need to respect to get paid. You leave tomorrow at 1600 as we planned”.

Captain Amanda Medvedev looked at Kowalski. “You are not coming then”.

"Not this time. I have to take care of a few things here, and you know that my body does not do well with the extra gravities you will be pulling.” Kowalski produced a grim smile while saying that. He was right thought Amanda. Kpwalsi used to run on a Spider with a faulty insulation system, and his “veteran” team of techs had not detected the mistake for more than 5 years. He had a severe case of radiation poisoning as a consequence, the cause of hi moving to the business sphere instead of keeping up as a mech jock. Amanda felt sorry for the guy. She had seen some of the recordings of his actions and he was good, even if a bit reckless. Seeing him stranded groundside was not something she appreciated.

“What about the new squad that Stephano brought in?”.

“What about them?”

“Their references check out. But they have that suspicious air… I don’t know, I don’t fully trust them”.

“They are excons, but they are also engineers. They know this kind of place. This is why we want them in. Yeah, it seems awkward, but I guess an excon can pull a prison break more easily.”

“Don’t know. Maybe it is the accent or something. They look fuzzy to me.”

“We will tell Ryan to keep an eye on them”.

“Ok boss, see you tomorrow before launch”.

[Elmoth]

The voice of Strom cracked in Anton's voice circuit. "Fair fight Comfy, see you down".

Anton opened the cockpit of Void Hunter, his wolverine and removed the neurohelmet. In his display he was seeing how the other mechwarriors and the ASF pilots were doing the same. They couldn't train properly in Galatea, aparently because there were spies around, so they were pulling virtual practice while traniting to the mission. Big data cables connected each mech and the ASFs, and they had been playing sims since then. He was doing ok, but he hated how the other mechwarriors have turned his (obviously really cool) callsign of "Conflagration" into "Comfy". he was NOT comfy! And he certainly was not comfortable with that.

Gustav was more willing to accept those drink but well, he was a Kurita exslave after all. Normal that he needed some caregiving. He had accepted to pay for some drinks for the barbarian, but he was not of his taste. He was a fine mechwarrior for sure, but lacked class. A good underling.

Qasim made him nervous. He was too... how to say it... efficient? He didn't seem to give crap about anyone in his way, and would happily kill anyone that opposed his path. He gave anton the creeps.

The ASF were strange. he had always found the non-mechwarriors somewhat strange. The infantry because well, they were servants after all, and the aero-guys because they had those strange brains that thought in more directional vectors than what was reasonable in a sane mind. He appreciated their skill and usefulness, but they looked strange to him.

Still, he was beginning to appreciate the assault group he was working in. he could learn from them and he was well aware of that. Only that he was their natural superior as well, so in the future, when he was the boss of the unit, he would need to thank them adequately for helping him acquire the necessary skills.

Still, the next comment from Qasim irked him. "Good enough Comfy. next time try not to place yourself in that scorpion platoon's crosshairs willingly. Tends to be better for your survival"

He smiled and noded. "Thank you Qasim". it irked but still, the Kurita was right. He had blundered it and almost blew it all. But the others covered him while he scrambled for cover.

"Hawhawhawhaw! The lil' one really tried to get his new equipment holed this time. Still, better than last time when you broke the leg actuator yourself in the wash. As we said in the 1st Tyr, better to surprise them with a blunder than be surprised yourself. Keep it up Comfy".

Qasim raised an eyebrow. he obviously did not give much credence to that saying belonging to the Tyr.

Stefano was reviewing his battle in his notepad already. What a Mechwarrior!

In any case, he would need to reward them. But maybe only if they started to call him by his proper callsign.

[Daryk]

Seeing the kid's discomfort, Stefano waited for the others to drift away before approaching him.

"Don't take it so hard, kid.  They're going to keep poking the more you react.  By the by, the general rule is you don't pick your own call sign.  And Qasim was right, if impolite.  Putting yourself in the way of incoming fire when you don't have to is bad for your health.  You'll do better next time as long as you remember that."

