[color=Olive]"Good points, all of you,"[/color] Colonel Wayne acknowledged, turning his attention first to his most senior Mechwarrior. [color=Olive]"Family Man, you're correct in asserting that we're going to need outside assistance in order for this operation to be sustainable. After we get back on our feet and can effectively start shooting back, we'll need to start branching out to see if we can make contact with the forces opposing the NPDRE. Right now, we are [i]technically[/i] still under orders from the Capellan Confederation to aid Governor Xiu's administration, so if the loyalists are still willing to honor our contract, they're our first option. If that falls through, or if Yuzhny Portveyn falls, then we'll start looking more closely at the FPA. In either case, however, that will be [i]after[/i] we reestablish ourselves."[/color]

Turning to the tankers, the Colonel addressed their questions.

[color=Olive]"The Free People's Army and the Heavenly Sword,"[/color] he said, [color=Olive]"Are destabilizing elements on-world, but as far as we have determined, neither force has significant anti-material firepower. Both appear to be equipped with the usual things you'll find among partisan forces: small arms, Molotov cocktails, IEDs, and the like. Nasty against personnel and uncovered vehicles, but effectively useless against heavy armor and Battlemechs. As long as you've got your hatches buttoned up, neither group is currently our problem. If they [i]do[/i] make themselves our problem, however, then your instructions are to make them very rapidly [i]not[/i] our problem again. There's a lot of propaganda being spread over the civilian channels about both groups being 'terrorists' at the moment, but as far as any reliable comms can determine, neither faction has actually violated the tenets of the Ares Conventions yet, so the standard rules of engagement apply. No firing unless fired upon, minimum necessary force when engaging in populated areas."[/color]

The [url=https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Ares_Conventions]Ares Conventions[/url], a series of arms limitations and rules of engagement, had technically been suspended since the founding of the Star League. However, after the ravages of the Succession Wars, most major powers had come back around to at least offering lip-service to the Conventions as ways to rein in the ravages of unrestricted warfare. The rules, though, always grew murky when discussing asymmetrical fighting against partisan forces, especially those consisting of radicalized civilians. "One man's freedom fighter," the old saying went, "is another man's terrorist."

Given the level of scrutiny most mercenary commands found themselves under, since their reputation was tied so closely to the level of clients they could attract, often the safest bet was to simply play fair until the enemy gave you reason not to.

Finally, turning his attention to Mechwarrior Saarinen, he addressed her concerns.

[color=Olive]"Back to the mission at hand,"[/color] he said. [color=Olive]"Giggles here brings up a salient point: what exactly is our plan B? If we are unable to commandeer the supply trucks, or if we have to intercept the convoy en route, then the mission will become a very [i]literal[/i] smash-and-grab. Anyone whose 'Mechs are equipped with working hand actuators will grab what supplies we can off of the trucks, then we scuttle the rest to deny them to the enemy. Ammunition may be low, but in theory, we can rely on energy weapons to perform a second raid later, so long as we don't have to fight it out with the Crimson Fists. We cannot, however, survive without that water. Our reserves are already getting low, and as you already know, there is no freshwater on Espia. If we need to pick and choose what comes with us and what gets left behind, the water is the absolute first priority, followed by the ammo and armor."[/color]