Campaign: Mauve Squadron

[SRoss]

Toombs has no friends. It would be wasted effort.

True, but if he'd thought he had a shot with Minmei, he'd not spot the fangs and claws till it was WAY too late.

[Arnie100]

Rick: "There was somethjng you wanted to show me, Lisa?"
Lisa: Last Picture
Rick: "No wonder she didn't like mirrors..."

[Alpha 11]

Ah, you found another thing Toombs is good for...after fertilizer....
Organ donor.

Minmei: (Singing) "Wouldn't you give your heart to a friend?"

Toombs has no friends. It would be wasted effort.

Very true.

Toombs has no friends. It would be wasted effort.

True, but if he'd thought he had a shot with Minmei, he'd not spot the fangs and claws till it was WAY too late.

Rick: "There was somethjng you wanted to show me, Lisa?"
Lisa: Last Picture
Rick: "No wonder she didn't like mirrors..."

[glitterboy2098]

So there's gotta be an interim oeriod to explain what happens to Mauve and their new mobileexile base of operations between Toombs' soon-to-be death and the emergence of New Generation. Admittedly, with Toombs' death-by-porcelain-maelstrom , squad and ship moral might actually IMPROVE, mutiny averted, and the squadron might actually survive long enough not to be summarily disbanded, long enough to be posted with the Pioneer Expedition(s).
On the other hand, Rumbold's ship(which of course needs an appropriate name) is obsolete, shot-to-hell-and-back, and is likely a deathtrap for any purpose outside a freefloating brothel or scrapmetal....And unless UEDF high command has reason to, spare parts are likely NOT coming any time soon.

Fold drive sled for the ARMD using a drive off a zent cyclops recon ship and a salvaged reflex furnace.. both refit in a way it looks like they were the end result of a season of junkyard wars, and bolted into the space under the ARMD. gets a crew of misfits and sent on 'long range recon' of the local star groups.. expected to be boring duty, but in typical mauve fashion they end up running into (and away from) a zent factory satellite, space pirates of some kind, several stellar events, and eventually escorts from the robotech master's mothership fleet..

[taalismn]

[
Fold drive sled for the ARMD using a drive off a zent cyclops recon ship and a salvaged reflex furnace.. both refit in a way it looks like they were the end result of a season of junkyard wars, and bolted into the space under the ARMD. gets a crew of misfits and sent on 'long range recon' of the local star groups.. expected to be boring duty, but in typical mauve fashion they end up running into (and away from) a zent factory satellite, space pirates of some kind, several stellar events, and eventually escorts from the robotech master's mothership fleet..

Clearly a case of either not enough, or too much, duct tape.

[parkhyun]

I'd like to point out that there's still a lot of unmined material aboard the SDF-1. Yes, we all enjoyed the saga of the ship's fighter pilots,but what stories are still untold of the dangers and drama faced by:

*The RDF Band - strings, flutes, and death. Also tuba.

*Public Affairs - Today's mission features Minmei! Again.

*RDFCIS - Murder most fowl when a galley chef is found with a knife in his chest and a bag of potato flakes on his balls.

*JAG - Another Warrant Officer was caught illegally home brewing, but the evidence was flushed down the toilet, about 30 minutes later. Who will take the case???

[taalismn]

I'd like to point out that there's still a lot of unmined material aboard the SDF-1. Yes, we all enjoyed the saga of the ship's fighter pilots,but what stories are still untold of the dangers and drama faced by:

*The RDF Band - strings, flutes, and death. Also tuba.

*Public Affairs - Today's mission features Minmei! Again.

*RDFCIS - Murder most fowl when a galley chef is found with a knife in his chest and a bag of potato flakes on his balls.

*JAG - Another Warrant Officer was caught illegally home brewing, but the evidence was flushed down the toilet, about 30 minutes later. Who will take the case???

SDF General Maintenance---Some people get to devise work-arounds for the Main Gun power conduits, or the Barrier Shields, or building better mecha; these guys replace light bulbs, try to figure out ways to keep the water pipes from bursting due to alternating exposure to deep space heat and cold, chasing down malfunctioning Petit Cola machines, unclogging the sewer lines, weeding the park, cleaning up the obscene graffiti scrawled on bulkheads by bored kids, and getting feral rabidPollinators cats out of the ship's ventilation system.

SDF Food Services---How do you keep so many people with access to heavy weapons from mutinying after the thousandth straight meal of disguised spam? Or prepare a feast fit for alien emissaries when your chief chef is dead and all the best knives confiscated as evidence? From breeding hamsters as livestock to dealing with the accidental inclusion of somebody's LSD stash in the day's chowder, the SDF-1's valiant food preparation specialists struggle to keep everybody from deciding to eat off-base.

