Mission 6:Protect the talks

The Knives of the Gline have been tasked with providing protection and support for vital peace talks between the PFS and the Shonians. The talks are to be held in Redking, a bastion of Shonian defence. Remy "Ballbag" Selley has said the aim was always to push the Shonians back to open a front against the Kerensky. Redking is protected by Shonian elite, Wind of the Brilliant Storm , lead by the Iron Drake, in her mech "The Ant". The VIP must be protected, should the talks go bad get her out at all costs. The KotG lead a contingent of PFS, containing:

LexiDrayton (VIP)

Jesse Lopow (Ruin's Rival)

Liam Haught & Charlotte Law (Lieutenant's in PFS Security)

6 Light Troopers.

Randy Mire , a local contact, informs the KotG that the Principality of Kerensky know about the talks and that they intend to disrupt them. He also warns his friends to avoid picking a fight with the Iron Drake. Nomad further clarifies that he believes the Wind of the 9th Inferno are involved. They handle shady operations, and their members include Kang "Star" Thirty-Three , aka "Star". Nomad has undertaken to infiltrate the populace and watch for Kang.
Rules of Engagement:

No Chemical Weapons;

Prevent/Minimise Property Damage;

Do not fire first.

--- In Game

The peace talks are held in the centre of the city of Redking, within a large government building. The Shonians are represented by Addison Wilkinson . Myriad's Fury, The Ticker, and Crisis Gunboy hold a standard protective cordon around the building. Ruin accompanies the negotiating party inside, with Grief laying low in the city.
The talks start amicably. Until Addison demands the KotG are handed over by the PFS. Handed over in exchange for Lewestowbo. The Shonian Union  wish some recompense.
Suddenly Kang "Star" Thirty-Three , hidden in plane sight, moves to engage with the negotiators. A pistol aimed squarely at LexiDrayton  ... Ruin reacts by drawing and firing a hidden Mark 4 Neural Inhibitor, stunning Star. Star managed to get a shot off, striking Charlotte Law  in the chest. Pandemonium breaks out, with The Morrigan knocked from its perch and Star dragged to safety by his underlings.
All hell breaks loose in the city. "Betrayal", Ethan Locke in the "Simian", along with "Ant" and "Mantis" all engage with the mechs. Severely outnumbered and outgunned, things look bleak for the KotG until friends show up. "Saviour" and "The Vindicator" approach from the North, laying down supporting fire.
Inside City Hall things are going really well. We see Ruin, his arm raised over his head a Proton Fragmentation Grenade clutched in his hand, blinking ominously. With the parties held by the obvious threat, Prim uses Myriad's Fury to tear an opening in the roof. Gathering Lexi in his mechanical grasp The Pontiff uses his newly equipped wings to evac towards the North.
The Ticker and Crisis hold back the wrath of the Shonians, taking and dishing out damage. Jesse Lopow , taking his opportunity to settle a score with Ruin, shoots at the grenade wielding empath. Tossing the grenade at his rival, Ruin is carried out by the swift Morrigan, who also grabs the stricken Charlotte.
The KotG all head North, their escape being covered by the The Followers of Saint Atrose  . The escape is contested, until an inescapable event becomes apparent ... "that star is getting brighter". It becomes apparent that something, a space station?, is falling ... falling to Redking!


--- Downtime

--- Entanglements

--- Outcome & Numbers (copied from Discord)

Brief: The Shonians and PFS are looking to host peace talks in the town of redking. The PFS DF are asking for you to escort the PFS negotiation contingent and ensure the talks are successful.
Result : Failure Though arguably the KotG could not have succeeded on this, the presence of Grief in the room triggered an early escalation as the Shonian's demanded the arrest of the KotG for their transgressions. The KotG still followed their orders and removed Lexi even though only the KotG were threatened thus becoming kidnappers.
Rewards: You had been paid up front, luckily. Likely the PFS thought they could recover your funds after they returned. You were paid 6 Supply and 2 materiel. THe squads efforts gained them 5 rep for the mission
Trust: Squads Benefitting from the mission NONE
Squads Harmed Knights of the Shadow Dance  (Tier 2 Shonian) - another beating given but you already have a vendetta with them Wind of the 9th Inferno  (tier 2 Kerensky) Star was shot and they were prevented from completing their objective by Grief
Targeted Faction: Shonian -5 Damaged infrastructure -2 High profile target -1 Target controlled region-1 Vendetta -1
Employer Faction: PFS -3 Propaganda Tower +2 Civilians died -1 PFS DF harmed in the battle -2 Patron's interests were harmed -2
Entanglements and descriptors for the impacted squads opinion of you will be picked up in the next session

---

Post Script

The principality entered the conflict in an unsubtle fashion. As the abandoned station entered the atmosphere heading to Redking, the Kerensky Forces swept across into the south east of Shonian Territory, the war has begun. The Sword of the 13th swept into the south. The towns were left in ruins behind them. Eyewitnesses described a savage and rapid assault through the population centers, even by the standard expected of the Sword. All defensive forces were swept aside as if they were nothing. their weapons seemed to have no effect as the storm strode through explosions, fire and a hail of rockets. The southern populous are fleeing toward the central Shonian territory and the movement of people is leading to a crisis.
The actual orbital strike at redking was another tradgedy. Once it was identified what was happening the Shonian and PFS forces stopped and focused on evacuating as many of the towns population as possible. still, the death toll was enormous. The PFS DF managed to evacuate Addison Wilkinson along with most of the officials in the citadel. The brilliant storm worked to get as many of the population out of the bast area but one of their lieutenants, Ethan Lockley, was lost as he was getting people out of a building while he sent his mech carrying families away from ground zero.
The actual station impacting the town was felt across the continent. As the burning, leading face that had until recently been exposed to the cold vacum of space, made contact with the tallest buildings of Redking, the sun became the second brightest point of light. The energy released in the fall vaporised all structures in the vicinity. Solid matter evaporated in the shockwave that swept from the center of the town and expanded for miles around. nature, buildings, geographical features andpeople ceased to exist in a moment. The survivors closest the blast were those evacuated by Ali 'The Iron Drake' Markov. She was the closest to the impact and only saved, along with the civilians she had carried out, by the ants Harmonic shield. Those who were there described a brilliant wave washing around the ant. Her emitters were glowing and radiating heat from the effort needed to maintain the shield, but they survived.
The war is now happening on 2 fronts. the Karenskies are sweeping through the south and you can expect the northern push will be following shortly. You have made it to Randy's, just north of the Shonian/PFS border. You could see the impact nova clearly from this vantage point and feel the shockwave washing over everything moments later. You have Lexi with you. The world has changed and what happens next is up to the Squad.

you can

Reach back out to the PFS and re-enage relationships there

Try to address the vendetta you have with the Shadow Dance and look to help the Shonians

After the betrayal, look to join with the kerenskies or the church

Forget all this drama and go be independant

forget this planet, go explore the stars

Something else

The story can go in any of these directions

Parent Plot

Act 1