[Elmoth]

Right now, Anton would make Stefano captain of his home guard.

"Thank you Stefano. I will remember that".

Cornelia Ryan would have made a facepalm if he had seen the scene.

[Daryk]

Later, Stefano tracked down Cornelia to have yet another chat.

"Look, the kid needs some guidance.  He isn't going to stop following me around like a puppy unless you show a little more spine!  He's new to this mercenary gig, but you've been around the block a few times.  To hell with noble titles... he's just a kid who doesn't know any better.  That makes it our jobs to make sure he DOES... eventually.  Understand?"

[AlphaMirage]

Qasim looked from the catwalk onto the CQB assault course that had been constructed of lightweight partitions in the middle of the Trojan's cargo bay.  Yang's intelligence had given them a general layout of the facility which was then replicated in mini by the tech teams.  The hypercompetant, because she needed to be, and overworked Lieutenant Ryan or her Sergeant Perry had every squad of their attached company of infantry running through it at least twice a day.  They had a two week run to Devil's Rock and most of the troops under her loose command were as green as the grass after the first rains on Dabih.  She needed to make sure they would be ready and plenty worn out until then.  "The Deichi Half-Dozen" as Qasim called them were currently running their way through the course and were much more competent, removing simulated threats with practiced ease.

He has his shemagh up with a faint but pleasant smell emanating from it.  The Trojan shared many parts with the ubiquitous Union dropship including the undersized air purification system for its limited crew, here it was woefully ineffectual.  You got used to it eventually but that didn't make Qasim very comfortable.  He would be lucky if his wife would share his bed for a week after he got back to Galatea no matter how many showers he took or how nice his quarters were (OOC-The six passenger quarters of the Trojan I assume are going to the 4 Mechwarriors and 2 Aerojocks).  Captain Amanda Medvedev was walking along the catwalk to her Quarters, "Too many people Captain"
"What's that Qasim?"
"I'm saying there are too many people on this ship.  You and Amir will not turn a profit from this venture with this much payroll.  They will literally eat it all."
"What do you know about running a business?"
"While my latest ventures have not been successful...  My family comes from a long line of interstellar traders.  I spent a great deal of time with my grandfather who had retired from spacing and he taught me many things.  Among them a mixture of oils to combat the odor in a bulk passenger vessel.  You may have the recipe if you desire."
"We need a team for ship security and Stefano brought in his Jump Troopers."
"If you want external security get a Copper or Qasit, they're cheap on Galatea.  Lieutenant Ryan is here as a babysitter but like on Dabih or in the Arkab Legions everyone works.  My contacts would have provided a team to do the job if we didn't have him, much like Mr Moro's latest additions."
"What is up with you and Mr Moro?  Anton is scared of you, and I can get some of your beef with Gustav but I don't get it with him."
"I don't trust him, you don't survive long in this business without good instincts.  As long as his goons don't screw up the operation for my associate I will be satisfied.  Otherwise"  He patted the Nakijima pistol always within arm's reach hand on his belt.
"Why don't you want to work with the others?"
"When you are used to Clan and Kin it is harder to work alongside people that don't share your values.  That is why the Arkab Legions are separated from the DCMS proper whenever they are deployed together.  Which is infrequent as it typically leads to bad blood or bloodshed when it occurs."
"Well don't cause any more trouble with Gustav.  I already have enough macho posturing on board my ship and especially keeping an eye on the two of you."

Amanda looked down at the cots laid out for their infantry contingent and the techs (OOC - nearly 200 strong by my estimates), thinking about the poor overworked showers set up on her cargo bay for a month,  "What was that recipe?"

