One way or another... The Wild Stallions are going to finish the Hoff mission.

It's a merc contract, they dont last forever.  As history has it, the Eridani, retire to New Avalon to rest, recruit, and rebulid their unit after Hoff.  Unless youre looking for a non-mech game, that's not in the cards for 6th Company.

I have a thumbnail plan, but the nature of mercs, is such, that you should have significant say on what we do after Hoff.  Rather than wait for the mission to finish, i'd as soon discuss it here and now so that when the mission resolve, we move on to what ever the next step is with little down time to 'discuss' stuff.

As Kitten has the near future scripted...

Nate is promoted, and starts the process of rebuilding the Eridani.  He doesnt want the Eridani 'name' out of circulation while he's rebuilding the unit though, so units that are still viable and functional are 'detached for independent duty'.



I can have Nate assign you a contract and say 'go do', which simplifies missions to just roleplaying and playing it out.

I can step away from that, and start offering you a choice of contracts.  Players can work out which contracts they find interesting and like to entertain.  (an NPC logistics officer will accompany the unit to handle 'logistics')

I will... (ick), try and get started on the mountain of paperwork lying about in the wings from the last two missions.  Alot of the numbers are going to be summerized and 'fudged'.  When fudged, they'll be errored in the players favor so i dont suggest looking at the numbers too closely or arguing about the accuracy.  When the mexican dies, let him die.

---

Omni military organization.

Academy Ranks
Recruit           {0 rank}  G6 / P7 / M8 + 1 option
Cadet             {0 rank}  G6 / G6 / M8 + 2 options
Advance training  {0 rank}  G6 / G6 / M7 + 1 option
Officer Candidate {1 rank}  G6 / P6 / M7 (L2) + 1 Leadership + 1 option

Non-Commisioned ranks
Pilot      - equiv. Mechwarrior {0 rank} G5 / P6 / M8 + 1 option
Corporal   - equiv. Corporal {1 rank}    G5 / P6 / M7 (L1) + 2 option
Specialist - equiv. Sgt. {EW certified}  G6 / P6 / M5 (L3) + 1 Tech + 1 Option
Lance Corporal - equiv. Sgt. {2 rank}    G5 / P6 / M6 (L1) + 1 Tactics + 1 Option

Junior Commander - equiv. 2nd Lt. {2 rank} G6 / P6 / M5 (L4) + 1 Leadership + 1 Option
Lance Commander  - equiv. 1st Lt. {3 rank} G5 / P6 / M5 + 1 Leadership + 1 Option
      Commander  - equiv. Captain {4 rank} varies
Force Commander  - equiv. Major   {5 rank} varies

This message was last edited by the GM at 14:17, Sun 15 July 2012.

6th Company's Status.

---

We have 7~8 active mechwarriors (I'm presuming Brody will make a new character)

We have 3 inactive mechwarriors, (not writing Thanos and Amos off just yet, and Halo will linger unless all the BMs bail on me.)

We have 2 LAM pilots for Prestige units to add to fight.

I'm debating if we should have conventional units post Hoff.

Going to be really really really light if so.  Just the PC, James and Patrick... and... maybe 'just' Bravo.  Though i'm contemplating taking the Bravo unit to New Avalon, which is more suited to small unit action than big battlefield combat with mechs.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:30, Thu 21 June 2012.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Bravo also could do wetwork missions.  Stuff they do either off-planet (or on) ends up influencing enemy reinforcements, supplies and intel.  They get to do fun stuff and still help out the 6th based on performance.

Hm.  doesnt seem like theres alot of opinion on this, so i guess i'll just roll with most of what i had planned.

There was truth in the old adage about war.  How it was hour on end of tedious boredom punctuated by several minutes of andrenaline pumping action.  The action was over now, and he Eridani 151st Regimental combat group had done everything asked of them, and it was time to get paid for it.

The room was well lit, small, and very spartan.  There was a table, a few chairs, and very large mirror that dominated one side of the room. It was the sort of room used to interrogate prisoners.

Nate was killing time waiting for his meeting by rolling up wads of paper torn off the pad to lob into the trashcan in the far side of the room.  The sharp mind of a tactician, and the honed reflexs of a mech warrior was showing as he consistantly managed to bounce the latest wad of paper off two walls to dunk in the trashcan.

"Nothing but net...", he comments to himself.  Outwardly at ease, as his mind works out the details of the coming meeting.

(to be continued)

It had been a busy morning.  Pagan was just getting use to sleeping in a warm bed again, and not having to scrounge around in the field.  There were always things to do though and her trip home was now being cut short as the tampering with the nuclear facilities were being dealt with.

It wasnt her specialty, but with something like this they wanted all the help they might need for anything on hand to make certain accidents didnt occur.  Nate was suppose to meet her for future employment prospects for the Eridani as well as compensation for services rendered.

Beside her was a co-worker with an interest in the Eridani...

(To be continued)

As company joins Nate in the room, he flips his last paper ball into the waste basket, before slowly taking his crossed feet off the table and sitting up slowly to show he was absolutely unrepentant about his slack posture and apparent boredom.

"Good morning Peggy.  Nice of you to finally fit me in between your busy schedule?"

Pegan arches an eyebrow.  The Colonol certainly wasnt standing on formality this afternoon.  It was best to stay on his good side, at least for now.

"Afternoon actually.  Apologies to keep you waiting Nate.  I've been stuck in the think tank, over that nuke mess, and being debriefed by Davion Command on the situation on Hoff."

Nate nods in an amiable manner, "It's not afternoon till after i've had lunch, which i've missed so far, since i've been boxed up in here waiting for you.  I'd say lets do this informal like over lunch but i see you bought company?", Nate comments glancing over at the woman lingering just a little behind Peggy.

"This... is Dr. Ward.  Dr. Janice Ward.  On loan to the Hoff think tank.  She requested to be on hand for this meeting."

Nate was suspiscious.  This was obviously going someplace, but Nate wasnt sure where.

(to be continued)

"Nice to make your acqaintance m'am.", Nate gets to his feet and nods politely to Dr. Ward.  It was one thing taking an atitude with Pagan, quite another with a perfect stranger.

After the two women seated themselves, Nate returns to his seat, adopting a more professional look about himself as he seats himself hand clasp in front of him , he regards Pagan expectantly.

"To start with.  House Davion is pleased with the Eridani performance.
 They understand that holding this planet has cost you dearly in equipment as well as talent."

Nate simply nods his head, it wasnt an assessment he was going to argue with.

"To this end, we have been authorized, to extend the Eridani a garrison contract, with generous terms to allow the Eridani a chance to rebuild their unit, to replace their losses."

Nate nods to this, it seemed like an alright deal on the surface, but a merc unit didnt get rich on garrison work, they got soft.

"During this period, surplus mechs will be made available to the Eridani for purchase.  Well used mechs, to be certain but servicable.  I'm informed that a few new enforcers and valkyries might even find their way into your possession during this time period.  The Eridani will be allowed to recruit from Davion war academies help alleviate their loss in talent.  There is no substitute for an experience mech warrior, but at this time this is the best we can offer on this point."

Nate nods slowly, they were generous terms.

"I'm going to have to have the legal boys at Reigmental take alook at the small print, but i have to admit that these sound like generous terms.", Nate comments waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Was this Doctor the other shoe he wonders.

"I'm sure things will be worked out to your satisfaction.", Pagan comments smoothely.  She glances to one side at her companion, noting Nate's gaze.

"Dr. Ward, has been instrumental, in the design and application of the new Wasp-1ew, and recovery of the LAM project which the House Davion... and the Eridani, have enjoyed here on Hoff.  Most of the prototypes are being used to train the next generation of mech scouts, and LAM pilots.  The few in the Eridani possession may remain there as partial payment of services rendered.  Dr. Ward has made a request of Davion command, and while they are unable to act because of diplomatic reasons... thought the Eridani... freelance mercenaries, might be perfect for her needs..."

'Here we go... the other shoe...', Nate exhales slowly and folded his arms waiting to here what exactly Dr. Ward was going to need, for the Eridani to land the cushy contract being dangled by Pagan.

(to be continued)

The doctor had that intellectual look to her.  The sort that lived their life on the theoretical instead of the dingy dirty truths that was his day in and day out existence.

"I represent a small but affluent peripheral state.
 We are currently suffering raids from a nearby peripheral state.
 House Davion is sympathetic, but, because of diplomatic delicacies is unable to act directly to support us."

Nate points to himself, "That's where we come in, a bunch of money grubbing mercs who dont care for politics?"

Dr. Ward nods slightly, "Not the words i would use, but yes.  House Davion has no official position in this.  I am hoping you would be amiable to taking a new contract."

Nate thought about for a few brief moments, "We just finished defending Hoff, were in no position to take on a new contract, and then theres the small detail of you astute observation.  We are mercs?"

Dr. Ward nods, "I'm sure compensation can be arranged.  I can also offer the sale of a lance of mechs to the Eridani to use."

"A lance of mechs arent going to really be much of a dangle to me at the moment Dr. Ward.  I have a regiment to rebuild."

"Not mechs like these...  They're going to be the next generation in mech designs.  The X-3 Power loaders."

Nate quirks his eyebrow curious. as the good doctor spends the next few minutes outlinging the X-3 mechs.

---

X-3 is the 25 ton 'line' mech with a 4/6/4 movement profile

X-3s is the 20 ton 'ew' mech with a 5/8/5 movement profile

X-3a is the 30 ton assault/command mech with a 5/8/0 movement profile

The new contract will allow for the sale of (1) X-3A (available to characters with a rank of at least corporal), (1) X3-S (available to character with EW skills), and (2) X3s available to any mechwarrior interested.  A 'standard' X3 may be substituted  for a 'A' or 'S' variant.

Mechs will be early omni-ish mechs and use standard and non-standard weapons.  You may, after the Hoff mission, swap your current rides for an X-3 mech or keep your current rides for the next leg of the mission.

It should be noted that 'air' deployments are limited to 30ton mechs.  So heavier mechs in the unit will not be able to be air deployed, which may limit their ability to operate in future missions.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Sat 30 June 2012.

In the days that followed, relief arrived and the bulk of the Eridani's were gearing up to ship out to New Avalon.  A contract was drawn up with Pagans' assistance to detach an Eridani Company to serve out an 'independant' contract with Dr. Ward.

An liason officer would be appointed once the company made planetfall to tend to their logisitical needs, as local support would allow.

The contract called for a company of mechs, with 'some' conventional support.

6th Company was looking pretty ratty after that Combine dustoff mess, but Nate still had faith in the unit.  Nate owed it to the old man to have a little faith in Johan.  This was his chance to organize the unit and make arrangements to his liking to dust off for their next contract.

---

Players may roleplay here.

If not inclined, they may just talk out of character to help organize the unit.

X-3 pilots may speicify 'primary' variants they're going with, and may request alternate equipment.

non X-3 pilots may speicify their expected rides.

Officers can specify what they'd like their lance to size up as.

Nate's put organization into Johan's hands.

We can do it the old way and form up lances again, but that just never seems to 'stick'.  I'm willing to try it again and hope this ones the charm.

It's also been suggested to go with a 'Wing Man' or 'Triad' organization.  I'm good with those too.

Alternately we can go with a 'task force' organization.  We're a single company, and as a task comes up, we form up a 'task force' to go deal with the situation


Currently...
Officers
Captain Johan
1st Lt. Adam
2nd Lt. Omni Liason Officer (TBA)

NCOs
Camille
Devlin

MWs
BJ       ~ Blackjack
Cade     ~ X-3    w/(2) ML and (2) L4s
Svend    ~ X-3ew
Caitlin

This message was last edited by the player at 03:26, Fri 06 July 2012.

"So... Doc... Who do you work for that you need to hire a seasoned veteran unit like the Eridani?", Nate asked curious

"Have you heard of the planet Omni?", Dr. Ward asked cocking her head curious at the Colonol.

"Omni?  You mean like the Fusion Engines?", Nate shrugs taking a shot in the dark.

"Actually.  Yes.  That's one of our designs.  Exported... and licensed, and at times out right pirated illegally but yes Omni.  It's a periphery planet on the other side of the Taurian Concordat.  The Taurian have been looking to form a power base in the periphery and have been pursuing aggressive diplomacy to cohearse planets into their alliance."

"You expect an invasion?", Nate hazards a guess.  A company was alot of mechs for the Periphery.

Dr. Ward's eyes widen and she shakes her head negative quickly several times, "Oh no.  Nothing like that.  Omni has a standing military force... We've been developing... testing... and have limited production of the X-3 Power loader.  We've learned our lesson with the Omni mechs, and production will only be done at home to keep trade secrets... well a secret.  We're hoping to form up a standing military to keep the Taurian influence at bay, allowing them to mercenary out for income, when the cause is right.", Dr. Ward glances at Pegan who nods once.

Nate was no fool, under the table dealings were involved, but what did he really care.  He was a soldier, and his battlefield was cleaner than the cesspool administrators fought on.

Nate glances at Pegan, "If our current employers, endorse ...", Nate's voice drifted off as Pagan shook her head no once.

"If our current employers... do not object...", he tried again waiting for a nod from Pagan before continuing, "I'm sure we can work something out.  If youre supplying new tech to the Federated Suns, the Eridani want a piece of this action."

Dr. Ward nods looking tentative, "I'm sure... something can be worked out."

The trip to Omni was hard on Cade.  He was his worst critic and even Johan's scathing words on his performance paled in comparison to the defamation that was going on in the Rookie's head.  The first battle he was out of position, the second, again out of position, but that was hardly his fault.  He was trying to back up Pong, but that did not go well either.  Pong was dead and unless he was the best shot on the planet, there was nothing that Cade could have done to avert it.

