Rohan_Pony
2016-04-16, 12:52 PM
It is the year 0245 of the Solar Calendar. One and a half centuries have passed since the Sol System began a period of rapid expansion through transit gates to planets across the galaxy.
New homes for mankind, where people are born and raised.
And die.
Thirty-three years ago, rebellious colonists joined with tribes of alien Ijad parasites to resist the rule of the Solar Union. Eventually, other humans proclaimed themselves the Free Colonies and launched their own war of independence against the Solar Union.
In the farmlands of Ashlan on the planet Leander, the fighting between the United Mars Foreign Legion and Ijad forces reached a stalemate. An uncertain armistice was formed between the local colonial government and the Ijad Gantish tribes. That peace has now lasted nine months. But Free Colony cells continue to launch guerrilla attacks, and the Gantish continue to bide their time, building their strength...
A fresh company of UMFL mobile frames has just been deployed into the border region between SU-controlled Ashlan territory and Gantish land. Young recruits who come from all over Leander: Icy Polestar, cosmopolitan Besshan, sand-swept Itclan, and the struggling hamlets of Ashlan itself.
The untested new pilots are about to walk into a bloodbath.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4ABy6-MoB1uQldJAQe9R4gvxtMwZg-cvosiLi6RbC_qNQvNxpy_doIS2i7hD2b6NvBnw4pOK-eaR_0MES5nXkgx6VXFPWvigT5yTVzhSOFeKfx34MnisOQ1giGj u5Q7X1EdrcCJfBlR_Gg0cHI0zjbcBPu9mFXOKugg9meIT8NCdI Z3nbJqu3DaPFYWw0CPDRzfW0GFmiNiuNdAMThSyywNmTkDLjpk 1CWq60FFgBTilgPoAGdsYF-N07o1nzc6TVLaT1QZad8enmOz9NnpNJoBTXOeU3nRcVGxWp6ib RCjVHBym0gBufm0VZOGtUtOay1zFs1e2cQ7FWqGRXjLp1rTTBh c-U5TGWE5S-7ZHRLfC1pR_HVD8xR4vEH8s0nUwFcLxQ5DWOqPgbeYC1osI1Eg arghXD5Ri2woyEsfsku2wsUpLE3BZ3w4xxzJ9hFrGCzCRSsCjw OjgjDq0G1CbOhQZUI24m8Qunyydvv1n30kFlljo_FaZGfsoSP1 RPW-49g-649IhCpz0qr0nu2LI9l15LVmbbzng4oPgfjYrZ8D-gPl9JR9gEPk3LxawXJIdiqmH=w736-h525-no
Background: Gantish Marches Uprising, Leander
The sudden spread of Ijad influence among the farmers and miners of the Gantish Marches shook the entire planet from its peaceful torpor and dragged it into the cluster of interconnected conflicts that had been raging through out the colony worlds. But although the initial battles were sharp and fierce, the casualties only numbered in the hundreds, and the Ijad-indoctrinated forces at least showed some restraint when moving through populated areas. The strain of the low-level warfare grew with the sudden planet-wide declaration of Leander's Free Colony uprising. A long pent-up independence movement, now flying the flag of the Free Colonies, struck to take advantage of the Ashlan Troubles. Insurgent zealots, young and old, armed for battle in far-flung workshops and townships, bolting make-shift cannons, rockets and laser cutters onto labor frames by night. They struck at Terran Transit Authority facilities first, then at police stations and Legion barracks.
Anxious to stave off a difficult two-front war, the newly-appointed Governor Michael Wu sent a diplomatic and scientific survey team under flag of truce to meet with the Gantish leaders. Wu took personal responsibility for brokering a peace deal, as the Ijad Rule of One would not have allowed any dealings with higher-level Solar Union leadership. While the fighting with the Ijad was stopped - for the time being - the underlying legal, economic and religious issues behind the Ijad uprising remained unaddressed and left to fester.
Meanwhile, the human farmers of the Marches and their Ijad allies resumed some limited trade with their colonist neighbors. Feeble attempts were made by both sides to foster cultural understanding, so as to put spies and informants into place. A cold war began in the vast, open farmlands between SU loyalists and Ijad followers. The Ijad were allowed to keep their frames "for industrial purposes," but their swords were not turned to plowshares, merely sheathed for the moment.
As for Wu, he tried to keep his job by turning his attention to the Free Colony cells. A series of decisive police actions and raids cut off many rebel units from their support networks. Civil society activists complained about the extension of martial law, ruthless suppression of protests, and the creation of internment areas to isolate the rebel communities, but Wu's tactics seemed to be working. Far above him, back in Nanking's halls of power, Wu's masters were already planning his removal. He would survive through just one more year in office before being replaced. The appeasement of the Ijad would not last.
With three months left in Wu's term, the Wind Farm incident broke everything open once more.
http://www.nrel.gov/about/assets/images/[email protected]
The wind howls coldly over the Gantish Marches. The foothills of the Umber Mountains are a prime location for Ashlan's newest wind farms. They would not have been built if not for Governor Wu's peacemaking efforts. But everyone knows the wind farms would be an easy target if anyone wanted to spark a fresh conflict.
