Event: Preparation in Depth (D4, LM, Briefing Room)

[Gillian Chow]

"Do we have the ability to booby-trap their expected LZ? Improvised explosives and the like?" Gillian ventured. "As for the settlement - I think we should ask them to evacuate, for their own safety."

[Yuri Creed]

"Unfortunately, we don't have mines - and even if we did, the Dropship would pick them up on approach and abort that landing zone. They could perform an attitude burn and land in one of a half dozen locations further north."

Yuri shrugged, and then gestured back to the map.

"While the town is close to their projected landing point, we have nearly 90 miles of terrain between the starport and the Calico to work with... and that's assuming they're able to cut a straight line without slowing down... which I doubt. These hills and forests will likely force some redirection if we can convince them to be concerned about ambushes - which means we have enough space that we might be able to engage multiple times before being forced into the shadow of Calico's guns. If we can properly blunt or mangle their force, it may be possible to take them to pitched battle and end it..."

He pivoted the map back to the town. "This raises the primary question, however, of what we do if they move to sack Human Edge. We don't owe the locals anything beyond human decency - but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to let innocent people be robbed or murdered... but defending the city brings risks of its own, and could costs us more forces than we can comfortably spare. We can ask them to evacuate... but that may be difficult in this weather and short notice, and they'd likely need escort."

Zooming it back out to the big view, he went on, "As for this commander... I don't know him. But he probably knows me - I was one of the Combine soldiers involved in putting down the ronin uprising - I doubt there is any love lost. At this point, these remaining scraps are desperate warriors who have painted a death sentence onto their own backs, and now live with that knowledge every day. I expect them to give and expect no quarter. Thus, I must encourage a certain degree of caution and a willingness to shoot to kill."

With a nod, he zoomed in to the spaceport. "We could potentially stage an ambush here - I'm cautious of engaging inside the gun range of the dropship, but if we struck from the hangar and then used it as cover to withdraw, it might be possible, but risky. I was more inclined to offer a probing attack as they set out, split into two lances and see if they are willing to split up and engage. We can stage a fighting withdrawal on the road from the starport and the eastern hills - that would allow our units to link up and respond from that point - the question is whether we should withdraw south no matter what, or if we are willing to send anyone west to spoil an attach on Human Edge, should one occur."

Pointing a ziggagg path through the rough terrain, he added, "There are numerous points where a hit and run style could be utilized here - dependent on if the enemy is willing to split his forces. So the initial opinion appears to be probing and limited combat to check the enemy strategy - if he will subdivide his forces, we try to engage in fights where they favor us, and if he will not, we have to decide on a course of action - I can only see two places where a standing engagement would be possible - Human Edge, or the Calico, and the Calico would be far wiser in my view."

[Comstar]

Event choice:

The company has agreed that early defensive action should include a harassing raid against the enemy, but the question of what to do after regrouping is unclear, in the event that the enemy attacks Human Edge, should the Fortunate Ones intervene?

Options:

A: Yes, no matter the cost. - This will drag the entire force into city fighting and a battle to the finish.

B: Cover the Evacuation - This will potentially drag a portion of the force into the defensive action while the remaining units continue to fight a delaying action and try to pick apart the enemy.

C: No units can be spared - There will be no attempt to defend Human Edge - whatever happens will be left up to the Black Dragons and the locals.

Characters can voice support for any of these approaches in their responses.

[Thomas Moreno]

"Well, I hate to be a stick in the mud about these sort of things but in my mind we only have one option. "We're Mercanaries after all, not a standing army. We are hired to protect the Echo Excavation and Research group, if we leave them and the drop ship behind to protect the Town. Well, that's potentially a breach of contract. While we might get a bit of a good reputation for protecting the city, we don't really want to be that group that drops contracts to protect innocents. Not if wwe want to be paid at least."

"I saw we stick it here, protect our clients. We can warn the townsfolk, maybe even shelter some of the women and children at our compound. That is as far as I would go though. Unless hte Echo folk order us to protect the town."

[Theodore Beker]

Theodore leaned back leaving his coffee on the table. "I don't feel that great about leaving the locals hanging. We should give them a heads up so they can get their urbanmechs online and maybe offer them the use of out APCs to evac? Unless they are willing to pay us for an extra bit of security."

