You decide to take the contract. What else are you going to do, wait a few months until you're bankrupt and then you have to spend three months travelling for a boring as fuck garrison job? Better the devil you know.
The salvage is crap but there's plenty of money in it even so. You can spend a month throwing your weight around and smashing up some Cappy's and then leave as if you'd never been there. Nowhere to go but back to the Manatee and off on another contract. Bliss, right?
"Ingvar."
"Dr Sigurdsson." he replies, insistent.
"Really? You've been with us for what, six months now? And you still want me to use your title?"
"Yes. I didn't graduate from the NAIS for a motley crew of grubby mercenaries to not respect that."
"Dr Sigurdsson. Have a message sent to our new employers. We're on our way."
It really is as simple as that for such a small force. You load the four 'mechs onto the Manatee dropship, locking them carefully into their cradles. The techs will be able to continue their repairs in transit while the rest of you get some much needed rest. Even with the dropship crew there's only eighteen of you to gather together and march up the loading ramp. Simple.
As the Manatee lifts off from the surface of Campertown, you hope you never see the blasted planet again.
Transit is an easy ride and arrival in Eom is, surprisingly enough, uncontested. Enough mercs must pass through that you can slip in mostly unbothered. Maybe they'll pay attention once you start blowing things up.
You head up to the bridge before final approach, watching as the blue-green marble grows larger ahead of you. That's what old Terra was supposed to look like, you find yourself thinking. Before a millennia of war and ruination did horrible things to the planet. Maybe Comstar had returned it to its glory but you'd sooner believe a lot worse from them.
Lieutenant Abdul Karim Kim, Commander of the Manatee, looks you up and down as you stand silently.
"Everything alright, Captain?"
"Aye, Abdul. Anxious about the mission."
"You're anxious? I'm about to hot drop onto a hostile planet in a Manatee." He looks at you with an expression of pure terror on his face.
"You say that every time we land somewhere new." You fire back before both of you break into laughter.
"Seriously though, one of these days we need to have an actual discussion about what a bad idea this is."
"Add it to the list. One day I'll get to the bottom of it."
"Aye, Captain."
You turn and leave. You have a 'mech to prepare.
The landing is, somehow, unopposed. The Manatee screams into the atmosphere, shaking and rumbling the whole way down, before lighting its fusion engine and coming to a rest just before its footplates touch the soft earth. It drops the last few inches and bounces you hard in your seat. The ramps drop open with a slam and you punch the throttle wide open. There might be nothing on sensors but with Stapleton's Grenadiers apparently on the planet it wasn't worth risking leaving the dropship exposed.
Not that it mattered. For whatever reason, you got left alone. You had plenty of time to dig berms for the 'mechs, to shore up the Manatee's landing site and to establish a minimalistic base camp. It's not much, but it's only for a month. By the end of your second day on Eom, the 25th of January, you begin striking out and trying to ascertain exactly what the Capellan's are going to do when they realise you're here to cause trouble.
Late on the 25th, a second dropship appears first on sensors and then in the sky as a streak of fire. You race for your 'mechs as it hurtles towards the ground, technicians and support staff arming themselves as best they can. If they've decided to sort this out with a combat drop then you're going to be ready. But once again your adrenaline is pumping for no reason. A Leopard sets down a couple of hundred metres from your camp emblazoned with the insignia of the Free Worlds League. Apparently your employer entirely failed to mention the reinforcements but you weren't going to complain. You welcome the group of FWL mechwarriors and their support team with open arms.
You strike out early the next day. Leading your lance you are accompanied by an FWL Spider SDR-5V in an attempt to draw out the Capellans. If it really is the Grenadiers garrisoned here it's unlikely they'll be able to resist a stand up fight. They have a reputation for being glory seekers and maybe you can offer them enough to lure them into a favourable engagement. With five 'mechs at your back, you've certainly got a solid combat group to work with.
We can likely afford to purchase another 'mech from the open market. What should we look out for?
[ ] A large discount. (10%? 20%?)
[ ] A specific mission profile (Write in i.e. Sniper, Brawler, Cavalry)
[ ] A particular machine (Write in)
Remember you can write in a character to either replace an NPC or who can be added when we continue recruitment!
How are we approaching this contract?
[ ] Hit 'n' Run. The moment a fight turns bad, pull out.
[ ] Smash 'n' Grab. We only have 10% salvage, let's make the most of it.
[ ] Slash 'n' Burn. Hurt the Capellan's as much as possible at the cost of anything else.
