[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/eLoQcAy.png[/img][/center]

[center][b]M I S S I O N   B R I E F I N G[/b][/center]

[color=Olive]"Green Knights,"[/color] Colonel Wayne began, addressing his gathered warriors, [color=Olive]"I don't need to tell you all how difficult it's been, having our families, our friends, our loved ones locked away in Fort Tie Shan. I've been holding off a direct assault on the Fort, as the combination of their heavy fortifications and the threat of harm against our civilian contingent has been too great. Unfortunately, the leader of the Crimson Fists, the so-called 'Crimson King,' is forcing our hand. He's demanded our surrender by sunrise this morning, or he's going to have our people executed."[/color]

Angry and concerned murmurs spread through the crowd, but the Colonel put his hands up to quiet them. [color=Olive]"Fortunately, we have an advantage, one we didn't know about until recently. Lieutenant Lyons?"[/color]

[color=SkyBlue]"Hm? Oh, right, sir!"[/color] the commander of the Mobile HQ perked up before speaking. [color=SkyBlue]"Approximately two hours ago, the comms team in the mobile HQ intercepted a crude transmission on a civilian channel. It was a simple message in Morse code, using a short-range scrap-made transmitter, and we have reason to believe the signal was coming from inside Fort Tie Shan. The message let us know that there is an underground tunnel southwest of the fort! We cross-referenced it with the old Star League maps provided by Ms. Jeong, and it appears to be a valid link. It's a back-door into the Fort, and there's a good chance that the NPDRE and the Crimson Fists don't even know about it!"[/color]

[color=Olive]"Thank you, Lieutenant, that will be all,"[/color] Colonel Wayne dismissed her. [color=Olive]"Now then, even with those service tunnels active, the second the guards notice prisoners disappearing, they'll know something is up and start shooting. That's why we'll need a distraction. A very big distraction. The tactical map, please."[/color]

Cadet Higgins switched on a projector, which played an image of an overhead map of the Fort on a flat section of wall.

[hider=Tactical Map][img]https://i.imgur.com/qeM0mwn.png[/img][/hider]

[color=Olive]"This is a layout of the only approach to Fort Tie Shan, taken a few weeks before the coup,"[/color] the Colonel said. [color=Olive]"It's heavily fortified with heavy walls, minefields, and several turrets. And that's not including the vehicles from the Espian Guard, and likely Mechs from the Crimson Fists. A direct assault would likely get us and all of our people killed. So instead, we're going to buy time."[/color]

The projector moved to the next slide, showing a close-up of the prison complex.

[hider=Prison Complex][img]https://i.imgur.com/xRU4r2g.png[/img][/hider]

[color=Olive]"Before sunrise, we are going to get every APC, cargo hauler, flatbed truck, scrapyard schoolbus, anything and everything that can carry people, down into that tunnel and have them all on standby. Once they're in place, the Green Knights will begin an assault on the prison from the outside, drawing the attention of the fort's defenses. As soon as the assault begins, Sergeant Dalton will lead a strike team into the fort from below and begin evacuating the general population detention center. The number one priority will be to buy Dalton and his team enough time to pull everyone out.

"The secondary objective,"[/color] he continued, [color=Olive]"Is the super-max wing of the prison. It's likely that members of our command staff will be held within the super-max, as well as officers from the old loyalist regime, and several key members of the FPA. If we can spring them, we can help create a united front to take down Federov and end the fighting once and for all."

"There are, however, going to be...challenges,"[/color] said the Colonel. [color=Olive]"The guard barracks houses hundreds of infantrymen, who will begin to muster once the assault begins. Not much against Mechs, but they'll make evacuating the fort more and more difficult as the attack goes on. The comms tower will also give the enemy the ability to call in air strikes; don't forget, the NPDRE still has one Mechbuster out there, as well as a Shilone bomber. Destroying either of those targets will make our job significantly easier; if need be, Dalton's troops can divert manpower to placing C-64 explosive charges inside those structures, but doing so will slow down the evacuation. Daschke, that will be your call."[/color]

The projector moved to another slide, closing in on the bridge crossing the river and the machine gun emplacements on the far side. [color=Olive]"Now, onto the static defenses."[/color]

[hider=Pillboxes][url=https://imgur.com/YN9VmTi][img]http://i.imgur.com/YN9VmTi.png[/img][/url][/hider]

