The Business of War: 31st Century Mercenaries [R, Sci Fi]

[Stingray]

Drush Wastelands

The Hunchback's massive autocannon was the only attack of Docs that hit, and it tore off massive amounts of armor off one of the strikers leaving its front armor paper thin. Still this Striker survived to continue fighting and it quickly replied with a short range missile barrage. As Doc's Hunchback retreated the two Strikers, and one Scorpion turned their weapons on the Hunchback and tried to breach the Mech's weak rear armor as it ran. Doc's Hunchback's thin rear armor was quickly ripped off by several Long Range Missile salvos and the Scorpion's autocannon as the vehicles charged after the Mech. They didn't seem to realize how close they were getting to the massive Union dropship that the Hunchback was running to, until the dropship opened fire. The undamaged Striker and Scorpion were leading the charge and right as the Scorpion's gunner took careful aim at the back of the Hunchback warning sirens erupted inside the tank. A few seconds later the tank was rocked by autocannon fire, and missile lock warnings continued to blare. A swarm of 20 missiles rained down on the tank and the salvo ripped apart what little armor the two light Autocannons had not destroyed.

While the Scorpion tank began to spit out a massive plume of black smoke, the Striker was also hit hard by the Dropship. Missiles and autocannon shells battered the better armored Striker and it quickly started to turn around to flee when a 20 missile salvo and several autocannon shells tore into the side of the turning vehicle destroying the wheels and much of the vehicle's right side. The vehicle's movement ground to a halt and a second later the crew could be seen bailing out of the disabled vehicle. They made a run for the remaining Striker that was just sitting there out of range of the massive dropship.

Ayame Saito
Drush Wastelands

Meanwhile Ayame twisted her Mech's torso toward the incoming Helicopter that launched a salvo of short range missiles as her left arm sent a crimson beam of light at the charging Warrior. The beam cut through the Helicopter's light armor and found the ammunition bins that ignited turning the small attack copter into a large fireball. The Crab then charged out of cover and started a full sprint at the stuck Striker. She braved the incoming autocannon fire and the Striker's LRMs as she closed in. She fired the large lasers mounted in each arm. One missed the Striker as a blast from an autocannon shell threw off her aim, but the other hit the Striker directly in the side. The heat inside her cockpit spiked and Ayame began to sweat profusely as she charged at the helpless vehicle hoping to quickly finish it off before it could escape from the grasps of the broken terrain.

In the skies above the battle on the ground, the damaged Pirate Corsair exploded as twin large lasers from the Mercenary's Corsair tore through its damaged hull and found its fuel tanks. The Mercenary Corsair pulled up just as a large laser slashed across its wing. The second pirate Corsair was on the Merc's six. Logan began trying to shake the Pirate, but only succeeded in dodging incoming fire as the Pirate kept on his tail. Logan then pulled up his nose and used his thrusters usually used to maneuver in space to suddenly slow down. The Pirate Corsair hit the Merc's Aerotech while it shot past. Quickly recovering from the stall Logan was able to maneuver behind the Pirate Corsair, which began to do evasive maneuvers, but suddenly started flying straight. Grinning Logan lined up his shot, but failed to notice the Mechbuster coming straight at him. The conventional fighter's nose lit up as its massive autocannon unleashed a deadly stream of cannon shells. The Mercenary Corsair was hit directly across the body and the heavy autocannon literally tore the fighter in half. The two parts of the Corsair enveloped in flames and came crashing down to the harsh planet below…

 

[IDoLikeMudkip]

Vic Fisher
Drush Wasteland

Vic continued watching the situational readouts in his cockpit. The battle was going, well it was going. Doc had taken a huge hit, lost his arm, that was going to take a while to repair. Ayame and Kat were doing well neither one of them had taken any serious damage. Logan, well Logan was dead no one could have survived a fireball like that. It reminded Vic of his brothers. Vic snapped back to the present with a realization that he had frozen, it was the middle of battle and his comrades were doing all the fighting. Locking his jaw in anger at himself and in concentration Vic stepped out of cover and launched a barrage of missiles at the damaged striker. At the same time he loosed a couple of laser blasts at the lone scorpion. He then had to duck quickly back into cover as the Mechbuster flew by on a strafing run taking a large chunk out of his left shoulder. Vic replied with a burst from his autocannon at the retreating jet knowing he had very little chance of hitting it.