Sleep was hard to find as the sound of an AC20 going off in his dreams constantly woke him up.  Cade found himself in the gym a lot during the early hours of the day.  Either running or lifting weights.  He spent a lot of time in the simulator as well, doing what he can to try to improve his aim.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Thu 12 July 2012.

Most of the Eridani boosted off Hoff, for Avalon, the dropships gathering on Jumpships that would begin the long trek to bring them over to the House Davions capital to serve out a quiet garrison contract, allowing the merc unit to rebuild it's strength after the grueling battle for Hoff.

Quietly among the pomp and circumstance of the moment, a new mercenary unit was formed up known as the 'Wild Stallions'.  Officially listed as a group of 'disgruntled' pilots that were disillusioned with the battle of Hoff were striking out on their own.  Their first contract a little known planet that no one has ever heard of called 'Omni'.

The instructions to Johan were clear.  'Officialy', the Wild Stallions were on their own.  This contract required House Davion not to be involved, which was why it fell to the Eridani.  To further distance the unit from house Davion, a 'new' unit was formed up to suppose the facade.

Unofficially, the Wild Stallions were being detached for a contract while the parent company recovered under the Davion Contract.  Some of 6th Company had decided to stay with the Avalon contract.  Personal friction between Halo and Cowboy had resulted in the request of the transfer of service, along with her sister Holly.  Johan's own senior NCO Crpl. Sforza had requested a similiar transfer of service citing irrconciable differences with the Company CO.

Women were an emotional lot it seemed, and had no stomach for just sucking it up and soldiering down when duty requiered it.  Where was the loyalty?  Where was the comradery code of silence?  Other pilots were being drawn from what was left the of the Eridani.  Johan could only hope for mechwarriors made from sterner stuff.  He was destined for greatness.  He could feel it, and for such greatness he would need men under his command capable of supporting that greatness.

The Eridani Dropship, the OK Corral was being shipped off to Avalon.  As a new merc unit, the Wild Stallions could hardly lay claim to such a resources.  Gone also were the Eridani techs that the unit her grown to rely on.  'Local logistics' were cited to be 'adequete'.  That remained to be seen.  The wild stallions were travelling across the inner sphere now, and through the periphery.  Making port of calls in systems further and further from 'civilization'.  The reletive comfort of the transport liner was a nice change of pace from the spartan travel quarters of a Union dropship.  Sitting in a lounge, Johan regards a data pad with the resources available to the Wild Stallions.



Not even a full company really, though many merc 'companies' were short of the full dozen.  Hauled along parallel with the Transport liner was a Buckaneer Dropship.  On board were several mechs for half the pilots in the unit.  'Arrangements' were made for mechs for the other half of the unit as terms of the contract in play.  It was all very... fishy to Johan, but he had the sense to realize that big things were potentially in play, even if they were from small humble beginnings.


This message was last edited by the GM at 23:50, Thu 12 July 2012.

The unit had stayed together with the reigment till New Avalon, a brief stop over where good byes were made between old comrade, before the Wild Stallion continued on, a few jumps later, the unit would pass through New Sytis, before making the jump into jump points barely known, and rarely used by reputable dropships.

Fares were bought and paid for, and the next few jumps were made in the less accomodating quarters of a Buckaneer dropship.  There werent many passengers going to Omni, though there was a cargo hold of goods, along with the units mechs slated for the green planet out in the middle of no where.

The long Ferro-Concrete strip was paved smoothe, a few bumps from his rough handling of the dropship were all that disturbed an otherwise smoothe landing on Omni's starport.

As ports go, it was small and seemed little used.  A trio of circular pads were along side the long strip supporting the enormous dropships that shipped commerce to and away from the planet.  A pair of Mules currently occupying two of the pads hinted at a healthy trade economy.

Hangers lined the space beside the strip hinted at a notable Aero Space presence. It took more than a few minutes for the Buckaneer to taxi off the strip and into a Hanger large enough to accomodate two such crafts.  The cavernous cargo hold would be unloaded over the next few hours, among the cargo being unloaded were the Wild Stallions mechs.

The enviroment felt much more welcoming than the distant frosty weather of Hoff.  It was humid and warm, though in the shade of the hanger not to the point of uncomfortable.  Among the Wild Stallions, was Dr. Ward, the immediate representative of Omni.

Svend drank deep into his beer as he looked at the photo of his Firestarter. She had carried him into battle for quite a time and had never seemed to let him down. After Hoff, however, it seemed it was time to leave the rugged mech behind. Nearly being cored by a massive AC and then losing a leg at the same time had spelled the end of her time as Svend's ride. He patched her up and left her on Hoff with a young kid looking to break out of the mold.

The thought made Svend smile. He looked at a patch on the leather jacket that bore his entire carrier as a pilot. It was emblazoned with a flaming skull, though the entire thing was nearly faded and extremely dirty from years of wear. It was his first unit, a training lance on his birthworld. He drank again and hoped that this new place would wind up better than the last world they were on. At least it was warm where they were now.

Lt. Evans stood at ease near the ramp of the Buckaneer Dropship.  A Platoon of X-3s were standing by to move in and unload the cargo from the Buckaneer.  The first man Mille caught a glimpse of was chugging down a beer and looked a little pensive... or slow.

She waited a bit longer hoping he was just a crew hand, and not the mercenaries they were waiting for.  Dr. Ward should be with the mercenary Captain, and Lt. Evans was certain that official introductions would be made when she was sighted.

Camille had found herself a seat nearby as well, though in her case it wasn't a beer being downed, but rather a simple sandwich.

she understood his sentiment, her cicada had carried her through many a battle, and now the old girl was gone, in her place some fancy new mech, slower, but better armed and armored.

she'd lost count of how many times she'd shuffled through the manual, in the end she'd found herself asking thanos about the quirks of the ride, he used a similar mech after all.

She looked up at the young woman standing there, looking a little lost.
She sighed, packing away the sandwich... later.
"Can I help you Ma'am?"

Dlin makes his way to the lounge, eager for some refreshing beverage.  He sees Bjorn and Camille already there, alon with some fresh meat.  He makes his way over to Camille's table.

Good day Corporal Storza.  Hear you moved up to a bigger mech.  How you liking that?

He motions for a drink and takes out a cigar.

Adam had heard about the X-3 program and that plus the condition of his Clint at the end of the Hoff campaign had led him to shift his priorities and mech.  He'd spent years learning the ins and outs of that Clint and now he was going to have to do it all over again...and hoped the learning curve wasn't going to be too sharp when it came to dealing with threats at the same time.

Warm as it was he was he was still wearing the longcoat but had his jumpsuit on beneath to keep himself cool.  Kit bag slung over his shoulder he walked down the ramp to get a good look at the world that they were going to be stationed on for the forseeable future.

Omni had the look of Paradise compared to the frosty grey skies of Hoff, the outlook here had a refined modern look to everything.  The skies were blue and clear today and the place had the look of a vacation resort.


Millie being addressed nods curtly to Camille.

"I have orders to report to Dr. Ward for the specifics regarding the liason duties i will be performing for... a mercenary ... unit.", the last few words were said slowly, as if they were distasteful to the woman.  She was dressed in some sort of uniform.  There was a pleasant accent hinted int Millie's voice.  Enough to be interesting, without impeding communication.  Likely it was not her native language.

"I suspect, she should be in the company of the commander of this unit.", Millie tried not to be too judgemental.  Regardless of the recommendations, they looked like a motley bunch.  Allowances had to be made though, they had just made planetfall.

The uniform was blue and white and seemed to be cut from rugged material to allow for modest protection.  It was worn over a slick black snug fitting material that looked a bit like a wet suit.  A single gold triangle with pinned to the collars of her uniform.  A belted sidearm rested on her hip.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:18, Fri 13 July 2012.

Caitlin sat at the base of a wall in the lounge, in shorts and T-shirt running her fingers over the scars on her legs resulting from the most recent fight. She basked in the warmth, happy to be feeling warm again, rather than on the frozen Hell of Hoff. She looked over at the woman. Clearly not impressed by her, she turned back to her bottle of water.

Millie exhales as she waits patiently for someone in command to appear.  As the present Eridani watch, they notice the Power Loaders moving the Buckaneer sifting through and moving cargo out to load on flatbed trucks parked nearby the dropship.

Most of the cargo is heavy industrial equipment, of specific raw materials used for manufacturing.  Freezer units, move out exotic delicacies from the near by planets.

Near at hand a small pile of crates is on a loading palatte waiting for space to be cleared off the Buckaneer so that it might be sent out to do it's circuit for the Buckaneer's next trip.

A simple Mental Roll by Adam, Caitlin, or Svend will have them notice that the Power Loaders resemble the specifications to their new rides.  The conclusion from there would be that they've downgraded their mechs to commercial labor mechs, which would make them a special brand of death trap with their cheaper commercial armor (similiar to vehicle armor and subject to criticals just by being hit) as opposed to military grade armor (normal battlemech armor).

Hearing Dr. Wards name Cowboy headed over to Millicent, "You're right last I heard Dr. Ward is with Captain Hinklemeyer-Schmidt...I'm Lieutenant Adam Carlyle.  You can wait here or if you head on in, they should be down this corridor, past three bulkheads on the left."

Nodding to the Power Loaders doing the work he added, "It's interesting that you've been able to use the existing chassis to suit both combat and commercial use.  Very efficient, though I wuldn't want to be in that version if there was a firefight..."

Devlin downs a shot of whiskey and lights up his cigar. He overhears the pretty young woman officer mention her need ot find thier mighty Captain.

Well, Lootenant, Ma'am, I suspect the best place to look for our Captain ould be as far away from us as he can be and in the cleanest little piece of the base.  On the other hand, our LT is out near the mech bay.  You can't miss him.  Clean cut, handsome feller in a long brown coat. MAtter of fact, here he is.

Devlin motions as Cowboy walks up

Lt. Evans takes a half step back and to the right away from Devlin.  The alcohol reeking about him, reducing her esteem of the mercenary unit another step before even seeing them on the field.

"I see.", she comments guardedly prepared to step back quickly should Devlin look to be in the need to vomit.

Lt. Evans quirks an eyebrow at Adam's comments about the Power Loaders.

"Actually those are X-3s.  A class of cadets are practicing handling drills with them by unloading and loading the transport.  The fine manuevering and handling of freight is a useful exercise for novice pilots.  Once they have master the art of handling their Power Loaders, they are allowed to move on the weapon training exercises."

"I was briefed but seeing in person for the first time is always a different thing.  If you don't mind me asking what's the learning curve for the novice pilots and expected length of time training?  Or are those things that are better discussed in private?" queried Adam since he was curious about how long they were taking to train them to eyeball an abstract point.

"From the pilots point of view.  They handle very much like a standard battlemech.", there was a thoughtful pause as Millicent considered just how much to discuss.

"No.  Dr. Ward said that two pairs were being assigned to your unit for use.
 Partial payment for services rendered were the arrangements, is my understanding.", Millicent gestures absently at a passing X-3 as it loads a hefty looking crate onto a flatbed.

"Extensive thought and research was put into the design of the Power Loader.  It features several advantages over standard battlemech designs.", Millie points out the boxy torso design, similiar to the Crusader or Archer missile bays.

"Those are the shoulder modules.  Weapon modules are designed to be removed and replaced in the span of a hour.  This allow for damaged units to be removed and fresh weapons quickly installed off the rack resulting in minimal down time....", the Omni officer jogs off, redirecting orders to one of the X-3 pilots.  Evidently warning her not to overload the flatbed with cargo.

The flatbeds drive off and four empty ones pull up.  The half dozen X-3s start to manuver huge crates at this time, which contain the mechs that they shipped with them from Hoff.  Each of the flat beds evidently reserved for taking the load of an Eridani Battlemech.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:45, Sat 14 July 2012.

"I'm slated for an X-3c model and I just wanted to be as up to speed as possible so that the transition from the old Clint I used to pilot into this new one is as seamless as possible..." added Adam as she jogged off to direct the loading crew about the Eridani mechs brought from Hoff.

Watching the mechs move he studied their gait and limb gestures.  Even if they were novices it would give him an inking into how the mech would perform and also help him define just how he was going to adjust his tactics to handle the new rides in real combat.

The mechs were small.  There was no denying it.  They were about the size of a Commando, but they had a huskier line back look to them that gave them a rough and tumble look to them.

The mechs were also very STRONG.  Half a dozen X-3s were moving a Blackjack onto a flatbed.  Some quick math distributed through Adams head, and he noted that they were each hauling around seven and a half tons of mass.  Mechs were capable of moving around 10% of their mass.  So... a Commando would manage a load of 2.5.

Something about the 'math' was off to Adam.

"Haul them down to the motor pool.  Get the girls to unpack them, and shake out the mothballs.  They're probably going to be needed soon.", Lt. Evans discusses things with a driver as directions are given and signs off on some paperwork.

"A 'C'?  We dont have many of those around.  You're lucky.  I was offered one, but declined it in favor of the 'EW'.", Millicent stands a little taller, evidently proud of the point that she's managed to land a lighter mech.  There was no paperwork on the EW, aside from it's existance in the manuals provided to the Eridani (since they didnt have one slated for them)

"Only... the best and brightest pilots are offered an 'EW' variant.", Millicient thinks about it briefly.

"It is similiar to the Hoff WSP-1EW?", she offers the highly classified Hoff Mech as an example, which is intersting in of itself that she has knowledge of it's existence.

