The interim set of missions goes off well.

The Light Lancers, execute a raid mission to destory militia assets, and to draw attention away from the rest of the missions being executed.  They manage to destroy all their targets, though Pax is not totally satisfied, since the raid ran into more snags than expected.  It was time to shake up the unit.  He keeps the newest member, Donovan and adding Jessa, while releasing David and Regina to the Freelancer pool.

The Iron Swords return to finish off the Command center that they missed earlier in the day. Making excellent use of the days intelligence to execute under the cover of night the mission quickly goes off, despite the presence of a formidable lance.  Under the medical care provided for at Fort Apache, Zoe is deemed unfit for duty, and Lucius takes over the Iron Swords keeping Alexi on and adding Raith to the unit, while releasing Roger to the Freelancer Pool.

The Valkyries have a messy assault.  The minefield and chain link fence proving to be more hazardous than expected.  With the addition of Hina, they find the Comm Center quickly and silence it.  From there it's only a matter of time for the Valkyries superior firepower to silence the op force.  Anastasia is disappointed with Echo's performance and decides to release her to spend some time in the Free Lancers to see if it improves her professionalism.

Kurt Steiner knows an opportunity when he sees one, and gathers several of the released talent in the free lancers to form Armaggedon Inc.  David and Roger join him to form the fledgingly unit.

The Freelancers Lancers currently include Paul, Regina, Jorge, and Echo.

The Pilots spend the night gathered in Fort Apache, and spend the next day dividing up supplies and making repairs.  While the mess hall fare is uninspiring, it is fresh and warm, and better than the freeze dried stuff that they've been living off of.  Small luxaries like a proper rest room and showers are present.

Upon closer inspection of the supplies, they find a surprised to find advance weapons in the stockpile.  An amazing turn of events since the outpost is so out of the way.  Upon closer investigation they discover that the unassuming base has recently been used to fit out captured Eden Tech on mechs for testing, with the intention of reverse engineering them for mass production.

Something that your employers definitely do not want to see happen, so all research is destroyed at Fort Apache, and the test mechs are assigned, with the intention of hunting them down and eliminating them.

Echo quietly goes about the morning repairing the damage her Power Loader had suffered in the night of activity to take the Fort.  As she does, she reflects on her new status as a 'Free Lancer'.

It was humiliating.

'How could Anastasia do that... to me?  ME!', She was at this time forced to spend time in the Freelancer pool and languish over serving with the other inner sphere pilots.

'meh... as if that was going to happen...'

The Valkyrie Pilot was so far out, that she made Echo look normal.

The Mongoose Pilot needed to wash some of the grease out of his hair... and... okay maybe he wasnt oggling her, but something about the way his eyes looked just freaked her out.

The Noble with the Stinger kept struting around like he was the divine's gift to merc unit, and had a bigger attitude than her.  It was a pool of freaks, oddballs, cuts ups, and... spoiled brats... surely... Anastasia didnt think so badly of her to stick her in here, thinking she was among her peers did she?

Regina stifles a yawn as she walks from the shower to the mess hall.  It was nice to be clean again.  She had forgotten how refreshing a nice a quick warm shower could be.  She had even dug up some clothing from the militia's store of clothes.

She shows up at the camps kitten, to grab a tray full of veggies and some juice for breakfast.

She also thought, it was also rather nice to be a Free Lancer.  No ties... no troubles... just responsible for herself.  The experience of being part of a greater whole was over rated.  It just meant other people told you what you had to do... right or wrong.

Regina purses her lips thoughtfully, she only answers to Blake.  It was much easier to do that when you didnt have to answer a chain of command.  Maybe... with the right unit... she might reconsider joining a collective, but for the moment she was rather happy just to be a Free Lancer.  Of course individual freedoms came at a cost, but... anything worth while usually did.

Regina munches noisily on something that resembled a stalk of celery and watched as the camp went about their business, wondering what they would be doing next.