[Alpha 11]

So there's gotta be an interim oeriod to explain what happens to Mauve and their new mobileexile base of operations between Toombs' soon-to-be death and the emergence of New Generation. Admittedly, with Toombs' death-by-porcelain-maelstrom , squad and ship moral might actually IMPROVE, mutiny averted, and the squadron might actually survive long enough not to be summarily disbanded, long enough to be posted with the Pioneer Expedition(s).
On the other hand, Rumbold's ship(which of course needs an appropriate name) is obsolete, shot-to-hell-and-back, and is likely a deathtrap for any purpose outside a freefloating brothel or scrapmetal....And unless UEDF high command has reason to, spare parts are likely NOT coming any time soon.

Fold drive sled for the ARMD using a drive off a zent cyclops recon ship and a salvaged reflex furnace.. both refit in a way it looks like they were the end result of a season of junkyard wars, and bolted into the space under the ARMD. gets a crew of misfits and sent on 'long range recon' of the local star groups.. expected to be boring duty, but in typical mauve fashion they end up running into (and away from) a zent factory satellite, space pirates of some kind, several stellar events, and eventually escorts from the robotech master's mothership fleet..

[
Fold drive sled for the ARMD using a drive off a zent cyclops recon ship and a salvaged reflex furnace.. both refit in a way it looks like they were the end result of a season of junkyard wars, and bolted into the space under the ARMD. gets a crew of misfits and sent on 'long range recon' of the local star groups.. expected to be boring duty, but in typical mauve fashion they end up running into (and away from) a zent factory satellite, space pirates of some kind, several stellar events, and eventually escorts from the robotech master's mothership fleet..

Clearly a case of either not enough, or too much, duct tape.

I'd like to point out that there's still a lot of unmined material aboard the SDF-1. Yes, we all enjoyed the saga of the ship's fighter pilots,but what stories are still untold of the dangers and drama faced by:

*The RDF Band - strings, flutes, and death. Also tuba.

*Public Affairs - Today's mission features Minmei! Again.

*RDFCIS - Murder most fowl when a galley chef is found with a knife in his chest and a bag of potato flakes on his balls.

*JAG - Another Warrant Officer was caught illegally home brewing, but the evidence was flushed down the toilet, about 30 minutes later. Who will take the case???

I'd like to point out that there's still a lot of unmined material aboard the SDF-1. Yes, we all enjoyed the saga of the ship's fighter pilots,but what stories are still untold of the dangers and drama faced by:

*The RDF Band - strings, flutes, and death. Also tuba.

*Public Affairs - Today's mission features Minmei! Again.

*RDFCIS - Murder most fowl when a galley chef is found with a knife in his chest and a bag of potato flakes on his balls.

*JAG - Another Warrant Officer was caught illegally home brewing, but the evidence was flushed down the toilet, about 30 minutes later. Who will take the case???

SDF General Maintenance---Some people get to devise work-arounds for the Main Gun power conduits, or the Barrier Shields, or building better mecha; these guys replace light bulbs, try to figure out ways to keep the water pipes from bursting due to alternating exposure to deep space heat and cold, chasing down malfunctioning Petit Cola machines, unclogging the sewer lines, weeding the park, cleaning up the obscene graffiti scrawled on bulkheads by bored kids, and getting feral rabidPollinators cats out of the ship's ventilation system.

SDF Food Services---How do you keep so many people with access to heavy weapons from mutinying after the thousandth straight meal of disguised spam? Or prepare a feast fit for alien emissaries when your chief chef is dead and all the best knives confiscated as evidence? From breeding hamsters as livestock to dealing with the accidental inclusion of somebody's LSD stash in the day's chowder, the SDF-1's valiant food preparation specialists struggle to keep everybody from deciding to eat off-base.

[taalismn]

This seems appropriate for this thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MauveShirt

[Alpha 11]

This seems appropriate for this thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MauveShirt

[taalismn]

...Just because, despite the odds against them, Mauve Squadron just seems to come back.
Personally I suspect masochistic tendencies.

[SRoss]

Mauve Squadron OST

Mauve Squadron Theme

Mauve Squadron: The Next Generation Theme

[Alpha 11]

...Just because, despite the odds against them, Mauve Squadron just seems to come back.
Personally I suspect masochistic tendencies.

I agree.

