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[Hat]

SOVNYA it is. Please reroll straight support stopping at 80+% or run out of rolls.

[Ice]

RP

Moon speaks up after the group consensus

Sir this is me lodging my formal protest of the contract. This is more formality at this point. It has no repercussions as im curious to see what this shattered states got in its military now that we've not seen anything from them in decades. There was however a better contract out there and I get others are on board but blc of 10% talk about a stiff. At least the fedcom was willing to hand us 100% of whatever was lost playing with the TC not to mention 60%. I know not much difference on the salvage but numbers are numbers. Maybe to make up for the fiasco of our prior contract or just happens to be standard we will never know. Its a short contract and wont affect us as much hopefully. We do have several fedcom citizens if you can call any mercs that now anyway and I dont think the death commando units or houses within Capellan space will let us go that easy. I mean unless you somehow have enough authority to call them off and deal out consequences to those units and houses that is. You are a newly appointed noble but since when has that stopped them from deploying for whatever the Liaos want or whatever they think is for the greater good? Most of them are mad as is, just saying as far as those in power goes. In this case I cant say this is against the units wishes as this was a vote and not a personal choice. On the other note the fedcom did try to kill us, even those among us who are still fedcom citizens or think of themselves as such. The duality of the situation really tests the loyalties that are there. Also the planet is at .7g so hopefully people dont forget what that does to your mechs. Ive spoke my mind. Carry on Co.

[Hat]

Kato often is hard to read, but seems almost...amused? by the complaint.  "Thank you, Lieutenant.  Whether I agree or disagree, I do appreciate hearing people's thoughts.  Comparing SOVNYA to LONGHORN, you are correct that that the BLC was notably better.  Before that becomes too much of a sticking point though I would suggest you consider the track record of this unit and actually taking the BLC.  The only lances to be awarded BLC in the last contract were mine and yours, 1 mech each.  On Tukayyid the Rangers collectively lost FOUR mechs that would have qualified for BLC, had that been a consideration.  Further, the Unit currently carries 4 'Mechs that can be provided to replace losses as needed.  For all but the most expensive mechs in the unit, this would provide compensation.  Perhaps a slight net edge to LONGHORN.  So while BLC is a consideration and I always prefer higher to lower, let's consider another aspect."

"Equipment grade on SOVNYA is A vs. LONGHORN's B.  While it is impossible to say exactly what the difference will be in the salvage, it should be to our advantage.  I would expect this should at least cover the 10% difference between the two.  On the whole, these should be a wash.  Looking at Transportation costs, the unit would net an estimated 4 million C-Bills over SOVNYA.  Again, slight net edge to LONGHORN.  So far, nothing significant in reality."

"Now, in terms of your next concern about the treatment of prisoners and the likelihood of Death Commandos staging assassination attempts against members of this unit, I would remind you that prisoners would be taken by the Aurigan Coalition, not the Confederation.  If your concern is becoming a Confederation prisoner and how you would be treated, then the simplest solution is to never take a contract against the Confederation.  Further, a willingness to work for the Confederation as part of an honorable and respectable mercenary unit, may actually work in your favor to negate the hostility that some may feel towards citizens of the FC.  As all [most?] of you were comfortable attending my investiture despite knowing there would be a near certainty of a Maskirova presence and potentially a Death Commando presence* I would hope you're more comfortable now having practical experience than without."

"In terms of the Death Commandos I believe they have demonstrated an ability and willingness to leave the Confederation borders to strike at targets they feel are appropriate.  Proximity may provide additional opportunities, but no certainties.  As we talk about treatment by the individual houses, I would point out that there have been 2 recent assassination attempts.  One against me directly and the other against the unit as a way to get to me.  I was not present at the ambush, Lieutenant, but from the comm chatter - yours included I might add - MIIO seemed quite determined to destroy and kill everything on the field.  The fact that a large part of the command staff including the unit XO and quite a few of the mechwarriors are citizens of the FC did not in fact deter them."

"When looking at potential political ramifications, Lt. Hartmann's assessment is astute, and as I mentioned, some of those benefits can potentially be gained by the rest of the unit as well.  Your willingness to take the contract and see it through points to at least a willingness to follow lawful orders and contracts and further to not being a raving anti-Confederation fanatic."

