Chapter 1: Strike From The Heavens

Code:

MISSION LOCATION: Bowman Development Outpost, Maine
MISSION OBJECTIVE: Retrieve the xeno artefact
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: Protect any humans on location
                      If irretrievable, destroy or seal the artefact

At this point, Colonel Camille Lazard returned to the waiting room. While James had not been present when she previously introduced herself to the team, she had been issuing instructions to him via video feed while he was fighting at the teleport station.

“I’m sorry, agents. I had planned on giving you a proper tour of your new home, but we need to get started on briefing sooner than later.” She spoke with the “Antarctic accent” a lot of high-ranking UIG officials have, sounding generically “professional” in a newsreader kind of way no matter the language. “Walk with me.”

Colonel Lazard led the agents down a series of corridors, past a number of rooms that looked to be offices, training facilities, and… a karaoke-slash-gaming-bar?... judging from the nameplates and signs.

“I’m sure you’ve all been told things by your corporations, and read your contracts thoroughly, but I still want to give you a proper idea of what’s going on here. The UIG has many strengths, but it’s not an agile organisation. Broad-scale investigations into insurgent activities is one thing, but when it comes to dealing real damage you need a small, concentrated, force that can move quickly and strike hard. Here in government, anyone good enough to pull that off gets promoted into administrative positions where we can’t use them without the whole infrastructure falling apart… so we turned to the corporations. Looked for people who had the skills we needed and would get the right job done. This is what we ended up with.”

She pulled a small orb-shaped computer out of her jacket pocket and tapped it, the holo-display showing information on each of the six agents - name, employer, vital statistics, and combat record primarily - along with video footage of each of you in action. How exactly she obtained this footage was unclear, given that at least some of it was away from cameras or even in secret facilities. As each agent’s details came into focus, she summarised them.

“Huang Zushe. COO of Simha Shipping and criminally underrated business mind. Weapon of choice: shortsword.” The attached video footage showed Zushe on a ship, giving commands to the agent crew.

“Mikhail Vojislav Lukyan Grigorievich. Richenbacher’s ace bounty hunter. The hammer… speaks for itself.” A montage displayed, featuring Vojislav taking down several bounty targets, one after another.

“Amparo Okawa. Tough enough to survive the courtroom, strong enough to survive the battlefield. Heavy weapons specialist.” A clip played of Amp delivering a firm Objection! in a courtroom, followed by a scene of her EMPing a rogue droid.

“Corva Rhodophyta. Our secret weapon from under the sea. Has strong technical skills, and carries a potent weapon.” The screens show less data than about the other agents, but the footage of Corva on the station’s firing range helped prove their capability.

“James Fletcher, one of EI’s top assassins and a master of the longsword. Calm and collected under the tensest of circumstances.” James’ video showed him sneaking up on a heavily-augmented mountain of a rogue agent and slicing through her brain in a single slash.

“Last, but not least, Lester Buttercream. Multymeat health inspector with an upstanding moral record. More than a little handy with pistols, too.” The video of Lester showed him in combat with some sort of flesh-blob creature, unloading clip after clip of SMART ammo into it.

There was a bleep from each of the agents’ PDAs, indicating that a new app had been downloaded. “Chain of command is vital, and I can't lead you in the field, so we need to appoint one of you as Division Leader. The app we’ve just installed contains sufficient details on your teammates - use it to vote for the one you think would be best suited to leading. Don't worry, who voted for who will remain confidential.”

(Send me your character's vote via Discord PM. You can't vote for yourself.)

Lester had a flick through, appreciating the high tech dossier complete with video. There was something satisfying about a thick app of information. It's important to note that for a 'scientist', Lester had a great eye and shot well and very, very fast. Though he only had two light firearms against a giant blobbling ooze, he exploded it into tiny chunks. Just damn good with pistols. He tried not to mind how they had picked up the footage, especially given some of the angles. He was sure there hadn't been a camera there, but.. He flicked through, read quickly, and eventually made his choice, then looked around.

Corva grabbed a couple of select foodstuffs from the pile and crammed them into their pockets for further testing. They suspected their access to certain chemicals may be limited, but it was possible, judging from the ingredients lists and the more detailed information Lester showed them, that they may be able to use the food to synthesis some interesting compounds.