[Elmoth]

OOC: Ryan is a woman, Cornelia by name ;)

We ran the mech/ASF/LRM vehicles battle today. Narrated battle as follows


Cornelia Ryan was waiting by the door of the Saint Sadurni. The Karnov was on standby but its turbines were already running on low power. The mechs had departed at 0300 and it was almost 0600 now. They had engaged the prison defences at around 0640 with a run of the birds, that blasted the first turrets. for the radio traffic she was getting in the command circuit it seemed that the master's kid was doing OK, even if nothing spectacular. The kid almost blew it when he tried to emerge from the wash too soon, but Stefano stopped him.

She still remembered the last conversation with the veteran. She didn't like the guy at all. Stefano was too deep in connections for her liking. That kind of conaissance usually meant that you owed too many debts to third parties, and that was worrying. The squad of engineers running with her troopers was a clear example. More guys of Italian descent. It smelled funny to her. They were really competent, and that was good, but they did seem to have defined allegiances, and that was bad. She hopped this opperation was over soon to be able to lose sight of them. In the meantime, Perry and some of her men and women would be taking a close look on the Deici.

still, Stefano seemed to have developed a touching concern for the kid. He put forward a front as an uncaring veteran, but she knew that he was trying to prevent the kid from being turned into a laser pincushion. She appreciated that. She would have preferred the kid developing an awed attitude towards the Rasalaghue veteran because he was simpler in his attitude to life and still useful as a mech jock referent, but the kid had his own ideas. So be it.

The attack had stalled somewhat as the prision's defences had activated a lance of Scorpions and a Locust were coming out. Gustav and the LRM scorpions and striker were bombarding them from a distance while the other 3 mechs tried to gain position. The ASF runs had left an area devoid of turret coverage, and that was helping the attackers. Not having more targets, the enemy mechs seemed to be converging on the Warhammer, but 2 scorpions had deviate to intercept the contact they had in the ravine.

Apparently the kid overheated his mech and almost fried himself (also failing to hit the targets), but Qasim and Stefano did short work of one of the Scorpions and the other decided that caution was the better part of valour and retreated into the compound.

The warhammer was mauling the Scorpions, but the Locust was avoiding his fire moving in a zigzag pattern between rock formations, and moving to engage him at short distance. this prompted Qasim to turn back to engage the defender while the 2 WVR-6M entered the compount to neutralize the remaining turrets.

When they jumped up t the walls they were hailed by a barrage of AC10 rounds. Stefano took them directly, while the kid avoided them by jumping behind the veteran. A Centrion stood before them in the yard of the prison, having remained under a ferrocrete structure that looked like a hangar, he had become invisible to long range sensor scans. Now he moved to engage the Wolverines with 2 Commandos in tow. The fire of the 3 mechs mauled the centurions, but they damaged the commandos in return. After that brief interchange they jumped down again. they reengaged their jump jets when the Spad and Sabre overflew the complex again, and the strafe plus the large lasers and SRM of the wolverines incapacitated the commandos and damaged the centurion, that decided to move back to defend the main door to the complex. The 4 mercenaries decided to play a waiting game, not wanting to risk further unnecessary damage to their machines.

When this was happening, Cornelia Ryan and her team were already airborne. When the last ASF run was announced they took off and approached the prison at high altitude. Time to earn their pay.


Result:
- 1 locust, 2 commandos and 3 scorpions destroyed, A centurion damaged. 6 laser turrets destroyed.
- Warhammer: 1 damage (from scorpion fire)
- PHX. undamaged
- Wolverine (Stefano) 5 damage (Centurion + commando)
- Wolverine (Anton). 2 damage (commando)
All in all, 8 damage. Less of a milk run than expected at first, but could have been worse if my gaming group wouldn't have decided to play it safe in the ending phases of the battle. I found it funny how the guy running Anton decided to overheat even in cases where this was unnecessary and the shot difficult.

Sadurni is a planet in the Duchy of Andurien. Saint Sadurni (Sant Sadurní d'Anoia) is a town near Barcelona, so there you go with the Karnov's name ;) 

[Elmoth]

Amanda Medvedev listened was looking intently at the tactical screens of the command center of the Trojan droipship. The refitted center was nothing to boast about, but it was good enough for the small forces the unit was deploying. She cringed each time one of the mech displays in the screen reported a hit. Because Qasim was right. The unit was expensive given what they were being paid, and their margin fell with each hit they needed to repair. She grimaced when the hidden Centurion caught Stefano Moro unawares, feeling the c-bills fly away.

