Moderated Freeform · Legacy archive
[Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#81Maxine returned her smile. "We wouldn't say no to that. You were looking for me?" She gestured at Filo to scoot over and make room for Marsha. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#82Marsha slid into the seat comfortably, giving Maxine's friends a polite nod. "Yes, there's a party coming up tonight, I thought you might want to join me, some of the puppet masters of Mecha politics will be in attendance," She began, punching in her order on the tables menu. "Along with plenty of attractive dancing partners." She added with a wink. "I sent you the details earlier, it should be on your com-link by now." -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#83Maxine shifted in her seat, took out her com-link and started paging through it. "...I've got an attractive partner at home. But rubbing some elbows with the brass sounds enticing. It's starting to look like we probably do need to grease the wheels somewhat to get some real work. Thanks for inviting me, I gladly accept."
"I'll send you my address so you can pick me up. For this, I'll be ready whenever." She patted Marsha's arm then punched in an order of her own so she wouldn't be eating alone. As the bartender brought them their drinks, she raised her glass in salute of Marsha and smiled.
Also, Sil, I'm kinda curious what happened when you wrote that? :P -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#84"I would tell you to bring her, but my invitation is only good for one additional," She replied with a slight shrug. "Most of the parties are pretty tame, at least in the beginning, they'll be enough forewarning you can discreetly depart before things get more risque," Marsha reassured with with a relaxed grin. "All the important stuff we're there for happens before hand anyway; and if we get lucky we might run into some other lance commanders or those with pull that might be able to slide a few prominent missions in our direction.
She nodded and returned the glass salute with her own beverage, feeling much deeply pleased about the upcoming party especially now she knew her commander would be present, and able to approve any career boosting opportunities they might run into.
Not a clue what happened, I think /me got used in the beginning of the sentence? *shrugs* -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#85Cobain's plans ran into an unexpected, or perhaps more overlooked, problem. His knife and pistol were quite simply not allowed inside the arcology, and even if he had managed to 'sneak' them past the initial security checkpoint, he would have had to gotten them through a second layer of security between the middle and upper bulkheads inside the arco. They were so very touchy about who had and who didn't have weapons inside the building. If there was one group of people that the arco security department loved to hassle, it was military personnel. It wasn't uncommon for officers and NCOs to forget to take off a side arm, or remove some 'weapon accessory' giving the Arco San Louis police a reason to detain them for several hours, and forcing supervisors to leave the military base to retrieve their wayward personnel.
Cobain had a moment to decide what to do, attempt to bluff his way through security Hostile level/non-violent encounter or go back, ditch his weapon, arrive late, or find some other way to get inside and remaining armed.
The bar he is going to is very high brow, and very expensive.
*****
Rixx looked at Sanchez and shook his head, 'I wish it was just protestors, but it was way worse than that. Word on the pavement is that it was a cult,' he said the word with disdain. 'They went loco, and I've heard they had a virus bomb, I've also heard they had some sort of bioweapon, to something as absurd as they had an old Adam Bomb. (colloquial - Atom and Adam are used interchangeably). Filo looked over at Maxine, pointing a finger at her. 'I saw it!'
'Shut your face Filo!' Rixx brandished a fist at him, and most people would have laughed it off as banter, or aggressive posturing, but Maxine knew that this wasn't Rixx, and whatever it was had actually rattled him. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#86Derek cursed, and stowed his weapons in his bike. It would call him if disturbed, and even self evade if need be, so there was that. He could not believe he had forgotten that already.
Ah well, thought Derek, it was not like he was totally unarmed.
Losing no time, he parked his bike at an expensive lot outside of the Arco proper, and hoofed it to the main doors.
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#87Some time before Marsha arrived...
Maxine looked from Filo to Rixx. "Guys. This is me you're talking to. Moving away hasn't changed who I am. Filo, what did you see?" Her face turned towards Filo but her eyes told Rixx not to interfere.
