The mercenary unit find themselves on Bromhead.  Its a Davion held world on the edge of what they consider to be the inner sphere.  The Cappellans were close at hand but were never really aggressive with picking fights with their neighbors.

Pirate raid were thought to be a problem from Pirate's Haven.

Instead, it's been a dull six months of garrison duty.  There was nothing wrong with Garrison duty.  The units upkeep cost were barely covered by the steady paycheck that came and went.  Combat pay was what they really needed but the pirate were just not show their faces.

Outreach was a long way from Estuan.  There really was no point in packing the unit up and travelling out there only to redeploy somewhere else.  Space was vast and the weeks spent in space charging jump sails could be as bad as garrison duty.  Worse.  There was no pay check in to.

Zenha had her feelers out with her representative on Outreach.  It was possible that he might find them a contract... someplace .. close.  Already this far out they would be in a better position to move on the contract than others.  The only problem with that was that the fighting seemed far away on the fluxing borders between the great houses.  You would think pirates would be busy while they were busy, but that just was just not the case.

The unit was left alone at the moment.  They were holed up and mixed in with the local militia.  They had room.. board.. and not much else.  It really was time to move on, but she knew such things couldnt be rushed.


OCC:  Players should feel free to state what their character are doing during this down time.  This is not a mandatory activity.  I know Mac's game was all about the fight, but i prefer more of a roleplaying element in my campaigns.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:40, Sat 13 July 2013.

Ling's beloved Raven, known affectionately as "Mockingbird" was at the moment housed in a huge Aerotech hanger.  The long months of inactivity had not gone to waste.  She has spent long hour in the shop locating a seller for some cutting edge equipment.

A set of Omni Tech Streak SRM 2's had replaced her old SRM 6.  She was comfortable enough with the efficiency of the weapon to reduce her munitions by half, as well as remove one of her medium lasers.  Lots and Lots of armor were added to make up for the weight displacement.  You could never have too much armor.  As much as Mockingbird's frame could mount was fine by her.

By now Ling was a veteran of conflict.  Combat was long stretches of boring preparation punctuated by a few brief moments of chaos all directed to undoing all the careful preparations.

"Such is the nature of war... Nevermore.", Ling quietly quoted to Mockingbird.

Garrison duty was a cream role for Adam's family mech.  It hadn't seen the light of day in decades but he had used the last of his funds in salvaging the remains of his last mech to bringing her up to snuff.  It was something that he didn't wish that he had to do and even then convincing them into using it instead of arranging for some other light ride was difficult.  Thankfully the mech was well used by more Houses than just the Capellans and even all the way out here repair and maintenance was much easier...not to mention the fact that Ling found it interesting lending to her heritage.

Thomas was walking away from his Mech, a panther 9R, a relic of older wars against the Draconis Combine and trophy for his family. The Dark Huntress was sitting mournfully unused in the hanger as garrison duty was boring him and her to pieces.

Thomas approached 'Cowboy' and looked up at the UrbanMech. How he managed to actually put himself into the thing was a wonder to Thomas. That huge barrel of the auto cannon however was pure death to any foolish enough to underestimate it for a moment. "Oi Cowboy, you ready to put that horse down yet?" He smirked playfully at the Lt. That joke was never going to get old.

Adam chuckled, "You know that's the reason I won't put her down Keith.  Everyone is suckered when they get around her.  Then she sucker punches them with a trio of 250mm depleted uranium rounds.  Last thing they ever tend to do."

Patting the armour plating on the leg of the plodding beast he marveled how the gyro was even able to handle the strain.  The weapon and ammo combined weighed more than half the total mass of the thing.  Looking down the line to his ancient Panther he added, "Just like you'll never put that long in the tooth cat down."

Ling picks up a rag to wipe the grime of her hands.

They were on the militia's base, there were nothing list inbound that wasnt suppose to be, and Commander Grey had the entire unit on stand down.  They werent being paid to fight so there was no reason to be on alert.  If things changed and things got hostile... will Ling was certain there would be a flurry of negotiations to get them working again.

She wanders over to the two men in the hanger with her.  Old friends by now it seemed.

"The Capellans makes these enmasse.", she comments nodding at Cowboy's ride.

"That should speak enough of its reputation to avoid them.", there was an easy going smile on her lips.  She was a Capellan through and through if she couldnt see the humor in herself it was going to be a long and unhappy life.

"What is it with you Fed Rats that have you macho mech jocks into thinking bigger is better?  Are you feeling the need to be ... compensating ... for something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:05, Fri 12 July 2013.

Thomas turned to regard the pretty Capellan. They were not enemies in this unit. He was not going to insult her House either. "Bigger is better where mechs are concerned Fraulein. But speed and sneak can kill just as easily, maybe we could discuss it over dinner sometime."

The Steiner had been shot down more than his fair share by Sang-Lei. It never stopped him from trying though. He did look down towards the Raven. The thing looked like metal chicken with a weird beak. "Did you get all of the feathers out of the linkages?"

