PeaceMaker 03
Well-known member
[X] Plan: Get to the Bottom of Things
Quest Deep Periphery Quest (Battletech Sandbox Empire Builder)
- Thread starter LordSunhawk
- Start date
The actual physical design of the rifle is quite practical (it's blatantly based on the StG-44 assault rifle, but with a modern style underbarrel grenade launcher added); the irrational element is mostly just the canonical weight.
I think the stock stored survival kit is a bit too much as well I have said its a rifle built be a rather stupid committee.
Ridli Scott
Well-known member
[X] Plan: Ongoing Progress
We need to put severe restrictions on union contracts. Ideally we'd treat them as the extortion rackets they are, but there are too many sympathizers.
My minimum proposal:
My minimum proposal:
- No union contract may be exclusive (what is called "Right to Work" in America).
- Employers must be permitted to terminate union jobs if the jobs become unnecessary due either to downsizing or changing requirements.
- Unions may not use member dues for any political purpose.
- Public Employee Unions are dissolved and banned as decisions about terms of employment by the government are inherently political.
The problem with American "right to work" laws -- which exist in 27 out of 50 individual states, not all of America -- is that most of them don't just dictate that an employer cannot enter a "closed shop" agreement with a union, but require that employers give non-union employees equivalent terms of employment as union employees.
I'm completely fine with "right to work" in the broad philosophical sense, but not being a union member should also mean you are 100% on your own for negotiating your terms of employment, as opposed to gaining the bargained contract of the union. Employees should be able to chose up front whether to join the union and become employed on the union contract, or decline union membership and become employed on the employer's offered terms (plus or minus whatever they can personally negotiate for themselves). It is entirely reasonable for union employees to have completely different pay and benefits than non-union employees.
PeaceMaker 03
Well-known member
No the saw is around the same weight.
Version dependent but roughly 10kg loaded(200 round box) and with optics/ laser/ it goes up. The original SAW was lighter before the PIP upgrade.
24 lbs for a SAW was about normal, it was the spare barrel( short/ long barrel), thermal optics for night time, and the other 800 rounds of ammo that made it heavy to hump. ( 45 or so lbs).
So the Mauser is viable just on the heavy side, I believe Regular SLDF had a multi year training to be qualified for even infantry, so the physical aspect could be mitigated and over come...... would truly suck if on a high G world and had to carry the Mauser.
If someone's willing to work for an employer as a non-union employee then why should they receive the benefits of union membership?
The other problem I can see with Atarlost's second point that an employer must be permitted to terminate union jobs is that there should be some sort of check to make sure that union members aren't unfairly targeted for dismissal. If an employer cuts jobs because of a need to downsize there should be some sort of check to make sure they're not just using it as an excuse to dump union members and hire non-union employees to do exactly the same jobs.
I read in Wikipedia that the weight of the M-60 was 10.5 kilograms compared to the canon 10kg weight of the Mauser 960. So, yeah, every infantryman carrying the equivalent of a GPMG ... ouch.
Last edited:
The terminology is understood in America. I'm not aware of it being used in other English speaking countries or by English speakers in non-English speaking countries. This is not a strictly American community.
That is a misunderstanding on my part. I have had the misfortune to live only in union controlled states.
These desires are contradictory. If union and non-union workers are not covered by the same contract forcing employers to fire employees under a less onerous contract while retaining employers under a more onerous contract is extortion.
Turn 18 - Results and the Melancholy of the Rapid Reaction Force
Turn 18 - Results
You are relieved when you get the full report from the guard detachment about the mudhole where your daughters found the SLDF rifle. The mudpit was fairly small, very shallow, and generally empty apart from the rifle itself. It appears to have been caused by a very small seap from an underground water source.
Well, at least your daughters won’t have any trauma about playing near a long decomposed body. You get a chance to handle the rifle itself and you quite honestly cannot think of what the SLDF was possibly thinking, or perhaps smoking, to have issued it. It’s far too heavy, for one thing.
It is in the hands of the scientists now, who tell you that while it would be insanely difficult and expensive to fully reverse-engineer it, it would allow your research program to skip past multiple steps in the development of laser-based infantry small arms.
In more… motherly news. Jeremy seems to be having his first crush. As a mother you find it cute, as Queen you find it worrying. The girl in question is a commoner, the daughter of a construction manager who is one of Jeremy’s competitors in the Junior League, regularly racing neck in neck with Jeremy. You are quite certain that your little man doesn’t realize he’s crushing on the girl, and from what you can tell the girl seems equally oblivious. Which speaks rather well of her, in some ways.
They are extremely cute together, but also extremely competitive. Jeremy doesn’t give her a millimeter on the racetrack, but after races he’s always willing to help her with her racer, and somehow he winds up talking about her every time the topic of conversation turns to racing.
It’s cute. It’s probably innocent.
You still worry though.
[] Just watch for now, it’s a juvenile crush and doesn’t seem to be anything too serious yet considering their ages.
[] Have Janet discretely investigate the situation to make sure the girl isn’t a threat to your eldest.
You also think it may be time for a dreaded Talk with Jeremy…
[] Do it yourself
[] Use the superpower of leadership and delegate to Willis. It’s his fault anyways.
You get word that the complex entry team is fully trained in the specialized role that they’ll fulfil, however things are not nearly ready for them on Castor. Before they can be dispatched two things will need to happen, first infrastructure will need to be built out on the continent to support the expedition and second the forward camp will have to be established. But it’s nice to know that they’ll be ready to go when the time comes.
The two expansions to the Aerie also have been completed, with sophisticated simulators for both vehicle crews and battlemechs now in use to enhance training. To make maximum use of the vehicle training facilities you would need to assign some tanks to the 1st Aerie Cadre however.