"I AM willing to take future FC contracts.  Things are still a bit too raw and uncertain and I'd like to make sure there's sufficient time to distribute things down through the various chains of command, given the speed at which news travels."

"So a long explanation to say that the contracts on paper aren't as far off as you viewed at first glance.  To one of your points, I did put it up to the group as a whole and the first seven responses if you include mine were for SOVNYA.  The group of you voted me into command I believe for my ability to navigate things both on and off the field of battle.  While I am certainly not a fan of politics, especially the Lyran kind, that doesn't mean I ignore them.  As always, if you ever believe me out of touch or doing a poor job anyone present is welcome to call a vote for my replacement."

Kato's tone has been informative and more light, not looking to chastise Moon, but provide extra clarity.  "In any case, the formal protest will be noted and added to the record."

*I don't have confirmation from people yet about who attended and who stayed on the ship.

[deadlyfire2345]

*Assuming previous contract ends without a hitch and nothing happens to Hitzig. GM, scratch off this line to show nothing negative occurs.

Hitzig sees the concern of her fellow officers and puts in a retort. "We should not sit around idle like we did the contract prior. Many of us just want to get the ball rolling, ready for the trials ahead. While this is not something ideal, we should take our most ideal option, given recent events."

"I still suggest we take an easy, but relatively long contract to give ample time to get warehouses in order"

[Hat]

Atayde nods in acknowledgment of Hitzig's comments.  A longer contract to provide time to stock up warehouses would be nice, as long as it's an appropriate one. Otherwise to Lt Hartmann's point we are a Cav unit, so more raiding is preferred.

[Ice]

After nodding he agrees

"As a small addendum to what you've said. I agree its not to much of a net loss contract to contract. The issue was more so the contract was better as a statement of fact via numbers. However agreed some of it about washes out based on salvage hopefully. Im an honorable man and only wish to look at this objectively and protect the members of the unit as well as the friends we have made along the way. I attest out of caution and based on whats on pen to paper or data pad. I am hopeful Aurigan mechs havent withered away in the 30 years or so and maybe some of the nicer toys they had maybe still around."

"As far as the Capellans go I don't worry about being a prisoner because if something slightly upsets the Maskarovka or other warrior houses or the Death Commando leaders they have no qualms with going where ever they please if able and doing what they view as right. I don't see there being prisoners but executions. This can go for any contract or non contract taken for or against the Capellans. If they view even you, I or anyone here as a threat they will eliminate with or without cause. Just like the Dracs say death to all mercs or at least did prior to Tukayyid, the Capellans have an honorable side that's less known and a sneaky side that is. Fedcom is roughly the same but reverse. Well as we are well aware now they can be very much so dishonorable. Maybe getting some favor wouldn't hurt and its the cautious side coming out of this considering the last Fedcom contract. No house can be trusted but im by no means all fedcom is sacred or all Capellans are sneaky schemers. You have demonstrated yourself as a welcomed example of what the outside does not get to see. "

"As I recall I was once told we had a house member or suspected house member among us before I arrived and commandoes made a surprise appearance. From what I was told they werent all that unreasonable short of the stand down give us what were after or die. I havent had the luxury of an interaction with any myself. MIIO has that sole distinction or honor."

A moment later

" Also as far as MIIO goes I have a gauntlet to be tossed at whoever authorized that mission and I will let fists do the talking. There was no honor to be had or upheld and it left a bitter taste for all of us."

[serrate]

Colonel's Quarters
Dropship Bay 13-06a
Capella
Capellan Confederaton
December 15, 3053

Klaus knocked lightly and entered Colonel Atayde's small private office, he was expected. For some reason he couldn't ever quite identify, Klaus always felt intimidated by this room. It wasn't the man. Sure, Kato was an excellent CO, 'lead from the front' type of guy. More importantly, he was willing to put in the long hours signing purchase requisitions, reviewing personnel assignments, overseeing the never-ending minutiae and red tape that running this outfit required. Always trying to squeeze 30 hours into a 24-hour day, that was the Colonel.

