The last twenty-four hours did a fantastic
job of upending this entire campaign in a number of different ways. I shouldn’t
be surprised that Assault Lance was in the middle of all of it either.
First of all, the Wolves. Okay, so we have
done a good job of annoying them, granted, and I kind of understand why they
would come after us. First we humiliated them on Keystone, stole a huge pile of
parts and disrupted OmniMech production. Then we repeated the process on
Kaldiassia, including destroying a prototype OmniMech. Finally, we started a
rebellion on Shasta, destroyed half a cluster and sent the rest into a tailspin
of crashing morale. I suspect that the Wolves that followed us here to
Ashburton are the same ones that were burning towards Shasta as we left.
We’re going to have to take time out from
the campaign to deal with them, because we can’t just ignore them. The best way
to do such is to convince the Wolves that it’s no longer worth their time and
effort to chase after us, but at the same time do it in a moderately clean
manner that will play to their sense of honour. Just bearing down on them en
masse with artillery and Aerospace support is only going to make them even
angrier at us, and personally, I could use less enemies.
 |
| Raymond's Roughnecks |
Which
brings me to the next big problem, being the mercs apparently hired by the
Regulans to play pirate. Based on the information that Oda et all bought back,
we’ve been able to make a tentative identification of the unit. Unfortunately,
it appears to be Raymond’s Roughnecks, a unit that a) has a long standing
vendetta (like about one hundred and thirty years) vendetta against mine and b)
was supposed to have been destroyed in the Jihad (Although you could ask the
Black Cobras and Bronson’s Horde how that worked out). Now I have no idea if
their current commander is intent on continuing that feud given that it was
supposedly over before my father was born, but I also would rather not have it
hanging over me regardless. And I can’t just assume that they’re over it as
well.
So now we need to deal with them, both as
an enemy force that needs to be eliminated as an operational objective and as a
potentially personal threat.
Supposedly the Roughnecks were destroyed
during the Jihad. Annika’s journals mention the clashes between them and the
Irregulars, including Nina Raymond’s death. However, I also look at those
journals and notice just how much of them has been redacted by parties unknown.
So it’s possible if I read between the lines that the Roughnecks escaped and
hid out somewhere in the Periphery for decades, possibly even operating under a
different name. (Randy did mention that he heard a lot of Taurian accents,
which would fit with that theory). And somebody who does that isn’t likely to
let go of the past in a hurry.
Based in what they gave me, the Roughnecks
have a company of BattleMechs (now less once lance) including at least one
Clantech ‘Mech. They have at least a company of armour plus artillery support,
as well as a mixture of conventional and Battle Armour infantry. Finally, they
have at least two Dropships, one of which is a Union. So that’s more paper strength then we have, although we
don’t know much about their deployment and tactics as yet or how deep their
support is. Takahashi reported that they were allready beginning repairs on
Assault Lance’s ‘Mechs before they were retrieved, save for Zhen’s Vulture (Which could simply mean that
they didn’t carry a stock of the specialty parts it needs).
The other thing we need to do is figure out
the people behind them; know your enemy and all that. I’ve put together a few
preliminary thoughts based on what Assault Lance reported from their
observations, just in the hope that we can figure out something.
- Major Raymond – female, middle aged; commander of the unit both based on rank compared to size and observed behaviour; MechWarrior. Angry but driven. Doesn’t like us. Mother to Jessie and Ronnie. Willing to use her son as a bargaining chip against us.
- Baseball Cap Flannel Shirt – no name known; male, middle aged. Officer or otherwise important position, does not appear to be a MechWarrior. Father of Ronnie; showed more concern for “his boy” then Major Raymond’s plans. May not be Jessie’s father.
- Jessie (Jessica Bruce) Raymond – female, mid-20s?; lieutenant ; MechWarrior. Daughter of Major Raymond, sister of Ronnie Raymond. Heavy lance commander, but rank could be due to parentage more then ability. Seems to be a somewhat naive or socially inept. Pilots a Warhammer IIC.
- Ronnie Raymond – male, mid-20s; lieutenant, MechWarrior. Son of Major Raymond and Baseball Cap Flannel Shirt; brother of Jessie. Was commander of recon lance, but currently effectively dispossessed. Seems to have higher ambitions; has been seen trying to recruit other MechWarriors on his own rather then through the unit. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say that he is the younger sibling.
When we get back to Galatea, we’re going to
have to do a lot of research. Of course, first thing we need to do is get
through this mess.
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