 

[SV]

Allen "Doc Korhal
Drush Wastelands

Allen cracked his knuckles as he gathered together his staff of assistants to begin work on the stranger picked up from the wastelands. He examined the armor, which concealed the wounds on the man.

"Rick, get me a pair of scissors. Big ones." He said to him as he looked over the 'pirate'.

"Roger." Rick said as he went to go find him what he asked for. In the meantime, Allen examined the condition of the patient. He had multiple gunshot wounds on his back. Some were dangerously close to his spine. With most other doctors, they would have ridden him off as a dead man walking. But Allen was talented. He wouldn't give up on him just yet. To still be conscious, let alone able to move like he did before meant this man had a strong will yet. Allen respected that. After applying an anesthetic to the patient, he waited.

Rick returned now with a pair of scissors the new term given to electrically produced blade edges that fit in your arms. Based off the very early edition years before, these were far more flexible, and precise, able to cut more straight, as well as through harder material, even metal. Allen flipped the patient over and cut right through the armor, ripping it in half and discarding it onto the ground.

"Patient has multiple gunshot wounds on his back. The caliber is old edition, so the presence of bullets are still in his body." He said, examining him. The assistant took notes on Allen's words as he circled him with a high-tech scanner. The scanner was able to pinpoint all wounds inside his body.

"Patient has long significant amount of blood...now locating the bullets inside patient's body." Allen laughed a bit to himself. "Lucky son of a b*tch...most shots missed his vital organs. Still, some went pretty close to his spinal cord...I'd better get to work right away."

And so he did. Allen's method was an unconventional one. It involved charring the skin around the gunshot wound with a small-pulse laser, usually meant for combat. This laser wound burn up the skin around the wounds, sealing them up, and preventing any additional blood loss. Afterward, it was all a matter of removing any gunshot material from the man's body. The rest would be entirely up to the man's own will, and luck. If any damage was done to his spinal cord, he may never walk again. If any got into his organs, he may die from internal bleeding before Allen could even could replace them.

Allen sighed as he sat outside the operation room, waiting to see what would happen. He lit up a cigarrette as he sighed to himself. If the man believed in God, he was in his hands now.

 

[Stingray]

Victor's Missiles tore into the Striker tearing off more armor off the already weakened Striker. It fired its own LRM 10 in response as it began to retreat knowing what little armor was left wouldn't hold up against another attack. The scorpion Victor had shot at also turned and fired at the Centurion, but the medium mech's armor easily defended against the light autocannon and missiles, and the damage was minimal. Victor's autocannon spat a long stream of cannon rounds at the Mechbuster, who seemed to be ignoring the Centurion. While most of the shells missed the Mechbuster, Victor was able to "crawl" the shells onto target using the tracer rounds as a guide to adjust their trajectory. Several shells tore across the Mechbuster's damaged wing. The explosive shells tore vast holes in the weakened armor and quickly found the fuel tank. The Mechbuster exploded as its fuel was lit off by Victor's explosive shells. The very long burst of autocannon fire had used up almost a fourth of Victor's ammunition, but the results were satisfactory since the biggest threat on the battlefield was now a burning twisted frame crashing into the planet's surface.

Ayame reached the Stiker tank after unleashing another laser salvo into its side. Planting her Mech's left foot firmly on the ground she placed most of her mech's weight on it as she swung the right leg directly at the Striker in a kicking motion. The immobilized Striker's damaged armor wasn't able to hold against the 50 ton Crab's powerful kick and the armor on the side of the striker collapsed allowing the foot to drive deep inside the heart of the vehicle.

