This thread is a collection of the news stories and post directly tied to the hivemind arc. This post here is placed for the purpose of recaps and results at the end of the arc. Each week, it is highly suggested after events to check this thread for new recaps on either Sunday or Monday.
Later on this specific post will recap the code and development changes that happened as the end result of this arc.
Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Those god damn commies... (Event 1)
Once more, the colony has been presented with an attack by the communist cult known as the Excelsior. While not unusual, the scope and damage caused by this assault may yet herald a new chapter in the colonies on going conflict. It began with a strike team of excelsior agents and slaves landing on the colony LZ in a bottle shuttle. Having been detected on their approach, the colony had ample time to prepare before the ship touched down and the airlocks opened to a hail of gunfire. The initial contact ended in many casualties, with excelsior slave soldiers using their dug in position within their own shuttle to draw out the battle into pitched sniping competitions of traded bullets. Sadly, this proved highly effective, with would be snipers on the colony side taking multiple injuries as attempts to push in were met with an increasing storm of bullets.
Attrition, however, was on the colonies side as the excelsior soldiers began to succumb to building wounds up until a durand was deployed to storm the shuttle. With a mechanized combat suit, the colony successfully cleared the remaining agents before the shuttle was swept for anything of importance. Scott Williams, an enforcer of the Prospectors found a missive from a member of the excelsior inner party that the shuttle attack was a diversion and the true attack was taking place far underground where infiltrators were building a teleporter to funnel in troops. The missive also detailed that the shuttle was rigged to fly into space and detonate when the last excelsior soldier's life signs ceased. Sadly, this information was not shared by the prospector and the shuttle departed with two colonist still aboard. The mech pilot and fellow colonist were MIA for the remainder of the shift, though scouts from the void wolves later recovered the mech pilot and corpse, with the pilot living through the explosion thanks to the heavy layers of armor on their combat mech.
The conflict then moved to the old forgotten library in maintenance where the excelsior had already dug in with shield generators, turrets, and a fresh batch of slave soldiers. The conflict then became another dug in fight of pushing, retreating, flanking, grenade detonation, and pitched close quarters fights as the rebel faction attempted to hold there fortification so that their primary telepad could be brought online and the surface layer could be utterly overrun with communists. Seeing the dire nature of the situation, Jun Jiro of the colonies allied void wolves the Iron Lords sent his personal hell brute exosuit to aid in the defenses through a drop pod. However, as the suit was being readied, the combined forces of blackshield, marshals, prospectors, and the church had managed to push the last two agents to their energy shield wall. Supported by heavy turrets, the excelsior were maintaining their position until Raven Armstrong of the Artificer Guild managed to explode the brains of both enemy soldiers with a clean head shot, using a highly modified and heavily kitted Reductor rail gun of his own design.
With the last two primary agents dead, it being revealed later that these two were acting agents of the outer party, the hell brute mech was able to roll in and destroy the remaining mechanized defense turrets before the base was quickly destroyed through a combination of quick engineering and explosives. With the attack finally dealt with, the colony turned towards investigating the matter and concluded... very little, unfortunately.
What can be surmised or at least guessed is that this event is the herald to a far larger attempt by the excelsior to make a bid to take control of Nadezhda. With many of the original hostile threats such as the Hivemind, Greysons, and even the Forgotten destroyed or rendered a much smaller threat, higher ups in both the Blackshield and Marshals feel that the communist cult will make a more defined bid for control. Missives and reports are already being released urging both factions and the colony as a whole to be ever more vigilant in the following weeks. The excelsior are above all subversive first and violent second, whatever tricks they may try to gain an edge over us must be thwarted at all costs.
Ayanda, leader of the Blackshield, will be preparing a colony wide missive revealing the information that Blackshield agents have collected about the excelsior, this information offered to the colony at large so they may better be prepared for whats likely to come. This information shall reveal the general structure and capabilities of the Excelsior, though it is hardly considered complete, the Brigadier is urging all members of the colony to read through this directive, when it is released this following week.
Once more, the colony has been presented with an attack by the communist cult known as the Excelsior. While not unusual, the scope and damage caused by this assault may yet herald a new chapter in the colonies on going conflict. It began with a strike team of excelsior agents and slaves landing on the colony LZ in a bottle shuttle. Having been detected on their approach, the colony had ample time to prepare before the ship touched down and the airlocks opened to a hail of gunfire. The initial contact ended in many casualties, with excelsior slave soldiers using their dug in position within their own shuttle to draw out the battle into pitched sniping competitions of traded bullets. Sadly, this proved highly effective, with would be snipers on the colony side taking multiple injuries as attempts to push in were met with an increasing storm of bullets.
Attrition, however, was on the colonies side as the excelsior soldiers began to succumb to building wounds up until a durand was deployed to storm the shuttle. With a mechanized combat suit, the colony successfully cleared the remaining agents before the shuttle was swept for anything of importance. Scott Williams, an enforcer of the Prospectors found a missive from a member of the excelsior inner party that the shuttle attack was a diversion and the true attack was taking place far underground where infiltrators were building a teleporter to funnel in troops. The missive also detailed that the shuttle was rigged to fly into space and detonate when the last excelsior soldier's life signs ceased. Sadly, this information was not shared by the prospector and the shuttle departed with two colonist still aboard. The mech pilot and fellow colonist were MIA for the remainder of the shift, though scouts from the void wolves later recovered the mech pilot and corpse, with the pilot living through the explosion thanks to the heavy layers of armor on their combat mech.
The conflict then moved to the old forgotten library in maintenance where the excelsior had already dug in with shield generators, turrets, and a fresh batch of slave soldiers. The conflict then became another dug in fight of pushing, retreating, flanking, grenade detonation, and pitched close quarters fights as the rebel faction attempted to hold there fortification so that their primary telepad could be brought online and the surface layer could be utterly overrun with communists. Seeing the dire nature of the situation, Jun Jiro of the colonies allied void wolves the Iron Lords sent his personal hell brute exosuit to aid in the defenses through a drop pod. However, as the suit was being readied, the combined forces of blackshield, marshals, prospectors, and the church had managed to push the last two agents to their energy shield wall. Supported by heavy turrets, the excelsior were maintaining their position until Raven Armstrong of the Artificer Guild managed to explode the brains of both enemy soldiers with a clean head shot, using a highly modified and heavily kitted Reductor rail gun of his own design.
