STATUS:
In any interaction that I create/control, anyone's free to join as long as their char has an IC method of being there. You're welcome to hop in!
5 yrs ago
Current
In any interaction that I create/control, anyone's free to join as long as their char has an IC method of being there. You're welcome to hop in!
*Stands up and stretches with a smile* Simple enough! Lead the way, Naomi.
*Naomi leads the group out through exit security, then out of the spaceport and straight into urban Hong Kong. It's urbanized enormously over the last few centuries; the spaceport is located a good ways out into the ocean, with the space between it and the actual landmass made up by blocks upon blocks of mixed-use districts set atop reclaimed land. With the way the sun hangs low in the west, it should be getting towards dinnertime in this time zone, but all the shops that ought to be open are boarded up; some have bars over their windows. Naomi frowns.*
NAOMI: Something's caused a stir. Looks like riot protection.
*As if on cue, there echoes out a PA announcement over the city streets, carried by a twin-rotor helicopter as it buzzes overhead. It blares out a message in Chinese, then:*
PA: Please be advised that the Pearl River Delta District Administration has set forth a curfew from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM. Repeat, curfew begins in one hour. Violators of the curfew will be detained and identified. Thank you.
NAOMI: Definitely a riot. Let's get a move on; we can get to the place before curfew.
*She continues to lead them on down the streets towards the nearest metro station with a connection to the East Pearl River District. Along the way, they catch their first glimpse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The soldiers are told apart by their armbands, which each bear a golden symbol, a crossed hammer and torch within a gear, over a field of black. It's the same color scheme as the Cooperative's flag. The men are wearing CBRN gear and gas masks, marching in lockstep down the sidewalk with carbines in their gloved hands. One of them holds up their hand to signal the group to stop, saying something in Chinese.*
NAOMI: Eh... bàoqiàn, xiānsheng, wǒshuōyīngyǔ.
*The MIA officer nods.*
MIA OFFICER: Identification papers, please.
NAOMI: Oh! Of course, sir.
*She looks back at the group while rifling through her pockets. Let me do the talking, she says with her eyes.*
*Chuckles* Of course. *Leans forward on my elbows and watches throughout the cabin, with no discernable hurry*
<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>
<Snipped quote by Etcetera>
*Crosses my arms less patiently and after a few minutes, starts scribbling on a notepad*
*The remainder of the flight is about an hour and a half; this aircraft must be moving at over 4,000 miles per hour, a reasonable estimate given how the vehicle shot out of the atmosphere like an ICBM. Around the last fifteen minutes, the earmuffs go back on as the craft rapidly descends, the first licks of reentry plasma at the window quickly turning into an all-consuming inferno before the hull panels turn transparent again for safety. Gravity returns abruptly as the craft levels out from a dead plunge into a glide, and it hits the runway with a squeal of reversing engines and a hiss of rain vaporizing on the superheated hull.*
*The robot makes another round.*
ROBOT: Please remember to take all carry-on luggage and exit in an orderly fashion. Exercise caution when opening overhead compartments, as contents may have moved during flight. Thank you for flying with us!
*Nods* Safety, something at the very core of all our desires. Does Mr. Lucy not think the same way?
NAOMI: He... he likes freedom more. Says it's more valuable. I don't know about that. He's a good man, but he strikes me as a person who's never really been hurt, doesn't really understand it.
Mm... *Crosses my leg over my knee* Naomi, what does a perfect world look like to you? Don't constrain yourself to realism.
*Naomi sucks in through her teeth and gains a vacant sort of look.*
NAOMI: When I was little, I didn't... exactly have a family. So I lived in an orphanage for a while; I wasn't really a model kid, so I never got adopted. And, the guy who ran it...
*She pauses for a long, long time, unconsciously crossing her legs defensively.*
NAOMI: He was a pretty bad guy. And he never really got punished for it, y'know? I trust Mr. Lucy's judgement on this, but, if it were up to me, I'd make a world where people like that can never hurt anyone again. It'd be safer that way. People like being safe.
Name: Cpt. Damian Sylvester Affiliations: Sol Cooperative Marine Corps (formerly), Ministry of Internal Affairs, Unit 2188 (leader) Age: 41 Sex: Male Species: Human
Physical Description: Damian Sylvester spent eight years of his life in North Africa at the height of the Dust War, and it shows. The man’s six foot two and built like a brick shithouse, with a farmer’s tan and scars abounding. At some point, domesticity caught up with him, however; he’s forsaken the buzz cut for a brown combover, and the face that was once hardened and emotionless has gained a familial mirth. Since the activation of Unit 2188, he’s rarely been seen out of his armor, even in non-combat situations; his subordinates worry that he may be valuing this job over his own health.
Abilities:
Command: Captain Sylvester is a competent commander with experience directing troops in combat; he fought and rooted out hardened insurrectionists in the depths of the Sahara for years. Moreover, his position in Unit 2188 has granted him a Consular Grade 4 security clearance, which is the highest clearance that can legally be given to commanders in the field; it effectively means he’s operating under the direct blessing of the Consul of the Sol Cooperative, with all the privileges that entails.
