Pick a target part 3 Discussion (D7 EE Event Headquarters and Briefing Room)

[GM Yuusha]

(Optional)

By now everyone was becoming accustomed to these meetings. With Zone One clear of Militia, it was time to consider where to attack in Zone Two. That being Central Akos. There were four new military targets. The option of attack the main civilian holding in the region, Torutovy, had been discarded: the locals were friendly according to the informant, and the Militia had vacated the town. Once more a map of the area was displayed. Basic information on each site soon followed. Attending lance leads or representatives, along with key support personnel, were encouraged to discuss the information, ask questions and make suggestions over where to strike next.



Would it be target A, B, C or D?

(This is the thread for discussion)

[Yori Hakamada]

Yori arrives and after she has settled, sticks her hand firmly in the air, looking around for the highest ranking member of the command staff to take her question.

[Richard Winter]

"We're currently between a rock and a hard place" Richard said "But I am sure that we can pull the cart out of the mud again if we work together" He looked around. "Steffen, Laakshmi and Tessa. You have decided for Ninovo. May I hear the arguments in favor of it?"

[Mei-Ling Zhou]

Mei wandered in just in time to hear Richard addressing a room full of officers. Double checking to make sure she wasn't walking into the wrong room she quietly took a seat and reviewed the information.

[Eric Voelker]

"Yes Lieutenant?" Eric asks, noticing Yori's hand in the air.

[GM Yuusha]

Much of it came down to it being the easiest nut to crack and that the Angels could use more recovery time as a lot of mechs had taken damage. Those two that had been lost could be replaced with some of the salvage, but it needed to be repaired and that also took time. It was that or actually sending the Urbanmech out into combat.

Steffen also liked it as it was the closest site, which would lend itself to being a good staging grounds. A forward base could be set up there. If the Air Base was hit, it could even be a good place to move the Dropsite.

Lakshmi's additional reason was the highway making it easy to get to from the south west by road. Once closer, the hills could be used to hide an off road approach. It would be easier to ambush patrols from the supply depot than elsewhere.

Tessa's response was simpler. Access to supplies, ammunition and likely mech parts. She suspected they would have moved anything truly valuable now, but the Militia were still unsure of the scale of the threat, so there might be some valuable pickings left.

[John Slaktare]

Butcher sits quietly and listens, not raising any concerns at the moment.

[Catherine Maia Hayes]

Sitting with her mentor Lakshmi, Catherine also voices her opinion in favour of attacking the Supply Depot.

"Let's get ourselves back up to full strength. And this seems like an easy grab. Fast travel, and our final approach would be covered by hills. Battlemechs just rule this kind of terrain, so it'll be our advantage."

[Yori Hakamada]

"Yes Lieutenant?" Eric asks, noticing Yori's hand in the air.

"Sir, I have been reading through the casualty reports. Are they fully accurate? Our losses suggest an assault on the air base or prison could have catastrophic consequences if the company does not take time to rebuild and rearm."

[Eric Voelker]

"Only if we attacked another location at the same time, like we did yesterday. Spread ourselves thin. I do think we need more time to repair, but we need to have a bigger impact. The Militia are still sending reinforcements to the mainland."

[Yori Hakamada]

"Understood."
Yori lowers her hand, pauses then raises it to signal this is a separate statement.
"I believe camp Kerkina is then an acceptable middle ground."
The hand lowers for the second time.

[Ezmeralda]

Ezmeralda was watching things from the back of the room. It was good to hear what was going to happen at these things.

[Alex Kovac]

Instead of Alex, Noah came to the meeting. As the second in command of the Penguins, he knew Alex would rather skip this and stay in the Hangars fixing mechs. Noah looked at the map and listened to the briefing.

[Charlie Schroeder]

Charlie was there, but had no strong opinions on the target.

[Klaus von Zinzer]

"Only if we attacked another location at the same time, like we did yesterday. Spread ourselves thin. I do think we need more time to repair, but we need to have a bigger impact. The Militia are still sending reinforcements to the mainland."

