INCOMING MESSAGE……. ENCRYPTION LEVEL: DIAMOND….. ….. ….. DECRYPTION COMPLETE CLEARANCE: EYES ONLY 29 January, 2582 – 1330 hours TO: CO, 1st Alliance Battlemech Regiment 4th Hussar Company Looks like Chairman Nordd was right to station your company here on Haynesville. System satellites just picked up incoming JumpShips at the nadir jump point. They’re not broadcasting ID codes which means they must be SLDF. Intel via a messenger from Kennard indicates they were hit by the II Corps, so our best guess is that Forlough is finally committing V Corps to the fight. SatCom estimates that at full burn their dropships will start landing in 6-8 days. My staff and I have been training the local militia here (let’s be serious, that’s the best term we can give them) for a month already but we’re still going to be outclassed by whatever the SLDF sends our way. Our best bet is to play a cat-and-mouse game, hitting their weak points and then fading away once the odds get away from us. Given what happened on Santiago and Tabayama last year we know the SLDF has little regard for civilian life but we have to at least try to keep loss of life to a minimum. This will not be a quick battle, and it will not be easy. Your mechs may make the difference between handing Haynesville over or holding these bastards up long enough for reinforcements to arrive. SatCom is shooting messages towards any neighboring systems it can and we’ve sent messengers back to Alpheratz asking for support. We can only hope they get here soon. Start looking for staging points and places to stash away supplies. The militia will help as best we can. I may not be from here but I know the importance of home and I will do my damnedest to help defend it. Captain Joshua March, CO Haynesville Defense Force TRANSMISSION END
