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Post by Lance Commander Marcus Taylor on Aug 6, 2005 21:51:50 GMT -5
Questions, please.
I raised my hand.
Lance Commander? You have a question?
Captain, I see that we are to assault any and all emplacements the pirate forces have in place. What's the contract entail regarding collateral damage?
Good question. As usual, we are to keep collateral damage to a minimum. Especially considering that there is a lot of commercial and industrial activity.
Anything else?
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 7, 2005 15:41:11 GMT -5
"Anything else?"
"Captain, what do we know about enemy assets?"
I mulled the question for a moment.
"Not as much as we'd like to. Reports are sketchy at best, but from what we've been able to gather, the pirates have consistently struck with combined-arms forces; aerospace fighters, tanks, BattleMechs, and the like. Though the force composition varied a bit each time, they grew consistently stronger. The last strike was carried out via two DropShips carrying four lances - not a promising figure."
Josef nodded.
"Are there any further questions?"
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Post by Lance Commander William Rhodes on Aug 7, 2005 15:50:40 GMT -5
William listened intently to the mission brief, making notes on his PDA with a stylus.
Captain, how are we getting to the Ares system? Who's providing our jumpship? Also, will we get any support from the local militia on Ares?
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 7, 2005 15:57:16 GMT -5
"Captain, how are we getting to the Ares system? Who's providing our jumpship? Also, will we get any support from the local militia on Ares?"
"Excellent question. The Capellans have been kind enough to arrange for a JumpShip to meet us at the Sheratan recharging station, so transit to and from the system has been taken care of. As to the militia, we can expect little, if any support, given that most of the scant defenders that Ares had were woefully inadequate, and the majority have been destroyed or run off by the pirates. At most, we can expect a Cyclops, a handful of Rakashas, and, if we're lucky, a Zeus. That's about it. The armor assets have been completely wiped out. We're pretty much going to be on our own for this one."
I took a sip of my drink, and looked around for the next question.
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Post by Gen Miyamoto on Aug 7, 2005 16:49:33 GMT -5
After discreetly rising from my chair to arrange a meal-on-a-stick for myself (Chicken drumstick, dipped in mashed potatoes, then dipped in peas), I sat down munching lightly on quite possibly my worst mistake ever.
With a disgusted grimace I asked "Have we got any tonnage limits for this operation?"
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 7, 2005 17:40:18 GMT -5
I nodded to Miyamoto as he grimaced. Clearly, the AutoVendor had served up another one of its 'fine' creations.
"We have no weight restriction for this Op, due to the fact that we will literally be dropping onto a DropShip support facility, and as such, fuel will be readily available. However, I suggest that those of you who have found 'Mechs which compliment your individual fighting syles stick with them - there won't be much time for anyone to adapt to new vehicles once we make planetfall."
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Post by Commander Garrett Garland on Aug 8, 2005 1:51:00 GMT -5
“Speaking of ‘mechs that fit our fighting styles—have you still got my Shadow Hawk?”
The room instantly quieted, my presence certainly had been a surprise. I had never expected to come back—alive that is. I sat down at a table next to William Rhodes, awaiting the Captain’s response. I was glad to see new mechwarriors amongst our ranks, noting Brian O’Connell as well. I noticed a few changes in the room, several promotions and a few new scars—too many of them mine. I could tell that a few heads were still turned even after the Captain began his response.
The Captain acknowledged my question as if I had been here all along. “Glad to have you back Commander.” His expression darkened, “One of the—technicians kept it warm for you.”
I’d have to ask him about that later. It was damn good to see everyone again, especially in such a casual setting. The meeting location was an excellent choice for several reasons, it kept it casual, something that needed to be done after all the stress that had been flying about in the Legionnaires recently, and it encouraged people to continue to talk to one another as they finished their meals hopefully well after the briefing was over. It was trust and community that kept the Legionnaires alive, and eating a meal with someone was a great way to foster kinship. I would grab a meal after the briefing was over, but I still had one last question for the Captain.
“Captain, your briefing says that the Cappies, excuse me…” Damn, derogatory slurs had no place in a briefing, even an informal one. Thankfully, I didn’t notice anyone of Chinese descent around me but had there been I’m sure they would have been equally offended if someone had called Rhodes, sitting next to me, a Fedrat, or any of our Kuritian friends Dirty Dracs. A few years ago I too would have been offended by being called a Fedrat but since the schism between the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, the term no longer applied to me. In fact, I wasn’t even sure what they had come up with to describe us Lyrans. Perhaps Rhodes would know—I had read his dossier—the civil war had not treated him well. But it was not time to dwell on the past; we had a mission to accomplish.
