"Record everything, including all our tactical communications from the landing forward. Non stop recording, no editing. Document the soldiers we killed in civilian clothing. The populace will not believe us, but, as we capture their senior command, we will have sufficient proof of war crimes to execute them after a fair trial." Zzed seems non-plussed by the dead goo.
"Leveling the town plays into their propoganda. Place signs warning refugee's that there are Federation chemical warfare bombs. We also need to find out how they knew we were coming here. This takes time to set up, so they somehow knew this was one of our first targets. We need to change our plans, pick one of the towns that wasn't on our list, and take it for an HQ instead. We have a mole."
Question : Are we operating under the equivalent of the Geneva Convention and other International War Crimes rules? I had thought we were, but some of the posts in the thread seem to indicate those are either not being applied, or are being ignored.
Flaming the house where the RPG was fired from is fine, attacks came from it. Burning down all the buildings around it or lighting them up with automatic weapons isn't, as there may be noncombatant civilians.
Same with fleeing vehicles, unless they are marked military, or have obvious military personnel in them, then stomping them flat with an MS would be a violation of the Rules of War as they are likely to contain fleeing non-combatants.
"Or we could just plow a trough through with a few bursts of gunfire. That has the added benefit of scaring the locals. Also faster, so they have less time to get anti-MS weapons ready. Finally, we could leap over it with jets if it's shallow enough, or a combination."
Squad Channel: "Kraken-2, landed and disengaged from ballute. Proceeding to scout the immediate area while ally units reform."
Zzed then begins a counter-clockwise spiral out from the landing zone, until the landing zone is half-way to his maximum sensor range. Then he continues to circle the area while the commander and other units decide engagement strategy.
"I suggest we try to time our attacks, at least initially, at night. Our sensors are better than the enemy sensors, and that would give us an advantage. Additionally, surface dwellers tend to sleep at night and work by day, and are not used to operating at night. That will cut down on the casualties from our infrastructure assaults, as well as minimize our risks. Additionally, it will leave more refugees that the local government has to deal with. Dead people are not a drain on resources, live ones are."
Actually, you reversed my suggestion. My suggestion was two MS units help our grunts secure the first town we are all being dropped in, and that the other 3 do some raiding on towns that are off our beaten path to draw forces away from where we intend to go as a group. Kanoe got it mostly.
It might be a good time to do our split up plan, send three MS's to the nearest smaller town, one off our intended path, and hit any infrastructure we can, while the other two help the grunts secure the town and dig in defensive positions.
Then move out and start hitting towns along our route.
Zzed takes 1 each, as someone should have at least one grenade. He also takes the 120, for similar reasons
"One question, where is our resupply chain? Or will we have resupply dropped via air drop? Knowing how quickly we can get resupply directly affects our fighting style."
Having already dealt with his Zaku, Zzed gets some food, and then heads back to the barracks. He cleans his weapons and then goes to sleep, knowing he'll need to get up early.
By the end of it however, he collapses, unable to continue. Unlike the others, he seems to hold no animosity for the Lt. Indeed, he seems to accept the punishment as if it were normal, or even light.
Finally, after he recovers, he stands and salutes the Lt. before trudging slowly out to the closet to get the cleaning supplies.
Zzed turns to Yashida. "Then you are an idiot, Ensign Yashida. We are a squad. Whatever any squad member does, all squad members did. When you speak, you speak for all of us. When you act, you act for all of us. When you kill yourself through stupidity, it is all of us who will pay the price. If you cannot control yourself, resign your commission. If you can, then do so. Ltn. Dahvana was very lenient with all of us, others have suffered much worse than you for much less flagrant mistakes."
Done saying his peace, he returns to informal attention.
Sorry everyone, took the wife to Niagra Falls. Lugged her wheelchair through every landing in Cave of Winds, then down onto Maid of the Mist V. Exhausted. But will post...
Zzed listens to the briefing, and finds nothing not covered in either the technical spec on the tanks, or the Lt's description. Obviously terrain is vital when taking on the tanks. He is about to mention that again, when Yashida provokes the commander. Making a mental note that the Ensign may be deranged, he simply follows along and begins to work the punishment without complaint.
Zzed looks a bit tired toward the middle, but doesn't slow down at all, and continues working without complaint, or even much in the way of comment. When done, he cleans the tools and returns them to their designated space before standing quietly in parade rest, while awaiting more orders.
