Agreed on the Schrek, so I guess we should look to see what they have where, and then deal with them one way or the other.
Viper pauses a moment, then adds.
However, I will not feel comfortable with leaving a group that takes civilians as hostage, either operational, or behind us. They do not have any vestiges of being trusted.
"Well, I can go in to the hostages, but unless you want me to talk them to death, I'm not sure I'll be of any use. I suppose if you can lure all the bandits out... but that seems unlikely."
"Read more history. The IS nobles have a long history of behaving like this gang."
J33 is a standard style of pre-fab warehouse common anywhere humans are. It sits a few dozen meters from one of the huge domes surrounded by rough scrub plants and random detritus, but little other cover. Tall enough to be considered a two-story building, J33 has no windows. The main door is a steel roll-up type and is large enough to allow a truck entrance. Two youths flank the huge door. Both are armed with SMGs. On the opposite end of the building is a smaller office door guarded by a single armed ganger.
Kyle looks to Change with disappointment. "That's hardly fair, there are good and bad people of all social classes. Perhaps you encounter more corrupt nobles where you come from? Anyways, lets go check out J33"
Once the group gets within sight of the location "So whats the plan?
Crouching down so not to make an obvious target, Viper pulls out a set of Bino's and starts observing J-33 through both visible light, and IR spectrum.
He notes the guards, as he tries to commit the external details for future reference into memory.
Well, now that the ship is down, need to get some stuff from it. I will be back soon.
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Everyone's comms chirp. The Jenni Lynne will be on the ground in about thirty minutes, according to the captain.
"I say we keep it simple. Go around the back way, gun down the one guard, then shoot our way into the building. Once we're in, we shoot the two guards as they come around to look. Once we're in a defensive position we can kill as many as we need to.
How's that?"
"That's a fine plan...which will last as long as your 'mech will last against that Shrek!" Jester spits on the ground, "Lady, even the stupidest pirates have tricks up their sleeves. Much rather find out about them before they pull 'em on us! We got the drop on 'em...let's not waste it here!"
Viper lower his binos.
Look, we cannot be fighting each other. but here's what I suggest as soon as the ship is down.
Pauses to ensure that he has thier attention.
We get a couple of mechs to back us up, and the rest of us sneak in to prevent them from getting the Schrek up and running. We then take down anyone who tries to get it running.
Looking at the security system Titian easely finds the flaw. [b]"Not even secured and you can just simply rip out the the cables.
"Look before ye leap is my plan Wraith," Jester jerks his thumb at Viper, "He's got the bones of it."
Orpheus shrugs, "Problem with Viper's plan is that we do not know where the tank is... or where it's crew it, either. Still, if it comes down to it, a PPC carrier is at a disadvantage with all these warehouses... at least against jump-capable 'Mechs. We should be able to tear through its rear armour."
He winces "There more immediate issue is the folk inside the warehouse itself... And I mostly like Wraith's general approach, if not the implementation. Gunfire will make too much noise and alert them - but if we can be quiet while taking out defenders - especially while there is a distraction - we should be able to do well."
He turns to Titian, "If the cameras are cabled, does that mean we could replace the feed, rather than cut it?"
Kyle smiles and offers up an idea. "What if we buy them dinner? I'm pretty sure I saw a pizza place in town, lets just buy them several pizzas and I can deliver them. When I carry them in I get a look around and see what I can see. No one says no to free food. Especially not underfed kids like these."
Well, the Schrek is probably on the side with the big door. My idea was similar to Wraiths, except that we get that big vehicle door open and then cover it from there.
After a quick pause.
Do we have inferno's, I know they do a number on vehicles.
"Do they deliver quickly Lambert?" Jester asks, "Not sure we can spare the time here. The clock is ticking." He then draws a long sharp dagger from its sheath and smiles unpleasantly, "Sometimes the old ways are the best."
"Yes, with an open cable feed, a loop is easy to implement. Once you have footage to loop with and the connection. They are unlikely to leave one man alone without some sort of communication check-in, though. Still, one man is a simpler target."
Orpheus asks, "Is anyone able to jam radio frequencies? It could provide us with a very useful advantage when the fun begins."
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Wraith taps her cheek cutely. "Actually, Kyle, you might have something there. _We_ could bring them food, and then, once we're in, hang around and cause havok.
Say, after infiltrating as 'servers' we could find an excuse to let Chang in--they'll need a Trid tech after I accidentally yank out some random wires--or whatever. After half of us are in I'm sure some way to kill them all/save them all will come to light."