 Satisfied that no one was seriously injured and the team had not only done the mission but had gained in reputation for not wanting to harm any civilians directly in the path of the battle. It was stupid to have that many civilians within a military target and not have deep listening post's to watch the borders of the base. Still he was glad for that lapse of their commander.

 He had showered and changed uniforms in the basic BDUs before taking a walk over the base hospital unit to check up on his former CO. Checking to see if it was ok to say hello to Zoe, he would do so if they allowed visitors now that he was in another unit.

 "Hi, Commander, just thought i would stop in and see how your doing and to wish you the best and to really hope you get on your feet quickly. I will be transfered to a newly formed unit, so you wont have my small fire power now but you still have Burner, so that will make up for some of it. Take care and get well."

Lina watched Roger come into the makeshift hospital to talk to his old CO...she was only there because...well honestly she had torn herself to shreds without the help of the enemy units.  The doc said concussion and three fractured ribs were the result of her shameful tripping on the fence.  Her lower body was wrapped, as there was little they could do for the fractures but try and make sure she didn't move too suddenly or in an awkward way and make it worse.  She didn't even know if Ana was willing to take her out on the next mission that was critical for them.

Paul hummed as he polished the armor plating on the his Stinger's left leg trying to remove the dings left from the Thunder Bolt's attacks. "You know girl we didn't do to bad out there. Now we just wait for the lab guys to send back the software changes the conversion process doesn't seem to like your guns," he chuckled as he patted the torso armor as the lift carried him in range to begin cleaning it.

Luc had stopped by the med-tent to let Zoe know about his decision to take operational control of the Ironswords but she was asleep at the time.  He left a note about how the unit was doing and his efforts in the short term to keep what she had started running.  Heading out he went looking for Alexi to commend him on the brokered deal with the Captain and not only his decision to handle the logistics of the lance but his intention to make Alexi XO of the Ironswords.  They needed a legacy and more importantly Luc needed the conscious of Alexi to run the lance right.

When he finally spotted him he pipped up, "Alexi! You have a moment?"

Hina skipped into the infirmary, humming happily to herself. Her arms were covered past the elbows in some sort of grease; the heavy gloves she wore were clean, which implied that she put them on after getting messy. In her hands was a long device, mostly a series of metal tubes linked together, with a claw-like device on one end and a convoluted handle on the other.

"Hi, Lina!" she sang as she sprang up to the bunk. "I made you something so you could do some stuff without having to get up." She offered the grabber device handle-first.

Her next comments were delivered in a rush, with barely a pause for breath.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took a look at your Mech's innards while I was working on mine. After I raked the pavement, I had to check that. Turned out the focusing laser on my left side was off-kilter by a bit. Anyway, I did some tests and found out that your balancing gyro had a two-degree wobble on its Y axis. Probably made everything list to starboard a bit, am I right?"

With a slight smile she looked up at Hina and nodded, "After the initial fall it knocked it out of alignment.  Combine it with the concussion and like the history books read, I was swaying like a drunken sailor."

She chuckled and then her eyes squinted in a slightly pained nature as laughing still hurt...and likely would for a few weeks...when she gratefully took the grabber device, "Thanks for the extend-o-claw"

Alexi walked through the halls samurai sword & pistol on his side. The mercenaries family dates back to the old Samarkand Military District. A strange sight to see a Swedish Russian Samurai vs. the typical holovid of a traditional Samurai.

Seeing Lucius has interesting speaking causally in the halls, he relaxes. "How can I help you Lucius? Can I call you Luke? Or do you prefer McMurphy or just Mac?"

"Luc is good.  Wanted to congratulate you on whatever quick talking you did to the Captain.  Saved us a pounding and gave the Ironswords a good rep at the same time."