Voice : "Ensign, why is your file heavily redacted?"
Zzed : "I'm sorry, sir, it's classified."
Voice : "How am I supposed to certify your clearance levels without knowing what they are?!"
Zzed : "My clearance level is Alpha-0, Ltn. Commander."
Voice : "Ensign, do not lie to me. No Ensign has an Alpha-0 level clearance. I don't have Alpha-0 level clearance!"
Zzed : "I know sir, that's why I can't answer your questions. Your clearance level is Delta-2."
Voice : <sounding shocked>"Ensign, how do you know my clearance level?"
Zzed : "I checked your personnel jacket before entering for the interview sir."
Voice : <Angry Voice> "How did you get access to my personnel Jacket Ensign?! That requires at least level.."
Zzed : "..Delta-3 clearance, yes sir. I have Alpha-0."
Voice : <sounding annoyed>"How does an Ensign, fresh out of the academy, get Alpha-0 level clearance?!"
Zzed : "I'm sorry sir, that's classified. If you'll allow me to unlock one of the pages in my jacket... There you go sir."
Voice : <after a brief pause, sounding shaken> "Oh.. uhm, I see... Yes, well, let me just process you through then. Base level pass, secured area pass, Mobile Suit Supply pass, mess hall pass..."
Zzed : "HQ Access Pass..."
Voice : "Uh, right. I wouldn't use that without Lt. Dahvana's authorization... if you want to avoid... trouble.."
Zzed : "Yes sir, I'll keep that in mind sir. May I go now?"
Voice : "Yes, get the heck out of here, I'm going to get a drink and forget I ever saw your file, what little there is of it."
Zzed : "Yes sir, probably best sir. Thank you sir."
Zzed ends up returning to the base before everyone else, puts his extra clothes away in the locker, locks it to his biocode, and then returns to his Zaku, ensuring the unit insignia is painted on correctly. Then he takes the Zaku out and runs it through the training course area with training rounds, ensuring it works correctly.
When he's done, he returns to the quarters, about the time everyone else is done with their much more lengthy processes.
"I've taken my suit out and ensured it's in good working order. I suggest you all do the same before going to bed tonight. Mess hall is open for another 2 hours, you should probably eat first."
What's the names of the actual rule books we are using? I might see if I can find a PDF at one of the sites for sale, or an old copy of the book at the 10 used bookstores near my house.
Also, I'll be going to work in NY tomorrow, so will be unable to post most of the day.
Unkown Voice : "Ensign, I need your medical history."
Zzed : "I'm sorry, sir, it's classified."
Unkown Voice : "How am I supposed to certify you if your medical records are redacted?!"
Zzed : "I'm sorry sir, it's classified."
Uknown Voice : "When was the last time you had an MMR vacination?"
Zzed : "Last month, at orbital HQ."
Voice : "Better, did you have all the standard vaccines as a child?"
Zzed : "I'm sorry sir, that's classified."
Voice : <Sound of paper tearing> "Fine, is there any history of heart conditions, brain aneurisms, or vertigo in your family?"
Zzed : "I'm sorry sir, that's classified."
Voice : <sounding annoyed>"Ensign, if you don't answer my questions, I'm downlisting you!"
Zzed : "I'm sorry sir, please see the document attached from HQ."
Voice : <after a brief pause, sounding shaken> "Oh.. uhm, I see... Yes, well, let me just give you the Earth specific vaccinations and we'll do a brief scan and you can be on your way."
Zzed : "I'm sorry sir, my scans are..."
Voice : "Classified, right. No scan then. Just shots."
Yes, but the person who told him to use Zzed Fox was in High Command, lower ranked officer can't order a lower ranked officer to ignore the order of someone higher ranked than her. IE: A Commodore ordered him to use Zzed Fox, so a Lt. Cmmndr can't countermand that order.
And who are those "most people" that don't like your name? I feel like I might have miss something here in the translation... (English isn't my first language)
High Command, Psychologists, Bureau of Personnel, Fleet Intelligence Command...