"Take it easy jocks. You have already cleared the way for the jumpers. Play it safe and keep the defence forces occupied."

"That Centurion would be good salvage, and there are 2 commandos in the prison's yard to be taken" she heard Qasim say on the circuit.

"We would need to drag it out from inside the prison, and their infanty could damage us more than it is worth" she replied."

A silence fell on the circuit. She could feel the mech jocks considering her analysis and the cost-benefit analysis of whipping out the defences completely to retrieve the Centurion...

[AlphaMirage]

Two days off planet Qasim caught the latest update from the salvaged Locust his Phawk and the recovery vehicle retrived from the raid.  His Battlemech had been undamaged so his tech crew was tasked with fixing the broken scout.  It was a small bonus but bonus nevertheless.

Today was the day they earned their contract fee, a ST-46 Shuttle was just about to dock at shuttle bay 2.  The crew had to push one of the aerofighters into the other bay to join it's wingmate yesterday in order to open the dock.

Captain Medvedev was coordinating the docking process while Qasim and the rest of the Mechwarriors were waiting just outside the bay's door.  The light turned green and they cycled the doors to the bay where a large aerodyne shuttle waited.

Four heavily armed and armored toughs walked down the ramp and surveyed the gathered Mechwarriors.  One of them yelled something in Chinese and a well dressed asian man stepped down.  He walked forward, "Where's the Azami?"

Qasim met him in the middle and exchanged a quick bow.  "Where's the package?"

"She's coming currently"

One of It Ryan's squads led Cara Fallone into the already cramped bay.  "That's her."

"Was she any trouble?"
"No but she keeps unfavorable company"
"True, you don't mind if we check, yes?"
"It would be odd if you didn't"

The well dressed man signaled and a pair of the toughs stepped up and frisked her finding no weapons to his satisfaction.  The Jump troops stepped back on overwatch.  Another tough took her picture before ordering her to open her mouth scrapping it with a Qtip which he placed into a scanner attached to a commpad.  The device beeped, "It's her alright"

"As promised Wei Bao"
"Solid work as always but be less messy next time to much blood is bad for business "
Qasim looked at Stefano who returned the glare, "Things got complicated"

"Not my problem.  As agreed here is the payment in verified COMSTAR bearer bonds."

"Mind if I check?"
"It would be strange if you didn't.  Feel free"

Qasim pulled out his commpad and verified the account balance with COMSTAR.  Everything was green   "Everything is good Captain Medvedev.  Prepare to undock when we are clear."

[Daryk]

Thirty minutes after the handover, the sensor tech on the bridge called the officer of the watch over.

"LT, I think I'm seeing fire control radar and weapons fire a couple of tens of thousands of kilometers astern..."

"Not our problem unless it's coming this way.  Is it?"

"Uh... no."

"Good.  Keep an eye on it, and let me know if that changes."

[Elmoth]

(snip)

[Elmoth]

Amanda Medvedev saw the Deici leave the dropship with their liberated in tow. They all were picked up by a group of black sedans and military-looking black and tan jeeps. The italo-steiners had shown to be extremely capable as a hit team, but also a liability on the force structure. They had been flying together for a month, and most people in the unit had blended somewhat with other components of the fledgling mercenary unit, except the italo-lyrans. They had kept to themselves and showec a total disregard for the other units. They were capable, but a force was more than the addition of its component parts, and they had not pulled their weigh there. The fact that it was *known* that they were mafia-related did not helped either.  "Good riddance" she thought.