Before now he had a gruff exterior, and even now it sounded more like a Sergeant chatting with a fellow NCO but there was a subtle change in his tone that Alexi wouldn't notice yet.  He leaned up against a wall and continued, "I talked to Zoe in one of the few times she was awake and she agreed that you're good XO material.  Since I'm going to be holding the reigns of the Ironswords, for the time being, I wanted to make you officially the XO for the unit while I run things.  Zoe knew I was an efficient asset destroyer but I don't have the skill with words you do, nor the good demeanor so I'll need someone like you to give me options that I don't see.  You up for that?"

Slightly over eager and surprised the young Mechwarrior all bu jumped at the offer. Quickly getting his eagerness in check. "If you and Zoe think I am ready, I except. And I got lucky on that one, the Captain knew the end game. He made me look better than I really was."

Thinking a moment, "If you have a list of duties I need to take care of let me know?"

Luc laughed, "When it comes to mechwarriors, lucky is sometimes just as good as skill.  The point is you thought it up and I didn't...that's the important thing, and why you'll be a good fit.  I'll want you to point those things out to me if you see them."

After he asked if he could do anything he nodded, "Yeah you can as a matter of fact.  I'm getting the lowdown on the next series of contract goals.  See if you can find a pilot named Raith Northrup.  Rides a Jenner.  He's going to be with us at least for the next jaunt."  He paused for a second before adding, "...and see if you can find a sweet honey that goes by the name Reggie.  Let her know from me that if Blake was around he'd adore her perfect arse, but love her faith even more...and let me know what you think of her from the response she gives."

He grinned, "And if you think this is a hazing, keep wondering, but see to it..."

He waited for his response before heading out to the HQ that had been setup to find out what their options were.  He could make a pretty good determination on his own but he wanted his men and women's ideas most of the time too.

"Roger that, Sir." Alexi says with a snap salute.
Heading to the command center "See if you can find a sweet honey that goes by the name Reggie."
"Reggie, Reggie I've heard of a Regina, Reggie is Regina and she is a sweet ass honey."
"I need to let her know from, Luke that if Blake was around he'd adore her perfect ass."

Once he's in the command center, he pulls up the file on Raith and Regina. Looking over there photo, he can now recognize them at a glance. Reading quickly about each he gets the basic low down. Putting files back he heads towards the mech bays, " Luke says Reggie has a sweet honey sexy ass."

Walking through the bays, he stops and stairs at the family mech Riki. "Great job ole'boy."

Turning he sees Raith by his Jenner, "Mechwarrior Northrop, I am the new XO Alexi Olson." Responding by shaking hands, or salute which he does.
"Lucius McMurphy is our commanding officer and I just wanted to take the time to check out your mech and its condition. Excuse me, while you get your mech in order for inspection and a list of needed items. I see someone I need to speak too."

Noticing Regina, he steps away from Raith.

Stepping up to Regina, "Reggie? Luke and Blake say you have a sweet honey ass, and I need to get me some."

Kurt sat at a table in the Mess Hall he had appropriated for a workspace; sipping bad coffee and reviewing paperwork.  Everything was laid out on the desk in a precise, meticulous, orderly fashion.  The space was a reflection of Kurt himself.  After arriving at Fort Apache, he had secured his Commando, gotten a shower, and changed into a fresh, pressed, uniform.  He immediately went to work on reviewing his brand new command.  He had chosen the name "Armageddon Incorporated" specifically as a thumb in the eye to the social Generals back home.  Many of them would view his lance as little more than an armoured infantry platoon.  The Lyran idea of a light 'Mech was the twin Griffins that stood beside the Archon's throne on Tharkad.  Kurt had other ideas though, and picked the members of his unit accordingly.  Reviewing his notes, he collected up his items and left to find David and Roger.

He went to the 'Mech bay looking for them, and made a brief stop at his 'Mech cubical to check on the repairs.  He winced when he saw the Techs working on what remained of the Commando's left arm.  Little more than the actuators and barely enough substructure to keep them from falling off.  The Medium Laser was completely destroyed and would need replacement.  That was going to be a costly repair.  The remainder of the unit was battle ready, only some minor armour damage and buffing stood between it and full readiness.  Hopefully the Techs would be able to work repair magic before Kurt would be re-deployed.

