Iron Casket: For Want of a Lynchpin » Places

         Fintan rounded up his two field boys while the other engineers got the playground in order. A quiet hum of activity set in motion the instant the engines spooled down and the clack of restraints were free. Grunts and hups were everywhere as engineers of all descriptions piled out of landing positions toolboxes in tow. What talking among dodging feet went on was from the ones organizing the chaos making sure things got done and brought in the right order. The dance card was full but other than a few very young pups in training no toes got stepped on. By the time Fintan arrived on scene the tow is already warmed up.

There was scouting to do before sending the portable workshop anywhere. Bo, the driver was a hearty old gun with wide shoulders framed with brown wavy hair. Though the sideburns greyed a bit with his beard the tow was his baby and the seat fit just right. His amber eyes set on the console and started the engine as soon as the Fintan and his second were onboard. Nikolaos, Fintan's backup, was his second for watching scans or just plain looking for trouble. Nikolaos had a face that just wouldn't crack and they made fun of it sometimes. His gut must pudge from the damn third eye in it but he knew trouble when he saw it. They headed out behind Rook and his team the face up top on scans and Bo easing smoothly around pits and craters the landing craft flung about. The three of them needed to look for a decent forward position if later resources would get difficult. Best to start looking for salvage now. Not to mention the type of damage would tell them who won the battle and what with. How long the fight was and how much punishment things took before they went down. Badly maintained vehicles didn't last long. Fintan watched the onboard sensors twirling his mustache while the glow reflected off his goggles.

         Captain Commander Oischot listened to the various suggestions and plans from the table, her expression- and that of the Liaison for that matter- scarcely changing throughout.

"Your plans once you hit the ground are your own, largely," she eventually added to the ongoing strategic debating. "But there are two things that you need to take into consideration. Firstly, you're all going down in one dropship. The second dropship is reserved for my team, and that will be your lifeline; an emergency response if and when it is deemed necessary. It's smaller, but fast enough to bring a Lance of mechs down on any position."

She tapped the LZ and eyed each of the officers present. "The plan for our Dropship commander is to land in daylight, drop you all off, and take off again. The flare of a Dropship's landing can be seen for a considerable distance at night, but is less likely to be spotted during the day."

Then she directed the attention to the route of transit. "Whatever your teams do in relation to the comms array is fine- as long as the enemy can no longer use it for the duration of the conflict, I don't care. Your transition to the North should occur as rapidly as possible however." With that she looked pointedly at Lieutenant Briggs. "While your notions of tunnel collapse and enclosed spaces are appreciated and noted, your units will be without supply for several days while moving to the North- even longer if you have to swing around three cities over-land. Your units," and here again she looks more pointedly at Captain Rook, "Do not all have transport vehicles- this means we'll be loaning you trucks, but this also means you won't be able to traverse all terrain as easily- not to mention your... walking APCs. Even though your proposed route is more plains than woods- you're looking at a long, hard march, with possible enemy contact and potential supply shortages. Passing overland between Calixus and Wernke to our best knowledge would be quicker and, relatively, safer; Kaalikot and the TEC are fully engaged all along the Northern cities, and so your most likely encounter would be a Patrol- rather than reinforcements heading to one battlefield or other." With that, she shrugged.

"I trust your reputations speak for themselves, so I won't force you to handle things my way- just giving you some strategic food for thought." With a glance to the Liaison, met with a pleasant smile, Oischot looked down at the operation time. "I'll leave you to it. Good luck down there Commanders."

--------


There was activity everywhere in the Hangar; the massive spheroid dropship was loading the elements of all three units. The Infantry got the upper levels, while the vehicles were placed in the lower series of levels- the design of the thing would allow them all to depart easily enough when the time came, presumably. Each facing had a series of ramps for vehicles, infantry, and apparently aircraft- not that the mixed Company had any of those.

The Officers would likely be handling their own units, but passing around here and there was Liaison Alwyn Rocha; no longer in the pristine suit she wore at the meeting, but now wearing a loose flight jacket over a tight tank top and baggy cargo fatigues. She still looked shining and pleasant, simply observing the conduct of departure, but it was clear she kept in shape- and kept a sidearm on her hip as well.

The nature of the dropship meant that all three units would be occupying the same spaces... for better or worse.

-- Continued at Ammad Drop Zone --