Long Range Recon

Long Range

Recon

By Scrivener Hannan

The Border of Cygnar and Llael, 605 AR.

Allister Caine has been a thorn in the side of Cygnar High Command for quite some time.  He's got quite a reputation for being generally uncouth, and has a long record of disciplinary actions.  After a particularly nasty business involving a fifth of Shmashmouf's cheapest cognac and a certain general's daughter, Caine has found himself reassigned to what his last commander considers a "more appropriate use of your talents".

Fighting has been heavy in the Thornwood, and not just against Khadoran forces.  Cryxian raiders, Menite crusaders, employed Mercenaries - even strange talk about pigmen with guns.  The Cygnaran 1st army will need more information from the various salients, and constant intelligence updates if they are to outmaneuver enemies on all fronts.  To that end, the 1st Army has begun to employ long range reconnaissance units to gauge the current situations in Llael, Ord and even Khador itself.  Lt. Caine has found himself in command of one of these "prestigious" units.

The mission is simple:  Continually run a reconnaissance picket in the most dangerous parts of the warzone and engage enemy units that can be destroyed.  Alert Cygnar command to concentrations that cannot.  Through this sort of hit and run warfare, the beast that is Khador will be trimmed of it's claws.

Reconnoitre and Engage

Assigned to Caine's command are Arcane Tempest Gun Mages, though not very many personnel would be assigned to this sort of mission.  Hand picked by Caine, his "friends" are both accomplished Captains of the Arcane Tempest (one respectable enough to be called Adept) and readily accepted this assignment once they lost a certain amount to Caine in a card game.  Though only a handful of soldiers, the Black 13th Strike Team has been seconded to Caine's command for the duration of his stay north of the border.

The reconnaissance force consists mostly of expendable warjacks, instead of living soldiers.  Caine has managed to secure several Hunter warjacks, his current favorite.  The reconnaissance force mostly contains light warjacks as it needs to move quickly, and includes a Lancer.  A Defender has been assigned to Captain Jhaq and his Gun Mages, and has done well as a gun platform and as the only heavy warjack in the recon force.  Since the unit mostly works in wilderness areas and conceals itself with trickery both arcane and mundane, the warjacks need to be tended at all times.

Arlan Strangewayes has volunteered to maintain the warjacks for this mission, which he is thoroughly enjoying.  Seeing his beloved machines put through the ringer, far away from the lines, proves to him that his faith in Cygnaran engineering is well founded.  He is determined to make sure every 'jack makes it back to the border.  For his part, Arlan has become friends with Elton Friske...a journeyman warcaster assigned to Caine. Friske's Charger now bears some tinkering from Strangewayes, and the young man may be picking up more useful information from Arlan than Caine.  Any way it goes from here, one thing is certain: each man is in it for the long haul...