With the last two primary agents dead, it being revealed later that these two were acting agents of the outer party, the hell brute mech was able to roll in and destroy the remaining mechanized defense turrets before the base was quickly destroyed through a combination of quick engineering and explosives. With the attack finally dealt with, the colony turned towards investigating the matter and concluded... very little, unfortunately.
What can be surmised or at least guessed is that this event is the herald to a far larger attempt by the excelsior to make a bid to take control of Nadezhda. With many of the original hostile threats such as the Hivemind, Greysons, and even the Forgotten destroyed or rendered a much smaller threat, higher ups in both the Blackshield and Marshals feel that the communist cult will make a more defined bid for control. Missives and reports are already being released urging both factions and the colony as a whole to be ever more vigilant in the following weeks. The excelsior are above all subversive first and violent second, whatever tricks they may try to gain an edge over us must be thwarted at all costs.
Ayanda, leader of the Blackshield, will be preparing a colony wide missive revealing the information that Blackshield agents have collected about the excelsior, this information offered to the colony at large so they may better be prepared for whats likely to come. This information shall reveal the general structure and capabilities of the Excelsior, though it is hardly considered complete, the Brigadier is urging all members of the colony to read through this directive, when it is released this following week.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Pyrrhic Victory (Event 2)
After Action Report #48391
Report Name: Mechanized Rampage
Attack Type: Excelsior
Excelsior Agents: Jeanne Petite, Saengdao Zhimi-Whangmo, Luka Telixith
Result: Colony Pyrrhic Victory
Report Summary
Unbeknownst to the upper colony several members of the on duty colonist were secretly and privately subverted by the excelsior (see report header) while in the lower colony before being sent up to the surface to accomplish a then unknown set of objectives. These objectives were later discovered to be an attempt to subvert telecommunications for what the Soteria guesses would have given future excelsior agents access to colony radio systems. Thankfully for Nadezhda, the agents were caught attempting to slice through the protective walls surrounding the telecomms station. A swift deployment of blackshield and marshal forces apprehended subverted agent Saengdao in the maintenance tunnels near the bridge before agent Luka, who was recovering a supply cache of weapons, was gunned down in a short fire fight with marshal officers.
With their primary objective failed, the excelsior took the nuclear option with Jeanne Petite, who had secretly been building a store of explosives and a durand combat mech after murdering xenoflorist Risikio Iscariot to avoid detection. These explosives were then planted around various areas of the colony before being detonated within seconds of each other, causing the marshals, blackshield, and soteria medical to be destroyed in the ensuing plasma blasts. As people began to recover, Jeanne's durand opened fire on the remaining survivors in medical, swiftly killing the remaining colonist before defensive responders could get to the location.
Unfortunately for the colony, a large portion of surface team members died in the ensuing fight, including the destruction of Old Stomper. This bloody fight lead to nearly three forth of the surface team members perishing under the durand's auto cannon. So many died, in fact, that the only reason the mech was successfully destroyed and Jeanne Petite captured was because the mech units ammo reserves ran dry. Report analysis discovered that this was an effective and suicidally idiotic tactic employed by the mob of colonist unwilling to work as a team, instead running at the mech one by one or two at a time only to be riddled with bullets until the auto cannons weapon tanks ran dry. Eye witness reports also mention that Old Stomper was given to an inexperienced pilot, its resulting destruction caused by lack of engineering support (determined to have never been requested in the first place) and the pilot refusing to use Old Stomper as little more than a bullet sponge, the onboard weapons were nearly entirely ignored or used incorrectly. Thankfully, once it was realized the durand was out of ammo, it was swiftly destroyed and Jeanne Petite captured alive but badly injured.
Analysis
This resulting lack of team work and complete disregard for combat engagements involving mechs have now given rise to concerns over what the Excelsior could accomplish with one or two combat mechs. Furthermore, the actions of several colonists proved so suicidal that potential requests for psych evaluations are being considered, given that it is not sane behavior for anyone to charge a combat mech in open ground, in particular when its displayed the very obvious fact it has an auto cannon. It was only that the sheer amount of bodies thrown into the literal meat grinder that the colony managed to prevail, at great cost in both supplies and manpower.
However, the surveillance, investigation, and readiness of the colony both within the blackshield and marshals and beyond those given the duty of protection proved exceptional. The excelsior failed in their objective to silently and deceptively subvert our telecommunications consoles, allowing for what is now considered a pyrrhic victory. While the excelsior failed in their true objective and the colony has now carefully fortified telecomms against future attacks, it came at a severe cost.
Result
-Telecomms has now been given a new additional encryption layer. The excelsior will not be able to attempt subversion of comms units for several months, perhaps years.
-Due to the damage caused by a subverted head of staff, all heads of staff until further notice will now be given full surgical checks and body scans to identify potential subversion both before shift and after shift in the lower colony. This requires exploratory surgery to every part of the body, every day, overseen by a marshal equipped with either a cruciform or who is psionic. While a highly inconvenient and unpopular decision, this edict will remain until the excelsior attacks are dealt with and colony safety can be assured. This does not apply to psions or cruciform bearers, who merely need to confirm actively functioning abilities, as they innately resist excelsior implants.
-The damage caused by the durand mech attack is severe enough to drain additional resources from the colony, future attacks will not be able to get additional support as a result.
After Action Report #48391
Report Name: Mechanized Rampage
Attack Type: Excelsior
Excelsior Agents: Jeanne Petite, Saengdao Zhimi-Whangmo, Luka Telixith
Result: Colony Pyrrhic Victory
Report Summary
Unbeknownst to the upper colony several members of the on duty colonist were secretly and privately subverted by the excelsior (see report header) while in the lower colony before being sent up to the surface to accomplish a then unknown set of objectives. These objectives were later discovered to be an attempt to subvert telecommunications for what the Soteria guesses would have given future excelsior agents access to colony radio systems. Thankfully for Nadezhda, the agents were caught attempting to slice through the protective walls surrounding the telecomms station. A swift deployment of blackshield and marshal forces apprehended subverted agent Saengdao in the maintenance tunnels near the bridge before agent Luka, who was recovering a supply cache of weapons, was gunned down in a short fire fight with marshal officers.