Having done so, they followed the Colonel down the corridor with the rest of the group, and upon prompting drew out their PDA. They didn't need to read through the dossiers too much; they already had narrowed it down to 2. After skimming through Amparo's and Lester's pages, they made their choice, and then went back to their own file, noting with some satisfaction that they didn't seem to have too much information on Aldiek itself.

The footage of Vojislav showed him in his element, each clip had him dispatching an enemy, with a different plasma weapon in each one. Even though some were very different, ranging from knives to a spear, Voja showed and incredible degree of skill with all of them, as well as the huge riot shield he carried in several shots. Jonnochka did not appear in any of the footage the UIG provided, since this was the first time she had been brought out into the field.

Voja didn't think too hard about how the UIG had gotten the footage, if they were going to recruit some Agents, then of course they would need to see them in action beforehand, and everyone knew they could do all sorts of crazy stuff. It was just the UIG being the UIG. Vojislav only did a cursory scan through the details before placing his vote, he preferred to go by personal interaction, and from what he had seen so far, there was only one real choice.

Amp actually laughed at her courtroom scene. It was just so strange to see it mixed in with the other imagery. The lawyer cringed a little at the droid recovery, she'd only acquired an EMP cannon halfway into the DLA crisis and it wasn't her best work. Prince passed her her cell phone, which she thanked it for, oddly. The diplomat made her selection without looking over the data - there was only one choice to make.

She glanced around at her cohorts as she passed her phone back to Prince and decided that it was time to make a power play. Well it was probably too late now but... "Colonel, I know you aren't B&S or the Federation but that roll call really sounded like the introduction to an agent anime. Tell me a serial like that isn't a part of this project."

Corva tilted their head, going back and paying a little more attention to Amp's trial scenes, trying to work out what made the agent laugh. As they flicked through the information they made mental notes about the structure of the surface world's courtrooms. They didn't seem much different to Aldiek's, which, due to the loyalty of their fellow hybrids to the Corporation, were rarely used. Of course, accidents happened, but Corva was easily capable of compartmentalising the fact that those who showed signs of deviance from Aldiek's cause met some unfortunate end before they needed to be held up as an example to others. They were not wasted however; their biomass was reused, so that they could be reborn, properly loyal.

Still, Corva did have one question. "What is an anime?"

It didn't sound...real.

James watched his video in silence.  He remembered the mission vividly; the target had been rather difficult to reach, holed up in a warehouse behind multiple layers of patrolling guards, sweeping cameras and booby traps.  Alerting any one of these that he was coming would have meant the target would be able to escape before James could reach them. Thankfully, there were many convenient places for an infiltrator to exploit; a pile of crates here, a loose air vent cover there, a nicely shadowed roof beam to climb on above, etc. In the end though, it had turned out much the same as most of his missions; infiltrate the hideout, sneak up on the target, quietly eliminate.

Pausing a few frames before the rogue agent's brain was bisected, James looked at the powerful figure with a tinge of regret; yes, he'd done an excellent, textbook, boring job, but it would have been much more exciting to have fought against that agent one-on-one.  Definitely not actually giving the traitor any hope of victory or escape of course, he mused, but a missed opportunity non-the-less.  Watching the remainder of the video, James made a mental note to raise the UIG's disturbing surveillance capabilities for discussion with his termination department colleagues and managers at the next available opportunity.

Scanning through the rest of the information provided by the UIG, James quickly made up his mind; though uneasy with following the commands of anyone outside of EI, there was one agent present whom he thought was potentially very well suited to leadership.  He quickly tapped his reply to the colonel, and then replaced his PDA in a pouch at his waist.

In the monitor room, Sergeant Gallagher heard Amp's comment and turned to her colleague with a look of dawning revelation on her face. "This would make a really good anime! Seriously, I want to watch it."
"...You're already spending all your working hours - at minimum - watching these people, and you want more?" Sergeant Ongoy was clearly not as pleased by the concept.
"Yeah, but, like, anime's cooler?"

--------------------------------------------

Lazard chuckled and shook her head. "Don't worry, Captain Okawa. Black Knight's media strategy is to stay out of it as much as we can - our work will make the news, but we're not looking to make it be about us."