Pulling out her Mech's foot from the lifeless tank Ayame watched the tank carefully for a second for any signs of life, once satisfied she had decommissioned the Striker she focused on the two Scorpion tanks that had been attacking her. The light tanks' autocannon were starting to whittle down her armor and soon it could be a huge problem, but thankfully one of the tank's gunners seemed unable to hit the Crab when it was running. Clearly that scorpion had a rookie gunner.

Ayame couldn't use both of her Large lasers because the heat was getting too high and her Mech was already acting sluggish from all the excess heat. So she fired one large laser at the Scorpion whose gunner seemed to only be able to hit large stationary targets. The Large laser made a large scar in the Scorpion's turret, but it was still in the fight. As she let heat bleed off Ayame charged at the second Scorpion that was beginning to roll backwards as the Mech charged it, but it started to retreat a little too late. Reaching the tank Ayame put her Mech's foot down on the front of the vehicle to hold it in place she grabbed its autocannon's barrel with her left claw and started to push it toward the turret. At first it resisted, but a second later the barrel began to bend as Ayame disabled the Tank's main weapon. After bending the barrel , Ayame closed her right claw, and started to repeatly pound the tank's armor in. Her ruthlessly assault drove deeper and deeper into the tank's armor until a small hole appeared. The tank crew was helpless since the Mech was holding it in place with its foot and its left claw. She then stepped off the tank and it started to retreat, but it was already too late as her right claw opened and she fired its laser through the hole she had made. The laser instantly cooked the crew and ignited the ammunition causing the tank to explode. As pieces of tank hit her Mech, Ayame looked toward the other Scorpion, and noticed it was retreating at full speed.

In fact, all the remaining pirate forces were in full retreat as they tried to flee back to the city. Keying her radio Ayame asked, "Do we pursue and destroy or let them go?"

 

[IDoLikeMudkip]

Vic Fisher
Drush Wasteland

The situation was looking good, only a couple more enemy vehicles remained. The the situation became a little more time intensive. The radar showed that the pirates were beginning to retreat. The readouts were confirmed when Ayame came onto the radio.

"Do we pursue and destroy or let them go?" she asked.

Vic knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to pursue with guns blazing. He wanted to get the last word with those cowards. But he knew he had others to think of, and the intent of the sudden change in strategy. Yes they were losing, but the battle had gone on for quite a while. The pirates may have set up an ambush down the line, and Vic didn't want to take that chance, but he wouldn't let them just get away. He moved out of cover as quickly as he could charged forward for a couple of seconds and let loose one last blast of his lasers trying to finally finish off the retreating Striker. Unfortunately the lasers sizzled out before they reached their target. Vic released the breath he didn't realize that he was holding, and activated the comm.

"Let them go. There's only a couple left, and they aren't in the best of sorts, and neither are we. Besides I should check on Doc and his patient. Oh, and Kat take a quick look at that disabled Striker, see if she can be patched up. We could use it to our advantage. And everyone can take a gander through the rest of the scrap for anything useful slash they would like to keep."

Vic finished and took one last long look at the retreating pirates. His gut was yelling at him to follow but his head was complimenting his choice to stay. He then turned to head back to the drop ship but only got turned half way around. His gaze passed over the still burning wreckage of Logan's Corsair. It made his heart sink, already he had lost one of his squad. He went over to the wreckage to see if he could find anything of Logan's, but the fire and the crash had incinerated or smashed and scattered most everything it would be impossible to find anything. Vic finally got back to the drop ship where he was looking forward to a couple moments of silence and thought in he quarters, but first he decided to check up on Doc.

Vic got down to the MedCenter and found Doc sitting there smoking, not looking too good himself.

"So Doc, how's our guest?"

 

[SV]

Allen "Doc" Korhal
Medbay

Allen inhaled his cigarette again as he waited in the Medical Center. The soft hum of the engine was really all he heard. It was slightly soothing, yet also slightly uncomfortable. Allen was at a loss for what to do. It was these kinds of moments he wished he had a thousand patients to operate on. Sitting still just never seemed to sit well with him. He was interrupted by a voice, which caused him to look up.

"So Doc, how's our guest?" the voice said. Allen turned to see Vic standing there.