As far as she knew, only one of the women of that lot was left in the unit. She did not like this link to La Famiglia, but the girl had shown quite some knack with computers so she was going to join the techs of the dropship. She hoped she was not a mole on any case.  She didn't look much like that, but only time would tell. She had already repaired a long defunct computer on the dropship command station, so she was quite happy to have her around for the time being.

Amanda turned around and got into the main bay. The 5 mechs lined some of the transport cocoons along the walls of the dropship. They were started to be unloaded to be transferred to proper repair facilities. The techs had done some work on them in transit, but not as much as they could do in a real maintenance area.  Stefano's wolverine was the one in the worst shape. The AC cannon of the centurion had hammered at it relentlessly and stripped most of it's armor. Luckily only small internal damage was caused to the mech. There were dozens of circuits and cables hanging from the ferrofibrous frame of the mech, as mechs were still working on the basic frame. The rest were fairly Ok except the captured Locust. That one would need some heavy overhaul after the hammering that the Warhammer and Phoenix Hawk had caused on him. The PHX laser barrage to the locust's rear was the largest damage. That one would be quite some time in the workshop.

She observed the 2 platoons of infantry leave the dropship next. The jump infantry was sure to remain, but her report on the young lads of the infantry platoon was unlikely to be liked by Kowalski. Neither would the drinking habits of some of the jump infantry personnel, but those were marked as capable troopers by all means. The next morning they would have a staff meeting, since kowalski had not been iddle either, and their recent sucess seemed to have cause them to have a few offers.

She patted a rib of the dropship affectionately and proceeded to a nearby hummer that would bring her to a proper shower in a nearby motel room.

[AlphaMirage]

Qasim oversaw the transfer of the damaged Locust to the rented repair bays that had shown up via heavy transporter shortly after touchdown.  The four bays were set vertical by the engineers before noon and the techs got to work under the watchful eyes of the infantry platoon that drew the short straw and had to work before liberty. "Here they are useful, on the dropship not so much."

Bidding Li and the rest of his tech team farewell he headed out on his motorcycle.  His Phawk had suffered only trivial damage and the left leg repair had held up much to his satisfaction.  The unit just had routine maintenance to do and it could wait until after the Locust was fixed which would likely take a few days but it would be an quick sell, the best kind. 

The administrators had already scheduled a staff meeting late tomorrow morning so he had the rest of the day off.  They weren't a bad bunch though they had a few things to relearn about running a Merc unit.  Qasim's helmet communicator rang it was a blocked number which meant it was an important call.  He pulled the bike over to the side of the dusty road that connected the starport terminals.  "Hello"

"Q, we need to talk.  I'm sending you a location to meet me in twenty minutes."

Qasim checked the commpad safely tucked away in his vest.  There were two texts, one with an address and the other from his wife.  The address was far away for twenty minutes but that was typically the point with these people.  He flipped the keyboard open and texted his wife that he would be late but hopefully not too late.  If he didn't show up well that was typical of these people too.

[Elmoth]

The room was packed again. Almost the same faces as before-. The 4 mech jocks and 2 aerospace pilots were there, along with Medvedev, Ryan from the jump guys, Smith from the infantry platoon and Lieutenant Bradley from the reinforced armored platoon. As in the previous meetings Miguel was there as the representative of the techs and civilians in the force.

"I have to say that we have done quite well in this raid gentlemen. We have 4 new offers on the table and the expected bill from the repair shop is way lower than expected. We also do not need to lament any personnel fatalities in this raid, even if Mr Moro and a few jump infantrymen were close to death. That is a fairly strange event, so we can celebrate it. We must be grateful to the role of our medical and paramedic staff for this". Kowalski acknowledges it by saluting both doctors with a nod.

"Now, on the butcher's bill. the Wolverines are the most affected. Stefano's wolverine took the brunt of the damage in the operation and will require a week of double dutty repair time. Nothing unsurmountable since the internal sustems affected are just a few myomer bundles and electrical circuits. No major damage. The other mechs suffered armor damage only so they will be ready in a pair of days. We could have done the repairs ourselves, but I prefer to keep our supplies ready for emergencies when we can take advantage of thirds partyu facilities." That was usual for merc commands, that could never be sure of resupply so nobody got surprised. "As requested by our ASF pilots we are overhauling the weaponry on the Spad and getting some redundant systems for the ASF just in case. The rest of material will also be getting maintenance in hangar 57 of Irian Industries if any of you want to step by."