Svend rolled up next to Adam, the air heavy with the smell of alcohol. He slapped the man on the shoulder and watched the Loaders do their business. "Just checking the new rides, LT? Can't say that they look much heavier than a exosuit. Compact, I guess. Could see myself in one back on Solaris. Thing would get shredded by SRMs. Excited about the punch lance on my ride, though I think a few tweaks could get her off the jerky side and a bit smoother on the throttle. These rookies don't seem to grasp the concept of an smooth ride."

He was rambling, but he didn't care. He knew Adam well enough to not worry about his drinking around the senior mech pilot. He didn't pay much attention to the woman with him. Svend was more interested in getting a hold on his new toy and trying to see if he could put the most out of it on the battlefield.

She gave Devlin a rare smile.
"truth be told, I am not entirely certain.
Let me get back to you on the subject once we've taken it to the lines."

she looked up to see a technician start on painting her house incal onto it, and sighed, she hadn't used one on her cicada, she hadn't had to.

Now she did, just like she'd had to replace her cicada with the slower 'line' mech.
even most of her wardrobe had been changed, less casual clothees, more formal wear, she even had a uniform now.

the range on the blackjack was less, but she suspected it would show it's claws soon enough, and the twin lazars made it a formidable threat.
She hadn't used jump jets since training though, would have to get used to them again now.

Cade strolls off the dropship and heads over to where everyone is looking over the new mechs.  He has a grin on his face, happy to be on a temperate planet.  Spotting Devlin standing next to someone he does not recognize, he adjusts his stride and joins the two.  "Hey Dev, who is the new hotty?", he asks and then gets a good look at Camille.  "Oh.  Sorry, Cam.  Didn't recognize you in uniform and all.  Still, looking good though", he says trying to recover.  He then takes a long pull on what loks like a vitamin drink to help replace his foot in his mouth.



Modified to remove bar reference.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Sat 14 July 2012.

Camille chuckled and shook her head, trying to hide a slight blush.
"yeah yeah, we all know it's just the uniform"
at least even if life threw a curve ball at her, the unit would still be the same, silly and stuppid remarks shot back and forth.

Lt. Evans had seen enough and was underwhelmed by the advisors Dr. Ward had come back with.  Bright woman that she was, never send a civilian to negotiate for soldiers.  Mille hands the writing implement back to the recruit on deck.

"Margaret.  I'm going to hitch a ride with the transport detail.  Tell Dr. Ward I'll be in the motor pool supervising the unpacking of the equipment."


"Yes M'am", say the woman waiting for the Lt. to depart before even looking remotely relaxed.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:30, Sat 14 July 2012.

camille noticed the tone in millicents voice..
"miss, we fight for a living.
When we don't fight, we kick back.
You shouldn't be so quick to judge us based on how we behave while we're not working, if you find our work unsatisfactory after we've actuallly started working that's different, but at least hold judgement until then."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Sat 14 July 2012.

'Miss ?', Millie had to check her stride on that one.  She had worked hard to work for her commission and the slight was particularly aggrevating, considering the source.  She took a moment to look Camille over, the insignia noted her as some sort of officer.  Not the Force Commander then, else Dr. Ward would be there.

"Miss...", Millie started slowly inflicting the same insulting title that was applied to herself, "Conduct off the field of battle, affects conduct on the field.  You've had weeks to recover from whatever fatigues you might have had from your last contract of service.  One would hope not spending the entire length of the trip... 'kicking back'..."

Millicient had to grimace, the big hairy one was reeking an odor that was almost bad enough to set her eyes to tearing.  "I would hope that you would practice some 'judgement' by not engaging in activities that will obviously be detrimental to your performance."

The exchange of conversation was not going unnoticed.  The personnel in and around the hanger was slowing down or stopping to watch the exchange.

Characters, please make a base Mental check to 'notice' something.

Cade is too busy noticing how nicely Cam's butt looks in the uniform to notice anything else.


Ooc: rolled a 3
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Sat 14 July 2012.

Cade observes that camille really looks good inher uniform.  What sort ofuniform is it.  Is everyone in eridani colors or something else

In reply to Kitten (msg # 40):

This woman was clearly a greenhorn, any soldier who had seen real fighting, knew they risk ther lives on the field.
Camille straightened her jacket, and shot the woman a glance.

<purple>"there is precious little else to do in space.
When death lurks around every corner, you lesrn to appreciate every single moment.<purple>

Mental 9 vs base tn6

In reply to Kitten (msg # 40):

Im wearing Eridani colors. Not the complete uniform, but t-shirt, slacks and boots.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Sat 14 July 2012.

Millies eyes flick to the gathered pilots infront of her.

"Yes... I can see the hazards of space are most daunting.
 Evasion of drunken comrades.
 Scavengering and rationing of alcoholic beverages.
 Bodily odors that border on violation of the Ares convention against the use of chemical warfare.

 All very daunting hazards.  I'm impressed with your survival skills.", Millie's voice drips sarchasm.

---

Camille's attention is too focused on Millie, she wont get to notice anything.

Cade's attention is too focused on Camille, as he runs mental calculations on the odds of a catfight, and who would come out on top from such an out come, and who he should publicaly root for, and who he should privately root for.  He doesnt notice much either.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:47, Sat 14 July 2012.

In reply to Lance Commander Millicent Evans (msg # 43):

She chuckled.
"there is that too"
Then shrugged.
"not like you'll be out there with us, so whats the big deal?
We'll get the job done, don't worry about that."
She indicated the others.
"we're a mixed bunch, like most mercenary companies, when you stuff eight different egos of the kind needed to pilot a mech, on a liner for two weeks, you learn to make allowances for a lot of things."
She indicated the one drinking.
"he's a former gladiator, for instance.
I'm a noble, so is our captain."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 16:51, Sat 14 July 2012.

"Charmed im sure.

 Do you even know what the job is that youre here to do before claiming instant competance to success?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:13, Sat 14 July 2012.

she shrugged at that, she might hate the co with the intensity of a thousand sns, but there was no reason to show that.
"to be honest, not much, but our captain wouldn't take it unless he thought we could handle it."'
it wasn't blind support, johan was too happy with his preciious hide to risk taking the unit into a fight he couldn't win.
"we have each others backs, when it comes down to it, that's the most important.

but feel free to look down your dainty little nose at us from that high and mighty horse of yours."
Frankly she'd had enough of the little snob, so she simply spun around and ignored 'blondie', this was not a fight she had to take, that would come later, and she would be piloting fortyfive tonnes worht of warmachine for that.

The woman obviously knew not what she was talking about or had an odd way of expressing support for her company commander.  Millie's glance at the unit was one of concern.  She wasnt sure what was more frightening.  The total lack of support for their commanding officer, or the chilling possibility that this was possibly their best behavior.

They were all a bunch of scruffy undisciplined mercs.  Obviously unable to cut it in a real military organization and banded together... for what?

Millie made a gesture with one hand, and whispered a short prayer.  God help them, if they were actually going to be needed.  A glance to her side caught Margaret and the others gwaking at the spectacle.  This... they didn't need.

"Show's over people.  Move it.", Millicent clapped her hands to break the spellbound audience and urged them all back to work.  She left without another word, too filled with disgust to trust her tongue for the moment.

Dlin stood by watching the unit defend itslf against this stuck up officer that had probably never seen the inside of a mech, much less ridden one into battle knowing that this fight might be your last one.



12:19, Today: Sgt. Devlin Masters rolled 9 using 2d6. mental check.

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:33, Sat 14 July 2012.

As he watched the mech loading the trucks and the crews moving around he makes an interesting discovery.  It was hard to notice under the work coveralls but they were all female. There was a certain fluidity to thier movements and the feminine form could be seen under the coveralls.

He taps Cowboy on the shoulder and points.

Cowboy, take a gander.  No men, all women.  I do believe we are in a target rich environment.

Virtually everyone from the Dancing Horses was gone and he was left with the Wild Horses and Schmidt and Halo leaving the company had hit him hard.  He had busied himself in the manuals, reviewing battle logs and the like so when the ensuing thrust and counter thrust of commentary like a mech battle taking life with words popped up Adam took note.  He was going to reply to her question until her attention was soaked up by Camille.

He nodded to Devlin's offering as his eyes had flicked over the gaggle of workers with Millicent leaving, "I do believe you are right Wolfman, good eyes..."

Its not hard to notice.  There was a definite feminine curve to most of the works in the area.  The only camoflauge was the sprinkling of male workers from the Buckaneer.  Now that Devlin had bought it to the others attentions, it wasnt hard to look closer and notice the population count.

Cowboy even notices that a couple of recruits were taking turns in the X-3 Loaders, so that they might all get a chance to practice with the Handler mechs.  The X-3s looked... light and it was hard to shake the 'commercial' application being applied to them.  Unless it was an emergency, battlemechs were not machines of burden.  It was like using a fine War Horse Stallion to plow a field of corn.  Sure it could do it, but there was a certain ignoble outrage that accompanied the task.

It wasnt unheard of.  Among the thousands of worlds that made up known space, there were a few where matriarchy that dominated the governing body of the planet.  House Steiner was the most notable example of such.

It was however a very definite oddity to come across one where the the population ratios were so skewed.  None of the current Eridanis were aware of this aspect of Omni, and if Schmidt was aware of it, he was keeping the information close to his chest.  What it meant was anyone's guess.  It might be cosmetic, it might be important, it was hard to say.

Awards Devlin 1xp for being the first pilot to notice the dominant female population.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:10, Sat 14 July 2012.

Cade snaps out of his cat-fight calculations and posterior ogling when Cam straightens her jacket and turns around.  Not wanting to be the next target of any scorned woman, he moves over to make sure she has more than enough room to go where ever she may.  This is about the time when Cade also notices that they are using the X-3s for menial labor, not to show off with the strength of them, but this seems like a normal occurrence.

"So, were going to be piloting labor mechs modified for combat, or combat mechs that are so insignificant that they use them for menial labor as well?  Why did I downgrade again?", Cade comments out loud and then takes a seat so he can watch the mechs move. "Something is off here."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:12, Sat 14 July 2012.

"I don't know why you downgraded Rookie, but I know exactly why I'll be taking possession of an X-3c instead of still running around in my Clint." chuckled Adam in the direction of Cade before finding a nice place to put down his rucksack and nod over to Svend to pick back up his commentary.

"Looks can be deceiving and if what I've been briefed on is true..." rubbing his jawline as he watched them do their work, "...and based on what I'm seeing here I'm starting to see a bit of a pattern.  All that is left is to hop in one and see if we can smooth out the ride like you're saying."

Snapping his fingers he looked over to Svend with a grin, "I finally remembered where I was getting that niggling feel from.  You remember the Rezlak sisters?  They were on the Solaris scene...what almost ten years before you.  I remember seeing some of the old footage and how they moved in their pair of top-heavy Javelins...now look at the X-3's and how the cadets are piloting them.  You think we can modify some of their old moves and tricks into these guys when we get our hands on them?"

Magaret watched the Lance Commander depart the hanger quietly.  Keeping quiet to herself as she debated the wisdom between doing as she was told, and indulging her curiosity.

The Commander had left specific instructions for her, though, these instructions did not exclude her from indulging her curiosity either.  They were a real mech company.  Certainly they were mercenary... certainly they were... 'unorthodox'... certainly... they needed a shower.  Margaret wrinkles her nose and glances over her shoulder to be certain Commander Evans wasnt lingering before sllllllooooowly wandering her way closer to the mercenary unit to easedrop in on what they were talking about.

Margaret very careful to keep her distance from Camille.

"Stands to reason boss. They made those Mechs to suit the way they fight around here. If we're going to be doing it for them, to prove these toys out. Then these boys will be much better at fighting around here than the stuff we normally use. They might look small but they're well formed." Rabbit looked around the room as she sipped at her water. "I'm guessing they haven't used them much for actual fighting. Way Miss talks over there it's obvious she's only seen battle from a vidscreen. Just like Rookie." Rabbit grinned teasing Cade.

"I don't know about those sisters, sir. I think we're better off working out our own surprises. We can surprise the hell out of the enemy with the quick change weaponry and they're light and mobile. I'd like to tlak to the techs and see what they say about how quick they can replace armour and engines...but I guess it'll wait till we get formally introduced to our rides."

OOC:Will not be in Eridani uniform, now we're masquerading as a new unit. She might have some surplus gear around, but Rabbit's much more likely to be wearing civilian gear (shorts, tshirt, shades) as we're not technically on the clock yet.

camille sighed, she'd just succeeded in alienating one of their employers officers, still the woman had been so infuriatingly haughty.

her uniform was actually that of her own house, just like caitlinn, she had packed up and hidden away her eridani colors.
This one was mainly black, with that deep metallic purple lining it, normallly a uniform was a military thing, but as the greater houses had their  own uniforms, so the lesser ones had made themselves some too, it was fashionable, but more importantly, having your own uniform was a sign of status.
granted, it was a ridiculess notion, but she wore it anyway.

she unwrapped the rest of her sandwich and looked at the others as they unpacked.
true, some of them could use a heavy shower.
she herself had made sure too get one this very morning, just as she did every morning.

The captain of the newly formed mercenary company was conspicuously absent for much of the preparation for, during the span and since landing on Omni. Whereas he had tended to spend much too much time at officers' club and carousing with other nobility serving in the Eridani, he now just shut himself off.  What the group knew was that he seemed to have a continuous scowl on his face that only got worse over time.  Rumors were flying rampantly...from his having a falling out with the brass (or his family, what's the difference after all)...to his worrying about shipments of his personal china and tea not making it to the periphery in an orderly manner...to some kind of strange romance that affected assignments of the unit, mechs and even promotions and demotions.  They could only hope that he hadn't signed them up for something awful.  Now, he had made a sudden appearance before the rest of the group, apparently looking around for something...or someone.

