46 KiB
[BST][HSF] S.I.: Seeking tactical advice for opposing force
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Author: u/DataPacRat Amateur Immortalist*
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3sokq8/bsthsf_si_seeking_tactical_advice_for_opposing/
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Score: 8
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Created: 2015-11-13T17:18:21
Post:
I'm good at coming up with the sorts of plans I would make; I'm not as good at coming up with the plans other sorts of people would make. In about a week, I'll be starting to write an important scene with military overtones, one side of which is non-rationalist but non-stupid and has plenty of brainstorming.
Anyone want to play Red Team, brainstorming ideas that I wouldn't have thought of myself?
(This thread will have significant spoilers for S.I.; to slightly reduce accidental spoilage, I'll paste the strategic overview as a comment. Don't worry about further spoilage.)
Comments:
u/DataPacRat [+3] Amateur Immortalist (2 minutes later)
[You Are:] (#s "A Captain of the "Youngstown Free Company", a front group created by the Pittsburgh Clones.")
[Your Mission](#s "Usually, your job is to scout around the area north of Pittsburgh for potential threats. You have just received orders from Pittsburgh High Command that it's time to eliminate one such potential threat before it becomes a major threat. That threat: the self-proclaimed "Queen Bunny". Acquisition of the Queen and her equipment, while desired, are secondary priorities to ensuring she does not escape alive. Hiding the Free Company's involvement, while a tertiary priority, is less important than the primary and secondary priorities.")
[Your Target](#s "A humanoid rabbit, with several background stories floating around. The one she seems to prefer is that she was originally a human, related to the British Royal Family. She head the government of the squids who started taking over Lake Erie three years ago. She claims all of Canada, as well. She has access to various unusual pieces of technology, most prominently a land-train-like vehicle called "Munchkin", which Intel thinks may be run by AI. She claims to have destroyed the AI that killed nearly everyone in Buffalo. Evidence indicates that after a shot to her heart, she was dead for three years, and then revived. She created a heliograph network linking the cities on the south shore of Lake Erie, one part of which reaches into Indian Country and to a being which claims to be an AI located at a pre-Singularity university. She made a bargain to trade exploration of the threat site "Lion Castle" in exchange for a factory seed, but the entire expedition vanished except for her. High Command has deemed Queen Bunny's involvement with AIs and long-range comm networks as being too high a risk of creating a local, or even global, Second Singularity.")
[Your opposition](#s "Bunny's sensor technology: Unknown. Bunny's C3I systems: Unknown, presumed to include at least one AI and portable heliographs, may include radios. Bunny's weaponry: Unknown, but various reports include some form of anti-aircraft gun, and on the personal scale, hidden tasers. Bunny's guards: Unknown, but reports have indicated various humans, near-humans, and Changed have associated with her, possibly including human guards from the Lake Erie embassy to a creature described as a bear. Bunny's transportation: "Munchkin", which has been clocked at over sixty miles per hour, which is unlikely to be its top speed; at least one Powered Paraglider, allowing for individual flight. Bunny's PR: While Metropolis is somewhat unhappy due to a fishing rights dispute with the new Dominion of Lake Erie, and the Acadian captain due to the loss of his men in the expedition, the city of Erie is at least neutral, and the city of Buffalo has a high opinion due to her fighting off a flying robot attack and founding a hospital.")
u/drageuth2 [+3] (13 hours later)
u/xamueljones [+3] My arch-enemy is entropy (3 hours later)
Okay first off this just screams to me like a rushed military operation, because they are trying to kill Bunny with only 3-4 days of planning before her scheduled departure. In addition, even if they don't reveal the existence of clones, they are still allowing valuable information to escape if people learn about an unknown military force which implies a strong independent organization. I'd attempt covert strategies only, with the squads attacking only if there is no other option left and if they truly think they can win easily. Retreat is required at some signal upon %(loss of fighting forces) or else everyone will die. Coordinating armies is HARD!
