May 18th 3051: Aboard the Jumpship Columbus

Roman looked the sergeant up and down, very obviously sizing him up, though his eyes fell on those chevrons in his rank insignia. NCOs tended to be the ones that gave Roman the hardest time, but so far he thought Sgt. Stewart and he might see eye-to-eye on a few things. Plus, if he just came from the mechbay like he said, then maybe they had more in common than he thought; preferring to spend your time with your battlemech than with a 'back in my day' Captain, for one. "Morning, Sergeant," he'll say calmly, leaning back casually in his chair with his arms crossed.

Isaac will nod at Nate, and turn his attention to the Captain for an answer to his question.

The captain was somewhat noticeably disapproving of Roman's nonchalant attitude and lack of respect for the armed forces. As Roman and the others ordered coffee, introduced themselves, and sat down he watched them all very intently. No expression on his face gave away what he thought of them, he merely sat quietly and calmly with a warm but unreadable look on his face. When Sergeant Stewart finally showed Captain Bardon rose to meet his salute and return protocol. After a handshake and a warm greeting he sat back in his chair. With a gesture Bardon excused the long barista from the cafe, leaving only the himself, the Leftenant, and the mechwarriors in the room. The warmth in his face faded and he adopted a very serious look and tone as he spoke,

"Though I must say I am a little disappointed by everyone's lack of punctuality, I will let it slide today. Be grateful that I was assigned to handle your transfers, I appreciate discipline," he said as he gestured to Leslie, "but I am a reasonable and understanding man and I would much rather this be a civil get together. I would like to begin by first introducing you to your lance commander, Leftenant Black. I would expect that you will all give her the respect that her rank and service record are due. Prince Davion has requested each of you from a list of candidates to form an air lance to provide security for a civilian vessel," he gestures out the large window toward the charging jumpship in the distance. "As all of you are likely aware the invaders, these clans as they call themselves, are far superior in training and technology to our own forces. The weapons and battlemechs they have are like nothing we have seen since the golden days of the Star League. With that said the Prince believes our only hope may lie with lostech of the Star League. The Galactic Prospectors' Institute is a civilian university on New Avalon, in exchange or a new jumpship and research grants they have offered to begin an expedition to find, recover, and put into service a weapon or technology that could help us win this war. We are aware it is a long shot and we are not comfortable putting such an important task in civilian hands, but we cannot spare enough soldiers or officers for this task. You have all been selected from you branches of service for one reason or another to protect this expedition from any harm that may befall it, and perhaps more importantly to keep the civilian in line and ensure they use the resources we granted them for our end goal. Any questions so far?"

Good questions. At least that's something. Lucky the Captain is here, lest they get a proper dressing down. Leslie thought as she assessed her new lance over her coffee. Opting to keep her tongue while the Captain finished addressing their immediate concerns.

These are all good questions, I have others, but I'd like to hear these answers before piling more on him.

As the captain reprimands them, Isaac slides low in his chair enjoying his coffee. He holds Bardon no ill will, but he does not exactly care what a dressed-up officer has to say about him. "I'm sure he is used to everyone listening to him, and everything going his way. I wonder how he'd do out in a battlefield with no mech or weapons? Hoping the explosions don't hit your trench." Isaac shakes the thoughts from his mind. "I don't know this guy. Besides, I am representing the family." Half-way though the captain's explanation, he sits up straight, mimicking the stance of the more military-looking of those around him.

Isaac takes the information told to him and picks it apart in his brain. "What do they want with a guerilla fighter?" he thinks to himself. "Protecting civilians on a science treasure hunt?" He shakes his head, "That doesn't sound like me. I hope they know what they are doing sending me with them." As the others air their questions he sits and listens.

Roman remains still in his seat, arms crossed, more observing the expressions and reactions of his teammates than the Captain as he speaks. He scratches at the corner of his eye, looking more tired - or perhaps disinterested - than attentive. He does not pose any questions, nor make a comment, merely absorbing the information for now.

The captain sat patiently as the men around the table fired off questions at him. He has a subtle smile on his face that seemed to say, "That is more like it, now you are taking your job seriously." As the last of the questions came in and the group started to settle down the captain readjusted himself in his chair and looked over to Nathan. "Go get a coffee, I would rather you awake and alert than too respectful to get up and get one." The captains ability to read Nathan's subtle glance highlighted just how perceptive the man was.

"To the questions, Sergeant Stewart you will have direct authority over the ground team anytime you are in action. As expected Leftenant Black will be in command of this operation as a whole. It is a rare thing for a Leftenant to be in command of a jumpship but out of all of the candidates the Prince thought your penchant for leadership and your eye for protocol meant you were best suited for this. It is very important to remember that this is a civilian operation even if it is funded by House Steiner-Davion. That means the Institute's board of directors will be making most of the decisions, they already spent most of the funding on the initial equipment they believed are needed for the operation. From this point forward Leftenant Black will be on the board of directors, as director of security, that gives us an in. At any point if this operation gets out of hand or away from task it is the security team's job to commandeer the ship and turn this into a strictly military operation. We want to keep peace with the Institute so this should be a last resort. As to where you will be going, I cannot say, that will be one of the first decisions made by the board, from what I heard they are interested in an old world on Arcadia. Arcadia as you all know is a long dead world, but it is only a jump away. I also understand your concerns that keeping civilians safe is a difficult task, but you should not be operating near the front line and are in a civilian ship. We are not too concerned about outside forces, but are more worried about overseeing the security on the ship itself and ensuring that the institute is operating in our best interest and not using our funding for their own purposes. That said I recommend expanding the security team, we cannot spare anymore soldiers, but here is a list of mercenaries we have had successful dealings with in the past, they are all based on New Avalon and so can be aboard your ship before the jump." As he described the list he handed a noteputer, a small tablet like device, over to Leslie.

