You are an enforcer. The year is 2098. Nation states are obsolete and in their place the megacorps hold the highest authority and power. When carrots are not enough, you and your squadmates will be the stick. At the moment you are a Lance Corporal, riding a helicopter with the rest of your squad.
Choose the following:NameBackgroundMegacorp you servePossible backgrounds:>Streetkid: You were born on the streets, your parents were poor and most likely dead, not that you care much. After doing some favours(most notable, you sold some info regarding a criminal who had offended your megacorp), a company handler sponsored your education and after a few years of schooling and drills you graduated.>Bonus: Street smarts and contacts. You are self sufficients and know how the shadier side of the society operates.>Minus: Outsider to corporate culture proper. You know the basics and then some, but some of the nuances will always escape your grasp, be it social norms or technology.>Corporate middleclass: Your parents are clerks, saving for retirement. You didn't have the aptitude to become a manager or research personnel as they wished, so you did the next best thing and rolled into enforcer program.>No significant bonuses or minuses, You have some family and contacts and you're treated well within the megacorp, but you don't stand out either.>Corporate upper class: You were born as one of the lucky ones, at least in material sense, but you never felt right with the limpwristed elite. Not insane enough to run away from your family altogether, becoming and enforcer was the only option you saw as a way to become a man by your own terms.>Bonus: Your familyname pulls some serious weight and if you can stand to swallow your pride, you can pull some strings inside the company.>Minus: Your family considers your career as a hobby or a childish temper tantrum, depending who you ask. Expect meddling. Additionally you will face resentment from people with average background.Possible Megacorps. All Megacorps meddle with every possible field to some extent, but every surviving megacorp has their specialty where they dominate:>FUNCO: The biggest media corporation around. FUNCO owns the biggest streaming platforms, the most popular toylines and the most followed newsfeeds. Most teenagers with no other career prospects wish to become FUNCO sponsored v-celebs.>JTK: Market leader when it comes to computer technology and house appliances. Most things in average person's home with a microchip in them was partly or wholly manufactured by JTK.>Aurora: Aurora has a narrow lead when it comes to medicine. Even if countless corps compete in this sector, Aurora's private hospitals and designer drugs are widely regarded as the best and also most expensive.>FriAir: Largest aerospace corporation still operation on Earth. When it comes to athmospheric flight, FriAir always has the last word and their shuttlecraft is the gold standard when something needs to be sent into space.
>>5992603I'll bite QM>Zak Goldwell>Corporate upper class: You were born as one of the lucky ones, at least in material sense, but you never felt right with the limpwristed elite. Not insane enough to run away from your family altogether, becoming and enforcer was the only option you saw as a way to become a man by your own terms.>FriAir: Largest aerospace corporation still operation on Earth. When it comes to athmospheric flight, FriAir always has the last word and their shuttlecraft is the gold standard when something needs to be sent into space.The shtick being that we used our money, connections and resources to land a hotshot shuttle pilot gig, but we don't really have the skills or experience...
>>5992617>>5992605Seconded Would love to be a gunship pilot or some sort of AirTac operator
John Powers>Streetkid: You were born on the streets, your parents were poor and most likely dead, not that you care much. After doing some favours(most notable, you sold some info regarding a criminal who had offended your megacorp), a company handler sponsored your education and after a few years of schooling and drills you graduated.>Bonus: Street smarts and contacts. You are self sufficients and know how the shadier side of the society operates.>Minus: Outsider to corporate culture proper. You know the basics and then some, but some of the nuances will always escape your grasp, be it social norms or technology.>Aurora: Aurora has a narrow lead when it comes to medicine. Even if countless corps compete in this sector, Aurora's private hospitals and designer drugs are widely regarded as the best and also most expensive.
>>5992605Artyom Gunderson>Corporate upper class: You were born as one of the lucky ones, at least in material sense, but you never felt right with the limpwristed elite. Not insane enough to run away from your family altogether, becoming and enforcer was the only option you saw as a way to become a man by your own terms.>FriAir: Largest aerospace corporation still operation on Earth. When it comes to athmospheric flight, FriAir always has the last word and their shuttlecraft is the gold standard when something needs to be sent into space.
>>5992605Raymond Donovan Lynch IV>Corporate upper class: You were born as one of the lucky ones, at least in material sense, but you never felt right with the limpwristed elite. Not insane enough to run away from your family altogether, becoming and enforcer was the only option you saw as a way to become a man by your own terms.>Bonus: Your familyname pulls some serious weight and if you can stand to swallow your pride, you can pull some strings inside the company.>Minus: Your family considers your career as a hobby or a childish temper tantrum, depending who you ask. Expect meddling. Additionally you will face resentment from people with average background.>Aurora: Aurora has a narrow lead when it comes to medicine. Even if countless corps compete in this sector, Aurora's private hospitals and designer drugs are widely regarded as the best and also most expensive.
>>5992605Wilbur Orville>Corporate upper class>FriAir
>>5992605Alright, I'll throw my hat in the ring>Walter Klein >Corporate middleclass: Your parents are clerks, saving for retirement. You didn't have the aptitude to become a manager or research personnel as they wished, so you did the next best thing and rolled into enforcer program.>FriAir: Largest aerospace corporation still operation on Earth. When it comes to athmospheric flight, FriAir always has the last word and their shuttlecraft is the gold standard when something needs to be sent into space.I want to see if we can pilot the latest and greatest death machine.
>>5992605>Streetkid: You were born on the streets, your parents were poor and most likely dead, not that you care much. After doing some favours(most notable, you sold some info regarding a criminal who had offended your megacorp), a company handler sponsored your education and after a few years of schooling and drills you graduated.>Aurora: Aurora has a narrow lead when it comes to medicine. Even if countless corps compete in this sector, Aurora's private hospitals and designer drugs are widely regarded as the best and also most expensive.