Also note that due to Bunny's equipment being of higher value than the knowledge of the Company's existence, I'd think about rearranging that list of priorities, because it's harder to take back a secret once it's been revealed than it would be to try again for Bunny's equipment if the secret is still safe.
Right off the bat, I'd recommend lying traps with explosives in the path that Bunny is expected to leave. Or if Munchkin is believed to be so durable that it'd survive explosions, then I'd be looking into digging disguised trenches to prevent Munchkin from being able to move. I don't know how difficult it'd be to dig a large enough pit to crash Munchkin since there is no mention of how many men 'I' have, but if I don't know about Munchkin's ability to navigate difficult terrain, then I would be using bombs and camouflaged pits in Bunny's expected routes of departure.
That's last-resort plans which require significant prep time. Now for more immediate plans, I'd look into any other enemies of Bunny who are in the area for an alliance. I don't know if there are any, but if there is, then I'd present myself as mercenaries hired by people angry at Bunny. I'd try to get Bunny to leave Munchkin by paying people in the nearby town to give her services as some sort of gratitude from an anonymous benefactor. This works if Bunny has recently helped the locals, but even if this isn't the case, then Bunny has probably made friends with powerful people who can send a message and money to the local spa, restaurant, bar, or some similar place to relax. If this works, then she's away from Munchkin. If not, then maybe she'll eat the complimentary poisoned chocolates that were sent with the invitation. Note that the messenger only gives her the chocolates, if she refuses the leave Munchkin.
I noticed that you don't mention any plans to use snipers, is there a reason for this?
That's all I've got!
u/DataPacRat [+1] Amateur Immortalist (4 hours later)
Don't worry about spoilers - anyone reading this far knows what they're getting into. :)
Okay first off this just screams to me like a rushed military operation, because they are trying to kill Bunny with only 3-4 days of planning before her scheduled departure.
That's a fair cop. Munchkin can travel at faster than pre-Singularity highway speeds, and Bunny created the heliograph network now spreading its tentacles through the region - by the time anyone in the Free Company knows where Bunny is, she's usually already gone.
if people learn about an unknown military force which implies a strong independent organization.
The existence of the Free Company isn't a secret; that they'd be willing to engage in full-scale operations inside a city isn't a detail they've yet revealed.
Also note that due to Bunny's equipment being of higher value than the knowledge of the Company's existence
That's not quite what I meant to express. If somebody other than the Free Company can be blamed for whatever damage happens in the city, whether Bunny herself or some third party, then that would be good, but isn't quite as important as dealing with Bunny.
if I don't know about Munchkin's ability to navigate difficult terrain
While Bunny seems to prefer using railbeds and roads, she's been observed driving Munchkin into Indian Country, which is reported to currently be complete wilderness.
I'd look into any other enemies of Bunny who are in the area for an alliance.
Some possibilities include: portions of the city's government who dislike the Lake Erie squids; the ship's captain from Acadia who lost men during Bunny's expedition to Lion Castle; the man whom Bunny tased at a public event, who was the choice of the city's bureaucracy to liaise with Bunny; the city's group of self-proclaimed "wizards", one of whom attempted to duel with her in a public setting. Or perhaps one of the groups of anti-Changed para-racists, or any of the locals who dislike the heliograph network.
Do any of them seem more worth approaching than the others?
I noticed that you don't mention any plans to use snipers, is there a reason for this?
There is - someone tried that three years ago, and by now the Company's Intel group could have picked up the medical reports showing her heart was destroyed. Seems like it didn't put a permanent stop to her.
u/Murska1FIN [+2] (6 hours later)
What's Bunny's usual reaction to, say, para-racist groups holding a rally at her location to harass her? Would she make a personal appearance, giving us the perfect opportunity to use the crowd as cover for an EMP, a sniper and an assault now that she can't get away?
What's the Hive like anyway?
u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (6 hours later)
What's Bunny's usual reaction to, say, para-racist groups holding a rally at her location to harass her?
Bunny appears to consider herself an intellectual, so she's reasonably likely to try to engage protesters.
