Bad Company General Report Twenty-Two

22-Feb-1994

Regreetings Brothers. We have a new rule - a very important new rule. It is harsh but necessary, and concerns The Holy Missions which as you know, are mandatory. One of the most fundamental concepts behind Bad Company is that we work together. That is why we are a Group. So naturally, when a Holy Mission is in progress, Brothers engaged are expected to work together.

Yes Brothers, the veterans among you might have guessed what's going on already. The General is out and about - beware! Your case is about to be got on. But let's continue.....

Otherwise the rebuilding will be left up to certain Brothers while others do nothing. Don't assume your involvement is not essential. Say there are 10 Brothers rebuilding a Temple, and you are the 11th. If you are doing something then you may assume that they won't miss one Brother - after all, there are 10 - what difference would it make? I'll tell you what difference it makes. What if several Brothers thought like that? What if many Brothers thought like that? Each thinking that they won't be missed. What happens is that you wind up with only several Brothers at The Site! And this is not good.

When you receive an order to engage on a Holy Mission, it's been issued for a reason. And if you don't engage on The Holy Mission, REGARDLESS of the excuse, no matter how good it is, some Brother somewhere must do your work in addition to his own. Furthermore, in crucial situations such as the one we have now, where the number of Brothers engaged on any given Mission is low - your absence could frag us.

And the worst has happened Brothers. Col Smegley, Cpt Baddu-Bac, Sgt Konstantin, War O'Malley and War Flax have rebuilt their Site at (167,17). Under other circumstances I could congratulate them, say "hell of a job" lots, and send them off to the next Temple Site. It's a sad day when 5 Brothers are stood round a brand new Temple they've just whacked up and they can't Sanctify it due to absent Brothers.

Consider the situation. For the want of 2 Brothers they can't Sanctify their Temple, and their next Holy Mission is put on hold. There are 12 Brothers in 1st Platoon of which only 5 helped rebuild that Site. That sucks. What do you expect them to do? WAIT? These 5 Brothers have just spent a massive amount of APs rebuilding something on behalf of all of us. We ALL get to use this thing. And as thanks they have to wait, wasting time, for other Brothers to wander up to get the thing Sanctified. THoS have at least 6 Disciples and 2 Acolytes within 5 Turns of that Site! I'm sure they'd be happy to Sanctify it for us? Shall I ask them?

I think not. This isn't going to happen again. So back to this new rule I mentioned - I'm going to say this once, and once only - and believe me when I say I'm dead serious;

Any Brother not participating in mandatory Holy Missions will be given the boot. It's as simple as that. I don't care if Bad Company loses 15 Brothers tomorrow. Bad Company is a Group. If you're not prepared to help Bad Company, you have no business being in Bad Company.

Now I can't physically remove your number from Bad Company's List. But I can stop Reports and maps. Brothers that remain with Bad Company must know that they can count on their Brothers. They must know that when they attempt to do something they will succeed - or at least not fail due to the inactivity of other Brothers.

A last word about this Sanctification. There are two Brothers of the 5 that have managed to get that Temple up who deserve special attention. Apart from Col Smegley for leading the operation of course. Cpt Baddu-Bac who suffered a lot of flak recently due to his involvement in the 'coup'. And War Flax who after a glorious start with Bad Company managed to get demoted due to his inactivity. Despite both Brothers being leaned on, and stripped of Rank or Post by myself, they've come through this with flying colours when it would have been easy to have just not bothered. Both Brothers deserve praise of the highest order - these actions will be remembered!

So where does all this leave us? Well, it would leave us up the proverbial creek without a paddle if I hadn't been bombarded with phone calls all night. Just look at us. Myself and 2nd Platoon are groping around near The Blazing Arrowhead for some sign of a Temple. Incidentally, we thought we'd finally got the sucker when Sgt Wysdumb found a Sacrosanct - but no Temple was forthcoming. And 1st Platoon are sat round a brand new Temple which they can't Sanctify until other Brothers get there.

AARRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH! AWESOME! And Warrior Screaming Mad Morris blasts in with a bolt from the blue. Temple Ruins at (189,-33)!!! YOWZER!

It literally happened just like that. I was sat here trying to figure some way out of this fix - or at least cut our losses effectively, when the 5th or 6th phone call was War Morris with the news. He also offered the immortal phrase "Will this change our plans?" which prompted a quick snigger - sorry pal, I couldn't resist it. That was the best 20p you ever spent - it just saved our hides. But enough of this.

Let's get down. All Brothers in 2nd Platoon proceed immediately to (189,-33) and rebuild like there's no tomorrow. That includes War Bob and War Morris - I'll get you both at The Site. You have to meet 2 Brothers so it'll make sure your Initiation goes smoothly.

Now things become a lot clearer. 2nd Platoon whack this sucker up. Then The Fort at (180,-20). Eh? Wossis? Well Col Midg pointed out that the Fort once had 2000 Points left. That figure has somehow shrunk to 1200. Since the thing is on our way to The Black Swan then we'll hit it straight after we Sanctify this Temple. It should only take a Turn to finish, so it's pointless leaving it.

If 1st Platoon still haven't Sanctified their glorious achievement by the time 2nd Platoon finish The Fort then 2nd Platoon will proceed immediately to (167,17) to help Sanctify that.

If 1st Platoon do manage to Sanctify their Temple in the next few Turns then 2nd Platoon will proceed to (194,31) to rebuild that along with 2nd Platoon. At this point both Platoons combine and I lead the Company as a whole. Make sure you understand the above!!! It is simple so memorize your part in it.

What happens next is a tad complicated. But after The Sanctification at The Black Swan the first step will be taken to demandatorize (?) Bad Company. Mandatory Units (but not Missions) will be abolished. That's a promise! Now Brothers at this stage will be looking to do all sorts of different things. So here's a better promise. If I can get 10 Brothers to voluntarily follow me on the last 2 Missions at (x,-67) then Bad Company will become totally demandatorized from that point on.

BUT! I will need 10 Brothers I can RELY on to help me rebuild these last 2 Temples. We will be too far away from the rest of Bad Company to rely on immediate reinforcements if we run short of Brothers and can't Sanctify The Temples. Note that if you intend becoming a Knight you MUST follow me on this Mission. Otherwise you'll miss the Slugfest with Void. After the 6th Temple is up we'll be taking a short recess in order to obtain Shadow Swords - then we get stuck in to The Holy Crusade.

Assuming there are less than 10 reliable volunteers then mandatory Missions will continue to cover the 5th and 6th Temples. VOLUNTEER NOW! I need to gauge this in advance. If I'm supposed to send you stuff, don't worry. I'll get BCG23 out soon. This was just a quick something so Brothers know what's going on. The Speaker says not to threaten other Groups through MIAB without clearing it with him or myself first. Else you might undermine our efforts and plans.