Mauve Squadron OST

Mauve Squadron Theme

Mauve Squadron: The Next Generation Theme

For the first one, and very nice for the second one.

[taalismn]

Confirm destination of Mauve Squadron varitechs stripped from them when they made the move to VAF12Xs....
Several Alphas and Betas(the ones in best shape) were seen being painted over in a blue-white-gray-black chip paint-job consistant with arctic ops units.

*Naturally, once Ice Guard saw the original mauve color scheme, they gutted the planes, searched for booby-traps, tested for stress fractures, then completely rewired the aircraft, discarded ANYTHING that looked suspicious, and shoehorned what they KNEW worked, into the late-model airframes, then, and ONLY THEN, they rebuilt and repainted the planes.
Admittedly, this means that they're flying Alphas and Betas with VF-1 and even VF-2 avionics stuffed in them, and completely rebuilt ejection seat mechanisms(like they'd trust any pryotechnic devices Mauve touched), but 'kludge queens' suit Ice Guard just fine, thank you.

The original Mauve-issued avionics and other assorted mecha innards were traded back to other squadrons through the informal supply-side 'logistics-mart', after being laundered through Earthside militia units.

[SRoss]

And thus is the story of how T.E.D. ended up installed in an E.B.S.I.S. Boomer.

[taalismn]

And thus is the story of how T.E.D. ended up installed in an E.B.S.I.S. Boomer.

Faster than a live grenade tossed on a pool table.
Ice Guard actually got T.E.D.'s ancestor/prototype/competition rival, along with attendent creator.
Now, provided that machine wasn't a cyber-zen buddhist, or wasn't wiped out by the OTHER AIs exiled to the ice cap, the experience soured Ice Guard enough so they immediately made sure T.E.D. was ELSEWHERE other than where they were.

[Alpha 11]

Confirm destination of Mauve Squadron varitechs stripped from them when they made the move to VAF12Xs....
Several Alphas and Betas(the ones in best shape) were seen being painted over in a blue-white-gray-black chip paint-job consistant with arctic ops units.

*Naturally, once Ice Guard saw the original mauve color scheme, they gutted the planes, searched for booby-traps, tested for stress fractures, then completely rewired the aircraft, discarded ANYTHING that looked suspicious, and shoehorned what they KNEW worked, into the late-model airframes, then, and ONLY THEN, they rebuilt and repainted the planes.
Admittedly, this means that they're flying Alphas and Betas with VF-1 and even VF-2 avionics stuffed in them, and completely rebuilt ejection seat mechanisms(like they'd trust any pryotechnic devices Mauve touched), but 'kludge queens' suit Ice Guard just fine, thank you.

The original Mauve-issued avionics and other assorted mecha innards were traded back to other squadrons through the informal supply-side 'logistics-mart', after being laundered through Earthside militia units.

So, you're saying they basicly made things worse for themselves?

And thus is the story of how T.E.D. ended up installed in an E.B.S.I.S. Boomer.

And thus is the story of how T.E.D. ended up installed in an E.B.S.I.S. Boomer.

Faster than a live grenade tossed on a pool table.
Ice Guard actually got T.E.D.'s ancestor/prototype/competition rival, along with attendent creator.
Now, provided that machine wasn't a cyber-zen buddhist, or wasn't wiped out by the OTHER AIs exiled to the ice cap, the experience soured Ice Guard enough so they immediately made sure T.E.D. was ELSEWHERE other than where they were.

[taalismn]

[
So, you're saying they basicly made things worse for themselves?
:

That's up for debate; Mauve was a COMBAT unit that actually saw more actual combat time than the IG, so they had to maintain a minimal degree of preparedness. On the other hand, they tended to put a lot more stress on their equipment and, thanks to both bungling local management and overall pariah-rating, were last in line for priority supply.
Ice Guard was a dumping ground that saw fairly little action(it was mostly against the elements and the off-odd ice-monster), but they tended to be very creative with what they DID have on hand, and a good number of their personnel were fairly competent(if unfocused or possessed of poor attitudes) at juryrigging stuff and doing necessary repairs with what little they had on hand(or could salvage), and they become positively BRILLIANT during the Invid Occupation.
At worst Ice Guard broke even on the deal. Optimistically, they might have come out slightly ahead.