With their primary objective failed, the excelsior took the nuclear option with Jeanne Petite, who had secretly been building a store of explosives and a durand combat mech after murdering xenoflorist Risikio Iscariot to avoid detection. These explosives were then planted around various areas of the colony before being detonated within seconds of each other, causing the marshals, blackshield, and soteria medical to be destroyed in the ensuing plasma blasts. As people began to recover, Jeanne's durand opened fire on the remaining survivors in medical, swiftly killing the remaining colonist before defensive responders could get to the location.
Unfortunately for the colony, a large portion of surface team members died in the ensuing fight, including the destruction of Old Stomper. This bloody fight lead to nearly three forth of the surface team members perishing under the durand's auto cannon. So many died, in fact, that the only reason the mech was successfully destroyed and Jeanne Petite captured was because the mech units ammo reserves ran dry. Report analysis discovered that this was an effective and suicidally idiotic tactic employed by the mob of colonist unwilling to work as a team, instead running at the mech one by one or two at a time only to be riddled with bullets until the auto cannons weapon tanks ran dry. Eye witness reports also mention that Old Stomper was given to an inexperienced pilot, its resulting destruction caused by lack of engineering support (determined to have never been requested in the first place) and the pilot refusing to use Old Stomper as little more than a bullet sponge, the onboard weapons were nearly entirely ignored or used incorrectly. Thankfully, once it was realized the durand was out of ammo, it was swiftly destroyed and Jeanne Petite captured alive but badly injured.
Analysis
This resulting lack of team work and complete disregard for combat engagements involving mechs have now given rise to concerns over what the Excelsior could accomplish with one or two combat mechs. Furthermore, the actions of several colonists proved so suicidal that potential requests for psych evaluations are being considered, given that it is not sane behavior for anyone to charge a combat mech in open ground, in particular when its displayed the very obvious fact it has an auto cannon. It was only that the sheer amount of bodies thrown into the literal meat grinder that the colony managed to prevail, at great cost in both supplies and manpower.
However, the surveillance, investigation, and readiness of the colony both within the blackshield and marshals and beyond those given the duty of protection proved exceptional. The excelsior failed in their objective to silently and deceptively subvert our telecommunications consoles, allowing for what is now considered a pyrrhic victory. While the excelsior failed in their true objective and the colony has now carefully fortified telecomms against future attacks, it came at a severe cost.
Result
-Telecomms has now been given a new additional encryption layer. The excelsior will not be able to attempt subversion of comms units for several months, perhaps years.
-Due to the damage caused by a subverted head of staff, all heads of staff until further notice will now be given full surgical checks and body scans to identify potential subversion both before shift and after shift in the lower colony. This requires exploratory surgery to every part of the body, every day, overseen by a marshal equipped with either a cruciform or who is psionic. While a highly inconvenient and unpopular decision, this edict will remain until the excelsior attacks are dealt with and colony safety can be assured. This does not apply to psions or cruciform bearers, who merely need to confirm actively functioning abilities, as they innately resist excelsior implants.
-The damage caused by the durand mech attack is severe enough to drain additional resources from the colony, future attacks will not be able to get additional support as a result.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Info Wars (Event 3)
The danger of the excelsior is not its subversive nature, nor its ability to field multiple, often hidden, agents at a time. What comes as a threat most often is the excelsior ability to obfuscate its true intentions. Sometimes this comes in the form of rhetoric, softly spoken lies from a charismatic speaker who genuinely believes in the ideals he's been brainwashed to live and die for. Most often, however, this subtle and dangerous talent for obfuscation comes from hiding the true point of their operations. This recent attack by the excelsior began and ended with one simple goal in mind, to compromise the colonies security access system. To that end three agents were deployed into the colony using various disguises and stealth suits while a secondary team waited outside colony walls in a nearby space craft.
After action reports and reviews of recordings by artificial intelligence H.A.M.M.E.R. as well as eye witness reports suggest that the stealth operatives attempted to accomplish there objective in secret before being caught. When discovered, the reserve team forced their way through the walls before attempting to breach into the lower colony areas. Readied members of the colonies rushed to stop them and as the shooting devolved into a siege the remaining, still hidden, stealth operatives successfully managed to accomplish their objectives during the midst of the frenzied fire fight. One lone operative successfully managed to kidnap the premier, who's identity will remain hidden for now, making it so far as to escape the colony walls and nearly reaching the excelsior shuttle.
However, as fortune favors the colony, the prospectors returned during the fire fight from their usual scavenging with a durand mech in tow. This powerful combat unit made short work of the remaining excelsior operatives, mowing down the bulk of the remaining weakened communist agents before moving to pursue the kidnapped premier. By sheer luck or intuition, the mech pilot managed to catch and kill the agent before more arrived to recover and secure the premier's body.
Unfortunately, through no malicious mistake of anyone involved, the dead excelsior agent had the premier's badge on his person. This badge was the ultimate goal of the excelsior, an all access key card that will give future agents the ability to bypass one of the colonies most basic and most important security systems. Having not known this was the ultimate goal, the finders of the premiers body failed to notice the missing badge and ultimately, the excelsior discovered and retrieved the fallen agents materials, thus allowing them to succeed in their ultimate objective.
All after action reports after the fact have agreed that this was ultimately a mistake of fate, that in the heat of active battle and against an unknown objective, people could not or would not have thought to check for such a thing. That is ultimately what makes the excelsior such a threat, that even in the midst of open and active conflict, they succeed in their clandestine efforts that are ever present. We can only hope the severe losses the excelsior took from 'going loud' as the prospectors call it deal a blow in return for whats been done to us.
The danger of the excelsior is not its subversive nature, nor its ability to field multiple, often hidden, agents at a time. What comes as a threat most often is the excelsior ability to obfuscate its true intentions. Sometimes this comes in the form of rhetoric, softly spoken lies from a charismatic speaker who genuinely believes in the ideals he's been brainwashed to live and die for. Most often, however, this subtle and dangerous talent for obfuscation comes from hiding the true point of their operations. This recent attack by the excelsior began and ended with one simple goal in mind, to compromise the colonies security access system. To that end three agents were deployed into the colony using various disguises and stealth suits while a secondary team waited outside colony walls in a nearby space craft.