She led the group to a large bay window, looking down on the rest of the station and on the Earth below. It was quite a sight, especially for any of you who haven't been in space before. A UIG shuttle craft was pulling away from the dock. (It's recognisable to those who pass an Int + Corp Knowledge roll as the R-7 Queensberry cargo shuttle, a high-speed land-space transport vehicle with minimal armament for defence against space pirates.)

The colonel stopped and turned towards Zushe. "Captain Huang, you are the division leader. Lead your comrades well, and prove you deserve the trust they have placed in you."

Zushe inclined his head. "Thank you, Colonel. And thank you, everybody. Everything should run smoothly, I hope."

He turned his attention to the shuttle, analysing it as closely as he could from here (pass Int+CK by 3, Int+Assess Tech by 9). "That's a nice ship you have there, Colonel. Our route to the surface, I'm guessing?"

Zushe: Your Assess Tech roll tells you that it seems to use anti-gravity/artificial gravity propulsion, at least while out-of-atmosphere; an unusual choice, but apparently an effective one.

-----

"No, not today - we haven't the time. You'll be taking the Moonflower." This wasn't a name anybody recognised, but no explanation was forthcoming as an elevator arrived and Lazard led the group into it.

"Your inaugural mission is straightforward, but it won't be easy," Lazard said as the elevator began to move downwards. "You're heading into the Bowman Development Outpost, a Western Federation military research base a few miles south of Austerity Spire Complex. 4 hours ago, it was seized by the Droid Liberation Army. The WF has made no move to reclaim the base - our surveillance has shown that they have been moving troops away from the area. Their plans are unknown, but we understand that Bowman contains a xeno artefact traded through the black market. We don't know what it is, but given where it's being held, it's likely a weapon or other item of military potency. Your objective is to retrieve it and bring it back to Black Knight."

The colonel tapped her computer again, and a map appeared, which can be found here: https://i.imgur.com/NdoLdqF.png

"The main building, where we believe the artefact is being held, is highlighted in blue; the icon represents its suspected location. The silos are in red, and the base perimeter wall is in grey. The base's defences consisted primarily of WF flying attack drones, controlled by a master unit for extra security... except the DLA have apparently compromised the master unit, giving them command over the whole group. There will inevitably be other DLA forces on site as well. We don't know if any of the base's personnel are alive, but if you find any, protect them. Any questions?"

Mission Update:

Code:

MISSION LOCATION: Bowman Development Outpost, Maine
MISSION OBJECTIVE: Retrieve the xeno artefact
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: Protect any humans on location

The first post of each thread will contain current mission details as of their last update.

"Entry method?" Zushe said, businesslike. "Do we need to worry about approach to the facility or have you got that covered? And can we expect any interferance from the WF, do you think?" He surveyed the other team members, checking to see how they reacted to the prospect of an imminent fight.

It probably wasn't a surprise that Voja looked eager to get straight into a fight. "How many drones are we talking about? And what kind of armaments do they have? Are there any vehicles in the area?" After he got his initial questions out of the way, Voja turned to his new division leader, almost slapping a hand on the smaller Agent's shoulder. "And congratulations! I'm sure you'll do a fine job!"

Amp leaned closer to Corva so as not to interrupt as the Colonel continued talking to the others. She sighed in relief and whispered, "Anime is a style of animated serial entertainment programs." The lawyer was being overly clinical in her language both because it was in her nature and also because the metahuman didn't seem like she had an in depth knowledge of popular culture. Considering the way she had been reading nutrition labels they'd be lucky if she had an in depth knowledge of any part of their world. Amp didn't have any specific reaction to the choice of division leader, it was who she'd expected.

Amp pondered on the facility name for a moment, wondering if AMS were re-innovating something over there, maybe a trebuchet? She shook her head in disbelief, Amp really couldn't believe some of the things the corporations were trying to sell. Her face grew darker as the Colonel elaborated on their mission. At least they were tasked with bringing the illicit artefact outside of anyone's legal jurisdiction.

Since everyone seemed to be asking questions Amp joined in, "The master unit, do you know if it has any distinctive features? Army types like to personalise their favourite equipment. Although they have been known to use that as a decoy as well," she added doubtfully. Gaining control of the drones would give them the upper hand against any DLA or WF reinforcements. At least in the short term.

