(D9-LM-Near the Gate) Damage Control

[Tanaki]

Tanaki is out for a morning walk, cooling down after his workout. He seems to be in a rather good mood whistling to himself and waving at those he passes. His eyes follow the various mechs being loaded to the Leopard for deployment and he says a little prayer to himself to those going into battle.

[Richard Winter]

Tanaki would sooner or later encounter Richard, who was leaning against a post, smoking.

[GM Yuusha]

A hefty looking 4x4 is waved through the front gates by security. It slowly drives toward the mobile HQ where it parks a few metres from the entrance. An armoured man steps out along with two deputies. The trio were looking around in stunned silence. They were, after all, surrounded by giant dropships and mechs.



Judging from his appearance, the man in the eye catching uniform was a sheriff.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki steps toward the local, smiling and waving "Good morning officer, is everything ok?"

[GM Yuusha]

"Yeah, morning. Not sure about the good. A sheriff doesn't just show up at your door, well, your dropsite, if everything's okay. You in charge around here? I got in touch with someone over the radio. They said to come in person to talk about an incident in town... in Pryvidok." He pulls out a small notepad from a pocket, checking it over. "You're the, uh, Obsidian Angels mercenary group, ain't ya? Nice logo you got."

[Tanaki]

Tanaki switches to swedish "Thank you, we are rather attached to it," He offers a hand "Administrator Hoshito Tanaki, welcome to camp. I've visited your hamlet a few times, found it rather pleasant""

[Richard Winter]

Richard kept on observing Tanaki and the Sheriff. His cigarette lit up from time to time.

[GM Yuusha]

The sheriff listens carefully and he shakes Tanaki's hand. "Thank you." (Swedish)

He glanced at Richard.

"I prefer English mind. Sheriff Oakley. Nice you like our little haven. Now, can we step inside Administrator?" The sheriff reached for a pen so he could jot Tanaki's name down.

[Tanaki]

Switching back to English Tanaki nods, "Of course, we should have one of the conference rooms available for the discussion, would you like some refreshments sheriff?"

[GM Yuusha]

The deputies are waved back to the car. Hopefully it had a heater.

"If you've got them and you don't mind then yes please, mighty kind."

He takes a seat and looks around.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki makes the Sherriff comfortable then steps out of the room to collect some coffee and some cheese and crackers. As he does he sends someone out to deliver the same to the deputies, and he attempts to contact Tessa, or anyone that knows what is going on.

[Richard Winter]

Richard would approach Tanaki and the sheriff before they would go inside the dropship.
He would introduce himself as a Mechwarrior and Lieutenant of the Obsidian Angels and offer to tag along with Tanaki.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki would have left the Lieutenant to watch over the guest while he was arranging things...

[GM Yuusha]

After a lot of back and forth and pleasantries, with Tessa and then Monique turning up, the sheriff flips open his notepad and gets to the meat of the matter.



"Yesterday afternoon a 'black mech' was sighted at the rear of a guest house on the East of town. Some inquiries quickly suggested that was one from your company. We'd have preferred a heads up of course, but I understand there's a war on. Even so, trespass on a civilian's property when there's no enemy nearby - or at least none that I could find a trace of yesterday - is more than impolite. It causes trouble. However..." He licks his lips. "I'm more inclined to believe the purpose of the visit was treasure hunting rather than military action, based on what we found in that guest house's basement. Now, before I go into detail on that, I'd like to meet those on board. I believe a man and a woman. Can't say much about the mech they were in, but medium sorta size. The pair, mercenaries in your outfit I can only assume, injured the owner in a gun fight. I may be willing to believe there was an element of self defence, but they were, as I said, trespassing. Now, of course you don't have to say and you can probably guess I only have limited evidence and even less jurisdiction. Yet, here's the kicker - I can deny you access to my town. Furthermore, and probably more important to your type - there was indeed some treasure in that guest house. A wealth of mech bits and parts and all sorts, and some very old mech that I've been repeatedly told is rather valuable. Now, I could claim it and sell it. Seizure of suspected stolen goods and criminal activity. I'm sure you get the idea. However, I could equally be peeersuaded to hand it over if y'all are willing to be forthcoming and honest with me. Cause here I'm gonna be honest with you."