[Snorri Tycho]

Snorri makes a "tsch" sound.

"I hate to be the stick in the mud as well, but honestly, ignoring Human Edge might be the safest thing for them. If the Dragons think that they matter to us, they'll use them as human shields or raze the village just to get back at us. I don't have any desire to see them hurt, but we honestly don't have the forces to make a fight for it, and do we honestly have the resources to care for them? Do we have anything to put them into use if they join us?"

Snorri takes a deep breathe. "I think we have to cut them free"

_______

Picking Option C

[Dorgan Bruun]

"There's nothing more dangerous than a true believer, except maybe a true believer who's already made their peace with death," Bruun says matter-of-factly. "We can't scare that kind of people, so we have to out-fight 'em. And there's every reason to believe Snorri's right about the safety of the town, so we should give 'em a warning and then try not to look too buddy-buddy. Then again," Bruun looks down at the table in front of him.

"If all those civilians are in danger, like if the Dragons doattack the town despite our best effort..." Bruun's face looks pained, like he's seen things that are replaying in his head but that he doesn't want to talk about.

"I reckon I can't..." He scratches his beard but doesn't add anything more, leaving the implication that he supports Option B but wouldn't force it on others.

[Ben Wright]

Ben nodded as Bruun spoke and pushed off the wall looking about the room "These people accepted us in, worked with us. Sure they were suspicious at first and needed a little push but fact is they could have shut their gates to us. They didn't."

The normally quiet scout brushed a hand through his hair making it fall over the shaven side of his head and sighed "The least we could do if they are put in harms way is to cover their evac. Not saying we commit all of our resources but if they decide to evacuate we should help them do it."

[Felicity]

Felicity offers a slightly different option. She didn't exactly want to abandon the town, but she wasn't a bleeding heart. "We could advise them to evacuate and agree with them to destroy a few buildings on the outskirts that they don't need. Hear me out on this." She lifts her hands to quieten any immediate dissent. "Just light some fires here and there. Maybe fire a few energy weapons into the ground. Make it look like there's been a skirmish between us and the town. If the enemy see that they will think we've been in conflict with the locals. Maybe that we've raided them already. That ought to deter them from trying to use them as hostages or raiding them on top, since it'll look like we've had a go and therefore we wouldn't care."

She lets out a big sigh after that. It didn't feel good to say this, but she was trying to be sensible.

"I don't want to abandon them, but we don't know what will happen. Sure, they've been nice enough, but only because we didn't just blast them. It's also not like the locals have been that helpful, is it? They didn't warn us fully about the pirates, and we lost a man because of that. The town might get completely ignored if we stay away. The Black Dragons are targeting us. If we put units in town that might actually get it attacked. Same if we try to cover an evacuation, si? I don't think there's much else we can realistically do. Not without breaking contract and splitting our forces. That's too dangerous. We're going to be hard pressed enough as it is." She looked around the room. "We have, what, just over two lances of mechs, a couple APCs, a tank we lack crew for and a couple squads of infantry." She remembers the Captain present. "And okay, one ace pilot in a mean aerospace fighter. That's something, yea, but they probably outgun us. So, we ought to warn the locals and encourage them that they can either evacuate today or wait and see what happens. Either way, we have our own battles to fight. The Major's right about fighting near the Calico rather than Human Edge. Besides, my Kiara isn't suited for urban combat, and it would restrict our movement. We primarily have faster, lighter units. We'd be giving up one of the advantages me may actually have by fighting in Human Edge." Felicity didn't like the thought of that, and it showed on her face.

Her tail flicked side to side in agitation. "I do think a sneak attack from the hangar would be worth the risk, but only assuming we can shield it to hide our mechs powering up inside. Otherwise, yea, we're better off with probing attacks."

-----

B/C supported, but very limited support for B

[Gillian Chow]

“I know we have to look out for ourselves,” Gillian said. “But it wouldn’t sit right with me to leave the civs to fend for themselves. We don’t have to protect their town, but I think it’d be only decent if we help cover their evacuation.”

—
+1 for Plan B