The new Ambush mechs have been delivered to the Cadre, and the new pilots are shaking down with them. There was some schedule slippage resulting in training plans not quite being completed by the end of the year, but it is anticipated that things are back on track and the Cadre should complete initial training goals early next year.
The serious disruptions in shipping due to the chaos in the shipping industry has completely derailed the plans to upgrade fortifications globally to the new standard. The contractors are promising that they will keep on working on this project and hope to have it finished next year.
The first shipments of refined titanium from the new mining area in Gambier Bay have arrived, only slightly nibbled on by particularly bold dire penguins attacking the freighters despite being sprayed down. Industry is gobbling the new resource up and overall manufacturing activity is soaring as a consequence of the drop in costs.
The environmental lobby is extremely pleased with the new Habitat Protection Laws that have been passed this year. Some industry groups, especially in the luxury timber market, are far less pleased. One consequence of the new laws has also been a serious increase in prices for palm oil, as the new laws sharply limit the practice of replacing native forests with massive palm tree groves.
The shipping disruptions prevent any progress from being made on the establishment of ports on Pollux, but Castor is a totally different story. Things have progressed so well there that in addition to completing the port facilities the construction crews built out infrastructure for government business at the same time, allowing for a seamless institution of political control over the new region.
The planetary resource survey is running a bit slow, one of the survey satellites suffered a communications fault and had to be replaced which slowed data collection enough that results will only be available in Q1 of next year.
In their new facilities the Power Generation Team reports a breakthrough in their research, further improving power conditioning systems and improving the reliability and efficiency of long-distance transmission of power from generating stations to end users.
The Orbital Infrastructure team has likewise reported excellent progress, a new tracking and data relay satellite network is operational with ground stations spread around the equator. The team informs you that before any further improvements can be made the space station would need to be upgraded significantly.
Both the Improved Communications and DEST Infiltration suit teams report good progress and that they both expect results by Q2 of next year at the very latest.
The interrogation of the prisoners is coming along, none of them have managed to suicide or harm any of the guards or interrogators, but even under narco-interrogation none of them have spilled anything but taunts about how their trainers were more effective interrogators and that we’d inevitably fall to the might of the Dragon.
The AeroTraining Wing reports excellent progress, you’d gotten to see some demonstration flights and they are certainly looking capable. 1st Armored Division is also reporting that their artillery unit has reached full capability and has demonstrated superb competence at time on target barrages, shoot and scoot, and everything else that has been asked of them.
The Rapid Reaction Force… is in the hospital.
Almost all of it.
Not the Avenger AAA company, I hasten to add. They’re in administrative confinement while the courts-martial take place.
But the rest of the Force is in the hospital.
It was the very first training exercise.
An incredibly simple training exercise.
‘Unit will form up in parade formation and cross the drill grounds at low speed’
That simple… that easy.
Until 10 seconds into the evolution the entire Avenger AAA companies turrets started slewing around and spitting live shells into the rest of the formation under automatic control.
The crews were able to shut down the system before anybody was killed, but every single other hovercraft in the RRF had crashed.
The initial review had been completed, although the formal courts-martial were still going to have to sit to formalize the findings it appeared quite definitive.
It was a cluster fuck of the highest magnitude, a cavalcade of seemingly unrelated glitches and issues which came together in a black swan moment of incredible coincidence.
And not a single person involved had violated a single posted procedure.
To start with. The brand-new Captain in command of the platoon was so junior that his uniform still squeaks if he turns around too quickly. He had been the honor graduate from the Aerie and had been immediately promoted to company command due to the lack of qualified officers. His ‘senior’ NCO was equally junior and inexperienced and had never been assigned to a brand new unit type.
And said Captain was dyslexic, and relied on iron discipline and strict attention to procedure to function as well as he did.
Unfortunately, procedure dictated that the manuals and checklists to use in a combat vehicle were to be the hardcopy ones provided to the unit rather than the digital versions that could be accessed via the unit intranet. Use of private data communication devices was against procedure and so this Captain avoided using them.
But the Government Printing Office only printed the base manuals, not the various ‘special case’ addenda and appendices that were also produced. If a unit required printed versions of the addenda and appendices they could request them and they would be printed on demand. But there was no specific point in any published procedure to do so.
An experienced CO or NCO would have done so reflexively, or would use the digital ones.
The base manual was explicitly for combat operations, not training, so it included everything needed for proper operation of the equipment in live combat situations.
Strike One.
The Avenger AAA vehicle used the exact same Weapon Selection & Operation panel as every other armored fighting vehicle in service, with minor variations to account for the mission. Variations which were limited to different labels on identical switchology.
Relevant to this incident was something that operational crews had complained about a few times, but which had not changed for multiple good reasons.
There were three primary function switches that each had two positions. First was ‘Automatic Tracking’ and ‘Manual Tracking’. If the switch was in the ‘up’ position the combat computer was in Automatic Tracking Mode, down and the manual overrides became active.
Second, on the Avenger, was ‘Ground Target’ and ‘Air Target’. If the switch was in the ‘up’ position the combat computer was configured for air engagements, down and it was set for ground engagements.
Third, there were ‘Automatic’ and ‘Manual’ fire modes. Again, up was ‘Automatic’ while down was ‘Manual’. In Automatic mode the fire control system would automatically fire the weapons when ready against selected targets. Manual the gunner would have to manually pull the trigger.
Then there was the IFF Mode panel. This could be set in various modes but according to the manual it should be set to ‘Mode V’ with ‘Auto-Engage on Reject’.
The manual was for combat operations, not training.