Captain Gul's Company 08, made up of a half-dozen Legionnaires fresh out of Fort Paris training camp, rolls out now to the border area. An Osprey and six Chubs carrying standard soldier loadouts, serving as escorts for a science team. Dr Lang and her team are here to follow up on some odd heat readings picked up by satellite.
Satellite view (https://flic.kr/p/GkmnwP)
Gul opens the cockpit hatch of his Osprey to feel the wind on his grizzled face and survey the land around him. His patrol deploys ahead of and behind the truck carrying the scientists. Not too close, not too far apart. By the book. Apart from the towering wind turbines and some low scrub, there's nothing in line of sight that could conceal enemy frames or other vehicles. A couple of klicks behind them, a few field technicians are doing routine maintenance on turbines. A klick and a half to his south, another Legion patrol is sweeping the borderlands. Company 45. He doesn't know any of them personally.
"Lang to 081, we've located the anomaly marked X on the map. It appears to be some melted metal. A lot of it. Over."
With a grunt, Gul drops back into the cockpit and adjusts his headset. "081 to Lang, hold up. Melted as in lasers, over?"
"Lang to 081, probably Ijad lasers. We'll set up here and take samples. Over."
"081 to Lang, negative. Let me send the rookies to take a look, over."
His display shows the rest of his company. He pings them on tightbeam, waves them forward with his frame's hand manipulators. Two of them lope forward with surprising speed to inspect the mass of melted metal at the edge of the wind field. While the ST-7 Chubs may look ungainly, their powerful muscle cylinders give them lifelike agility and mobility.
Tactical Map (https://flic.kr/p/Gkmm3g)
"081 to kids, sound off and tell me what you see, over."
And then he notices, just to the south, Company 45 is heading this way real fast. That's odd. And they haven't said hello yet.
Your frame numbers are 082, 083, 084, 085, 086 and 087 as shown on the Tactical Map. Sound off by your (one) name and number, and feel free to ask questions or comment on what you see. If you want to Assess the Situation, go ahead and roll for yourself. This is a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so if it feels like you should be rolling, just roll and tell us the results, and what choices you make based on the results. You can roll using any app or roller or your own 2d6 IRL, I don't care. Roll on the honor system.
OOC thread is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?485058-Mecha-World-01-All-You-Need-Is-Die-OOC&p=20672775#post20672775), for all your character playbooks and OOC chatter.
I'm going to go ahead and spoil you - if you use Assess the Situation, you may replace the word "enemy" with "Company 45" when asking your questions. Just saying.
New homes for mankind, where people are born and raised.
And die.
Thirty-three years ago, rebellious colonists joined with tribes of alien Ijad parasites to resist the rule of the Solar Union. Eventually, other humans proclaimed themselves the Free Colonies and launched their own war of independence against the Solar Union.
In the farmlands of Ashlan on the planet Leander, the fighting between the United Mars Foreign Legion and Ijad forces reached a stalemate. An uncertain armistice was formed between the local colonial government and the Ijad Gantish tribes. That peace has now lasted nine months. But Free Colony cells continue to launch guerrilla attacks, and the Gantish continue to bide their time, building their strength...
A fresh company of UMFL mobile frames has just been deployed into the border region between SU-controlled Ashlan territory and Gantish land. Young recruits who come from all over Leander: Icy Polestar, cosmopolitan Besshan, sand-swept Itclan, and the struggling hamlets of Ashlan itself.
The untested new pilots are about to walk into a bloodbath.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4ABy6-MoB1uQldJAQe9R4gvxtMwZg-cvosiLi6RbC_qNQvNxpy_doIS2i7hD2b6NvBnw4pOK-eaR_0MES5nXkgx6VXFPWvigT5yTVzhSOFeKfx34MnisOQ1giGj u5Q7X1EdrcCJfBlR_Gg0cHI0zjbcBPu9mFXOKugg9meIT8NCdI Z3nbJqu3DaPFYWw0CPDRzfW0GFmiNiuNdAMThSyywNmTkDLjpk 1CWq60FFgBTilgPoAGdsYF-N07o1nzc6TVLaT1QZad8enmOz9NnpNJoBTXOeU3nRcVGxWp6ib RCjVHBym0gBufm0VZOGtUtOay1zFs1e2cQ7FWqGRXjLp1rTTBh c-U5TGWE5S-7ZHRLfC1pR_HVD8xR4vEH8s0nUwFcLxQ5DWOqPgbeYC1osI1Eg arghXD5Ri2woyEsfsku2wsUpLE3BZ3w4xxzJ9hFrGCzCRSsCjw OjgjDq0G1CbOhQZUI24m8Qunyydvv1n30kFlljo_FaZGfsoSP1 RPW-49g-649IhCpz0qr0nu2LI9l15LVmbbzng4oPgfjYrZ8D-gPl9JR9gEPk3LxawXJIdiqmH=w736-h525-no
Background: Gantish Marches Uprising, Leander
The sudden spread of Ijad influence among the farmers and miners of the Gantish Marches shook the entire planet from its peaceful torpor and dragged it into the cluster of interconnected conflicts that had been raging through out the colony worlds. But although the initial battles were sharp and fierce, the casualties only numbered in the hundreds, and the Ijad-indoctrinated forces at least showed some restraint when moving through populated areas. The strain of the low-level warfare grew with the sudden planet-wide declaration of Leander's Free Colony uprising. A long pent-up independence movement, now flying the flag of the Free Colonies, struck to take advantage of the Ashlan Troubles. Insurgent zealots, young and old, armed for battle in far-flung workshops and townships, bolting make-shift cannons, rockets and laser cutters onto labor frames by night. They struck at Terran Transit Authority facilities first, then at police stations and Legion barracks.