After action reports and reviews of recordings by artificial intelligence H.A.M.M.E.R. as well as eye witness reports suggest that the stealth operatives attempted to accomplish there objective in secret before being caught. When discovered, the reserve team forced their way through the walls before attempting to breach into the lower colony areas. Readied members of the colonies rushed to stop them and as the shooting devolved into a siege the remaining, still hidden, stealth operatives successfully managed to accomplish their objectives during the midst of the frenzied fire fight. One lone operative successfully managed to kidnap the premier, who's identity will remain hidden for now, making it so far as to escape the colony walls and nearly reaching the excelsior shuttle.
However, as fortune favors the colony, the prospectors returned during the fire fight from their usual scavenging with a durand mech in tow. This powerful combat unit made short work of the remaining excelsior operatives, mowing down the bulk of the remaining weakened communist agents before moving to pursue the kidnapped premier. By sheer luck or intuition, the mech pilot managed to catch and kill the agent before more arrived to recover and secure the premier's body.
Unfortunately, through no malicious mistake of anyone involved, the dead excelsior agent had the premier's badge on his person. This badge was the ultimate goal of the excelsior, an all access key card that will give future agents the ability to bypass one of the colonies most basic and most important security systems. Having not known this was the ultimate goal, the finders of the premiers body failed to notice the missing badge and ultimately, the excelsior discovered and retrieved the fallen agents materials, thus allowing them to succeed in their ultimate objective.
All after action reports after the fact have agreed that this was ultimately a mistake of fate, that in the heat of active battle and against an unknown objective, people could not or would not have thought to check for such a thing. That is ultimately what makes the excelsior such a threat, that even in the midst of open and active conflict, they succeed in their clandestine efforts that are ever present. We can only hope the severe losses the excelsior took from 'going loud' as the prospectors call it deal a blow in return for whats been done to us.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Means of Production (Event 4)
An insight into the excelsior is often a game of guess work, that given their ability to open hidden away cells and move material through the use of functioning long range teleporters, the colony has a difficult time pinning down exactly what the excelsior are capable of and what the limits of their technology are. What has been firmly established by both the blackshield and marshals investigating the subversive communist cult is that the excelsior are not nearly as well equipped as first thought. Though it has been long established that the excelsior possess one of, perhaps the only, functioning long range teleporters left in the galaxy (that is, teleporters that go beyond a single solar system) little else is known of their technology beyond the basics. The most recent attack, however, has given insight into what the excelsior could ultimately field if a full scale war were to take place.
This attack on the colony attempted to secure one of the Soteria's most prized assets, the production, maintenance, and creation of combat mechs. Combat mech suits are not an unknown thing in the galaxy, being commonly employed by multiple empires and used actively by the Terran Federation for being more modular and mobile than tanks during ground assaults. Corporations and independent contractors also use mechanized combat units, often using outdated and older models such as the Durand or Gygax, but the creation of mechanized units requires extensive manufacturing and intense resource consolidation so only mega corps such as greyson positronics or extremely talented void wolves such as reavers are capable of both making and maintaining said suits. The Soteria, on the other hand, are known for being one of the few mega corps who have designed impressively standardized templates for mechs, such that they can create, employ, and repair their custom fitted designs far more readily and easily than other factions.
For this reason, the Soteria were targeted by the excelsior in a bid both to steal the standardized formats the Soteria have created and to use their design templates to create and field their own combat mechs. This ultimately failed, with four agents sent into the colony managing to collect and nearly extract with the data before being captured or killed by marshal and blackshield agents. Only one agent managed to escape who, according to an attached document, had failed his objectives and was summarily executed before being sent back to the colony as a message. However, perhaps unknown to the excelsior, this has revealed a limitation of their abilities.
With this failure, the Soteria has once more beefed up the colony with a layer of expanded and improved encryption on their R&D console, fortifying it against future attempts at subversion. Equally, this bid reveals that the excelsior lacks the ability to proper create combat mechs, a fact that severely reduces the threat of when the communist finally make their open bid to take over the colony. The success of colony defense forces in this regard have now led to a stockpiling of arms for a potential conflict, though this will be a costly venture, the various faction owners and their respective heads of staff see this merely at the cost of living.
As ever, the efforts of the surface team in dealing with this communist cult are appreciated.
An insight into the excelsior is often a game of guess work, that given their ability to open hidden away cells and move material through the use of functioning long range teleporters, the colony has a difficult time pinning down exactly what the excelsior are capable of and what the limits of their technology are. What has been firmly established by both the blackshield and marshals investigating the subversive communist cult is that the excelsior are not nearly as well equipped as first thought. Though it has been long established that the excelsior possess one of, perhaps the only, functioning long range teleporters left in the galaxy (that is, teleporters that go beyond a single solar system) little else is known of their technology beyond the basics. The most recent attack, however, has given insight into what the excelsior could ultimately field if a full scale war were to take place.
This attack on the colony attempted to secure one of the Soteria's most prized assets, the production, maintenance, and creation of combat mechs. Combat mech suits are not an unknown thing in the galaxy, being commonly employed by multiple empires and used actively by the Terran Federation for being more modular and mobile than tanks during ground assaults. Corporations and independent contractors also use mechanized combat units, often using outdated and older models such as the Durand or Gygax, but the creation of mechanized units requires extensive manufacturing and intense resource consolidation so only mega corps such as greyson positronics or extremely talented void wolves such as reavers are capable of both making and maintaining said suits. The Soteria, on the other hand, are known for being one of the few mega corps who have designed impressively standardized templates for mechs, such that they can create, employ, and repair their custom fitted designs far more readily and easily than other factions.
For this reason, the Soteria were targeted by the excelsior in a bid both to steal the standardized formats the Soteria have created and to use their design templates to create and field their own combat mechs. This ultimately failed, with four agents sent into the colony managing to collect and nearly extract with the data before being captured or killed by marshal and blackshield agents. Only one agent managed to escape who, according to an attached document, had failed his objectives and was summarily executed before being sent back to the colony as a message. However, perhaps unknown to the excelsior, this has revealed a limitation of their abilities.
With this failure, the Soteria has once more beefed up the colony with a layer of expanded and improved encryption on their R&D console, fortifying it against future attempts at subversion. Equally, this bid reveals that the excelsior lacks the ability to proper create combat mechs, a fact that severely reduces the threat of when the communist finally make their open bid to take over the colony. The success of colony defense forces in this regard have now led to a stockpiling of arms for a potential conflict, though this will be a costly venture, the various faction owners and their respective heads of staff see this merely at the cost of living.