We also have decided to keep the captured locust. It seems that the gyro needs to be replaced, but the basic systems (and more importantly, the engine) are repairable. It will help with recon. It will be codenamed "Devil" in our roster, since the tech teams are already calling it that. We will be updating it to the 1E version; since it requires a complete repair and overhaul, I requested a pricing for this change; I saw the effectiveness of the full energy locust in Capella a few years ago and was convinced it was the superior version for raiding. We are holding the repairs down for the moment and only requesting the systems changes for the model change, since we are not that affluent as you can see.

Kowalski puts a screen with the costs of the unit in the rooms screen.

[/quote]
Repairs (8): WHM 1, WVR 5, WVR 2.
Ammo (3.5): 4 mechs, 3 tanks (LRM),
Mech mantenance (4)
ASF maintenance (2)
Armor & VTOL maintenance (6)
Combat team wages (8)
Support team wages (8)

TOTAL: 39.5
Income for the mission: 45
PROFIT: 5.5

Locust Overhaul estimation: Reapir + changes 6+1 = (7) only the 1 point or the upgrade being paid[/quote]

"The final reconning is that after repairs and the requested change sin the Locust we have a margin of 45.000 cbills. Not very large, but we stay afloat. Now, we need an easy mission to boost our economy" The fact that some poeople or whole units might need to be laid off goes without saying but everybody is pointedly aware of it. Luckily there are several options on the table after our last success.


(to be continued; anyone can take it up if you want. Back to work. Seems economics are tough here! Tougher than I anticipated in fact; the tough life of a merc unit. :))

Note: I am counting prices as 10,000 cbills per point of BP. No idea if this is correct for in universe pricing (I always run fast and loose with pricings in my games) so feel free to correct me if you think the prices look very out of whack.

[Daryk]

Wincing with the effort due to his wounds, Moro placed a plain briefcase on the table.  Around the wires in his jaw, he said, "Payment from our other employer.  And with all due respect to our medical team, proper body armor had a lot to do with our survival rate too."

Additional income for putting up with Forza Deici: +10 points

OOC: Given the abstraction at the Alpha Strike level, I'd say BP are a minimum of 20,000 C-Bills each.  A ton of armor is 10,000, and AS armor points are at least two (if not three) of those at the TW scale.  25,000 might be a better approximation.

[Kitsune413]

Earlier that day:

Sára (The nurse) approached Lel, "Whatshisrank Moro needs treatment. Troopers are bringing him here now."

Lel looked over to her, "Here? Where is Dr. Max?"

Sára shook her head, "Nobody is sure. I called to the Bar on the ship, but nobody had seem him there. He'll turn up later I'm sure."

Lel nodded, "What's wrong with Moro?"

"The Paramedic that brought him on  board says he's got a probably concussion, some contusions, some small lacerations, presumably from a fist or blunt object and a fractured jaw."

"Ouch. Those mob guys beat him up real good." Lel said.

"You don't know that they're in the mob..."

"It doesn't take a medical degree to know those guys are in the mob. You don't even need an associates in crime dramas."

"You shouldn't assume someones a mobster based on their ethnicity."

"Sure. A bunch of random jump troopers showed up on the ship with a bunch of bogus medical histories, a common language and a shared passion for gelato and pasta. Acted like a bunch of toughs, tried to interfere with giving medical attention to the people they extracted and then left abrubtly after busting Moro up. They seem legit."

"You're unbearable."

"Get the paramedics to bring Moro in and try to hunt down some scissors so he can cut the wires on his jaw if he needs to vomit or is choking if this break is bad enough. I'll see if I can get his teeth and his temporal mandibular joint to line up correctly again."