Adam laughed again at Ling's joke and stuck out his tongue and ended with a wink, "It's the Capellan design to slap that Mydron-A on there...besides it's been in my family for hundreds of years so if you want to point fingers at compensating talk to my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother."

Ling resisted the bait that both men put out before her.  She knew better than to nibble on poison.

"The commander is working on a new contract.
 Strange.  How you seem to yearn for combat when youre on leave.
 Yet once you have it, the disillusioned reality of it all quickly has you yearning for peace again.
 I'm going to miss a comfortable bed.  Warm meals.  Indoor plumbling.", Ling makes a vaguely dismissive gestures.

"You guys can find a tree to do your business.
 You have no idea how thrilling it is to be squatting on some hostile planet to relieve yourself ... wondering what would be worse being shot and dying or shot and living with the humiliation.", Ling tone was dead pan serious, which from long aquaintence, youve found passed for brand of humor.

Zenha Grey looked up at the clock. Already? She rubbed her tired eyes as she stood. "Time flies when your looking for a better gig," she said to the empty room. She stretched as she picked up her noteputer. Time to check the unit. Her boots echoed softly as she entered the Aerotech hanger where many of their mechs were being held. Garrison work was still work, she tried to convince herself.

Zenha tried to look optimistic when she saw several of the folks standing next to one of the mechs.

It's been three days since Zenha had been put her feelers out.  Even by Hyper Pulse generator, communication was limited to exchanges once a day.

Three contracts had come and gone.  Two grossly inappropriate that canon fodder and suicide mission might as well be stamped on the contract.  The third, they had lost out because it was time sensitive and they were no where near where they needed to be to deploy.  Wilson's wimps got the contract was the last she heard.  Any client desparate enough to take those losers werent worth having for clients, she tried to cheer herself.

Two days had passed with brief messages of 'nothing appropriate', after that.  It was... another day nothing.  Nothing new would be heard from out reach till tomorrow.

"So what if we are compensating?, these missiles will shred anything that even remotely considers an engagement worth it"
The young Lyran appeared from behind her whitworth, wiping grease off her hands.

"Maybe we should get ourselves a truck-toilet"
they wouldn't and she knew it, the space was needed for parts and munitions, far more important than any measure of comfort.

Adam chuckled and added a wink, "Fair enough Ling, but at least you don't have a body part so exposed that the slightest damage means almost incapacitating pain."

Sitting on the squat foot of his 'Lame Mustang' he knew that the majority of the pilots were good, but it just wasn't home yet for him.  They had been together for a bit and that had been helpful to morale but like most mercs it was difficult to handle the hurry up and wait program.

Pax was out with his mech making sure the mongoose was ready to run.  Running it through the practice range and feeling pleased on the score.  It paid to stay frosty in case something happened ... yeah right.

Returning to the mech bay he noticed a small gathering and wondered if a new mission had come through.  Garrison duty was a nice change but like every young mech warrior he was ready for a real mission.

Settling Road Runner into his assigned bay he powers down the mech.  While waiting for the power down sequence to finish he thought back to how many family members through the years had used this mech and more recently how he came to be its operator. With a deep sigh he grabs his towel and jacket for the cooler conditions outside the mech.

After drying off he hangs the towel on a rack and climbs down.  At the bottom of the mech he slips on his jacket, the back having a design of a cartoon bird that looked fast. The design matched the one painted on his mech, which oddly looked fresh and bright for such an older mech.  It was an old gag that had survived the years regarding the name and design of the bird on the back of his jacket.  Something about an elusively fast 'Road Runner' out witting and out maneuvering his hunter. The hunter constantly paying the price for coming after the bird.  The details had been lost over time but the image and the basics of what it meant had endured.

Approaching the others Pax zips up his jacket, "Any new offers?"

Thomas chuckled at Adam and nodded in agreement, almost was too gentle a word for that. He absently watched the Mongoose walk into the bay and take its place. The approach of Lt. Grey brought his attention. Baroness might have something new for them to do, he hoped. He watched and waited.

David sits in the cockpit of his Blackjack with the hatch open, simply staring at the powered up console.  After blankly staring at it for a few long moments he powered it down, there was really only so much maintenance you could perform on a mech that sat idly by in the hanger.

Exiting the mech and closing the hatch, he climbed down the ladder and almost wished for something exciting to happen before catching himself and thinking 'be careful what you wish for...'.  Upon reaching the ground he looked around and saw a growing group of his comrades gathering around and seemed to be animatedly discussing something.  "Do we have a new contract?" he wondered as he walked over to join the group.

Zenha turned to Pax, "None worthwhile. But I have a few contacts on Outreach checking on a few leads." She waited as all eyes turned to her as she presented the news, "But in the meanwhile, garrison work is still work."

"Ling, any news from the local militia?" Zenha asked about any pirate activity.