My old drill sarge always said, expect the best, but plan for the worst. Viper pauses for a second.
So what are we going to do in the plan for the worst catagory if they try to take you hostage.
Kyle nods along as wraith agrees with his plan. "Great idea. We could probably get all the hostages out while the pirates are distracted by mechs knocking on their front door."
Kyle stops and thinks for a moment at Viper's question. "Oh that parts simple. My father used to put the family through hostage drills every year growing up. Only had to use the training once. Worked pretty well too."
He begins counting on his fingers as he lists each point. The number one thing is to be compliant but not submissive. Do what they say without displaying any obvious signs of weakness for them to leverage." He ticks off a second finger "Keep the captors at ease, do or say whatever is necessary to reinforce their calm. Establish a rapport with them. In this case sympathize with their plight of being stuck on this backwards moon." Then a third finger. "Next, offer them something valuable that they wouldn't be willing to lose by killing you. In this case, they want passage off world. If they catch us, we simply offer them what they want. As long as they keep us alive we provide them with a ticket off world. Make it clear that killing us kills their chances to escape this dust ball. and a fourth finger. "Finally, remain observant. Wait for them to slip, or an opportunity to escape. There is more to it than that, but those are the basics."
Good points, but how about some counterpoints. One, what if they just want our Ship to try to become true pirates, and not some backwater gang. Two, What if all they want is our equipment, and they leave us marooned here.
Viper pauses.
Those are the issues that I am looking at, and want to plan against. There is nothing wrong with your basic plan, but a lack of what happens if it all goes wrong.
"Then we go back to the Lady's plan. Open fire in a blitzkrieg and break their morale. Their actions speak of desperation and it would not take much to push them into making a mistake." Jester chimes in.
Kyle smirks at at Viper's reply. "Oh, I'm not suggesting that we let them within touching distance of our ride. We just tell them that, if necessary, until we get mech scale weapons pointed at them. Also, doesn't matter because we wont get caught." he says with a wink.
Alright so there is no confusion, what is the overall plan, including if things go wrong.
"Sounds like Kyle is gonna be our pizza boy. The rest of us will see if'n the gang is hungry or not." Jester replies, running the tip of his finger along the edge of his blade.
Orpheus shrugs, "Just a small reminder: they are expecting us, and have largely cowed the local population. We do not need a ruse to gain access, and are unlikely to respond well if we are caught in our dishonesty."
Kyle nods at Wraith's comment. "Makes sense. Lets go get some pizza!" He says with a playful smirk.
Viper goes over to a spot where he can cover both the front of the building, and the long side where the lone guard is.
Jester decides to keep an eye on the front entrance, making sure to stay in constant radio contact on the group's encrypted communication channel.
The old man keeps his out-sized toolbox handy as the group prepares their actions. "Get the guard down outside of the camera's view, and this should be easy." He pats the side of the toolbox.
Kyle looks over to the mech Jocks. "How long until you we have mech backup available?"
For myself, a long time, as I don't have a mech right now. But the others, probably about 20 to 30 minutes from touchdown.
"Sounds about right."
Orpheus says, "Plus or minus however long it takes to extract ourselves from the current situation.. unless you are suggesting the 'Mechwarriors should not participate in the first phase of stopping the pirates."
Kyle smiles at Orpheus "Well, I certainly wouldn't mind mech backup. I think ideally everyone without a mech stays here. Hell maybe one of our techs can steal a tank. Then the mech boys would be ready to storm the base with your mechs once we have neutralized as much as we can."
I can work with that. But try not to kick off until all are ready
Titian shrugs.
"Mechs are about as noisy as a brass band. But then, I wouldn´t mind the firepower as backup!"
Even more so if we expect tthat Shreck
Orpheus shakes his head at the last bit, "Unless it has been modified, the Shrek is a poor anti-infantry tank. There are a number of smaller, lighter vehicles far superior in that role. The Shrek is an anti-Mech and anti-armour vehicle... One that works best dug in as part of a defensive line."
He then shrugs, "Do not misunderstand, if I am to face enemy fire from any source, I would rather do so in 55 tons of Battlemech. I just want to ensure we are making good tactical decisions."
"Makes you wonder how they ended up with that tank," Jester comments, "Mebbe a good question to get an answer for."
"No question. It was scrap, like everything else. The odds that it is fully armed and armored are basically zero. But what competition did it have? I am curious how much of it is operational, and what they have added through jury-rigging."
Orpheus shrugs, "Armour and particle cannons are not particularly rare. I would not assume that it is not fully combat ready... probably at the expense of other vehicles, mind you."