LANCER: BATTLEGROUP - To Kill the Worthy King

[Tun Kai Poh]

Bootprints, Part 1

The long, mournful tones of the assembly call sound out through the vast hangar of the Shamokin Rising.

Hundreds of crew representatives from across the combined Union-Mirrorsmoke fleet are gathered here, standing ready, solemn. For some junior crew, this was their first service for the fallen. Before the service, there was some whispering among them, curiosity and a bit of a jittery mood. But their seniors quickly hushed them up. As for the mercenaries, who had seen their share of death, even the unruly Mirrorsmoke marines knew to keep quiet.

The assembly horn plays.

In predetermined spaces across the hangar deck, alongside the rows of standing crew, the holographic lights light up. The bootprints of hundreds of their dead, here for one last assembly. The living blink back tears, or sob loudly, as is permitted by naval tradition.

Assembly plays out in full, as it has across Union space for thousands of years. Then comes the peals of the ship's bell.

CSO Gbeho reads the roll of the fallen: Union and Mirrorsmoke alike, not separated, but instead algorithmically mixed together in death. His deep voice echoes across the decks of every ship in the fleet, from the mighty Bukharin to the tiny Undine. Crew on watch, crew at rest: They all stop what they're doing and bear witness to the lives of those who have been lost.

Each battlegroup commander now will speak in honour of the fallen. First Captain Caspian Var, then Major Mahayhay on behalf of the Mirrorsmokes, then Line Commander Saint-Germaine.

Caspian stands solemnly in full dress as he addresses the assembly, "We are gathered here today to remember the fallen who gave their lives in the line of duty. Fortune takes whom she pleases without care or reason, but that is what we do. Ours is the lot of placing ourselves at her mercy and though we may nudge the dice, she has the final say.

"But pride and honor kindle what fickle fortune would put out. We are gathered here not just to remember the fallen but to receive the mantle of their noble sacrifice, of their determination in the face of the Titania and their triumph on board the Hannibal.

"Though they have fallen, their memory - their legacy - lives on with those of us who stand here. Their comrades in arms and especially those who proudly bear the names of their units. Mirrorsmokes, Fool's Gold, heirs to a legacy of victory against the odds and never backing down from a fight.

"So remember, and bear that legacy with honor and pride."

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Bootprints, Part 2

Major Lani Mahayhay steps up to the podium, clad in the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company's full dress greens. It's the only time any of the Union spacers have ever seen her dressed this formally, and while she wears it with just a little discomfort, she keeps her chin up.

"When our carrier shipped out from Lighthouse Station, we were two thousand, three hundred and sixteen strong. No others I have been prouder to serve with than those two thousand, three hundred and sixteen souls. I watched them at work and at play, on the decks and on the float. I saw them off on their flights, their boarding pods. And now I bid farewell to two hundred and eighty-five heroes of our company. They died that others may live, that the dream of a better life may belong to the people of the Shore. These are their faces and voices."

A projection lights up the blank hangar wall behind her, thirty meters high. A montage taken from personal recordings of the Mirrorsmoke mercenaries. Marines, roughhousing and joking in their quarters, as playing cards float past in microgravity. Pilots in the mess, clinking mugs and trading loose salutes. Deck crew, posing for group pictures at the starboard duty hangar that took a heavy hit during the battle. Flight leaders from Guiscard and Isabeau Wings, singing poorly as they celebrate a birthday together with flaming cupcakes on a skewer. Most notably, there's a clip of Colonel Milch, rolling up his sleeves, joining in alongside a maintenance crew as they clean up a fluid spill in a crawlspace.

Milch remains in serious condition, and still hasn't regained consciousness. His inclusion in the video montage may indeed be a contingency.

As the video clips fade out, Mahayhay seems to take a few beats to find her voice again, blinking away tears.

"Today is a day for all of us, living and dead. The dead, to be set to rest. The living, to grieve and find a way, forward together. Our departed will be set in Union's roll of the fallen, remembered side-by-side with Union Navy spacers in the history of this conflict."

There is another long pause. She salutes the fallen, as do all the MSMC spacers. "That is all I have to say," she adds, softly, and steps down.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Bootprints, Part 3

Tabitha dips her head in silence as she steps up after Mahayhay.

