Battletech IC #1: Outreach

[SaintB]

OOC

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Wilds
Location: Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Office
Planet: Outreach
Date/Time: March 17th 3067, 1205 hours

Not even a month out of the FedCom civil war and here he was on Outreach trying to hire more merc's for the company. With a large bounty for their service with the FedSuns and now a brand new contract with the Taurian Concordat it wasn't as if they were currently hurting for money but a company sized expansion to the roster seemed like too big a move. It was Stacy's idea and not his, but it was her outfit since she organized the investors and got the money needed to start the whole operation so she was the boss and Bear did what soldiers do: follow orders and forming Bear's Brigade. The 'recruiting office' he leased from the bonding commission wasn't so bad, it had a water cooler and a small kitchen and bathroom for the temporary staff hired to help with the process. The staff came from an agency that specialized in providing temporary labor for hiring companies and when this job was done the whole team would be reassigned to another one. If Dave had to sum up Outreach in one word it would be efficient.

The second word would be beautiful; the weather was always warm even if it wasn't sunny and the architecture was clean and crisp. Long ago before the Great Houses existed Outreach had been a tourist destination, now it was the Mercenary's Mecca.

"Lt. Colonol?"

Dave was roused out of his thoughts by a page from Louanne, his temporary secretary. He hit the page button to answer her back, "What is it?"

"Twelve Hundred and Five hours sir, you have your recruitment briefing in ten minutes."

"Very well, carry on." he said in a habit he had picked up from his time in the 'real' military, it seemed like every single officer said the same thing when told they had a meeting or an appointment and suddenly one day he just found himself doing it.

Whatever. He stood up and stretched, there were apparently a lot of people looking for Mercenary work, which meant that he could get his personal pick of the best Mechwarriors that applied. He had accepted 36 applicants to meet him in this building's Briefing Room #4 at 1215. He was only going to accept a third of them based on the results of this briefing and the result of their field test, which he hadn't bothered to mention to any of them just yet. He made his way to the briefing room and took a seat at the head of the room, waiting for the mechwarriors to show up, at 25 after he would lock the doors and nobody else would be allowed to enter.

[Gawdzendia]

Basil had been checking what passed for magazines in the reception room when his watch beeped impertinently at him. Glancing over to his left wrist, he noticed that it was 12:15 already, and the recruitment meeting would be starting very soon. Looking up to reception, he noticed that Room #4 was indeed now available.

Sighing with mild anxiety, Basil stood up and straightened out his clothes. This was his first work opportunity since the Civil War had ended, and he couldn't keep living on what little pay he still had from his service years. Fortunately this was Outreach, Merc Hub of the Inner Sphere. If he didn't find work here, he'd probably find it elsewhere, but he had a good feeling about this. His combat record would not hurt his odds either.

Proceeding down the hall past the first three briefing rooms, he opened the door on the fourth and stepped inside. Quickly realizing that he was the first in the room, aside from the hairy mountain of a man sitting opposite the door. He was nearly twice the size of Basil, but that wasn't a difficult task to accomplish. Five foot ten inches and one hundred sixty five pounds don't impress most people. The debate of whether to just take a seat quietly or going to introduce himself raged for a moment, but making a good impression might make the difference between eating or not.

Stepping around the arrayed seats and tables he approached the man at the front of the room, and snapped to attention. "Basil Stamos sir, I'm here about potential Merc work with the Bear Brigade."

The man looked like a Leaguer. Which explained all the hair in a way.

[Strykla]

Julius - Or 'Jerry', what most people called him - Had been reading a magazine called Guns! Guns! Guns! though it was a pretty bad one. It didn't sell anything aside from whatever ads were crammed in, and they obviously didn't know what they wee talking about; they called the Osiris a 'piece of crap'. That 'piece of crap' had taken down more than its share.