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#88Filo moves closer, conspiratorially whispering over the noise in the bar, 'It was a cult, they were doing some merde malo stuff,' Rixx scowls at him but doesn't stop him. 'There were rumors, young women vanishing, kids too, and there was bloody hand print graffiti. It was the sort of stuff that made even the normal wanna be gang bangers keep walking.'
'Look, stuff happened and they sent in a couple squads of ground-pounders, SWAT-troopers, power armor luchadores,' Rixx said. 'Couple of them were carried out, dead.' He looked over at Filo. 'Go ahead, tell her, I can see it's hurting you.'
'It was a bug, it was a damned big bug, like an eight foot tall praying mantis, if it's momma was a scrap yard loader,' Filo said. 'I saw the Arco-boys go after it, they lost their shit, scattered, and it was just a couple of them who held their ground, did the hardcore Spartan thing, BADDA BADDA BADDA! he made machine gun fingers, 'then it got all quiet, and then they started squirting everything with their zippo rifles (flamers) -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#89The Elysium Club, 360 floors above terra firma, looking out across the expanse of the glittering better part of Arco San Louis, and the rivers. The view was magnificent, as was the music. There were live musicians, playing real instruments, which the majority of which were made of wood. This close to the CogNet mast and meganode, only analog and retrotech devices worked flawlessly. Cobain saw that even his own gear was really not liking being this close to the arco's core node. The effect could have been masked, the walls insulated and relays set in place, but it was found to be more valuable to leave it like it was. This was a place where deals were made, and there would be no record of them. Surveillance was all but impossible, and it was easy to even pick out the people who had cybernetic augmentation, they either looked dazed as their implants struggled with the noise, or they looked a little lost because safety features had shut their implants down, or had them in minimal function mode. Hard to run a tech spy mission, but then again that was the point.
His contact was an older man, with close set eyes, close cropped white hair, and a scarred face that showed he had seen action, but hadn't had the money to have the scars removed, or he had decided to keep them. His dress was casual, but his mannerism marked him as a soldier, and judging from his size and the definition of the muscles under his shirt, a power armor trooper.
'The hatchetman finally made it up to the top,' Greene said. He was one of the people who had seen interest in Cobain's carefully worded missives. 'The food here is good, but the drinks are better, the fruit in them are real' -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#90Some time before Marsha arrived(2)...
"...Mierda, quite a story Filo. Don't worry, I'm sure the gov cleaned em all up by now. Swatting annoying bugs y'know, that's what us army-jacks do!" She punched Filo playfully and nudged the conversation onto a lighter subject. Though it had given her something to think about, Rixx and Filo weren't ones to scare easily.
Sometime later after talking to Marsha...
Having left the bar, Maxine took the time to check out the burnt out area for herself, she told Marsha about the cult and invited her along. The hazmat team appeared to have left. She looked around for cameras, drones or guards, then discreetly crept underneath the flickering yellow holo band displaying the site as off limits. There probably wouldn't be much left, but after having fought in as many battles as she had perhaps she could get some inkling at what had transpired here. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#91"Then I'd be a fool not to try em. Anything you'd suggest? "
" Not quite the Top, someone seems to want to keep me out, and seems more to it than keeping from showing up some rich kids. How are things?"
Derek enjoyed the view and the music, he would have to come back here again sometime when he was feeling more social.
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#92Marsha followed Maxine quietly, her senses alert for any hint of continuing surveillance, of be it from discreet police forces or curious gangers, keeping her attention focused outward away from the crime scene so Maxine could focus her efforts on unraveling any hidden truths as to the nature of what occurred there not too long ago. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#93
"Then I'd be a fool not to try em. Anything you'd suggest? "
" Not quite the Top, someone seems to want to keep me out, and seems more to it than keeping from showing up some rich kids. How are things?"
Derek enjoyed the view and the music, he would have to come back here again sometime when he was feeling more social.
Greene leaned back and took a drink. 'You know how things go, Derek, the kids of the elite are always going to get the best and never going to earn it. They aren't ever going to see a bug swarm, or a kaiju, their precious little hands are never going to get dirty, and their little candy asses are never going to be on the line, and eventually they will be in charge. That hasn't changed in over a thousand years.' He seemed relaxed, but it was a show, something to keep the others in the swanky establishment from noticing their conversation.
