Company Meeting (DFA Legacy)

Percival studied the assembled agents, soldiers and crew of this operation and had a momentary flight of whimsy. Somehow they’d coalesced into this rag tag bunch of soldiers, pilots, mechwarriors and spies from a half a dozen different groups. The fact that half of them weren’t trying to kill each other right now was nothing short of miraculous. Julian sat right next to him, and he was glad the Lyran Intelligence Corps officer was here. It certainly made separating out the responsibilities much easier.


“Good Morning everyone. I am somewhat confused by some of the new faces around this table, but i believe we share a common purpose that affects the entire Inner Sphere and beyond. Comstar presents a legitimate threat to the operations of all our nations and as such, we need to determine the level of interference they are exerting over us all with their monopoly on interstellar communication. That is our mission, and we will accomplish that mission. Understood?”


The chorus of positive responses answered him, though he had to admit hearing “Aff” was something he would need to get used to.


“As the overall mission commander, I am your superior officer for every aspect of this mission and ultimately, you all answer to me, understood?”


The chorus answered him again. It felt more natural the second time.


“As to the division of labour for the rest of this situation, There are three primary command responsibilities and they are as follows. Military assets, Intelligence Operations, and Battlemech resources. I have separated our Battlemechs from the rest of our military assets for two primary reasons. We have what would charitably be called an eclectic mix of equipment and assets, and that can be an overwhelming assortment for anyone to deal with. Rampart will supervise the military assets, from our fighter corps to the infantry and our dropships. Anything that any of you need runs right to his door.” The large eyed girl started to raise her hand and the elemental sitting next to her stifled that idea with a glance.


“Something to add, Miss…?”


“Fins wanted to put in a request to borrow one of your fighters.”


“How else am i going to help out?”


“We are not permitted to engage in combat operations. It’s a condition of the agreement that allows us to not be prisoners.” the larger man said quickly.


“We can still help.” The smaller woman said.


“We will continue this discussion later when we are not wasting the Major’s valuable time.” the larger man said in a tone that ended it “I apologize for our delay.”


“Not needed, but appreciated. Julian will be responsible for all of our intelligence gathering and analysis. We have a lot of freelancers and tagalongs, and though this is officially a Federated Commonwealth operation, it affects us all. I hope you can see that and we can work together to figure out what exactly is going on.”


“We had a bit of a meeting about this when the Kommandos arrived.” Whisper said with the low, gravelly voice that defined her. “We are more than happy to assist to the best of our capabilities. I am not a mechwarrior however, and both Parker and Curtis are here on detached duty from the 7th. We would prefer to stay on the ship and assist from there.”


“Understandable, I wouldn’t want my fingerprints on this either.” Julian said softly.


“We submit our expense reports to you?” Whisper said with a leering smile.


“Yes. I’ll handle all the financials.” Julian nodded.


“Good, we’ll do our part.” The spies were sitting together in a way that didn’t leave Percival with a warm feeling in his gut.


“Ghan, i believe? What role do you and your charming companion have in our operation?”


Ghan gave him a side eyed stare for a moment. “My superior’s superior is fond of your command and had prepared a supply drop for you while you were engaging the clan Jade Falcon forces. By the time we found you, your mission profile had changed and when i informed my superior, he authorized more resources and assets for this mission. Our intelligence personnel do not trust Comstar...despite the work they do for our people. Something does not feel right. In that spirit, we have opened a larger supply cache than previously offered and are providing you with a host of Star League era pieces of equipment to help you carry out this mission.”


Rampart frowned “You didn’t happen to bring one of those Omnimechs with you?”


Ghan shook his head. “As neither of us are rated as pilots for an Omnimech, no. My suits of armor are for emergency situations to protect the integrity of this ship, and will stay aboard under every circumstance. I can also serve as a contact point for my people if the need arises.”


“How will you make contact with them?” Percival asked him.


“Item 9 on the manifest. It will take me approximately six hours to install, but i am versed in its operation.”

“Where did you get one of those?”


“That particular model came from a command and control Overlord that was scrapped during the Exodus. I will be more than happy to go over the inner workings and operations with you at a later time, Percival.”


“That would be a good idea.” Percival said with a slow smile. He’d never expected that.


“And if we need to make further contacts, I am certain that my superiors would be more than happy to provide additional resources as gestures of good faith towards a commercial relationship.” Fins said quickly.


“Now is not the time, Merchant.”


Percival was fascinated by the interaction between the two clansfolk. They were a microcosm of what he understood their society to be about and he looked forward to discovering more about them. “Hayden, you have command of our Mech forces. As we get the rest of our equipment unpacked and installed, you have crew assignments at your disposal as well as tactical command in the field.”


“Sounds good, we currently have Julian, Rampart, Carter and myself. What about Mason?”


“He’s an enemy combatant right now...we need to figure out where his loyalties lie before we can see about getting him back in the field.” Julian said with a concerned frown.


“He had reasons for what he did, he was trying to save Mackenzie.”


“I understand that, but we need to understand what happened after he was captured. If we can get him back in the field, i would love to have him back in action.” Percival said with a finality.


“Anyone have any questions?” Fins raised her hand and Ghan put it back down for her.


“Good, let’s get to work and get everything stowed away so we can get the mission started.” Percival dismissed the motley crew and went back to examining the manifest that Ghan had brought...Where had they gotten their hands on a Hyperpulse Generator?

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