Looking over to the Captain who had missed the hullabaloo he gave him the respectful nod to a superior officer and then let him know, "There was a liaison here a bit ago to speak with Dr. Ward and I'm guessing you.  She headed out to supervise the unpacking of the gear, didn't leave her name though or seem to want to be led in before jetting off."

In reply to 1st LT Adam Carlyle (msg # 58):

Camille too managed the mandatory nod to their captain, before she resumed the consumption of her lunch.
 After that she returned to sifting through the 900 pages of technical babble about her new ride.

Dr. Ward had quietly appeared with Capt. Schmidt.  Evidently the pair were in 'conference' again.  In conference about what was always a topic of amusing speculation for the unit.  Dr. Ward looks about for Lance Commander Evans and is disappointed not to see her about.  It was an odd turn of event since the Lance Commander was often prompt and reliable.

Margaret had noticed the appearance of Dr. Ward and promptly did her assigned order, "Welcome home Dr. Ward.  Lance Commander Evans left me to report to you.  She's taken care of the paper work with the 'Cracker Jack' (name of the dropship you rode in on)...", there was a short pause as Marge contemplates how to phrase it.

"... made the acquaintence of...", Margaret gestures at the Eridani loitering about near the docking ramp of the Crack Jack.  Some finishing a late lunch, others indulging in an early beer.

"I believe, she thought it was more prudent use of her time to supervise unpacking the mechs and making certain things were in order for our visitors.", the young woman finishs glancing at the Eridani.

If Dr. Ward caught any of Margaret's discrete nuances, it didnt show in expression or words.

"Ah.  Splendid.  Leave it to Lance Commander Evans to be so efficient.", Dr. Ward seems pleased by the progresss reported to her and turns to Captain Schmidt.

"It seems things are progressing well.  Cadet Schneider can show you to your quarters if you'd like to freshen up a little, unless you'd like to review Lance Commander Evan's preparations personally?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:15, Sun 15 July 2012.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," responded Johan, apparently satisfied, he was always brief and curt to the members of the company, except sometimes Lt. Sforza, whom he nodded to now.  He then turned his attention back to the passenger that had joined the new unit on the space hop, Dr. Ward.

Getting situated on a new planet was always a tricky affair, and any additional time just acclimated to him was a good thing.  Variances in terrain, gravity, atmosphere, weather, ambient lighting, and day/night ratio were wide enough even among habitable planets to take getting used to.  A familiarity that could affect one's skill at piloting the mechs themselves.  Besides, he wasn't about to betray any lack of confidence in his theoretically battleItested unit in front of a bunch of bokklearners.

In a surprisingly pleasant voice, the captain answered, ""I'm certain your lieutenant is perfectly capable of overseeing the unloading operations, and it gives her an opportunity to better practice her command skills.  We should unload ourselves and get settled in too.  Please do lead the way, cadet.". At the last part, he looked past Dr. Ward to Margaret.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:55, Sun 15 July 2012.

Devlin watches the officers dane around things and was thoroughly amused. He walks oer by th Captain and attempts to clarify things.

Good day Cap. Care for a cigar?  I do believe the absent Lootenant found our presecence a bit too much to be around.  I think some remarks were made about our, aroma, from being on the dropship for a couple of weeks.

He holds out acigar to he Captain leans over and takes a sniff.

Now that it's mentioned, we do have a certain aromoa, don't we.

In reply to MW Caitlin Mallory (msg # 55):

Cade face betrays his shock at Caitlin's comment, however it falls away quickly when he sees her smile.  "Ya ya, can't hit the broad side of a silo...", he comments in jest as well.  "I suppose if they had a lot of seasoned pilots around with all these mechs around just doing dirty work, they wouldn't need us then.  All joking aside, I''m sure we'll find out more with the upper brass decide to let us know.  After the Cap lets us loose, I plan to stretch my legs and get a good look around."

When the Captain shows up with the Doctor, Cade stops joking around and falls in line with everyone else, waiting to see what exactly is going on.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Sun 15 July 2012.

"Oh?", Dr. Ward comments with a slight frown.

"Cadet Schneider.  I believe Captain Schmidt's housing arrangements have been made per my directions?", Dr. Ward asks the cadet looking for confirmation.

"I... um... I can not say M'am.  I was just ordered to inform you of Lance Commander Evan's where about.  I dont know anything about housing.", the young cadet answers looking uncomfortable

"Well...  That's rather embarassing.", Dr. Ward glances at Johan.

"Still.  What's done is done.  Take our guest over to the Academy, and show them to the cafateria.  I'll  locate Force Commander Evans to gather the details of their lodging.  I'll leave word at the Cracker Jack, see to it that their personal belongings find their way to their housing?"

"Yes M'am.", Margaret chirps in cheerfully, "This way please.", Margaret starts to lead the Stallions over to what looks like a APC.  Room for seven troopers and their combat gear, so it shouldbe sufficient for the Wild Stallions if they 'squeeze' in a little.

---

Would just like for players to list their current appearances, and if they're going to bring anything any of their personal possessions alone, and if so what.  Thread will continue tommorrow night, anyone not responding is presumed to be in Eridani uniform and carrying thier standard issue sidearm.

Devlin is wearing his usual combat boots and jeans with a t-shirt. He has a pistol and knife on his belt and a pistol and knife in his boots.
 Today he is wearign this t-shirt.

http://www.zazzle.co.nz/sarges...s-235859553496498616
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Mon 16 July 2012.

Rabbit looked up from her position on the floor. "We have no real aroma having been careful with our supplies and using a fresh water ration to keep clean." the last comment by Devlin forcing a response as Rabbit was in deep shock up to this point. She'd spent the entire conversation up to now trying to keep the thought of Johan and the doc together out of her mind. Every single thing either of them were saying sounded like the worst innuendo in her mind.

Closing her eyes fiercely she tapped her head against the bulkhead, trying to keep it in time with the generators. Only after a few minutes did she manage to stop the infernal trickle of mirth at the thought of the captain actually getting with anyone out of her head.

OOC:Rabbit is likely to have an austopistol in her shorts somewhere.

The Stallions, leave most of their possessions, opting to come 'as is' for most of them with Cadet Schneider for a short trek across the starport to a nearby.  Most of the Eridani have piled into the back of the APC, where a convinent view port allows for them to communicate with the talkative cadet as she banters on like a tour guide.  Captain Schmidt is offered a gunner's seat beside the cadet to avoid cramping the tight infantry bay.

"Welcome to the Port City 'Hope'.  Is this your first time to Omni?
 Your arrival is suppose to be hush hush, but word has been getting around the dorm grapevine of your arrival."

As you exit the Hanger she points out the highlights of the Star Port.

"Hope's starport is an obvious hub for commerce.  It's the only Star Port on Omni, and all commerce in and out of Eden happens here.  There are (3) pads for Spheroids and Hangers for Aero dropship to handle traffic."

As the light apc departs the Starport, you travel through a civilian area.

"Hope's accomodating atmosphere has made it a popular location for visitors to come for recreational purposes.  Our primary export are a wide variety of finished goods to support this area of the peripheries needs.  Far from the inner sphere, demand of spare parts for mission critical equipment that breaks down keep our manufacturing sector busy.

Accomodating resorts... casinos... and other recreational activites have developed in hope, easily accessible to visitors that make planet fall."

As the apc moves through the city, a male population does seem noticable.  Likely alot of offworlders.  Most (if not all) of the 'locals' who seem to be working are female.  If Johan is inclined to give the unit 'down time', a wide variety of diversions might be found.

A road out of Hope travels along a winding path leading along the coast, a harbor and recreational beach seems to be close at hand.  The trip on the road is perhaps a mere ten to fifteen minutes before they start to travel parallel with an wrought iron fence.  Perhaps ten feet tall, the tips of the top look pointed and sharp.

The APC stops at a check point where Margaret presents her credentials and orders from Dr. Ward.  Johan draws a couple of interested looks but there isnt alot of questions and the apc is waved through.

"This is the Hope Military Academy.", she comments proudly.  The grounds look more like an estate for the wealthy than an institution to produce deadly soldiers.

Once parked Cadet Schmidt escorts the Eridani into a large cafeteria.  It's mostly empty, a few seats here and there are occupied at the moment but it looks to be off peak at the moment.

"It's past lunch...", Margaret explains, "So...selections might be a little sparse.  Apologies for that.  Just... take what you want and i'll see to the cashier..

Margeret waves you off to a buffet line, and goes to speak to a cashier.  A wide assortment of food is available.  One end for hot food, pasta, rice, eggs, slices of warm meat, fish chips, soup, and what not.   The other is for cold food, fruits, vegtables, salads, cold cuts, and what not.  Perhaps half the bins are empty and the rest are looking a little sparse, but you can tell there must be a really good selection when everything is out.

Theres a station for beverages, hot and cold, all non-alcoholic.  Desserts are in another area, small little plates and portions of cake, cookies, and other tasty looking edibles.  It looks less like a mess hall and more like a low-mid end eatery.

After the cold limbo that was Hoff, Svend had no problem digging into the grub. It would seem the folks on Omni knew what comfort was. He grabbed a few different things and a large mug of coffee to help drive away the haze that was following him around. Once able, he maneuvered back into conversation with Adam.

"Yeah, the sisters were a hot item then, but those rides were eaten up and soon everybody knew to stick to the shadows when facing them. That's the thing about Solaris, can't be riding the one-trick pony. I'm thinking those suits, I ain't calling them mechs, must like to go in fast and hit from different directions. Light enough to be cored quickly, but likely strong enough to carry a good deal of fire power."

He took a bite of a roll he had and continued.

"We are going to need sim time in these things. No way I'm taking x-tech into battle without a shakedown. Even rookies know that will get you killed. What do you say, LT? A little paired action for the company to shake the webs off?"

He smiled and leaned back in his chair.

OOC:Svend is in his Solaris clothes, as he is most comfortable in them. A thicker, darker canvas shirt with a white under shirt showing and looser jeans. As always, he carries his large caliber revolver and round classes.

Camille looked at the buffet, ending up picking out a bit of ham and a good amount of fruit.
she hadn't had fruit for a week, so she was going to savor the taste of this.

"An excellent idea Svend, I will need to familiarize myself with the blackjack as well."
She joined the unit as they began seating themselves.

She placed her bag with her personal belongings, a picture of her family, a couple books she had owned since before she was interested in mech's, some spare clothes and her datapad, between her legs, under the table.

ooc:
cam's uniform is similar to the one of paul atraides, except the borders of the sleeves and bottom of the jacket are lavender, as are the two strings.
that and it carries her house insignia, a ram's hed, pierced from the top by a sword, with a pair of violet roses rising from it's eye sockets and entwined around the blade.
of course it's a womans cut, and she has worn both a semi long skirt and pants with it, right now she wears the pants.

http://www.duneinfo.com/arraki...mes/images/paul2.jpg
This message was last edited by the player at 07:46, Mon 16 July 2012.

The captain made arrangements to move his own inordinately large stockpile of belongings to their destination.  It was truly inordinately too much...with lots of labeling about their fragile contents...probably the last inheritance of his noble bloodline.  The unit had previously observed this and took to calling it Johan's private tea set...although some thought it might be a full-scale model maglev train set too.

Johan's current uniform:


---

The captain said little and responded only when directly addressed to the tour-guide/cadet.  He busied himself looking at the sights and sounds of this world, trying to work through his mind why a seemingly peaceful oasis in the Periphery would need a mercenary unit to train its forces, and where any threats to his unit might come from.

When the APC turned into academy, it was a sight that put Johan more at ease.  He himself had been brought up in a similar environment to receive his familial training for war with battlemechs and with politics.  His eyes quickly scanned for the areas that he knew to be hideouts and unobserved spaces that were so common in his own academy for the less than upstanding activities of delinquent cadets--the same areas that could otherwise harbor threats or hide their own activities.

He picked through his lunch quickly in silence, sitting with their host and offering her a cookie and some tea.  He casually commented, "The academy is quite lovely...reminds me of an earlier time in my own life.  Has it had a long tradition?"

Adam nodded to Svend's suggestion, "Plenty of hands on physical shakedown time for sure...sims to shake the spacedust off."  He picked through the available food as he sought to settle himself into their new place here while simultaneously looking distracted over too much on his mind.

ooc: Since Wolfman already gave some of his description here is a feasible one loking like he was coming off the dropship perhaps, lol.

Cade watches in silence and joins in for the lunch, refilling his energy drink with OJ and grabbing some real food.  He doesn't say much just nods in agreement and tries to stay aware of his surroundings.  The casino grabbed his attention in the APC, but he thinks free time will be a long time coming, knowing that a lot of training should be down the road.  "How are the injuries healing up Rabbit?", he asks when he notices the scars.


Cade is wearing black slacks, black combat boots, and an Eridani workout shirt.

In reply to Cprl. Cade Murphy (msg # 72):

For his part Thanos kept to himself. He was usually a loner in a group, but never turned down a table for two with an attractive lady or one of the officers. Privately he thought some sim time to get the people with new rides a very good idea.   In fact, he was looking forward to see what some of the new weapons could do compared to his old tried and true large lasers.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 15:11, Mon 16 July 2012.

Lunch comes and goes.  Even if the offerings were left overs, they were really good left overs.  Marageret stays with you answering any questions she's capable of till a new cadet comes over to discuss something with her.  She nods, indicating she'll take care of it.