[Alpha 11]

[
So, you're saying they basicly made things worse for themselves?
:

That's up for debate; Mauve was a COMBAT unit that actually saw more actual combat time than the IG, so they had to maintain a minimal degree of preparedness. On the other hand, they tended to put a lot more stress on their equipment and, thanks to both bungling local management and overall pariah-rating, were last in line for priority supply.
Ice Guard was a dumping ground that saw fairly little action(it was mostly against the elements and the off-odd ice-monster), but they tended to be very creative with what they DID have on hand, and a good number of their personnel were fairly competent(if unfocused or possessed of poor attitudes) at juryrigging stuff and doing necessary repairs with what little they had on hand(or could salvage), and they become positively BRILLIANT during the Invid Occupation.
At worst Ice Guard broke even on the deal. Optimistically, they might have come out slightly ahead.

Now that sounds like something I could read about, how they did during the Invid Occupation. I do like reading a watching about losers coming out on top.

[taalismn]

[Now that sounds like something I could read about, how they did during the Invid Occupation. I do like reading a watching about losers coming out on top.

Check out the Ice Guard thread. Admittedly it hasn't been updated in a while, but we left it off on what a Season 3 might have looked like, with them going into the Invid Occupation era.

[Alpha 11]

[Now that sounds like something I could read about, how they did during the Invid Occupation. I do like reading a watching about losers coming out on top.

Check out the Ice Guard thread. Admittedly it hasn't been updated in a while, but we left it off on what a Season 3 might have looked like, with them going into the Invid Occupation era.

Will do.

[SRoss]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The New Generation

Miazaki: "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ZOMBIES!!!"

Random Mauve Squadron PC #1: "Umm, They chased Chief Toombs into that escape pod over there."

Random Mauve Squadron PC #2: "Then, we, ah, jettisoned it over Siberia."

Miazaki: "The Ice Guard aren't going to like this."

[taalismn]

If there's ANYBODY in the UEEF/UEDF who knows about zombies, it's Mauve Squadron; they seem to keep popping up in every other mission they go on.*


*Not technically true...sometimes they're mutants that just LOOK like zombies, or winos who SMELL like zombies, but as far as Mauve Sqiuadron is concerned, they ARE zombies for reporting purposes.

[Alpha 11]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The New Generation

Miazaki: "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ZOMBIES!!!"

Random Mauve Squadron PC #1: "Umm, They chased Chief Toombs into that escape pod over there."

Random Mauve Squadron PC #2: "Then, we, ah, jettisoned it over Siberia."

Miazaki: "The Ice Guard aren't going to like this."

If there's ANYBODY in the UEEF/UEDF who knows about zombies, it's Mauve Squadron; they seem to keep popping up in every other mission they go on.*


*Not technically true...sometimes they're mutants that just LOOK like zombies, or winos who SMELL like zombies, but as far as Mauve Sqiuadron is concerned, they ARE zombies for reporting purposes.

[SRoss]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The Original Series

Toombs: "Thought of a great prank! Let's do regular recon flights over the IceGuard, playing Christmas Carols."

Chief Mowbray: "Even OUR pilots don't have that much of a death wish."

[taalismn]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The Original Series

Toombs: "Thought of a great prank! Let's do regular recon flights over the IceGuard, playing Christmas Carols."

Chief Mowbray: "Even OUR pilots don't have that much of a death wish."

Yeah, they know damned well that if they get shot down, there's no such thing as a prisoner exchange or parole program.

[Alpha 11]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The Original Series

Toombs: "Thought of a great prank! Let's do regular recon flights over the IceGuard, playing Christmas Carols."

Chief Mowbray: "Even OUR pilots don't have that much of a death wish."

MAUVE SQUADRON: The Original Series

Toombs: "Thought of a great prank! Let's do regular recon flights over the IceGuard, playing Christmas Carols."

Chief Mowbray: "Even OUR pilots don't have that much of a death wish."

Yeah, they know damned well that if they get shot down, there's no such thing as a prisoner exchange or parole program.

[SRoss]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The Original Series

Toombs: "Thought of a great prank! Let's do regular recon flights over the IceGuard, playing Christmas Carols."

Chief Mowbray: "Even OUR pilots don't have that much of a death wish."

Yeah, they know damned well that if they get shot down, there's no such thing as a prisoner exchange or parole program.

The problem with prisoner exchange is you'd have to find someone who wanted them back.