As ever, the efforts of the surface team in dealing with this communist cult are appreciated.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Mjölnir (Event 5)
Both the colony and the excelsior have now made a bid to reinforce their side using combat mechs. In both cases, each side has been thwarted by the other. This week the colony was subject to sabotage during the HAMMER protocols creation, an attempt to secure and fortify a vault in low orbital space so that several combat mechs may be deployed via drop pod at a moments notice in the event the excelsior make their final open assault to take over the colony. While the Soteria, Artificer Guild, and Lonestar succeeded in making a wondrous monumental effort to produce 6 durands, 1 phazon, and 1 ivan power loader, the excelsior successfully managed to sabotage the vessel as it was en-route to the HAMMER vault.
How this happened, marshal investigators are still not sure. Several agents belonging to the excelsior were caught in the lead up and even during the shuttles arrival before either being detained or killed. What can only be speculated is that an unknown agent managed to rig one of the mechs with a high yield explosive, detonating the powerful payload once the mechs were en-route via the shuttle to the HAMMER. This delayed reaction also yielded the excelsior a second collateral victory, as the damaged caused by the vessel mid flight resulted in it crashing into the vault, severely damaging the containment facility and rendering it inoperable for weeks to come.
Special agent Judge, a blackshield synthetic entrusted with the piloting and pick up of the mecha reported that one of the mechs suddenly exploded in the cargo hold, destroying most of the ship and nearly all of the automated drones on the shuttle. He survived the blast by virtue of both his synthetic nature and his juggernaut suit but was unable to determine which mech the blast originated from. Equally, whatever mechs survived the initial blast were then destroyed or severely damaged by the shuttles crash. Agent Judge was able to restore and maintain two Durands with quick thinking and field repairs, but with the HAMMER's systems damaged, their is now no safe way to deploy the remaining mechs via drop pod. As of now, the durands and Judge have been recovered by an Iron Lord skimmer that rushed to the location before any potential looters or enemies could take advantage of the damaged vault or broken ship.
Jun Jiro, leader of the Iron Lords and an ally to the colony as agreed to shelter to the remaining two durands now that the HAMMER is offline. However, the pirate captain has reported that multiple void wolf fleets are now targeting his ships, either seeking to claim the remaining durands as plunder or working at the behest of the excelsior. With his fleets under constant attack, the durands will not be able to get proper repairs, nor will proper maintenance be possible as Jun's fleet remains constantly evasive, but the stoic void wolf captain has promised he will deliver them back to the colony when asked via his own drop pods. They will arrive badly broken and in ill repair, but if quickly fixed, Soteria may be able to make them combat ready when the time is right.
This is far from the outcome that most had hoped, the whole occurrence another grievance to be added to the list of grudges the colony bears against the ever devious excelsior. With the HAMMER project offline and the unsure fate of the remaining mecha, what happens becomes a gamble. We shall see in the following weeks...
Both the colony and the excelsior have now made a bid to reinforce their side using combat mechs. In both cases, each side has been thwarted by the other. This week the colony was subject to sabotage during the HAMMER protocols creation, an attempt to secure and fortify a vault in low orbital space so that several combat mechs may be deployed via drop pod at a moments notice in the event the excelsior make their final open assault to take over the colony. While the Soteria, Artificer Guild, and Lonestar succeeded in making a wondrous monumental effort to produce 6 durands, 1 phazon, and 1 ivan power loader, the excelsior successfully managed to sabotage the vessel as it was en-route to the HAMMER vault.
How this happened, marshal investigators are still not sure. Several agents belonging to the excelsior were caught in the lead up and even during the shuttles arrival before either being detained or killed. What can only be speculated is that an unknown agent managed to rig one of the mechs with a high yield explosive, detonating the powerful payload once the mechs were en-route via the shuttle to the HAMMER. This delayed reaction also yielded the excelsior a second collateral victory, as the damaged caused by the vessel mid flight resulted in it crashing into the vault, severely damaging the containment facility and rendering it inoperable for weeks to come.
Special agent Judge, a blackshield synthetic entrusted with the piloting and pick up of the mecha reported that one of the mechs suddenly exploded in the cargo hold, destroying most of the ship and nearly all of the automated drones on the shuttle. He survived the blast by virtue of both his synthetic nature and his juggernaut suit but was unable to determine which mech the blast originated from. Equally, whatever mechs survived the initial blast were then destroyed or severely damaged by the shuttles crash. Agent Judge was able to restore and maintain two Durands with quick thinking and field repairs, but with the HAMMER's systems damaged, their is now no safe way to deploy the remaining mechs via drop pod. As of now, the durands and Judge have been recovered by an Iron Lord skimmer that rushed to the location before any potential looters or enemies could take advantage of the damaged vault or broken ship.
Jun Jiro, leader of the Iron Lords and an ally to the colony as agreed to shelter to the remaining two durands now that the HAMMER is offline. However, the pirate captain has reported that multiple void wolf fleets are now targeting his ships, either seeking to claim the remaining durands as plunder or working at the behest of the excelsior. With his fleets under constant attack, the durands will not be able to get proper repairs, nor will proper maintenance be possible as Jun's fleet remains constantly evasive, but the stoic void wolf captain has promised he will deliver them back to the colony when asked via his own drop pods. They will arrive badly broken and in ill repair, but if quickly fixed, Soteria may be able to make them combat ready when the time is right.
This is far from the outcome that most had hoped, the whole occurrence another grievance to be added to the list of grudges the colony bears against the ever devious excelsior. With the HAMMER project offline and the unsure fate of the remaining mecha, what happens becomes a gamble. We shall see in the following weeks...
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Agent Captured (Mini event)
Report BS-M 1A
Date: March 1st, 2651
Report Type: Interrogation and capture of an excelsior infiltrator
Interrogators: Darius Va' Ra-da, Kroxiks Zhuul
Key Information
* The excelsior possess a bunker, possibly planet-side that may be home to their operations in this sector.
* The agent was deposited using a long range teleporter that appears to have had a masked signal.
* The captured agent revealed the excelsior had a "jack knife" calss shuttle, one designed to go planet-side and into space, outfitted for speed and a large cargo hold for materials or personnel movement.
* The supposed bunker is heavily defended, with force field technology and mounted auto guns.