"On it." Sára said, walking over to the nearby supply closet.

"Hey, do you want to tell him that pasta qualifies as soft food for his new diet or do I get too?"

"I'll do it. You'd enjoy it too much." Sára's voice echoed from the supply closet.

[AlphaMirage]

Lieutenant Andre Von Treple returned from his hotel in the morning aboard the rented bus that transported the Reach Enterprises crew and contractors to Galatean City.  Captain Medvedev was already there having arrived bright and early with this morning's work detail.  She was arguing with the rental company about the temportary quarters that had been used for the past mission.  It must be bad because she pulled out the flexible comm-pad that held the rental contracts to show to the foreman.  Andre walked past them and a pair of armed guards who were changing watchs.  All the hatches and bay doors of the Trojan ACS Reach for the Stars had remained open overnight and thus were guarded.

The ship needed to air out the overpowering odor accumulated over the past month.  His job today was to supervise the scouring of the bay floor plates with the rented industrial power washer en route after the temporary quarters had been collected.  Kowalski was due soon to have a staff meeting with the Mechjocks and Aeropilots.  He said it should be a quick one at dinner yesterday and then they (the MechJocks and Aeropilots) would get out of his crew's way.  They had plenty of work to do and a larger bank balance to do it with now.

He walked through the upper decks with his duffel bag returning the laundered clothes to his room's locker.  As part of his normal routine he went to the bridge to see if there was anything the ship's computer requested he do that he might have missed on the regular service checklist.  To his surprise the bridge was open something very much against protocol.  Dismissing it as something to do with Amanda's haste and frustration with the rental company as they were after all in a secure area he walked through the door and saw the Azami Mechwarrior Qasim sitting at one of the consoles.

"Hey!  What are you doing here Qasim?  Meetings not for another two hours."
"Apologies Andre, I needed to check something."
"You're not authorized to be up here.  How did you get in?"

He showed a datacard, "I cloned Kowalski's access card.  You can take it back to destroy it if it pleases you but what I've done once I can do again."

Andre angrily grabbed the datacard and put it in one of his pockets more because it felt good he believed the Azami would do it again if he needed to.  He would have to check with Amanda to see if they could update the access system while in port.  "Well what the hell did you need to check!?"

Qasim pulled up the sensor data shortly after handoff in Devil's Rock where the vessel picked up Fire Control RADAR from an unknown contact.  "Our package didn't arrive at its intended destination.  My contacts blame us.  They think we were responsible for the loss of their men and the package and accuse us of double dealing.  They of course already paid us so its not like they can take it back but they can make us pay in other ways. Free Capella wants something solid to identify the attackers and that would prove our innocence in the matter."

Andre didn't like the sound of that, he had joined in with this crew on Mechdur before the Fourth.  They had done work for the Capellans and if the main government was bad; its splinter terrorist organizations were likely worse.  "Damn!  I told Amanda this whole endeavor was a foolish one.  I'll see what I can do Qasim."

"I'd appreciate that Lieutenant.  I am praying for our continued good fortune."

[Daryk]

Weeks later (possibly after the Halimar job we apparently took after all):

Stefano was in his bunk in a haze of pain killers and alcohol.  His jaw still hadn't healed fully, but at least the wires had been removed.  Soft food was still the order of the day, and (of course) the liquid diet the empty wine, grappa and limoncello bottles attested to.  A light knock on his door brought him slowly to his feet.  The knock came again, slightly louder.

"Un minuto," he mumbled through clenched teeth.  The unit was on stand down after the last job, so he hadn't expected any visitors today.

"Buongiorno," Valentina said, smiling like a shark as he opened the door.

His senses coming back to him more rapidly than he'd have liked, he straightened his posture slightly.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Valentina?" he asked, continuing in Italian.

"Mama wants to see you.  Looks like you need a minute or two to get cleaned up, eh?"