His Osiris, nicknamed Milky Way(Which gave him his callsign of Andromeda), was a fantastic work, in Julius' mind. The three medium lasers and SRM-4 kept the heat on, and Julius really liked the RAC/2 to shoot up lighter vehicles. One addition is old comrades in the Federated Commonwealth military were baffled by was Julius' throwing on a trio of King David gauss rifles. The King David was an infantry weapon, they'd said. Why are you going to do that? In truth, the King Davids were surprisingly powerful(Of course, any Gauss was) and three of them would be better able to take on battle armor and supplement the RAC/2,unlike machine guns which could only kill unarmored infantry.

He saw the selection was starting. Julius stood and walked down to Briefing Room Four and turned to enter. He saw only two other men in the room - One greeting the other, so he supposed he should do the same. Julius strode down the room, past the chairs, and prepared to make his own greetings.

Meanwhile, back in the waiting room, six other people came in. Undoubtedly, they drew stares; They were, all of them, dressed more like it was the Napoleonic Wars than 3067. All with black dress uniforms with red trimming, white epaulettes that clashed against the uniform, going all the way down to 1796 sabers and Hessian boots. Perhaps to the ire of others, each was also displaying an Iron Cross, hanging from the collar, in addition to other medals and the like.

They entered and, probably in an underwhelming sense, sat down. Ironically, none were MechWarriors - Just half a dozen Lyran battle armor infantry. But looking at one would convey the sense that they were men of great status. The briefing right now was for only Mech pilots, so they'd have to wait.

[The Mighty Islands]

Septimus Wilmot was sat right next to the door once he was inside. His white and black hair sat at his shoulders, a strange way to show his age. He wasn't a young pilot, but he was just as daring, if not more, with the experience and wisdom to boot. At his hip was a long, straight Katana with not a single mark, despite the many bloods it had tasted over the years. A nearby magazine catalog displayed over one-hundred 'mechs and their cost. Some of the lighter 'mechs were within his price range, and actually useful for once, but the rest were completely useless compared to his Avatar or far too expensive. He circled a few 'mechs and tucked the magazine into his coa

Septimus's Avatar was a 70 ton killer. The only thing he didn't like was the pair of LB-X Autocannon 10s, which he planned on removing for some larger armament. Or maybe he could just sell the whole 'mech outright to buy a more powerful and interesting. The Avatar was slow compared to most other 'mechs, which put Semptimus father away from the battlefield than he would have preferred, but the range of his weapons would make up for it. Something that preserved the cost of the 'mech, at least for a short time, was the unused cockpit. Semptimus blew the head of this 'mech clear off in battle with a PPC with a single shot. The 'mech stumbled backwards from the damage before falling onto its knees. Semptimus had never been more proud of himself before then, it was a shame he would have to sell it for something more combat effective.

[Death World Krieg]

Duke strode into the office and looked around just in time to see a strange man with a sword walk into the room. He figured I should just follow that guy he looks like he knows where he's going so he went into the room and sat down. He picked a chair furthest from the door with a corner to his back so he could see the whole room and everyone who enters. Being a scout he liked to know where everyone was and what they were doing. He looked around the room at the people present and thought 'This must be a fashionable Group. It's drawn the finest people." At the head of the table he saw the massive hairy man who he had heard was recruiting 'So that's the one they call the bear...I can see why."

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Training Center Upsilon, Outreach

James Callahan woke up in Trainee Barracks 3 to yelling from some MRBC Instructor, telling him to wake up, get dressed, and get outside for James' certification trials. He never understood why he had to go through the training, he was already a trained MechWarrior who probably knew more about 'Mechs and how they work than his so-called "Instructors". Hell, he had swept almost everyone in his "class". He got into his MRBC-provided 'Mech pilot suit, but insisted on grabbing his helmet instead of the badly-fitting cheap and ugly MRBC one, and followed the Instructor out of the barracks.

James and the Instructor got into an MRBC car, leaving James' expensive sports car behind, and headed for the 'Mech bays. Using the roads provided and watching for any 'Mechs, they soon arrived and James was ordered into a shabby brown Bushwhacker.

"I have my own 'Mech, why can't I use that one?" He asked the Instructor, who was heading towards a Thanatos. The Instructor stopped and faced James. "All 'Mechs are provided by the Wolf's Dragoons for the certification trials. It's with their permission that we operate our training facilities on Outreach, and smaller Mercenary companies are allowed to use this planet as their base of operations. We are not going to risk angering them. Additionally, your personal 'Mech is customized for your abilities and strengths, and would not be an accurate portrayal of your skill level."