"Oh, hello Vic." He said, as he took another drag of the cigarette. "Patient had multiple gunshot wounds across his back. Fortunately, most of the shots were clean, no vital organs, and no bullets breaking off. Still, some of the bullets may have tapped his spinal cord, so I can't say for sure of his condition until he wakes up."

Allen finished as an assistant handed him a paper with the patient's logistics and current condition.

"Hmm...he's stable now, but I don't know about his long-term condition. We'll have to wait until he wakes up to know that."

Allen finished his cigarette, dropping it on the floor, and crushing it with his foot as he looked back at Vic.

"So, what's the situation out there?" He asked, eying him for any injuries he might have.

 

[The Noob Hacker]

Dreamless darkness faded, the vision of an unfamiliar room blinked into sight. Derrick was lying down, but he wasn't sure on what. His back wasn't exactly in pain, but it definitely felt numb and perhaps there was a slight tingling sensation that was to be felt as well. But there was something else that Derrick couldn't identify. His armor was gone, where it was he didn't know. Where are my weapons? he asked as thought slowly returned to him. In the Pelican. he remembered. But they've probably already searched it and taken all of my equipment. Wait a minute, where am I? How did I get here? Derrick was perplexed as to how he could remember that there would probably be people in his new ship, but had no idea where he was. Let's see, what was I doing?... The raid on the space port! That's it. Did I get captured? Derrick looked around. No, I'm not in any kind of prison, either that or these pirates have some **** good facilities.

Derrick thought more, trying to remember even the slightest bit of information. Where are the others? Derrick asked himself. His eyes widened. "Dead." he whispered to himself. "And if they're all dead, then pirates must be... No!" Derrick suddenly yelled and he abruptly rose from his prone position, he was met immediately by pain accompanied by the weakness of his limbs.

Alerted by the sound and sudden movements, one of the workers in the medical wing swiftly approached Derrick and gently restrained him with a light hand on Derrick's shoulder. Derrick quickly submitted and sat down on the bed he had just rose from. He sat idly for a moment, but then, for whatever reason, felt a sudden surge of compulsion. Derrick rose from the bed again and tried to push past the resisting worker. More workers quickly responded to the outburst and restrained Derrick with far less gentleness. They dragged him back in the bed. All the while Derrick was spewing what sounded like gibberish to those restraining him. Some words that could be made out were "dead, coming, already dead, already there, others, bases, killing" and things to the like that didn't really help anyone given their lack of context. The workers were frantically asking questions, most of them pertaining to what Derrick was talking about and, more importantly, what it meant. Derrick couldn't hear any of it and continued to yell his senseless rabble until sheer numbers overcame him and he was forced to sink into the bed again.

Defeated, Derrick lay down again and sat still and wordlessly. All the while he was under careful watch of several of the workers.

 

[IDoLikeMudkip]

Vic Fisher
Medbay

"Patient had multiple gunshot wounds across his back..." Doc laid out how the pilot was doing then receiving a paper from one of his assistants gave Vic the updated report.

"Hmm...he's stable now, but I don't know about his long-time condition. We'll have to wait until he wakes up to know that. So what's the situation out there?" Doc finished up turning to Vic.

"We're all mostly fine" said Vic, "of course I can't speak for the others. The pirates retreated with a handful of vehicles. What about you? It's not every day your mech gets busted up that badly." Vic paused for a long moment, and he gathered himself to continue "Then there's Logan..."

Vic was interrupted by a commotion inside the room. It sounded like a lot of random shouting, Vic couldn't make much of it. He assumed that the patient was awake and trying to get out.

"Well Doc, seems like someone is finally awake. Let's go have a little chat, hm?" said Vic, as he entered the room.

He entered to a flurry of medical staff attempting to restrain the patient. Finally there were able to get him to lie back down. Vic only approached the bed once many of the med staff had cleared out. He gave the man a once over before he spoke to him.

"Hello, I am the commander of the mercenary group 'Vengeance's Heart'. We are he on a contract to clear out the pirates and return the mining facility to its rightful owners. What I would like to know is who you are, and what you did to make the pirates that angry."