Respected, yes, certainly deserving of that. But intimidating? No. They'd known each other too long for that. Too many fights covering the other's back, too many long patrols with shared MRE's quickly heated over a camp stove. Too many funerals, and tears, and memories of lost friends. That's how it always ends up. Eventually, Klaus knew they'd be on opposite sides of that equation. One to remember, one just a memory.  

No, the problem was the room. Was it the sparse furnishings, how they subtly gave off an air of being more valuable than a light mech? Perhaps it was the scent. Instead of the expected machine oil, stale air, and other common offensive smells you learned to ignore on a dropship, this office was out of place. Sandalwood, tung oil, jasmine. It was more akin to the ornate government offices on Capella that Klaus had seen over the past couple months. Of course, maybe it was simply that whenever he came to this office, it wasn't a social call. It was because there was a problem, yet another problem.

The Colonel looked up from desk, framed in the glow from his desk lamp. No overhead fluorescent lighting in here, the only room on the ship with that distinction. "What's up Klaus?"

His barely hidden wry grin betrayed that he already knew why Klaus was here, and of course he did. You didn't keep the books in the black in a mercenary outfit without knowing things before you were told about them.

"Colonel"

"Kato", the colonel insisted. He always did. Klaus sighed and tugged at the grease and lubricant stained sleeve of his coveralls.

"Kato, the Black Knight has been, uh, not good." The colonel nodded, but didn't interrupt this time. "I had my best guy on it, but that machine... well, we've been doing basic maintenance on it since we scored it from that Star League cache, but clearly we needed to strip it down completely to discover the crap it was hiding and we never did until last month. We started pulling things apart to make changes, and it seemed like every access panel we opened was another nightmare!"

Klaus was pacing now, not that there was much room. Kato waited for him to finish, although none of this was news so far. Between reports from the XO, his own command lance, the chief of mechanics, and complaints from the factory, the mech was approaching legendary status at this point. Maybe the right word was infamous.

"One leg was completely packed with gunk, rotting and rusting, it's a wonder the mech was even able to walk. I've had other techs fabricating practically every single part in that leg from scratch just so we don't have to wait on another shipment of parts. And remember how the left hand was always a little twitchy, couldn't really grasp anything just right?" Kato nodded, Klaus had complained about the Black Knight's performance since he got it.

"Turns out there was a whole colony of tiny rodents in there, gnawing away on myomer fiber to keep their teeth nice and sharp, and dying and reproducing... and defecating, and..." Klaus trailed off for a moment, looking defeated and disgusted. "You just can't imagine the smell, you really can't. Two of the local techs just walked away from the job that day, wouldn't even accept bonus money to stay. That was only the beginning though, those hellions were fast and highly aggressive. We lost about 5 days quarantining that set of factory bays, including a few that I wasn't renting, while those nasty critters could be smoked out and exterminated. So, more lost time and lost money, the factory boss was not exactly happy about the small invasion we'd just unleashed. Brigitta wasn't too happy about needing to have her ear surgically repaired, or the shots that were required either.

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Klaus quickly interjected, "We got them all, we won't be seeing them again!"

Kato interrupted his old friend, "Klaus, has this story started approaching it's conclusion yet?" He gestured at the contract offers spread around his desk, "I've got a lot going on at the moment."

"Yea, yea, sorry Colonel, err Kato" Klaus corrected himself, stupid room, "Look, I've been round and round with the team, we've gone over every single detail and I've pushed them as hard as I reasonably can." Klaus held out his arms to display his own stained coveralls, his right hand still clutching the package he had brought with him, "I've been spending every day in there myself, doing what I can, although I think Brian wishes I'd just leave him to it." Kato knew Brian Flo was Crusher Lance's top tech, and taking this job pretty personally at this point.

"It comes down to this, we need until January 5th in the factory to get this done. We can clean up the remainder in a dropship bay, but if we leave before then the Black Knight will be going in crates and likely staying in them until we finish the next contract."

There it was, that's all Kato needed, a date. That's all this was going to come down to, but he knew Klaus needed to arrive at the destination on his own path.

"Alright, noted. I'll see what we can do."

Klaus nodded, "That's all I'm asking, thanks. I better get back to it." He started to grab the door handle, but then turned and set the package down on Kato's desk. "Almost forgot, that's for you."