"This noteputer is your personal assistant, everything you need to command this ship is on here. Lists of mercenary groups we work with, in stock mechs, fighters, and parts available before you depart and software to order anything you may need once on your way. It also has a full crew roster, inventory, and other information you will find useful, peruse it when you have the chance. The institute considers itself a non-violent organization and they are none to happy about your presence on the ship, they probably will like mercenaries even less, but I highly advise expanding your security team, at least a squad of marines for on ship security."

Thank you, sir. Leslie replies simply as the Captain hands over the noteputer. Tapping it on, she begins to familiarize herself with the contents therein.

Hiring mercs, not my preferred method of outfitting a lance, but I agree that we'll want the extra support. If we need to commandeer the vessel, I'm going to need to have some trustworthy hands at a variety of stations on the ship. I'll need the sergeant to act as my go-between. I'll also want to confab about our staffing issues. At least with the sergeant, although engaging the other mechjocks would be good. Even the civvie knows what it takes to have a functional lance. I wonder what our operating budget is for bringing onboard extra personnel?

In addition to that Captain, because it is a critical concern, will my noteputer be given access to our operating budget or do you have that information for me to consider. I fully agree about bringing some more personnel on board, but cost is always a consideration. She says, politely.

At the mention of the Dracs, Leslie leans forward in her seat, her eyes suddenly full of cold fury. She holds her tongue, for the moment. Damned Dracs. Just like them to do something like this. If we see any, I swear to the gods that stride the cosmos, I will order then lance to burn them where they stand, protocol be damned.

Roman visibly scowls at the mention of hazmat suits, "That'd be one way to ruin a decent job." Other than the brief chiming in, he didn't say or respond to much. There wasn't much that a Private could say to really contribute a whole lot, and despite Roman's rank, he was uninterested in the logistics of it all. Give me my Riverwolf and some targets and I'll give you entertainment, he thought, But give me a noteputer, a droning Captain, and numbers to work with and I'll show you how fast I can fall asleep. The thoughts played pretty plainly across his face as he eyelids drooped a bit, threatening to close at the next mention of funds.

Isaac continues to sit up straight. He stays quiet, getting a read of each person at the table and taking in their appearance, posture, and details. The questions being asked did not concern him on their own, but he wanted to be sure to take in all the information he can.

Captain Bardon looked about the table and listened to the new litany of questions and comments. He seemed pleased by the engagement.

Looking at Leslie he said, "Your noteputer should have everything you need for this operation, even though the operating budget will mostly be handled by the board you are authorized to make any expenditures you feel necessary for the security of the expedition. Hiring and paying the mercs will be fairly inexpensive given your budget but buying additional mechs and fighters will cost a fair bit; however it never hurts to have more help in the field, or even alternative vehicles for yourselves."

"Nate, we are aware of Arcadia's past of course and recognize that this may be a dangerous place to begin our journey; however, since it has been 300 years we are hoping that the radiation levels have subsided enough for a short visit. Upon arrival in the system someone, likely you all, will have to drop ahead of the science teams to take readings, your mech's life support should keep you safe even if the radiation levels are still high. As to what other hazards you may encounter, I couldn't even speculate."

"And finally Sergeant Stewart, we are not aware of any particular people who may wish for this operation to fail; however, long journeys in tight quarters in space, combined with the stresses and dangers you may encounter have the risk of sending the undisciplined over the edge. Also while many of these men and women are educated academics they have plenty of lower class help on board as well and there is no way to accurately screen everyone. Our biggest concern is that the institute may decide to do its own thing with the Prince's money and obviously we have a specific and very important goal here."

Quite right, Captain. What is our cast off time? With the amount of preparations to be made, and staffing holes to fill, I'd much prefer to have a brief meeting with the others here as my senior lance members. Leslie looks around the table at the others. I have experience aboard ship, and I'm not too shabby in the seat of an aerofighter. However, I'm not a mechjock. I'll be looking to you, especially you Sergeant Stewart, to help me assess the needs of our lance from a combat capability and "not pissing off the scientists too horribly" aspect. As you'll be serving with, and issuing orders to, these other jocks, you should have a say in their selection. As she looks back to the captain, she raises an eyebrow slightly. Will we have any time to make additional personal purchases? If this is to be a primarily civilian cruise, I'll need to get some non-uniform clothes to help ease the minds of the board on occasion.

Roman does his best to listen in, but his eyes show that he's uninterested in the details meant for Leftenant Black.