With the Captain’s attention still on me, I continued with my question, “… Capellans are experimenting with triple-strength myomer fibers on Ares. If I remember my history correctly, Morgan Hasek-Davion used a special gas to exploit the myomer fibers. When the gas came into contact with the fibers, after the ‘mechs armor had been breached, it dissolved in some strange chemical reaction rendering the ‘mech immobile. I know that the Capellans” I made sure to use the correct term, “don’t utilize it in their combat ‘mechs, but perhaps the pirates stole some of the Earthwerks’ prototype scout ‘mechs which are utilizing the fibers as a sort of pseudo-MASC speed enhancement. It’s likely that the pirates are unaware of this and so are not looking out for the gas. Perhaps we could fill some SRM warheads with the gas incase we run into any of the prototype ‘mechs. Hopefully the planetary militia is not deploying any of those ‘mechs for we wouldn’t want to accidently expose them to the gas.”
The Captain smiled, he had been thinking along the same lines. “Good thinking Commander, but we’ve already loaded the Liberty with special gas-SRMs munitions for the ‘mechs if necessary. We even modified some portable inferno-SRM launchers to deploy the gas instead of the napalm solution.”
Hmmm, the Captain was always a step ahead of me—good thing he was on my side—I’d hate to ever go against him. I looked around once again—damn, it was good to be back. On my final glance I noticed something odd, Mamba was not wearing a mechwarrior’s uniform, instead she seemed to be wearing some kind of medical outfit. I had always known that she had been a skilled healer, but I didn’t realize that she was a full-blown doctor! I had missed a lot in my absence; hopefully I would be fully caught up before we were back in battle.
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MechWarrior Alex Thorn
Regular
LEGIONNAIRES
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." - Winston Churchill
Posts: 176
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Post by MechWarrior Alex Thorn on Aug 8, 2005 7:49:48 GMT -5
“Speaking of ‘mechs that fit our fighting styles—have you still got my Shadow Hawk?”
I looked up to see a familiar face. A smile crept across my face as I realized that it was Garland. He was alive and well. I was glad he was back. I decided I would say something to him after the briefing.
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Post by Dr. Jessica Saturina on Aug 8, 2005 12:01:28 GMT -5
A deep familiar voice boomed across the mess hall as he spoke directly to the Captain about the mission. I was afraid to look, was it him, could it be really him. I couldn't stand it any more, I turned slowly in the direction of the familiar voice.
Garland ..... My mind whispered.
The happiness I suddenly felt engulfed me, I was having trouble remaining in my seat. I was grinning from ear to ear.
He's alive....omg he's really alive....
I could tell everyone was shocked but relieved to see our fellow Legionnaire was alive and well and had returned to us. I didn't know about anybody else here but I fully intended to give that guy a big hug when this briefing was over, no matter if he hated it or not. It was hard to contain myself for the rest of the meeting but I managed.
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Post by Captain Benjamin Maxwell on Aug 8, 2005 14:44:11 GMT -5
With Garland's reintroduction concluded, I decided to close the briefing. I knew that there would be questions concerning the Commander and his absence that only he could answer, and I was certain that the cadre was eager to interact with him. We had only a few scant hours before dust-off, and as such, I wanted to ensure that everyone got their chance.
"Any further questions? No? Very well. We dust off in three hours. As always, be careful out there, and watch each others' sixes. Good luck."
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Post by Dr. Jessica Saturina on Aug 8, 2005 15:12:19 GMT -5
Barely able to sit still in my seat as it was, as soon as the Captain concluded the briefing I was up and making my way to Garland. Since I was just sitting down from William, I didn't have far to go.
"GARLAND!!!!! omg I have never been so glad to see some one in my life."
I was laughing and fussing over him, as he stood there greeting everyone, joking, slaps on the back. I was finally able to get close enough to him, threw my arms around him, hugging him tight. I whispered in his ear.
"Don't ever do that again."
"I let him go, standing back, he just grinned at me. I suddenly felt a little awkward. I didn't usually show such abandoned emotion in public, but to have a fellow Legionnaire seemingly come back from the dead, well it was just over whelming.