'But there is something going on. The Federation Council has been talking about cutting back funding to the mecha corps and putting some existing materiel in mothballs. That won't mean anything here in ASL, because of the strategic value of this base, but it would mean active squads around the globe being reduced, mechs being scraped or sent to salvage. You know if there is one thing we can't stand it's to stop spending money on big guns. Keep your ear to the ground, because I've heard a whisper of a rumor going around that we might have an active decommissioning rolling through. You know the drill, big ops, lots of gear in the field, and then letting a lot of that gear get smashed to make the budget hawks look bad. The cuts wouldn't get us, but you can bet that as one of the hottest points in the Federation, we are right in line with the Neuvo Zaire DMZ and Fort Switzerland for a 'military budget debacle' Greene said.
'nothing lights a fire under the councils and leadership quite like their own spawn getting caught in actual combat.' -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#94
Marsha followed Maxine quietly, her senses alert for any hint of continuing surveillance, of be it from discreet police forces or curious gangers, keeping her attention focused outward away from the crime scene so Maxine could focus her efforts on unraveling any hidden truths as to the nature of what occurred there not too long ago.
The scene was a mess, but no amount of carbonized debris and soot staining on the ferroconcrete could hide the holes torn in the material by standard issue armor piercing rounds. Not the sort of ammo that even police power armor officers carried, this was certified military grade firepower, and Stressor had seen police raid scenes, they didn't look like this.
The patterns were easy to overlook, unless you had been to the power armor and mechanized power armor training academy. Overlapping fire, suppression fire, and the tight clusters of impact points showed that this was the work of professionals. Special forces and commando raids looked like this... -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#95Marsha quietly filled Maxine in on her observations, her hand resting lightly on the grip of her service pistol as she did so, keeping an eye out for anyone that took more than a passing interest in their presence.
"This was definitely planned and executed with precision, whatever mess was cleaned up there they wanted no survivors and maximum efficiency, seems like overkill for some gangers don't you think?"
She knelt down and pulled out her hand gun, flicking on the tactical light attachment and shining it into the storm drain out of curiosity, on the off chance anything of interest may have fallen inside before panning it around into the darker corners and overhead shadows. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#96Derek nodded. So things would likely get real hot.
"Okay. That's good to know, but still we are being shelved, not even generating victories for the candy asses to take credit for.
They are not even bothering to throw us under a tank. Do you know if we got in someone particular's bonnet?"
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#97
"This was definitely planned and executed with precision, whatever mess was cleaned up there they wanted no survivors and maximum efficiency, seems like overkill for some gangers don't you think?"
Maxine shook her head. "Not gangers, cultists, remember? Guess it doesn't make much difference other than the level of crazy though..."
She looked down at her boots and kicked some loose rocks.
"Something tells me we'll be seeing more of these bugs y'know...Let's hope we'll be suited up if and when."
On a hunch, she tried overturning some of the larger debris, in case the cleanup squad had missed something. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#98Maxine and Marsha
Marsha's search was rewarded, sort of. About a meter down the partially collapses drain she saw the glitter of an intentionally discarded data chip case. It was scuffed, and there were dark stains on it, but it looked intact. The rest of the scene was fairly well cleaned up, there was some carbonized remains, charred bits of exoskeleton, and a few things that might have once been bone, but it was all sanitized via plasma flamers.
Also recovered:
several shell casings, 25mm automatic (heavy power armor rifle)
single shell casing, 50mm grenade/canister round
carbonized 'claw'
Titanium pendant, heat discolored
Derek
'Oh absolutely, you got up someone's backside.' Greene said. 'Able squad's CO to be specific. He's got his eye on leaving the ASL garrison and joining a Federation level group. He had all the intel on the raid, and there was a last minute mix up, Talon squad was supposed to be deployed to sector 10, and Able to Sector 11, but you know things get with guys in command who've never actually done any commanding. His squad missed cue, and took the last Carry-All to the far side of 10. That fight was supposed to be his commendation for valor in the field, and his promotion out of the minors and into the big leagues.'
