Author Topic: Cavalli’s Cavaliere  (Read 82259 times)

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #450 on: 15 August 2018, 08:12:40 »
Image opens with a crackle of static.

It shows a room laid out like a conventional classroom - desks and chairs and a lectern at the head, flanked by a combination holo/sketch board.

Except instead of students, the classroom is filled with men and women in a variety of uniforms, many with weapons and equipment piled at their feet or strewn across the aisles between desks.

A balding man in his 40s steps up to the podium. He’s wearing a white/grey camo pattern coverall with a ComStar insignia on the shoulder.

Voice one; Alright! Listen in, listen in. This is officially Operation Tiger Claw.
I’m Demi Precentor Rufus Beer. So let’s get down to business.

He shifts some papers and looks around before continuing.

BEER: As you all by now know, your objective will be to locate and destroy the remaining Word of Blake forces on New Home. Intelligence and logistics will go through a lot of the actual nitty gritty but i will run you through a very few things quickly.
First up, this is a joint op. So we are all in this together.
First up, is our recon element - Sergeant Myers, could your Burma Force troops stand up so everyone else know who to hide behind when the shit hits the fan?

A group in the front row stand. They wear a mix of AFFS tiger pattern fatigues and older green uniforms. All are grim, hard looking people. Most are still wearing slung rifles or SMGs.

BEER: ok, our security element is provided by the boys from the 84th Avalon under Captain Longstrom.

He indicates a short, dark skinned man in AFFS undress with a clipped moustache. The captain waves.

BEER: Next up, the muscle. Colonel Paige and his Cavaliers will be the primary combat force. Colonel, you’ll close and destroy the enemy after Burma Force have found them.

He nods at a group towards the back. All are wearing the dark green fatigues issued to Coalition troops during the Scour campaign. Some have unit insignia showing a grey Knight’s chess piece on maroon.

A big man at their head stands up and nods.
As he sits down he whispers something in the ear of the dark, bearded man missing an ear next to him.
The bearded man nods and makes a note on his tablet computer.

BEER: Lastly, we have our boys from the  Auxiliary Objectives Force, who are very interested in what our insurgents have been hiding away-

- UNRELEASED RECORDING -

Blackjack Six: Feeding you Sigma-V, Sabre. I think that’s all of them.

Grainy, black and white vision appears.
It shows a cluster of wooden buildings and a warehouse hunkered along a gravel road.
Flames pour from the warehouse and two of the adjacent buildings and the camera zooms in on a trio of crumpled bodies laying in the road.

The camera lurches forward, zooming in on an infantry squad crouched near a building.

Then it lurches again, twisting around an alleyway to show the gutted remains of a tank.
The turret has been blown off and smoke and flame pours from the blackened scar where it used to be.
A broadsword has been painted prominently down the front of the hull.

Magpie One: Blackjack! Blackjack! We are taking fire on the outside of the ville - looks like more of them dug in around the old church. Taking-

Hiss of static. Muffled screams.

- intercepted transmissions

At approximately 1330, elements of the Coalition made contact a band of Word of Blake outlaws in the Spina Mountains foothills.
Initial contact was made by recon elements of Burma Force and during the firefight, one Burma trooper was wounded by small arms fire. A second was killed by an improvised explosive device and Coalition forces advanced on the Word position.

Burma Force, now with assistance from its security element advanced under enemy fire and secured a row of ruined buildings the insurgents were using as cover.
Four enemy insurgents were killed during that engagement.

A short time later, the security platoon’s attached transport (six Apocalypse Rovers) we’re moving toward the point of contact when they were hit by an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.
Two troopers were killed and one of the vehicles was destroyed before Battlemechs from Cavalli’s Cavaliers arrived and drove off the insurgents.

Burma Force scouts tracked the retreating insurgents they had engaged to a nearby village and quickly established a perimeter.

At 1345, the scouts advanced into the village with supper from Cavalli’s Cavaliers.
Mercenary Mechs destroyed two Word of Blake tanks (a Burke and a Demolisher) in the initial advanced and provided fire support as infantry forces engaged dug in insurgent positions.
A Sentinel and a Firestarter, along with a Magi tank then engaged our forces, killing four infantrymen. All three insurgent elements were destroyed by mercenary forces.

Another Magi tank was damaged by mercenary troops before surrendering to Coalition forces.

At this point, the Word of Blake insurgents attempted to break contact with a Gunslinger, another Magi and two Rhinos fleeing the village. Sniping from the village, Captain Barrett called in an air strike and elements of the ComGuard’s 3rd Army quickly scrambled. Aerospace fighters dropped several high explosive and inferno bombs on the retreating elements, inflicting major damage.
The serving insurgents then surrendered.

An estimated 33 insurgents were killed, four tanks and three Mechs were destroyed.
Coalition forces captured 19 prisoners and seized a cache of small arms, manpack rocket launchers and two crew serviced auto cannons, along with several thousand rounds of ammunition.
No weapons of mass destruction were seized in this operation.
- New Home Standing Guard media briefing, March 19 3079


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #451 on: 15 August 2018, 19:34:08 »
Interstellar News Network, March 20, 3079
New Home


Only two days after Coalition forces declared they had smashed the Word of Blake resistance on New Home, bomb attacks have caused major loss of life across the planetary capital Finlder.
On Tuesday, Coalition elements seized several ammunition and weapons caches and captured a large number of Blakist insurgents, with Coalition commander Precentor Michael Tarly declaring the insurgency "effectively over".