For training, IFF was supposed to be set to Mode III with Auto-Engage Off. But this was only in the training addendum to the basic manual.
So, following the strict procedures laid out in the manual, the company was configured for ‘Automatic Tracking’, ‘Air Targets’, ‘Automatic’ fire mode, and Mode V IFF with Auto-Engage on Reject.
Strike Two.
As mentioned, this exact panel is found in every single ground vehicle in service and is extremely ubiquitous. There are variations for special purpose systems, and the Avenger is one of those systems. Specifically to the targets panel, on most vehicles it could be set to ‘Secondary’ and ‘Primary’, with secondary usually being defined as anti-infantry or light vehicle work and Primary with more ‘serious’ targets. In every other vehicle, anti-air use is a sub-option to the ‘secondary’ mode. In the Avenger anti-air is the primary mode.
The same manufacturing equipment was used to produce every single one of these panels, with the labels being slapped on afterwards at final assembly.
And nobody had informed the subcontractor responsible for these panels of the actual weapon configuration. This was traced to a simple issue, no one office had the responsibility to make that notification and every single office thought the other ones had done so. It had been done right in the prototypes, but those had been hand-wired.
These weren’t.
So setting the switch position to ‘up’, which should have been ‘air targets’, instead became ‘ground targets’ due to the wiring changes.
Strike Three. The RRF was out.
The fire control systems of the Avengers AAA were, as far as the crews could reasonably have known, set correctly to ‘Automatic Tracking’, ‘Air Targets’, ‘Automatic’ fire mode, and Mode V IFF with Auto-Engage on Reject.
They were actually set to ‘Automatic Tracking’, ‘Ground Targets’, ‘Automatic’ fire mode, and Mode V IFF with Auto-Engage on Reject.
And every other vehicle on the field was squawking Mode III IFF. Thus the IFF system would fail to authenticate and thus Reject… and triggered auto-engagement.
You send a blistering memo to General Potter stressing the need to correct the underlying failures that led to this colossal foul-up, and to also make sure that the poor kid who’d followed every procedure properly didn’t get railroaded for the results of doing what he was supposed to do.
Then you spend a few hours with Sekhmet decompressing. Cuddling a giant tiger is very cathartic.
Economic Roll - N/A
Health Roll - 0 degrees of success
Stability Change roll - 0 degrees of success
Stability Rolls
-Political - 0
-Research - 0
-Economic - 0
Meta Event Roll - 2 rolls, 1 97 resulted in loss of bonus GDP growth, 1 2 resulted in discovery of Mauser 960
Dynasty Luck Roll - 23 - Daughters managed to channel Rhiannon Bruce
Crown Influence Roll - 8 - FAIL
Lords Influence Roll - 10 - no roll
Commons Influence Roll - 2 - FAIL
Health Roll - 0 degrees of success
Stability Change roll - 0 degrees of success
Stability Rolls
-Political - 0
-Research - 0
-Economic - 0
Meta Event Roll - 2 rolls, 1 97 resulted in loss of bonus GDP growth, 1 2 resulted in discovery of Mauser 960
Dynasty Luck Roll - 23 - Daughters managed to channel Rhiannon Bruce
Crown Influence Roll - 8 - FAIL
Lords Influence Roll - 10 - no roll
Commons Influence Roll - 2 - FAIL
Train complex entrance team*
Cost - 5
Target - 50
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS
Build Fortifications lvl 2*
Cost - 2000
Target - 75
Roll - 98
Result - FAIL
Advanced Tactical Training Annex - Mechwarrior Training Center
Cost - 5000
Target - 75
Roll - 28
Result - SUCCESS
Advanced Tactical Training Annex - Vehicle Training Center
Cost - 5000
Target - 75
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
Recruit 1 Lance Ambush Mech for training unit
Cost - 1124
Target - 60
Roll - 23
Result - SUCCESS
Establish Harbor on Castor*
Cost - 1000
Target - 55
Roll - 1
Result - CRITICAL SUCCESS
Establish Harbor on Pollux*
Cost - 1000
Target - 50
Roll - 89
Result - FAIL
Build the Titanium mines and port w/Penguin Fighting Grip*
Cost - 1000
Target - automatic success
Planetary Resource Survey
Cost - 100
Target - 45
Roll - 50
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Strengthen Environmental Regulations Lvl 2
Cost - 5000
Target - 75
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
Power Generation lvl 2*
Cost - 2000
Target - 85
Roll - 79
Result - SUCCESS
Orbital Infrastructure lvl 2*
Cost - 8000
Target - 70
Roll - 8
Result - SUCCESS
Reverse Engineer DEST Infiltration Suit*
Cost - 5000
Target - 50
Roll - 52
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Improved Communications Lvl 2
Cost - 2000
Target - 75
Roll - 79
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Interrogate POWs*
Cost - 50
Target - 65
Roll - 35
Result - SUCCESS
Training
RRF
Target - 80
Roll - 100
Result - CRITICAL FAILURE
1st Armored
Target - 80
Roll - 23
Result - SUCCESS
AeroTraining Wing
Target - 55
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
1st Aerie Cadre
Target - 55
Roll - 57
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Cost - 5
Target - 50
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS
Build Fortifications lvl 2*
Cost - 2000
Target - 75
Roll - 98
Result - FAIL
Advanced Tactical Training Annex - Mechwarrior Training Center
Cost - 5000
Target - 75
Roll - 28
Result - SUCCESS
Advanced Tactical Training Annex - Vehicle Training Center
Cost - 5000
Target - 75
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
Recruit 1 Lance Ambush Mech for training unit
Cost - 1124
Target - 60
Roll - 23
Result - SUCCESS
Establish Harbor on Castor*
Cost - 1000
Target - 55
Roll - 1
Result - CRITICAL SUCCESS
Establish Harbor on Pollux*
Cost - 1000
Target - 50
Roll - 89
Result - FAIL
Build the Titanium mines and port w/Penguin Fighting Grip*
Cost - 1000
Target - automatic success
Planetary Resource Survey
Cost - 100
Target - 45
Roll - 50
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Strengthen Environmental Regulations Lvl 2
Cost - 5000
Target - 75
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
Power Generation lvl 2*
Cost - 2000
Target - 85
Roll - 79
Result - SUCCESS
Orbital Infrastructure lvl 2*
Cost - 8000
Target - 70
Roll - 8
Result - SUCCESS
Reverse Engineer DEST Infiltration Suit*
Cost - 5000
Target - 50
Roll - 52
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Improved Communications Lvl 2
Cost - 2000
Target - 75
Roll - 79
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
Interrogate POWs*
Cost - 50
Target - 65
Roll - 35
Result - SUCCESS
Training
RRF
Target - 80
Roll - 100
Result - CRITICAL FAILURE
1st Armored
Target - 80
Roll - 23
Result - SUCCESS
AeroTraining Wing
Target - 55
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
1st Aerie Cadre
Target - 55
Roll - 57
Result - BARE FAILURE (auto success next turn)
You are relieved when you get the full report from the guard detachment about the mudhole where your daughters found the SLDF rifle. The mudpit was fairly small, very shallow, and generally empty apart from the rifle itself. It appears to have been caused by a very small seap from an underground water source.
