A harried woman was having a moment of peace in her field, tending the rows of coffee shrubs. Her crop was in tiered rows, up the hill toward one of six mouths into the cavernous mine that McDonough’s Rest was built into. The plants went all the way to the tall, electric wire fence that abutted the edge of the lush jungle. The fence kept out the worst of the predators on the planet, but was irritatingly ineffective against the arboreal herbivores, who had developed a taste for the leaves and branches of the coffee plants.
A boom, and a shift in the air made her look up. There was a ship, just now arriving in the atmosphere, and moving quickly toward McDonough’s Rest. The woman looked at it with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. She switched to outrage as the ship - some basic sort of shuttle - landed on the outskirts of the field, crushing a segment of the security fence.

“Patrick!” the woman shrieked over her shoulder, back toward the sheltered supply shed, “Get the slathe-gun!” There was an indistinct response from within, but a moment later a man in dirty coveralls stepped out with a large bored, revolving rifle. He was moving with a bewildered caution toward the ship, while his wife stalked furiously ahead of him. As they approached, the ramp unfolded from the bottom hatch, revealing a wide entrance into the belly of the shuttle. A man stepped out. He had jet black, unnaturally neat hair, and a tan complexion. He was dressed in all black as well, the collar of his long jacket coming almost to his chin.

“And I suppose you’ll be paying for those crops you just ruin’d?” the woman asked in a fury.

He looked at her, a cruel laughter behind his eyes. “You suppose wrongly. As I own this land, anything planted here is mine to keep, or destroy, as I please.”

She was apoplectic. “I was born here! Ain’t no prissy space man gonna land his ship on my land, squish my crops, and then look me in the face and tell me it’s his!”

“I think you’ll find,” he began silkily as the woman crossed her arms and glared, “That my paperwork is-”

He was reaching into an interior pocket, presumably to produce said paperwork, when she interrupted him. “Patrick, shoot ‘im.”

As Patrick was bringing his slathe-gun to bear, an enormous metal arm reached out from the mouth of the shuttle, and put itself between the stranger and them. It was followed by a similarly black clad mech, which had to duck its way out of the ship’s belly.

“If that’s the way you will play this,” he said, ice creeping into his voice, “I think you’ll find my armament is every bit as orderly as my paperwork. If you would be so kind as to allow an introduction - I am Hector Federico Alvarez. And you are?” The mech had moved its hand away so that they could speak face to face, but it had a nasty looking gun trained on the both of them.

“Maggie McDonough,” she replied through clenched teeth. Other townsfolk were gathering to this side of the mine, peering from the opening, or approaching from around one side or the other.
“Patrick,” Patrick said simply, holding his rifle down at his side.

“McDonough as well..?” He asked, pointing slyly between the two of them.

“Aye.”

“Well, always nice to have good company. Either by rule of law, or rule of gun, I think you’ll find this land to be every bit mine. You are in some amount of luck, however. My equipment and workforce is a few weeks behind me, so you have the fortune of a bit of a grace period. I will be returning in,” He waved his hand in front of him, producing a holographic screen that he consulted, “Sixteen standard days. You have until then to vacate the premises. When we arrive, we will use whatever Force is necessary to clear out all of… this. It has been quite the pleasure, Mrs. McDonough, Mr. McDonough. I hope I won’t see you again. Fairwell.” He turned on his heel and marched back into the shuttle. The sleek black mech seemed to look them over a moment longer before following suit as the ship’s engines began to came to life with a whine.

~~~~~~~

Patrick set out with the settlement’s only shuttle to look for help. He was met with any number of combinations in sympathy, apathy, and general unhelpfulness. Some towns simply couldn’t spare their militia, some were watched over by mercenaries who might have helped, if he had the money to outbid their current employers. One place had already heard of his plight and asked him to leave before he had even finished landing. At his last stop, Patrick was offered a crate of rifles and ammunition by the local militia captain, with the promise of a hogshead of tobacco and barrel of coffee beans from their latest crop, should they survive.

And so, already in debt and without any extra men, Patrick was loading the crates in the town’s landing bay, with little hope that they would help, when he heard a voice from nearby.

“You might need a bit more than that.”

“You think I don’...” his voice trailed off as he turned and saw what she had parked nearby. “Aye, but I can’t afford that.”

“I know, that’s why I’m approaching you. I heard about your little problem. Me and Rec here can help, and maybe a couple others. You got plas-carts and fusion cores?”

“Aye. Nuthin’ military grade, but…”

“I’ll make them work. Here’s the deal. As many of those as we need to keep our mechs running and gunning, all the spoils of the fight… and half those rifles when it’s done. I’ll be there, and however many other good souls I can get.”

“Sounds a little too good to be true.”

“Sounds like you don’t have a choice. Have faith.”

A mechanical voice boomed out from the mech crouched in the corner of the bay. “Have faith.”