[taalismn]

Adventure: Mauve Squadron(Original Series)
The Ice Job
(Note: this adventure precludes the PCs having ad any previous knowledge of IceGuard)
(Note2: It’s also a lot darker than previous Mauve adventures)

Hook:
Mauve Squadron is given special orders to travel to the Arctic and attack an enclave of micronized Zentraedi Malcontents from Khyron’s old army, who have been laying low while gathering resources(especailly stealing UEDF combat equipment, including mecha, vehicles, and uniforms) to carry out future terrorist actions against the micronians(humans) and turncoat Zentraedi. The UEDF has it on good authority that the Malcontents have been at great pains to not show any visible signs of their activity, but they are still VERY dangerous, and should not be given any opportunity to fight back or escape. Fortunately, the briefers have VERY good intel on the Malcontents, including location and layout of their base. All Mauve Squadron has to do is fly in, use the element of surprise to hit the Malcontent base with some especially nasty daisycutter ordnance specially provided for the mission, then fly back home to a heroes’ welcome...or at least a forgiving of some of Mauve’s previous black marks.
Oh, and they're not allowed to breath a mention of this to anybody else, since there's been talk of politics and pro-Zentraedi amnesty talks. Talking publicly about the mission will nix any thought of repairing the Mauves' dismal mission record.
Yep, reading between the lines, clearly this is a suicide mission. NOTHING will go this well for Mauve Squadron, but orders are orders, and having those black marks erased from their records is MIGHTY tempting.

Line:
If Mauve follows the orders to the letter(and Toombs is all for the letter on this one), it should actually go pretty much as described; the aerial assault will surprise the Malcontents and the ordnance explodes most satisfactorily, apparently destroying the base and burying it under torrents of shattered ice and snow, obliterating it from sight. However, if the PCs somehow deviate from the mission plan, and somehow alert the Malcontents or try some clever attack pattern, the defenders put up a hellacious amount of resistance, possibly shooting down a few Mauves. Oh yeah, and the specially configured daisycutters and special ordnance(which could be tactical nukes) seem to go off really quick, quick enough to maybe catch a few Mauves as they try to pull out of their bombing runs.
On the other hand it should be noted that any attempts to land and gather more intel on the Malcontents prior to the strike will net little extra information that doesn’t already jive with what the intelligence reports say. The Malcontents are using an abandoned pre-Rain base hidden in a glacier, they’re using older UEDF gear, they’re slobby on discipline, and they’ve got lots of kludged-together gear. They’ll also act, if not hostily, at least evasive and paranoid if they discover somebody sneaking up on them. If any Mauve Squadron members are actually captured, they’ll be hauled into the base and interrogated by Malcontents dressed in UEDF uniforms, before being tossed in a cold cell ‘to rot’(meanwhile Toombs will be carrying out the attack anyways, which should give any captured Mauve personnel extra reason to be worried).
Anybody who gets shot down will soon find themselves enjoying the hospitality of the arctic; bitter appendage-killing cold, crevasses under the ice, mutant polar bears, killer seals, Angry Eskimos, EBSIS tech-pirates, Abominable Snowmen, and really cranky and bloodthirsty Malcontents.

S(t)inker:
If the Mauves haven’t learned from previous snoocker-adventures, they’ve been snoockered again with this one. There are no Malcontents; the ‘renegades’ are legitimate UEDF personnel; IceGuard.
Seems one of IceGuard’s Enemies in High Places has decided to be more proactive in disposing of the misfits in the Arctic once and for all and has come up with a clever plan to use one problem unit to eliminate another. Mauve is being used as convenient, deniable, and ultimately disposable hatchetmen for the job. If IceGuard kills a few of Mauve in the process, it’s no great loss, and besides, the daisycutters and demolition bombs are already rigged to catch the attackers in the resulting explosions.
For their part, IceGuard is already on edge after their Mean Rivals have pulled a particularly dirty series of pranks on them and have been looking for some bruising payback, which is why they react so strongly to strangers, even those in UEDF uniform, sneaking around. More cabin fever and more reason than most to be paranoid has the IceGuarders meaner-tempered than most.
If Mauve carries out a successful strike, IceGuard is apparently obliterated from history once and for all, and the whole thing recorded, at best and very briefly, as ‘anti-Malcontent action in the Arctic Circle’. However, the whole thing is written off as so top secret that Mauve Squadron members attempting to cash in on the promised record reprieve will find themselves confronted by blank-faced military bureaucrats who deny any such promises were made, and for what? And anybody attempting to do any digging about the whole incident may find themselves in WORSE trouble, if not disappeared altogether(not to Ice Guard, though, but to something more permanent....these folks after all just authorized a NUKE STRIKE on a friendly base; a few murders are nothing compared to that). In short, Mauve Squadron’s secret Enemies in High Places have reached a back-scratching accommodation with Ice Guard’s most bitter Enemies in High Places to essentially screw both units over.


