Part 543: Mercenary Contract Vote

Sweat dripped down Jason Youngblood’s bare arms, his every motion sending small droplets splattering to the locker room floor. He took a long pull from a bottle of a local electrolyte-infused energy drink favored by Galatea’s mercenary Mechwarriors and stretched limbs tired after hours in the cockpit. In spite of Duncan Kalma’s praise, to Jason’s eyes the “Demon Hawks” were still rough around the edges. There was potential there, but most of them had difficulty keeping up with Jason in the field. That, he felt, was going to be a problem. Duncan was one of the worst pilots he’d ever worked with, and he’d vetted half of their inductees. If most of the Hawks were at Duncan’s level, Jason would have his work cut out whipping them into shape.

It didn’t help that he and Duncan were butting heads about pretty much everything anymore. It wasn’t just arguments about the unit’s terrible name, Jason had pushed hard for a uniform paintjob to make the unit look more professional. Duncan had scoffed at the, in Jason’s eyes minute, costs and then cited units like the 17th Recon who went into battle with individually painted machines. Duncan thought pilots worked best if they were able to operate largely independently while Jason felt that they needed to be able to work in tandem and trust one another. He’d even managed a reasonable compromise: the pilots would be allowed to paint their machines however they wanted as long as they added a blue and gold stripe to their `Mech’s left torso, right arm, and right leg. Their hirelings would be allowed the freedom to paint their machines how they wishes, while still obviously being members of the same company. Duncan had accepted that, albeit reluctantly. The Demon Hawks couldn’t exist without the pair’s pooled funds, but some days Jason couldn’t help but feel that Duncan brought more headaches than his investment was worth.

It wasn’t all bad with Duncan, sour as Jason had gotten with him of late. The man was no genius but he was a reasonably proficient strategist with fairly reliable tactical sense in the field. Off the field was where Duncan usually shined: he’d proven himself to be a capable scrounger and as a graduate from the Allison MechWarrior Institute he had—or at least was good at faking—an air of credibility. He could talk the military talk and walk the military walk in a way that seemed to put negotiators at ease. He was also, Jason found, incredibly cheap. Duncan wasn’t a miser, exactly, but he liked both comfort and saving money and as long as he didn’t cheap out on ammunition Jason was perfectly content to let the man beg, barter, lie, or otherwise connive his way into cheap accommodations or “first-time buyer” discounts. How he’d managed to buy an Atlas with only six and a half million C-Bills Jason would probably never know.

It was with only minor trepidation that Jason had left the contract search in Duncan’s hands while he worked to drill the rest of the company into something resembling a cohesive unit. Jason had to fight his instinctive urge to take a hands-on approach to every aspect of the unit, while Duncan preferred to keep his hands-off anything that didn’t directly involve their bottom line. Mistake as it may have been in a game of poker, Jason did trust Duncan to find them the best contract possible. The man was tenacious, he’d fight for every concession he could.

As if summoned by Jason’s thoughts, the young Kalma entered the locker room with the typical, disaffected slouch he wore whenever he wasn’t actively trying to impress someone. He cradled a noteputer in the crux of his arm, and wordlessly set the machine atop Jason’s neurohelmet before sitting down on the wooden bench beside it.

“You’ve found something, then?” Jason inquired slowly. He’d promised to keep his nose out of the contract negotiations unless Duncan requested his counsel, but even if they only had a single job offer he knew Duncan would consult with him before taking it.

“We’ve gotten four offers since we posted the unit to the MRB database last night,” Duncan sounded a touch bewildered. It was unusual for a new unit to receive any direct offers, their capability would be in question until they’d fulfilled at least one contract and proven themselves reliable. Galatea wasn’t hard-up for company-sized units either, which meant either someone was making offers to every mercenary company that had a pulse or someone had been watching them.

Jason rubbed his eyes. “How many of them are traps?”

“About half?” Duncan admitted, tapping the noteputer’s return key to pull up the first offer. “Or, if not traps, at least not entirely honest. This one’s from the New Star League, for example, but my gut says it’s actually a ComStar operation. Recon into Capellan space. Very unusual, given the interdiction. Pay’s about on-par for a new unit like ours, and it’s three months so it’d be a decent shakedown exercise. Salvage rights are nothing to write home about but they’re willing to go fifty-fifty with us if we lose any equipment in combat, which is pretty generous. Command’s completely independent too, which means we won’t have to worry about a liaison breathing down our necks, but it also means the Star League can disavow knowledge of us if things go wrong. I’m not sure I like that.”

Jason said nothing, letting Duncan continue. The man tapped the return key again, bringing up the next contract. “The next one’s weird as all get-out. Duchy of New Syrtis is calling for an extraction raid on, get this, Arc-Royal—”

“The hell does the Duchy want in Steel Viper territory?” Jason asked incredulously. His brow furrowed as he considered the implications. “Extraction raid. They want a repeat of the job we did for the Bounty Hunter. Pop in, steal some Clan `Mechs, and get out before we get caught.”

“Probably,” Duncan didn’t sound entirely convinced, but Jason let it slide. The man was always suspicious. “Pay’s about seven million, which is twice what a new unit our size can probably hope for on a three-month contract, but it’s still less than we’d get selling a single captured Clan `Mech on the open market, and they’re being stingy on the incidentals like transportation costs. Salvage rights aren’t the worst I’ve seen. The next one’s pure bullshit though.”