"I've just been informed that your housing accomodations are ready.  I'm sure youre eager to settle in, so if youre ready, we'll adjourn to your dorms.", Presuming the Stallions are done with their meal, she leads you off by foot, a healthy five minute walk from the cafeteria to a small field of bunker like houses.  Half a dozen little fields, in a rough semi circle, each field containing four bunk houses.

The unit is bought to field 'D' (for Dana), and are assigned bunkers 2 and 4 on the right.  Margaret leads you into bunker 4 where the units personal possessions have been carefully laid out in a row to be claimed.  Each bunker is a single large room, alloting for very little privacy.  A foot locker is available at the foot of each bed (A single sized bed, appropiate for one), and a nightstand beside each bed, with fold up/down edges to convert into a small desk (a single drawer with some stationary and writing imprements in it).  A small mag light on a flexible support coil is secured to the head of each bed allowing for late night reading (which has a clip and can be moved to the desk).  Opening the foot locker reveals a tiered arrangement.  A comparmented box is on top for small possessions and access to every day possessions can be lifted to access the deeper space beneath the shealf for bulkier possessions, that might not be in daily use.

At the head of each bed is a window, along with a small window sill for plants or to act as a book shealf.  Blinds have been thoughtfully put up easing the spartan look of the place.  A rest room is in the back, equiped with a single toilet and a double sink.

The door and most of the windows are open.  Wire mesh screens keep the bugs from getting in allowing a pleasant woodsy smell to settle in the area.  It has a very pleasant feel to it.

"We've bought all your gear here.  Dr. Ward wasnt certain how you wanted to split the housing arrangements.  There are six beds to each dorm.  At this time, we dont need the bed space, though... that might change after the campaign for recruitment.", Margaret does a quick walk through of Dorm D-4 to show the Eridani the area.  Dorm D-2 is the same, without the Eridani possessions, and a little farther from the road but otherwise, functionally identical.

"Is... there anything else you need then before i go?  I have a class to go to, and... Dr. Ward or Lance Commander Evans should be by shortly to check on you?"

---

work out who's sleeping where, never know when it might be important.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:19, Mon 16 July 2012.

Cade looks over the Dorms with the group and whistles a the accommodations.  "Add top bunks to each bed and cram about 12 more bunks in and its looking a lot like boot camp", Cade chuckles.  "Um... where are the showers?"

Margaret looks a little uncomfortable at that question.

"There is a central facility near the physical training building.
 I'm not sure if special arrangements are being made for your unit.", Margaret waves at Caitlin and Camille, "I dont forsee a problem for them, though... I suspect 'special' hours will have to be arranged for the rest of your unit.  This is actually a matter for Lt. Evans to handle... I mean.  I'm just a cadet, i cant arrange anything... umm... I can go find her if you like?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:06, Mon 16 July 2012.

Ma'am, just because we look and sound like cretins don't mean we are. We've all showered in coed showers before. Or our two ladies can keep watch when the men are in showering.  Don't matter none to much to most of us.  Course the Captain might want a more private shower area.  He's a mite shy bout them things.

"We can watch?" Rabbit grinned "We could let the girls peek and cut you in on the profits."

"You always watched before Caitlin, why would you stop now?" replied Cowboy with as straight a face as he could pull, which at the moment was pretty good.

Shifting back over to the girl he added, "We'll work out the arrangements with the Lt. Evans, though I'm pretty sure she'll insist on 'special hours'."

Margaret nods politely, presuming it's all fun and game banter by the unit and quietly slips off to her class while the unit gets down to the business of figuring out who sleeps where, and what not.

Logical split might be officers in one bunk, non officers in the other.

Guys in one bunk, gals in other.

Johan and his tea set in one bunk, everyone else in the other?

It might be a liiiittle tight, but you could also just drag a bed in from the other dorm, and fit seven in the room , if you wanted to stay together for security reasons.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:13, Mon 16 July 2012.

"what do we do about the sleeping arrangements then?, split by gender would be my preference"
Camille said as Margaret walked away, the food had been good, she was still a little bothered by the initial reception, but the food went a long way to patch that up.

"Being freshly minted I certainly don't see an issue with that..." commented Adam as he doffed Camille's new Lt. bars as he looked to Johan to see if there was a personal preference for the commander of the unit.

Mind he didn't want to have to haul the Captain's multiple cargo containers of My Little Pony's priceless family heirlooms from old Earth but there were always prices to be paid and it brought a smile to his face, "We can leave you in here next to the road and we can ferry the rest of the gear to D-2 and setup shop.  I want to get my long range comm kit up and running so I can start listing in on what's going over the airwaves to give us a bit of intel and see if there are any servicable satelites up there we can use to bounce signals."

"Of course, I peek, too many hot bodies on our company. I think if you ended up stripping instead of fighting you might make more money." Rabbit faux glared at Cowboy "And tis not as if you aren't peeking too....sir"

Rabbit turned to Cade "You know I think there's way too many officers and not enough enlisted here."

Devlin feigns indignanty

Hey, I resemble that remark.  Not much chance I'd be mistaken for an officer.  And I never peeked.  I always stood out in the open where i could see better.  And not you Cowboy, the ladies.

The captain, as always, is amazingly stoic whenever the group makes any comments--whether serious or not.  It was as if he couldn't care less what was being said.  The current situation is no different.  "Given the cultural sensitivities of which I have informed, we will properly assign quarters based on gender.  Lieutenant Sforza and Corporal Mallory will be assigned to bunker D-2.  The rest of you will be here with me.  Murphy and Nemerson, help them carry their gear to the other bunker.  Sergeant Masters, go supervise the move."  With those orders, it was clear that he wanted some alone time with Lt. Carlyle.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:18, Tue 17 July 2012.

Cade smirks at Rabbit.  "You know, I think we should put all of the officers in one dorm, and we enlisted folk take the other", he says with a wink.  "Its almost a 50/50 split, much better ratio than split by gender."

When  the Cap, barks out his orders though, the grin almost washes off of Cade's face.  "Oh well", he comments with disappointment.  He walks over to where the gear is and looks around. "So which bags are yours Rabbit?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Tue 17 July 2012.

The Stallions are alloted a half hour or so to settle in.  Captain Schmidt has his quiet time with Lt. Carlyle.

The results of that discussion is suggested to transpire in private messages

Lt. Evans returns around then.  Everyone has had time to settle in, grab a bunk bed and relax for a few minutes.  It's nice and quiet.  Too nice and quiet for soldiers maybe.  The woods are nice and peaceful and it's the sort that really only a civilian can take for granted and enjoy.

Soldiers are waiting for combat to start, or paranoid about the next fight that might pop up unexpectedly.  Lance commander Evans reports briefly to Captain Schmidt.

"Lance Commander Millicent Evans reporting, Captain Schmidt.  It's been decided, that in order to be an more effective liason... and sensitive to your needs, that i should dorm with your unit.", she's observant enough to notice that the dorms seem to be split down the lines of gender and voices the observation.

"I presume I'll be rooming in Dana-2 then?", more statement than question.

"The technicians are working on getting the equipment functional from cold storage.  I've discussed the matter of showering with the grounds keeper, and she's indicated that the male components of your unit may schedule use of the facilities between the hours of six in the afternoon to six in the morning.  Classes are not in session at this time, and as such the demands of the showers will be more flexible, and may be closed off from general use for fifteen minutes which should be adequete for the chore at hand."

"I require only a few minutes to drop off my possessions in the Dorm and then i will be available to escort you to the motor pool."

Cade was going over the user manual for the X-3 power loaders when Evans walks in.  He glances up, but returns to his reading after noting who entered.  He half chokes down a chuckle when she talks about dorming with the unit, and tries to hide the fact that it was him, although not very well.  They should have split the unit by officers / enlisted, at least the cat fight would have 2 people to enjoy it.

Millie glances over at Cade puzzled at what he finds so amusing.  She notices that he's reading the X-3 field manual... which was rather technical and bland.  It took a special brand of 'nerd' to find them amusing, then again, he was a guy.  Maybe big toys and giant hardware was his thing.

It was none of her business, so she returns her glance to Johan expectantly.

"Very well, Commander Evans.  Get settled.  We can talk more on the way.  You're dismissed."  For better or worse, Johan continues to ignore the shenanigans of his unit, letting the liaison officer go.  "One more thing, Commader.  If you have any issues with a member of my unit, you should come talk to me about it.  It would be...proper protocol."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 02:01, Tue 17 July 2012.

"Ive barely made their acquaintance.
 It's difficult to begrude a total stranger.", Lance Commander Evans looks to have her right arm across her stomach, and her hand over her hip when she inclines her head slightly, her body bowing just slightly with the gesture before departing.  It felt like a salute... you think.

It was starting to feel like a long day was going to get longer.  She enters Dana-2 and picks the nearest unoccupied bunk to the door.  She was use to the accomodations, they were pretty standard through out the compound, which she had become familiar with through her carrer with the academy.

She was quick and efficient at unpacking most of the clothes she had into the bottom of the footlocker, leaving only the ones she planned to change into later after her shower at the top drawer, along with her personal effects.  She contemplated putting her sidearm away, but regulations 'suggested' being armed at all times while on duty, and she was defintely still on duty.

Several books, and a data pad were put away at the new stand.  She nods politely to the other women in the dorm but has little to say at the moment, her thoughts preoccupied with a wide assortment of things that needed to be done before the day was over.  Unpacking took less than five minutes, she would be back in Johan's presence in ten, unless Caitlin and Camille detains her.

Caitlin lay back on the bunk enjoying life. For a start the barracks did not smell of stale sweat. A pleasant floral scent filled the room. She found it surprising that Camille and herself had the barracks all to themselves.

Rabbit had already unpacked. The few surplus items she had folded carefully in her footlocker. The civilian clothes she had...well, there was only one word to describe them. Loud. Very bright primary colours. Rabbits camoflage in civilian clothes was the intent to hide behind colour.

She was surprised to see the Lancx Commander sharing the dorm with them. she shared a "what's up look with the Lieutenant beofer standing up to move to meet the newcomer. "Uh...are you sure you're in the right dorm Ma'am? Are you staying on base?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:33, Tue 17 July 2012.

Devlin picks a bunk and tosses his bag on it.  He lays down and leans on the bag, taking a puff on his cigar.

Well men.  Shall we see about a walk about town when the sun goes down?  See what trouble we can get in to?

Camille had unpacked her thigns effeciently as well, a handfull of uniforms similar to the one she currently wore, a formal dress, all slipped into the footlocker.

Camille raised an eyebrow as the lance commander entered the barracks, this would get... interesting.
She hoped the woman wouldn't start on another tirade about the unit.

Camille straightened with a sigh as she placed the picture of her parents on ehr ngihtstand, running her fingers over it for a moment before turning to face the Lance commander.

She was about to speak when caitlin did, so she zipped it, and waited.

Millie tilts her head slightly to regard Caitlin as she finishes her unpacking and nods.

"No mistake.
 I'm to be Liason officer, and as such Dorming with your unit was presumed the best way to familiarize myself with your needs, and be available to Liason as required.  Captain Schmidt indicated to post my station here.  Is there a problem?"

---

No closets Caitlin, you get a nice mid sized footlocker and thats it.  Actually Camille , Millie didnt start the fight with you.  Most of her observations were internal monologue.  You went and picked one with her starting on message #36.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:49, Tue 17 July 2012.

ooc: ah yeah, I did, didn't I ;)

wanted to post this earlier, but i figured i'd wait for caitlinns question to be answered.

Camille nodded at that, then spoke up, slowly at first, this wasn't exactly somethign she did often.

"I would like to apologise for my behavor earlier, I was tired and exhausted, not to mention hungry.
Still it does not excuse my rude behavior"

Cade tosses his manual down on his bunk with some disgust.  "I like your train of thought Sarge.  That thing is about as dry as leather that has been staked out in the desert for a month.  Ugh."

Getting the chance to do a once-over on the X-3a that he was going to be taking over was top priority so he knew he was going to be hitting the motorpool with Lt. Evans and Capt. Schmidt in the very near future.

Cowboy was thus leaning up against the back wall where the cot he had chosen was.  While he waited he tended to his bolt action rifle, cleaning it up and readying it for action again since there was little use for the thing on a dropship.

Millie shrugs, "Apology accepted.", she says simply.

"I'm about to escort Captain Schmidt to the motor pool.  If he does not specifically object, i do not see any reason to exclude you from the excursion.", she offers in return.

---

Cowboy's rifle, is functional, though probably under used.

---

Millie returns and overhears Cade's disucssion with Devlin.

"It is up to the unit commander to allot leave from the campus.  Though i would not advise it at this time.  I do not believe you have been issued any local credits.", she says simply as an explanation for her suggestion.

"much appreaciated, I need to get into my mech as soon as possible, months of space travel elaves you rusty"
with the air cleared she tried a grin at the other women.

Cade turns and looks at the Lance Commander, surprised that she is back already.  I hope she isn't that fast in bed. He thinks to himself.  "Thank you Ma'm.  That most likely would cut our R&R short."

Seeing most of the unit simply sitting around the barracks, Svend tries to get close to the center and asks the question that everybody has been dancing around. "So, what exactly are we here for? I know we got some fluff answer about insurgents, but with these new exosuits the field seems tipping in the locals favor. Why bring battle experienced mercs in?"

(players are encouraged to work out 'unit' discussions like the one between Adam and Johan.  In the interest of forward plot movement to get to the COMBAT MISSIONS that i think you are all waiting on, i'm going to move the plot forward, skipping around such discussions.  You may discuss it in the OOC thread, or roleplay it here at your option.)


Lance Commander Evans takes the Wild Stallions out for a walk.  With out money in their pocket, and shower options limited to after classes wrap up, they really dont have much else that's important enough to miss the excursion.