Well, at least your daughters won’t have any trauma about playing near a long decomposed body. You get a chance to handle the rifle itself and you quite honestly cannot think of what the SLDF was possibly thinking, or perhaps smoking, to have issued it. It’s far too heavy, for one thing.
It is in the hands of the scientists now, who tell you that while it would be insanely difficult and expensive to fully reverse-engineer it, it would allow your research program to skip past multiple steps in the development of laser-based infantry small arms.
In more… motherly news. Jeremy seems to be having his first crush. As a mother you find it cute, as Queen you find it worrying. The girl in question is a commoner, the daughter of a construction manager who is one of Jeremy’s competitors in the Junior League, regularly racing neck in neck with Jeremy. You are quite certain that your little man doesn’t realize he’s crushing on the girl, and from what you can tell the girl seems equally oblivious. Which speaks rather well of her, in some ways.
They are extremely cute together, but also extremely competitive. Jeremy doesn’t give her a millimeter on the racetrack, but after races he’s always willing to help her with her racer, and somehow he winds up talking about her every time the topic of conversation turns to racing.
It’s cute. It’s probably innocent.
You still worry though.
[] Just watch for now, it’s a juvenile crush and doesn’t seem to be anything too serious yet considering their ages.
[] Have Janet discretely investigate the situation to make sure the girl isn’t a threat to your eldest.
You also think it may be time for a dreaded Talk with Jeremy…
[] Do it yourself
[] Use the superpower of leadership and delegate to Willis. It’s his fault anyways.
You get word that the complex entry team is fully trained in the specialized role that they’ll fulfil, however things are not nearly ready for them on Castor. Before they can be dispatched two things will need to happen, first infrastructure will need to be built out on the continent to support the expedition and second the forward camp will have to be established. But it’s nice to know that they’ll be ready to go when the time comes.
The two expansions to the Aerie also have been completed, with sophisticated simulators for both vehicle crews and battlemechs now in use to enhance training. To make maximum use of the vehicle training facilities you would need to assign some tanks to the 1st Aerie Cadre however.
The new Ambush mechs have been delivered to the Cadre, and the new pilots are shaking down with them. There was some schedule slippage resulting in training plans not quite being completed by the end of the year, but it is anticipated that things are back on track and the Cadre should complete initial training goals early next year.
The serious disruptions in shipping due to the chaos in the shipping industry has completely derailed the plans to upgrade fortifications globally to the new standard. The contractors are promising that they will keep on working on this project and hope to have it finished next year.
The first shipments of refined titanium from the new mining area in Gambier Bay have arrived, only slightly nibbled on by particularly bold dire penguins attacking the freighters despite being sprayed down. Industry is gobbling the new resource up and overall manufacturing activity is soaring as a consequence of the drop in costs.
The environmental lobby is extremely pleased with the new Habitat Protection Laws that have been passed this year. Some industry groups, especially in the luxury timber market, are far less pleased. One consequence of the new laws has also been a serious increase in prices for palm oil, as the new laws sharply limit the practice of replacing native forests with massive palm tree groves.
The shipping disruptions prevent any progress from being made on the establishment of ports on Pollux, but Castor is a totally different story. Things have progressed so well there that in addition to completing the port facilities the construction crews built out infrastructure for government business at the same time, allowing for a seamless institution of political control over the new region.
The planetary resource survey is running a bit slow, one of the survey satellites suffered a communications fault and had to be replaced which slowed data collection enough that results will only be available in Q1 of next year.
In their new facilities the Power Generation Team reports a breakthrough in their research, further improving power conditioning systems and improving the reliability and efficiency of long-distance transmission of power from generating stations to end users.
The Orbital Infrastructure team has likewise reported excellent progress, a new tracking and data relay satellite network is operational with ground stations spread around the equator. The team informs you that before any further improvements can be made the space station would need to be upgraded significantly.
Both the Improved Communications and DEST Infiltration suit teams report good progress and that they both expect results by Q2 of next year at the very latest.
The interrogation of the prisoners is coming along, none of them have managed to suicide or harm any of the guards or interrogators, but even under narco-interrogation none of them have spilled anything but taunts about how their trainers were more effective interrogators and that we’d inevitably fall to the might of the Dragon.
