Operation V: Endgame: Mission Brief

[Captain Benjamin Maxwell]

____________________________

- Incoming Coded Message -- ALERT: Priority One Emergency Transmission -
- Command Instruction Follows -
- Decode : Alpha Protocol - GALxBravo 23rd: 119th -
- Disseminate by need only -
____________________________

Operation Codname: Endgame
Planet: Valasha
Terrain: Dense Urban
Time: Night

NARRATIVE:

Mercenaries, the political dissent on Valasha has reached a boiling point.

Spurred by resentment over the massive class-culture divide between the planet's impoverished and outspoken Russian population, and the elitist members of the Latin aristocracy that control most of Valasha's political and economic interests, a revolution has begun.

The planetary government includes a board of freely-elected Senators who carry out most of the legislative capacities on planet. But corruption has swept this council, with strongly questionable ties developing between the military and the world's largest corporations.

Ballots are being rigged, funds are being embezzled, and dissenters who dare speak out against the governement are being silenced. Reports indicate that Eridius Chavez, Governor of Valasha, has been assasinated.

Publicly, Jorge Almarez, the planet's Arbiter of Defense, and ringleader of the corruption, has declared a planetary state of emergency, imposing martial law on the populace, and activating emergency political powers which have effectively given him total control. To justify this, Almarez has claimed pirates are responsible for the rising anti-establishment violence sweeping Valasha. The Outworlds Alliance has continually taken him at his word, and has done nothing to investigate the near-continuous stream of reports coming in that seem to
contradict these claims.

As the poor languish and the outspoken quietly rage, pressure has built. A large, militant resistance, led by Mikhail Sveshnikov and Peytre Alexeev, and calling itself 'The Reach,' has been gaining strength and support over the past year. Essentially, this movement is seeking political entitlement. The growing Russian majority is frusterated with its inept and uncarring government, as well as the domineering and heavy-handed tactics it employs.

The rebels not only want to reinstate the former republican institutions, but furthermore, they want total political independence from the Outworlds Alliance. The organizers of the rebellion are looking to earn provincial status from the Federated Suns, or to opperate as an independent political body, the former bringing with it the military assests necessary for ensuring that no aggressive attempts for repatrioting will take place.

At its most basic, the seperatists wish for the political entitlement they feel they have been denied. They will be free, or they will be dead. They will be slaves to no one.

And they have enlisted our help.

In just under a week's time, Sveshnikov and Alexeev plan to strike at the heart of Valasha's government, and remove Almarez and his thugs from power. The Reach believes our presence will give the revolution the edge it needs to succeed.

Mission objectives are to strike two key installations on the continent of Vojvoda. Our targets are the Tierra Verde military base, and the capital city of Puerto Valacia itself.

The Reach will be doing a worldwide strike on all fronts while we go in, and the government will be spread thin trying to suppress the rebellion. With the destruction of these two critical locations, Almarez will no longer be able to support his regime, and the government will collapse.

The Legionnaires stand to benefit greatly from successful completion of this mission. The Reach has offered us 1% gross planetary income for one fisical quarter, effective six months after contract. Not a bad deal.

_________________________________________________________

MISSION OBJECTIVES:

Mission objectives have been divided into two theaters, as the Legionnaires will be hitting both targets simultaneously.

_________________________________________________________

THEATER I: Puerto Valacia (ALPHA LANCE)

Overview:

The seat of the planetary government is located in the captical city of Puerto Valacia. Although it is normally heavily defended, the simultaneous strike on the Tierra Verde military base will ensure that reenforcements will not be able to respond to our attack.

Alpha Lance will insert on the rolling plains that border the city, approximately 5.8 kilometers out, and move inward, maintaining radio silence, and avoiding enemy patrols, so as to catch the city's defenders off-guard. Once Alpha Lance arrives at the city, Almarez's militias must be swept from Puerto Valacia. When this has been accomplished, Alpha Lance will move to the heart of the city, and take the capitol building, wiping Almaraz's palatial estate off the map.

Not only will this attack cripple the current government, but The Reach believes that the destruction of such a symbolic structure will send a profound psychological message to supporters of the old regime that their reign has come to an end.

Because the rebels have so few assets currently in the city, we are to then hold our position until Bravo Lance has completed its objectives.

Primary Objectives:

I. Avoid enemy patrols while en route to Puerto Valacia. Maintain radio silence until the city has been reached and the first attacks have been launched. Essential communication is to be performed using text readout only

II. Eliminate all loyalist forces in and around Puerto Valacia. Minimize property damage

III. Secure the capitol building, destroying Almaraz's palatial estate and its support buildings

IV. Hold city pending completion of Bravo Lance objectives

V. Extract


CONTINGENCY: If Bravo Lance cannot complete its objectives, Alpha Lance must defend Puerto Valacia at all costs. The city must not fall to Almarez's forces.