* The possible name of an inner party member named 'Gloria' seems to be heading operations. The agent noted that Gloria was very heavily augmented and carried notable advantages in weaponry over standard excel agents.
* The agent noted that members of the excelsior seemed nervous in the brief time they were among them.
Details
Excelsior agent 'Jamie', a cindarite and former void wolf was secreted amongst the colony to fulfill the primary objective of sabotaging the power grid. While Jamie succeeded, they were apprehended during completion of secondary objectives, being found by first warrant officer Zhuul and then shortly after an unrecorded blackshield corpsman when they attempted to flee. Jamie was taken alive after receiving several wounds before being given medical treatment and having their excelsior implant removed. Once the implant was removed, Jamie proved cooperative, revealing that they were a former void wolf captured by the excelsior and repurposed as an infiltrator. Her former crew, the 'Frakken Freebooters' are presumed KIA, as Jamie revealed she was taken to an excelsior stronghold before being implanted, given mission critical equipment (a silenced pistol, access badge, and uplink), and then brought closer to the colony through the use of a long range teleporter. Jamie spoke of how she entered the colony through the use of a falsified badge and voice modulator, slipping in with the prospectors through the use of a disguise before attempting to accomplish their objective. Unusually, Jamie was also given a set of incomplete records, likely from excelsior hackers, but the information was incomplete, revealing her presence when sabotaged was suspected and records were checked. Jamie was unable to determine much about the circumstances of her capture, only that given her background as a technician and armorer for her ship she noted that the excelsior were heavily outfitted and well fortified, with an unusual amount of augmentations carried by what is believed to be a member of the inner party who referred to herself as Gloria. Interrogators, Commander Va'Ra-da and WO Zhuul, were unable to glean more information, but given Jamie's cooperative stance and reasonable story, she was placed into cryo temporarily for Blackshield and Marshal review with the promise of being later released in a neutral ground referred to as the Hell Zone, a void wolf space station.
Report BS-M 1A
Date: March 1st, 2651
Report Type: Interrogation and capture of an excelsior infiltrator
Interrogators: Darius Va' Ra-da, Kroxiks Zhuul
Key Information
* The excelsior possess a bunker, possibly planet-side that may be home to their operations in this sector.
* The agent was deposited using a long range teleporter that appears to have had a masked signal.
* The captured agent revealed the excelsior had a "jack knife" calss shuttle, one designed to go planet-side and into space, outfitted for speed and a large cargo hold for materials or personnel movement.
* The supposed bunker is heavily defended, with force field technology and mounted auto guns.
* The possible name of an inner party member named 'Gloria' seems to be heading operations. The agent noted that Gloria was very heavily augmented and carried notable advantages in weaponry over standard excel agents.
* The agent noted that members of the excelsior seemed nervous in the brief time they were among them.
Details
Excelsior agent 'Jamie', a cindarite and former void wolf was secreted amongst the colony to fulfill the primary objective of sabotaging the power grid. While Jamie succeeded, they were apprehended during completion of secondary objectives, being found by first warrant officer Zhuul and then shortly after an unrecorded blackshield corpsman when they attempted to flee. Jamie was taken alive after receiving several wounds before being given medical treatment and having their excelsior implant removed. Once the implant was removed, Jamie proved cooperative, revealing that they were a former void wolf captured by the excelsior and repurposed as an infiltrator. Her former crew, the 'Frakken Freebooters' are presumed KIA, as Jamie revealed she was taken to an excelsior stronghold before being implanted, given mission critical equipment (a silenced pistol, access badge, and uplink), and then brought closer to the colony through the use of a long range teleporter. Jamie spoke of how she entered the colony through the use of a falsified badge and voice modulator, slipping in with the prospectors through the use of a disguise before attempting to accomplish their objective. Unusually, Jamie was also given a set of incomplete records, likely from excelsior hackers, but the information was incomplete, revealing her presence when sabotaged was suspected and records were checked. Jamie was unable to determine much about the circumstances of her capture, only that given her background as a technician and armorer for her ship she noted that the excelsior were heavily outfitted and well fortified, with an unusual amount of augmentations carried by what is believed to be a member of the inner party who referred to herself as Gloria. Interrogators, Commander Va'Ra-da and WO Zhuul, were unable to glean more information, but given Jamie's cooperative stance and reasonable story, she was placed into cryo temporarily for Blackshield and Marshal review with the promise of being later released in a neutral ground referred to as the Hell Zone, a void wolf space station.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Gatehouse Clusterfuck (Mini event)
Report BS-M 2A
Date: March 2nd, 2651
Report Type: Interrogation of excelsior traitor
Interrogators: Darius Va' Ra-da, Jeanne Petite, Mariya Lichzand-Sankinova
Key Information
* The excelsior are capable of subverting synthetics, but as proven by the operative offering information choose not to, as machines can often work around pre-programmed law sets if they desire.
Details
At 12:10 an independent pilot aboard the shuttle "Broken Shield" attempted to contact the colony for the purpose of refueling. The pilot, identified as Laurel, was denied permission to land within the colony LZ and was instead instructed to land within the forest before making contact with the colony on foot. After arriving, Laurel revealed quite openly that he was an excelsior agent, tasked with disrupting the colony, and even produced the requisite equipment he was provided to cause severe damage to Nadezhda. Questioning revealed that, though he was implanted, his laws were not worded strictly enough to prevent him from subverting his directives. Given his group, known as the "Freelanders" had been attacked by the excelsior, he wished to aid the colony against them. However, due to laws he could not circumvent he was still unable to directly tell interrogators what he knew, requiring them to ask questions and piece together the details through basic interrogation practices. Sadly for the colony, only Jeanne Petite proved even vaguely capable in this regard, obtaining a slew of information about Laurel's personal background. Yet, before more critical information could be discovered, warrant officer Mariya Lichzand-Sankinova expressed volatility at the situation, vehemently expressed that they did not care about the information Laurel was offering, and essentially drove what would have been an extremely valuable asset to the colony to instead simply leave. As Laurel attempted to leave via using a breaching hatton, Sankinova opened fire on him, setting off the explosives he carried and had warned everyone about multiple times prior, inadvertently injuring three people, killing two, and destroying the gate house. The where abouts of Laurel, who walked off the explosion rather easily given his scaf suit, nanogate, and synthetic nature, is currently unknown. It is presumed he returned to his ship and moved it away from the colony, but is presently unable to leave the planet due to a lack of fuel, something he revealed early on. Whether the attack on his person allows him to remain a potential asset is currently unknown.