The AeroTraining Wing reports excellent progress, you’d gotten to see some demonstration flights and they are certainly looking capable. 1st Armored Division is also reporting that their artillery unit has reached full capability and has demonstrated superb competence at time on target barrages, shoot and scoot, and everything else that has been asked of them.
The Rapid Reaction Force… is in the hospital.
Almost all of it.
Not the Avenger AAA company, I hasten to add. They’re in administrative confinement while the courts-martial take place.
But the rest of the Force is in the hospital.
It was the very first training exercise.
An incredibly simple training exercise.
‘Unit will form up in parade formation and cross the drill grounds at low speed’
That simple… that easy.
Until 10 seconds into the evolution the entire Avenger AAA companies turrets started slewing around and spitting live shells into the rest of the formation under automatic control.
The crews were able to shut down the system before anybody was killed, but every single other hovercraft in the RRF had crashed.
The initial review had been completed, although the formal courts-martial were still going to have to sit to formalize the findings it appeared quite definitive.
It was a cluster fuck of the highest magnitude, a cavalcade of seemingly unrelated glitches and issues which came together in a black swan moment of incredible coincidence.
And not a single person involved had violated a single posted procedure.
To start with. The brand-new Captain in command of the platoon was so junior that his uniform still squeaks if he turns around too quickly. He had been the honor graduate from the Aerie and had been immediately promoted to company command due to the lack of qualified officers. His ‘senior’ NCO was equally junior and inexperienced and had never been assigned to a brand new unit type.
And said Captain was dyslexic, and relied on iron discipline and strict attention to procedure to function as well as he did.
Unfortunately, procedure dictated that the manuals and checklists to use in a combat vehicle were to be the hardcopy ones provided to the unit rather than the digital versions that could be accessed via the unit intranet. Use of private data communication devices was against procedure and so this Captain avoided using them.
But the Government Printing Office only printed the base manuals, not the various ‘special case’ addenda and appendices that were also produced. If a unit required printed versions of the addenda and appendices they could request them and they would be printed on demand. But there was no specific point in any published procedure to do so.
An experienced CO or NCO would have done so reflexively, or would use the digital ones.
The base manual was explicitly for combat operations, not training, so it included everything needed for proper operation of the equipment in live combat situations.
Strike One.
The Avenger AAA vehicle used the exact same Weapon Selection & Operation panel as every other armored fighting vehicle in service, with minor variations to account for the mission. Variations which were limited to different labels on identical switchology.
Relevant to this incident was something that operational crews had complained about a few times, but which had not changed for multiple good reasons.
There were three primary function switches that each had two positions. First was ‘Automatic Tracking’ and ‘Manual Tracking’. If the switch was in the ‘up’ position the combat computer was in Automatic Tracking Mode, down and the manual overrides became active.
Second, on the Avenger, was ‘Ground Target’ and ‘Air Target’. If the switch was in the ‘up’ position the combat computer was configured for air engagements, down and it was set for ground engagements.
Third, there were ‘Automatic’ and ‘Manual’ fire modes. Again, up was ‘Automatic’ while down was ‘Manual’. In Automatic mode the fire control system would automatically fire the weapons when ready against selected targets. Manual the gunner would have to manually pull the trigger.
Then there was the IFF Mode panel. This could be set in various modes but according to the manual it should be set to ‘Mode V’ with ‘Auto-Engage on Reject’.
The manual was for combat operations, not training.
For training, IFF was supposed to be set to Mode III with Auto-Engage Off. But this was only in the training addendum to the basic manual.
So, following the strict procedures laid out in the manual, the company was configured for ‘Automatic Tracking’, ‘Air Targets’, ‘Automatic’ fire mode, and Mode V IFF with Auto-Engage on Reject.
Strike Two.
As mentioned, this exact panel is found in every single ground vehicle in service and is extremely ubiquitous. There are variations for special purpose systems, and the Avenger is one of those systems. Specifically to the targets panel, on most vehicles it could be set to ‘Secondary’ and ‘Primary’, with secondary usually being defined as anti-infantry or light vehicle work and Primary with more ‘serious’ targets. In every other vehicle, anti-air use is a sub-option to the ‘secondary’ mode. In the Avenger anti-air is the primary mode.
The same manufacturing equipment was used to produce every single one of these panels, with the labels being slapped on afterwards at final assembly.
And nobody had informed the subcontractor responsible for these panels of the actual weapon configuration. This was traced to a simple issue, no one office had the responsibility to make that notification and every single office thought the other ones had done so. It had been done right in the prototypes, but those had been hand-wired.
These weren’t.
So setting the switch position to ‘up’, which should have been ‘air targets’, instead became ‘ground targets’ due to the wiring changes.
Strike Three. The RRF was out.
The fire control systems of the Avengers AAA were, as far as the crews could reasonably have known, set correctly to ‘Automatic Tracking’, ‘Air Targets’, ‘Automatic’ fire mode, and Mode V IFF with Auto-Engage on Reject.
They were actually set to ‘Automatic Tracking’, ‘Ground Targets’, ‘Automatic’ fire mode, and Mode V IFF with Auto-Engage on Reject.
And every other vehicle on the field was squawking Mode III IFF. Thus the IFF system would fail to authenticate and thus Reject… and triggered auto-engagement.
You send a blistering memo to General Potter stressing the need to correct the underlying failures that led to this colossal foul-up, and to also make sure that the poor kid who’d followed every procedure properly didn’t get railroaded for the results of doing what he was supposed to do.
Then you spend a few hours with Sekhmet decompressing. Cuddling a giant tiger is very cathartic.