Early this morning coordinated suicide attacks struck military and civil targets across the city, with authorities putting the death toll at more than 200, including Coalition troops, first responders, government employees and civilians.
In one incident a bomber detonated an explosive vest after boarding a MagLev tram in the Downtown Centre, derailing the vehicle and killing 40 passengers.

However, in a major blow for Coalition forces, Colonel Joesph Paige - the commander of mercenary unit Cavalli's Cavaliere, which coordinated the recent assault on insurgent strongholds - was critically injured in an attack on the planetary government building.

Colonel Paige was taken to Sisters of Mercy Hospital in a critical condition, a government spokesperson said.


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

DOC_Agren

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #452 on: 15 August 2018, 21:01:04 »
Hard to be in the upper command of the Cavalli's Cavaliere, this campaign all most targeting them
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

snakespinner

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #453 on: 15 August 2018, 21:56:30 »
It must be the bullseye the commander is required to wear on his forehead to signify command status. ::)
Another one down, was that just bad luck from the dice gods.
I wish I could get a good grip on reality, then I would choke it.
Growing old is inevitable,
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Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #454 on: 16 August 2018, 07:49:20 »
Well, we are moving from the Jihad to the glorious Republic era and I was keen to transition the unit - a lot of folks are going to retire or join the fledgling Republic.
In Paige's case, I wanted him out of the way to make way for a new generation. Plus, we had an earlier scene (set a couple years from the most recent update) where he's a RAF colonel with a missing arm...


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Deadborder

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #455 on: 18 August 2018, 08:31:21 »
I pity whoever inherits the position
Author of BattleCorps stories Grand Theft Agro and Zero Signal



How to Draw MegaMek Icons the Deadborder Way. Over 9000 so far. Determination or madness?

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #456 on: 18 August 2018, 09:29:59 »
"******, you know I didn't want this job - especially not THIS way," Taighe Barrett growled.
Jorge Calosso couldn't help but grin at his new commander.
Barrett was sprawled in the swivel chair behind his desk, his slate grey uniform unbuttoned enough to reveal a thick thatch of dark chest chair and just a hint of lurid tattoos.
Standing on two bionic limbs, Calosso towered over his new commander. But he didn't need the metal replacements to be huge  - at 6'9, the Kendall native was considered only average size on his homeworld.
Barrett scratched at the three bars of a commander at his collar.
"How's the boss? Any news?"
The unit's weapons master sobered up quickly.
"He's still weak. They'll fit him for a new arm soon," he said.
Barrett tried to stop his eyes flicking to Calosso's own metal and my or right arm.
"Ok, well... lets get into these budget reports.
The older man man nodded.
"Yessir!"


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #457 on: 20 August 2018, 20:32:21 »
So. I got off Liberty - with my Mech.
But I kinda made a mess.
- personal notes, Gideon Larsen
June 15, 3079


Liberty V - Live at 5 breaking news alert, August 14
There's been dramatic scenes in downtown Dronane as an unknown Battlemech rampaged across the city before boarding a Dropship, which then made an unauthorised burn for atmosphere.
About 11am, the Mech - understood to be an 80 tonne Victor emerged from a warehouse in the Riverside district. Coalition forces from Clan Nova Cat moved to intercept the rogue Mech and a fight ensured.
One Novat Cat machine was destroyed an another crippled as the Victor continued its run towards the drop port.

As more Nova Cat elements gathered, CapCon forces launched an assault on the city - with artillery striking key military installations across the capital.

This allowed the rogue Victor to make the safety of the drop port, where it boarded a dropship. Coalition aerospace fighters were otherwise engaged with House Immara and the 'ship broke atmosphere a short time later.
It's unknown if the escaping Mech and the Capellan attack are linked.

We're still here on New Home. The government extended our contract after the ComGuard 3rd Army got orders to shift to Sheratan where fighting is still ongoing.
Hell, the fighting is still ongoing here!
Blakist bombings and sniper attacks have continued and we're supporting local security forces as the go house to house looking for infiltrators and insurgents.
The Colonel is still in the hospital and we've finally had "the talk". He wants to retire - he and Amber are done with the merc lifestyle - who can blame them - and want to raise their kids somewhere safe.
So, until Moses or Octavius are ready to take over, the unit is mine.
I don't know how I feel about that.
- Taighe Barrett


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

DOC_Agren

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #458 on: 21 August 2018, 20:32:04 »
 >:D  The Col is a Quiter  like there are safer places then a Merc Unit to raise your kids.   ::)

Oh and Taighe find a nice bunker to run the unit from, might save you from the new CO badge you have on
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #459 on: 21 August 2018, 20:59:15 »
Well, death has got to be better than ending up more machine than man like the original CO...


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

snakespinner

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #460 on: 22 August 2018, 02:01:31 »
I don't know about that.
If the machine parts are useful like a bottle opener or an internal bar fridge that would be good. :beer:
I wish I could get a good grip on reality, then I would choke it.
Growing old is inevitable,
Growing up is optional.
Watching TrueToaster create evil genius, priceless...everything else is just sub-par.