Note 3: If, for whatever reason, the Mauves call off their attack on the IceGuard, there’s still the problem of the special ordnance, which happens to have some nasty little safeguards, such as timers(or maybe remote control triggers) ticking away under their planes. If they’re lucky, all Mauve loses is their mecha, but that’s not the intention...

[Alpha 11]

MAUVE SQUADRON: The Original Series

Toombs: "Thought of a great prank! Let's do regular recon flights over the IceGuard, playing Christmas Carols."

Chief Mowbray: "Even OUR pilots don't have that much of a death wish."

Yeah, they know damned well that if they get shot down, there's no such thing as a prisoner exchange or parole program.

The problem with prisoner exchange is you'd have to find someone who wanted them back.

Adventure: Mauve Squadron(Original Series)
The Ice Job
(Note: this adventure precludes the PCs having ad any previous knowledge of IceGuard)
(Note2: It’s also a lot darker than previous Mauve adventures)

Hook:
Mauve Squadron is given special orders to travel to the Arctic and attack an enclave of micronized Zentraedi Malcontents from Khyron’s old army, who have been laying low while gathering resources(especailly stealing UEDF combat equipment, including mecha, vehicles, and uniforms) to carry out future terrorist actions against the micronians(humans) and turncoat Zentraedi. The UEDF has it on good authority that the Malcontents have been at great pains to not show any visible signs of their activity, but they are still VERY dangerous, and should not be given any opportunity to fight back or escape. Fortunately, the briefers have VERY good intel on the Malcontents, including location and layout of their base. All Mauve Squadron has to do is fly in, use the element of surprise to hit the Malcontent base with some especially nasty daisycutter ordnance specially provided for the mission, then fly back home to a heroes’ welcome...or at least a forgiving of some of Mauve’s previous black marks.
Oh, and they're not allowed to breath a mention of this to anybody else, since there's been talk of politics and pro-Zentraedi amnesty talks. Talking publicly about the mission will nix any thought of repairing the Mauves' dismal mission record.
Yep, reading between the lines, clearly this is a suicide mission. NOTHING will go this well for Mauve Squadron, but orders are orders, and having those black marks erased from their records is MIGHTY tempting.

Line:
If Mauve follows the orders to the letter(and Toombs is all for the letter on this one), it should actually go pretty much as described; the aerial assault will surprise the Malcontents and the ordnance explodes most satisfactorily, apparently destroying the base and burying it under torrents of shattered ice and snow, obliterating it from sight. However, if the PCs somehow deviate from the mission plan, and somehow alert the Malcontents or try some clever attack pattern, the defenders put up a hellacious amount of resistance, possibly shooting down a few Mauves. Oh yeah, and the specially configured daisycutters and special ordnance(which could be tactical nukes) seem to go off really quick, quick enough to maybe catch a few Mauves as they try to pull out of their bombing runs.
On the other hand it should be noted that any attempts to land and gather more intel on the Malcontents prior to the strike will net little extra information that doesn’t already jive with what the intelligence reports say. The Malcontents are using an abandoned pre-Rain base hidden in a glacier, they’re using older UEDF gear, they’re slobby on discipline, and they’ve got lots of kludged-together gear. They’ll also act, if not hostily, at least evasive and paranoid if they discover somebody sneaking up on them. If any Mauve Squadron members are actually captured, they’ll be hauled into the base and interrogated by Malcontents dressed in UEDF uniforms, before being tossed in a cold cell ‘to rot’(meanwhile Toombs will be carrying out the attack anyways, which should give any captured Mauve personnel extra reason to be worried).
Anybody who gets shot down will soon find themselves enjoying the hospitality of the arctic; bitter appendage-killing cold, crevasses under the ice, mutant polar bears, killer seals, Angry Eskimos, EBSIS tech-pirates, Abominable Snowmen, and really cranky and bloodthirsty Malcontents.