What's the Hive like anyway?
A group of people and animals with a similar set of Changes, who arrived from the southwest a few years ago, and found a place to live south of the main Changed ghetto of Story Town. They are viewed with suspicion, as they accept new members, who somehow acquire similar Changes, but nobody ever quits their group. Members have a variety of body shapes, but all are identifiable by their standard colour plan: Matte black, with cyan lines and patches. They have limited economic interaction, mainly selling pipes and hardware and buying trinkets and alcohol.
u/Uncaffeinated [+2] (10 hours later)
Snipers are still potentially useful. You don't have to kill Bunny, just incapacitate her for long enough to capture/kill her. Unless she can regenerate instantly, turning her heart kibble is as good as a death at the tactical scale.
Are the people who might rush her into Munchkin similarly augmented? Because if not, sniping the EMTs sounds attractive.
Snipers provide the element of surprise, and incapacitate Bunny and whoever rushes to her help. All you have to do is keep her in place long enough to get a bomb out, and hopefully she won't be able to react during this time. Of course, the unknown AI is a wild card, so it's probably worth trying a simultaneous EMP on the Munchkin, if it can be located.
Apart from bombs and guns, how is the free company at chemical warfare? Chlorine is definitely 1900s tech. Anything you can do to stop people from rushing Bunny to safety helps, and poisoning the area doesn't matter if you're just going to bomb it to heck anyway.
u/DataPacRat [+1] Amateur Immortalist (11 hours later)
Are the people who might rush her into Munchkin similarly augmented?
Unknown.
Apart from bombs and guns, how is the free company at chemical warfare? Chlorine is definitely 1900s tech.
Keeping such chemicals around to deal with large kaiju, infectious zombies, swarms of carnivorous gerbils, and other threats of the post-Singularity world isn't a completely insane strategy, and would help the Free Company's cover by explaining their gas masks; even if nobody in their right minds would want such weapons anywhere near their own homes.
On a more narrative level, the Free Company trying a gas attack would fit well with a few other things, and I'm more willing to have them employ such a weapon than, perhaps, is strictly justified by the tactics. (In case you're wondering, spoiler .)
u/xamueljones [+3] My arch-enemy is entropy (12 hours later)
Okay, I removed the spoilers from my previous post.
Taking into account the information about the racists, I'd use them to lure Bunny out of Munchkin. Then, release chemicals behind the crowd and not by Munchkin. This way people will be frightened and run towards her and Munchkin. Now we've got our agents who were seeded in the crowd (and maybe acting sympathetic to Bunny earlier if you want them to stay with her for a long-term cover) inside Munchkin, or at the least very close to Bunny.
From there, I'd recommend setting off an EMP if it's small enough to covertly sneak in, directly attacking Bunny with her back turned, or just grabbing stuff from Munchkin and running. I'm a little uncertain which one your soldiers would choose, since I don't know how self-sacrificing they are.
To give you advice on choosing which plan to have the military use, keep in mind the KISS! rule: Keep It Simple, Stupid!
So having a higher preference for the plans that require fewer things to to go right for it to work. I like my suggestion, because it only requires two parts: Bunny coming out to talk to the racists, and having everyone running towards her.
u/Murska1FIN [+2] (15 hours later)
A gas attack seems like at most an extra added on to an assault. Since we do have gas masks, it might provide an extra variable to harass the enemy into not thinking. In this case, it'd probably be nonlethal gas if possible, since lethal gas in urban areas is very bad for PR and doesn't provide us with any extra utility.
