Inchin: Planetfall

[Tiglath]

For the experienced traveller certain planets have a first contact “vibe”. They seem to promise much or coyly conceal their half glimpsed treasures in veils of atmosphere. Inchin looks like a ruddy rotten fruit with veins of mould running across it, its unremitting sulphurous glare an unyielding promise of heat and dust to come.

The merc unit will travel in the cargo module of the modular cutter in two “lifts”. The infantry and their G carrier transport in the first and then the air/raft, HQ vehicles and the logistical tail in the second.

The Diplomats are riding in the Spinward Star’s launch and will lead the flight in.

Suspended in geostationary orbit above the regular and familiar geometric patterns of the down port on the surface is Inchin Orbital. With a shortage of naval architects aboard the “lower decks” pass opinion (this is what happens when they are allowed windows). “Fek me – it’ll be lovely when it’s finished” and “Someone ping ‘em ten creds on the comm so’s they can ‘ave the lights on for a ‘alf hour!” The up port looks to be an impressive structure but closer inspection and worse, any working knowledge, reveals the space station to appear to be a floating derelict.

Captain Alvarez hastily climbs aboard the cutter as you strap in. He announces “I came to wish you all "bon voyage"!” He then approaches Frank and the nearest officers and quietly adds “Inchin orbital asks we perform sensor duties while they service their array and all our comms have to be routed through the Baronial Guard HQ in Inchin City. Here’s my number so we can get that beer afterwards”. He produces his comm and, eyeing the troops settling in to the cargo area, “taps” it to any officers seated within easy reach. He then loudly says “Thank you for choosing Mertactor Lines and good luck!” He waves cheerfully as he exits the cutter.

The cutter lifts and noses out of the Spinward Star’s cargo bay to take position with the launch as both craft head dirtside. Through the open iris valve to the cockpit the seated mercs can hear the flight crew chatting between themselves and talking to the launch crew.

[joertexas]

The cutter lifts and noses out of the Spinward Star’s cargo bay to take position with the launch as both craft head dirtside. Through the open iris valve to the cockpit the seated mercs can hear the flight crew chatting between themselves and talking to the launch crew.

Prerna shifts in her seat as she adjusts her weapons carrier bag to a better position at her feet. She closes her visor for a moment to check her combat armor's environmental displays, showing everyone else the 'rockface' exterior of her visor and helmet. Everything checks out, and she opens the visor and sits back.

[shaidar]

Captain Alvarez hastily climbs aboard the cutter as you strap in. He announces “I came to wish you all "bon voyage"!” He then approaches Frank and the nearest officers and quietly adds “Inchin orbital asks we perform sensor duties while they service their array and all our comms have to be routed through the Baronial Guard HQ in Inchin City. Here’s my number so we can get that beer afterwards”. He produces his comm and, eyeing the troops settling in to the cargo area, “taps” it to any officers seated within easy reach. He then loudly says “Thank you for choosing Mertactor Lines and good luck!”

Frank

"Thank you Captain, one moment please..." he looks around the room and locates Dubbs "Sargent Dubbs, would you please send the good Captain a business card with our private contact information please, in case he needs a quiet word in the future" he turns back to the Captain and drops his voice low "For emergencies only, just in case there are problems with the official channels"

[Tiglath]

The cutter follows the launch down the gravity well towards Inchin down port.

Then from the cockpit the merc officers suddenly hear “Contact! Two bogeys inbound from Inchin City - not the down port. No IIF, military speed, closing, still closing”.

“Get me Alvarez. Captain we have two inbound threats - military profile, hostile flight path, no comms – get the lasers online and splash these goons!”

They hear Alvarez reply “We can not fire until fired upon! They look to be ten ton fighters. Protect the launch. Fly friendly - you are authorised to damage the paint work”.

"Ram them? Hell - it might just work!"

One of the flight crew keys the cargo intercom “Air threat! Buckle up for evasive manoeuvres. Hey mercs - if you have any help or advice now would be a good time”.

[joertexas]

One of the flight crew keys the cargo intercom “Air threat! Buckle up for evasive manoeuvres. Hey mercs - if you have any help or advice now would be a good time”.

"Climb away from them," Prerna calls out. "We are way higher in the gravity well!!"

OOG: We are descending from orbit, so we have a huge speed and altitude advantage at the moment, plus we are above most of the atmosphere. To catch us, they have to stay lower, and atmospheric heating will really screw with them if they try to overhaul us. Plus, the higher they are, the better targets they make for the ship's weapons. As far as being fired upon - if they shoot, killing them afterwards won't save us. The ship has to shoot them before they get in range.