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #461 on: 27 August 2018, 20:26:20 »

The Coalition - or Terran Protectorate or whatever the hell they are calling themselves now - has extended out contact until November.
The ComGuards are picking up and will depart New Home any day now, leaving us to protect the engineers and construction troops desperately trying to help this blighted planet.
Local elections have wrapped up and the new government quickly rushed through a wave of trials and executions of Wobbie war criminals.

While we are contracted until November 1, we already have other employers sniffing around. We got a tentative offer from Kallon on Nangking - their security detail is up for renew about same time and they’re not happy with the current lot of hired guns.
Corporate work would be damn fine after this shithole and the fighting on Terra.
Otherwise, various elements in the shattered FWL have also got offers floating around.

And of course, Stone’s reps have been on us to sign on with them full time and go House troops. Well, maybe not House - but whatever you’d be serving Stone and Co.
- Taighe Barrett


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #462 on: 29 August 2018, 21:17:17 »
The Coalition Intervention Force to Sheratan was one of the final actions of the Word of Blake Jihad and pitted an international force against Word of Blake hold outs in mid-3079.

Planetary info:

Sheratan is an agricultural world. The land is arranged in a single continent with several large inland seas. This continent is covered in forests, jungles, and farmland.
Sheratan is described as being a beautiful world, sparsely populated, with forests and jungles around the equator. The forests created large fertile areas, and agricultural concerns moved in, bought land, cut down the forests and planted fruits and vegetables from across the Inner Sphere.

Sheratan was used as a baseworld by the Word of Blake's Fifth Division during the late 3060s. In 3070 the world was raided by the Thirteenth Stalking Horse and Wild Geesemercenary commands. They inflicted serious damage on the Fifth Division, which was on Sheratan to recover. After this raid and the removal of Grim Determination, the Fifth Division staged a military coup and took control of the world. Precentor Garin Latronis conscripted civilians into "volunteer engineering groups" to repair infrastructure and fortifications on the planet. By the end of 3070 the Precentor had created work camps all over the world and deposed the planetary government, establishing himself as a despotic ruler. Labor strikes were put down with lethal force, and a peaceful protest of 100,000 citizens turned into a massacre.
In 3073, the Opacus Venatori arrived on Sheratan. They removed Precentor Latronis from power (by killing him) and punished those Word of Blake militia members who had engaged in crimes against humanity. Their job done, they left the world in the hands of the native Sheratanians, who quickly re-established pro-Word, but relatively moderate junta and tried to get back to normal.

The Intervention:

In July 3079 a multi-national force made up of the remaining Level III of the ComGuard's 3rd Army, a armoured assault battalion from the 7th Donegal Guards, elementals of Clan Wolf-in-Exile’s Alpha Galaxy, elementals of Clan Nova Cat’s Delta Galaxy and the 17th Benjamin Regulars arrived. This task force was also assisted by the relatively new Auxiliary units, tasked with securing Blakist technology, WMD and even key personnel.

A month earlier, onworld elements of the 5th Division (WoB) and elements of the Sheratan Protectorate Militia vacated the capital of Gallen's Heights and pulled back to the Addicks Agroplex where they took up key defensive positions throughout the heavily wooded Southern Highlands.

This mobilisation coincided with a split among the ruling junta - most of the government were keen to simply surrender and hand over Sheratan to Stone, while other more conservative elements feared prosecution and advocated fighting a rear guard action in the hope of retreating off world.
Militia and national police elements took part in several running gun battles around the capital district, which saw dozens - including five senior junta members killed.
A new planetary President was sworn in during a midnight session and the conservative elements quickly carried out a wide spread purge of “defeatist elements” as they seized power.
In the end, about half of the Protectorate Militia mobilised to oppose the Coalition, while the rest quietly deserted or barricaded themselves in their barracks.

On July 6, Coalition forces landed and after taking up key positions outside  Gallen's Heights struck at the remaining Blakists. After overrunning the first line of defence, ComGuard and Clan Wolf-in-Exile forces broke through and forced the Blakists out of the capital five days later.
A Nova Cat blocking force trapped the fleeing militia, who surrendered after a short firefight.
In the capital, planetary president Olsen Luke attempted to rally his troops in a series of fiery Holovid announcements. At 1700, the state run station went off the air. At 1900, Wolf and Kuritan troops smashed through to his fortified palace. At 2100, Kuritan infantry found the president’s body hanging from the rafters of a nearby barracks.

Across the capital and surrounds less  fanatical Protectorate Militia troops surrendered in droves - cut off and hammered by air and artillery support.

It was at that point that the Coalition turned its attention to the dug in 5th Division and renaming militia, still occupying the key agricultural district.
Three days of hit and run fighting followed until the Coalition finally pinpointed the defenders’ location.
A blitzkreig attack spearheaded by the ComGuards, with Lyran support and Kuritan reserves saw the Word pushed out of the  Addicks Agroplex and into the surrounding forests.

After 12 hours of combat, Word of Blake Precentor James Devlin radioed Coalition forces to surrender the remains of his men.
Lyran and Kuritan troops would continue to hunt down Blakist stragglers and hold outs across the heavily wooded region for another six weeks, including taking several heavily defended and reinforced fire bases and forts.