 

[Stingray]

Ayame Saito
Drush Wastelands

Ayame stood over the salvage crews with her Crab protecting them just in case any Pirates decided to show up and try in ruin the Mercenary's salvage operations. Looking at her sensors she saw that single contact again this time it was a little closer. Looking out her cameras she zoomed in on where the signature was coming from. She could see a light Mech, likely a scout. It looked similar to Kat's Stinger but lacked hands and instead had weapon barrels, most likely lasers. It also seemed to move faster than a normal Stinger could. Seeing that it stayed well beyond range watching the Mercenaries, Ayame turned her attention back to the salvaging operation as Kat helped move a somewhat intact Striker onto large salvage truck.

Looking back up at the Pirate mech five minutes later, Ayame wished she could catch and destroy the pest instead of letting it sit there and watch their every move. She knew her Mech was too slow to catch it so she was just forced to twist her torso to face it to let it know she was watching. Her mind then drifted back to the battle they had just fought and her anger began to rise a little. At least when she got back to the Dropship "Doc" would be in reach unlike that light mech. She was angry at the man for abandoning them in the mist of battle like a coward. When she got back she was going to show him her inner dragon. She might not be a Kuritan warrior anymore, but deep down a little dragon blood still ran through her veins and he was going to experience a little of its fury.


Dropship Wild Ride
Medbay

Jason walked into the Medical facility and took a quick glance at their visitor before addressing Victor, "Good news… one of our Intel guys was able to intercept some transmissions from the city. Looks like some of the pirates lack comm discipline and broadcast on some unsecured channels. They shut them up now, but we got two bits of information before someone shut the idiots up. First it appears our friend here is part of a resistance against the pirates, which explains him running from pirates in a pirate transport. So it appears he is a friend... and perhaps can help us if he survives. Second it looks like our Pirate buddies have decided they had enough of fighting us in the open and are starting to dig in. This means removing them from the city and mine is about to be a whole lot harder, and the longer we wait the more time they have to build up their defenses… The mechs will take a little time to repair, but not much if the Doc doesn't mind piloting a one armed Hunchback or using our spare Panther instead. Either way I think we need to act fast."

 

[IDoLikeMudkip]

Vic Fisher
Medbay

Vic had barely enough time to finish his question when Jason entered, and cleared up some of the murk surround the man on the medical bed. Apparently he was an insurgent, hated the pirates and had a solid reason for wanting them gone. Judging from the fact he was in medical with gunshot wounds Vic assumed he had just barely escaped an encounter with the pirates, maybe even stealing that ship in the process. The second half of what Jason reported wasn't so great, the pirates were starting to dig in. Vic had to smirk at this thought, the pirates couldn't be tired of fighting already, so the logical conclusion was they were cowards, what else would a pirate be anyway. In any case the fact was they needed to get moving, too much down time on this one would be bad.

"Hmmm. We do need to move fast." said Vic thinking out loud. "Get Kat and Ayame back here with whatever they have, and get repair crews working on the mechs. Sorry Doc, but we don't have time for a full repair. I'll leave it up to you weather you want to pilot your mech armless or the Panther. Finally I want everyone in the briefing room in an hour. What you do with that hour is up to you. While all of that's going on," Vic said turning back to the rebel. "you will be answering my questions. Starting with what is your name, what you can tell me about the pirates, and what can you and your rebel friends do to help us remove them."

 

[Draginja]

Kat picks through the wreckage of the pirates, searching for anything worth saving. She doesn't find much, but manages to recover Doc's arm. She carries it back to the ship, her cargo net full of other spare parts. She presses her radio button, alerting the others of her return. "Alright, ladies and gents, if you took a hit, let me know. Doc, if you need a hand, I think I found yours." She starts working on the other mechs, leaving hers as is for now, seeing as it took the least damage.

 

[SV]

Allen "Doc" Korhal
Med Bay

"We're all mostly fine" said Vic, "of course I can't speak for the others. The pirates retreated with a handful of vehicles. What about you? It's not every day your mech gets busted up that badly."