Thing is, it decreases our own visibility and it's pretty likely that Bunny has countermeasures. Such as, you know, a gas mask. I don't know if the Company has any higher-tech variants that coalesce into acid on surfaces to eat through filters and kill through skin contact. But that in turn would be way too hazardous for our own forces, since we still need to plunge into the cloud to secure the target.
u/Uncaffeinated [+2] (23 hours later)
If Bunny agreed to a duel challenge, maybe she'd be willing to do so again if one of the company secretly challenged her? That would solve the problem of not knowing when and where she'll be, as well as giving more time to plan and control over the battlefield.
u/recursiveAI [+2] (15 minutes later)
Recently started reading your post singularity SI, and its amazing. Like something from Stross/Doctorow. There's an undercurrent of chill/dread that is maintained. The scene where he encounters the cat and Pepsi Convoy is creepy.
u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (18 minutes later)
Aiming for a cross between Stross and Jack Chalker has been one of my conscious goals; I'm glad I've been able to hit my target. :)
u/Empiricist_or_not [+5] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (an hour later)
TL:DR The plan list sucks, what do we do if Bunny beatd of the troops, plan to fail? Look at Headquarters priorities no acceptable loss limit, no mention of non-combatant ROE, and exposing the company is worth this furballs loot, which is less then the bunny's head! That means we have to be willing to burn everything here to the ground to kill bunny. How are we stocked for explosives and incendiaries, is air support available?
My 2cp worth: Pls note my training was in blowing up other ships and my experience with infantry is drinking with them and driving the "bus" for them to go do things. Also I am making the assumption that bunny is being assessed as a very high risk based on the cock up that those operational priorities seem to indicate.
E: suicide bombing bunny with assault team backup. If you have maintained an anonymous identity, then you can safely fulfill the first and third priorities Then pick up the second by trying to steal munchkin after you're sure bunny's chunky salsa is burned.
The second priority being higher than the third priority is a bit of a pants shitting nightmare to whichever clone has the company commander/operational planning hat. It means bunny as a tactical threat is worth giving up a significant strategic advantage and exposure of covert elements currently in place. Depending on how expendable our Pittsburgh man find himself, the level of intelligence he has on Bunny's past exploits, and his morals, then a contingency, or better yet preemptive suicide? bomb to Bunny in a public place away from munchkin with "overwhelming fire and maneuver" followup and a secondary raid of munchkin looks very enticing compared to an urban assault in a facility full of changed of unknown armament, capability, number, and temperament, especially with a mobile strong-point parked out front. You want to get bunny before it's in the hive.
Please do realize company commanders are basically constrained rational agents with a very simple goal set. The real question is if the bomb will be a company member, pre-positioned, or some way to burn the facility with bunny inside while retreating, and still hot enough to destroy most forms of known changed.
This is going to either start or end with a very big boom and a lot of fire: if the Pittsburgh company has the firepower available. A free company doesn't want to set off big bombs in a another city,it makes it hard to get hired or paid, but if something is worth an overt strike and risk of exposure then it's worth having a fully resourced contingency plan: to wit big explosions by air support , artillery or the poor man's contingency of truck bombs and incendiaries. Just because the company isn't strictly rationalist doesn't mean it's willing to risk exposure and fail You probably need something that at least seems
Also the rational/smart/(Field officer vs company officer) way to do this is with a sniper shooting to maim/kill, a fake set of EMT's to "evacuate" the queen and an interrogation team, and something energetic to eliminate bunny after interrogation if they survived the inital strike and interrogation. Contingency plan would be to blow up the entire area (Hive, or city depending on resources available and threat assessment should dictate resources allocated) and then send in troops to burn everything if bunny couldn't be extracted. In that light this operation stinks of inadequate planning time an desperation, which might be a justification for not having an adequate fallback measures, but would seem a like reason to cancel the operation in a more professional force.
u/Murska1FIN [+4] (2 hours later)
Our intel is pretty horrible as well, given that we appear to know very little to nothing about what sort of opposition we'll encounter. Does our own equipment survive the EMP, and what sort of odds do we give that the EMP will work on her stuff? If her vehicle doesn't get shut down by it immediately at the start of the initial attack, that's bad. To minimize the issues posed by not knowing this stuff, we should blow one of the EMPs as close to exactly when the attack begins as possible (while leaving ourselves able to operate) so that the target has no time to try and figure out countermeasures or even check what stuff she still has that works.