[Shrike]

Skip stows his bag underneath his seat as best as he can, jumps in his seat and secures his belt, hastily fumbling with the buckle. "Who the hell smuggled fighters here?" he remarks to no one in particular. Unless of course, the fighters were less smuggled and more stolen. This thought spurs Skip to do his best to access and ready his ACR, first with the seat belt on, then unbuckling it in frustration. Looking at the others he says "If they've got fighters, let's be ready for the rest of the welcome committee." Racing against the impending evasive maneuvers, he hops back in his seat and buckles up, rifle in his lap.

[shaidar]

Frank keys his comms

"Cross here. Nothing I've read of the situation indicates that the Baron has lost control of the planet enough for his enemies to be able to launch an advanced attack from Inchin City. I think this is the Baron showing off or testing us, or both. I suggest staying on our approved approach vector and continue to identify ourselves over comms, highlighting we are an unarmed diplomatic mission, and only take evasive action if absolutely necessary"

He checks his kit is secure and buckles up, just in case.

[Tiglath]

Your comm crackles with what someone eventually identifies as a broadcast from Inchin City.

“…lcome once more to our visitors both from neighbouring Collace and indeed the Imperium beyond!” The speech is accompanied by a band playing martial music and the cheers of what must be an entire stadium packed with a wildly enthusiastic crowd.

The pair of fighters make an exceedingly close pass over the launch and cutter eliciting comments both as to their recklessness and apparent illegitimacy from the flight crew. They then turn back in to drop into formation flanking visiting craft igniting smoke pots in what must be colours significant to the Baronial Fief of Inchin.

With the opportunity for visual contact those in the know reckon the escorts are appropriately named “frontier fighters” (relatively cheap but nevertheless basically effective) missile armed space capable fighters. In this case clearly operating from a ground base.

The flight crew are directed to overfly the starbase and land in startown. On approach you can see that the sulphur desert has indeed had the groundwork laid for a full class A downport. The runways and dispersal areas have been bulldozed flat but remain bare earth, the roads and taxiways connecting them are laid out but are unsurfaced and the planet’s yellow dust has reclaimed all save the pattern of the intent. It seems Inchin downport truly is little more than a “blueprint” of a city with about as much vertical relief.

As you drop into final approach at least a few buildings are visible along the unpaved roads (exactly as per the Inchin diagram).

Overflying startown business premises and what might be public buildings in the zones lining the arterial routes are seen complete but standing seemingly vacant, sealed and shrouded against the atmosphere. A sports stadium seems both as incongruous as it is unused. A slow turn on the approach above a processional way passes over what could be described as a “shanty town” of cobbled together cargo containers. The fighter escorts peel off and the flight crew reply to whoever has been guiding the approach “Confirm. Landing on the smoke on visual” and then incredulously comment “Well, who needs instruments anyway?”

As the launch and cutter land everyone masks up and disembarks into Inchin's punishing heat, glare and deeply uncomfortable "light" gravity. Martial music blares and a path swept through the dust reveals paving slabs leading between two rows of AFVs to a reviewing stand in front of a red rock bluff which rises majestically against the backdrop of the yellow desert. The launch passengers are already making their way towards it.

The “welcome parade” consists of some ten tracked Tanks and APCs armed with what looks to be high velocity cannon and missile racks respectively. The crews, including an infantry section (in CES with ACRs) for the APCs, stand to attention in front of their vehicles. Someone then orders a general salute and the martial music pumped out through the now obvious loudspeakers changes tune still accompanied by the recorded enthusiastic cheering.

A group of a couple of hundred sullen looking civilians stare at the new arrivals from behind portable wire security barriers while the desert wind capriciously hurls clouds of opaque sulphur dust across the parade square.

[Leitz]

Jakob grinned. Fortunately, no one there could see his face, and that was okay. He did key his combat armor on, and set to recording as much as possible. While the team's weapons might not have magazines inserted, they were at the ready.

"Okay, Beau, we're on the right flank. Make sure everyone looks sharp. Consider it a recon mission, where you have to act like a native. A parading, acting like you're not scanning, native. Everyone, eyes open. Don't stare, but look for the small things. Are all vehicles well serviced? Are the ports clean? Are the weapons carrying any rust, and are they held the same way?"

This was a big win. They could get vehicle markings and assess the Baron's troops in one quick march. Jakob's team had one side, Skip's had the other. Recon, Tech, and everyone else would be doing the same thing; gathering data. They could collate feeds and evaluate later. Right now, it was good to get a feel for the other potential combatants in the AO.

[joertexas]

Prerna walks with her team. "You heard him," she says over her section circuit, which, along with the rest of their comms,is heavily encrypted. "Check everything, without being obvious about it."

[The Bindoner]

Oooh, tanks. Jess is a bit of a tank-spotter. Professional interest, of course.

Prerna, having shared a room with Jess for the last week, knows she spends a lot of her free time watching holo's on the technicalities, design and ergonomics of AFV's, favourite host "Trepida" ( and playing Tanks of The Worlds on her comm ).