"There isn't much I can say after the eloquence of Captain Var and Major Mahayhay. There isn't much I can say that will make any of this any easier. We have all lost friends and comrades and that only the varying passage of time will heal many of the wounds we have taken.

"I wish I could say that I remember each man and woman who is no longer with us and that I could remember every voice that is now stilled and every light that has been dimmed. But that is beyond me and it is beyond any one of us. We can only do our part, hold on to the memories that we share and together keep that echo alive of those friends whose names now sit silently on the rolls of the fallen.

"And all I can do is promise to do my best to ensure that their sacrifice would not be in vain, that the great cause of humanity that they strove for shall come through the gathering storm stronger than before, so that even as we grieve and remember, we can look to the stars and remember each light - brief, yet eternal - lit the way for something better for others."

Tabitha bows her head for a moment, "It has been an honor to have fought by your side and I give my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you - the living and the dead - for all that you have done and all that you have given to bring peace and justice to the people of the Dawnline Shore."

She again bows her head in silent respect for a moment before quietly leaving the podium.

Next: Dented drifter

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Drifting, Part 1

The ceremony aboard the Shamokin Rising comes to a solemn end. Dismissed, the attending crew drift away, in ones, twos or more, to drink away their grief on their own time. Shifts change, sleep cycles go by.

A full day passes, and the lights come on aboard the James I. Strike Captain Bannon has taken over command of the dreadnought, and there are no signs of whatever disturbances raged across its decks a day ago.

And a day later, aboard the Purview fleet, another ceremony is held. The Armory losses were far greater, almost disproportionately so, mostly due to the bloody-handed work of Battlegroup Splinter. And everyone knows it.

It is during this time, when the Armory crews are preoccupied with their own funeral services, that Lieutenant Vau's patrol comes across a drifting cargo module within the debris field. Dented, marked with Purview symbols and purple lines.

There are no heat sources aboard, although a bit of pressure within suggests some faint traces of atmosphere. Vau chooses discretion, calling in a Union S&R boat but leaving the Armory fleet out of it...

The situation pulls Tabitha and her officers away from their routine duties, and they assemble quickly at the ventral access hangar, where Gbeho and his team are going over the remains found in the cargo module.

"Line Commander," says Gbeho, "we've brought in a stray cargo box from the James I...there are three bodies inside. It looks like they suffocated. They had virtually no provisions, no electronics except for a civilian emergency beacon...which was broken."

Captain Tiburce Rodin has inserted himself into every opportunity to analyse the situation on the Armory fleet, and this is no exception. The tall dark man bends down to take a look at the device. "The beacon may have been damaged in a struggle of some sort. They have torn uniforms, defensive scratches and cuts. And if I were to guess...if they were in a mutiny, they'd have to get rid of any Colonial Legionate devices that could be used to track them. They may have been hoping to drift clear and signal our patrols to pick them up...but their beacon failed and they couldn't survive long after that."

The dead crew are all quite young. Junior engineering personnel. Tabitha remembers that during debriefing, Lowell mentioned that his chief engineer, Lieutenant Conroy, was one of his main allies in the effort to delay the James I's arrival. Many of the engineering crew were quite loyal to Conroy.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Drifting, Part 2

"Noted, Captain," Tabitha says quietly. "Do we have any options in dealing with this matter? I had hoped that Bannon would have been able to sort things out without further bloodshed but she was not agreeable to allow her rebellious crews the opportunity to seek asylum and I don't see any good way to deal with this."

She thinks for a moment, "I'll have Meade tighten the patrols around the Armory fleet - closer sweeps through the debris field especially along trajectories that may indicate an ejection from the James I. Its unlikely we'll find anyone alive now but there's always a chance."

"Meanwhile, have the service crews prep a burial service for these poor souls. See if we can ID them. If not, I'll send a note to Bannon requesting identification. I'd rather not involve Lowell in this at this point."

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Drifting, Part 3

"That seems like the best move," says Vera to Tabitha. "Although we should do a thorough investigation to see if we can extract any intel from this scene."