The first step to phat loot is complete
That's my point. The way most states' "right to work" laws actually work are that they require employers to grant non-union employees the exact same pay and benefits as the union contract.
Basically, people argue for "right to work" as in no closed shops where you can't be employed at all without being a union member, but the laws that are actually passed under the title "right to work" are actually "right to mooch".
It's not contradictory at all. Non-union workers are at-will employees which the employer can fire at any time and for any reason. Union workers are contract employees which the employer can only fire based on the termination conditions agreed upon in the contract.
It's a simple and very fair matter of, "What you agreed to is what you get."
Holy shit sucks to be the RRF we probably need to change the units name at this point they seem to be bloody cursed!
[X] Just watch for now, it’s a juvenile crush and doesn’t seem to be anything too serious yet considering their ages.
[X] Use the superpower of leadership and delegate to Willis. It’s his fault anyways.
[X] Just watch for now, it’s a juvenile crush and doesn’t seem to be anything too serious yet considering their ages.
[X] Use the superpower of leadership and delegate to Willis. It’s his fault anyways.
Kelgar04 - Canon Omake - Interrogating a Fanatic
Interrogation of Lunatic (omake)
Agent Cartwright sat in a steel office chair across from what he considered a rabid lunatic she tapped her teeth with a pen as she looked at the young man who was hurling insults at him in Japanese and sighed. These DEST were proving somewhat hard to break, but then again, Intelligence didn't have much experience with hostile combatants of this level of fanatism. Sighing as the young man just kept hurling curse at her, she stood and moved around the room to refill her water glass probably one of the younger so he will likely prove the easiest to break in the long run especially considering his voice kept cracking every so often which seemed to embarrass him.
She nodded to the technician, and the cocktail was injected, and she said coldly, "quite."
He seemed to resist the drugs then he stopped his tirade and just glared at her, "We will continue where we left off yesterday. Now forces disposition I want to know what casualties you've taken."
"You will get nothing out of me, gaijin bitch," he snarled in his drugged haze, "the dragon will burn your pathetic little world."
She sighed heavily then said, "you have said that every session, but we are still here, and you are our prisoner from where I sit, we hold all the cards."
He glared, and she cut him off, "and your glorious military got defeated by a load of hippo's so it says very little about your capabilities. We will keep doing these narco sessions, the sleep deprivation, the repeated and irregularly timed interrogation, the waterboarding amongst many other methods we have at our disposal."
She leaned back with a cold smile that seemed to get an unease look from her captive, "everyone has their breaking point boy mine was when my husband and daughter where killed in the original assault by your jackbooted thugs."
The cold smile stayed on her face as the lava burned in her soul, "so I can take as long as I need to break you and then it will allow me to achieve what I most desire. Punishing the leader of your little expeditions."
A look of unease filtered across his face and she pushed on, "now where were we? Ah yes, your troop dispositions....."
Agent Cartwright sat in a steel office chair across from what he considered a rabid lunatic she tapped her teeth with a pen as she looked at the young man who was hurling insults at him in Japanese and sighed. These DEST were proving somewhat hard to break, but then again, Intelligence didn't have much experience with hostile combatants of this level of fanatism. Sighing as the young man just kept hurling curse at her, she stood and moved around the room to refill her water glass probably one of the younger so he will likely prove the easiest to break in the long run especially considering his voice kept cracking every so often which seemed to embarrass him.
She nodded to the technician, and the cocktail was injected, and she said coldly, "quite."
He seemed to resist the drugs then he stopped his tirade and just glared at her, "We will continue where we left off yesterday. Now forces disposition I want to know what casualties you've taken."
"You will get nothing out of me, gaijin bitch," he snarled in his drugged haze, "the dragon will burn your pathetic little world."
She sighed heavily then said, "you have said that every session, but we are still here, and you are our prisoner from where I sit, we hold all the cards."
He glared, and she cut him off, "and your glorious military got defeated by a load of hippo's so it says very little about your capabilities. We will keep doing these narco sessions, the sleep deprivation, the repeated and irregularly timed interrogation, the waterboarding amongst many other methods we have at our disposal."
She leaned back with a cold smile that seemed to get an unease look from her captive, "everyone has their breaking point boy mine was when my husband and daughter where killed in the original assault by your jackbooted thugs."
The cold smile stayed on her face as the lava burned in her soul, "so I can take as long as I need to break you and then it will allow me to achieve what I most desire. Punishing the leader of your little expeditions."
A look of unease filtered across his face and she pushed on, "now where were we? Ah yes, your troop dispositions....."
Last edited:
Kelgar04 - Canon Omake - First Mount Up Pt 1
First Mount up Part 1 (Omake)
Harry Ossman climbed the ladder as he reached the top of the platform as he looked down at his new mech. The Ambush was the first battlemech ever produced on the world by the Royal Mechworks. She was a thing of beauty sat there in the bay; he was disturbed from admiring his mech by his lead tech.
"You going to climb in," said Sally Barid, "or are you going to keep drooling over it like it's your girlfriend."
He looked to the tech as she climbed out of the cockpit of the mech she was short wearing a grease-covered working uniform with a tool belt, goggles on her head and short dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Yeah, I know Sally," he said, "but damn, it's the first mech we have, and she is all mine."
"Yeah, Yeah I know," she said rolling her eyes at him, "now go and climb on in so we can do the final checks and then you can take your new girlfriend out for a spin."
He laughed and climbed into his mechs going through the checklist checking everything was in order and finished with a thorough check of the ejection system since if he had to bail he didn't want to be pasted against the canopy.
He activated his com, "Ok Sally," he said, "all green my end booting her up."
"ok get on with it," she said.