He flicked to another page in his notepad and smiled darkly. "That apparent owner may not be who she said she was. Previous owner was said to be her relative. A will was logged in our court that had her as the only living relative and beneficiary. Evidence in the basement points to that being a forgery and goes a step further. Makes it seem like she arrived on planet before his untimely death. I'm sure you can put the pieces together." The notepad is set down and he rubs his hands together. "So now I'm in a pickle. My deputies and I know about this. The staff know there's something under the mansion, but only enough to point us down there and say that's where the owner shows off her things to VIP guests. I'd like to go after those and to find out exactly what happened yesterday, but this war has made things awfully complicated. Like I said, jurisdiction's a real mess right now. So, I want you all to offer me a path forward. Something... mutually beneficial." He taps the table hard with two fingers. "And I want to know what happened. Doesn't sit right with me that it all went down without the sheriff's office being informed. I'm inclined to think y'all knew something or you wouldn't have been there. Today I'm asking nice. I'd like us to... get along. Tomorrow might not be so nice and y'all might not be so welcome. So... over to you."

Oakley makes a double handed sweeping gesture toward the group as he leans back in his chair.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki smiles and takes a seat near Tessa, he shares a look with the Seargent Major a moment before speaking.

"It being a war zone, I know we are deploying scouts throughout the area, watching for trouble, and making sure there aren't any hidden threats. If there was, as you said, a mech hanger or repair facility of some sort in the area, its possible they picked it up on there scanners while patrolling and were investigating it. I know that any assault on civilian targets is against our SOP, but if it was a hidden facility containing military assets that kind of them might make it a grey area. " He nods, "We value the support your town has provided so far, and would hate to lose access to the supplies we are purchasing from your merchants. If there was some sort of accidental criminal infringement by our troops, perhaps we could negotiate an appropriate fine, and handle any reprimands in house. " He adds, "Also I suspect we would be more then happy to clear any contraband away for proper disposal off world."

[GM Yuusha]

"Now that sounds promising. I'm mighty glad you understand these things..." He picks up the notepad and flips back to an earlier page. "Er, Administrator Tanaki, yeah? Good. It takes me a little while to learn names. Now, I did write down a few things we found that could use safe disposal. Things we couldn't maintain or are too dangerous for our needs. We only need to protect and serve our down - not fight and die for the government. So..."

Again changing pages he actually tears this one out and slides it forward between Tanaki and Tessa. There was a theme regarding the underlined words. Tessa glances at it. She makes sure Monique sees it. The Sergeant Major knew more about mechs. When Mo does a double take and looks up in disbelief it makes Tessa a bit nervous. She checks to make sure the details are correct and the sheriff confirms them.

It was still hard to believe.

Exterminator heavy mech. Model EXT-4Db. "Royal". SLDF mech - replica/recreation. Rare. Expensive. Lostech. Valuable.
Spare mech armour and internal components. Jump jets. "Endo-steel".
Heat sinks - single and double. Valuable.
Mech weapons. Extra 'extended range' large laser. Valuable. Medium lasers. Small lasers.
Spare extra-light fusion engine. Valuable.
Military infantry weapons and ammunition.

The other valuables Richard and Yori had found, such as the gems and silver bullion, were not mentioned. Only Richard would figure that out if he looked at the sheet of paper.

(Commerce [awareness] roll to estimate the value)

[Tanaki]

Commerce/Awareness on Royal Mech: 6d10o10k4 29

Tanaki knows enough to raise eyebrows at words like "royal", "Endo Steel", or "spare extra light engine." After a moment he does some mental math and his eyes meet Tessa's again with a slight widening as he squashes any other reaction as best he can.

"I can see how items like these could be a drain on the resources of such a small town. "

[GM Yuusha]

The sheriff makes a loud sound of agreement.

"I'm glad you understand. So, like I said, I want to find out what happened. To speak to those who were there. You'll be glad to hear the woman who was shot is expected to make a full recovery. Now, I could try her for crimes here, but she could also be turned over to you so she can be exiled off world. I don't want to clog up my jail if I can help it. Don't feel comfortable having a trial and sending her to prison when ownership of that prison is likely to change. Often inmates go walkabout around such times. As you can see-" He extends his hands. "-I've got a lot to think about. I'd like some closure on this. And just so y'all know, the Militia running with their tails between their legs has exposed the town's security issues to me. We could really use some more equipment... that we can maintain. No fancy bits."

[Tanaki]

He looks at Monique "I think we might be able to provide access to the soldiers in question, for official statements or even an interview, with their commanding officer present" He raises an eyebrow to see if she is agreeable. "As for your prisoner, I can see why you might be hesitant about local jurisdictional issues. It might help if we knew a little more about her identity." He then leans back, "I know that we have recently come into several abandoned vehicles and might even be able to find some other spare asset that might help out with the local town defense."

[Richard Winter]

Richard was silent for most of the negotiation, but as he read the memo, he knew that the sheriff in front of him had a healthy dose of selfishness. He cleared his throat once and said: "The reports suggest that one of the mercenaries involved in the incident was seriously injured, so they cannot be questioned in the short term. However, if command agrees, a interview with the other mercenary involved can be arranged in the short term."