James folded his arms across his chest. "I grew up in the Solaris arenas. I know how to pilot a damned BattleMech."

The Instructor shrugged. "True, but the MRBC is not going to let some half-cocked, untested Arena fighter head off into the galaxy. It looks bad on us, especially when you get yourself killed. Now get in the Bushwhacker, or I'm washing you out right now and getting you blacklisted."

James grumbled, put on his helmet, and climbed into the Bushwhacker. It was gonna be a long day...
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Outreach, High Orbit

The Talon, a Leopard-Class DropShip, floated in orbit, its cargo bay currently empty and crew either asleep or doing maintenance. Major William Fletcher, who's nickname of Talon gave the ship its name, sat in the cockpit, running system diagnostics, admiring the view that space provides, and waiting for orders from GSS HQ to land. Bored, he switched on the comm. "Talon to Guardian Angel, how is life treating you over there?"

[Arkotania]

Brian Arkton strode into the building, taking a quick glance at his surrounding. The reception area was quite plain, with a couple of cheap magazines. He noticed that people had begun to shuffle into room #4, the very room they would be waiting to get recruited. Most of the people were in military uniform, which struck Arkton as funny. He himself was dressed quite oppositely. Brian checked out the magazines for a second, actually to just let the crowd thin out as they enter the room.

As soon as they thinned out, he walked into room #4 where many people had been.

Brian didn't have any military experience, having decided that the military would never work with him. His past was what also molded his beliefs. Having been raised by an ex-merc, he became more a businessman than a soldier. Of course he was never very popular, only serving small places for as much money he needed to scrape by but that all had changed. The FedCom Civil War had gave him a chance to show his true potential. Sure, he was somewhat crude compared to those fancy military-types but he was pretty damned skilled when it came down to the fighting.

Brian took his seat and sat waiting for something to happen.

[Morning Glory]

Leutnant Francisca Ostermann
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Office
Outreach
March 17th 3067, 1207 hours
On Foot

As the doors to Briefing Room #4 opened, a dark-skinned woman in a Lyran Commonwealth military uniform got to her feet. Taking a moment to smooth her clothes out, she clasped her hands behind her back and strode into the room, following behind a few men. A few medals adorned her chest, and a blackened spearpoint rank insignia identified her as a (former) Leutnant. She wore a service pistol on her hip, but an experienced eye would be able to pick it out as a replica - ceremonial ornamentation, nothing more. Her actual pistol was back in her quarters.

Rather than further crowd the Lt. Colonol, she simply stood on the other side of his desk, close but not too close, and gave him a respectful incline of the head. "Leutnant Francisca Ostermann, at your service, sir."

With introductions out of the way, she stepped back a bit - there were, after all, thirty-five other individuals in the room looking to make their own first impressions. She busied herself making certain her uniform remained respectable-looking, waiting for the briefing to begin.

[JuNii]

Katherine Fuego
Location: Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Office
Planet: Outreach
Date/Time: March 17th 3067, 1215 hours

Katherine Fuego, Call sign Dragon, entered the indicated Briefing room and stood at attention. she held her Dossier and waited for the CO to acknowledge her presence.

Her Warhammer 8D Varient was at the mech bay, being given the once over by Seb. her best friend and the only tech she would allow to touch her baby. Seb had ideas... and she held the reigns on those ideas. still, he Kept her Mech, the Manic, in near pristine condition. and she was here to get some credits.

She needed to be apart of this. She needed to make the proper impression. She waited to be acknowledged.

