After looking at the tank, and talking quickly to Amos, he headed to see the others.

Amos--
"You did what you could. Get some rest, grab a bite, I'm not sure what they're doing with your hot-rod, but we got a new assignment. I'll fill you in later if you're involved, I'm not even sure if they've decided yet."

Others--
"All right, here's the scoop. I'm not the tech guy so don't ask. We got new stuff that's supposed to make us the electronic captiol of the periphery. We lost a lot of space to put this crap in, and it's supposed to work like a charm. We might even be going up to brigade support with this stuff.

"Problem is, we're losing. Strategy now is, 'hold ground', instead of 'run into meat grinder'. We've been assigned an area, we basically hide in it and mount sorties. We're going to be a lot more independant than we were. Of course, we're also guinea pigs. I won't sugar coat it, this stuff has never been field tested, we're losing weapons I think we need more than this EW crap, and they might not even be able to get us food and ammo when we need it. They're talking weekly drops.

"We've got a place staked out, and everything looks as rosy as it can be. I still want to bring the hunting rifle just in case they don't get that weekly drop on time..." Eveyone knows, his sniper bolt-action rifle with the night vision scope is lovingly referred to as 'the hunting rifle'. This might be the first time he actually meant hunting for food, though...

(OOC: Presume anything I forgot is included in the briefing.)

He rolled his eyes.

"So we are supposed to become happy campers and the tear out all the room we got? So who is gonna operate the EW crap? Caitlin? She has less to shoot with now anyhow."

He chuckles sourly and makes a mental note to make sure to get a decent stash of booze he is sure won't be in the weekly drops. He hated being sober.

"I would be your resident crap operator Asgard" grinned Crispin as he slowly chewed on a piece of gum savoring the little taste that it did have.

"Look on the bright side Cap.  You just admitted you don't know when they will be able to get us more ammo, let alone food, so cutting down on what uses ammo will mean you have less to worry about since we all know the drop by the mass.  It may not be as bad as some House units but unless the paperwork catches up fast they will drop us more ammo than we can use and we'll have to stockpile it under cover."

"As for the Crap it will work fine as long as we don't take a good hit..." shooting an eye over to her driver, "...the faster you move the better since it certainly won't slow down the EW."

'Official' Orders are a little sketchy.

The Sixth Recon company is to work out of their assigned sector and 'harass' the enemy.  Most of the heavy Combat is suppose to be shouldered by the Mechs of the unit.

The infantry platoon provide ground security and lookouts for trouble to keep it secure.

The Conventional vehicles are there to support mech activities, and Transport for the Cavalry.

Current status of the company is found here...
link to a message in this game

The Mech and Infantry units have their own chain of command and work with Captain Garabaldo.  Captain Garabaldo directly commands Pegasus 411, Harasser 412, (2) Ferrets, (2) Hover APC, and (4) Track APC


Game Master note:  Since were adding Harraser 412, presuming we dont find another player, Tony can shuffle the Liason officer over to the Harrasser.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:02, Thu 21 July 2011.

Caitlin kicked Asgard under the table with a scowl. "Like I have the time to mess around with EW while I'm shooting, it's not like driving you know. I have to stay focussed. Mcalister will handle all of that, he's mostly useless anyway."

Caitlin went quiet after her outburst. It was something of a long standing rivalry between her and Asgard, her response was almost automatic. Caitlin was concerned about the state of events.

"Captain, without SRM's we're toast. They're our only real equalizer. Between us and 412 we only have one weapon that doesn't require ammunition. If they can't resupply us... we're going to be in a very bad situation and that doesn't say much about our needs for armour. The new gear might be good and all, but new means it breaks a lot. If it breaks down, we need to fix it, without these techs around... which means it's dead weight because without techs and supplies to fix it, it will become broken."

---

Old Render of Pagan, some stuff needs to be changed to fit in the campaign but i think i can reuse this characters for the function she'll be filling.

http://artzone.daz3d.com/azfil...i8h3gp4pqxz-full.jpg
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:33, Thu 21 July 2011.

"This would be our civilian we don't want or need. She will babysit us and the gear, and send back reports of how lousy we're doing, and how the gear would be doing just dandy if we didn't screw it up.

"Miss Kelswa," he said, looking at her, "I want to get one thing clear at the outset. You do what I say, when I say, how much I say. If I say jump now, you don't stop to ask how high, you just jump as high as you can."

He ignores her and continues. "I know, Cat. Except for the part about the techs not being around. Forgot to tell you the good news, there. We need ammo no question, and food, and everything else they ripped out. I politely referred the same question up the chain, and I was just as politely told too F'in bad. We do what we can, and hope our civ tech girl can keep up and knows what radio, sound, and light disipline are.

"Do you?" he asked, looking pointedly at her.

Cat puffed her cheeks in dismay at the news the Captain brought. Looks like they were being told they were on their own. Realising this might be their last hot meal in a very long time, Cat stood up, ready to head to the chow line to get a second helping of mystery stew, she was curious what the answer to the Captains question might be, she settled back into her seat.