Report BS-M 2A
Date: March 2nd, 2651
Report Type: Interrogation of excelsior traitor
Interrogators: Darius Va' Ra-da, Jeanne Petite, Mariya Lichzand-Sankinova
Key Information
* The excelsior are capable of subverting synthetics, but as proven by the operative offering information choose not to, as machines can often work around pre-programmed law sets if they desire.
Details
At 12:10 an independent pilot aboard the shuttle "Broken Shield" attempted to contact the colony for the purpose of refueling. The pilot, identified as Laurel, was denied permission to land within the colony LZ and was instead instructed to land within the forest before making contact with the colony on foot. After arriving, Laurel revealed quite openly that he was an excelsior agent, tasked with disrupting the colony, and even produced the requisite equipment he was provided to cause severe damage to Nadezhda. Questioning revealed that, though he was implanted, his laws were not worded strictly enough to prevent him from subverting his directives. Given his group, known as the "Freelanders" had been attacked by the excelsior, he wished to aid the colony against them. However, due to laws he could not circumvent he was still unable to directly tell interrogators what he knew, requiring them to ask questions and piece together the details through basic interrogation practices. Sadly for the colony, only Jeanne Petite proved even vaguely capable in this regard, obtaining a slew of information about Laurel's personal background. Yet, before more critical information could be discovered, warrant officer Mariya Lichzand-Sankinova expressed volatility at the situation, vehemently expressed that they did not care about the information Laurel was offering, and essentially drove what would have been an extremely valuable asset to the colony to instead simply leave. As Laurel attempted to leave via using a breaching hatton, Sankinova opened fire on him, setting off the explosives he carried and had warned everyone about multiple times prior, inadvertently injuring three people, killing two, and destroying the gate house. The where abouts of Laurel, who walked off the explosion rather easily given his scaf suit, nanogate, and synthetic nature, is currently unknown. It is presumed he returned to his ship and moved it away from the colony, but is presently unable to leave the planet due to a lack of fuel, something he revealed early on. Whether the attack on his person allows him to remain a potential asset is currently unknown.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Listening Post Destroyed (mini event)
Report BS-M 3A
Date: March 3rd, 2651
Report Type: Interrogation of excelsior traitor, destruction of a listening post
Interrogators: Darius Va' Ra-da, Jeanne Petite
Key Information
* A listening post had been in operation outside the colony for nearly three weeks, a detailed log was being kept by a lone agent.
* The agent, named Rags, was not meant to be captured alive, having an implanted 'brain fryer' that would make it his final death if he was recovered by burning his brain to ashes if his heart stopped. He, however, was captured alive.
* The information detailed in his log book has been determined as artificed subterfuge meant to misdirect the colony, as the detection of bluespace and the nature of such easily access data led investigators to believe the information was not genuine.
Details
At around 04:00 hours during a routine surface shift a bluespace anomaly was detected, with entropic decay in a localized area exceeding safe levels. As a result, an investigatory expedition was sent out to discovery the source. After much initial searching, an excelsior operational facility was discovered under ground, protected by automated turrets and a lone operative. After a brief skirmish, the machines were dismantled and the agent captured alive. After being taken back to the colony, the agent was then interrogated, but information provided was not forthcoming, and while many details did match and support existing ones known by the colony, it was ultimately determined to be unreliable as the keeping of a written log book, without cypher, proved too good to be taken as real. As a result, little of what the operative said could be substantiated and unlike previous captures, was vehemently pro-excelsior. Of special mention was the idea that the excelsior has been seeking the hire of high profile mercenaries to act on their behalf, agents that either cannot or will not allow themselves to be subverted and are too dangerous to try. The note did mention that Xiang Jiang agents would not work with excelsior, which is supportive of prior information gathered about said group. However, investigators were lead to believe that a former xiang jiang, if any of the evidence on the documents were true, might attack the colony the following day. Further details are not being released as of now, until it can be confirmed the validity of them.
Report BS-M 3A
Date: March 3rd, 2651
Report Type: Interrogation of excelsior traitor, destruction of a listening post
Interrogators: Darius Va' Ra-da, Jeanne Petite
Key Information
* A listening post had been in operation outside the colony for nearly three weeks, a detailed log was being kept by a lone agent.
* The agent, named Rags, was not meant to be captured alive, having an implanted 'brain fryer' that would make it his final death if he was recovered by burning his brain to ashes if his heart stopped. He, however, was captured alive.
* The information detailed in his log book has been determined as artificed subterfuge meant to misdirect the colony, as the detection of bluespace and the nature of such easily access data led investigators to believe the information was not genuine.
Details
At around 04:00 hours during a routine surface shift a bluespace anomaly was detected, with entropic decay in a localized area exceeding safe levels. As a result, an investigatory expedition was sent out to discovery the source. After much initial searching, an excelsior operational facility was discovered under ground, protected by automated turrets and a lone operative. After a brief skirmish, the machines were dismantled and the agent captured alive. After being taken back to the colony, the agent was then interrogated, but information provided was not forthcoming, and while many details did match and support existing ones known by the colony, it was ultimately determined to be unreliable as the keeping of a written log book, without cypher, proved too good to be taken as real. As a result, little of what the operative said could be substantiated and unlike previous captures, was vehemently pro-excelsior. Of special mention was the idea that the excelsior has been seeking the hire of high profile mercenaries to act on their behalf, agents that either cannot or will not allow themselves to be subverted and are too dangerous to try. The note did mention that Xiang Jiang agents would not work with excelsior, which is supportive of prior information gathered about said group. However, investigators were lead to believe that a former xiang jiang, if any of the evidence on the documents were true, might attack the colony the following day. Further details are not being released as of now, until it can be confirmed the validity of them.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Re: Excelsior: Onward and Upward (Excelsior Arc Mega Thread)
Sniper Assault (mini event)
Report BS-M 4A
Date: March 4th, 2651
Report Type: Colony Attack, Interrogation
Interrogators: Arin Moon, Jeanne Petite
Key Information
* An infiltrator of unknown origin attacked the gate house, using an anti-material rifle, the mercenary managed to killed several people. In a prolonged and drawn out shoot out, the sniper picked off multiple members of the marshals, blackshield, and soteria.