The Colonel checked off on her fingers as she answered each question. “Federation interference shouldn’t be a problem provided we act fast - their troops are away from the area, and mobilising any will take them longer than you can hypothetically get in and out. That said, they may have sent their own agents in. In event of contact, work together to drive the DLA out of the facility, but do not leave the artefact behind. If they know we know about it, they’ll move it and we could lose the trail entirely.

“The WF K-2 Progressor drone is typically equipped with two light-scale machine guns and a tactical rifle; it is capable of moving at high speed and is lightly shielded. (INT+Cybernetics & Robotics can get more info) In WF defensive protocols, they are deployed in groups of up to 50, and we believe the same is the case here. The master units are more heavily defended and, as you mention, are typically distinguished by a custom paint job.

“The Bowman Development Outpost is a highly-secure corporate facility, hard for us to learn anything about… but in this case, we’ve had enough surveillance on them that I can tell you they have two Eurasian Airgeneering Avatar jet fighters and a Da Zhan light tank, any of which could be deployed by the occupying forces.

"As for your entry method... As I said, we're using the Moonflower." A grin spread across her face. "It's our one-of-a-kind personnel deployment system. In essence, we load you into a pod and shoot it out of the giant railgun that runs through the station. Gets you down to the surface faster than any other method known to humankind."

"I don't like the sound of those air forces, drones or otherwise.  Doesn't mix well with my preferred arsenal."  James patted his longsword pointedly.  "Probably have to take this one quiet..." he muttered to himself thoughtfully.

At the mention of being fired back to Earth out of a giant orbital railgun however, the first genuine grin appeared on James' face since he'd arrived on the station.  A look of excitement in his eyes, he almost uncontrollably blurted out "Oh HELL yes!  That'll make for an entrance the DLA won't soon forget!"

Remembering present company, James quickly composed himself, and with a small cough continued, "so the quiet approach is out of the window then, I take it?  Will there be any additional support available to us if the situation escalates, colonel?  Do we have a means of extraction when the mission is complete?"  There was no hint of doubt in James's voice that they would complete the mission.

Lester, as was his wont, watched and listened. He did take a moment in their walking to clasp Zushe on the shoulder; a friendly and maybe a touch masculine "hey, good job buddy" in any language. Not a bad choice. After all, he had made it, along with several if not all of the others. The COO was a man accustomed to leadership.

As everyone spoke, he nodded along. The he frowned when they mentioned the "Moonflower". Really dramatic, more Gemini or EI than the UIG, surely. Still, they would only do something if it worked, and it couldn't be as bad as it sounded. And the artefact... Lester didn't feel too good about his xenotechnological skills. And as for the WF moving away, "Sorry to pile on the questions, but is it possible the artefact is in a high tech facility so it can be contained? And the WF are merely moving away since they know the effects of being close to it while it is not being contained?" The situation might resolve itself in enough time, but oh, at what cost?

Zushe took the impact of Voja's hand on his shoulder pretty well. Voja could feel the characteristic impact of toughskin, as well as the strength of an alloy skeleton. "Thank you, Voja. Looking forward to it." In response to Lester, he gave a brief nod of recognition.

He watched the Colonel with interest. In particular, he was very eager to hear what exit strategy she had in mind.

"Taking this quietly would mean spending significantly longer, and we can't trust that we have that amount of time. As for support..." Colonel Lazard crossed her arms. "I'm afraid there's little to offer on such short notice. We'll send a cruiser in to extract you after an hour - watch for the blue flare. If you get into serious trouble, hit the red button on your comms and we'll home in on your location, do all we can to retrieve you."

Lester's question gave her pause for a moment. "A good point, yes. If that's the case, you'll have to deal with it in the moment. Xeno-explosives are dangerous in more ways than even we understand. Corva, you understand xenotech - it's up to you to destroy, or at least ruin, the artefact in such circumstances. Okay?"

