Part 13: Interlude: Meeting the Pilots and Strategic Overview
"Hello everyone, and welcome to our 1st Zulu Strategic briefing. This is something I've been asked to do by the Commander while the next Operation gets into full swing."
"Lynx, just gimme something to shoot up, will ya?" "Very funny, Hitman. Now, this briefing will consist of three major parts. First will be a rounded introduction by everyone to everyone. We've been forming ourselves up into cliques, and I don't want people to not know who they might be Lancemates with out in the field. Secondly will be an overview of the Strategic Situtaion here and along the front passed down to me by our favourite Spook. Thirdly will be technical in nature, going over our available Mechs."
"Ugh, I hate that boring stuff." "Just for that, we'll start off our roundrobin introductions with you." "..." "..." "I'm Siren. I prefer Light Mechs, and Beast hasn't won a single game of poker against me yet."
"Then I'm the Beast! I joined up with the Steiners back in '49 when the Clans came coming, and was transferred to the Davion Guards in preparation for these assaults. And I let you win.”
“I'm the Baron. I'll have you plebes know that the only reason you are MechWarriors is because there isn't enough Nobility to field proper armies, so we'll have to share the glory.”
“Right you are, brother. As a Countess, it is our duty to restore the Star League with it's rightful rulers, the Steiner-Davion families.”
“I hate politics. Anyways, I'm Falcon, I was an advance agent already on-planet when you guys landed. Don't mind me though, I'm just here to kill Smoke Jaguars.”
“What are we doing? Going alphabetically? In that case, I'm Fiend, and I must officially deny running any form of betting pool in this company.”
“...zzzzZZZZZ. *snrk* Uh? Oh? Gator. Wake me when something important happens.”
“Lazy bastard... Anyways, I'm Gunman, and I love explosions! So much so, that I'll take any opportunity to Alpha Strike any Clanner that gets down range of me.”
“Hawk. I've done my time in the EW platforms, and I intend to keep that position.”
“Hunter. Second in Command of this Company out in the field, behind Lynx, but I haven't had a 'Mech blown out from under me yet.”
“Hello, I'm Isis. I've been assigned to EW support because I can multitask well, and other than that, there's not much to say.” “My turn then. I'm callsign Lynx, head of 1st Davion Guards, Zulu Company. You all report to me, and I report to the Commander. It's my job to take the hits so you don't have to, and for that, I've been assigned the Timber Wolf we captured last week.”
“Mystique, deep recon before my Raven got damaged and i had to be rescued.”
“I'm Ronin, and my Lance and I were deep raiders before things got too hot and we were recalled to this side of enemy lines.”
“Oh? Uh? My turn, I guess? Um, I'm Rooster, and I'm supposed to be with Battalion but I kinda got transferred over here when I was thrown into battle in a Catapult. Sorry.”
“Don't be kid. That was a good fight you had in you, and we got Falcon out alright. Right?” “I guess so Mr. Sacarb.” “Already did me. Next!”
“Skater here. Gotta say, I'm having plenty of fun, even if none of you like my jokes.”
“Those aren't jokes, gees. They're weapons to use to torture prisoners. Anyways, I'm Spice. Howdy!” “Thank you all. Do try to mingle a bit more after the meeting please. Anyways, onto the strategic briefing.”
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“After the initial probes from Operation Bird Dog, and the tying down of Smoke Jaguar forces, we arrived in-system and landed on 20 May 3029. Yankee and Zulu Companies made it planetside with little troubles, but X-Ray Company's Dropship, the Yorktown, was shot down.”“Without out heavy and assault lances, Colonel Reese and her command team had to come up with a new plan of assault. Recon and Intel reported that the 186th Garrison Cluster was reinforced by forces dislodged by the Bird Dog raids on Asgard and Tarazed, so we found ourselves facing stiffer opposition than normal. Early estimates put us at facing approximately 100 Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs, however, that number is off if our combat record is anything to go by.”
“What are the numbers?” “Operation 1, Mission 1: One Commando, One Uller. OP1.2: Three, A Hollander II, and a pair of Commandos. Op1.3, Four Commandos, Two Firestarters, oh, and the Timber Wolf. Mission 4: Two Kit Foxes. Op1, Mission 5: Cougar, two Ullers, a Firestarter and a Hunchback. Mission 6 was 6 Firestarters and the Catapult. So for Operation Skyhook, the totals are Seven Commandos, Nine Firestarters, Five Ullers, a Cougar, a Hollander II, Hunchback, Catapult and a Timber Wolf. That's 28 Mechs just by ourselves on the first Operation. You want me to go over the numbers for Op2?” “Yes please.” “Two Hunchbacks and a Hollander II when we rescued Falcon, with unknown Mech forces unengaged. Operation 2, Mission two forced down a Firestarter, a Centurion, a Catapult and a Hunchback IIC. In mission 3, we killed two Hunchback IICs, while three Cougars escaped, so they don't count. Mission 4: Two Ullers, a Cougar, and a Hunchback IIC. Mission 5 had three Hunchbacks and three Ullers. Lastly, Mission 6 had two Ullers, two Commandos, two Hunchbacks, three Centurions and two Hollander II's. That's... Two Commandos, a Firestarter, Six Ullers, a Cougar, Three Hollander II's, Seven Hunchbacks, two Hunchback IIC's, four Centurions, and a Catapult for 27 Mechs killed.”, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , “Holy Shit.” “That, plus the efforts of Yankee, mean that the entire local Garrison Cluster is crippled, and the use of isorla 'Mechs and Vehicles here, as well as Bondsmen leads Battalion to believe that the Smoke Jaguars were planning a raid based here, and we landed while they were still setting up.” “Um... so how many are we looking at, sir?” “As many as two hundred BattleMechs. We'll know more as resistance increases over the course of this Operation and as we get closer to the Spaceport. Anyways, back to the briefing I was supposed to give. As part of the new plan, we couldn't simply drive into the core of the Smoke Jaguar forces. We've been forced to take a slower drive, with multiple fronts and the need to be more careful when hitting certain objectives. It's also why Battalion has been enforcing a strict weight and numbers limit on all missions. We simply don't have the lift to move all the forces we want to hit each of our objectives.” “That sucks.” “I have to agree. We've been running ragged. How long until reinforcements?” “From what's been passed down to me, Yankee Company was able to secure the ComStar HPG station long enough to send a request for reinforcements, and our JumpShips headed out once they recharged. We can expect a couple of reserve regiments from Luthien and other places to reinforce our position in six-to-eight days.” “And we can't just sit on our asses, can we?” “Nope. The next Operation is the assault on the city of Affendale, and the Colonel will be giving an all-hands briefing shortly after this one is over. It'll be a lightning push by our forces as we want to keep the Smoke Jaguars off balance on the strategic scale. We'll also be hitting a couple targets of opportunity as they arise, so be aware of that. The Commander is conferring with Intelligence about organizing multiple near-simultaneous missions for our Company.” “Good work.” “Indeed, brother. We must show these plebes just what the Davion Guard is made of.” “those two are going to get us all killed, aren't they?” “shhhh don't let them hear you.” “Anyway, that's it for the Strategic Overview. Now comes Company Inventory. In terms of Mechs...”
“All MechWarriors, standby for a briefing from the Colonel.” “Shit. Atten-hut!”