" I happen to agree with our commander here." It was a slight surprise, as Klaus often found himself in lockstep with Irina and Tessa.

"Please don't mistake me: Ninovo would accomplish much for us. It appears to be a low risk site that would serve nicely as a forward operating base and likely has the supplies we desperately need. I don't think that targeting it would be a mistake. It makes great tactical sense However, it benefits are short term and does very little to advance our strategic goal of diverting troops from reinforcing the mainland."

"In contrast, Camp Kerkina holds warehouses of its own and is the largest ground force Garrison in the region. Knocking it out continues our strategy of defeat in detail. From our forecast, we should return to adaquate strength levels by the time of the next assault. I believe it to be the best option currently available."

"Please alert me if you have any other concerns or questions"

[Richard Winter]

...

I agree with Klaus for the most part. It is the most important plant we have encountered on the continent so far. But it is also a big risk, which is why I understand the argumentation of the Nivido supporters," he said calmly. "There is one thing that puzzles me, though." He looked first at Kurt, then at Kenna "I understand that Lord Guttenberg votes for the prison, but you Kenna? Why?"

[John Slaktare]

John just listens to the points being made without speaking up. It was enough for him to hear other people's reasoning.

[GM Yuusha]

"Dakota Mikami. The Chief Warden there. He's an ass. We were going to purchase an Archer ARC-4M from the Free Worlds last year along with the CO's new Battlemaster and that fancy Blackjack. The paperwork was done and everything was set. We were ready for payment and then boom! Damn factory got a better offer. They're only allowed to sell a few to mercenaries each year. More than ninety percent go to House units."

Kenna huffs angrily.

"You can bet your ass I looked into who sniped us. Yep, you guessed it. The damn warden. I hear he parades around the prison in it at least once a week. Has the prisoners clean it after." He rolls his eyes and groans. "By hand. By fucking hand. What a prick. He's not even using the bloody thing. Just showing off and showing off to a bunch of people who don't even deserve to be in there. You know most of the prisoners die, don't you? A good number are Lyran sympathisers."

The Chief Mechtech adjusts his glasses, calming down. "Anyway, we could get our hands on that Archer. It has CASE. Shoot it all you like. If the ammo goes then we can still salvage it." Now he smiles. "In fact, I hope it blows up with him in it."

[Richard Winter]

"I understand"

Richard thought. Ninovo would be the best address to replenish the depleted resources of the Obsidian Angels, Camp Kerinka would be even better, but also has a larger resistance. Freeing the prison would be good for the AFFC and for the political prisoners being held there, plus there could be a potential heavy mech for the OA there.

"What would be the consequences of not attacking Arnad Air Base, First Lt. Nopera?"

...

"How likely do you think it is that we can take Camp Kerinka and then Jericho Prison Klaus?"

[Klaus von Zinzer]

"I understand"

Richard thought. Ninovo would be the best address to replenish the depleted resources of the Obsidian Angels, Camp Kerinka would be even better, but also has a larger resistance. Freeing the prison would be good for the AFFC and for the political prisoners being held there, plus there could be a potential heavy mech for the OA there.

"What would be the consequences of not attacking Arnad Air Base, First Lt. Nopera?"


"How likely do you think it is that we can take Camp Kerinka and then Jericho Prison Klaus?"

"Honestly?" Klaus seems to think on it. "The single biggest source of our losses was because we divided our forces for the dual location strikes."

"I'll know more once we do reconnaissance of these about expected losses. But right now from my initial estimate... "

He trails off. " If forecasts are as expected, I believe that we can actually grow our strength from the Camp Kerkina strike. Attacking the prison afterwards...I would estimate our strength levels to be right back where we started. In fact, the situation could be more bleak, as I do not know when we would have another chance to resupply."

Klaus looks over at Kurt. "Hauptmann Guttenburg, how vital is it that the assets at the prison be freed? And do you have any intelligence assets that could facilitate their rescue? "