When he was not able to find David or Roger in the 'Mech bay, Kurt used his weapon of last resort.  He acted like an officer and put out an order.  "Mechwarriors David Crain and Roger Simms report to Conference Room 3 for briefing."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:08, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

 Lifting up his com link at the sound of his new unit commander, "Roger that Commander, on my way." At least he still had a job after getting the boot from the new CO of the Iron Swords unit. Maybe he would be around for awhile to get to know the pilots and techs of this unit.

 Setting a slow jog he began running at a even pace towards the conference room. He was sure that his mechs armor would be patched up by the time they shipped out on the next mission.

Regina tilts her head and gives Alexi a blank eyed puzzled look.

'Who were Luke and Blake?', she wonders.

While Alexi was easy on the eyes and a strapping young man, she had just gotten through cleaning herself off with a good shower, and she wasnt quite ready to get hot and sweaty again.  Besides, she just had breakfast, and exercise after a major meal was never good for the digestion.

"I dont think that would be a good idea.  I just ate and i have to do some work on my Valkyrie after breakfast."

Regina pauses and thinks over her work schedule.

"How about... this afternoon?  Around four-ish?"

Regina was about done with breakfast and gets up to size Alexi over, she was by no means petite, but beside Alexi she looked willowy.  She lets the tips of her fingers brush down his arm, allowing the play of his muscles to play through her fingers.  Alexi was obviously hard muscles and in good shape, but then again what self respecting mechwarrior wasnt?

"Or... three-ish, if you can't wait."

Regina picks up her tray and goes to empty it in the trash and stack with the rest of the breakfast trays.  She starts to move off out of the mess hall.  There was an unmistakable unconscious motion of her hips when she walked that was missing in the stride of most of the mechwarriors at camp.  It was hard to disagree with Lucius' assessment of Regina.

When she stop to turn to face Alexi, his eyes are staring straight at her crotch, letting his gaze wander up, he notices that the thin white tank top she had worn, had soaked up some of the water from her not quite dry skin from the morning shower.  The nondescript grey militia jump suit hid all the good parts, though that seemed to be more of an accident than a planned attempt at modesty.  Regina had said something, that Alexi had missed, so she repeats it again since he seemed to have missed the question.

"Who are Luke and Blake?", she asks curiously.  There were no mechwarriors in camp by that name, so she was curious who Alexi was refering to.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:23, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

"Ahhh. Ahhh." Alexi's mouth works like a fish out of water. "What the hell did I just say?"

"Lucius McMurphy he said to call him Luke and I don't know who Blake is. But Blake adores you is what I was told to tell you. Yeah, yeah."

Taken back by her forwardness or his own. "What the hell did I just say? What the hell did she just say?"

"I'm the new XO and I, I have somewhere to be also. Yeah, raincheck. Hump, Ok. Good talk."

Alexi turns and walks away, facepalm. Alexi walks off.

"Ah!  Burner!", Regina's face brightens in recognition.  She knew Burner from Detroit.  What a miserable few months that had been.  Once the invasion started, things got nasty and complicated.

Regina tilts her head as Alexi has a momentary attack of the stupids.

He wasnt very bright... but he was pretty to look at and didnt need to be bright, at least not for a physical indulgence.  Most days the word of Blake kept Regina occupied and content.  Months could pass before she found physical satisfaction.  Long months on stupid dropships with little privacy and nothing to do.  Its been months... maybe years... since the last time Regina indulged in a physical indulgence.

"Blake's Blessing on you Alexi, his love knows no bounds, and he adores us all."

Regina gives Alexi a quizzled look as he staggers off looking dazed and confused...

'... was it something i said?', Regina wanders off towards the motor pool where her Valkyrie awaited.