A sufficient amount of pure firepower is a method that's expounded upon pretty well above, so if we don't have access to such or we don't want to use it, the key in the initial surprise attack should be to have an obvious, overtly hostile force whose objective is primarily to just try and succeed in the mission. They will shoot to kill with no hesitation as according to what we know she's unlikely to die from being killed anyway. They will attack by starting from a surrounding position and rapidly moving in, using surprise and weight of fire to overwhelm, disorient and hopefully incapacitate all opposition. Start off with a large barrage of explosives, which are good for all of the above. Make sure you've got oversight on the area with sufficient optics so that no-one (and nothing) can use the explosions as cover from you. If it so happens that this first unit doesn't appear to be able to just win outright, their second priority is to distract, confuse and most importantly isolate the queen from her resources and companions. How precisely this is done depends on the conditions on the ground but for example one could wait until she is, for whatever reason, naturally somewhat isolated - this would probably be during transit - and initiate the attack in a way that specifically cuts off her ability to move towards allies. Hopefully the EMP will keep AIs down, and if the target is not given time to think at all she will hopefully not be able to think around our plans.
The second force should be an 'ally' that arrives to the scene if the first force has not been immediately able to achieve the primary objective. They should not look hostile (wearing face-masks and bodysuits) so if we can't disguise ourselves for whatever reason (we should be able to do that) then look into finding reliable outsiders to work in direct supervision from us on this part. If the first force manages to pin the target and move in, they should not need the second force - if the first force is overwhelmed by the enemy having too much firepower then all available support should be called in to smash them, instead of going with this plan. But if Bunny somehow manages to escape the surround even momentarily, second force moves in to 'assist' the target against the first force before she has time to make contact with any allies or start making plans of her own, making sure she has no time to think. They should take control of the situation and use the fact that she has her guard down to hit her with the second EMP from as close as possible, then capture and whisk her away before any response arrives. First force should keep harassing her until the second force launches the second ambush, then fold in. We must not to leave any of our own behind due to our orders, so the first force needs to take care of that. Speed is key - we can't let Bunny have time to think or deploy and use any of the unknowns she has, because we can't effectively plan for things we don't know.
If the target reacts to the initial ambush not by attempting to flee but by blocking the attack and setting up to defend and wait for allies, pull out all the stops, forget about any capture attempts and just throw in everything we have to annihilate her. No need for fancy plans here - transition smoothly from the initial ambush to throwing in all the firepower we have at our disposal. If Bunny isn't fleeing, she's probably thinking and also probably has allies on the way. Also the fact that she can defend against us means that her resources match ours already. Take our best possible shot at overwhelming her defenses and destroying her immediately before any more of her advantages come to play. If we can plan to hit her in transit from one place to another, and we know her route, set up powerful IEDs in the ambush location in places that look most likely for her to hole up in if the initial attack does not overwhelm her, then blow them up simultaneously with a mass assault.
If we hit her with everything we've got and she takes it straight on and is still standing, pick up our pieces and retreat - obviously our gear and intel simply isn't good enough.
A key part of making any surprise attack successful here is that we must be able to ambush Bunny in the initial attack. That way we can keep her too busy to bring her advantages to play. We shouldn't try and attack/raid the Hive, knowing just that she's somewhere inside, because that way she'll get a warning about the attack before she's being hit by the bullets, and so has time. If we have no other options, however, due to not being able to catch her anywhere in the open, then we need to do our utmost so that our attack finds and targets Bunny herself as soon as possible.
u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (3 hours later)
Does our own equipment survive the EMP, and what sort of odds do we give that the EMP will work on her stuff?
This is one area where having few high-tech electronics is an advantage - the few pieces of vulnerable gear that have been scavenged can be stuck in Faraday buckets for the EMP.
During the scuffle in Erie a few months ago, there are unconfirmed reports that Bunny used an EMP to destroy a zone, and parked Munchkin some distance away when being closer would have been easier, implying that something in Munchkin is potentially vulnerable to EMPs.
if we can't disguise ourselves for whatever reason (we should be able to do that)
On occasion, some Pittsburgh clones have tried going through a zone that seemed to change just their body. Those clones' behaviour then changed, so that they were no longer loyal to the other clones of Pittsburgh, and both changed-clones and those zones had to be destroyed to keep Pittsburgh's secrets.