Mission Update:

Code:

MISSION LOCATION: Bowman Development Outpost, Maine
MISSION OBJECTIVE: Retrieve the xeno artefact
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: Protect any humans on location
                      If irretrievable, destroy or seal the artefact

At this point, the elevator arrived at its destination.. The hangar was vast, with three Queensberry shuttles parked and space for more vehicles. Near them was Zushe's personnel transport copter and a number of large crates, each marked with the name of one of the newly-arrived division members. "The possessions you requested brought up are here; gather your equipment and meet me by the Moonflower." Lazard gestured vaguely towards the pile of boxes, then to the clearly-signposted door she strolled towards.

As she stands next to the door, those who can pass PER + Obseration will notice Lazard's posture suddenly stiffening a little and her expression hardening.

(Note: We're not using the Oracle loadout system for gear for the moment at least, since nobody has all that much equipment.)

Lester was a charitable person, so he did not suddenly understand what Corva was for. He already knew the purpose of specialized weird people. He also noticed Lazard tighten; things were serious now. We walked at a brisk pace to his box of possessions. After only a few moments, he removed some armor and a pair of standard issue Cougars, another small bag of supplies and was moving toward the Moonflower. He was ready so fast that as he realized where he was walking, he slowed... and began to dress in his armor quickly.

Zushe made a mental note of Corva's apparent proficiency with xenotech and what that might say about this Aldiek Syndicate. He strode to his crate with every sign of confidence and began pulling out and putting on his gear. His armour was only light and was decorated in muted shades of red and gold, with a repeated lion motif. In addition to the shortswords at his waist, he also took out a hefty and well-used shotgun.

Once he had finished, he strode towards the Moonflower, checking back over his shoulder to check the progress of the rest of the team.

Corva has said little through the lift ride, other than a slight mumble of thanks to Amp for explaining the concept of anime to them. They seemed more interested in staring out of the window at the Earth below them, following the docking shuttle with a curious glance.

When the Colonel addressed them directly they gave a sharp nod. Xenotechnology was something they...if not understood, at least had a mental toolkit to deal with.

Corva's crate was somewhat smaller than the others, mostly consisting of the equipment they had had confiscated when they were caught by the UIG. Corva pulled out a set of somewhat scrap looking field armour, obviously modified for underwater operations. Next came a strange looking shield generator, which they clipped on to their belt before fiddling with for a moment, and then 5 greenish looking medpacks. They looked over the stock before carefully placing 4 back into the crate and slipping the one they took out over their heart. Pulling on the armour, Corva gave a slight smile as they felt the comforting weight back on them, and as they pulled the helmet (complete with face mask) over their head, they took a second to inhale the smell of salt, rust, algae and home that it still carried.

Collecting up their rifle and toolkit they caught up with the group, noting the Colonel's change in body language, which was not something they had seen her do before. They held onto their rifle more tightly.

Amp was more than a little concerned about Corva having de facto control of Xenotech, especially given that the rest of them would have no idea what she was doing with it. But there wasn't much she could do about it right now, since they were suiting up. Amp moved over to her box, which was exactly that a small crate and had Prince help her pull on a Nightingale E4 armour. Once they were finished she lay a surprisingly gentle hand on the robot. "You're sitting this one out. Make sure theres something for me to do when I get back," she instructed Prince, having something to do would make him feel better about being left behind. "I'm sure you'll have no shortage when it comes to work." Prince replied, not entirely appreciating Amp's patronisation but comfortable in their power dynamic.

Voja's crate was a lot larger that the others, and it soon became apparent why. After lifting out his somewhat light armour, the Russian pulled out a huge slab of metal, almost the size of a small door. Setting aside his riot shield, Voja began changing into his armour, revealing a huge patchwork of scars and burns. Soon enough he was ready and waiting by the Moonflower, Jannochka in one hand, and his shield in the other, looking to Colonel Lazard and Zushe for what to do next.

"Ah, excellent!" James exclaimed as he stepped out of the elevator, and strode across to his box. There was nothing especially unusual about the contents, just a few one-use and IV medpacks, a couple of invisibility fields and what looked like several doses of combat drugs. He quickly gathered everything he was able to carry onto his person, set an IV medpack in place, made a few final adjustments to his armour, and then went to stand with the others next to the Moonflower, occasionally glancing over his shoulder at the pods and grinning a little in anticipation.