All Quiet on the Aeolan Line

[Zafuel]

The Trench
The soldier is a tribune; one of the six directly below the legatus.
"Damn, ruddy bad timing. " He glances around, as though looking for someone vaguely senior. "I presume you just saw that dogfight?"

Almost as an afterthought, he sticks out his hand.

"Aulus Octavius Caepio; fifth tribune."

The Briefing
"Currently, our intelligence suggests that the Milonian soldiers are beaten men. A strong, decesive victory will collapse the Milonian army; and with them, the whole of the Central Alliance could collapse. It is to that end that we are preparing for a major offensive."

[Mavian]

Gaius looks up at the sky. "Yes sir, I caught the tail end of it. I do believe we have a teline set-up if you wish to speak to the commander."

[Zafuel]

"No, no need to disturb the centurion. I'm sure you're capable of handling a simple operation."


"Right, that dogfight. I'm afraid that the poor Coalition pilot was more than just some flyboy..."

[Mavian]

"Understood Sir, Do you have the co-ordinates where they went down?"

He turns and barks at Eris
"On your feet, and find the Immune, we gotta search and rescue to get organized, and we don't got much time."

[Exeson]

Sangius lounges against the wall, "and how are you so sure your intellegence is correct?" he says, and then adds on as an afterthought "sir".

[Zafuel]

Briefing
"Good Mars man, Acilius is one of the best men we've got! He'd run across that wasteland and sock it to the Imperator himself if he wasn't so vital here! Don't let me catch you saying that ever again!"

Trench
"I have a rough map, but I wouldn't put much faith in it. Remember, your first objective is to rescue the pilot; he's one of the best we've got, and the intelligence he has may be vital. Second objective is to salvage whatever you can of his aeropteros; engine, autogun, whatever survived."

[Selv]

Atticus (Trench)

It is at this moment that Atticus re-enters the dugout, whistling happily and holding under one arm the collected alchemical odds and ends he managed to scrounge. Recognising the tribune's badge of rank, he smartly sets down the package and salutes. ((a high-up in a trench can only mean trouble- just like they told you in basic, Vicio: if in doubt, shut up, stand up straight, and look patriotic.))

[Mavian]

"Anything you can give us sir. Atticus, good, we gotta search and rescue mission, plane went down and they want us to pull the pilot and whatever we can salvage. The Commanders are still involved with the Legate, so its up to us. Any ideas?"

[stimpius]

Ilane

"So what is it you exactly want us to do? Lead a charge across no mans land and take the front line or trenches? Or be more subtle and go in as a crack squad gather what intel we can to augment what you already know, and confirm it or not. Then come back and plan the offensive from there."

[Exeson]

"Don't worry sir, I won't let you catch me sir. So you want us to go over the top? all guns blazing? for death or glory? It seems a bit... dumb sir, it must not have stretched the imagination much. Sir"

[Selv]

Atticus (trench)

"Well, which side of the Alliance lines is he on, sir? Can we hold out for nightfall?"

[Zafuel]

Trench
Octavius points at the sky.
"It's getting darker. He's closer to us than the Alliance; somewhere between the two lines. It's entirely possible that the Milonians will try to mount a raid of their own to seize the pilot, so we need to do this soon. Get kitted up; take three miles with you three. Within the hour; it'll be as dark enough. I'd rather not have the Pteron Legions on my back for waiting too long."

Briefing
Surprisingly, Cato laughs at Sangius, as though his borderline insubordination was comical.
You've been reading Pacilus anti-war claptrap. It's true that Avitus' strategies were somewhat uninventive, but he's been replaced by now. We're talking about winning the war with a good assualt."
Cato hands a weapons manifest to Eris.

"Looking good, huh? We've been stockpiling artillery for months now. We plan to hold up a continuous bombardment for a week, then a massed infantry attack. With any luck, there'll be no enemy forces left in their trenches. We take trench repair kits, fix up their trenches and use them as a staging point for the next wave of advances."

He pauses.

"So, what do you think?!"

Spoiler

Show

I'm sure some of you might recognise Cato's description of his forthcoming battle. Don't worry, it will be a very different kind of conflict to the one he's refering to.

Moechi, are you still playing?