[Harkonna]

Commander Sahreah Callahan
Location: Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Office
Planet: Outreach
Date/Time: March 17th 3067, 1207 hours

Following close behind the woman in front of her, Callahan's gaze scanned the new room with an almost vicious glare- her perceptive blue-green eyes taking in everything that it had to offer. Her uniform was a dark grey, with a black mixed tactical vest/heat dispersal vest and light armour- as well as a very real and finely maintained handgun fitted to a hip holster. It was a 'MechWarriors uniform, to say the least. The person that followed directly behind her wore a similar uniform, though seemingly geared towards vehicular combat, neither of them having any adornments beyond their names and rank insignia. "Callahan" and "Renard-" Commander and Sub-Commander respectively. The insignia themselves seemed to go off of a mix between Clan Hell's Horses and the First SLDF's ranking system, a pair of silver bars within a pentagon for the Commander, and a 1 1/2 bar for the Sub-Commander.

Callahan was a rather tall, austere-looking woman with a cold, harsh gaze- predatory in nature to say the least. Renard, on the other hand, had a rather gaunt, somewhat sallow look about him, like a weathered old wolf. Both of them, however, hardly looked as if they were incapable of doing their jobs- the two of them giving the appearance of expertise. They moved to the side of the room together, taking up position on the far side, where they could be seen- but not in a way that would clutter the already surrounded Colonel.

[SaintB]

The room began to fill with applicants nearly as soon as he unlocked the door and only a couple of minutes had gone by; the first two into the room introduced themselves so he stood and offered a hand to shake, "I'm Bear, yu've found the right office gentlemen. Take a seat en 'll begin debriefin' ya shortly."

He cleared his throat, on the planet he was raised that was the common accent, he had spent the better part of a decade trying to break the habit but sometimes it just slipped, "Excuse me, take a seat and the briefing will begin shortly." his tone was slower and more deliberate this time.

Truth be told he picked this room for a reason, there were only 30 chairs for 36 applicants. If the ones without chairs didn't sit anyway they were as good as done - the orders where to be here by 35 after and take a seat, it was about attention to detail and ability to follow orders and not sitting would be a failure of one or the other; Bear didn't have time for inattentive mercs that don't follow orders.

[Harkonna]

Both Callahan and Renard watched as the chairs swiftly began to fill up as 'MechWarriors and the handful of extras that had wormed their way inside took their seats. The chairs near them had already been filled- and in fact, a quick glance showed them that all of the chairs had been filled already. There were still five or six others still milling about in confusion- searching for other chairs.

Renard was about to speak up in agitation- likely some dry quip about musical chairs, before Callahan give him a small nudge, and pressed down on his shoulder. The two mercenaries took a seat on the floor next to the nearby (filled) chairs, and a few of the rather cocky-looking 'MechWarriors that had decided to stand behind the group sniggered at the sight. However, neither of them paid the Warriors the slightest heed.

[Zebian Syndicate]

"This the place?"
"Methinks,..."
"Shall we see?"
"Perhaps,..."

The twins were lost. Again. This was why being a noob totally sucked. Didn't really help that the job market was pretty cut throat when it came to the really good positions. You knew it was so when people started threatening you when you asked if they happened to have the time. Then again, it wasn't like it was hard to get one, what with the massive build up going on. It was a paradox to say the least.
Well, one had time to ponder the workings of civilization and the meaning of life latter, fight now, they had a briefing to catch.

Two duo peaked in, unsure whether or not it was the right place. For the most part, it was plain. Which absolutely screamed "recruiters."
This was the place. Hustling like there was a lift failure they cleared the lobby and filled into the back of the room in record time, taking up position on either side of the door and waiting attentively like statues. Pops wouldn't be happy when he heard about their tardiness anyway, so they might as well look good doing it.

[Arkotania]

"Oh Damn" Brian muttered as he saw only 30 seats, all taken, for a crowd of 36. The officer up front, who was the head of this briefing, had ordered them to take their seats. He guessed there was something beneath the fact that six chairs were lacking, as anybody with a brain connected to at least one eye would be able to tell the lack of sufficient seats. All the military types quickly found a seat, a comical site to Brian. He grinned then a crazy idea popped up into his head. This officer probably expected them to sit and sit he would.

He quickly walked out of the room and looked around the reception area. The magazines caught his stare and he walked over. They rested atop a table, not bolted down. "Aha!" Brian exclaimed, swiping the magazines straight off with one arm. He then lifted the table and walked back into the briefing room. He set the table down in a somewhat open area and sat down on it. Crude...yet practical.

