Joint Duty Log - GenSharpe/ColTowers

Posted on 241505.17 @ 2:05am by Colonel Adam Towers & General Richard Sharpe

Mission: The Krigoran War [GQ]

=*= BEGIN LOG =*=

Failure always hit Adam Towers hard, especially when it resulted in the deaths of people he was responsible for. As he sat and waited to be admitted to Sharpe's office he wondered what he was more bothered by... the failure itself, or the fact that it had happened enough in the last few years that he was starting to learn how to accept it without falling to pieces.

The perfectionist in him was starting to fade. Whether that was good or bad, he wasn't quite sure yet.

Sharpe only kept Towers waiting long enough for him to finish up a meeting he was having with his staff heads. Once that was done, he summoned Towers into the office that had once been used by the Krigoran spaceport administrator. "Morning Towers." He said, offering the Colonel a seat.

Towers offered the obligatory salute and took the seat with a sigh.

"I was told I'm being summoned to do some real work for a change?" Towers asked.

"You don't think trying to rescue three captured marines is real work, Colonel?" Richard asked, frowning. "Or do you mean securing the east district is beneath your dignity?"

"I'm repeating the exact words you relayed to Carlson, General." Towers said with a scowl.

"I didn't mean for Carlson to quote me verbatim." Sharpe sighed. "How would you like to piss off the Krigorans?"

"Well Carlson is a bit of an idiot, General. You should know better. I would like to piss off the Krigorans by killing a great number of them." Towers said darkly.

"Well, I have an assignment that suits both your temperament and your skills nicely." Sharpe said, and got up from behind the desk and moved over to the display monitor, which he activated, displaying a tactical map of the combat zone.

"This, is us." Sharpe said, indicating the blue circular markers with blue arrows moving forwards, that stopped at the river. "These, are Krigoran positions that we know about. They're dug-in on the other side of the river, and they're using both militia and regular forces to attack our people who try to cross the river. So far, they've not attempted to cross, but its getting hairier and hairier for the guys sitting on the line out there."

"What I propose to do, is to deploy a small force - a half-platoon - behind enemy lines via a HALO drop to about here." He pointed, and where he did a green circle appeared. "That force would then spread out and strike at a number of objectives that we've managed to locate via sensors, but crucially at assets we can't see unless we use the mark one eyeball to see them."

He turned to look at Towers. "I am proposing that you lead this team of hand-picked marines behind enemy lines. Your objectives will be simple - locate and destroy any and all enemy logistics, communications and reinforcements. We also have some secondary targets for you, here, here, here and here." He said, highlighting some yellow circles on the map. "These are reported areas where there are Krigoran artillery emplacements, either AA or conventional, we don't know."

Towers nodded. "I'll ask the obvious questions. Why me? And why only one team? That's a lot of ground to cover."

"You're SOC, you've done this crap before. You're the most experienced SOC operator I have out here at the moment." Sharpe said. "Only one team because its low profile, harder to hit. They're watching all my large formations. I can't move so much as a company without them counter-moving. You went to the same school of how we do this as I did. Small unit tactics for maximum effect with simple and specific objectives. You can be in and out quietly - whereas a Battalion makes noise."

Sharpe looked at Towers. "This is your kind of mission Adam, so don't pretend you're not interested, because I know you are."

"Of course I am. I just want to know if I'm the best we've got, or if you're trying to keep me busy so I don't dwell on... other things." Towers replied.

"There's an element of that, I won't deny it." Sharpe said. "We all feel bad about those three guys who went home in boxes, but this mission will mitigate me sending more home. If we cut off their supply network, the head will wither. Its simple military strategy. You'll also be my eyes and ears on that side. He who wins the recon war, wins the battle."

"Fair enough. Mathieson can command in my absence. When do we drop?" Towers asked.

"You drop at 2300 zulu. That gives you fourteen hours to pick your people, get your gear together and get to the landing strip. A specially converted runabout will take you to high altitude, where you'll drop. Make sure you take as much as you can - resupply will be a bitch, and until you take out those AA, air support will be dicey." Sharpe said.

Towers nodded. "We'll be well stocked and ready." Of course for Towers that meant a bag full of bombs, rather than a bag of ration bars.

"Good hunting Colonel." Sharpe said, dismissing him.

Towers stood, saluted again (he still did this out of reflex, even though he knew Sharpe couldn't give less of a shit), and left. He already had a few people in mind but he had to make decisions quickly on who else to bring. He would need the rest of the time to prepare and rest up.

=*= END LOG =*=

General Richard Sharpe
CG, 3rd MEF
Starfleet Marine Corps

Colonel Adam Towers
Commanding Officer, 5th MEU
Starfleet Marine Corps