Zzed's Personnel Jacket : (For those who manage to sneak a peak, and the GM of course)
Jacket:
Name : 005BF
Call Sign : Zzed Fox
Political Origin : Principality of Zeon
City/Colony of Origin : <REDACTED>
Gender : Male
Age : <REDACTED>
Height : 5'6"
Weight : 148 lbs
Eyes : Blue (Non-Standard)
Hair : White
Rank : Ensign
Father : <REDACTED>
Mother : <REDACTED>
Siblings : <REDACTED>
Psychological Profile : <REDACTED>
Physiological Profile : <REDACTED>
Primary School : <REDACTED>
Secondary School : <REDACTED>
University : <REDACTED>
Zzed takes the paperwork, and shrugs. "BuPers assigned my call sign, I'm not sure either of us are allowed to change it. If I get orders to change it, I'll change it." He then salutes. "By your leave them, ma'am, and I'll report to the physicians." Assuming there's no response, or a positive one, he takes the papers to the medical tent and begins his process of being examined.
BuPers Bureau of Personnel
Zzed's paperwork from HQ would list his name as 005BF, and his Call Sign as Zzed Fox, due to his background. While it would be very unusual normally to have a call sign assigned by BuPers, it's in his paperwork. Probably will piss the commander off as most of his file is locked under a classified tag, and no explanation of his name/callsign.
Zzed is pronounced like Zed, which is pronounced like Head, but with a Z. It's just spelled with two Z's to make it different from his brother, Zed Omega.
Zzed raises an eyebrow, and then returns 'Mr Fluffers' to the small woman. Once his hands are free, he gives the woman a salute, before asking. "Is that his name or callsign, ma'am?" Given that Ensign Faustus had already pointed out their commander.
And somewhat Animeish. I get this 'I must be super perky and prove myself' vibe from Yashida. And in anime, I can see her being so overexcited she just turns when she sees motion and salutes... then there's those little dashed lines showing where she's looking at empty space, then her tilting her head down to see the rabbit, and her face turning red. :)
"Understood." Zzed comments, and then follows along without further comment.
Waiting on GM clarification on 'hare'. I think he means a rabbit came out, and that means Kanoe just saluted and called a rabbit 'Ma'am', which Zzed will find bizarre.
If it is an actual hare:
Zzed watches as Kanoe salutes the small furry rabbit and calls it ma'am. He then stoops and tries to pick the rabbit up. If it allows it, he doesn't hurt it, but does examine it while rubbing it's head. "It appears to be a member of the lapis family... I do not believe it is in the chain of command, Ensign Yashida. I find it odd that the Federation would allow rabbits to be in the chain of command. It's almost certainly the pet of someone on the base." He seems to think Yashida's background of being from the Federation is her reason for thinking the rabbit is in the chain of command.
Zzed raises an eyebrow. "Ensign Yashida, you should probably study up on the cross-branch ranking structure. A 2nd Lieutenant, also known as a 2nd Louie, is an officer of equal rank with an Ensign. Saluting is... inappropriate."
That's the problem with making a character not having access to the books. :( If I'd known it required 6 to start earning them, I'd have arranged my skills a bit more and put a 6 in it.
Zzed pilots his suit to the indicated mobile bay, and backs it in.
MS Pilot:2d6 + 15 ⇒ (1, 2) + 15 = 18
The mobile bay isn't perfectly level, but even so, the mech clicks into the harness without too much trouble.
Once he's done, he climbs out of the mecha, and hands the access chip to the waiting techs. "The unit insignia is on the chip. My call sign is Zzed Fox. I'd prefer Zzed above the insignia, and Fox below. The orders indicated you'd be adding our insignia and callsign markers to the mobile suits." Then, with no apparent care for the cold, he makes his way over to 2nd Lieutenant Reddok. He then waits at relaxed attention for the rest of his squad to join.
Yeah, in fighter's for WWI and WWII, it was I believe 5 enemy planes. However, I'm assuming it's more for this one. If I remember correctly, that's 5 full planes, so if you and your wingman both hit it, you both got partial credit.
Once we are allowed to have personal insignia on our mechs in addition to the unit isignia... This is Zzed's personal emblem, upon which he'll superimpose the unit insignia on top of in the center, like this.
Zzed brings his his Zaku up and checks all the motor functions. "Kraken-2: Green." He says briefly on the tactical net, then tunes to the base command net, waiting for either Katzuya to contact Suit Operations to get their hanger location and the location of the Base Commander, or for them to volunteer the information to the 260th.
See Roldy on the ground, he opens a link to the man's unit comm. "Kraken-5. Ensure your Zaku is functioning at optimum levels, we can't leave them sitting around in the way. Kraken-1 will be communicating with MesCom as soon as his unit is on line to find out where our hanger is, and where we go to report in to the base commander."