Combat Training: On top of hard-earned combat experience, Sylvester has training from no less than three separate armed groups: the SCMC, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and SCAF Special Operations Command. The Cooperative maintains a brutal training regimen that weeds out weak links, and only the most capable enter the ranks of SOCOM. With Unit 2188’s personnel selected mostly from SOCOM and MIA soldiers, Sylvester and his men are among the most capable fighters in the Cooperative.
Equipment:
MA107 “Aegis” Block 7X - The Aegis combat armor is standard-issue amongst the Sol Cooperative’s armed forces. The suit is hermetically-sealed and contains its own air supply for operation in low- or zero-atmosphere environments, while built-in muscle-predictive servomotors enhance strength and running speed nearly fourfold and enable the suit to carry up to an inch of composite armor plating in some places. A mounted sensor suite feeds into a display on the inside of the helmet, replacing a traditional visor and providing night-vision and thermal sight capabilities. The Block 7X version of the armor is meant for special operations in hazardous areas, and possesses additional reinforcement against radiation, extreme temperatures, and chemical and biological weapons.
CX Null Plating - Null plating is an experimental Cooperative technology, derived from the specially-treated hull plating used to shield Cooperative warp-ships. Null plating, when applied to Unit 2188’s armor suits alongside special sensor filters and neural implants, provides protection against reality distortions and psychic influence, giving the unit a unique defense against the bewitching power of Mr. Lucy. The upgrades are extremely expensive, however, so the number of people who can receive them is limited.
LKNG-GLS - The Light Kinetic Nuclear-Generator alter-Global trans-Location System is, in effect, a man-portable Krenzikov tube generator, capable of creating a small wormhole in order to transport the user into nearby alternate dimensions instantly. Its internal plutonium battery requires about a week to recharge between uses.
M2185 - The standard-issue Cooperative military assault rifle, the M2185 uses magnetic coils to accelerate metal slugs to hypersonic velocities at a rate of about 600 rounds per minute. Compared to powder firearms, it has greater impact energy, greater armor penetration, greater ammo capacity (owing to its smaller rounds), and less recoil. In the Cooperative, coilguns are typically outfitted with a biometric locking safety and are only available to military forces, which helps to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
M111 - A .40-caliber powder pistol common amongst SWAT and special-forces units in the Cooperative, popular for its extreme stopping power. The standard round for an M111 includes a small mass-reactive explosive charge which detonates shortly after penetrating a target, with results as you would expect from shooting a bomb into someone’s chest.
K1 Tactical Knife
3x M63 Fragmentation Grenade
Weaknesses:
Personal Connection - Captain Sylvester was chosen partially due to his personal investment in the disappearance of Corporal Wei Xiu and the detection of Mr. Lucy. This is because he is Corporal Wei’s adoptive father. It gives him the drive to face the gates of Hell itself, but also drives him to sometimes act irrationally.
Background: Captain Sylvester is a former officer in the Sol Cooperative Armed Forces. Born and raised to a military family in the California Sanitary Cordon Zone, he would join the Marine Corps in 2186 as an officer cadet, accepting its eight-year service pledge in exchange for a multitude of subsidies and benefits. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps when word came in of a mass insurgent attack on the Cooperative’s solar power infrastructure in the Saharan Commissariat. The Blackout of 2189 and the subsequent collapse of the Commissariat marked the beginning of the Dust War, a fifteen-year insurgency in the Sahara, the largest rebellion against the Cooperative since the Pacific Insurgency of 2090. Lieutenant, later Captain Sylvester would spend the next ten years hunting rebels in North Africa, until he received a direct message from the Office of the Consul. The paramount leader of the Cooperative did not explain himself; he merely stated that a ten-year-old girl had been recently orphaned in a car accident and that, given that certain... measures had been taken to invest in the girl’s future career, it was important that she found a home with a patriotic parent who would encourage her into civil service.
Sylvester got the hint. He retired from the military and, one month later, met his new daughter. He’d always wanted kids but never had the time; she’d gone through so much and desperately needed a father. They were perfectly compatible; the Cooperative had done its research.
So imagine Captain Sylvester’s horror at the phone call he recently got telling him Xiu was missing, and imagine how quick he was to be reactivated as a military officer, conscripted into a secret-police special unit, for the chance to save his little girl, even if he had to pry her from the hands of Satan himself.
I would be remiss to turn down hospitality. I'll have one of the same.
NAOMI: Get me a tequila, strong as it gets.
*The robotic flight attendant disappears down the aisle, then reappears a few minutes later with a few sealed zero-G-proof pouches containing the cocktails. Naomi sips at hers, then turns to look at the two.*
NAOMI: We're doing really good work here. I hope you know that. What we're doing is going to change the world.
*Shakes off the sudden acceleration and weightlessness* I never get tired of views like this. *Scans the menu briefly and glances at Naomi* Anything you recommend over the other?
NAOMI: Daiquiris are still pretty good; they're basically straight sugar. Can't really mess that up no matter what you do.
FourtyTwo
darkred
BigPapaBelial
Etcetera
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