Calling the
last few days hectic would be an understatement. Between salvage, prisoner
roundup, battlefield clean-up, debriefings, negotiations, talking to more suits
and analysts then I’ve seen in a long time and an unexpected
contract offer that came out of nowhere from a rep that must have been flown in
specifically to headhunt us once they knew we were on-world, I’ve had very little time to myself. I can barely keep my eye open as I
write this, but there’s a lot I need to say and I might as well do it
while I have the chance.
First up, I'll just say that I agree with Roxana Zayros and
her assessment of the QLF. The whole thing being a Mask operation makes a lot
of sense, and to my eye would explain a lot. Obviously it's out of my hands
now, but I think we can call this one closed. They've lost their leadership,
their political allies, their base of operations and the better part of two battalions
worth of troops and equipment. That's pretty crushed right there and then.
A lot of this would not be possible without the new
recruits, and I think that this last contract gave me a good chance to assess
them. I think they'll work, even if one of them might need a little bit of...
encouragement to keep his mind on track. With that being said, Randy did a fantastic
job of ferreting out the truth and actually running an off-the-books intel
operation for me; certainly we may have never found out the truth without him.
He and Nikola could make for an effective investigative team, especially if
Nikola can keep him pointed in the right direction. Plus, that Uziel is a menace.
I'll just make sure he never asks anyone about a dog license
again.
Takahashi, on the other hand, is a man of many talents. I
owe him my life, given his rather dramatic intervention in the convention
centre and his skills in sawing people in half with a Vibrokatana. It's clear
that he's more then just a MechWarrior, even if I'm not sure what that is. Conversely,
he does have somebody out for his blood; while its tempting to say that everyone
from the Combine has at least one blood enemy (Remember, Ninjas are a natural
cause of death in the Combine), there is the potential for it to become a risk.
I don't want to lose an officer mid-battle because he's been taken out for some
completely unrelated reason.
Lee seems to be e quiet one of the team and more going along
with the others. He has a lot of skills too (bomb disposal being a very useful
one) but again it's not clear how or where he learned them. I'm also becoming
more and more convinced that his Vulture
isn't his because he purchased it legitimately, but it'd be far from the first
time that somebody acquired a top-of-the-line 'Mech by less than legal means,
and (of course) salvage is nine-tenths of the law.
Certainly I've got plenty of reasons to keep them around an
nothing that tells me that they're an immediate threat to the unit as a whole.
They're skilled, they're an effective team and they seem to have a knack for thinking
their way around problems and coming up with unconventional solutions. I'm also
going to assign Nikola as permanent fourth to their lance, which will be a
change for him. I think they'll work well as a team, both on the battlefield
and off.
Speaking of assignments... I'm not going to lie. Charlie
Bull's death in Red Sands hurt a lot. I'm just not meant to show it, because I’m
the commander, put on a brave face, accept battlefield losses and so on. And
while it is tempting to accept that fact, it doesn’t make it any
less painful.
Charlie was a friend of my father's, and one of the few of
the 'old guard' who were fully on my side when I took over the unit. He'd been
one of the best at bridging the gap between those who were against me and the
changes I made (yes, you, Captain Grumpy) and those who were behind me. He'd
helped me a lot when I took over and gave me a lot of advice and the like, and definitely
made me the leader I am today. He was also a link back to my father (wherever
he is) which makes it hurt just a little bit more.
Without him, managing the unit is going
to be a lot harder. It's not just the logistical and administrative work, or
the battlefield command, but also the support and backing; he had my back in so
many ways that I can't even begin to count it. And above all else, he was a
good friend.
I'll have to go see mum when we get back to Galatea,
assuming she's on-world as well.
To make it even worse, Charlie had
just come back from a long break; this was hi first campaign since rejoining. Obviously
I’m going to recruit a
replacement pilot, but I can't replace him as a person.
Back to business. Just as we were
mopping things up, we were approached by a rep from Earthworks. He'd apparently
been bussed in specifically because they knew we were on-world and they decided
to make us a job offer while we were here. It was apparently convenient for
both our location relative to the target as well here in FWL space.
Apparently, they're determined to
abuse their position as a multi-national to work around the ceasefire between
the League and the Wolf Empire. They're asking us to it Keystone to retrieve
key assets from their factories there which will be useful to their surviving branches
and operations while setting back the Empire’s attempts to use those lines. Of course, we'll be acting
on Earthworks' behalf and not the League’s,
something they've been at pains to emphasise throughout.
On the other hand, the pay is
really generous. They're willing to load us up with a good heaping of parts and
munitions which is one of the big benefits of working for a multinational weapons
manufacturer. The intel on the target looks good too; apparently the Wolves
have left only a Cluster of green and reject troops to guard one of their key factories
for whatever reason. I cannot begin to imagine why.
Of course, in this age of no HPGs,
I have to wonder just how recent that intel is.
Okay, enough rambling. We have a
bit of downtime before we leave foe Keystone, so I'm determined to take
advantage of it and get some sleep.
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