“Take a look,” Duncan tapped the button yet again, bringing up the third contract—and drawing a whistle from Jason. “Duchy of Andurien wants to pay thirteen million to put us on retainer for two years. This one just feels really off to me. I know you don’t pay much attention to what’s happening in the Free Worlds League—I know I try to pay as little attention to the League as I can—but the Duchy has basically been a Rim World puppet kingdom for the past two hundred years. Hell, Andurien V was down to about ten million people as of the last official census, so I’m not sure they even have a real Body Politic anymore!”

“So that begs a couple of questions—“ Jason began.

“Raises a couple of questions,” Duncan interrupted. “Begging the question is a logical fallacy. But to continue your thought: if the Duchy isn’t even a real entity anymore, why is the Rim World Republic trying to hide the fact that they’re hiring mercenaries? At least being on retainer means they’re not going to use us aggressively, but it means we could get stuck doing anything from mopping floors for two years to spy hunting to riot duty. And get this,” Duncan tapped the screen, drawing Jason’s attention to the support clause. “One-hundred percent battle-loss compensation. They’re not offering straight support for maintenance but they’ll replace anything we lose in battle. Which is either incredibly generous if they’re expecting combat, or incredibly stingy if they’re planning on putting us on garrison duty to scare off pirates for two years. They’re also not offering salvage rights but they are offering a bounty for combat kills. I have no idea what to make of this one.”

“Oh, hell,” Jason breathed. “No salvage rights means they want whatever we kill, but a bounty means they want to actively reward us for taking down hostile targets. It’s a “defensive” contract but they’re well within their rights to shuffle us to any world in the Duchy without further negotiations. Amaris is looking for units to help him fight the Clans.”

“Damnation,” Duncan squeezed his eyes closed. “I think you’re right. Think they’re sending this out to every company-sized unit on Galatea?”

“And Heroditus, Solaris VII, Westerhand, Fletcher, Astrokaszy,” Jason rattled off. “If they’re expecting heavy combat it’s a good deal. They’re agreeing to replace any `Mechs we lose no questions asked, but—”

“But if it turns into a meat grinder,” Duncan finished, “they won’t have to pay bounties or battle-loss if they get us all killed. At least it’s MRB certified, so the base pay’s already funded and waiting in a ComStar account. Thirteen million for our next of kin to fight over.”

“Last one’s from House Sandoval. Pay’s a little low for six months, but they’re offering full salvage rights. No battle loss compensation and they’re not paying much of our maintenance fees, and it’s a planetary assault so it’s bound to be risky. We could win big with this one,” Duncan mused.

“Success with minimal losses means we’ve made a name for ourselves in the Draconis Suns, and Hanse Davion’s always looking for reliable mercenaries to shore up the AFFS. We could also lose big if we get blown out of the sky or if Duke Sandoval decides to throw us into a fight we can’t win to buy his own troops time. I think this contract’s being more honest than the others, but it’s risky all the same. They’ve all got really similar timetables but I think I can use the other offers we’ve received to win us some concessions on whichever contract we decide to pursue. So,” Duncan paused momentarily, “what do you think?”



A) Employer: The New Star League
Contact: Precentor Blane
Mission: Reconnaissance
Payment: 3.5 million c-bills
Length: 3 months
Command: Independent
Overhead Compensation: Generous
Transportation: full reimbursement
Salvage: 50% Shared
Support: 50% battle-loss compensation

B) Employer: Duchy of New Syrtis
Contact: Colonel Beck
Mission: Extraction Raid
Payment: 7 million c-bills
Length: 3 months
Command: Liaison
Overhead Compensation: Light
Transportation: 60% reimbursement
Salvage: 100% Equal Exchange
Support: 75% straight support, 25% battle-loss compensation

C) Employer: Duchy of Andurien
Contact: Mr. Johnson
Mission: Retainer
Payment: 13 million c-bills plus bounty
Length: 2 years
Command: House
Overhead Compensation: Generous
Transportation: full reimbursement
Salvage: None
Support: 100% battle-loss compensation

D) Employer: House Sandoval
Contact: Colonel Williams
Mission: Planetary Assault
Payment: 5 million c-bills
Length: 6+ months
Command: House
Overhead Compensation: Generous
Transportation: employer-provided
Salvage: Full
Support: 50% straight support



Vote:
So, this vote’s a little different than the typical political / combat theater vote. What I’m looking for this time is:

1) Which contract to pursue
1A) Star League Recon
1B) New Syrtis Extraction
1C) Andurien Retainer
1D) House Sandoval Planetary Assault
1E) Seek other contracts

2) Two demands to negotiate for
2A) Pay
2B) Command Rights
2C) Overhead Compensation
2D) Transportation Costs
2E) Salvage Rights
2F) Support
2G) None

3) One concession to make, if necessary
3A) Pay
3B) Command Rights
3C) Overhead Compensation
3D) Transportation Costs
3E) Salvage Rights
3F) Support
3G) None

4) What to do if negotiations fall through
4A) Take the original offer
4B) Negotiate a different contract
4C) Seek other offers

These votes are all independent but if you wind up negotiating for something the employer is already offering the best possible deal for (or are trying to concede somewhere that your employer is offering you the worst option for), a runner-up demand and/or concession will be used instead so your votes for option 2 and 3 can never be wasted.

Remember: some concessions are more persuasive than others!