Precentor Devlin was tried and found guilty of war crimes in 3080 and sentenced to 22 years behind bars. He was released in 3091 due to ill health. At his trial, his counsel repeatedly pointed out that the Coalition has taken dozens of ruling junta members but failed to charge more than a handful.

- WikiLink entry: Sheratan
« Last Edit: 06 September 2019, 20:23:51 by Nav_Alpha »


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Dave Talley

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #463 on: 29 August 2018, 22:15:05 »
"In 3073, the Opacus Venatori arrived on Sheratan. They removed Precentor Latronis from power (by killing him) and punished those Word of Blake militia members who had engaged in crimes against humanity. "


ok
you know things have gone over the top when WoB takes out thier own guys,

 "dude your shit is out of control" click, bang!!
Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker

DOC_Agren

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #464 on: 30 August 2018, 14:52:54 »
"In 3073, the Opacus Venatori arrived on Sheratan. They removed Precentor Latronis from power (by killing him) and punished those Word of Blake militia members who had engaged in crimes against humanity. "


ok
you know things have gone over the top when WoB takes out thier own guys,

 "dude your shit is out of control" click, bang!!
My thought exactly...
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

Sir Chaos

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #465 on: 30 August 2018, 14:59:43 »
You have to give the Wobbies that much credit, though - their Internal Affiars department does not do things half-assed.
"Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl."
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Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #466 on: 03 September 2018, 06:07:28 »
With the 7th Donegal, Sheratan – Lyran Army Times
 
There were five or six of them standing in the mud around a fire that the drizzle kept low. They were a grimy lot from the Boys of Munster ie: 7th Donegal Guards – just back from a “mopping up patrol”.
Behind them stretcher-bearers were carrying a wounded man back down the trail – the forests were so dense no vehicle had been able to make it this far.

Nothing Spectacular

There is nothing spectacular about the mop-up operation. It is the forgotten phase of a battle. The newsmen go away, the public looks toward the next battle, and everything is passed off as being peaceful and quiet. That would be very nice except that troops continue to die in skirmishes waged in wooded canyons and rice terraces.

The patrol leader, Senior Corporal Kelly Morgan of Tharkad shows us a sharply rising hill in the distance.

“There’s a pocket of Toasters up there – maybe 10-20 of them – I dunno, except that we ran into six of them earlier and killed two,” he tells us, leaning on his TK assault rifle.

“They’ve got mortars, machine guns, and plenty of ammunition. And at least one man portable laser. The worst part is they have this entire valley scoped out.”

Kelly and his squad fought throughout Operation Scour and paid dearly on Mars, in the Terran system.

“There we killed more than 3,000 of the bastards after blowing a hole in the dome.”

Now, these veteran fighters are tired – but still in the fight.

It is a tough, methodical grind, this mop-up by the 7th Donegal’s armoured assault troops.
 
Maneuvering Difficult

The approach to most of the Word positions is confined to trails covered with machine gun fire, portable lasers or even light autocannons. There is little room for maneuvering because of steeply eroded gulches and almost impassable scrub fern on the sides of the trails, which the rainy season has turned into the quagmire.

While it’s a deadly game – these boys are happy things are different on Sheratan. On Terra and New Home the Toasters have used every trick in the book – masking as civilians, planting grenades in vehicles, even rigging booby traps in schools and hospitals.

On Sheratan, most of the Word surrendered after a brutal couple of days of combat. Now, it’s just the hold outs. There’s also rumours of arms caches hidden by the retreating fanatics.

“Yeah,” Private Lukas Kruger says. “I wish a mop-up was as easy as people think it is.”

He’s the squad Gauss rifleman, tasked with carrying the huge gun around and spitting 12 inch spikes of magnetically propelled lead down range.

“Maybe we can get off this rock by Christmas and go home.”

<ENDS>

Officially, Sheratan is pacified. We took the capital in record time - in fact, the ruling junta was ready to surrender as soon as we made landfall.

Only a chance firefight that escalated between one of our SF teams and some retreating militia triggered any real combat.

When we heard the heretics had pulled back into a redoubt I feared the worst, but while casualties were higher than feared they stared surrendering pretty quickly.

We keep running into 5th Division hold outs - mostly guys digging in, thinking help might eventually come. We have also cleared out a couple weapons caches - seems the Word figured they could fight a lengthy resistance here on Sheratan but the troops lacked the heart.

I’m glad we have not seen the sniping and bombing we did on New Home. But the locals just don’t seem to care either way - the whole place gives me the willies.

- Demi Precentor Michale Tarly
« Last Edit: 03 September 2018, 06:11:23 by Nav_Alpha »


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Dave Talley

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #467 on: 03 September 2018, 14:39:20 »
"The patrol leader, Senior Corporal Kelly Morgan of Tharkad shows us a sharply rising hill in the distance.

“There’s a pocket of Toasters up there – maybe 10-20 of them – I dunno, except that we ran into six of them earlier and killed two,” he tells us, leaning on his TK assault rifle."

 yeah
sounds like that hill just classified as a artillery target, waste the hill, giving the infantry a day of rest while more units circle around, then close in


Resident Smartass since 1998
“Toe jam in training”

Because while the other Great Houses of the Star League thought they were playing chess, House Cameron was playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker the entire time.
JA Baker

truetanker

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #468 on: 03 September 2018, 14:57:55 »
Need my Omega Tau help?