"If she's never been embedded in a tanker crew before, I can help bring her up to speed. Only thing she needs to spend a lot of time on is to practice bailing out in case we get a mobility or ammo hit."

"Hmph," he grumped. "While all true, you are a civilian going into battle. You may be the employer, but I don't work for employers that do stupid things. If they had sent me a big idiot, he would probably accidentally fall out of the tank at some inopportune time. You do not appear to be that big idiot, and as such, you will realize it is my job to keep everyone alive. What I say, goes. I do not plan on making idiotic requests. I will even listen to your suggestions, should there be time. But there will be only one commander, and you are not it. When you are ordered- er, requested urgently- to do something, and it is not done, expect repercussions. I do not expect us to have many problems, so far you seem a civil and likable person. I despise you being here and the entire mess we're in now, but none of that is your doing. Personally, we may get along smashingly, maybe. But there is no room in a tank for more than one commander. I do not expect full military discipline from you. But there will be radio silence, light dampening, and noise suppression when called for, this much I expect and I expect you to keep all three down unless you're certain it is all right.

"I think I will assign Caitlin as your go-to person. If you have questions, ask her. I try to treat all of my command with respect and dignity. i apologize if I have annoyed you in that manner. You are not the usual cadre, and I am not glad for your arrival, as gifted or pleasing as you might be. I hope you do not take this personally, it is more of an argument between me and my commander than anything to do with you personally.

"To sum up- I don't want to rub you the wrong way. You will do as requested, and I will only request sensible and dignified things. Sorry I have been so wordy, but this whole thing has me all worked up."

Which is a lot to say- that's probably the biggest speech anyone's heard him give in a year, he's being really nice to her. Last time someone complained about taking orders, it was a marine who was 'requested' to man the gun on one of the APCs. He didn't think it was his job to be a 'tanker'. Another marine was glad for the job, though, as he watched his buddy walking next to the APC the rest of the day.

Caitlin shut her mouth, one of the rare occasions in which she did so. She knew better than to say anything when the Captain was laying down the law. Especially to an outsider that could influence their pay packet. She closed her mouth figuring out what she'd need to teach her before things would be safe inside the hovertank.

Amos took a bowl of the special stew. If anyone else would have tasted it, they would claim that it contained real meat. But to Amos' it was bland and needed to be washed down with something strong.

---

~ Amos ~

The captain was having it out with some civilian and was working out immediate orders for the 6th Recon company.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:23, Fri 22 July 2011.

"No Ma'am, ..... I'm the gunner. Mallory. McAlister is the scruffy one across the table. He's the geek, I apologise Ma'am, the electronics specialist, I'm sure you'll be in heaven talking to him. Asgard, our driver is the part man part carpet sitting over there." Caitlin paused looking back equally puzzled. "Why on Terra would you be thinking that I am the electronics officer so?"

Crispin chuckled as much at Tony's soliloquy as he did at Pagan's linking of names to the wrong people and offers a side comment, "The Cap must have taken a real liking to ya, he never says that much to any of us."

Looking over to Caitlin he added playfully, "Hey now I keep this nicely trimmed as you well know since I don't want to start looking like Asgard over there.  Some may not tend to their hygiene as much as others but I certainly do..."

Caitlin nodded, letting out an long expressive "oh" in understanding. She realised that the woman had no taste for mixing with the likes of her. Probably due to the fact she was enlisted, or a mercenary or both, and the Lt was an attractive ladies man. Her demeanour towards the Davion woman changed to be a consummate professional. "I'm sure the Captain has his reasons Ma'am. I know you will be working with the Lt. on the EW gear, but he's going to be too busy to answer all of your other questions, so you ask me instead of bothering him. Have you ever been a part of the crew on a Pegasus before, Ma'am? Have you ever been embedded with any armoured crew before? Consider me as your chaperon on the tank, until you're capable enough to handle things on your own. After we're done here, we'll go through your gear to see what you are planning to take and what we can actually take."

Caitlin rolled her eyes when the Lt mentioned the magical word. Hygiene. She swore that the Dragoons could find 411 by smell alone.

This message was last edited by the GM at 16:47, Fri 22 July 2011.

"I think we have a rough understanding," he nodded. "Cat pretty much hit it in one- if he's working EW stuff, he isn't going to be available for other stuff. And she looks like she likes you, so by being nice, she got stuck with you. Someone has to do it, and she was even smart enough to think of U-A drills when I forgot about them. Doing what she shows you might save your life." He introduces everyone around.

"You're going to be living close to these people. Closer than you like, trust me. When you smell what someone had for breakfast, and know how hard they were working the last hour, you'll know why hygiene is a sore topic. Lucky for us, there's a chance our little base might have something to help there, that the other suckers might not have. I'm not real sure how secret all of this is supposed to be yet, so let's go somewhere more private before we get into any more detailed discussions.