THREAT REPORT:

Heavy. We have received multiple reports of rioting, urban fighting between heavily armed loyalists and rebels, car bombings, and a rash of major thefts from military motor pools, air fields, and munitions caches. Even the most insignificant foot soldiers may potentially
be armed with enough firepower to take out a 'Mech. Expect Puerto Valacia to be awash in violence.

_________________________________________________________

THEATER II: Tierra Verde Military Complex (BRAVO LANCE)

Overview:

The Tierra Verde Military Complex is Vashala's largest fortification, and serves as the focal point from which all military activity planetwide is coordinated. It houses Vashala's entire stockpile of military hardware, and is the key instrument which Almarez uses to suppress the population. Destroying it will cut off his ability to do so, and the government will no longer be able to defend against the rebel attacks.

Attacking this facility will be no easy task, and for a single lance to do on its own would be suicide. Bravo Lance will therefore drop 8 kilometers southeast of the base, in the Bosque De Almería, a large forest that The Reach has secured. There, they will link up with Peytre Alexeev, one of the rebellion's leaders, as well as his forces, and together, they will assault the base.

At this point, the mission objectives become very clear-cut - Bravo Lance is to assist The Reach in eliminating the installation's defenders, and levelling the command structures to the ground.

Once this has been accomplished, Bravo Lance will move to support Alpha Lance, escorting Peytre Alexeev and his forces to InfoSource, the government-controlled global media outlet in Puerto Valacia, where he will break into planetary programming and announce The Reach's victory over the Almarez regime.

Alpha and Bravo Lances will then move to the Puerto Valacia spaceport for extraction.


Primary Objectives:

I. Rendezvous with Peytre Alexeev and his forces in the Bosque De Almería

II. Eliminate all defenders of the Tierra Verde Military Complex

II. Destroy all command structures

III. Escort Peytre Alexeev and his forces to InfoSource at Puerto Valacia

IV. Extract

THREAT REPORT:

Extremely heavy. Tierra Verde is a hardened structure with multiple automated and manned defenses, as well as a wealth of BattleTech and AeroTech assets. Exact numbers are not known at this time, but Peytre Alexeev is thought to have captured intelligence pertaining to
this. Expect anything.

_________________________________________________________

PLANETARY OVERVIEW:

Planet Details: Valasha[/b]



Star Type: G8V
Position in System: 4 (of 7)
Number of Moons: 1 (Rusalka)
Days to Jump Point: 2
Surface Water: 63%
Atm. Pressure: Standard (Tainted)
Surface Gravity: 1.02
Equatorial Temp: 37° C
Highest Native Life: Mammals
Population: 271,487,000 (approximate)
Governor: Eridius Chavez
Planetary Legate: Consuelo Lombardi

OVERVIEW:

Colonized August 15, 2569, by pilgrims following the teachings of Admiral Julius Santiago Avellar, Valasha was, at first, settled as a haven for those wishing to escape the intense political environment of the Inner Sphere. Featuring a tropical, Terra-like ecosystem, with lush jungles, sandy beaches, and rolling plains, the world was an ideal location for cash-strapped wayfarers to begin anew, by making a living off the land, and selling their harvests for profit.

By 2600, the population on Valasha had soared to exponential numbers. Still an agricultural society, dependent on trade, the largest city on the planet, Puerto Valacia, played host to a wealth of markets, harbors, and the world's only spaceport. This sprawling metropolis quickly became a popular pit stop for spacefarers from all walks of life, from pilgrims to tourists, merchants to pirates, and, occasionally, Clanners in search of trade and intelligence.

Because of the then-total neutrality of the world, and the lack of any sort of governing political bodies to create and enforce rule on Valasha, its society was a lawless one. This did not present a problem to its original inhabitants, who were peaceful followers of the Omniss cult, but as the population expanded to incorporate many immigrants who did not ascribe to the religion's tenets, crime began to spread, and without any sort of law enforcement present, any 'justice' that needed to be meted out became largely the work of vigilantes. By the time Admiral Avellar founded the Outworlds Alliance, of which Valasha became a member, the planet's first governor, Marchita Alvarez, had her work cut out for her. The planet had become a haven for outlaws, political exiles, and pirates, who used the world as a base of operations from which to conduct their cutthroat business. Puerto Valacia itself had been taken over by El Mano de Hasan, a powerful crime family who controlled the population through fear and intimidation. Their stranglehold on the planet's largest businesses nearly destroyed Valasha's economy before Governor Alvarez was finally able to remove the last of Hasan's thugs from power.