Allen responded with a slight shrug. "I'm alive, so I'm fine. Probably not my best idea, blowing my cover for a clear shot, but what can you do? At least I made the shot count.

"Then there's Logan..." The Commander never got to finish, but he didn't have to. Allen understood. In the business of war, often lives were the "businessman's" commodity, and today, Logan's stock plummeted. Suddenly, the two of their conversation was interrupted by the commotion inside.

"Well Doc, seems like someone is finally awake. Let's go have a little chat, hm?" Allen nodded and followed Vic inside, and see what happened. Soon after, Jason came along as well. He began to speak, talking about the possible things that could be done at the moment. Allen listened while he took a look at the newcomers vitals simultaneously. Seeing that he was stable, Allen began listening more intently at the current conversation.

Vic spoke next, suggesting everyone get prepped to go within an hour. Allen, of course, with nothing to do, decided to hang around and see what he could find out about the patient. It wasn't everyday you met a freedom-fighting anti-pirate fighter, or whatever the hell he was. Allen sat in a chair in the medbay, taking another drag of his cigarette. Suddenly remembering he probably not supposed to smoke while in the patient's room, he exits for a moment to put it out before returning to the chair, and leaning in. Over the radio attached to his belt, he hears Kat's voice.

"Alright, ladies and gents, if you took a hit, let me know. Doc, if you need a hand, I think I found yours."

Allen took out the radio and responded back.

"Thanks, Kat. I'll probably just see head out with the one arm. As long as the autocannon is working, I'll manage. Still, wouldn't mind checking to see the pirate's inventories while we're down there. Who knows? They might have something I like, and for the best discount. Free."

Allen turned his attention back at the patient, and Vic. One hour and counting.

 

[The Noob Hacker]

Derrick had calmed down by the time he was questioned. He got his bearings once more, for the most part. He still knew that he didn't have much of a choice but to answer the questions of these strangers. Yet still, it seemed as if this Vengeance's Heart was out against the pirates as well. Seeing the power they possessed, allying himself with them would be a very profitable move for Derrick, and the rebels more importantly.

Once he had time to collect himself from his previous outburst, Derrick spoke calmly, more calmly than even he knew he could.

"My name is Derrick. Derrick Muinintal. And you'll be lucky if you can even find the rest of the rebels. If there are any left..." Derrick trailed off for a moment, but he concealed the look of sadness, even despair that he found in him memories.

"We're scattered now. We hoped that we could launch some sort of crippling blow to the pirates, maybe get them off our backs for a little while. They're way more organized and have way more power than we thought." Derrick chuckled once to himself, now that his goggles of false hope have been removed he could see just how stupid the plans he once believed in were. How desperate.

"They're probably dead now. Although we probably still have the old, the children, and the few guarding them alive. Maybe." Derrick shook his head.

"Too many good men and women dying or already dead. But, if you're here to help, then maybe there is still a chance. I could take you to them, if pirates haven't already overrun them. Just seeing you guys would probably inspire half of them back to life, assuming they don't try to kill us all first... Or shoot themselves once they see this ship. God knows I nearly did." Perhaps it was unwise to offer to take these people to the rest of the rebels. But what does it matter anymore? We're all dead men walking on this planet, not like it matters when the rebels are wiped out, it's inevitable they will be anyways. At least they would still need Derrick for something, even if they did want to kill off all the rebels themselves. Could have some time to pull something off should it come to something like that, no matter how slim the chances were.

 

[Stingray]

Dropship Wild Ride

Jason walked out of the room. Frankly he wasn't too interested in what this man had to say, and he would hear the important facts later anyway. Walking up to the command deck of the dropship he started looking over the map of the city to see the best way to approach it. It would be a much harder fight for the Mercenaries, but this is what they were getting paid for. He continued to look over the map when an idea started to form in his mind. He then started moving around the map while checking what little sensor read outs they had on the pirates before muttering, "Into the belly of the beast… I doubt Victor will go with this idea since it's so risky but it just might work."