Gbeho gingerly fishes out a small personal data recorder from the pocket of a young deck officer. Her face is ashen and cold. Her glassy eyes are frozen open, staring at the ceiling. Gbeho clicks a control, and an audio recording plays.

"My name is Camelia Stanton of the PCV-DN James I. If you get this, and you're a friend, please, please let my family know what happened here... The Lord Director's war strategy is a waste of blood and treasure, when the Armory has economic and diplomatic tools that it can apply to reach our goals for the Dawnline Shore. Our captain and chief engineer believed in a better way, and in keeping with the Direct Debate Manifesto of the NNDS, we took action to keep the ship from entering the fight against Union."

Vera displays an intel summary for all officers present: The New Nanyang Debate Society was a highly successful student organization known for fierce intellectual discourse and promotion of free thought across various Purview educational institutions, including Purview Interstellar College. Many young naval, legal and diplomatic personnel have had at least some experience with NNDS, and many splinter debate groups have sprung up following its recent forced dissolution by academic authorities. The UIB classifies it as a major source of dissident thought within the Purview.

Stanton's voice grows faint, as oxygen gets thinner.

"We helped to avert... a bigger and bloodier defeat for the fleet. And for that we are being rounded up, arrested... we refused to go quietly. Our escape module was undetected, but our beacon malfunctioned. We...we regret nothing. To all the other alumni of the NNDS, stay strong, and stand for your ideals. We can make...a difference..."

The rest of the recording is silence.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Drifting, Part 4

Tabitha sighs, "Very well then. Arrange for a full investigation and report. Then prepare an appropriate burial service for them as appropriate for their origins. Full honors and record the ceremony to be distributed to kin and colleagues as per their last wishes. I have three more letters to write." She turns and walks heavily out of the hangar.

It is only a few days later that Vera finds her alone looking morosely out the observation gallery. "I find myself going over the incidents with the James I over and over," she mutters gloomily to her NHP second. "This isn't something I trained for and I keep wondering if I could have handled it better. If there had been some way to help those on board that ship. If I had ordered closer inspections earlier."

"I wonder a lot if Caspian could do a better job of this - if perhaps I had pushed Bannon harder..." She puts her hands in her pockets and kicks idly at the steel floor, "I guess the best I can do is try to honor their sacrifice by trying to avert a war but that won't stop the killing. Not for a while."

A moment of silence, "Sorry to load this on you but I had to get it off my chest rather than try to drown out the anxiety with paperwork."

"Tabitha, there is no point in second-guessing. The situation is far too complex even for the most advanced minds to calculate the risks of further intervention. The Purview fleet still outnumber us and there are many angry crews over there who would see us dead. I value your compassion and care for those people not under your command, but I think you did your best considering the circumstances."

Vera audibly sighs, and then adds: "And put all thought of Caspian handling such negotiations out of your head. He's a killer, and taking life is what he's truly good at."

Next: What the killer was doing

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Rebuild, Part 1

"I suppose you're right," Tabitha says, straightening herself up, "There's nothing I can do to change the past. Only the future," She adjusts her cap, "Thanks for listening and for your candid words, Vera. I really appreciate all you do for us."

"I should get back to work now. Hopefully Caspian can get his ship back as well before he and Ki rub each other raw."

Bernd chimes a pre-meeting reminder for Caspian in his quarters, although it's hardly necessary. How could he possibly miss this?

The holographic display comes on, and a blinking icon indicates a live Omninet connection to the inbound Union Navy Auxiliary battlegroup.

Chief Kharchana Avksentieva appears before Caspian, a sturdy pillar of a veteran engineer with lines on her rugged face. "Captain Var. Thank you for taking this meeting. I know we're still a few days away, but I've received the full damage assessment of the Richard Wagner from your NHP and I'd like to go over the salvage and repair plan with you.

She sips from a mug of dark coffee and smirks. "It will be a bit of a tricky job to rig her for nearlight flight. You certainly put her through her paces."

"That we did," Caspian cannot resist a smug smile, remembering the carnage wrought on the Purview fleet, "And she will be put through many more paces if things keep going as they are," He leans in "So. What is the plan?"