~~~~~~~

On another fine day, the people of McDonough's Rest looked to the sky to watch a ship landing. Quite unlike the sleek shuttle of two weeks prior, this was a utilitarian freighter provided under license by the Frontier Branch Mercenary Union. Also unlike the shuttle, this ship was both expected and welcome. It landed, directed to do so by the townsfolk, on a field that had only recently been harvested of its corn. The engines were still winding down when the cavernous loading ramp opened up to show a bay that was positively crammed with the titanic forms of mechs lines up as neatly as could be managed. At the forefront, a woman walked briskly down the still-lowering ramp, but others could be seen behind her.

She carried a data pad, which she immediately handed to Patrick McDonough as he approached to greet them.

"Er, what is this?" he said, looking it over.

"Contract," she answered shortly, "We need something to turn into the Union after all this is over, to show we did some work. Look around, boys!" she shouted this last over her shoulder, "We need a battle plan ASAP. I wouldn't put it past this Alvarez guy to show early."

After his sudden departure form the Lions Silas needed something to get him away and out of sight. Signing up to defend a small town in the middle of nowhere sounded like just the ticket. But as he got off the transport things looked in worse shape than he had thought. It looked like the town had already been hit before, outer defenses compromised and even some of the inner walls as well.

He quickly made some rounds taking notes before returning to Widow. "Took a quick look around Ma'am outer defenses are shot. With that hole in the wall there isn't anything to keep them at bay." He said reporting quickly. "Then on the interior there isn't much cover either so this might be an open firefight.... Unless...." He continued before going into a bit of thought. "What if we placed our units in the hanger, that northern building with the hole and the ramparts and hid until the enemy came into the main courtyard. Once they were in the center we hit them from all sides. we would have walls to use as cover and they wouldn't have anywhere to run." He quickly said after thinking out the plan. "Could work don't you think?" He asked in a questioning way, seeming to second guess his own plan.

Almost immediately as the shuttle ramp set down and the interior of the ship was exposed to real atmosphere, Jericho's hardsuit helmet was under the crook of his arm, and in its place a fat cigar sat between his lips. There was the click of a steel lighter, followed by a puff and satisfied sigh as Jericho took stock of his surroundings. The sight left something to be desired. The settlement was little more than a husk of a town, and had little more than a set of walls and a broken down door to protect them from the coming storm.

At the very least the townsfolk looked happy to see them. Happiness did little to pay the bills though, and from the looks of things, Jericho doubted the town had anywhere near the amount of capital needed to afford them. Though Holly did say the terms were decent enough for them, and she hadn't gotten him killed yet. So, Jericho had no reason to distrust the situation- though to say the situation was dire was an understatement.

"Jesus Holly, you sure know how to pick 'em" Jericho commented sarcastically as he popped a squat on a nearby crate, smoke casually pouring from his mouth. "I don't think I've seen as sorry a sight as this since Halden- you remember Halden right Kep'? he drawled idly to their resident super soldier.