He hit the ignition, and the mechanical voice intoned.
"Reactor Online, Sensors Online, Weapons Online, All Systems Nominal."
He grinned like a schoolboy as he went through his check, "all good here, Sally."
"all good here," Sally said, "take her out."
Still grinning, he walked his mech out of the bay, feeling a surge of pleasure as he walked out of the hanger into the practice yard.
Harry Ossman climbed the ladder as he reached the top of the platform as he looked down at his new mech. The Ambush was the first battlemech ever produced on the world by the Royal Mechworks. She was a thing of beauty sat there in the bay; he was disturbed from admiring his mech by his lead tech.
"You going to climb in," said Sally Barid, "or are you going to keep drooling over it like it's your girlfriend."
He looked to the tech as she climbed out of the cockpit of the mech she was short wearing a grease-covered working uniform with a tool belt, goggles on her head and short dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Yeah, I know Sally," he said, "but damn, it's the first mech we have, and she is all mine."
"Yeah, Yeah I know," she said rolling her eyes at him, "now go and climb on in so we can do the final checks and then you can take your new girlfriend out for a spin."
He laughed and climbed into his mechs going through the checklist checking everything was in order and finished with a thorough check of the ejection system since if he had to bail he didn't want to be pasted against the canopy.
He activated his com, "Ok Sally," he said, "all green my end booting her up."
"ok get on with it," she said.
He hit the ignition, and the mechanical voice intoned.
"Reactor Online, Sensors Online, Weapons Online, All Systems Nominal."
He grinned like a schoolboy as he went through his check, "all good here, Sally."
"all good here," Sally said, "take her out."
Still grinning, he walked his mech out of the bay, feeling a surge of pleasure as he walked out of the hanger into the practice yard.
Last edited:
Kelgar04 - Canon Omake - Self Reflection
Self Reflection
Captain Vladimir Sato's hands shook as he sat in the smallholding cell he'd been in since the incident with a concerned guard outside who was there to stop him from hanging himself. He'd hadn't killed anyone, but it had been a near run thing it was supposed to be their first damned exercise, and they'd almost massacred the RRF because of a god damned technical fuck-up.
He ran his shaking hands through his hair; god damn it! He was supposed to be their captain even though he was so shinnying new he squeaked! He was supposed to make sure stuff like this never happened or could happen! God damn it!
He would probably lose his rank even though it was only a month old he would probably hold the record for the shortest captaincy in the Roost history because of this fuck up.
He shook his head and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Well, whatever happened from now on he needed to do better damn it. If and when he got out of here and if he still had command of the unit he needed to work on his learning difficulty he couldn't afford to let it hamper him and caused a repeat of this disaster. His hands clenched it would be hard, but it would be worth it in the long run, and it will make his life easier.
Despair the sick feeling of despair that roiled in his gut manifested into the fires of determination as his mind raced. He also needed to rebuild their confidence and moral they were all still as green as damn grass this had to change. If he still had anything to say on it he would drill them they would go over the manuals, and he would drag a manufacturing technician in to train them, so they knew their triple-A better than they knew their boyfriends and girlfriends.
He will also cajole, persuade and scream at them to try and get them moving as a unit again and pull them back together as a unit. and get them moving in the same direction. He looked up god and kami as his witness he would do all he could to fix his unit if he could and make amends for the incident!
He looked up a new fire welling inside he if he wasn't locked up or cashiered he would damn well make it happen.
Omake writers note: A quick point this isn't intended to offend anyone with dyslexic or any form of learning difficulty I suffer from dyslexic and used anger amongst other things as a motivator so I could become competent with the English language when I was younger.
Captain Vladimir Sato's hands shook as he sat in the smallholding cell he'd been in since the incident with a concerned guard outside who was there to stop him from hanging himself. He'd hadn't killed anyone, but it had been a near run thing it was supposed to be their first damned exercise, and they'd almost massacred the RRF because of a god damned technical fuck-up.
He ran his shaking hands through his hair; god damn it! He was supposed to be their captain even though he was so shinnying new he squeaked! He was supposed to make sure stuff like this never happened or could happen! God damn it!
He would probably lose his rank even though it was only a month old he would probably hold the record for the shortest captaincy in the Roost history because of this fuck up.
He shook his head and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Well, whatever happened from now on he needed to do better damn it. If and when he got out of here and if he still had command of the unit he needed to work on his learning difficulty he couldn't afford to let it hamper him and caused a repeat of this disaster. His hands clenched it would be hard, but it would be worth it in the long run, and it will make his life easier.
Despair the sick feeling of despair that roiled in his gut manifested into the fires of determination as his mind raced. He also needed to rebuild their confidence and moral they were all still as green as damn grass this had to change. If he still had anything to say on it he would drill them they would go over the manuals, and he would drag a manufacturing technician in to train them, so they knew their triple-A better than they knew their boyfriends and girlfriends.
He will also cajole, persuade and scream at them to try and get them moving as a unit again and pull them back together as a unit. and get them moving in the same direction. He looked up god and kami as his witness he would do all he could to fix his unit if he could and make amends for the incident!
He looked up a new fire welling inside he if he wasn't locked up or cashiered he would damn well make it happen.
Omake writers note: A quick point this isn't intended to offend anyone with dyslexic or any form of learning difficulty I suffer from dyslexic and used anger amongst other things as a motivator so I could become competent with the English language when I was younger.
Last edited:
Kelgar04 - Canon Omake - Sharp-Dressed Man
Sharp dressed man
In the secure lab of the Material Science section of the Carter Building of University campus, Dr Rafael Cardones examined the synthetic mesh of the suit. The stuff was fascinating. It was used to absorb the user's body heat and radiate into the surrounding atmosphere evenly making the wearer harder to detect and from what he could protect against extreme environmental conditions.