If we can plan to hit her in transit from one place to another, and we know her route
Pinning down where Bunny is has been nearly impossible so far, which is why the leak on her visit to the Hive seems to be so important to plan-making.
u/Murska1FIN [+3] (15 hours later)
Okay, so a summary of the plan given some extra information below:
Contact racists, arrange a protest/rally at the Hive aimed against Bunny. See if we can't use disgruntled politicians to delay any official response to the rally. Use it as a means to sneak our people closer with their equipment.
Try to draw Bunny out. If she makes a personal appearance, take a moment to try and ensure she actually is there instead of using some sort of trickery to just make it look like she's there. Then initiate the attack by using an EMP from as close as can be managed, specifically targeting Munchkin if we have any clue where it might be. Simultaneously have several snipers fire at Bunny and any of her entourage that are visible. Send in the squads under the cover of the crowd - at this point use explosives to break up any attempt by the enemy to organize or evacuate the target, and maybe gas to disorient them further. Rush in, grab her, leave, blame the racists.
Now for contingencies.
If she manages to escape the initial ambush but is separated from her immediate allies, send an unit disguised as allies (local pro-Changed group?) to assist her as the attackers pursue. Lead her to the second EMP and use it in as close proximity as possible. Maybe she'll even slip out information on what her counter-plans are, such as the location of Munchkin, any allies that are responding or tech she has. Grab her, leave, blame the racists.
If she is unfazed by the initial attack and hunkers down to defend and wait for help, using some resource of hers that we don't know of to beat off our attack, make a calculation - does it look like we can win if we pull out all the stops and fire everything we've got at her? If so, do that. No point attempting to capture anymore, just blow up everything. If not, retreat before help arrives.
If she refuses to make a personal appearance to the rally, use the crowd to sneak our people as close as possible, then launch an assault into the Hive. We should be able to make an educated guess as to where in the Hive Munchkin and Bunny might be by seeing how traffic moves in and out, looking at the emissions and the profile of the structure. Nothing concrete, but use it to our advantage anyway. Use the first EMP as close we can get it just as we begin the attack, have our squads move in rapidly and in force to locate and capture or destroy Bunny and Munchkin, bringing the other EMP to set off as soon as either of the two are spotted. Leave a significant force outside with hidden explosives and snipers to attempt to catch her if she escapes. Try to ensure there aren't any hidden tunnels away from the Hive - that'd suck.
If we have antitank rifles, our snipers might want some.
u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (a day later)
I can work with that plan. In case you, or anyone reading this, wants to try continuing the Red Team thought experiment:
After thinking a bit about which parts of the Glenn Research Facility are most likely to survive the next 35 years, and then the next unspecified number of decades post-Singularity, I'm going to set the main entrance to the Hive, and Munchkin's parking space, being the hanger with 'NASA' on the roof which is hopefully visible at this GMap. In case the larger area is worth considering, then on this map, the point labelled 'Rocky River Outlet' is where Story Town and most of the city's non-Hive changed live, the 'Alcoa Forgings' point is where most of the industry is, the grey blob is where human buildings were replaced with strange towers during the Singularity, and the cluster of points around 'University Circle' is the rich point of town. A lot of the rest got reclaimed by nature post-Singularity, but the city's population is rising and rebuilding fast.
Bunny is currently under medical orders to try to relax, and so her doctor will likely veto confronting anti-Changed protesters, so we'll be following the "If she refuses to make a personal appearance" contingency. However, in addition, her tricorder (laser spectrometer plus AI analyst) is likely to pick up some of the loose molecules from the explosives and give warning before the Free Company realizes she's aware something is hinky. And as a third confounding factor, the Hive is aware of the negative opinions of the locals about them, and has been drawing on lessons from certain previous groups who have faced the possibility of mob violence. (I'm currently of two minds whether the Hive's main choice of reaction will be more along the lines of the aggressive ideals of "Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership" or the more defensive "lots and lots of escape tunnels" (they're very good at digging).)