They're bought into a Hanger, that can rival the Dropships in floor space, if not height in a field behind the Academy.  Wide doors seem to be permanently left open, with a pair of guard post to either side of the door.

The Lance Commander has a few words with the sentry and presents her credentials and waves the unit to follow her in under in the sentries interested watchful eyes.

Inside the Hanger is a hive of activity.  It's late in the day so most of the vehicles are being bought in to be worked on.  Cadets are found hosing down dirt and mud off machines of war.  Technicians are holding classes on simple maintenance, and the simple chores of reloading weapons.

Theres a section for conventional Cavalry half a dozen each of light wheeled, tracked, and hover vehicles are being worked on.  Weapons seems to be swapping in and out of some by the technicians, making use of module bays similiar to the X-3s.  Opposite them lined up as if in formation were two dozen X-3s and variations of, along with the Units mechs, which seemed to tower over their smaller cousins.

Towards the rear of the hanger, was where the most activity seemed to be occuring behind a curtained off area that seemed to segment the hanger in half.

"The mechs unloaded this morning are still being worked on.  Lubricants havent been tended to for months.  Targeting alignments seem to have been jarred out of alignment and are being recalibrated along with other maintenance issues.", Millie gestures to the side where a platoon of tech girls seem to be working on them.  A half dozen or so of them assigned to each mech.

Lance Commander Evans moves to one side and gestures to one of the mechs that the Stallions got to review this morning unloading the dropship.  It was... 'small' as mechs went and looked rather under armed at the moment, since none of its options have been loaded yet.

Johan "toured" the new mech units, looking at X-3's from all different angles.  He himself had turned down one of the units when given the option, believing that it was better to preserve its availability for other mechwarriors under his charge who were using oversized, but underarmed mechs.  He comments to no one in particular, "So, these are the new units for us.  Doesn't look like much at the moment, but then again, looks don't really matter."

Apparently satisfied with the quick visual inspection, he turned back towards the liaison officer.  "I presume that we haven't been brought here to teach cadets in a classroom setting.  I think my men could do with a little practice with these new mechs as well.  Has any training exercises been scheduled yet?"  Johan too had just acquired a new mech, but he wasn't about to share his own lack of experience with it openly.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:10, Tue 17 July 2012.

Cade follows along in silence.  He does his best to make sure his gaze does not linger on any woman in particular in the 'target rich environment'.  Any time he makes eye contact with any of the people in the room he smiles politely and nods.  Hearing that their mechs are needing further calibration and repair makes him a bit nervous.  He doesn't like not being able to rely on his mech to be ready at a moments notice.  After a while, he does start looking for where all the weapons are being stored for all the alternative load outs that the mechs are able to use.

"I am certain these are the most advance machines of war developed anywhere in known space.  Certainly the most advance in the Periphery."

Millie leads the small party of pilots towards the curtained off area.

"You'll be excepted to train and educate our cadets.  Part of your contract includes advisement and training of personnel.  After along jaunt of travel in space, you'll of course be alloted some time to reacquaint yourself to your profession.  The field has been cleared for the next two day for wargames.

It will be spent familiarizing your pilots with the X-3s and a chance for you to showcase your fighting prowess to the student body to gain their respect when you take to training them."

As the Stallions clear the curtain the hanger seems to be much busier.  Instead of a simple motor pool, it looks like 'Q' section from the James Bond novels.  The place has alot of technicians about running a host of test and tinkering with 'stuff'.  Most of it seems to be above the heads of the pilots, though it's obvious theyre conducting test on all sorts of equipment that made the Hoff R&D boys shops looking like Tinker toy factory.

Lance Commander Evans walks over to an area that's been squared off.  "Colonol Armstrong's final haggling was to see to it that some of the technology we have been developing find it's way into your units hands.

"The 'Hoff' Heat sinks has he calls them, have been refined.  The corrosion isolated, with out reducing it's effects.  More maintenance will be required though they will no long run the risk of corroding the engine shielding and instigating a erosion in the Engine shielding."

(pilots that bought Hoff heat sinks have them here)

Nearby Millie waves at rack of weapons on the floor or on shelves that are evidently ready to go.  Near them are technical stations working on modifying?  repairing or some such the equipemtn that's stored here.

"Tomorrows exercise will be a simulated game of 'capture the flag'.  The Wild Stallions mechs, will balance off against a platoon of X-3s.  While the X-3s have numbers, the Wild Stallions will have 'size' on their side."





Blackjack, Whitworth, and Fire Fly arent ready Cade, the X-3 all work fine.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:07, Tue 17 July 2012.

The captain watches the operations without comment.  He wasn't piloting one of these new machines and wasn't entirely sure about them.  The modular nature seemed like a good approach to design, but sometimes more design means fragility and unreliability due to over-engineering.  The captain could only hope that the old mechs are defeated.  Otherwise, the new technology would prove to have been a poor bargain.  Only time will tell for certain.

Whatever the case, he was glad that the first engagements after multiple months are only going to be exercises in a controlled and safe environment.  He was keenly aware how the group's lack of coordination had resulted in the destruction of two of their mechs, and the near destruction of even more.  He could only hope it won't happen again....

The next hour or so the Wild Stallions all get familiar with the X-3s.  Lance Commander Evans considered it important that the Stallions get up to speed to understanding what they were capable of, since they would be educating the Academy's cadets in its usage.

A half hour is used for verbal operations and options of the Power Loaders that are not available to normal mechs.  The remaining half hour is spent to allow the Stallions a chance to test the Power Loaders out.

A loaded X-3's mobility was nothing to brag about for a light mech.  It was on par with a Panther or Blackjack, but with the exception of the Urbanmech, was slower than most light mechs in use in the inner sphere.

Claims to 'heavy' armor were just claims, and hard to prove till the fighting started, regardless, it was still a light mech and battle harden mercs would remember that there were limitations on how much a light frame could handle.

The one area that the Power Loader seemed to shine was it's payload of weapons.  The Omni Corporation has developed specific 'light' weapons to fit out the mechs.  Innovating new lighter auto cannon and missile options, that were fitted with a munition explosion friendly safty magazine to spare lethal ammo explosions from smearing a crater on the landscape where a mech might have once stood.

Cowboy gets to test out their Ballistic Assault Rifle.  A light weight rapid firing short range ballistic cannon capable of firing single rounds or double round burst.

Cade gets to test out their BFM, a hand held weapon that looked a little like a bazooka, that fired a single rocket to deliver a notable payload to the target instead of multiple smaller warheads.

Caitlings Power Loader was loaded out with a bunch of missiles that looked like LRMs but something they called LRRs.  Long Ranged Rockets.  'Guidance' was removed, from the LRMs which were designed with stabilizing fins to 'fly straight' allowing them to target like SRMs.  The shorter effective range Negating the need for a lock arm period, making them effective even at near point blank ranges.

Thantos to test out their Energy sniper rifle, which test fired to be much farther than any Large Laser they've used before.

Lance Commander Evans, goes through basic drills with the Stallions showing how hand held weapons can be exchaged in the field.  {done between two adjacent mechs during the intiative phase}  A useful process to share weapons in the field.  The process to 'dump' torso modules is shown, very similiar to 'dumping' ammo, except the entire weapon system is ditched.

The 'Smart' Actuator is explained to the Stallions.  The default setting seems to be 'Combat Loaded', and a reduced 'Skimish Load'.  The actuator is capable of reducing unecessary 'torque' to channel energy to move a lighter load faster.  She explains that for the most of the X-3's the loss of 5 tons of equipment is necessary to use the Smart Acutators to gain 'skirmish' speeds.

The Skirmish speeds put them on par with Johan's old Valkyrie, though with a much reduced payload in weapons.  Commander Evans explains this is acceptable if weapons are damaged and are just dead weight... or if limited weapons are being shared between pilots because of equipment damage in the field.  The greater mobility will help offset the reduction in firepower.

After the hour is up... she gives a brief lecture on the Power Loaders variants.  The lighter scout with it's EW suite, the heavier non-jumping Assault variant with it's melee weapon, and the converted Assault mechs with out the melee weapons which are the Power Loaders Command vehicle.

After this, It's late enough that classes are over and Millie indicates that the male members of the Wild Stallions may use the showers for the next half a hour.  Mille departs to catch an early dinner and will clean up 'later', after confirming that the members of the unit know where the Cafeteria is.

While it probably should have held his attention, the captain caught his mind wondering a bit during the long lecture.  No doubt, the fact that he wasn't piloting one of them contributed to his inattentiveness.  Instead, his eyes shifted here and there, looking past the talking head and around for something...or perhaps someone....

Make a Mental Roll Check.

OOC:  Barely...if no modifier....

20:30, Today: Capt. Johan Jakob Hinklemeyer-Schmidt rolled 5 using 2d6. mental.

Cade is very attentive during the whole lecture and on hands segment of "getting to know the X-3".  It helps when the instructor is a pretty lady, however with the subject being mechs, it didn't have to be this time.  It looks like he particularly enjoyed using the BFM.  Someone close to him would have heard him whisper "Big Badda Boom" to himself.

"So, if we have shoulder modules that no longer work, there is a way to dump them as well to get to 'skirmish' speeds?", he asks at one point.

Rabbit was dubious about the capabilities of the rickets. They were dumb, and trajectories weren't good, but they weren't that bad either. She figured there might be a place for them in the battles, but wasn't quite sure where. The power loader she trained in was a disappointment, it seemed to slow for a Light mech. Thankfully her own vairant was supposed to be much more nimble than this one. She was expecting the built in sword to be a major bonus in close combat. Her memories tinged with sadness as she recalled how she made her Valkyries sword.

Her new Mech would need a name. Something to call down a spirit to keep her safe and protect her from harm while she piloted it.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Wed 18 July 2012.

Someone was too busy going Badda Boom... to listen to the whole lecture...

So Commander Evans, repeats it again for Cade.




(To be fair it was one line in a long post so it's forgivable, but it was there.)

Millie doesnt let you pilot the X-3c or X-3a tonight, indicating that they were in for 'work'.  This is more a subject of availability.

There are (4) Cs, (6) As, (12) standard Power Loader and (2) Scouts.  Of the four models the X-3s are the easiest to configure and get on the move for the techs, so those were the ones selcted for introduction instructions.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Wed 18 July 2012.

In reply to Lance Commander Millicent Evans (msg # 114):

OOC: I caught it... just wanted to clairify.  DAMN, need more modules!!!!

Millie's light blond eyebrow archs as Cade still gives her a blank look and she has to wonder about Dr. Ward's selection of mercenaries...

"The process of dumping ammo.  You need to position the mech perfectly still for a few seconds to get the safeties to disengage.  For the locks to open and for the modules to drop off.  If still functional, the module shutdown as a prelude to ejection, in an attempt to keep the unit intact though to be honest to quickly drop them from a hieght of several meters is not inducive to keeping the equipment working.  While... brief... it can feel like forever in combat conditions."

"Weapon use a hard modular 'clip' most weapons use a single 'clip'.  Hand weapons may use a 'flip clip'.  This is to allow different munitions to be used for certain weapons."  (Flipping ammo, say from normal to flak missiles is done during the intiative phase and requires a piloting skill roll, failure mean the operation fails , though no further harm is down. Rolling a natural '2' indicates the clip was dropped leaving the pilot with no clip and an empty gun.)

You announce during intiative that you will be ejecting your module.  You may not move or use that module.  (you may fire your hand weapons)  The modules drop off at the end of the turn.  Roll 2d6 to see if the unit takes critical damage from the ejection.
{It could be the difference between damaged and repairable ~> Broken and trash}

Dropping hand weapons is more forgivable and is done in the intiative phase.  A pilot roll means you dropped it gentle enough not to have to roll for possible critical damage.  A failed pilot roll means you just threw it sort rough and it might be further damaged.

2H weapons... in a pinch may be treated as a club.  Though doing so will trigger a critical check, so it's not advised to be done with a working weapon.

The things you miss in the manuals can be inconvient... *grins*
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Wed 18 July 2012.

The captain makes some mental notes and stifles a yawn.  He watches his subordinates conduct a questions-and-answers session with the liaison officer.  Even if they didn't show it on the battlefield, they at least seemed to care about their survival in briefings.  After a while, the captain finds himself checking his watch more often that he really should have.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:57, Wed 18 July 2012.

Camille leaned forward a bit, this wasn't her mech, true, but she would be fighting aside a small contigent of them none the less, so she stayed attentive to the winded presentation.

Devlin manages to not actually fall asleep during the briefing, but he was not paying attention. The damn things were just wrong.  Loaders and construction mechs were made for just that purpose and trying to change them wasn't a good idea.  But the Captain had gotten sold the load and they were going to be using them.  Hopefully, bad guy mechs would be the same type of set up.

In reply to Sgt. Devlin Masters (msg # 120):

Meanwhile the brand new Corporal just took notes furiously.

Cade nods at the full explanation, finally getting it, just not believing it.  By being able to drop the shoulder units, the effective configurations on the X-3s just doubled.  He can already see more C-Bills flying out of his account at high speed as he tries to remember what shoulder missile options were available.  "Shit.  This contract is going to leave me with less money than I came here with", he comments quietly.

"Any possibility of taking an X-3 out for an evening stroll tonight?", he asks both the Liaison and his Captain, anxious to get back into the machine with or without weapons.

Lancer Evans shakes her head, "Negative.  The Pilots have access to them during the day for drills and manuevers.  Come evening the Technical students have access to them for maintenance and training."