[Morning Glory]

Leutnant Francisca Ostermann
Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Office
Outreach
March 17th 3067, 1220 hours
On Foot

Fran had, it seems, missed her chance at a chair busying herself with her uniform. She was familiar enough with military tests to know that the room had been intentionally left short of chairs, and decided that continuing to stand would probably be a poor idea if she wanted the job, and so opted to find a spare patch of wall and sit down, cross-legged with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She didn't actually lean against the wall - she preferred a more rigid posture - but having it behind her meant she wasn't blocking anyone's view, or getting into anyone else's personal space.

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

James made his way through the hallway, now in his usual clothing instead of the uncomfortable MRBC suit. He continually checked a map in his right hand until he found the briefing room he wanted and slipped inside, standing by the door and waiting for things to actually get going.

[Gawdzendia]

Greetings exchanged, Basil balked at the sudden influx of people of all sizes, shapes, and demeanour. He quickly sat down in a chair that was closer than he wanted to the front, but at the rate the others were going, he was glad to have gotten one at all.

Time to see what would follow in the coming moments.

[SaintB]

As the briefing room filled up beyond capacity Bear did a quick head count, there was certainly more than the 36 people who were supposed to be here, he assumed they were either lost or support personnel tagging along with the warriors hoping to land a job with or through them; it wasn't uncommon to happen; when Gun Squadrons picked up Eddie's Irregulars a full armored company tagged along. With space so limited some of the people had come up with creative solutions to the lack of seating, like the man who had brought a table in and perched upon it, he was joined by someone else. Checking the time, 1234, he made his way to the door at the front of the room and cleared his throat trying to be heard over the noise, "Listen up! This meeting is for Mechwarriors. The meeting for other comers begins at 1505. If you are not a Mechwarrior please make room for the people who are scheduled to be here and I will see you all later. Those of you who are Mechwarriors should have a sit down, the briefing begins as soon as the room is cleared. A sign in sheet will be passed around so I know who all is here."

[Harkonna]

Callahan gave Renard another deft jab, silently indicating for him to leave. He stood up begrudgingly, giving a subtle and idle roll of his eyes. The rather gaunt looking man looked down at his female compatriot, and chuckled. "I told you I wouldn't need to be here." Callahan looked up with a bemused stare, a very slight grin on her face. "Yes, I'm well aware. I just wanted to have you here in case you were needed." She turned back to the Colonel and batted his leg playfully. "Now get lost, treadhead." Numerous other persons filed out of the room, including those rather prim looking Lyran battlesuit infantry troops- and Renard turned to follow suit, but not before giving a wry smile. "Yes, ma'am." The middle aged female 'MechWarrior folder her arms over top her knees, and simply continued to stare at the colonel, her blue-green eyes still sharp and attentive despite the wait.

[JuNii]

Kat sat down, and when the sign in sheet passed around, she smiled as memories of the academy ran through her mind.

she filled out her form and passed it on.

She sat, waiting for the commander to speak.

[Hardened Pyrokinetics]

James filled in the sign-in sheet, then passed it to the next person. He was getting very bored.

[Harkonna]

As the sheet was passed over to her, she hastily scrawled in a stripped-down version of her 1/2 company's insignia, and her name below it. She looked around a moment, realizing there was no-one to pass it to. She noticed a 'Mechwarrior a few feet away staring at her impatiently. She stood up, and approached, passing it to him deftly before briskly returning back to her spot.

[The Mighty Islands]

As the sheet was given to him first because he was closest to the door, Semptimus's was already at the top of the sheet, beaming with pride.

[Arkotania]

Brian had simply scribbled his initials onto the sign-up sheet. He watched with neutrality as people shuffled out to wait for their turn to come back some time later. Brian simply stretched his legs out and waited for the briefing to begin. He was eager to see just who were selected for the coveted positions.

[Death World Krieg]

Duke took the pen and paper and signed his name he then handed to paper to another Warrior and sat back in his seat. Under his coat he fingered the handle of his auto pistol and though 'Damn this is boring I really hope this gets going soon.'