Snipers may have some difficulty identifying Bunny during the ruckus, as she'll be wearing a skin-tight suit giving her their cyan-on-black colour scheme, and she's currently massively pregnant, which she wasn't a month ago.
Due to Complicated Plot Reasons, shortly after the Free Company's attack begins, a kaiju is going to start attacking the city's industrial sector, ten miles to the east of the Hive.
On a narrative level, what sort of complications would most likely induce at least some of the Company to chase after Bunny the five miles north to the lakeshore (slightly longer if the route of the Rocky River is followed), near Story Town and the storybook transformation zone? For example, if the Company's scouts picked up lots of small groups of Hive members exiting short escape tunnels, would the company commander be willing to split his forces to go after them all; or would that be more likely after a while of hunting through the Hive, with a sudden breakout by Hive members when the Company's infantry got too close to their hidey-hole? If the land-train of Munchkin separated into its five separate carriages, each of which started running up to speed to get away in a different direction, only one or two of which seem to have been knocked out by the EMP, how would the commander react? If Bunny tried to open negotiations, perhaps through a PA system, trying to ask what the attackers actually want, would the commander be willing to stop the shooting long enough to talk?
(... Depending on the company commander's response to such negotiations, if Bunny then claimed that the self-destruct charge on Munchkin was roughly equivalent to one kiloton of explosive force, would the commander change any of his plans?)
u/Murska1FIN [+2] (2 days later)
How useful the tricorder will be depends on its range and accuracy. The plan, after all, is to first fire an EMP (that might take out the device) and then bring in explosives.
Essentially with this information the initial assault into the Hive will probably cause some confusion and chaos simply due to the suddenness of things. If we can get the racists to actually join the assault, that'll also help as communications will be clogged and the Hive might not be clear on whether it's mob violence or an organized attack before it's too late. As the squads penetrate the outer shell of the defenders and start cutting lines of communication and logistics, things get messier. After some minutes it should be clear to the Company commander that the assault is not proceeding particularly well in terms of quickly locating Bunny and escaping, so he'll focus on exfiltrating any bogged down units if such exist and spreading a cordon.
If they see lots of small groups of Hive members escaping from a lot of tunnels, the Company will probably attempt to engage them all quickly to pin them down with light troops, keeping a larger force in reserve ready to move at any engagement that proves to have Bunny involved. If the Hive members tried a large single breakout, a group of fighters would engage them from range (snipers) to pin them and find out if the target is within the group. If it seems possible, collapse in on them with major forces, if not, back off and leave them to lick their wounds while keeping them observed, try and find where Bunny is.
If Munchkin separated into parts and began to head off, the Company would use all available assets to try and stop as many of those carriages as possible with explosives, anti-tank rifles and the second EMP. Then send in forces to capture and scour through all the ones that were caught. No real point in trying to pursue any that get away. If Bunny is not located, spread our troops into a wider cordon, begin with cleanup to preserve as much secrecy as possible and set up to watch the area for a reasonable amount of time until it's determined that Bunny has escaped.
If Bunny tried to open negotiations, the Company would of course accept. Even if Company troops never stopped shooting at all, just /saying/ that you'll agree would cause confusion in the enemy and might let your forces take advantage. And most importantly it's an opportunity to look for clues as to Bunny's location. The Company would play for time , while the main goal in any negotiations for Company would be to find out where Bunny is so that they can send everyone there and resume hostilities there and only there.
If Bunny claimed that she'd be willing to blow up Munchkin, take it with a major grain of salt. She's unlikely to use such a thing except in an extremely desperate situation, and we should be aware of it if she were in one. If it looks possible that it might actually be used (Bunny is trapped in a dead end corridor and our troops are closing in) then our reserve units and command team would attempt to find shelter in order to make use of the potential explosion which should shatter all the defenders but only a part of the attackers.
