Welcome to Illium (Day T-2, Morning, Briefing Room)

[Colette Rupelle]

Cheerfully arriving, little Colette cam to the room as she sat where the lights seem brighter. "Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour!" to who ever poor soul she sat next to. To most people amazement the girl was full of energy without any caffeine in her system.

[Andrea DeTroyes]

"I see, I see...do we have any probes we can throw at them sir? Mining seems mundane but..." Her eyes flick to the scientists present, "maybe they read the same things our employers have."

Andrea took another sip of her coffee and glances at the vocal new arrival. She responded to the impromptu French with her own, as it was unlikely many in the room spoke the language so to most it was just pleasant sounding gibberish. To those who understood such things...it was a pretty mundane greeting and an inquire if Colette was perhaps from the Federated Suns.

[Yuri Creed]

"Yes, well, I suspect there may be a tie."

Yuri looked like he planned to say more, but the new arrival greeted all present effusively, and then he shrugged.

"The reality of the matter is that we'll respond tomorrow, once we're close enough to avoid any irritating time delays in our transmission, and we'll find out who we're dealing with... or at least who they claim to be."

Pointing to a wooded area in the foothills, he added, "We're setting down here - the third continent where this settlement resides is called Asphodel - and we'll be a few days travel from the settlement. We can set up a camp here in the foothills while we get our footing and prepare any trips we need. This continent is the only one fit for human habitation at this point - the second, and also largest, continent, Limbo, is a frozen wasteland, and the first continent, Tartarus, is a radiated, volcanic mess."

Gesturing to the mass of storms, he added, "It also, thanks to being ringed by mountains and fed the gulf stream, is almost always overcast - a nuclear winter hanging over a tectonically unstable land. It's considered extremely hazardous, but we may be called upon to scout it. That mission will be given, primarily, to jump capable or humanoid mechs - we want maximum mobility and options to deal with rough terrain. As you can see, we have a variety of terrain to cover, so we'll need to be on guard against the weather and the locals both."

[Dr. Reinhardt]

"If they are a legal mining facility, couldn't we just negotiate with them and make sure we stay out of each others way?"

[Yuri Creed]

"Possibly."

Yuri frowned.

"But if they refuse to co-operate, we may have no choice. Of course, they might instigate trouble as well - we'll see if words work, but be prepared for hostile natives, if need be."

[Dorgan Bruun]

Dorgan Bruun chuckled when Colette arrived. Nice contrast to these other chatterboxes.

Bruun had been on time -- Don't you worry about me, Major -- but was still too cool to sit in a chair like was expected, so he'd been leaning against a side wall. As there was talk of playing nicely with whoever was already on the planet, Bruun just looked bemused for now. People didn't hire mercenary companies to solve their problems by talking.

[Marik Wa Mo Ishtal]

For the most part, the Wa of Mo Ishtal had no real questions that hadn't been answered. For the time being he simply listened, taking in the atmosphere of the new crew.

[Snorri Tycho]

So far, the first two months of mercenary life had meant being shoved inside a cramped tin can for months with tempers starting to fray from proximity. In short, it was a higher standard of living than Snorri was used to.

Snorri raises his hand. "A few questions Major. Do we have any breakdowns on Lance groups yet? I'm pretty sure my Hussar doesn't qualify to the types you mentioned .

"Second, what are the rules of engagement?"

[Yuri Creed]

Yuri sighed, and tapped another button, zooming back out to the planetary view.

"The rules of engagement are pretty simple. We do what we were hired to do - we protect the expedition, and if anyone tries to get inside where they shouldn't be, they get one warning. We'll give these people a chance to mind their own business, but if anyone shoots, we shoot back. Period."

Glancing around the room, he added, "I know we haven't had the opportunity to train in lance formations - I've been reviewing your files, and have scheduled a simulator run tomorrow to get a better feel for your style and abilities. I didn't want to create formations until I knew what the terrain was like - now I've got an idea, so tomorrow you'll get assignments after the simulation. Because we're only a demi-company, we may have to break mechs out from their lances for different activities - get used to pulling double duty, on a small team, it's part of the job."

[Snorri Tycho]

"Soldiers needing to do double duty? Color me shocked sir." Snorri replies, a smile cracking at his lips. "But consider me ready and able"