Unforeseen outcomes: Or why I still don't like mercenaries

It's over.

It didn't end how we planned it.

But it's over.

There'd been quite a bit of flexibility in the plan to start with. There'd had to be, since we didn't know exactly when or how the confrontation between Raids and Ravish would go down. The two machines essentially knew how the other would think, but, that being said, they were each doing what they could to not walk into the other's trap. There were times when the situations were so evenly balanced, so hard to judge an actual advantage, that you really did have to roll a die to decide which way to go. This was like that. The 'die' might have been some kind of quantum switch deep with in a sentient machine's core, but it was a random factor just the same. We could figure out the most likely paths, and be ready to shift onto whichever one came up when it happened.

The Mercenaries added another measure of random chance to the mix. Not because they were evenly matched with their opponent intellectually and the only way to avoid being predictable was to add a random element. No. They added a random element because they were in way, way, over their heads, but thought they were in control. And that's the problem with the Stupid and the Batshit Insane. They do things you don't expect, leaving you altering plans on the fly in order to deal with a situation that's turned all Chòu shǐ.

Things would have gone down differently if Raids had been on the ground and I'd been in the nest, but she wasn't, and I wasn't, and it all happened very quickly. Surprisingly so. But in the end, Ravish was no more, Raids had the chip, and the Mercenaries were no longer a factor in our day to day operations.

That last was fortunate. In taking out Ravish, they'd injured AuroraBlue. Details were sketchy, but somehow she'd gotten up after the attack and gone a bit Rage herself, injuring several people before eventually ending up in Wave Equation's small cabin, curled up on a bunk under a blanket.

Lily confronted the Mercs over it shortly after the fact and, again, the details were a little sketchy. All that was absolutely clear was that the core of the Merc unit had evac'd after getting their asses handed to them by a somewhat annoyed not-cat. Which was probably better than they would have gotten had they been caught on the ground by an equally annoyed Mother Dragon.

They were gone. For now. Though returning would be a bad idea. The Militia and townsfolk were ready for them if they came back. While the Alliance wasn't exactly our closest friend in the 'Verse, they'd been informed of the Merc unit that had, essentially, turned on the citizens of the town. They wouldn't be too keen on seeing a heavily armed unit on Hale's Moon that wasn't authorized by the local government. Which they weren't. I'd seen to that.

For once, the 1st Marine Raiders would be more than welcome to expend some ammunition on our behalf.

There were also a few other things they'd encounter, should they try and get back into the business. While there were undoubtedly some factions within the Alliance and its fractured Parliament that would still see them with favor, they'd find that in some, quite powerful, circles, they were personae non grata.

It was a big 'Verse, and they could probably hide if they stayed away from civilized worlds. But their actions had started some big, heavy, wheels turning. They would have a hard time not getting ground under them.

Soldiers of Fortune

Cowards prey upon children

Your days are numbered