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Rebuild, Part 2

Avksentieva raises her eyebrows. "The Vice-Admiral gave me two jobs. First, we're going to get her driveworthy. The Chinua Achebe has the biggest mobile dock of any Navy Auxiliary ship, so we're well-prepared to do the repairs. Then, we'll be in stasis for a few months on the long ride back to Beachhead Station. That's where we'll rebuild her bow and re-arm her with some new spinal guns that haven't been overclocked to Hell and back. I and my team will be transferring off the Chinua Achebe on special assignment for the duration of the rebuild."

She sends Caspian a comprehensive list of stores and parts made available for the Wagner's rebuild at Beachhead. "The Vice-Admiral is sparing no expense. Whatever systems and components you need. And your officers will have their pick of newly-arrived replacements to fill out the crew. So, do you want to weaponize some more asteroids or did you have something else in mind?"

Caspian shakes his head, "Not asteroids. Not anymore - spectacular in their results but questionable in their utility," he starts working his datapad. "My officers and I have run some numbers and I believe that the rebuild will give us the opportunity to outfit the Wagner with the new Aurora stealth shrouding in place of the Sandstorm. We might even be able to squeeze a little more power from the reactors to allow us to strip out the old Razorbacks and replace them with the necessary narrowband omnitransmitter arrays and legionspace nodes to provide us with a little more direct fleet support,"

He runs through the list of equipment parts checking off the extensive list of replacements needed.

Caspian's flagship, the Richard Wagner, is being salvaged and will earn the Phoenix Legacy.

Richard Wagner: - Legacy: Phoenix
This ship gains 2 points that can be only spent on weapons or upgrades. When destroyed, this ship is always salvageable regardless of how much damage it took, though the crew may not fare as well.

Caspian's player: "Removing the Sandstorm from the Wagner and replacing it with a Aurora Stealth Shroud. A little better for keeping her alive instead of the kind of death ride of the battlecruisers that Sandstorm is. With the +2 points from the Phoenix legacy, replace the useless Razorbacks with a Legionspace Schism to provide long-range ECM support for Battlegroup Eland."

Meanwhile, Tabitha is awarded the Gallantry Cross, a medal given for "honorable conduct befitting the finest traditions of naval service."

Tabitha Saint-Germaine: - Gallantry Cross
When a player with this commendation rolls 9 or less when performing an uptime action (excluding PLOT A COURSE), they may perform a second, different uptime action. They must still accept the consequences of the first roll.

Next: Changing of stations

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

2nd Crisis Response Group, Updated

Battlegroup Splinter (22 points)

Flagship: UNS-BB Richard Wagner (16)
26 HP, 13 Defense, 1d6+2 Interdiction
Phoenix, Meritorious Service Bar

Hull - FKS Calendula Class Battlecruiser (7)
Superheavy Weapon - Spinal Petajoule Kinetic (2)
Superheavy Weapon - Spinal Petajoule Kinetic (2)
Primary Weapon - Legionspace Schism (2)
System - Aurora Stealth Shrouding (3)
System - Veteran Crews (0)

UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (6)
14 HP, 12 Defense

Hull - HA Turenne Class Frigate (4)
Auxiliary Weapon - Harbinger Confidence Lasers (1)
Auxiliary Weapon - Harbinger Confidence Lasers (1)
System - Predict/Overlay Shield Projector (0)

Battlegroup Eland (20 points)

Flagship: UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (11)
31 HP, 5 Overshield, 12 Defense, 1d6+2 Interdiction
Gallantry Cross, Indomitable

Hull - GMS Thoreau Class Battleship (7)
Superheavy Weapon - 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons (2)
Primary Weapon - Heavy Kinetic Batteries (1)
Primary Weapon - Gemini Laser Array (1)
Auxiliary Weapon - Flyswatter Missiles (0)
Auxiliary Weapon - Flyswatter Missiles (0)
System - Bulwark Redundancies (0)

UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (9)
16 HP, 12 Defense

Hull - IPS-N Masauwu Class Heavy Carrier-Frame (6) with built-in discount for Wings/Escorts (-3)
Wing - Fighter Wing (1), 5 HP
Wing - Fighter Wing (1), 5 HP
Escort - Destroyer Escort (2), 8 HP
Escort - Destroyer Escort (2), 8 HP