Ayame Saito
Dropship Wild Ride


Ayame marched her Crab into the Mech bay and parked it in its designated hanger. As soon as she powered it down, mechanics began to swarm it to lock it down so they could safely work on it. Ayame removed her coolant jacket and then threw on her kimono that she had in the small storage unit in her Mech. She then climbed out of the cockpit and walked out of the docking bay. She headed straight to her room to clean herself up since she was covered in sweat and her hair was flying in every direction. She happened to pass by the medical bay were everyone was at and she quickly shot the Doc a hostile look as she walked by. At this point she looked more like a warrior than a lady due to her crazy hair, sweat drenched body, and in general unpleased and serious look on her face. However a nice shower would go a long way to fixing that.

 

[IDoLikeMudkip]

Vic Fisher
Med Bay

Derrick, or at least that was what Jason said his name was, went on about how the rebels were too weak and downtrodden and probably wouldn't be any help to the Unit for a little while. While Vic usually listened to this kind of thing freely, this time it just turned into mild annoyance.

"We need the info, and we need it quicker then he's giving it. Let's try a different approach." He pulled up a chair so he could look Derrick in the eye.

"Look, Derrik," Vic started letting a little pain into his voice. "I'm sorry about all of your resistance friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice protecting their world. I know what it feels to lose loved ones, my entire family was lost to gangsters and thugs, this is all I have left of them."

Vic pulled out his pistol, being careful not to point it at anyone. "You help us and you'll have a world to remember them, space enough to erect monuments to the courageous, both living and dead. But for that chance you need to help us."

He re-holstered the pistol before continuing, getting back into the Commander role. "You say your rebellion is broken and scattered, I say they are tactically placed. You plan one big strike against the pirates, I say hit them all over, they can't cover all the back doors. But we can't pull of such a thing without your help, or at least the help of your friends. I would like to talk to the leaders among you see what we can work out, and if they will shoot themselves at the sight of this ship, we'll take yours. But until then I need you to tell me what you know about the pirates. All I know is they are hunkering down so we need to act fast, so that means at the moment you're my only source of more or less up to date information. So, Derrick, what can you tell us."

 

[Stingray]

Jason walked into the medical room with a smirk on his face and he said, "Gentlemen I have a crazy plan. Right in the middle of the city there is a large park… large enough to set this bird down and let you Mechwarriors enter the fight BEHIND their defenses. It's rather risky, but I don't think they will expect it. Problem is a plan like this will only work out if we can keep them off their feet and not allow them to coordinate a counter attack. Perhaps if we knew where their leadership was based we could try a decapitation operation. Take out their leaders and hopefully they will collapse… that being said this will be a quick operation either way. Good or bad this is very risky, but it might just work," said Jason as he showed Victor a hologram image of the city, where the pirates seem to be setting up defenses, and the purposed drop zone.

 

[SV]

Allen "Doc" Korhal

As the Doc sat, he noticed Ayame Saito walk by, giving him a rather unpleasant look. Allen looked back at her as she passed, unsure of what she was reacting about. She looked upset, or perhaps that's how she always looked. Doc never did pay her much mind. Actually, now that he thought about it, he never payed any of them much mind. It was his tactic in case any of them died, as he suspected they might, and there went Logan...

Allen listened to the patient describe who he was, talking about rebels and such. They were apparently in quite a rough situation. Allen saw Vic grab a chair to talk to Derrick, the patient's name, at eye level. For the bulk of the conversation, Allen was silent, but he was listening. Allen wondered briefly about the Commander's past, and the relation of the pistol with it. He had never actually read a full dossier on him, only a brief one. It piqued Allen's interest.

Jason then walked into the medical room, a grin on his face. A grin of confidence.

"Gentlemen I have a crazy plan. Right in the middle of the city there is a large park… large enough to set this bird down and let you Mechwarriors enter the fight BEHIND their defenses. It's rather risky, but I don't think they will expect it. Problem is a plan like this will only work out if we can keep them off their feet and not allow them to coordinate a counter attack. Perhaps if we knew where their leadership was based we could try a decapitation operation. Take out their leaders and hopefully they will collapse… that being said this will be a quick operation either way. Good or bad this is very risky, but it might just work,"

Allen concurred silently. He spoke up for the first time.