S(t)inker:
If the Mauves haven’t learned from previous snoocker-adventures, they’ve been snoockered again with this one. There are no Malcontents; the ‘renegades’ are legitimate UEDF personnel; IceGuard.
Seems one of IceGuard’s Enemies in High Places has decided to be more proactive in disposing of the misfits in the Arctic once and for all and has come up with a clever plan to use one problem unit to eliminate another. Mauve is being used as convenient, deniable, and ultimately disposable hatchetmen for the job. If IceGuard kills a few of Mauve in the process, it’s no great loss, and besides, the daisycutters and demolition bombs are already rigged to catch the attackers in the resulting explosions.
For their part, IceGuard is already on edge after their Mean Rivals have pulled a particularly dirty series of pranks on them and have been looking for some bruising payback, which is why they react so strongly to strangers, even those in UEDF uniform, sneaking around. More cabin fever and more reason than most to be paranoid has the IceGuarders meaner-tempered than most.
If Mauve carries out a successful strike, IceGuard is apparently obliterated from history once and for all, and the whole thing recorded, at best and very briefly, as ‘anti-Malcontent action in the Arctic Circle’. However, the whole thing is written off as so top secret that Mauve Squadron members attempting to cash in on the promised record reprieve will find themselves confronted by blank-faced military bureaucrats who deny any such promises were made, and for what? And anybody attempting to do any digging about the whole incident may find themselves in WORSE trouble, if not disappeared altogether(not to Ice Guard, though, but to something more permanent....these folks after all just authorized a NUKE STRIKE on a friendly base; a few murders are nothing compared to that). In short, Mauve Squadron’s secret Enemies in High Places have reached a back-scratching accommodation with Ice Guard’s most bitter Enemies in High Places to essentially screw both units over.


Note 3: If, for whatever reason, the Mauves call off their attack on the IceGuard, there’s still the problem of the special ordnance, which happens to have some nasty little safeguards, such as timers(or maybe remote control triggers) ticking away under their planes. If they’re lucky, all Mauve loses is their mecha, but that’s not the intention...

Wow, those poor guys need some help and luck.

[SRoss]

Their first clue that something was up should be the "accurate" intelligence.

Of course, this would probably be a good lead in to the Invid and post-Invid Occupation IceGuard campaign. The captured Mauve pilots would other then Reaper, be the only survivors of the original squadron.

[taalismn]

[ Wow, those poor guys need some help and luck.

That's the inherent risk of being a bunch of ####ups; you're either disbanded or somebody starts thinking of using you as cheap muscle...especially if you're desparate enough not to ask questions.

And, yes, this would be a nasty trick to spring on players who up until now have been playing comic slapstick, and now find themselves possibly being somebody else's assassins. Here the comedy is in running for their lives from from an array of insane opponents out to get them(curiously, the usual suspects like Matai, can be conspiciously absent).

[parkhyun]

Coupla points:

Mauve Squadron canon has been retrofitted to replace the zombies with morlocks, because morlocks are 30% funnier.

Ice Guard would not cross paths with Mauve Squadron, because Mauve (and CDR Toombs) dies when TED triggers a nuclear reaction to kill Steve Liu.

However, 3rd platoon, Bravo company, 1st Armored is still around ("Often Prepared!"). 23rd ADA is still around ("Raiders Forever!"). Chief Mowbray is still home-brewing. Oh yeah, I guess there's also Skull Squadron. A**holes.

[taalismn]

Coupla points:

Mauve Squadron canon has been retrofitted to replace the zombies with morlocks, because morlocks are 30% funnier.

Ice Guard would not cross paths with Mauve Squadron, because Mauve (and CDR Toombs) dies when TED triggers a nuclear reaction to kill Steve Liu.

However, 3rd platoon, Bravo company, 1st Armored is still around ("Often Prepared!"). 23rd ADA is still around ("Raiders Forever!"). Chief Mowbray is still home-brewing. Oh yeah, I guess there's also Skull Squadron. A**holes.

And the cover-up to hide the obliteration of an entire base of innocent UEG misfits begins.

And I agree; Morlocks ARE funnier at parties, and they can tell some rather amusing stories about life in the underground(corroborated by the BioSanitation Squad...if you can get those two groups on friendly terms with each other at the same gathering, well, prepare to be AMAZED at what stories they swap), whereas zombies...well, they're the death of the party.

[Alpha 11]

Their first clue that something was up should be the "accurate" intelligence.

Of course, this would probably be a good lead in to the Invid and post-Invid Occupation IceGuard campaign. The captured Mauve pilots would other then Reaper, be the only survivors of the original squadron.

True.

[ Wow, those poor guys need some help and luck.

That's the inherent risk of being a bunch of ####ups; you're either disbanded or somebody starts thinking of using you as cheap muscle...especially if you're desparate enough not to ask questions.

And, yes, this would be a nasty trick to spring on players who up until now have been playing comic slapstick, and now find themselves possibly being somebody else's assassins. Here the comedy is in running for their lives from from an array of insane opponents out to get them(curiously, the usual suspects like Matai, can be conspiciously absent).

Surprised that there are so many skumbages still around, or are they like cockroaches, and just VERY hard to kill.