TT

 >:D
Khan, Clan Iron Dolphin
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That is, if true tanker doesn't beat me to it. He makes truly evil units.Col.Hengist on 31 May 2013
TT, we know you are the master of nasty  O0 ~ Fletch on 22 June 2013
If I'm attacking you, conventional wisom says to bring 3x your force.  I want extra insurance, so I'll bring 4 for every 1 of what you have :D ~ Tai Dai Cultist on 21 April 2016
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Nav_Alpha: That THING... that is horrid
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Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #469 on: 03 September 2018, 17:42:14 »
"The patrol leader, Senior Corporal Kelly Morgan of Tharkad shows us a sharply rising hill in the distance.

“There’s a pocket of Toasters up there – maybe 10-20 of them – I dunno, except that we ran into six of them earlier and killed two,” he tells us, leaning on his TK assault rifle."

 yeah
sounds like that hill just classified as a artillery target, waste the hill, giving the infantry a day of rest while more units circle around, then close in

And THAT’S why rhI squad carries a manpack TAG unit.
“Redleg, Redleg this is Three Sierra Tango. Fire mission, I say again. Fire mission. Over.”


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

DOC_Agren

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #470 on: 03 September 2018, 19:39:05 »
Need my Omega Tau help?

TT

 >:D
No I'm sure they don't need that...  EVIL
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

truetanker

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #471 on: 03 September 2018, 20:00:23 »
* Throws circus peanuts at DOC *

Quite you.... last person disappeared... you could help me find the shovel, again.

TT
Khan, Clan Iron Dolphin
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That is, if true tanker doesn't beat me to it. He makes truly evil units.Col.Hengist on 31 May 2013
TT, we know you are the master of nasty  O0 ~ Fletch on 22 June 2013
If I'm attacking you, conventional wisom says to bring 3x your force.  I want extra insurance, so I'll bring 4 for every 1 of what you have :D ~ Tai Dai Cultist on 21 April 2016
Me: Would you rather fight my Epithymía Thanátou from the Whispers of Blake?
Nav_Alpha: That THING... that is horrid
~ Nav_Alpha on 10 October 2016

snakespinner

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #472 on: 04 September 2018, 01:20:47 »
Was Doc asking for Omega Tau to visit him for some religious rituals. >:D
Now back to the circus peanuts. ::)
I wish I could get a good grip on reality, then I would choke it.
Growing old is inevitable,
Growing up is optional.
Watching TrueToaster create evil genius, priceless...everything else is just sub-par.

DOC_Agren

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #473 on: 04 September 2018, 16:57:10 »
* Throws circus peanuts at DOC *
Good I was almost out of snacks!!!  FREE SNACK FOODS
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

Sir Chaos

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #474 on: 05 September 2018, 14:04:55 »
Good I was almost out of snacks!!!  FREE SNACK FOODS

*dangles a bag of peanuts in front of DOC*

Next chapter, please.
"Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl."
-Frederick the Great

"Ultima Ratio Regis" ("The Last Resort of the King")
- Inscription on cannon barrel, 18th century

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #475 on: 13 September 2018, 03:55:23 »
Forces operating on Nanking (a Kallon Industries security primer)

Liao:

Elements of 2nd McCarron's Armoured Cavalry (Mech Battalion, command lance,  armoured battalion, two infantry battalions)
Elite - Fanatical
Sang-Shao Rhamses McCarron

Aung's Chindits (mercenaries)
Mech Company, Armoured Company - regular - reliable
Captain Augustus Aung

Home Guard
Armour Battalion, two infantry battalions, fighter squadron - green - reliable
Zhong-Shao Marisa Nyugen

"Coalition" - technically deserters and renegades
One mixed Battalion - Veteran - questionable
'Major' Cal Washington

Yangtze Rifles (Anti-Liao insurgents)
Two infantry companies - Green - reliable
Henri Liu

Independent forces:

The Cold Cash Commando (mercenaries)
Mech Lance, armoured company - Green - questionable
Captain Francis Zimmerman

Von Martini's Flying Aces (mercenaries)
Two aerospace flights - Veteran - reliable
Captain Ursula Von Martini

Kallon Industries internal memo

As 3079 turns to 3080, the situation on Nangking remains volatile. Both the Coalition and House Liao claimed the world following the Jihad and skirmishes and conflict continue on world.
General Devlin Stone has not officially denounced forces fighting in his name here, but their lack of support and state of disrepair speaks volumes.
There remains considerable opposition to House Liao's rule, but an effective crackdown by MacCarron's Armoured Cavalry in mid-79 has left these insurgents undermanned.

Several unaffiliated Mercenary units also operate on Nanking. Between these units, the insurgency and rogue Coalition troops the planet is considered unsafe for Kallon employees and assets.
As such, management has decided to boost our own security here.

Kallon Industries security circular
All corporate security elements are to be advised to be alert for the following Persons of Imterest.