My assumption is they are not going to want 5 very expensive Zaku's sitting around on the landing pad blocking shuttle and MS landing access, so we should probably assume we need to get them out of the way first, and contact base MS Command to find out where to put them and where to go to report in.
Zzed exits the shuttle, scanning the area, making sure it's safe, out of habit.
Perception:2d6 + 9 ⇒ (5, 1) + 9 = 15
Upon making sure nothing is wrong and the base is not under attack, as unlikely as that is, he trots over to his assigned Zaku II, to get in and start it up and move it into the base proper so he can follow orders and find the base commander.
Zzed executes a perfect salute. "Sieg Zeon." His voice is calm though, as he salutes.
Turning to the group, he taps on his pad. "It appears that we are all officers of the same rank. And, we all appear to have been promoted as part of the same batch. That makes command more difficult, as nobody has seniority on anyone." He sounds as if he thinks someone in BuPers should be fired... out of an airlock. "This is.. not normal. Usually someone with more experience would have been placed in charge of a new squad. That someone wasn't indicates we are stretched very thin and are putting out as many squads as possible. Please keep that in mind while fighting, we cannot afford to lose pilots if we are spread this thin. Looking over our placement scores, it appears that Ensign Katzuya has the highest overall tactics and strategy scores. Fortunately, we appear to have several pilots with acceptable scores in both. It would appear that my scores are slightly below Ensign Katzuya, and that Ensign Fuastus is slightly below myself. That gives us a working command structure, with a squad leader and two seconds." He doesn't bother mentioning that the others have no scores at all in either, and are thus not fit for command of a squad.
"Initial piloting tests indicate we have a very good group of pilots. Ensign Faustus appears to have a slight edge over the rest of the squad. Myself, Ensign Katzuya, and Ensign Yashida appear to be on par with each other overall. While Ensign Heson may be last, his scores are still respectable and should not be a drain on the squad." He checks off a few things on his datapad. "Unfortunately, we will be stuck with Zaku II's for the foreseeable future. I am personally more comfortable with a sniper role, but that will not be possible for now. Should we need to split the squad, I would suggest Ensign Katzuya and Ensign Yashida form one sub-unit, with Myself, Ensign Faustus, and Ensign Heson forming the other sub-unit."
"Only one problem with the hit and run tactics. We are a small unit, and if the enemy realizes it, they can set a trap for us. One way to resolve that is to convince them we are more than we are. For that to work, we'd have to hit multiple targets at the same time. That is a risky strategy though, and becomes riskier as time goes on. It may be easier to establish that in the initial attack, attack in the dark of night, between 2 and 3 in the morning, on the first night, at two towns simultaneously, with split forces. After that, it would not be safe to split forces. We could, however, push both the pilots and mechs and hit multiple targets over the next week, one per day, or every other day, spread out. That could make it appear we have multiple squads, further enhancing the idea to spread out forces."
If it makes anyone feel better, Zzed would attempt to arrest the officer who gave the orders, and execute him immediately if he resisted. Zzed is very much by the book, and was trained as extremely patriotic.
He will take the view that anyone violating the articles of war are rogues who are traitors to Zeon. His response would depend on how badly they are violating them. Bashing a prisoner in the face over some said words he'd just file a report on. Attempting to murder a prisoner of war would result in a drawn gun and him placing them under arrest, regardless of rank.
Zzed taps a bit on his pad. "We'll need to be careful what infrastructure we damage on the way in, as we will not have access to backup supplies to repair the local infrastructure beyond what is immediately accessable. On the other hand, we could simply cannibalize the first town's infrastructure to have spares for subsequent hostilities. It depends on the size of the first town, of course. If we are to probe, hitting smaller outlying towns, especially if we can use our high speed and mobility, it may force the local defense force to spread out their defenses. Indeed, hit and run tactics innitially, taking out secondary infrastructure in towns and cities we don't intend to actively inhabit may be a good first strike. It will panic the local inhabitants, and they will either evacuate to central locations, which will increase the draw on hoarded supplies, making it harder to defend, or it will force the defenders to spread their defenses to stop us from forcing evacuation of outlying areas." He seems generally approving of Kanoe's suggestion.
He waits for the further answers from the commander.