"Derrick, do you know anything about the possible locations of the leaders of the pirates? Any additional information you provide could be invaluable."

Allen looked at him from the armchair in the corner, wondering what happens next. Risky plans often don't work, especially in new groups, and this may be no exception. but this group might just be talented, or crazy enough to pull it off.

 

[IDoLikeMudkip]

Vic Fisher
Med Bay

Vic looked at the clock on the wall. The hour he had allotted was just about up, he himself needed to get to the briefing room.

"Well, looks like we are going to go into to this with one eye shut, but anything is better than going in blind." Vic thought.

All they had was one half-cocked plan, a still-green but potential filled unit, a resistance fighter that didn't seem to want to be of much help, and well in short nothing. It would take a miracle to pull this off, and Vic wasn't feeling too miraculous. The situation looked worse than on Valkarie, and that ended in the worst way possible. The next couple hours would determine if this squad had what it takes to survive, and not only that but thrive.

Vic shook his head to clear it and sighed as he stood. "I need to be getting on to business, I still have a planet to rescue and unlike you, I'm not on my own timetable." He said to Derrick. "But as my business seems to be your business I would like you to join us in the briefing room, if the doctor says it's OK."

"We should be going, I have a plan, but you guys may not like it." Vic said to Doc as he passed him on the way out.

 

[Stingray]

Wild Ride
Dresh Wastelands

"Well lets go people… we have a war to win, or a grave to fill. One or the other I hope it's the first one though," said Jason following Victor out of the room. Jason followed after their leader for a minute before asking, "Why do you think we will not like it?"

They all gathered in the "briefing room" which was more or less the bridge of the dropship around a holomap of some of the planet including their drop zone and the city. Jason made some adjustments to the map so Victor could manipulate the position of the dropship and had counters to represent their Mechs. The hostile forces they knew about also appeared on the map and their radar was actively updating the information so some of the enemy forces would change position or disappear/appear in real time.

Just then Ayame walked in, and she was wearing her normal clothes but no makeup. Her hair was done up in a simple pony tail and she visibly wore a katana on the left side of her cloth belt, and a pistol on the other side. Her expression and the way she carried herself was more akin to what you would expect of a noble warrior instead than the gentle lady she usually acted like. She didn't even look at Doc when she passed by him to stand in a better position to look at the map.

 

[SV]

Allen "Doc" Korhal

After the anointed hour had passed, Vic stood up, and spoke addressing Derrick.

"I need to be getting on to business, I still have a planet to rescue and unlike you, I'm not on my own timetable. But as my business seems to be your business I would like you to join us in the briefing room, if the doctor says it's OK."

Allen gestured his hand in the air with a waving moving, a sign that it didn't matter to him.

"We should be going, I have a plan, but you guys may not like it."

Allen cocked an eyebrow at the Commander. He wondered what the man was planning. Well, whatever he was going to do, Allen knew it was going to be risky. Perfect. In group he recently met with no emotional or physical ties to one another, he didn't like risky. Sighing, Allen stood up, and walked out with Vic.

"Something tells me my mech's going to lose his other arm as well..." He muttered to himself.

"Well lets go people… we have a war to win, or a grave to fill. One or the other I hope it's the first one though. Why do you think we will not like it?" Jason asked.

Allen listened too, wondering what the Commander had in mind. The three of them proceeded into the briefing room, and awaited the others. Ayame came in as well, wearing a pistol and a katana. Doc found it an interesting choice, bringing a katana to a mech fight, but he shouldn't be one to talk, always wearing his white doctor coat, as if to always remind everyone who holds their lives in his hands.

He noticed Ayame not look at Doc at all as she passed. Allen wondered if she was simply pissed, or never really liked him to begin with. He shrugged, and lit a cigarette, waiting for the briefing to begin.