Zao Taofang is to be considered a potential threat to Kallon interests on Nanking. A member of the Maskirovka's feared direct action unit, Taofang has undergone extensive argumentation - including sub dermal myomer armour and triple strength myomer replacement - and served as one of the Mask's top enforcers and killers throughout the Jihad.
One of his favourite tactics is to use his enhanced strength to tear his opponent literally limb from limb.
It's unknown why Taofang is onworld, but he is to be considered a possible threat.

Gideon Larsen is to be considered a potential - but unlikely - threat to Kallon interests on Nanking. A mercenary Mechwarrior who most recently deserted from the Word of Blake Protectorate as it crumbled, he arrived on world recently one step ahead of the Coalition, who are still actively hunting those who served the Word.
So far, Larsen has sunk into the criminal underworld but our sources believe he is in the possession of an assault class Battlemech, brought with him from Liberty.
What Larsen intends is unknown at this point. However, he warrants watching.

Self-styled "Major" Calvin Washington - and doubtless that name is an alias - claims to be a former Stone's Lament officer who fought on Terra and has the backing of Devlin Stone himself in a quest to take Nanking.
None of that is verified - and its more likely Washington is a deserter left here during the initial threeway clash for the planet.
Charismatic, driven and with battle skills to match, he's raised a Battalion size force of Mechs, tanks and infantry around him and forged considerable links with the anti-Liao insurgency.
Washington's troops are believed to be operating out of a former CCAF supply depot in the foothills above the capital.
His troops have clashed repeatedly with both McCarron's troops, the Home Guard and even independent mercenaries.

Nanking, A World Explainer (Terra Firma University Press)
- following the uncovering of Davion-backed corporate espionage in 3080, renegade Coalition troops and anti-Liao rebels would launch a coupe, seizing Kallantown and declaring the world part of the new Terra Protectorate.
'Major' Cal Washington, a former Coalition soldier sent a request for help to Terra, but no help was forthcoming.
The Coalition troops would be destroyed and Washington vanished, presumed dead.
Nanking would continue to change hands back and forth between Liao and the Republic several more times before the Truce of Tikonov was signed in 3085.

Dammit, it's hot on Nanking. We might have been dodging bombs and fanatics there - but gimme the alpine forests and mountains of New Home any day.
We won the Kallon security tender and arrived a couple days ago. They whisked me and most of our senior leadership up to this corporate retreat on the amazing coastline for three days of get to knows you and whatnot.
We just got back to the sprawling arcology - it's part corporate, part residential and part factory and is the size of a city - right up against the capital.
You could literally go days and still be inside the Kallon enclave.
Looks like we'll mostly be augmenting the corporate security and guarding weapons handovers, etc.
Easy work - sadly, this planet is a mess and it is inevitable trouble will break out somewhere!
We've had a major re-structure of the Cavaliers. I like to think we have streamlined for a new age - two Demi companies, backed by an armoured company, battle armour, a tank lance and fighters. Among other things, Roxanne Kramer has taken over the infantry assets and will be my XO.
I have my eye on Moses eventually taking her place, but for now the kid is my number two on the battlefield.
- Taigh Barrett
« Last Edit: 13 September 2018, 04:17:11 by Nav_Alpha »


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

DOC_Agren

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #476 on: 13 September 2018, 18:08:29 »
Roxanne Kramer I hope you can duck and dodge well
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #477 on: 14 September 2018, 04:28:50 »
The camera image opens on a pseudo-leather lounge with papers, binders and bags strewn across it.

Suddenly it spins around so that it’s pointing at a young woman - somewhere between 18 and 21 - who is holding it out at arms length.

Her hair starts jet black at its roots before running to honey blonde with electric blue streaks as it reaches down around her shoulders.

“Hiya, it’s Greta Kramer here again. This time on Nanking.”

She spins the camera around at a dizzying speed, taking in the lounge again before settling on the long, floor to ceiling glass windows that offer a spectacular view of a bustling metropolis. Skyscrapers frame the horizon and traffic zips this way and that. As she pans, a sleek black VTOL screams past the KALLON INDUSTRIES logo painted proudly along its tail.

“This places beats the hell outta sleepy New Home. Although, if you look Close you can see how hard the planet was hit,” Greta continues.

She steps forward and zooms in. Almost directly below there’s a cleared space among the towers and then a stretch of blackened, twisted buildings.

“Kallon got hit really hard during the fighting and has been leaking cash like a sieve. Not only that, they’ve been unable to keep up their supply and have lost a lot of customers.

“That’s partially why we are here - Kallon needs to ensure it can make its upcoming deliveries and has called in us as additional muscle.”

The camera flicks around as a door opens. A man - medium height but built heavily enough he looks a little squat - with dark hair and a short beard enters.

He’s wearing a slate grey uniform with Mark-style Captain’s bars.

“I hope you’re not giving away any sensitive intel on that thing, kiddo,” he says with a grin.

Greta spins the camera around to face her again.

“The captain’s just upset because he’ll miss me when I head off to Cella City Polytechnic on Genoa next month,” she says grinning.

Suddenly, there’s a boom and in top corner, behind her multi-hued hair a cloud of oily, dark smoke rises above the city.

“Get down!” Barrett barks and pushes the camera down.


Well, we got to see our first taste of the wonderful world that is Nanking. I’d just come back from meeting the Cappie Home Guard CO and McCarron to talk defence when rogue Coalition troops struck a supply depot.