"It would be nice to celebrate your return with a drink in the Cantina, but since we dust off in three hours thats not going to happen."
"Yeah, afraid that will have to wait till after the mission."
"Well just don't go disappearing on this one ok?"
"I'll do my best to comply with your request."
He chuckled deeply, I knew he thought I was a silly female, but I didn't care, I was just glad he was ok.
"Well, I have to get back to the infirmary to finish up some things before we leave. Once again its great to have you back.?"
"Thanks Jessica, and yeah you'll have to tell me about your new position in the Legionnaires and how that came about."
"I will when we have more time. I'm off to the infirmary, see you all at dust off"
Everyone standing around Garland talking, said they would see me then. I walked out of the mess hall, went back to the infirmary to get myself together for dust off.
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MechWarrior Alex Thorn
Regular
LEGIONNAIRES
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." - Winston Churchill
Posts: 176
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Post by MechWarrior Alex Thorn on Aug 8, 2005 15:39:42 GMT -5
I walked up to Garland after Ben let us go.
"Glad to have you back Commander. I was beginning to wonder about you."
I smiled and shook his hand. I then went to go check on my Black Knight before we dusted off. After going through a checklist on my Black Knight, I headed for the dropship. It was time for us to leave.
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Post by Gen Miyamoto on Aug 8, 2005 17:27:09 GMT -5
One of the long lost legionnaires had returned from the dead, a damn fine trick he would have to teach me sometime. The briefing had ended and a mad rush of old friends had surrounded Garland. I grabed a bottle of limeaid while the crowds packed in to welcome him back and express thier joy that he had survived. As the crowds died down I approached to introduce myself.
"Hi there, Gen Miyamoto, Charlie-1." I shook his hand.
"Garret Garland, a pleasure to meet you, I'm Alpha-2 on the field and formerly Spectre-1."
"How appropriate." I said with a grin, "I read your dossier, I'm from Somerset too, I grew up out near Whelen. How about you?"
"Kalvar, in the city." He replied. I nodded, a regular urbanite this one.
"Well, the lines not getting any shorter, I'll see you around Garland." We saluted and I left, leaving him to crowd.
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Post by Lance Commander William Rhodes on Aug 8, 2005 20:29:53 GMT -5
William joined the crowd of mechwarriors and staff clustered around the newly resurrected Commander Galand. When it was William's turn he shook the former Lyran's hand.
I'm William Rhodes...just signed on at the end of the last Op. Welcome back.
Thanks, William. Say, I read your dossier and saw you were on Kathil. You might have caught my little slip using Cappie back in the briefing. It got me thinking. What do you Feds call us Alliance types when you're not being polite?
William laughed.
"Elsie" is the word we used to use in the Militia, or just "lucky bastard" if the battle wasn't going well. But I left all of that in the past.
Well, most of it, anyway...
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Post by Dr. Jessica Saturina on Aug 8, 2005 23:08:21 GMT -5
Back at the bases infirmary, I was checking to make sure all the supplies that I had put on my replacement inventory list for the ship had been packed and put on drone cargo carts.
"Dr. Edwards did you get that extra Eligus we need for the SAR teams VTOL? We need one on there."
"Yes Jessica all packed up, ready to go."
"Well team everyone else may have time to kill but we have to get all of these supplies aboard and stored in the right units. There are things for the ships infirmary, things for the MIT unit, and things for the SAR's VTOL. So if everyone is packed and ready to go let's move out."
Everyone picked up there bags. We all walked out into the hallway, with the drones in front of us. Making our way to the Liberty early to settle everything in. All of us walking and talking about the mission. Talking about our assignments. I always went with the MIT M.A.S.H. unit. Dr. Edwards would be in the ships infirmary, and Alice would be assigned to the SAR. Her team would go into play only if needed.
"Alice are you looking forward to your new position, it could be real exciting?"
"Yes, Dr. I'm really looking forward to it."
"You'll do great, I'm sure of it."
"Thanks Dr. Saturina.
We reached the ship. We all walked up the gantry with the drones. We separated at this point. Dr. Edwards to the infirmary, Alice to the VTOL just to drop off supplies, and me to the MIT to drop things off. Then Alice and I would go to the infirmary to help Dr. Edwards make sure things there were ready to go.
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