Stefano's awareness suddenly dropped, dead center.  The hit of adrenaline was almost a flight or fight response.

"Mama?" he asked in a small voice.

Valentina just nodded solemnly, and gestured toward his bathroom.  "I can wait, but Mama wants to see you in about an hour, and it's a 30 minute drive, so I'd be headed to the shower if I were you."

Stefano nodded and forced himself to turn around, ignoring Angelo and Gianna still in the hallway.  If Mama wanted him dead, he never would have made it out of bed.  He swiveled a little too fast for his current state of inebriation, and had to steady himself on various furniture on the way to the shower.  The cool water helped enough that he felt sufficiently confident to drag a razor across his face.  He even managed not to cut himself.

Fortunately, he knew Valentina well enough to not be embarrassed by changing clothes in front of her.  Her smirk didn't help, but it didn't slow him down.  She shook her head when he reached for his pistol holster, though.  That gave him a chill.  Angelo and Gianna were still out in the hall when Valentina ushered him out of his quarters.  He felt naked without his pistol, but Valentina either hadn't noticed, or didn't care there was still a vibroblade in his boot.  She probably figured Mama's security goons would take care of that.

Nine minutes and 37 seconds later, the car rolled up to a quiet villa outside the city.  Angelo stayed with the car, since he was driving, but Gianna accompanied Valentina as they exited the vehicle.  Stefano surpressed another chill as she fell in on his opposite shoulder from Valentina.

In the foyer, a pair of guards relieved all three of them of their various weapons.  Stefano gave up his vibroblade as easily as the other two handed over their pistols and knives.

A third guard showed the trio through to the kitchen.  Mama was at the sink, staring out the window with her consigliore sitting at the kitchen table with a bored look on her face.  She had an apron on over her pant suit, and her steel grey hair was pulled back in a severe bun.

"Ah, there you are, Stefano.  Please sit, sit." Mama said (in Italian), gesturing toward the three empty chairs at the table.

The smell of something delicious emanated from the oven.  Mama leaned on the counter, and said, "So, young man, how's business?"

Clearing his throat while he searched for the right response, Stefano said, "Well enough, Mama.  Could be better."

Mama nodded in understanding and said, "I've been thinking, Stefano.  Winston might have use for a mechwarrior alongside the Deici.  Valentina has told me nothing but good things about you."

Recognizing an offer he couldn't refuse when he heard one, Stefano replied, "Yes, Mama."

"Excellent.  See Il Lupo tomorrow to make the arrangements.  You look like hell."

Smiling weakly, Stefano nodded and said apologetically, "Yes Mama... the jaw hasn't healed fully yet."

Mama just smilled and waved the group away as she turned back to the window over the sink.

Having been dismissed, the three carefully pushed in their chairs and exited the kitchen.

[Elmoth]

Anton watched the 2 Wasps approach the industrial complex. They were going somewhat faster than he would like. “Careful guys. Remember that there is still a Dragon on the loose”. The wasp pilots acknowledged the communication of the Wolverine but did not slow down. He grimaced but let it go. Those were their mechs after all, and he had no rank above them to order them otherwise.

This was a factor working with the Lone Wolves. You could try to coordinate the different assets, but there was no guarantee that the others would follow the plan. Sometimes that proved quite disastrous. He just hoped those two new guys learned to cooperate a little bit more.

A private channel opened in his console. “Let it go Anton, I know what you are thinking”. He smiled. Freya Strom had been his longest acquaintance in the unit for quite some time, and they had been working together for years. They both were ex members of the failed Reach Enterprises mercenary command. Freya still piloted her family’s Warhammer after his brother’s unfitness for action and was as sharp with the PPCs as she was with words when she wanted to reprimand someone.

Another female voice cracked in the unit’s intercom. “Fighters approaching on NNE vector. Arrival time: 3 minutes.” “Roger that Ryan” Anton replied. The Wasps were approaching the outskirts of the complex where a Dragon was known to be hiding and fighters were on their way. It was showtime.