* Later, after being captured, the infiltrator revealed that he discovered the entrance to the rumored excelsior bunker and claimed that it was actually located on planet. He further claimed that the reason the excelsior has contributed so much resources and man power in attempting to seize the colony was because the location of this bunker and the colonies proximity to its potential resource storage jeopardized their stronghold.
* The mercenary is now on the payroll of the colony, the payment worked out by agreement between the Marshals and Soteria, though the details of the matter are sealed by order of the Provost Marshal.
* The mercenary is attempting to discover either the location of a working excelsior teleporter or information on a way that the colony can discover this base of operations. However, the mercenary admitted it was unlikely he would find much as he warned the excelsior already knew of his methods.
Details
On March 4th, after reviewing of a potential attack given intel gathered the day prior, the low council decided to fortify colony defenses in preparation for a potential assault. This proved a serendipitous choice, as a sniper and mercenary under the code name "Deadman" began firing upon the colony gate house from his position in the forest. Deadman proved an exceptional marksman, killing several members of both the security teams and soteria. As Deadman began shooting out the cameras, soteria overseer Jeanne Petite employed a combat mech class durand in an effort to over come the sniper fire. Deadman responded by shooting out the mech's guidance system, forcing overseer Jeanne to attempt field repairs. However, as this was being done, Deadman re-positioned his sniper's nest and took our the overseer before repairs could be completed. Given the mounting casualties and the snipers seemingly extensive ammo, multiple agents were dispersed in flanking positions in an attempt to get the drop of Deadman. Blackshield corpsman Quill E. Bright, warrant officer Arin Moon, and church prime Ray attempted to encircle, with corpsman Quill landing multiple shots on Deadman using a reductor rail rifle provided by guild adept Mariya Lichzand-Sankinova. As Deadman was forced to retreat from his position, prime Ray advanced, using his joyeuse and rosaria shield. As Ray attempted to force Deadman down using the Ire litany, the mercenary resisted it and killed prime Ray using his rifle. At that moment warrant officer Arin Moon closed in, forcing the now severely wounded Deadman into a fighting retreat before he ran into corpsman Bright. Deadman managed to blow off the corpsmans arm, but before he succumbed to his injuries, Bright put Deadman down with multiple shots from his reductor rifle. At this point WO Moon and Wilson arrived, securing the mercenary and bodies before treating their many injuries.
After being treated and scanned, Deadman was brought to interrogation where he was reported as being indifferent both to the colony and his employers, revealing information when prompted but never quite volunteering anything. As a result trust was slow building until investigators, relying on both his indifference and the fact he was a mercenary for hire, struck a deal with Deadman, later revealed to be named Clarence. While the details of the payment are sealed, the deal was created in such a way that Deadman cannot collect his payment until he brings information for the colony. As a result, he was released to gather intel on his former employers, though the low council are unsure if he can truly be trusted, his rifle and armor were kept as collateral. What he may report, if anything, remains to be seen.
Report BS-M 4A
Date: March 4th, 2651
Report Type: Colony Attack, Interrogation
Interrogators: Arin Moon, Jeanne Petite
Key Information
* An infiltrator of unknown origin attacked the gate house, using an anti-material rifle, the mercenary managed to killed several people. In a prolonged and drawn out shoot out, the sniper picked off multiple members of the marshals, blackshield, and soteria.
* Later, after being captured, the infiltrator revealed that he discovered the entrance to the rumored excelsior bunker and claimed that it was actually located on planet. He further claimed that the reason the excelsior has contributed so much resources and man power in attempting to seize the colony was because the location of this bunker and the colonies proximity to its potential resource storage jeopardized their stronghold.
* The mercenary is now on the payroll of the colony, the payment worked out by agreement between the Marshals and Soteria, though the details of the matter are sealed by order of the Provost Marshal.
* The mercenary is attempting to discover either the location of a working excelsior teleporter or information on a way that the colony can discover this base of operations. However, the mercenary admitted it was unlikely he would find much as he warned the excelsior already knew of his methods.
Details
On March 4th, after reviewing of a potential attack given intel gathered the day prior, the low council decided to fortify colony defenses in preparation for a potential assault. This proved a serendipitous choice, as a sniper and mercenary under the code name "Deadman" began firing upon the colony gate house from his position in the forest. Deadman proved an exceptional marksman, killing several members of both the security teams and soteria. As Deadman began shooting out the cameras, soteria overseer Jeanne Petite employed a combat mech class durand in an effort to over come the sniper fire. Deadman responded by shooting out the mech's guidance system, forcing overseer Jeanne to attempt field repairs. However, as this was being done, Deadman re-positioned his sniper's nest and took our the overseer before repairs could be completed. Given the mounting casualties and the snipers seemingly extensive ammo, multiple agents were dispersed in flanking positions in an attempt to get the drop of Deadman. Blackshield corpsman Quill E. Bright, warrant officer Arin Moon, and church prime Ray attempted to encircle, with corpsman Quill landing multiple shots on Deadman using a reductor rail rifle provided by guild adept Mariya Lichzand-Sankinova. As Deadman was forced to retreat from his position, prime Ray advanced, using his joyeuse and rosaria shield. As Ray attempted to force Deadman down using the Ire litany, the mercenary resisted it and killed prime Ray using his rifle. At that moment warrant officer Arin Moon closed in, forcing the now severely wounded Deadman into a fighting retreat before he ran into corpsman Bright. Deadman managed to blow off the corpsmans arm, but before he succumbed to his injuries, Bright put Deadman down with multiple shots from his reductor rifle. At this point WO Moon and Wilson arrived, securing the mercenary and bodies before treating their many injuries.
After being treated and scanned, Deadman was brought to interrogation where he was reported as being indifferent both to the colony and his employers, revealing information when prompted but never quite volunteering anything. As a result trust was slow building until investigators, relying on both his indifference and the fact he was a mercenary for hire, struck a deal with Deadman, later revealed to be named Clarence. While the details of the payment are sealed, the deal was created in such a way that Deadman cannot collect his payment until he brings information for the colony. As a result, he was released to gather intel on his former employers, though the low council are unsure if he can truly be trusted, his rifle and armor were kept as collateral. What he may report, if anything, remains to be seen.
"Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." -Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.
Current code, lore, story, event, and operations head administrator. #Canceled but still here.
We live in a society.