It was true, at the moment there werent any pilots around except for the Wild Stallions, everyone running around was in slinky snug fitting black jumpsuits and seemed busy and content with working on the machines in the hanger.  Here and there, were supervisors or head techs, in similiar suits but 'white' directing staff or training students.

Aside from being pleasant eye candy for Cade, they uniforms were practical.  Snug fitted to avoid accidents with clothing being 'caught' in machinary and black, to keep 'clean' easier when they got dirty.

As the introductionary 'hour' passes, Lance Commander Evans leads the Wild Stallions out of the Hangers, leaving the capable army of technicians to make certain the mechwarriors park the Power Loaders correctly.  Once outside, she checks her watch.

"Evening meals are being served now.  The facility supervisor is expect you to freshen up from your prolonged stay in space, though youre welcome to come join us for evening meal if that's your preference."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Wed 18 July 2012.

"Suitable shower and cleanup for me.  4 months on a dropship is 4 months on a dropship no matter how many water rations you save for showers." adds Cowboy as he knows that even in being conscientious about what he was doing during the trip the ships themselves had a...scent.

By the time he made it back to grab spare clothes and finish cleaning up they would be long gone from dinner, "I doubt I'll be able to sit down and enjoy tonight as cleaning up properly will take far longer than your meal.  Thank you for the escort.  Will the techs be in there working and training on the X-3s late into the night?"

Millie shrugs, "I'm not a technician.  They're slated to work the evenings.  From 6pm to 6am, they have full access to all equipment, and pilots and drivers respect their time to work on the equipment.  You've waited nearly four months to pilot the mech, surely another day wont matter?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Wed 18 July 2012.

Cowboy shook his head at her with a smile, "You misunderstand me, piloting it can wait till tomorrow.  Coming in system always kills my ability to sleep, always has.  I can lay in my cot doing nothing but wasting time or if it's not a problem I can find a nice chair and sit down in there till I get tired while listening and watching.  I'm going to need to know the disposition of the techs as much as I will need to know the mech that I'll be driving from this point onwards."

He shrugged a little, "I drove a Clint for years and it had been in the family since Amaris nuked Graham IV.  You've got here what could be the next advancement and hopefully what I pass down to my great-great-great grandkids, I want to get to know my new Iron Horse."

"The Technicians prefer the company of technicians.  Its a rare individual that can tolerate the company of both the pilots and the technicians.  Allowing you after hours access, is a rare privillage that i doubt you appreciate.  You have the technical manuals, and as i've noted, access will be made available in the morning for the the war games exercise."

Camille inhaled deeply, then shuddered.
"I think i will get cleaned up properly as well, before inflicting dropship interior on anyone else, as cowboy said, no matter what you do, dropship clings to you."
she would however wait till all the boys had showered.

Lancer Evans escorts the Wild Stallions outside past the sentries at the Hanger, and departs to to go to dinner, leaving the Stallions to figure out what they're doing next.

Cade will opt to shower and clean up before heading out for a meal.  "Excuse me Lance Commander, but when will be be issued credits?" he asks.

"When Captain Schmidt says to.", she answers simply.

Cowboy shook his head at her response, "The multi-million X-3a that I've purchased through this contract from the blood, sweat and tears of facing off against the Wolf's Dragoons in the previous contract should imply that I do appreciate the magnitude of the privillage.  I do believe that I'm not hungry anymore, but I appreciate the offer."  With that he walked back off to the barracks to gather what he needed to clean up and get to work on things he and Johan had spoken about earlier.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:00, Wed 18 July 2012.

Once she was certain the shwoer stalls were free to be used in peace, she went and got her towel, soap and brush, then went to get cleaned up properly under a steaming hot showerhead.

she kept her pistol nearby, hanging right next to her towel, as she always did, in case some lecher decided to invade her privacy.

Once done with her long steaming hot shower, scrubbed pink and feeling a lot less, dropship-ish, she headed over to see if there were any leftovers.

She silently promised herself she would do her best to eat when the meals were served as she sat there eating the lukewarm remains of the days supper.

Cleaned up and full, she decided to skip her trip by the motor pool and instead go for a relaxing walk through the light woods behind their barracks area.

indeed most of her evening was spent aiming toward solitude, she'd just been stuck on a dropship together with a rowdy bunch for 4 months, she needed some peace, quiet and solitude.

later in the evening, when she returned, she simply headed for her bunk, and went to bed after undressing and folding her uniform neatly, laying it atop her footlocker, seperated from her clean clothes.

In reply to 1st LT Adam Carlyle (msg # 132):

After returning from smoking a cigarette, Svend found Adam looking off. It usually happened when something got to him, that much Svend knew. He flicked the butt of the cigarette in the small tin he kept with him for such purposes and flagged down Adam with his hand.

"You alright there, LT? Something's seems to have gotten your panties in a wad." He paused for a moment. "Are we to ship offworld?"

It was not unheard of for contracts to expire before they were up. So far the reception of battle-worn mercs had not sit well with the local populace.

His ears catching Svend's voice Adam turned to regard him, "No...not yet at least."

Cracking his neck he continued, "We lost a lot of good family, you know it as well as I, in this last one.  Two of us even more so than the rest of them, 'cept Captain loosing his dad...can count the survivors of the Dancers on one hand.  Then for her to say that I wouldn't appreciate the privilege of after hours access?  After fucking hours access just to sit back and take in what my new ride looks like till I get tired."

Shaking his head sighed, "I get being proud and part of something, if these things work like they say they'll be something impressive but damn it feels like an elitist regimented planet that hasn't seen the horrors that you or I have and they wanna play big kid now cause they made something shinier than the other kids."

Thanos goes off to get some chow for free, doesn't matter who the will be there. Perhaps even there are some less familiar faces of the female persuasion.....perhaps not.

He sits down with the others about his rank when he does get there.

Oe the briefing is over and the showers are available, Devlin will get a good hot shower, then shave and get dressed for town.  Then he swings by the Captains quarters.

He knocks on the door and calls out.

Captain, it's Sargeant Masters.




20:45, Today: Sgt. Devlin Masters rolled 8 using 2d6. Mental check.

(1) Comstar Bill = roughly $10 dollars.

(1) Omni Credit  = (1) Comstar Bill.

Omni does not use Paper or coins for money.  A small data chip hardwired to a data board is used to track personal finances.  The data board is roughly 3cm x 1cm, often refered to as a Cred Stick.  Popular methods to carry them are on the wrist {Bracelet} around your neck {like dog tags} or in your pocket with a chain securing it to prevent accidental loss.

Omni's banks track personal accounts, and transfer amounts to and from the Cred Stick with the use of terminals through out Hope.

Current allotment starting allotment of Cred stick is by rank and nobility options.

500 Cred Johan and Camille
300 Cred Adam and Millicent
200 Cred Devlin
100 Cred Cade, Caitlin, and Thantos
 50 Cred Svend

This is not free money, but is so small that it will presume to be maxed, and deducted from your bank.

Cade takes shower and cleans up.  He will follow Devlin since he is unsure on how to get the Captain to issue credits.  "Still want to see how much trouble we can get in Sarge?" he asks.  Cade then follows Dev's lead.  If Dev wants to be left alone, then Cade will wander over to the Casino.

Cade is now dressed in fresh clothes.  Black slacks, combat boots, white button down collard shirt with a black wind breaker.  Since he is unsure of the surroundings he will bring his pistol, and keep it hidden with his jacket.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Thu 19 July 2012.

In reply to 1st LT Adam Carlyle (msg # 135):

Svend shook his head and pulled out his cigarette tin again. Pleasantries be damned, he held the smokes out for Adam after taking one himself. "I hear you brother. Those eggheads in the lab like to show off the toys now and again. I was a fan of the Hoff boys, not when they produce stuff that could be used in combat off the bat. These suits, 'cause they ain't worth calling mechs, are a new step in combat. You know as well as me that something big has happened here. Think of an Atlas with the ability to change loadouts in the field without a six month bay visit to gather dust. Either the tech is going to get bigger or these things will get smaller and deadlier."

He took a long drag of the cigarette.

Rabbit was bored. She had to be stuck in the boring barracks, and for once in their life the guys were paying attention to personal hygiene. She looked around the barracks. This was going to get very old very quickly. She needed something to take her mind off things...and the solution popped into her head. She'd need to keep it quiet, so as not to attract Johan's attention, but it was time for Kitty's Den of Iniquity and Salon of Sin to make a reappearance, and the locals looked like the kind of people who might just fall for it.

In a bid to get to know her neighbours better, Rabbit headed out to the cadets residences. She'd need a few allies to help set this up.

Johan ~ Finishing the small tour, he feels no desire to go shower with the commoners, and had much to think about and was not in the mood to eat just yet.  He returns the Dorm to contemplate their situation over.  He's in the Dorm to witness Adam's efforts and results with his radio.

Adam  ~ Showertime is good, and he opts to skip dinner to go to work on his Long Range communications.  He has no 'signal' to set on, so he spends a good bit of time scanning random airwaves.  He picks up a civilian band, that has a half a dozen station that seem to each have their own mix of music, modern, classical, rock, blues/soul, country, and one that seems to be opera.

He picks up a commercial band that seems to be the Hope's Starport.  Mostly traffic directions for Commercial aircraft flying goods in and out, to and from Eden, Providence, and New Haven.  He doesnt pick up anything military.  Either it's really well hidden, on radio silence, or doesnt exist.

Camille ~ Not wanting to shower with the male members of the Wild Stallions, Camille grabs dinner more or less on time.  There are a good number of students, but less than she might have expected.  Perhaps around 50 cadets blue, which she has started to associate with 'mechwarriors' and 100 in green which she suspects is conventional cavalry, 150 in forest camo which she presumes is infantry.  While it's natural for like colors to eat and spend time together, here and there she sees different color uniforms mingling and talking as well, so there is no exclusive exclusion to socialize outside of ones specialty.

Dinner is good, it's still a buffet line, but the entrees are more in line with dinner.  An assortment of food for different nationalities seems to be spread across the buffet bins.  Pasta, Rice, Bread, Meat loaf, chicken, fish, salad, etc.  Evidently they eat well at the Academy.

Later the walk in the woods goes well.  It's quiet, and it almost feels like a camping ground.  There are the occassional sounds of night life in the form of insects and small wildlife wandering about but nothing to be worried about.  When she returns later, she finds Millie asleep in her bed, Rabbit doesnt seem to be around.

Devlin ~ The shower is good and hot, but not very private.  There are two shower rooms, and each room has a dozen shower heads spaced four feet apart.  In the middle of the shower rooms are two rows of sinks, with a vanity mirror mounted in the middle of the sink facing each direction allowing two people to use the sink at once.  A small shelf is mounted under the mirror to allow small items to be placed for use, and a soap dispencer mounted beneath that.  It's a very simple and efficient design that can easily handle one or two dozen people at once.

He finds Johan in his room later that night.

Thantos ~ Shamelessly passes on the shower and appleases his baser needs, hunger and eye candy.  Theres no shortage of both as he wanders through the cafeteria it feels like he's died and gone to heaven.  All you can eat buffet, of good civilian grade food, and 300 young coed cadets and absolutely zero competition for their attention.

It's true that perhaps he should have showered before coming, but there was also a certain rugged appeal perhaps to smelling like a pig sty and being man enough to be comfortable with it.  He's here to eat... look... and not make trouble though, so he doesnt intiate the first move beyond looking.  He draws a few glances and private smiles and giggles with a few of the cadets in camo but it doesnt seem go further.  He goes back for seconds... and thirds... and is stuffed before he's done.  The food was good, and he had to admit the atmosphere was very good.

Cade ~ The shower comes and goes easily.  It's just him, Adam, Svend and Sarge.  Cade appears with Devlin in Johan's presence.

Svend ~ Moves along with Adam killing time and chit chating with his Lance mater on their current situation.  He's cleaner than he's been in weeks, for better or worse.  He's around to witness Adam's efforts and results on the radio.

Caitlin ~ Caitlin opts to skip both a warm meal and a chance to clean up to get to know the lay of the land better.  She finds most of the cadets out for evening meals, the Dorms in her area to be pretty uniform to 'Dana'.  Dorms 'Alice', 'Betty' and 'Carol' all seem to show signs of occupation.  It was odd, but there were no locks on the dorms or locker, and she was free to come and go as she pleased.  She refraims from going into cadet lockers.  It was odd enough as it was to wander about with no one around like this.

There were other Dorms in the area, one for Cavalry it seems, and one for infantry.  The Cavalry dorms were identical to the ones used by the mech warriors.  The Infantry dorms were slightly larger.  Seven beds to a dorm instead of six.  After walking about she decides that to head back and enters the Dorm 2 just a few minutes after Camille has returned from her walks in the woods.

(Will grant the players another round of posting and then move on to Morning - Day Two. )

Will space out things morning/afternoon/evening.  Will presume character go about things like daily meals and showers, unless i'm told differently.

Wargames are scheduled to take place Day two afternoon and Day three afternoon.

Devlin, and any others who choose to go with him, makes for town and a local club. He is dressed in combat boots, black jeans, and a denim calvary shirt.  He will also have on a duster to conceal his pistol and knife and will have his holdout pistol and knife in his boot.

Once in the club, Devlin shows to have a very high tolerance for alcohol and idiots, as he manages to put away a large amount of whiskey and not kill any of the locals who try to start trouble.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:40, Thu 19 July 2012.

Cade goes with Devlin.  He treats the Sgt. to a round, and that is about where Cade's drinking stops.  Drinking isn't his thing, and neither is smoking.  He does like to dance and attempts to hit the dance floor with whoever (female) is willing.  Don't put it past Cade if he doesn't go back to the barracks with Dev, but he does makes sure he is back on base and ready to move at 0600.