Oh, and they'd tell Bunny that there's no need for such measures, she just has to surrender herself to be captured and she will not be harmed, nor will anyone else afterwards.
u/DataPacRat [+1] Amateur Immortalist (2 days later)
Thank you very much - I think I now have enough structure to work through this subplot. :)
keeping a larger force in reserve ready to move at any engagement that proves to have Bunny involved.
... I am suddenly wondering how exasperated said commander would end up if, after surrender negotiations fell through, several of the escaping humanoids turn out to be wearing Playboy-like bunny-ears, in an "I'm Spartacus!" style of distraction.
u/Uncaffeinated [+2] (8 hours later)
Where did the leak come from? Is it reliable? Is it possible to get more information from the source?
u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (9 hours later)
Where did the leak come from?
A copy boy at the Story Town Times runs an extra copy of in-progress stories, and stories the paper decides not to run, to a dead drop, which he thinks is picked up by a local pro-Changed activist group. He receives a small stipend for his troubles at the same drop. The operation is run by a local cut-out, who takes the info and passes it to a Free Company maildrop, and takes cash from the maildrop to pass back to the copy boy.
Is it reliable?
The copy boy doesn't manage to pass on every story, but everything he's passed on seems to be genuine internal documents from the newspaper.
Is it possible to get more information from the source?
Possible, but difficult - even if the copy boy could be persuaded to actively look for papers, it's unlikely the reporter involved has left such papers where he could find them. Some sort of clever plan would likely be required...
u/DataPacRat [+3] Amateur Immortalist (3 hours later)
First of all, thank you /very/ much for your reply - you've already improved my future writing, confirming the usefulness of the local hivemind. :)
Look at Headquarters priorities no acceptable loss limit,
I tried to cover this in 'Standing Orders' - one of which is supposed to be along the lines of maintaining the Free Company as an organized unit, capable of continuing to pass along scouting reports of the region and performing other missions. Using up men and materiel to take out Bunny is an option - using up the entire Free Company is supposed to be off the table.
How are we stocked for explosives and incendiaries, is air support available?
There are enough clones in Pittsburgh to have built a small-scale munitions industry, though the lack of fossil fuels and high-tech power plants limits the output, plus it has to be divided up among more groups than just the Youngstown Free Company.
YFC has no air support - the few times Pittsburgh has gotten something motorized into the air, the machines were rapidly rendered non-functional, either directly, or due to contaminated fuel, or some other process. (It's almost as if the whole world is conspiring against flying machines... but that's a silly thought.)
suicide bombing bunny with assault team backup.
...
a contingency, or better yet preemptive suicide? bomb to Bunny in a public place away from munchkin
The difficulties the commander would be able to get from Intel is that Bunny rarely seems to travel more than a building away from Munchkin; and that, due to the persistent problems with radio interference, by the time any reports get passed along about where Munchkin is parked, it's often already scooted somewhere else. Knowing where Bunny is going to be ahead of time, even if she's going to be close to Munchkin, is probably the tipping point making taking her out potentially feasible at all.
A difficulty that the company commander is likely to be unaware of is that Bunny has a secret info. Not to say that this isn't a plan worth trying, but if tried, I'll be focusing on the interesting ways it fails.
a sniper shooting to maim/kill, a fake set of EMT's to "evacuate" the queen and an interrogation team
The company has reports on what appears to have been a similar attempt on Bunny's life three years ago: A sniper turned Bunny's heart into kibbles-and-bits, but Bunny's own people rushed her into Munchkin, and she's walking around today. Trying the same plan again and hoping for different results seems contra-indicated.
u/ArgentStonecutter [+2] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (34 minutes later)
Jack Chalker
Aha!
^^
u/DataPacRat [+1] Amateur Immortalist (44 minutes later)
Some of Jack's stories only had a single one... Have you read as far as s yet, or s? :)
u/ArgentStonecutter [+1] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (an hour later)