mercs

People arguing about how a 
merc unit couldn't operate 
in the face of a hostile 
national gov't, consider 
this:

1) Does the national 
government have that many 
spare ships? If so, and 
the area is of enough 
significance, then the 
Mercs can't just float in. 

2) If the Mercs are 
supplementing other 
forces, then they'll have 
to have the same 
capabilities for assault 
(if that is what is 
planned). Presumably 
they'd get main force 
fleet coverage, but they'd 
have to have assault 
landing capability.

3) Most mercs (small to 
mid sized units or 
fragments of larger) that 
will operate under the 
Mercenary Charter, will 
probably operate under 
rules similar to the ones 
suggested by Sandline on 
the links Alan posted. In 
order to not be stomped on 
by national gov'ts, they 
have to be careful who 
they take contracts with, 
how they execute them, and 
usually they will have the 
permission of the host 
government or the approval 
(and perhaps a paycheck) 
from an interested and 
powerful outside patron. 
This helps keep there 
risks under control. 

4) People talk about mercs 
(which rightly is really 
discussed as the private 
military corporation) of 
using civilian transport. 
I heartily agree with 
whoever it was said that 
if you don't have support, 
evac, dustoff, then you're 
already screwed before	
you arrive. Civilian 
transport, as long as you 
are operating in support 
of a legitemate gov't 
unlikely to be toppled, is 
fine. If you've got to go 
to someplace where the 
stability of the 
administration is in 
doubt, where you are going 
in without gov't sanction, 
etc. - then you'd better 
have the ability to punch 
in and punch out. 

NO soldier in his right 
mind is content with the 
"well, our plan better 
work or we're up the 
creek" option. No one 
plans for that. There are 
plans, contingency plans, 
and contingent contingency 
plans. Only when forced by 
circumstance would you do 
something potentially 
suicidal (and even not 
always then) such as 
dropping into someplace 
you didn't have good 
confidence in your ability 
to get out of. 

You can be wrong. Your 
intel can be off. The 
enemy can do something 
unexpected. But these 
assume you don't know. If 
you know the situation is 
bad and you go into a 
situation with inadequate 
backup, support, and evac 
options, you are 
participating in your own 
suicide. 

5) We talk about Mercs on 
the ground. Mercs in space 
are quite feasible too - 
maritime recovery, 
security and anti-piracy. 
Ops on airless worlds. 
Even (anime fans take 
note) Area88 style Close 
Aerospace Control missions 
- mercenary pilots and 
fighters. 

And there is no reason 
both privateers and 
mercenary space fleets 
can't exist. As the NAC, 
I'm as concerned (moreso) 
about the control of space 
than I am about the 
control of the ground. If 
I can augment my navy with 
some mercs - then that's a 
good thing. I'm not 
talking line-of-battle... 
and maybe with limits on 
available tech. But I can 
see merc DDs, CVs, etc. 
Ships armed with SMRs, PTs 
(if the tech can be 
obtained), B-2s, and 
perhaps some small escort 
carriers. Even if all they 
do is free up my own DDs 
(with high tech) to fight 
with their lines-of-battle 
by taking over convoy 
escort, installation 
security, patrol and anti-
piracy, then I'm still far 
better off. 

In fact, hiring mercs and 
issuing letters of marque 
would be something you 
would realy expect in the 
GZGverse. Some of those 
may be hired by gov'ts to 
make war on the shipping 
of other gov'ts. Some by 
one corp taking on another 
corps shipping to punish 
it. 

Tomb Raider. 
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Thomas Barclay
Instructor, CST 6304 (TCP/IP programming for the Internet)
kaladorn@fox.nstn.ca 
http://fox.nstn.ca/~kaladorn/CST6304
http://stargrunt.ca/tb/CST6304
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