Seems a Mech lance, backed by fast hovers and infantry smashed through the Home Guard troops on site and started looting. When Cappie mercs finally arrived the bandits fell back - but not before knocking out two of their Mechs.

CCAF command were very keen to write these guys off as just bandits left behind by Stone, but today showed they have skills.

It was a good op for us though - I got the unit on yellow alert and we got into defensive positions along with Kallon’s rent-a-warriors. Good practice if anyone comes after our employer’s assets.

- Taigh Barrett


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #478 on: 16 September 2018, 02:25:01 »
Voice one (slight Taurian/FedSuns' periphery border accent): Ok, we're here. Let's get this show started.

Voice two (flat and clipped FedSuns accent): Thankyou. Captain Barrett, Lieutenant Kramer, as you say - let's begin. Tomorrow at 1100 hours your Mercenary unit will accompany a shipment of arms and equipment bound for Marik space to the handover point and ensure the whole process goes smoothly.

Voice three (female, Germanic accent): We have been dealing with assistant director Chee up until now. Why the sudden Cha-

Voice two: Chee is not required for this part of your contract. Moving on.
The shipment will take Gate Three from the Kallon facility to the space port. We do not expect any trouble - but it's always good to be prepared.

Voice one: I'll notify the CCAF Home Guard - their second battalion has elements along this proposed route.

Voice two: That will not be required. We wish to keep Free of Capellan... entanglements.
There will be substantial rewards for getting this job done quickly and quietly.

- Recording ##P-00145 Kallon Industries arcology
January 29, 3080


The camera image is grainy and black and white. It's shot from roof level and shows the corner of a restaurant. Narrow booths line the two visible walls, each with ageing lattice work and Chinese calligraphy picked out. A grimy window in the far wall shows the room is several levels above street level and a riot of LED lights and signs can be seen.

In the corner booth a heavily built Caucasian man with several days worth of stubble and short cut dark hair leans back. He's wearing a dark leather jacket and is sipping tea.

Another man enters, he's rail thin and Asian and is wearing a conservative cut suit. He sits down opposite the other man, back to the camera.

Voice one: So good of you to meet with me, Mr Larsen.

Voice two: Hmm.. like I had a choice, mr mysterious.

Voice one: No. On-the-run Blakist war criminals don't have a huge amount of choice, do they? But I'm here to maybe make your life a little easier, no?

Voice two: Speak your piece then.

Voice one: Very good. Straight to business. Much as our dossier suggests - you're surprised you have a dossier. The Mask has a dossier on everyone. Everyone, Mr Larsen.

Voice two: Good record keeping, then?

Voice one: yes, hmmm. Now, simply put - we'd like you to carry out a series of jobs here on world. Jobs that will take your particular talent.

Voice two: How much?

Voice one: no, no Mr Larsen... you see, we hold all the upper hand here. You work for us or we tell the right people exactly where you are. See how fast the local authorities snap you up. Or, maybe even Stone's people grab you in the night? Either way, you're removed from the equation.

There's a shifting in the camera, Larsen is now leaning over the table and th other man appears to be desperate squirming.

Voice two: That's right slick. That's a .50 cal Martial Eagle S-series poking into your junk - one of the biggest hand cannons ever made in Marik space.
So shut up and listen. I don't appreciate being threatened by two bit secret policemen and I sure as hell don't work for free!

The taller man practically falls out of his seat and stumbles out of frame.

Recording - Nanking, January 25 3080


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

Nav_Alpha

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Re: Cavalli’s Cavaliere
« Reply #479 on: 21 September 2018, 22:19:52 »
Crusader One: We are rolling out - scout elements just cleared Kallon's outer marker. Let's get this convoy moving.

Squire one: Crusader, we are moving down Shu Motorway now.

Crusader one: Nice and easy, boys. No need to rush it.

Squire two: Keep up, slowpokes!

Castle: Crusader! Private channel - go to Present 2.

Crusader one: Ok, we're on private. What's up Roxanne?

Castle: Boss... security just found Assistant Director Chee dead in his room. Looks like a professional job - two rounds to the head, one in the chest. Krystal also looked at his workstation, she reckons someone worked it over and tried to wipe their trace clean.

Crusader: Shit! Did security see anything at all? The timing is feeling a little too bloody convenient.

Castle: the cameras in that section were all running on a loop for most of the morning. We're going into lockdown.

Squire one: Bandits! Bandits! I mark four MAD readings at grid reference 2345-six-niner.

Crusader: Dammit! Rex, Kyle - ping them with your probes. All Saracen elements, drop back but be ready to move. This smells most bad.

Squire two: Captain, they're not reading as Cappies and they're sure as hell not Kallon. Son of a bitch! That's-

Static

Crusader: squire two come in! Squire two-

Squire one: Barrett! Aerospace fighters! They just buzzed Kyle, he's down. And those MAD scans are moving our way.