Silas, Holly's newest hire had ran off to take a quick look at the surroundings and came back with a quick report. He also suggested an ambush plan, drawing the enemy into the center of the town's courtyard before opening up on them from all sides. Well, at the very least the kid seemed eager to earn his pay.

"Not the worst idea-" Jericho admitted before adding his own stipulations, "-If we're alright with risking collateral damage. Missing in here might mean putting a shell into someone's kitchen table, or worse."

"Still, there's still a good spot or two for me to hole up in with the long-gun." Jericho remarked, another puff of smoke releasing from his cigar. "Alternative is setting up a static defense along the walls and entrance. There's not many of us, but we can entrench ourselves in pretty well. They've got a whole lotta open ground to march across if they want to get to us. We can fall back and fight inside the courtyard if things get too hairy on the walls too."

Jericho looked down at the box he was sitting on- a crate of fusion cores provided to them by the small colony to keep their mechs up and running. Jericho whistled to himself. Fusion cores were common place enough that it wasn't too surprising to see them, but a lot of people forgot that these things were actually pretty dangerous if handled improperly.

"If we've got enough spare cores or munitions we could rig up a minefield to slow them down while we pick them off. Just my two cents."

Gaby walked down the ramp a little bit after the others, coming to the bottom of the ramp and taking in a large breath. It had been quite a while since Gaby had tasted fresh air. His home planet was almost entirely devoid of it, tainted by decades of pollution so the nice sensation of clean, non-recycled air was a welcome one. After his serene moment, Crusader turned to look up the ramp.

"Hey! Jackass! Make haste and partake in the righteous fresh air!" the ex-priest yelled up to his NHP companion who booted up and made his way down the ramp as well using the mech as it's host.

"Please calm thyself I am coming!" the mech boomed as it followed outside, looking around the area. The duo mulled around for a bit while the others discussed tactics, preferring to look at the area as scenery as opposed to as an impromptu battlefield. Finally overhearing the discussion at hand, Gaby walked over to the group.

"My companion and I possess no opinion on our course of action. Give us a position and our enemy will find themselves crushed within our collective palm of combat!" the ex-priest said, giving a dramatic squeeze of his fist to accentuate the point.

Truus {Vulcan} Kepler

Truus took his time getting his things ready and double checking his mech. The others may have been excited to get out but he didn’t mind the difference. There was only two things that truly interested him here, the fight and the mega fauna. Storm seemed okay but he was jostled a little while he was checking its shoulder by the priest, “Oi watch it.” It was just a young AI but they could still be a hassle some times.

He locked his helmet into his suit and powered up his rifle, no matter the situation, no matter how peaceful or hostile you can almost always count on Truss being in his combat suit. He stepped out onto the ramp in his red and black armor looking first to Holly then to the state of the surroundings. “Aye we could do it.” The old world Scottish accent still carried over into his speech patterns. “Could bury myself in some rubble looking at the front gate. Hide the signature from storms reactor.”

A few more steps down the ramp to the base and he could see the jungle around them. “Could rig a few of Storm’s mines to a detonator, and give it to one of you lads.” The boy decided to talk next and relay some information. Truus walked past the boy and patted him on the back maybe a bit hard, “Good job boy, its called a kill zone.” Continuing past him to stand next to Holly and the local’s and nodding towards them. “Truus Kepler at your service. I extend the greeting from both myself and Harrison Arms and Armory. Tell me you and yours able to hide out deeper in the mines until this storm passes?” the large man didn’t extend his hand for them to shake he just kept his hands on his rifle.

“Tell me you and yours able to hide out deeper in the mines until this storm passes?”

"You what? We didn't get all them rifles so we could bury our heads while a bunch of grunts turn our home into a battlefield!"