[stimpius]

Ilane

"My main worry sir is the fact that the artillery bombardment would fail. What if you do througholy destroy the front line only to find out they hid deep in holes interconnected and inter-spersed like rabbit warrens? And what would our role in this forthcoming battle be?"

[Zafuel]

Is anyone still wanting to play?

[Mavian]

((I am, still waiting on a response from Eris before I post, or I could just ignore him))

[Exeson]

yes, I was actually waiting for you to post.

[Zafuel]

I was trying to keep both the briefing and the raid running along in parallel, since it took some juggling to make sure they work out (something needs to happen at the appropriate time).

So, I'm waiting for the raid guys to post. Thanks! Come on Moechi!

[stimpius]

{{Was waiting on a reply to the breifing before i posted again.}}

[Selv]

Atticus (Trench)

Atticus rubs his chin thoughtfully.

"So we have the advantage of distance, and with a bit of luck, a pteronaut ace who's expecting us. Thinking about it, a Milly raid might put them off the idea of ploughing over no-man's-land with artilery again. If we get in and start back before they get there, it could work in our favour."

[Mavian]

Gaius looks over at Eris before shaking his head and turning to Selv.

"I'll leave the planning up to you, s'not my thing anyway. I'll go dig up some help while you work."

Reaching down to his weapons, he pulls the blade of his out a few inches and tests it against his thumb. Nodding to himself, he straps it across his back and grabs his rifle, before turning to face the Tribune.


"Where I can I grab these Miles you said we could take, don't want to empty this trench in case of a raid."

[Moechi_Vill]

(People stopped posting on the OOC thread and I was unable to find the IC thread by search for a few days. Pluss my internet was screwy. I'm bookmarking this thread now. :()

"Ready to go Sir!" and indeed Eris is ready to go. All his field gear is at hand except his horse and the handkerchief his mom gave him when he left home.

[Zafuel]

Cato
"We have over four million shells. I'd be suprised if the damned rats survived what we're going to throw at them."

"Now, where does your company come in? About three miles behind Milonian lines is the Aquitanian Ports. As you may know, Raen has been dealing with problems in the Northern Ocean, but they're now ready to commit their fleet to the attack. Our legion's task is to take the ports to allow the Raen fleet to land. Most of the legion will occupy the trenches; you are two others centuries will need to take the port. Then, with five Raen legions on our side, we push forwards and we'll be in Milon by the end of the week!"

Octavius
"So, are we ready? Atticus, if you can save the engine, do what you can, but the pilot is the first priority. Also..."

Octavius hands a beaten metal roll of wire to Eris.

"Teline wire," he says by means of explanation.
"As you go out, try and lay this on the ground. It'll be useful for when Cato's new offensive comes.

[Moechi_Vill]

"Sir, yes Sir!" Eris is practically shivering with anticipation.
He waits.

[stimpius]

Ilane

"So you want to bomb them to pieces, hope they aren't entrenched deeper than you think or your "intelligence" has reported back, and send us in? Or send us in now and take out those ports?"

[Zafuel]

"Im sorry, Centurion, exactly what are you saying?"

[Selv]

Atticus (raid) salutes. "Sir." ((With these two onboard, no-one'll dare engage us... I just hope they know enough to keep their heads down when the firing starts.))

[Exeson]

"I think she is saying, Sir, that she is unsure of exactly our roll. Do we take part in the major offensive or do we strike ahead of the time, attempting to get over the enemy lines with a handful of troops a few days before the offensive and attempt to put the ports out of action."

[Zafuel]

Cato
"You'll be part of the main offensive. I'm afraid there's no way we can get anyone past the lines. That was our initial plan, but you'll have to be part of the main attack for now.

Octavius
A group of soldiers; eight of them, enter the dugout. Octavius singles three of them out.

"Miles Augurius, Tilius and Ulysis will be going with you. Immune Aquila and her soldiers will be in command of the trench while your gone."

[Moechi_Vill]

Eris continues waiting.

[Mavian]

Looking back at the three unfortunate souls who had been selected to follow them, he nods his head at the Immune before turning back to the Tribune.

"Best we be heading out before the enemy starts getting any funny ideas. Don't suppose we have any trench out that way, sir? Be nice to keep ourselves out of sight for as long as possible"