WCGW Chpt 84

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==Chapter 84 - What Could Go Wrong==
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20 February 3042
Joshua (Former Outworlds System)
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Lieutenant Colonel David Mitchell had convened a small meeting of his immediate Command Group on one of the Star Lord Jumpships grav deck, having ordered it cleared and the doors sealed for this meeting. Attending were:
Ship Master Sarah Campbell
Chief Vincent Zuniga
Master Sergeant Harry Caldwell
Sergeant Nathan Davis
Captain Gweneth Rolando
"It is time to make some decisions. First, as much as I like her, I am not sure Agent Hammel is up to being our Liaison Officer. She thinks like a cop, not a soldier. Even seeing what those slavers have done, she wants to see them have a fair trial. Our operations out here are dangerous enough without having to worry about guarding prisoners and looking after their well-being. So, we need to come up with a permanent solution to this problem."
"Two, we need to decide what we will be keeping and what we will be selling. Hopefully before we get back to Inner End. I want to hit the ground running. I have a ton of holes to plug before we deploy again. I never want to have to go through what we have on this mission again. When we deploy next time, we are going to be prepared for anything and everything we might encounter. I underestimated the opposition out here and our ability to deal with it and that cost me way too many valuable people. That will not happen again."
"Three, Sergeant Davis assisted by Chief Zuniga has pulled the navigation records from both captured Merchant Jumpships. We have a firm lock on both Jerk Jaws base and the newest band we tangled with. When Intrusive returns, Sergeant Davis will cross load the information we gathered, and we will have a much more accurate plot and maybe a system name. I will be honest, the thought of leaving those people at the continued mercy of slavers makes me want to puke. But we did not form this unit to be true soldiers, but treasure hunters. I cannot make this decision alone."
"Four, we will need to do some heavy recruitment. This could easily open us up to infiltration by hostile entities. I need some ideas and help on this. So, the table is open to discussion, lets kick some ideas around." Leftenant Colonel Mitchell said
Master Sergeant Harry Caldwell spoke first "We are going to need designs that are easy to maintain and repair. We cannot carry enough supplies to conduct a campaign and have excess cargo space for any salvage. We have a long ass logistical supply line, and it will only get worse as we move deeper into the Wastes. I have spoken with Sergeant Penelope Rodgers and a few of the other techs. They spent some time playing under the hood of those Striker Battlemechs and love the easy access for repairs. Like it was designed to be easy to work on. They have suggested some changes that could be made to make it a much better mech overall, but we do not have the number of special parts needed in the quantity they want. Odds of us getting that amount are probably zip. Only some true Mech jocks will be able to give you advice on that problem.
To keep our logistic issues as easy as possible, I suggest we keep any combat vehicles fusion powered. Combustion engines should be kept to a minimum, we just do not have the ability to haul the amount of fuel any sort of campaign will require. This is not the AFFS where we can expect an Aqueduct to come down with thousands of tons of much needed fuel. Though fusion powered is expensive overall, the plus marks are way more than the negatives. We recovered a bunch of stuff that meets our immediate needs. The Turhans are more than capable and double as excellent infantry carriers and support. The Merkavas are beefy tanks, but a little weak on the firepower, I am more partial to the Manticore. Has a nice strong punch. Pattons or Rommels could be nice, but we then have to haul ammo for them. At least the Manitcore will always have its main weapon in action. I want to keep at least four of the Wayland Mobile Bases, they came in handy. Whatever the final decision is, it is my professional opinion that we stay as energy weapon heavy as possible. And as streamlined as possible." 
Sergeant Davis had been making notes while Master Sergeant Caldwell spoke. He looked up when a bit of silence seemed to settle on the discussion and decided to voice his opinion. "We are going to need a cargo hauler. A big one. Not a Behemoth though. Transferring that equipment Dropship to Dropship in orbit sucked and takes too long. It will have to land on the surface so that we can load it quick and be gone. I already told the Colonel that he can keep my bonus and put it toward purchasing whatever we need. I also spoke to a bunch of Bravo Company and they agree. Odds of us hitting the jackpot like this again are slim, but a Mammoth is what we need. My opinion."
"I agree, we will need a much bigger cargo hauler. The Mammoth does meet our needs. If we had one on this mission, we could have loaded the choice stuff we found, maybe left the dregs or sealed the Depot for a return trip at a later date. Plus, and I am sorry sir, but we should ditch the Monarchs. They are eating up valuable collar space. With the Star Maps we recovered we will rarely be spending more than 60 days on any trip. Bays work just fine until we exceed that. We have two outfitted to carry the entire command that deploys. We could do the same with a single Seeker Dropship. That gives us an extra collar for something else. Mainly because I want to keep that Tug. It is just too rare outside shipyards and never know when we might need one. It eats a collar, but I think long term it will be worth it.
Four Jumpships is quite a fleet. Lots of manpower and massively expensive to maintain. We are going to need to think very long term on this. But right now, I do not have the answer to our problem." Chief Zuniga said
"Hovers. I had nothing that could run faster than those Battlemechs we faced. If I had some Hovers, I could have delayed the enemy longer. Hit and run. Not a tanker, but I know I needed some speed and did not have it. Even Hover APCs would have allowed me to do something and not risk getting flanked or surrounded. I agree the Turhan is a keeper, nice strong punch, but slow." Captain Rolando said
"Want to chop Jumpship expenses, sell the Merchants and buy another Star Lord. We even gain two extra collars in the exchange. If we cannot buy a Mammoth, it would allow us to purchase and carry more Mules. Another Star Lord saves a little on crew personnel, gains two collars and if we work it right, would allow us to rotate one into a maintenance cycle while the other continues operations. We just need to decide what size force we deploy on every mission. Hard to advise transport if I do not know what we will be bringing. I second Chief Zuniga's opinion on the Monarchs, they are luxury that we do not have the space for." Ship Master Sarah Campbell said
"Unless we keep a Merchant, dock both on it." Leftenant Colonel Mitchell countered, he really hated traveling in cramped bays, even for a month journey.
"Luxury, Colonel. They are eating collars that need to be put towards transport of the assets to accomplish the mission." Ship Master Sarah Campbell replied
"Okay we have covered problem two and I will make my decision before we get back to Inner End. Problem three? No opinions?" Leftenant Colonel Mitchell asked
"Sir, we are an official Merc command. We even have a pirate hunting contract, so we get paid to beat down pirates. I for one would love to free those people. But that is your decision to make. If you say we are going to liberate those people, then we go liberate those people. As long as we go in prepared, it's one thing to get jumped like we did here, but we do not need to go pick a fight unprepared for what we might face. Those reports of a Regiment sized pirate band out here does give me some pause though. We bump into them; we are going to get slaughtered. We just are not equipped for that kind of fight. Not yet anyway." Captain Rolando said, and her words were met with nods from around the table.
"Very well. I see that I am not alone in that feeling." Leftenant Colonel Mitchell said
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