Coupla points:

Mauve Squadron canon has been retrofitted to replace the zombies with morlocks, because morlocks are 30% funnier.

Ice Guard would not cross paths with Mauve Squadron, because Mauve (and CDR Toombs) dies when TED triggers a nuclear reaction to kill Steve Liu.

However, 3rd platoon, Bravo company, 1st Armored is still around ("Often Prepared!"). 23rd ADA is still around ("Raiders Forever!"). Chief Mowbray is still home-brewing. Oh yeah, I guess there's also Skull Squadron. A**holes.

So its all Skulls fought?

Coupla points:

Mauve Squadron canon has been retrofitted to replace the zombies with morlocks, because morlocks are 30% funnier.

Ice Guard would not cross paths with Mauve Squadron, because Mauve (and CDR Toombs) dies when TED triggers a nuclear reaction to kill Steve Liu.

However, 3rd platoon, Bravo company, 1st Armored is still around ("Often Prepared!"). 23rd ADA is still around ("Raiders Forever!"). Chief Mowbray is still home-brewing. Oh yeah, I guess there's also Skull Squadron. A**holes.

And the cover-up to hide the obliteration of an entire base of innocent UEG misfits begins.

And I agree; Morlocks ARE funnier at parties, and they can tell some rather amusing stories about life in the underground(corroborated by the BioSanitation Squad...if you can get those two groups on friendly terms with each other at the same gathering, well, prepare to be AMAZED at what stories they swap), whereas zombies...well, they're the death of the party.

[taalismn]

[

However, 3rd platoon, Bravo company, 1st Armored is still around ("Often Prepared!"). 23rd ADA is still around ("Raiders Forever!"). Chief Mowbray is still home-brewing. Oh yeah, I guess there's also Skull Squadron. A**holes.

So its all Skulls fought? :

Those Skulls ill take ANY mission if prestige is on the line. Glory-hogging wankers.

[Alpha 11]

[

However, 3rd platoon, Bravo company, 1st Armored is still around ("Often Prepared!"). 23rd ADA is still around ("Raiders Forever!"). Chief Mowbray is still home-brewing. Oh yeah, I guess there's also Skull Squadron. A**holes.

So its all Skulls fought? :

Those Skulls ill take ANY mission if prestige is on the line. Glory-hogging wankers.

Ya, but they get the job done, at least.

[taalismn]

[

Ya, but they get the job done, at least.

So THEY'D have you think. Credit-stealing bastards.

[Alpha 11]

[

Ya, but they get the job done, at least.

So THEY'D have you think. Credit-stealing bastards.

Its a conspiracy, right?

[taalismn]

Of course, Mauve has long suffered due to the machinations of petty minds and jealous egos.

[Alpha 11]

Of course, Mauve has long suffered due to the machinations of petty minds and jealous egos.

Or just their own incompetence.

[taalismn]

Mowbray: "What was that? What just went by us?"
Toombs: "Something that makes me feel a lot less bad about being the thread stump."

[Alpha 11]

Mowbray: "What was that? What just went by us?"
Toombs: "Something that makes me feel a lot less bad about being the thread stump."

[taalismn]

Well, 'Blazing Star" seems set to redeem, if not Toombs' reputation, at least Mauve's.

This raises the possibility that at some point some future historian/analyst will compile a review of military unit effectiveness, and ultimately conclude "It was Toombs' fault".

[SRoss]

Ironically, they used a manuscript written by Claudia Grant.

[taalismn]

Ironically, they used a manuscript written by Claudia Grant.

Who couldn't POSSIBLY have been adversely influenced in her opinions by Roy F****er and Skull Squadron, right?

[SRoss]

Ironically, they used a manuscript written by Claudia Grant.

Who couldn't POSSIBLY have been adversely influenced in her opinions by Roy F****er and Skull Squadron, right?

Toombs: (Sitting on the toilet with the book in his lap) "IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!! THEY'RE ALL OUT TO GET ME!!!"

(Flushes the toilet and suddenly hears the super high pressure pumps kick in)

Toombs: (Just before being sucked in) "Oh God!!!"

[Alpha 11]

Well, 'Blazing Star" seems set to redeem, if not Toombs' reputation, at least Mauve's.

This raises the possibility that at some point some future historian/analyst will compile a review of military unit effectiveness, and ultimately conclude "It was Toombs' fault".

Ya, I think it was mostly his fault.

[taalismn]

The rest of the fault was the people who actually OBEYED him.

[SRoss]

There were some good comments, but TED input them into something other then Ariel and the printer couldn't see them.