"I want all talk of the performance and capabilities of this system to be considered restricted. I haven't had any orders one way or the other on this yet, but there's no sense letting some mole do his job on something this important. In fact, we should probably keep most of the talk about it at all on Q.T. Unless I miss my guess, shortly we'll be going over to our base and there won't be anyone there to worry about anyhow."

"Asgard- see if you can't get at least a couple extra of those canvas drinking water bags before we bug out, and make sure you req too much camo netting and tarps. Some tubing and valves would be handy, I know you're going to have a lot of that available. We'll pack it in a crate to ship out on a VTOL later, your still can go in there, too. I don't want it in the 'important stuff' shipments, and I know it'll get there somehow, I might as well get it on the right train. Mark it 'Stage 2 Supplies'. I got a plan, and I'd suggest you all trade for any soap or shampoo you get just in case it works."

This message was last edited by the GM at 19:21, Fri 22 July 2011.

He was having a defty plate of the mystery stew and when the civilian was introduced as a new member he muttered something foul into his beard quite obviously not liking the idea at all. His thoughts about it where not spoken out loud though the Captains speech conjured a smile on his face. He was no fan of babysitting in a warzone regardless of who it was.

When he spotted Amos sitting down not to far away he placed his canteen on the table and shoved it over to him. It was a public secret Gregory liked booze and he rarely had water in his canteen. And when their eyes met he mouthed. "you need it more." ad gave him a grin only to be distracted as he was being introduced as carpet and lacking hygiene. And as he grins and scratches his beard he replies.

"Look i'm running a shelter for the homeless fleas and lice. With all those mech pilots that are getting killed thats hard work. And my guests don't like the cheap shampoo as it stings in their eyes. And next to that now they are replacing guns with civilians we can hope our stink is enough to make the enemy teary eyed and we can use that as a weapon. Besides it isn't even Christmas."

It was all exaggeration of coarse he brushed his teeth every morning and changes socks each day and his beard was his bride and rather well groomed. By the time the Captain started to give 'orders' he nods gives a short salute and gets onto his feet.

"I will see what i can get sir. I was thinking of making some straps on the outside we can use to stow some extra gear on that won't fit inside. Probably not the best option for combat but it allows us to carry some extra supplies off."

Caitlin nodded her assent to the Captains orders. "Yes, sir, no idle chat 'bout the yoke. Can I ask for delousing powder for Asgard? I think we went through our annual requisition in three weeks." Cat grinned at the driver. "Or I could be shaving that fur off your face with me knife. We all know the only reason you're keeping it as an emergency ration store. You keep losing half your dinner in it."

Caitlin stood up quickly dancing out Greg's reach as she went to fill up her mess kit with some more mystery stew as they were about to move somewhere more private to talk over the mission orders. Caitlin wondered how it was possible to eat something hot and still feel chilled to the bone. She watched the scientist move off into the background, he wondered if the reason the boss wanted the chat in private was that they were under orders to top her if it looked like she was about to be captured.

Shaking her head at the grim realities of modern warfare and at the fact all she could see was the more cynical side of things, Cat got a refill and joined the others. She started thinking about all the kit the scientist would need and probably didn't have.

"I meant private for our team," he said, looking at Pegan. "Much as I dislike it, you're part of the team. You're not required, but you're not forbidden, either. We'll be talking military tactics and such, and I don't expect there'll be much need for your input, yet. Things are too vague to go beyond 'stop them from seeing us with the new gear' right now, I think."

~ Tony ~
Sectors are doled out for each Company to populate and work from.  Logistics will be shakey and maintained by the units stash of VTOLs.  Aero Support is non existant, Artillary support exist but munitions for fire missions is going to be difficult.  If youre calling for it, it better be for something important.

Initial supplies will be whatever the companies can carry out with them, and two karnovs loaded with whatever the company commanders believe they might need.  Most locations have water of some sort available to them reducing the complications for logistics.  Food and parts for repairs are another thing.

All the unit commanders are made aware of various units being fitted out with 'stuff'.  Some of the mechs from one of the Eridani's company was fitted out with some double strength heat sinks.  Infantry from one of the company's was equiped with some sort of portable turret system to field test, and of course 6th Company's Pegasus was fitted out with experimental EW.

Each company has a Davion liason responsible for observing the success (or lack) of the new equipment.  Arrangements are made to integrate each liason officer in the various units.  Its observed that Harasser 412, is short a man now and that it made sense to have Tony command from it, which would leave more room for the Liason officer to work with the new EW equipment.

---

~ Everyone else ~
The mystery soup was tastier than most people were use to.  Dessert was something no one expect.  Fresh (or at least it tasted that way) Corn Bisque was being served in small bowns with a bit of corn bread for the rank and file.  It's warm, and it's good, and it's recognizable as real food.  It's also carefully rationed and heads are counted to make sure no one gets back on line for seconds.

Military branches being what they are, the mechwarriors linger by themselves, the Infantry are off to the side socializing, leaving the tankers of course at their own table.

The crews for the various vehicles used by the 6th are all present.  Pegasus 411, Harraser 412, (2) VTOL pilots, and half a dozen drivers for the units APC's.