While she does give the crews an appraisal on the way down the line ( Parade Order, probably can't tell much beyond are they neat and at attention), it's the vehicles that get the keen eye. Again, Parade Order, but...

Jess assesses their Top Trump points in TL, mobility, armament, protection, then scans for maintenance issues. Are they Depot clean or inspection on deployment clean? Any of those vehicles leaking POL onto the ground beneath them? Shouldn't be much use for an MBT here, so, are those things fresh out of mothballs, and if so did they drive here or get offloaded by transporter? ( Dust'll show )

[shaidar]

Frank falls into position with the rest

"Be alert, ladies and gentlemen. This is the perfect opportunity for someone to make a statement.

Like the others he scans the area for danger and useful info, trying not be obvious. However, Frank is particularly paying attention to the sullen civilians and concerned about snipers, IEDs and the like.

Frank has had a number of counter-insurgency postings, hopefully this will stand him in good stead.

[Tiglath]

Jakob, Skip and Prerna

The team scope out the Baronial Guard and note that the infantry element seem competent enough at basic drill movements. They have enclosed helmets with desert proofing (likely anti glare and atmospheric filters) and wear CES. They are armed with 9mm ACRs with rifle grenades; squad support is from a bulky laser rifle and an auto grenade launcher. Two of the twelve strong squad wear issue sidearms so may be a support weapon crew.

[Tiglath]

Jess

Jess casts her tank spotter’s eye over the paraded armour. She doesn’t peg the make and model (must be local builds) but she reckons they are Tech 9 or thereabouts and both will therefore cruise at somewhere around 60 kph. She notes they have extra wide tracks projecting beyond the factory fitted track guards which must be a desert mod. The vehicles look to be in use on deployment and well maintained.

She guesses that the tank’s 120mm smoothbores will put a hole in a starship (Armour 40) under a kilometre and could reach out up to five kliks with reduced penetration. Defensively the tanks will have a little less armour than a starship hull and the APCs something like three quarters of that. However, now she’s infantry Jess warily notes the autocannon that both the tanks and the APCs mount. These are going to kill mid tech infantry at least up to half the range of the tank’s main guns. Jess knows the only acknowledgement a tanker needs to make for combat armour is remembering to toggle Discarding Sabot on the autocannon’s ammo feed.

[Tiglath]

Frank

Frank notices some dissent among the universally masked and desert suited civilians. The crowd becomes more agitated and a placard with “Tyrant” is displayed. A couple of rocks are lobbed over the fence and the troopers deployed as security on the parade side of the fence raise their rifle butts to threaten the crowd on the other side.

[joertexas]

Jakob, Skip and Prerna

The team scope out the Baronial Guard and note that the infantry element seem competent enough at basic drill movements. They have enclosed helmets with desert proofing (likely anti glare and atmospheric filters) and wear CES. They are armed with 9mm ACRs with rifle grenades; squad support is from a bulky laser rifle and an auto grenade launcher. Two of the twelve strong squad wear issue sidearms so may be a support weapon crew.

Prerna zooms in on a few of the troopers and records the imagery on her camera for later study.

[shaidar]

Frank

Frank notices some dissent among the universally masked and desert suited civilians. The crowd becomes more agitated and a placard with “Tyrant” is displayed. A couple of rocks are lobbed over the fence and the troopers deployed as security on the parade side of the fence raise their rifle butts to threaten the crowd on the other side.

Frank will look particularly for anyone who is paying close attention, but 'separate' from the others, more interested in watching us than agitating.

ooc: Not sure if my armour has a camera too, but if so then Frank will be recording as well. WIll be useful see if we can match any faces with known trouble-makers later (cue agent Liv)

[Shrike]

Skip takes his place, noticing the loadout and discipline of the Baronial Guard as well as the agitated local "well wishers." Sardonically, he thinks that freedom of expression is alive and well on Inchin, and as much as he'd like to crack wise to the others he maintains comm discipline and keeps an eye out for anything unusual.

Recon-1, Roll [2d6] = 8+1, am I doing it right?

[Leitz]

Catching the movement of the security detail near the crowd; Jakob zooms in and watches their tactics and drill. How similar or different they might be from the guards on parade. How the civilians facial expressions and body language reflect attitudes to the security detail.

He'll also keep attention on Beau and his own troops. How well have they internalized the lessons? What needs work? Are they ready for the next steps?

His own body language, if observed, is simply "Open for business". His ready weapons and his turn on a microcredit gait are old habit now. The senior staff, combat veterans, don't have to parade.

[The Bindoner]

Jess is quite interested to see an unfamiliar design. Can't be Inchin local production, surely.

The protest draws her attention, and she uses the suit's image enhancement suite to scan the agitators and the troops holding things in check. Practiced ritual of protest, or tense confrontation?

Jess has some experience with crowds of angry civilians, a few tours trying to enforce peace on MacDermont, Police Actions on several border worlds.