'Coleman is a petty man Cobain. He can't punish anyone for stealing his thunder because he's the one that screwed it up. So the best he can do is make sure that Talon gets to sit on the bench as much as possible.' -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#99Marsha retrieved the data chip case, turning it over in her hand and giving it a closer examination, picking up the carbonized claw as an afterthought. "Any idea what this claw belongs to?" She asked Maxine with a shrug,
"I think whatever they ran into here, it wasn't strictly humans." -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#100"Any idea what this claw belongs to?"
"My money's on the big bug Filo talked about, where's your head at Hot Shot? I told you already." Maxine dug around in her pocket and fished out some gum.
-
"I think we've found all we can hope for. I'm heading home for now. Get that chip checked and I'll cya tonight, okay?" She waved as she stepped over some big rubble, looked around for watching eyes and left the scene, taking the tram back to her apartment. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#101Marsha nodded, the glimmer of the pendant catching her eye as she turned the claw over in her hand. "Insects don't generally have claws, such things are more reptile and mammal traits." She told Marsha with a shrug, kneeling down and retrieving the discolored pendant from the charred surroundings. "I'll let you know what I find out." She promised Marsha, quickly returning to her own apartment to analyze the chip and see if she could place the pendant as a symbol of any known cultist or religious group.
Chip analysis: (20:11:47) Minion: Silveressa rolls 1d100 and gets 8.
Pendant analysis: (20:11:52) Minion: Silveressa rolls 1d100 and gets 35.
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#102Stressor was annoyed, her home computer wasn't even chipping the paint on the encryption on the data chip. Her paramour of the week had been pouty and demanding, and rather than relaxed from an afternoon tryst, Stressor was living up to her surname, and was quite stressed. Thankfully the investigation of the pendant was going a bit better, it was undercity goods, and it was originally part of a heavy machine linkage, heat pressed and treated until it resembled a religious icon. The icon itself was much easier to find information on. The heart and crown was associated with an undercity church which was on several anti-cult watch lists.
The latest news story had instances of the Church of the Royal Heart protesting at a food processing facility, several members arrested for disorderly conduct, and inflammatory hellfire and brimstone fatwas issued from Church elders. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#103"Sod it!" She cursed at the machine, yanking the chip out and tucking it into a blouse pocket. "Maybe someone at the party will know someone that's better at cracking these things." She said to herself out loud, quickly grabbing her jacket and readying herself to attend, giving Maxine a quick call on her comlink to find out when (and where) she wanted to be picked up. -
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#104"...Yeah, outside my apartment is fine. I'll meet you on the landing, just give me a bleep five minutes before you arrive." She gave Marsha the address, then went to take a shower. Jose teased her as she came out wearing nothing but two towels, she kicked the armchair over with him in it and proceded to towel off. Once she had picked out a little white number she hoped would go over well at a fancy cocktail party(short enough as to not prevent movement and tight enough to show off but still keeping it classy), applied makeup, jewelry and done every other little ritual the occasion demanded, she kissed Jose and once her comm-link bleeped, she went down to meet Marsha at the limo-shuttle.
The door opened and she stepped in, handbag in her lap. "Hey." She smiled at Marsha's surprised expression. No doubt she didn't look a thing like herself anymore. "...What, I'm not allowed to look nice for once? Don't worry, I didn't switch my brains off. All about strategic weapons y'know."
-
Re: [Operation One] Cosmic Era Mecha Game
#105Marsha quickly recovered and nodded, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt for a moment as she suppressed a blush.
You might be my commanding officer, but times like these it's easy to forget regulations against fraternization between ranks.
"You're sure to be a hit, don't worry." She told her with a grin, quickly filling her in on the results of her attempted code breaking and pendant analysis.
"I'm hoping someone at the party will know a friend of a friend that can help us crack the chip, if not I can ask around the barracks, see if someone in the tech labs is in an obliging mood."
She leaned back and relaxed, looking forward to the party, and hoping itm and the open bar, would help alleviate some of the stress she'd been under today.