Early in the morning of July 8th, 3020, Becker finds the words “GET OUT” written in small, precise handwriting on the wall of her personal lavatory. The door to her quarters having been locked from the inside the entire night. She calls Cottle to her quarters, but he has little to add except some memories of Tokugawa becoming increasingly unstable and Fagan “being the same as always…a little odd…”. Becker procures a surveillance camera and recorder from Janks in order to monitor her quarters.
First Sergeant Margaret Hudson from the marine contingent is transferred to Janks’ command to help replace the special forces losses.
Corbett continues to explore a relationship with Chief Fagan.
Becker gathers the survivors and makes an inspiring speech, informing the crew that she intends to staff up and try to bring civilization back to the Inner Sphere. She also announces a set of honors created in the absence of the Star League, and grants several awards to those who served in retaking the Agamemnon from Cooter’s forces.
The Rose:
Sergeant Lance Geers
Sergeant Darryl Gerst
Gunnery Sergeant Jack Richardson
Sergeant Major Hollis Janks
Captain Stella Ives
Major Justin Summerville
(The additional dead marines)
The Bronze Star
Gunnery Sergeant Jack Richardson
Sergeant Major Gabriel Barrett
The Silver Star
Chief Petty Officer Elizabeth Fagan
Lieutenant Mitch Casey
Chief Petty Officer Robert Kim
Major Justin Summerville
Shortly after the ceremony concludes, Agamemnon receives word from Jameson in response to Becker’s ultimatum, claiming to be in charge of Cooter’s men. He agrees to surrender under the terms of the Ares Conventions in exchange for transport out of Persephone. Becker informs him to await pickup.
The Thermopylae with all MechWarriors, six fighters, the special forces unit, and a detachment of marines, sets off. It stops at McTavish’s Hope and picks up Vail and his lance before proceeding to Persephone 2.
Cooter’s men had made their base in an ore transfer facility, where forty-six men surrender to Janks without incident. Jameson implies that Cooter won’t be joining them, as he was insistent on continuing to fight. In the process, the Thermopylae crew secures Cooter’s remaining two Leopards, four aerospace fighters, eight battlemechs, and miscellaneous spare parts from a remaining four. They also discover a shielded warehouse containing a small supply of Strontium-7.
The session ends with the Thermopylae lifting off to find the location of the hidden Star League facility.
Colonel Becker’s log, 8th of July, 3020
What the hell do you do when you wake up and find someone has written
something on your bathroom wall?
The door was locked, and it shouldn’t be possible to get in without me
waking up. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t there when I went to sleep
last night. So, either it was there last night, and I missed it,
someone got into my quarters during the night, or I did it myself.
I could make up some wild theory about someone sending a small droid
in through the ventilation, but I doubt anyone would actually be able
to pull that off. I also doubt that someone actually got into my
quarters while I was sleeping, which leaves two possibilities; either
that it was there yesterday and I didn’t notice, or that I did it
myself. That last is a rather disturbing thought.
Well, I have done what I can about that, major Cottle didn’t have
anything useful to tell me. At least not about myself. What he said
about rear admiral Tokugawa was somewhat disturbing, but the man is
two centuries dead, so it is probably not relevant. Probably.
Anyway, I can’t spend too much time thinking about it. If I do, I
_would_ lose my mind. Of course, it _does_ mean that _someone_ on
this ship might not have Agamemnon’s best interests in mind. It might
even be me. Still, as there is nothing I can do about it now, I need
to let it lie.
At least the ceremony seemed to go pretty well. Hopefully it will
bring people a sense of normality, not that most of them remember what
‘normal’ is.
CPO Fagan got hers before the ceremony; I got the impression she would
rather avoid the attention. For all I know, she might stuff it in a
drawer and forget it, or just toss it away. Still, she deserved that
recognition, even if it was not done in public.
On the bright side, it seems that Cooter’s men have had enough. It
might be a trap, but given the situation, there is also a very real
chance that they decided my offer was worth accepting. It seems a
mr. Jameson is now in command, which also most likely means that
Cooter did not want to surrender, and is most likely now dead. And
while the idea of me instigating a mutiny is not one I enjoy, if it
means none of my people will die trying to take down Cooter, so much
the better.
I am sending the Thermopylae, with a full complement, well, as full as
it can get with our losses, of mechs. Overkill, certainly, but it
will also ensure that no one decides to chance an attack. With what
McTavish and his people told us, it should be quite impressive.
I wish I were going with them.