"Infantry may still have a role in this fight," Holly mused. "But even if it does, we want them out of reach from the cavalry. If you lay low in the buildings, you can fire on anyone who's on foot that tries to come in. And you'll have the mines to retreat to."

She looked around at her boys. She didn't like Gaby's lack of opinion, but he was newer at this and would gain insight from the fight to come. If he lived.

"I agree that masking our presence is the best plan. I'll take the ship and land it away from here. Vulcan, set those mines, Patrick, have your folks help. Then hide Storm as best you can. Jaeger," she turned to him, "We'll want that ranged support, so let me know where you're going to station yourself, and I'll set my Jericho hard cover there for you. You might even go up the mountain a little, though that could be risky if you need to get back to us quickly.

"Phoenix," she shortened his callsign, "You and Crusader can take the hangar. Or else hide behind the walls to the courtyard. If you do that, we'll have you crouched and covered by tarps or something. I'll take Recluse with me in the ship, and approach from the forest, and attack from behind once everyone has engaged. Thoughts?"

Silas listened to the criticisms and complements from the squad taking notes from those with more experience, then took note of his position for the assault before giving a bit of a salute to Holly, "Yes Ma'am" He said before turning back to the transport. It didn't take him long to get to and enter his suit. After doing his diagnostic checks and getting all the green lights he would move himself into position. Opting to take a spot in the hanger. Once in position the waiting game would begin.

"We will go to our posts at once!" Crusader exclaimed, turning back to Jackass. "Jackass! It is time for preparations! We mus-" Crusader was interrupted by his companion. "I was aware of the orders. No need to relay them again!" Jackass replied, lowering his hand down to which Crusader stepped on. A few hops and some clambering later, Crusader was now in control of the mech. Crusader made his way over to the hanger as well.

Truus {Vulcan} Kepler

The reply from the locals was what he was expecting, at least these people where not going to just go hide in a hole. This made the man smile, “it’s good to see you lot have some balls. May end up partially destroying a building or two setting up. But whatever I destroy ill help you build back up.” Vulcan wasn’t one to make idle threats or promises if he did either one he was always serious about it. Turning to look at Holly he nodded, “Understood fire team leader.” Essentially that was what she was with their numbers.

The super soldier made his way back to the ship and after a few moments stepped out of the ship in Approaching Storm. He was carful and took his time looking over the area. With the hand of his Mech he began digging three shallow holes in right inside the gate in a triangle pattern that was spread out. He wasn’t going to set the charges just yet only finding their homes. His voice came over the comms and his Mech’s PA system, “If you have any scrap metal, ball bearings, or any small explosives you would like to add get it in these holes.” This would help against anti infantry as well as Mech’s they might have.

With that Vulcan moved to the building looking directly at the main gate and started to set up his position.

"Yeah I could do with the mountain," Jericho replied with a puff of smoke, "Worse comes to worse I can just jump down through the ceiling of that hangar over there." he added, pointing to the north. Jericho waved her off when Holly offered to set up her barriers though, "Appreciate it boss- I've got my own though, you're better off using yours to make secure firing positions for the rest of the squad hunkering down in the killzone."

Jericho craned his neck upwards to get a look at the mountain above them, with any luck he'd find a large enough shelf for his mech to hunker down in. Pulling out his scope to take a look, Jericho eventually settled on a little shelf not far above the northern hangar. It was wide enough for him to put down his barriers, and if he needed, he could slide down the slope and into the northern hangar if thing's got too hairy. The colonists might not like the idea of a hole being punched through the roof of their hangars, but hey, when their lives were on the line, it didn't really seem like they had much of a choice.

After a quick trip back into the dropship, Jericho and his Desert Fox began stomping out onto the courtyard and up into the mountains above. Settling his barriers at his designated nook, Jericho would take the time to pile some more rocks, stone and dirt in front of his barriers, at an attempt to mask his presence as much as possible. If they had enough time, he'd be able to make his little corner look like little more than part of the mountain.