MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries/Dr. Strangelove

NEWSFEED

In other news, tension continues on the Federated Commonwealth planet of Kelenfold, where a terrorist attempt to kidnap Oscar Vaars, Kelenfold's FC planetary representative, was foiled today by Vaars' personal guards. The "Brothers of the Night," as the terrorists call group calls itself (sic), have been waging a guerilla war against the FC planetary government for the past four months. Apparently completely without popular backing, the Brothers of the Night continue their campaign, trying to oust the FC government and replace it with their own, which believes in rule by, as they told CNS reporters, "the iron fist of pure might."

Note: This is a continuation of the "Space Cube" article that appeared before the first mission of the Liezen campaign, and therefore would have appeared before March 1, 3047.

Contract

The Commonwealth needs a small mercenary unit to defend civilians against terrorist attacks by political extremists. Enemy resistance is expected to be light. Contract pays 500,000 C-Bills, already on deposit with Comstar. The Commonwealth will pay for all reasonable ammunition expenses.

COMSTAR CONTRACT EVALUATION

• World: Coventry
• Duty: Garrison
• Begin Date: August 1, 3047
• End Date: September 1, 3047
• Maximum Pay: 500,000 C-Bills plus bounty and bonus.
• Minimum Pay: 100,000 plus bounty.

Prelude

Briefing

Tamara Dougherty, FC Dept. of Mercenary Relations: Federal Commonwealth authorities on Kelenfold have recently received a series of messages threatening to bomb the Ellen Township Medical Center if certain terrorists are not released from the Ellen Township jail. Intelligence suggests that the terrorists will hide explosives in a supply convoy. The Med Center is in dire need of those supplies, so you must not destroy any vehicle besides the one containing the explosives. The terrorists may also send 'Mechs once they realize that their plan has been discovered.

• Codename: Dr. Strangelove
• Planet: Kelenfold
• Terrain: Desert
• Time: Morning
• Expected Resistance: Terrorists
• Your Call-Sign: Dark Knight
• GOTO NAV ALPHA and DEFEND the MEDICAL FACILITY. IDENTIFY and DESTROY the TERRORIST VEHICLE.

Objectives

• Target: IDENTIFY AND DESTROY TERRORIST VEHICLE
• Target: DEFEND SUPPLY VEHICLES
• Bounty: DESTROY TERRORIST 'MECHS

MechWarrior's Campaign Journal

September 9, 3047

Just signed up with the Fed. Comm. to search out terrorist explosives hidden in with medical supplies. These "Brothers of the Night" have sunk pretty low. At least I haven't done anything quite that bad. But would I say no if the price was right? Sometimes it gets hard to tell.

Still, I'm going to enjoy killing these guys. They've earned it.

September 12, 3047

Just eased into orbit around Kelenfold and I'm waiting for the DropShip to set down. This calm, right before we land on whatever godforsaken, war-torn rock we've signed up for, always drives me crazy. Once I'm in combat my reflexes take over, and it's over by the time I realize what's happening. But now, just waiting, I have to think about it. What if some rookie gets off a lucky shot and blows my cockpit? What if my weapons go down and leave me sitting there in a huge metal coffin? Too late to worry now. We just touched down.

Aftermath

Dougherty: Well done, mercenaries. You took out the terrorist explosives but managed to save the medical supplies. The Meiji Valley just south of Ellen Township has been experiencing an epidemic so severe that hundreds have already fallen prey to it, and those supplies were the only cure in this system.

ComStar News Service - September 12, 3047

Good news today from Kelenfold, where a mercenary unit spotted a vehicle packed with terrorist explosives hidden in a medical supply convoy. The supplies were bound for the Ellen Township Medical Center, where hundreds of victims of a mysterious virus were waiting. The terrorist group "Brothers of the Night," best known for their failed attempt to kidnap Oscar Vaars, Kelenfold's FC planetary representative, had threatened to bomb the Med Center if several of their members were not released from prison.

The mercenary unit's brave and selfless actions today raised a new issue of the ongoing debate on the subject of the numerous mercenaries at work in the Inner Sphere. "We're not good or evil," said [Player Name] today from the unit's base on Outreach. "We just do our job and take home our paycheck. This time we just happened to help some people out."

Aftermath (Failure)

Dougherty: Because of your absolute failure to obey orders, the supplies have been destroyed and hundreds of victims waiting in the Med Center will die. My superior at Federated Commonwealth High Command has called for an investigation into your conduct and our entire mercenary policy. You're not only responsible for hundreds of deaths, you also might cost yourselves any further employment by our government. And I have a feeling I know which you regret.

ComStar News Service - September 12, 3047

Sad news today from Kelenfold, where a mercenary unit was unable to guard a medical supply convoy bound for the Ellen Township Medical Center, where hundreds of victims of a mysterious virus were waiting. The terrorist group "Brothers of the Night," best known for their failed attempt to kidnap Oscar Vaars, Kelenfold's FC planetary representative, threatened to bomb the Med Center if several of their members were not released from prison, and hid explosives within the convoy. Although the mercenaries were aware that there were explosives in the convoy, they could not or did not act to save the supplies.

The mercenary unit's actions today fueled the ongoing debate on the subject of the numerous mercenaries at work in the Inner Sphere. "How can we trust people who care only about lining their pockets with something as precious as human life?" asked Tamara Dougherty, an officer of the Federated Commonwealth's Dept. of Mercenary Relations. "We are currently investigating today's events, and the Commonwealth will be reevaluating its position towards employing mercenaries."