Regina replays the conversation several times in her head, and assures herself that she had said nothing strange.

'... no... nothing odd there, couldnt have been me.  I suppose he's just naturally dim.  Blake has seen it fit to have him look good and shoot straight, i suppose that's okay.  How did it go again?  Two out of Three's not bad?'

There was a little bit of armor damage from the light weapons but nothing a little loving care couldnt fix.  A few loads of missiles were used to take out the tanks, but again... it was such a turkey shoot that she hardly considered it combat.

She starts to bless each missile, painting a simplified emblem of Comstar on the warhead of each missile, before loading it on her mech.  So passes her afternoon.  She'll have forgotten her conversation with Alexi unless he returns to remind her.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:01, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

After overseeing the armor and ammo repair/replacement of his mech, O'Brien decides to check out the base and to acquaint himself with his new surroundings.

"Better check up on Zoe", he proceeds to the hospital and stops at Zoe's bedside offering her some morale support and wishes her a healthy recovery. Hearing that Luc was taking over the Ironswords, Donovan sends a congratulatory note.

"Although it is under sad circumstances that you find yourself in command of the Ironswords, I want to congratulate you on your advancement and I'm sure that your unit will provide the same excellent service that has been it's trademark."

Once that is done, it's time to find his new "permanent" commander, Pax.

After a bit of searching, eventually he finds Pax.

"I want to thank you for offering me a job and I'm looking forward to working with the lancers. Hopefully our next mission will go as smoothly as the last."

David was feeling neutral about the command shift.  He liked working with his previous group but also realized that commands would change and one had to be flexible.  Apparently his new commander didn't waste time, "Well, I suppose this was inevitable, better see what the new commander wants."

Alexi goes to his room and takes a shower.



Afterwards he spends the day repairing the armor on Riki. He's not avoiding everyone hes just working the scaffolding, plasma cutter / wielding torch, heavy lifting. Funny thing, he must have forgotten his radio in his room. His entertainment pod and earbuds are playing the best of Beatles,Rolling Stones, ABBA, Sugarcubes, Scorpions, Golden Earring, etc. All the classic European music bands.

Pax was working his way through a mountain of 'paper work' when Don found him.

"Glad you were able to stick around.

I try to do all our missions smoothly, but as you saw with a good team we can adjust to the conditions on the ground and still complete the mission without missing a beat.

And I hope to keep that trend for all future missions."   

Luc had gotten the down-low on the next mission and had used his prior knowlege of things to pick up the final member of his unit.  With that he headed back to the mechs to find out if Alexi had found Raith and Regina and to clue them into the next contract.

He didn't see Raith at the moment but he did spot Alexi in the throes of armour welding so he walked on up to him and shouted a bit so he could hear him over the sparking metal, "Alexi!  Did you find Raith and Regina?"

Pointing at his head then for him to hold on. Alexi kills the music and pulls the ear buds from his head. Alexi hand under hand climbs down a chain to the ground level.

"I say Raith, introduced myself but he seemed the quiet type." He breathes in deep and exhales.
"Let me tell you a quick story. Before I came here I worked for my fathers company, Riki was his mech. My uncle had a Panther, My father was incredible cheap. He purchased some special promotional Lioashian SRM's. Well I loaded them in to uncles Panther. He took them out to the test range, and they exploded in the launch tubes and we lost the mech, lucky my Uncle ejected and survived but his pride was hurt."

"So yes I talked to Regina and passed on your message, pretty much word for word. Might not have been in the right order. She said, He loves and adores us all."

"Oh yeah, then offered to have sex with me if I meet her... Looking down at his watch. "about 20 minutes ago. Well she didn't so much offer as I screwed up what you said, and was taken back by her and said: "I need to get me some of that sweet sexy ass."

Facepalm, shakes head. "Laugh it up all you like. I got confused."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:57, Thu 16 Jan 2014.