Johan and Adam have a quiet night, monitoring various civilian stations.  Theres a fair bit of entertainment.  Not obnoxiously so, but surprising for a periphery planet out in the middle of no where.  Talk radio seems popular, along with the noted music stations.

Svend takes the opportunity to snooze down, in a really comfy looking, if rather small, bed.  Not a cot, not a double bunk bed, but a real bed with a mattress and everything.  He drifts off to sleep listening to soft blues music coming out of Adam's radio.

Camille and Caitlin trade glances and both decide that they're too tired to talk about anything, saving it for the morning.  They follow Millicent's lead and just turn in 'early' (for them) for the night.

---

Thantos comes in late for the night.  Dinner... went really long.  With all the foo, and eye candy walking around it was easy to lose track of time just kicking back and relaxing.  He's not inclined to actually approach anyone, and while he catches a variety of looks, from curious, to embarassed, to amused, no one approaches him.  He arrives in the dorms much later, still in need of a shower but too tired to take one.

---

Devlin and Cade are declined leave.  Johan, doesnt think it's appropiate for their first night on planet to be out prowling around the local night life.  The pair make do with a short visit to the 'Student Union', which... is almost as good, less any alcoholic beverages.

To Cade's delight, he finds, that he and Devlin are the only men in the room, and that all the cadets are young women, of all shapes, and sizes, though definitely fit, bright and easy on the eyes.

Cadets seems to have a 'color' coded uniform, Blue for mech warriors, Green for conventional, Red for Aero/VTols, Black for Technicians, and white for first year recruits who are undecided.  Some of the less shy cadets are inclined to socialize with them.  Theres a radio, and a few game cadets, and really cute Recruit are inclined to dance with Cade, curious to see his 'moves' from the Inner sphere.  Devlin manages to get into a game of darts with a few green clad cadets who seem more socialable and with a temperament that favors his.

It's almost as good as night out, less the alcohol, not a bad night to unwind considering they have no money.  Both get in on the late side.

* End Evening One *

The following morning at Dawn (call it around 6:30), theres a short 10 second siren that plays on the PA system outside, that seems to be an Academy wide wake up call to get up and get busy.

Characters that skipped meals, are seriously hungry.

Characters that stayed up late (Cade/Devlin), are a little blurry eye, and wouldnt mind sleeping in for the morning.

Characters that missed a bath... are... still in need of one.

Wargames are expected to start at 1100 hours, so you have a good bit of time to do stuff, before needing to report in.  X-3 pilots are expected to show up half a hour later, to pick out weapon loads.

Mission One passes...

The rest of the day and evening are the characters to do with as they please.


Mission Two passes...

The characters are actually granted leave.  Johan distributes the cred sticks which have a modest amount of funds for the players to spend based on the means and their rank.  Those looking for a night on the town actually find it impressively pleasant.

Even by the spaceport where the mostly male dominated tourist are attracted, the female to male ratio lingers around 3:2 perhaps even 2:1.  If these ratios arent favorable enough the campus facutly and student body is nearly exclusively female.

Entertainment and tourism seem to be a big part of the industry around the spaceport.  Once the ink is dry, businessmen coming in to work out business deals cant help but be curious about the nightlife.  Most such diversions are on the upscaled side of entertainment.

While their are no 'stripper' bars, there are more than a few burlesque shows to provide entertainment.  Brightly lit gambling establishments are about for those inclined to risking thier creds.  A wide assortment of shops are available for luxary goods of all shapes and sizes.  Novelty stores, shops that specialize in all manner of collections and curios.

Millicent's intentions were to stay in and continue her routine, business as usual.  Part of her duties as Liason officer is making certain that the mercs stay out of trouble.  If they need a guide for Eden and points around the Starport she will make herself available for such.

(Gambling is a Mental based skill roll made at a penalty of -2
 If you just 'make' your roll, you walk away breaking even.
 Each point you make your roll by increases your stake by 10%
 Each point that you fail your roll by decreases your stake by 10%
 A roll of '2' is a critical failure, indicating you've lost it all
 A roll of '12' is a cricical succes, indicating you've doubled your money)

Luxary goods are considered one tech level higher as far as availability is concerned.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:27, Thu 13 Sept 2012.

Any warm and fuzzies quickly from being back in the cockpits faded quickly enough.  At each evening after the wargames, and back in their quarters, Johan was quite irate with the group.  Their performance was, in his words, unacceptably poor.  The fact that the enemy cadet's aim was proving nearly to be as good as their own was a fact that he pointed out repeatedly.  He also was extremely disappointed in the inability to prioritize the situation on the part of the pilots.  Sure there were objectives, but it was equally important to guard their own backs, and he had felt that individual pilots had done a poor job of it...all to get poor shots on target.

The war games go well enough as far as your employers are concerned.

Some leeway is granted, and the unit is allowed some down time before they begin their duties.

Devlin, Cade, Thantos and Svend take a short night on the town, that extends into a long weekend.  They border on AWOL, but show up in time for check Sunday night and make bed check before starting the week.

Camille and Millicient finally get around to making nice with one another at least as far as outward appearance go they do, which is a minor relief to Caitlin who has to share a room with them.  Both Caitlin and Camille get an early tour of the facilities during the weekend as well as some of the quieter activities to pass time.  Theres a well stocked media library, with assort holo programs that can be watched.  Old ones as well as recent ones seem to be stocked for the students and faculty to use.  Theres an indoor pool, used by the students to help stay fit as well as a few fields used for sports.  While not restrained to 'campus' few of the students of faculty seem to feel a need to leave the campus to visit Eden, which they seem to consider to be a 'tourist trap'.

Johan and Adam have a slightly more practical approach to spending their weekend and spend much of it reviewing the various models of the Power Loaders, to see if there are any advantages that might be had for the more conventional units.

The weapons are modular in design and do seem to work as advertised.  While not impossible to mount on conventional innersphere mechs, the advantages gained from their modular nature would be lost.  The smart actuator that seems to allow for the duo speeds might be compared to a 'manual' drive vehicle, where gears are used to modify the speed caps available, from a reduced weight load.  While such an actuator might be used on a conventional mech, there really is no way to reduce the weight load on conventional mechs to make use of them.

About the only advantage that might be gained, is the use of the less conventional weapons to replace current systems.  The replacement of Johan's LRM 5s with LRR 5's for instance might not be an impossible modification.
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:26, Sat 15 Sept 2012.

The week that follows the War Games, has the various members of the Wild Stallions performing duties in the role of instructor and trainer to the aspiring mechwarriors.

Most of them are very young and in their late teens, or early twenties in age.  They're all very raw recruits, with a background in the academics and simple instruction on drilling with basic controls of the Power Loaders.

As much as the Power Loaders seem to be advanced in compared to conventional mechs, the local mechwarriors that will be piloting them are inferior.  None of the students have seen 'actual' live combat, beyond a monthly exercise in war games similiar to the one the Wild Stallions participated in.

Johan and Adam, as officers are assigned students that seem to have a head for leadership.  Teaching them the methods of leadership, methods of motivation, and small unit tactics.

Caitlin, Svend and Devlin are assigned classes on weapon and tactic classes that involve close combat and melee combat.

Cade amd Thantos are assigned classes on weapon and tactic classes that involve ranged combat and sniping from arms length.

Amos and Camille are assigned the beginner classes and draws the duty of educating students that are newest to mechs with their future role as pilots.  Forcing them to drill in their mechs as often as possible and snapping questions at them on the most basic knowledge of mech operations.

Millicient continues her role educating a very small and select group of student that seem to be the best and brightest on the effective use of EW on the combat field.

By the end of the week, all the mercenaries are familiar enough with their students to call them by callsign or name as needed during classes.  There's a weekend at this point and character are alloted 'free time' to do with as they wish.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:27, Sat 15 Sept 2012.

When the last classs has left,Devlin joins Caitlin and Svend to see how their week was.  He reaches into is jacket and pulls out a flask, takes a swig from it and offer to the other two.

My Gods, I thought this week would neer end!! It's obvious all this recruits have done is paintball wars. I lost 4 of them just described what the inside of a cockpit looks like after it been breached by a Heavy Auto Canon round.


Footnote:  Slight Kitten Edit, Guass rifles are not currently in the game yet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:42, Sun 16 Sept 2012.

The weeks pass and ends much as the previous weeks did.

It's almost mind numbingly mundane and quiet for mercs who are use to living life close to the edge.  The weekends out while still pleasant start to lose their thrill and edge after a while.

Notes are traded among the Stallions, and they have to conclude that while the recruits are incredibly mediocore and raw in mechwarrior talent, that they are actually very bright.  Most are know their way around mech maitnenace as well as a seasoned mechwarrior and easily half their class would make a reasonable addition to officer candidate school in the Inner sphere where the intangible art of thinking and leading are at least as important as the basic skills required for combat.

It's towards the end of the month, and while the Stallions are bracing for another mind numbing week of drills and theoretical classroom lectures, there seems to be a slight buzz of excitement in the academy.

Johan checks with Millicent on what the activity seems to be about and she seems surprised that you werent aware that at the end of the month, 'select' trainees were we sent into the field for 'one-on-one' hands on training and drilling.  Participating instructors are suppose to pick a single student that they consider deserving and take them into the field for training exercises.

What these exercises entailed were at the instructors... discretion.

Amos and Svend are NPCs at this time, and will be left behind to tow the rope with the rest of the student body that does not participate in the next mission.


Mission Three...
Johan, Camille, Devlin, Thantos, Adam, Caitlin, Cade, and Millicent each select an Academy trainee to take into the field.

Johan and Adam's trainees are Officer Candidates...
Gunnery 6 / Pilot 6 / Mental 7 / +1 Leadership and +1 option.

Everyone else's trainee are AT Cadets with
Gunnery 6 / Pilot 6 / Mental 7 / +1 option.


If you go through the both of naming your trainee and giving them some sort of personality you may select an additional option for them.

All trainees are in Standard X-3 Power Loadet.
Players may select the usual 7.5 tons of equipment for the Power Loaders.

Since this is a training exercise, the mechs will not be equiped with the high maintenance double strength heat sinks.  X-3 pilots may still borrow equipment from the Omni arsonel, with the presumption that they will be returned in working order.

Munitions will be 'live' so that trainees can get the feel for combat with live ammo, combat will be presumed using 'first blood' rules.






Activities for the training mission are expected to be small unit action war games.  Instructors and their students match off against other instructors and students.  Practical experience and field work on things taught in the field that cant really be taught in the classroom is the goal of the exercise.

Exact 'activities' are left to the instructors discretion.  (At this point you may select 'sided' and suggest missions/scenarios, for the training mission.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:19, Sun 16 Sept 2012.

Lance Commander Millicent Evans decides to take Cadet Huang out on the monthly field trip.

Cadet Isis has shown quiet competance in the class and an aptitude for Electronics.  Millicent is trying to broaden Cadet Isis' practical piloting skills to groom a potential EW Pilot for Omni's Militia.

Cadet Isis' stats
Gunnery 6
Pilot 6
Mental 1

Option 1 crosstrain Technician

X-3 Power Loader 7.5ton Option load.
(from message 8... link to a message in this game)
2.0 tons ~ (x2) ML RT/LT
3.5 tons ~ AC/6 LBX
2.0 tons ~ LBX Ammo (16 Standard) (16 LBX)


Lance Commander Evans will be taking out her x-3ew
X-3EW Scout Loader 5.0 ton Option load.  (on loan from Omni Inventory)
5.0 tons ~ RA/LA  Medium Pulse Laser w/(3) Heat Sinks
This message was last edited by the player at 13:30, Tue 18 Sept 2012.

Cade was not too happy with his performance in the war games, but he was more than happy to let off his steam during his off hours.  He enjoyed his off time, maybe a bit too much, dancing and parting it up with whoever would tolerate his company.  A few times, he was almost late for curfew, but he was able to skate in on time.

These new war games intrigued Cade, he actually spent some time looking at the cadet lists and picked out one who had an affinity with missiles, thinking the long range might help in these instances.  The cadet he picked was Kiren O'Malley, a red haired beauty with excellent knowledge with missile systems.  For some reason she avoided all of his advances in the past few days so Cade figured, she would not be a distraction for him.  Cade took the time to spec out the same X-3 that he piloted for the cadet.



Kiiren O'Malley
Gunnery 6 / Pilot 6 / Mental 7 / +1 Missiles.
X-3 (standard) w/ (2) ML {torso} and (2) LRM4 (20/20 Ammo){arms}

Leave it to the good captain to find the one stuck-up b---- in the cadet pool who's obviously the daughter of someone of distinguished lineage on Omni.  Despite the fact that he was a mercenary, she seemed to have been mildly tolerant of ranking officer in the company.  Together, they shared a few laughs at the expense of those beneathbelow them.

Alice Vunderlen
Gunnery 6 / Piloting 6 / Mental 7 / +1 Leadership, +1 Nobility
X-3 (standard) w/ ML {LA} (2) LRR4 (15/15 ammo) {LT/RT}, SRM5 (10 8 ammo) {RA}


Kitten Notes:
(You may use the configuration you've outlined, though she only has 8 ammo with the SRM5, Using Optional movement cant be done without involving the Torso modules being dropped.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:23, Wed 19 Sept 2012.

Annabelle Stevens.
Gunnery 6 / Pilot 6 / Mental 7 / Ballistics

-
7,5t:
AC/5 Rapid, +1t ammo = 4t+0,5t = 4,5t
torso mounted MG pair, +1t ammo = 2x(0,5+0,5)+1t = 3t

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:15, Thu 20 Sept 2012.