[color=Olive]"There's a network of pillboxes around the perimeter of the fort,"[/color] he continued, [color=Olive]"Allowing teams of machine gunners to attack from a fortified position. Individually each one won't be much of a threat, but the damage they do can add up. Not to mention, they'll absolutely shred soft targets like infantry...or civilians."[/color]

[hider=Missiles][img]https://i.imgur.com/SzL4fgj.png[/img][/hider]

[color=Olive]"There are also multiple automated turrets, most of which are equipped with missile racks. The most numerous of them contain a single LRM-5 launcher, but there are bigger ones with a pair of LRM-10s. In particular, the hill on the southeast will be a pain in the ass to clear."[/color]

[hider=Lasers][img]https://i.imgur.com/NF6upVO.png[/img][/hider]

[color=Olive]"Perhaps the biggest threat will be the heavy laser turrets,"[/color] he continued. [color=Olive]"There are only two of them, but each has a pair of Large Lasers, and a quad set of AC/2s. If they're left unattended, they can ruin your day."[/color]

[hider=Generator][img]https://i.imgur.com/m7x1vaS.png[/img][/hider]

[color=Olive]"The turrets are all linked to the power plant on the south end of the fort. It's a hardened building, so it'll take some concentrated effort to crack it, but if you manage to get to it, you'll take the whole turret network down."[/color]

The slides ended, and the Colonel continued the briefing.

[color=Olive]"Fort Tie Shan does not have an armored garrison, but there's a nearby firebase where we know they've got vehicles that will go on alert as soon as we start shooting. Given the Espian Guard's typical MO, that likely means Scorpion tanks, Warrior helicopters, an SRM Carrier in the worst-case scenario. If we move quickly and knock out enough of the Fort's defenses, we can get our people and be out of there before reinforcements arrive, but the longer we stay, the uglier this fight will get."[/color]

Looking out at his Mechwarriors, he knew what he was asking of them. This was going to be the heaviest fighting the Green Knights had ever encountered as a unit, and there was little chance of everyone coming out alive. Which is why it was important to give them some hope.

[color=Olive]"On the positive side, we may have some backup,"[/color] he then said. [color=Olive]"Our contact Stiletto has arranged a meeting with the heads of the FPA at zero-dark-thirty this morning, before the attack is scheduled to begin. The FPA has assets in the area, most notably three Thumper artillery pieces they captured during the fighting in Yuzhny Portveyn. If we can convince them to bring those guns to the fight, then Ziska can use her [i]Raven's[/i] TAG Laser to feed them targeting data and start putting shells onto targets. Since the Knights are going to be tied up in the fighting, Ms. Wyatt: since you handled our negotiations with Comstar so well, I'd like you to be the one who speaks to the FPA leaders to get us those guns. Failing that, Mechwarrior Daschke: as Lance Commander, I authorize you to make use of the recovered tactical nuke at your discretion."[/color]

He took a long sigh, [color=Olive]"Which leaves us the matter of the Crimson King and his cronies. We've bloodied them twice now, but they still have the numbers on us. If they show up in force for a fight, and those defenses are still online, we lose, plain and simple. So before [i]any[/i] of that happens, there's one final layer of diversion at hand."[/color]

He gave his men a somber look, then over to the Mobile HQ, who returned his look with a nod.

[color=Olive]"I'm going to open up a direct channel to the Crimson King,"[/color] he said. [color=Olive]"I'm going to acknowledge his demand to turn myself in, but dispute it warrior to warrior. I'm going to demand the Crimson Fists return my [i]Battlemaster[/i] to me, and by the honors of war and the tenets of the Lorix Creed, I'm going to challenge him to single combat."[/color]

This brought an uproar from the crowd, which he immediately quieted.

[color=Olive]"I'm well aware this could fail,"[/color] he stated, [color=Olive]"That they could simply find my location and send a sniper or a drone. But given that this character likes to put on a show, I don't think his ego will allow him to resist. He'll come out for a fight, and then the rest of the Fists will probably jump me and try to kill me. But every second they're doing that is a second they're [i]not[/i] defending the Fort."[/color]

[color=Olive]"We've come back from the brink already,"[/color] Gaius said, [color=Olive]"And I couldn't be more proud of how you've performed in extreme circumstances. This is the moment we take it all back. This is moment we win this war. And we'll do it, because frankly we don't have the option not to."[/color]

He held out his hands to open up the floor. [color=Olive]"Now then: any questions before we decide the fate of this planet?"[/color]