Although Alvarez did much to improve the quality of life on Valasha, her reign was short-lived. Her appointment to planetary governor, which was intended to bring a greater sense of order to the planet, had the opposite effect on the populace, and in short order, hundreds of political factions had formed, each one attempting to orchestrate its rise to power through whatever means necessary. In the third year of her governorship, Alvarez was assassinated by a member of a radical political sect which quickly seized control of the world. This type of violent succession continued, largely unchecked, with one ruler after another being slaughtered every few years, until, at last, the armies of the Avellar regime were large and strong enough that local militias were able to be posted on all of the Outworlds. Their presence helped to quell local uprisings, and an era of peace ensued.

In recent years, the people of the Outworlds Alliance have become increasingly frustrated with their seemingly-inept, increasingly uninvolved government. Political corruption has begun to run rampant, and crime is on the rise. The Alliance, once a haven for refugees seeking asylum from the near-constant wars of the Inner Sphere, has begun to fracture, as uprisings against the Avellar regime have begun.

Reports from the Outworlds Alliance indicate that Valasha itself has fallen into a state of political instability. Communications, garrison control, trade routes and jump monitoring stations have been disrupted, and an underground political movement, calling itself The Reach, has claimed responsibility.


POLITICAL NOTES:

Of all the government systems to emerge in the Periphery, the Outworlds Alliance claims the strangest collection of separatists and anti-social types. Indeed, many political commentators have referred to the Outworlds Alliance as a geographic expression of collective political chaos. Unlike the Taurian Concordat or the Magistracy of Canopus, the Outworlds Alliance was never intended to be a lasting political entity. Indeed, its existence was due to accident as much as to design.

The founding father of the Outworlds Alliance was Admiral Julius Santiago Avellar. As a junior naval officer in the closing years of the 2300s, Avellar was appalled by the ease with which the states of the Inner Sphere sought to settle their differences through increasingly destructive wars. Withdrawing to the world of Alpheratz in 2413, Avellar devoted the rest of his life to literary denunciations of the warmongers of the major Houses.

Though he may have planned to live out his life in obscurity, Avellar became the leader of a virtual cult. His compassionate pleas for an end to war created the Omniss, a new philosophical sect. Advocating the rejection of any technology that did not contribute to the preservation of life, followers of Omniss flocked to Avellar's agrarian haven in the Periphery, much to the chagrin of the hermit-like Avellar.

Before long, people from every social order began to descend on his home on Alpheratz. As the hundreds quickly became thousands and the thousands became tens of thousands, Avellar's homestead was quickly overrun with political and social dissidents. Expanding outward from Alpheratz in all directions, Omniss farmers and their supporters began to colonize neighboring star systems in a frenzy, persuaded by Avellar's writings that galactic doomsday was just around the corner. Faced with the growing problems of managing and caring for the well-meaning but technologically inept multitudes on his doorstep, Avellar was forced to do the one thing that he hated most: to create a government able to provide for the needs of his newfound followers. The result was the Outworlds Alliance, a union born more of necessity than actual desire.

Since the beginning of the 31st century, the situation in the Outworlds Alliance has become particularly grim. With the general loss of technology, Alliance worlds have suffered from declining population and literacy levels. Though protected by a strong military, many of these planets are unable to feed their own people. The people feel that their government has betrayed them, and there have been many riots and demonstrations against the hereditary Avellar regime in recent years. Although no one has yet seriously challenged the right of House Avellar to rule the Outworlds, armed rebellion is likely if the deteriorating situation does not reverse itself.

COMMANDER'S NOTES:

MechWarriors, I know you were all looking forward to our return to Sheratan for some well-deserved R & R. Unfortunately, we're going to have to put that off for a short while. The MRBC practically pleaded with us to take this contract, and after all they've done for us, I can't turn down an opportunity to return the favor.

Besides which, not only is this a lucrative contract, but it is a historic moment that you all should be very proud to be a part of. Never has a revolution of this scale been attempted in the Outworlds Alliance.

And we get a free tactical advisor, too. Not a bad bonus.

Be careful out there.

- TRANSMISSION ENDS -

____________________________

Sender: Captain Benjamin Maxwell
Encryption Priority: HIGH
HPG Relay 12XV76-DELTA-2116
Recieved: OP Comp. 1544 Standard Terran Time
____________________________

[ - Soundtrack - ]