Iron Tigers
Current Status: Epsilon Eridani, Chaos March

Personal Log: Maj. D. Keith
Date: 3067-10-19
Situation:
Once more into the breach. Picked up the 66th Special Services Detachment at a supply run on Outreach. Will be meeting up with Capt. Tyler when he jumps in-system tomorrow. This is one of these 'mission of opportunity' raids where we've blurred the lines between mercenary and pirate. According to 'the Primus' (as he likes to call himself), the Word of Blake has stolen a pair of dropships from MacCarron's Armored Cavalry. We're going to steal them back--and not tell the Big MAC that we have them. Tyler thinks that the MAC is a bunch of sell-outs. Blix just wants to thumb his nose at the Wobbies. Personally, I think that two wrongs don't make a right, but we need those dropships more than either the Blakists or the MAC, so...

Soon, it will be time to put that Templar through it's paces. Rachelle drew the long straw, but she wants to pilot her Spector instead. I'm not complaining, that ECM will come in handy for sneaking into a minor spaceport. That leaves Wycoffe in the Templar. I know that he'd feel more comfortable in his Avatar, but reattaching the leg is proving problematic. Going to have to pick up some spare actuators if we can't get the originals mended. Ah well, at least he's used to piloting a large support 'Mech. Shouldn't be too much of a problem for him. A nice side benefit of those omnis is the ability to ride in with those BattleArmor squads mounted on the sides. Boy will that be a surprise for the base defenders. By now, two squads of the 66th should already be on the ground gathering intel. Hope they're in position when we get there, cause even if all goes well, we're going to have to leave in a hurry. Can't wait to see Blix's men in action. Wonder if they're as good as he makes them out to be? Better be, or this mission is going to be over REAL fast.

Hrm. Jump signature detected. Tyler is ahead of schedule. Good. That's like him. Better get down to the Leopard so we can get his 'Mechs transferred over. Space-borne transfers. Man I hate pulling risky stuff like this. Pinpoint maneuvers. Docking bays. Spacesuits. Possibility for explosive decompression. So little margin for error. But we can't go waltzing in with two fully-loaded combat dropships, and the payoff if we succeed...no, WHEN we succeed. Ah, I'd better go grab Kaitlyn from the simulator. Been a while since she's piloted a dropship. Hope it's like 'riding a bike' for her!

Aftermath:
Personal Log: Maj. D. Keith

Date: 3067-10-20
Yesterday was one of those days where the weight of the whole world rested squarely on my shoulders. Death is common when you're a mercenary. You expect that men and women who follow you into war are going to be crippled or die based upon your orders. Here's the difference though: when you're working for someone else, you still have someone to take the blame--even if it's just in principle. Tonight was a punitive raid that Tyler, Blix and I came up with. We weren't hired for this. We needed transport, and we took it from the Word of Blake. No one expected it to be easy, but by the same token, we didn't expect the Blakists to be so tenacious either. They made us pay for each kilometer of ground we took. And when it looked like all was lost, we broke their backs and they ran. Now all three of our units have transport, are financially solvent, and netted a fair amount of salvage and supplies to boot. But all that success can't hide the fact that I screwed up, and it almost cost us everything. Rachelle says I'm tenacious to a fault. Kaitlyn says I'm a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. Kym says that I get too emotional and need to practice a professional detachment in my work.

Ferris almost died tonight. And it was my responsibility. We were trying to pull the Blakists off of Tyler's force. I ordered Wycoffe to charge that Bombardier with me. And his Templar took two shots into the head. My heart died right then and there. Another one of the old Steel Crowes gone. I lost control. First I yelled at Tyler, and it had to be over an open comm channel because Rachelle heard me. I told Tyler that I'm staying to fight this out, even if it kills me, I wouldn't retreat. Then I charged the Scorpion and the Bombardier. Rachelle, God bless her, jumped that Spector right beside me and covered me from that hail of NARC missiles and beacons. Blix told me that the Blakists were using some sort of "C3i" computer network that Rachelle's ECM was blocking, making it harder for them to do me like they were doing Tyler's men. Then I headcapped the Scorpion. Payback's a bitch! Another salvo or two later, the Bombardier's ammo bay went critical and it tore itself apart. The Blakists ran.

Blix's BattleArmor squads secured the dropships and ran off the WarWorks security teams. And Wycoffe's Templar was still there, lying on it's back, jagged ferroglass where the cockpit was. I didn't want to look, but knew I had to. I owed the man that much. I hoped that no one saw me crying when I looked into the cockpit. There was so much blood from the cuts on his arms and legs, then Ferris looked up at me, gave me a weak 'thumbs up' and passed out. How he survived, I'll never know. But there he was ten minutes later, being strapped to a gurney and loaded into Kym's MASH unit along with some of Tyler's men. Kym says that he'll have some nasty scars, but he'll be back to normal with a couple of months bed rest.

Rachelle chewed me out something fierce once we were on our way back to the Jumpships. For once, I couldn't argue with her. I screwed up, and it almost cost a comrade--two if Rachelle had been killed trying to keep me alive. The Templar I can handle losing, but a pilot, a human being, dying because of me... I don't know if I'm cut out for this job. It was so much easier when I was a Lance Commander with the Crowes. Just follow orders. Point and shoot. Make sure that everyone has supplies for the mission and the ammo bays are loaded. When I didn't fight back, I think that Rachelle knew that I understood what I had done wrong. She dismissed herself and went down to the repair bays to assess her Spector. Ferris is on Tyler's dropship along with Kym & her medical team. Tyler's men need her right now much more than I do. Gracious as always, Tyler detailed some of his techs to repair the Templar's cockpit. FedSuns design, FedSuns-trained Techs. With all the supplies we took from the Wobbies, it should be fixed before we jump out system.

I'm up a company of 'Mechs now--once I get heads for those two Crusaders. And a Fortress-class dropship. I need technicians, an expert artillery squad, and a full-time dropship crew--will have to liquidate some of the supplies at our next couple of jumps, but paying for them (and the dropship's support) shouldn't be a problem. Wish I could buy some patience and some emotional control. Hrm. Blix is at the door. Kaitlyn will be behind him shortly I'll wager. Still have two more pipers to pay for my mistakes. Wonder who will be worse: the Major or Kaitlyn?

[[[END OF FILE]]]

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