Anxious to stave off a difficult two-front war, the newly-appointed Governor Michael Wu sent a diplomatic and scientific survey team under flag of truce to meet with the Gantish leaders. Wu took personal responsibility for brokering a peace deal, as the Ijad Rule of One would not have allowed any dealings with higher-level Solar Union leadership. While the fighting with the Ijad was stopped - for the time being - the underlying legal, economic and religious issues behind the Ijad uprising remained unaddressed and left to fester.
Meanwhile, the human farmers of the Marches and their Ijad allies resumed some limited trade with their colonist neighbors. Feeble attempts were made by both sides to foster cultural understanding, so as to put spies and informants into place. A cold war began in the vast, open farmlands between SU loyalists and Ijad followers. The Ijad were allowed to keep their frames "for industrial purposes," but their swords were not turned to plowshares, merely sheathed for the moment.
As for Wu, he tried to keep his job by turning his attention to the Free Colony cells. A series of decisive police actions and raids cut off many rebel units from their support networks. Civil society activists complained about the extension of martial law, ruthless suppression of protests, and the creation of internment areas to isolate the rebel communities, but Wu's tactics seemed to be working. Far above him, back in Nanking's halls of power, Wu's masters were already planning his removal. He would survive through just one more year in office before being replaced. The appeasement of the Ijad would not last.
With three months left in Wu's term, the Wind Farm incident broke everything open once more.
http://www.nrel.gov/about/assets/images/[email protected]
The wind howls coldly over the Gantish Marches. The foothills of the Umber Mountains are a prime location for Ashlan's newest wind farms. They would not have been built if not for Governor Wu's peacemaking efforts. But everyone knows the wind farms would be an easy target if anyone wanted to spark a fresh conflict.
Captain Gul's Company 08, made up of a half-dozen Legionnaires fresh out of Fort Paris training camp, rolls out now to the border area. An Osprey and six Chubs carrying standard soldier loadouts, serving as escorts for a science team. Dr Lang and her team are here to follow up on some odd heat readings picked up by satellite.
Satellite view (https://flic.kr/p/GkmnwP)
Gul opens the cockpit hatch of his Osprey to feel the wind on his grizzled face and survey the land around him. His patrol deploys ahead of and behind the truck carrying the scientists. Not too close, not too far apart. By the book. Apart from the towering wind turbines and some low scrub, there's nothing in line of sight that could conceal enemy frames or other vehicles. A couple of klicks behind them, a few field technicians are doing routine maintenance on turbines. A klick and a half to his south, another Legion patrol is sweeping the borderlands. Company 45. He doesn't know any of them personally.
"Lang to 081, we've located the anomaly marked X on the map. It appears to be some melted metal. A lot of it. Over."
With a grunt, Gul drops back into the cockpit and adjusts his headset. "081 to Lang, hold up. Melted as in lasers, over?"
"Lang to 081, probably Ijad lasers. We'll set up here and take samples. Over."
"081 to Lang, negative. Let me send the rookies to take a look, over."
His display shows the rest of his company. He pings them on tightbeam, waves them forward with his frame's hand manipulators. Two of them lope forward with surprising speed to inspect the mass of melted metal at the edge of the wind field. While the ST-7 Chubs may look ungainly, their powerful muscle cylinders give them lifelike agility and mobility.
Tactical Map (https://flic.kr/p/Gkmm3g)
"081 to kids, sound off and tell me what you see, over."
And then he notices, just to the south, Company 45 is heading this way real fast. That's odd. And they haven't said hello yet.
Your frame numbers are 082, 083, 084, 085, 086 and 087 as shown on the Tactical Map. Sound off by your (one) name and number, and feel free to ask questions or comment on what you see. If you want to Assess the Situation, go ahead and roll for yourself. This is a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so if it feels like you should be rolling, just roll and tell us the results, and what choices you make based on the results. You can roll using any app or roller or your own 2d6 IRL, I don't care. Roll on the honor system.
OOC thread is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?485058-Mecha-World-01-All-You-Need-Is-Die-OOC&p=20672775#post20672775), for all your character playbooks and OOC chatter.
I'm going to go ahead and spoil you - if you use Assess the Situation, you may replace the word "enemy" with "Company 45" when asking your questions. Just saying.