- recording:  January 30, 3080

Cavalli's Cavaliers
BattleAxe BKX-8D Taige Barrett
Dervish DV-1S Electra Reva-Singh
Firestarter FSF9-0F Rex Manahi + attached Purifier squad
Strider SR1-O Kyle Manahi + attached Longinus squad

Zhukov (WoB)
Zhukov (standard)

x12 Partisan Air Defence Tanks (no ammo)

So, that's it. Goodbye cushy corporate gig. We did everything right and it still went wrong.
As soon as we got outside of the Kallon defence cordon, Rex and Kyle ran into a lance of Mechs - all running no IFF and painted in primer grey. Fresh primer grey.
Next, two fighters come pouring from the sky's and drop a load on Kyle, downing his Owens. Somehow his BA squad survived and managed to pull him from the ruined cockpit.
We found ourself harassed by the fighters as the Mechs sniped from the adjacent block.
I quickly pulled our surviving Mechs into a laager around the convoy and waited for the next fighter pass - one Eagle was badly holed, leaking smoke and they broke off.
By this point, our mystery raiders threw a fast hover lance at the convoy, trying to grab the Partisans but they ran into the crossfire of our dug in BA and my lance.
At that point, Saladin's tanks arrived off their left flank and we gave it to the Mechs.
They lost a Vindi and had to drag a Jagermech home because I'd shot off one leg at the hip and torn off an arm.
We let them go and pushed into the drop port where the merchant was waiting.

Two hours later Kallon informs us that it wasn't a merchant - it was pirates. The whole thing was a sham and they're trying to pin it on us: piracy, theft, murder and beach of contract.
My first contract as CO and I'm looking at jail time.
Taige Barrett

Kallon has paid up. Barely. And we are in the clear. Sort of.
The corporate suits are obviously both terrified and pissed there's some sort of industrial espionage up the wazoo going on.
Good news: They recognise we were taken for a ride by rogue elements in their company.
Bad news: They've paid us out the balance of our contract (sans combat pay, salvage and bounties) and politely told us to vacate by the end of the month.
We'll barely beak even, but at least we're not branded pirates.
The captain, however is bent on revenge - or at least finding out what's going on.
- Roxanne Kramer

The image is fuzzy and poor quality. A red REC legend flashes in the top right, alongside JAN30-3080-0139

It shows a street scene, it's dark and the road is slick with rain, reflecting rainbow patterns at the camera.
A man and a woman emerge from a doorway and start to cross the street. They're entwined and the woman has her head on his shoulder, her dark hair falling over the lapel of his leather jacket. As the woman pulls ahead, glancing back coyly at the man, a hover car suddenly surges forward.

The woman is well clear but the man is struck full on and sent rolling across the hood before hitting the pavement. Two men quickly emerge from the vehicle, one rushing towards the crumpled figure - a pistol drawn.
As he tries to manhandle the injured man up, the figure lashes out - a leg scissors out and brings him down, followed by a fist to the face.
The second man raises his own pistol at the man who took down his companion - there a cough and the man crumbles to the street.

The image is sharper. It shows a dim room. The legend INGTION ROOM#2 glows in the bottom screen. 0301 flashes up under It.

In the middle of the tiled room a naked man is seated in an office chair. His hands are zip tied to the chair's arms, while other ties secure his legs to brackets set into the floor.
His right arm is a garish colour explosion of tattoo from shoulder to elbow, while his left shoulder is a maze of old scars.
Right now, his face is a bloody mess - dark liquid has streamed from his nose and coated his moustache, while his mashed lips drop blood onto his chest.
A nasty bruise is already forming across his right hip and thigh.

VOICE ONE: Speak up, Mr Larsen. I'm afraid we didn't catch that.

LARSEN: I said, you planted the girl at the bar, right? Had me all staked out.

VOICE ONE: Indeed, and this time there will be no theatre, no waving around of your giant gun. Just you answering me.

Larsen spits a glob of blood out.

VOICE ONE: Now, back to it. What do you know about the stolen Kallon shipment?

LARSEN. Only what I read in the Kallontown Express. Why don't you tell me, Mr Spy?

VOICE ONE: Enough games, Larsen. Agent Taofang

A hulking figure enters the frame. He's gigantic, with arms the size of rice bags and a shaven, bullet head seated atop huge shoulders.

VOICE ONE: You will tell us what you know, Mr Larsen. Taofang's talent lie in his prestigious strength, acquired as a result of extensive and expensive augmentation.

The huge man wraps meaty hands around Larsen's ribs and squeezes.
Larsen is quickly screaming.

VOICE ONE: With just a few pounds of pressure, his specially crafted muscles can break bone and even steel.

The screaming tails off. Larsen is panting, he's visibly pained and shaking.

VOICE ONE: Pull his left arm out of its socket.

The giant moves with uncanny speed and with one deft move, tugs Larsen's wrist, tearing off the zip tie and shattering the chair arm.
The Mechwarrior throws his head back and screams.

VOICE ONE: the other one.

LARSEN: Enough! Ok! Ok! Rumour has it, Washington and his men were working with Kallon to snatch the gear. But that's all I know!

VOICE ONE: Very good. So, Stone's Coalition is engaged in gunrunning on a House Liao world. Interesting You will infiltrate Washington's people and verify this.

LARSEN: You want me to what?

VOICE ONE: This hearsay must be verified. Now, from the top


"Hold your position, conserve ammo... and wait for the Dragoons to go Feral"
- last words of unknown merc, Harlech, 3067

 

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