He took a sip out of his mug with a picture of a green falcon on it and added more notes to his already thick notebook on this project. He smiled he'd already sketched out a rough idea for a possible simplified version extreme environmental protection of the suit for their troops with a scribble note in the corner to see if they could develop it for explorers and miners.
"How's it going, Raf?" asked the rotund Professor Port.
"Well so far, Port," he said looking at his former mentor, "the fibres and material of this suit are incredible despite being unmitigated assholes the Drac's can build a stealth suit."
"Aye," Port said, "I've been looking over the more armoured sections the Kevlar used in it well-protected as well if we hadn't upgrade our infantries rifles a few years ago we would have been in trouble."
Port took a wig out of his mug and said, "We probably won't be able to make anything this advanced, yet however it's given me an idea's for new infantry armour and uniforms for our troops."
Rafael nodded, "same I was thinking of how we could adapt the hostile environment protection on the suits for our people it would help when we have to send people to Phinoex or when we launch people to other worlds."
Port was about to say something else when Professor Leila Sharif came into the lab, "Hey Port, Hey Raf."
"Hey Lei," he said, "hows it going?"
She grimaced, "Not well had to get away from that Allah thrice-damned rifle."
"Oh yeah, you were part of the team looking over the Mauser," he said, "what's wrong with it?"
She walked over to the coffee machine and poured herself a mug, "what isn't," she says as the works the coffee machine, "damn thing was built by a committee that wanted to cram as much damned crap into one weapon."
"That bad?" Port asked.
She turned back a full mug in her hand, "Oh don't get me started when I was rocking khaki in the infantry before I left our rifle weighed about six kilo's," she takes an angry gulp of the coffee, "this is about ten kilos fully loaded it's too heavy, and unless you're an over-muscled bodybuilding superhuman, then it's a bitch to carry in full field gear."
"I can imagine," he said, cutting her off before she can get going, "From what I saw it was the SLDF trying to cram all the bells and whistles into it."
"Yep," she said taking a swig of her coffee, "My team and I already have a rough idea of an improved version we could attempt, but we have no clue if it would work since it's only a hazy idea, but I would say it would be a damn sight better than the 960."
Port nods, "Anyway, I should get back to work. I'll see you two later."
He raises his mug and waves as port heads back to his side of the lab and looks to Leila and asked, "So other than your initial assessment of the SLDF's spending habits. How's your day been?"
"Good so far," she said, smiling at him, "We still on for tonight? I need to go back to my people."
He smiled at her, "You know it, I'll see you at the Hole in the wall after work."
She smiles at him as she leaves his and Ports lab and he goes back to work on the Bastard Drac suit with a grin.
In the secure lab of the Material Science section of the Carter Building of University campus, Dr Rafael Cardones examined the synthetic mesh of the suit. The stuff was fascinating. It was used to absorb the user's body heat and radiate into the surrounding atmosphere evenly making the wearer harder to detect and from what he could protect against extreme environmental conditions.
He took a sip out of his mug with a picture of a green falcon on it and added more notes to his already thick notebook on this project. He smiled he'd already sketched out a rough idea for a possible simplified version extreme environmental protection of the suit for their troops with a scribble note in the corner to see if they could develop it for explorers and miners.
"How's it going, Raf?" asked the rotund Professor Port.
"Well so far, Port," he said looking at his former mentor, "the fibres and material of this suit are incredible despite being unmitigated assholes the Drac's can build a stealth suit."
"Aye," Port said, "I've been looking over the more armoured sections the Kevlar used in it well-protected as well if we hadn't upgrade our infantries rifles a few years ago we would have been in trouble."
Port took a wig out of his mug and said, "We probably won't be able to make anything this advanced, yet however it's given me an idea's for new infantry armour and uniforms for our troops."
Rafael nodded, "same I was thinking of how we could adapt the hostile environment protection on the suits for our people it would help when we have to send people to Phinoex or when we launch people to other worlds."
Port was about to say something else when Professor Leila Sharif came into the lab, "Hey Port, Hey Raf."
"Hey Lei," he said, "hows it going?"
She grimaced, "Not well had to get away from that Allah thrice-damned rifle."
"Oh yeah, you were part of the team looking over the Mauser," he said, "what's wrong with it?"
She walked over to the coffee machine and poured herself a mug, "what isn't," she says as the works the coffee machine, "damn thing was built by a committee that wanted to cram as much damned crap into one weapon."
"That bad?" Port asked.
She turned back a full mug in her hand, "Oh don't get me started when I was rocking khaki in the infantry before I left our rifle weighed about six kilo's," she takes an angry gulp of the coffee, "this is about ten kilos fully loaded it's too heavy, and unless you're an over-muscled bodybuilding superhuman, then it's a bitch to carry in full field gear."
"I can imagine," he said, cutting her off before she can get going, "From what I saw it was the SLDF trying to cram all the bells and whistles into it."
"Yep," she said taking a swig of her coffee, "My team and I already have a rough idea of an improved version we could attempt, but we have no clue if it would work since it's only a hazy idea, but I would say it would be a damn sight better than the 960."
Port nods, "Anyway, I should get back to work. I'll see you two later."
He raises his mug and waves as port heads back to his side of the lab and looks to Leila and asked, "So other than your initial assessment of the SLDF's spending habits. How's your day been?"
"Good so far," she said, smiling at him, "We still on for tonight? I need to go back to my people."
He smiled at her, "You know it, I'll see you at the Hole in the wall after work."
She smiles at him as she leaves his and Ports lab and he goes back to work on the Bastard Drac suit with a grin.