Kato pulled aside a corner of the loose paper, and exhaled sharply, "Is that Timbiqui Dark?"

"Yes, it is, 3053 limited-edition," Klaus grinned.

"Well, well, well, very nice. Not saying it will factor into my decision, but it doesn't hurt." Klaus nodded appreciatively. Kato continued, "And actually, I've got something for you too". Kato chuckled lightly as he moved a few papers around on his desk, until he located a specific envelope. He handed it to Klaus, "There's the extra charges, fines, and so on from the factory. There's a brief letter in there as well, expressing their displeasure, but don't worry about that. Paying the bill always tends to resolve these issues."

"Already on it boss, I got my own copy of that this morning and put in the funds transfer right away. They should have it by this evening at the latest"

"Sounds good," Kato glanced down at his pile of paperwork and then back up at Klaus. "Alright, if there's nothing else?"

"Nope, that's it, I'll leave you to it." With a quick salute, Klaus exited that room into a standard dropship hallway. Some random clanging sound from the direction of the mech bays. Stale air, industrial cleaners. That was better, much better.

[Ad Hoc]

During the leadership meeting discussing the contracts.

In response to Moon and Hitzig’s comments, LTSG Wilhelm responds in his typical dead pan, as follows. “In regards of having enough spare parts, Reaper Lance has an ample amount and has planned and managed it’s resources will.” LTSG’s Cherikov and Bright nod acknowledging that they have done the same. Wilhelm continues on, “On the topic of what type of contract to take, my lance does not want a contract of just sitting around for 12 months and I don’t want to lose any of them from boredom. Plus the estimated profit for Sovnya is higher than that of Corral and in the time of Corral we could possibly do 2 contracts like Sovnya. Like our name says Numerian RANGERS, which to me implies action. And as for the planet only having .7g, as long as your pilots know the standard limitations of the mechs they are driving there shouldn’t be a problem. In other words, if your mech’s max speed is 85km/h then don’t go any faster and nothing bad will happen. That’s basic piloting you learn in the academy.”

[agustaaquila]

Rosc looks Wilhelm in the eye, and the Moon.  "Of course, not all of us have the luxury of academy training, or of believing that all mercs believe death. Yet we all know the value of combat, and finding that fine line between pushing things and death. Those who do not find this balance are pushed out of this occupation, hopefully by being lead away by others or if not by death. If you cling to closely to old allegiances, then you starve. So not wanting to starve, I think we should go out and kill for someone else now."

[Hat]

Kato takes a moment to interject.  "Happy to let this conversation continue, just a few things to keep in mind.  Different lances are in different places.  While some lances may be in excellent shape with their warehouses through careful management," with a nod towards Lts. Wilhelm, Cherikov and Brightsword, "others may be less so either due to combat losses or having only recently joined and had limited time to stock up," indicating Lt. Roskakoriinnen.  "Getting back to raiding is the plan.  We may also try other contract types from time to time to see whether it's a fit or for a change of pace.  Also, to Rosc's point, there will be limits to how much we can accommodate individuals' native loyalties, especially given collectively we represent virtually every Great House within the leadership.  Ultimately the decision on which contracts we take is mine.  I value your opinions and so factor in your input.  You also have that lack of direct control as political cover if you need it for contracts which may go against the state you wish to eventually retire to.  You can lodge a formal objection as Lt. Moon did in this case.  We're all professionals here, and at least in most cases friends.   Let's keep it that way."

[Hat]

Also, I'm fine to leave on January 5th to accommodate Crusher's request as long as that won't cause problems with the contract.

[Darrian Wolffe]

Also, I’m fine to leave on January 5th to accommodate Crusher’s request as long as that won’t cause problems with the contract.

GM: It's fine.  Also everyone who has posted in this thread, between Ice's RP post (copied below) and this one I'm making right now, gets +1 XP to their Lance Leader (total) for good RP.  That was a genuine pleasure to read.

RP

Moon speaks up after the group consensus...

[Darrian Wolffe]

Also, I’m fine to leave on January 5th to accommodate Crusher’s request as long as that won’t cause problems with the contract.

Claus needed factory access until the 5th, so (in AtB) contract is accepted and liftoff occurs on Jan 6th.