>>5992605>Streetkid>JTKJason Jager, Script Kiddie turned Enforcer.
Current Tally:Corporate Upper Class:5 votesStreetkid: 3 votesCorporate Middleclass 1 voteFriAir: 5 votesAurora 3 votesJTK 1 voteMost popular name: Zack Goldwell with two votesI think I give it couple of hours before calling it.
>>5992603>Zak Goldwell>Corporate upper class: You were born as one of the lucky ones, at least in material sense, but you never felt right with the limpwristed elite. Not insane enough to run away from your family altogether, becoming and enforcer was the only option you saw as a way to become a man by your own terms.>FriAir: Largest aerospace corporation still operation on Earth. When it comes to athmospheric flight, FriAir always has the last word and their shuttlecraft is the gold standard when something needs to be sent into space.
>>5992868Well that settlest it then.You are Zak Goldwell.
>>5992605>Corporate upper class: You were born as one of the lucky ones, at least in material sense, but you never felt right with the limpwristed elite. Not insane enough to run away from your family altogether, becoming and enforcer was the only option you saw as a way to become a man by your own terms.>FriAir: Largest aerospace corporation still operation on Earth. When it comes to athmospheric flight, FriAir always has the last word and their shuttlecraft is the gold standard when something needs to be sent into space.
The helicopter ride is smooth and relatively quiet. Beyond that and fuel economy, there is little that has changed in the last hundred years. The model is LRH-84C, a reliable workhorse in FriAir product catalogue, used for gruntwork all around the planet. You've never flown one outside of VR, mother would never let you fly for real.Warning sound wakes you up from your reverie. You're right on top of your destination, FriAir Service Facility 18. Rioting has continued for the third night in row. It's the usual story. New tech makes some jobs obsolete, people get laid off, people get angry. Normally the regular company police and security forces are enough to keep things in check, but last night some of the rioters managed to break in. After that the higher ups decided to stop playing nice. Tonight the Tiger squad, namely, you, would show the rabble rousers who runs this city.You glance over the automatic situation report. At the moment, 327 unauthorized people have gathered around the facility. Huh. Strange. Only 132 have matching identities with the laid off personnel. Who are the rest? Looters? Anarchists? That's above your paygrade really, but you still make a mental note. At the moment the local security forces (49 heads) and regular company police (32 heads) manage to keep the rioters at bay, but only barely. Reinforcements? On their way, but ETA hovers around two hours.”GOLDWELL!” Corporal Higgs' voice booms over the sound of the chopper in you com-implant. ”WE'RE DROPPING YOU AND TWO OTHERS BEHIND THE LINES! MAKE YOUR CHOICE!”Immediately you scan over your squad and narrow the choice to four individuals.Choose two of the following:>Costava: Strong as a mule and about as intelligent, nevertheless he's a good shot and excellent at following orders to a letter.>Rufus: The Medic. Big guy with dark sense of humor.>Lorenzo: The team Sharpshooter, lanky and quiet man. Reportedly once shot a mosquito accross the shooting range.>Pullman: Best hand-to-hand fighter in the team, his weak side is his bad temper.
>>5993161>>Rufus: The Medic. Big guy with dark sense of humor.>>Lorenzo: The team Sharpshooter, lanky and quiet man. Reportedly once shot a mosquito accross the shooting range.
>>5993161>Rufus>LorenzoThe big and lanky guy duo.
>>5993161>Rufus: The Medic. Big guy with dark sense of humor.>Lorenzo: The team Sharpshooter, lanky and quiet man. Reportedly once shot a mosquito accross the shooting range.I like the idea of sort of a utility team.
>>5993161>Costava: Strong as a mule and about as intelligent, nevertheless he's a good shot and excellent at following orders to a letter.>Rufus: The Medic. Big guy with dark sense of humor.
>>5993161>Lorenzo: The team Sharpshooter, lanky and quiet man. Reportedly once shot a mosquito accross the shooting range.>Pullman: Best hand-to-hand fighter in the team, his weak side is his bad temper.Covering all the ranges.
>>5993161>Rufus>Lorenzo
Lorenzo and Rufus it is.
>>5993161Supporting >>5993164
You give the voiceless command through com-implant and Rufus and Lorenzo immediately confirm. The helicopter tilts and then descends towards one of the roofs. The three of you have barely jumped out before it zooms back up towards the night sky. As it ascends, you receive a coded databurst, new orders. Green text materializes in your AR interface.IDENTITY CONFIRMED – LCP GOLDWELL, EMPLOYEE ID #1102213-197___1. CONTACT HOS ANDERSSON, EMPLOYEE ID #9606521-8212. SECURE ”RED ROOM” SERVER DATA-SEE ATTACHED FILE3. SECURE ”RED ROOM” AREA 4. PROTECT COMPANY ASSETS5. PROTECT COMPANY EMPLOYEESLETHAL FORCE - AUTHORIZEDThe attached file is just the exact location and short explanation of the standard manual data encryption process, something everyone learns during basic training. Nothing about what this ”Red Room” is or what's its purpose. Must be important and that is enough for now. One wave and your trio dashes towards the roof entrance. The Reception Committee is already waiting for you inside. No introductions are neccessary, the invisible digital handshakes have already confirmed the identities of bot parties. Regardless, the man standing in the middle coughes and offers his hand. ”Andersson”. He looks pretty young for Head of Security, overweight, light brown short hair and beard, poorly fitting shirt. You answer in kind and the two of you shake hands. ”Goldwell.” He raises his eyebrows in a way all too familiar to you, but has enough sense to not inquire whether you're part of 'THE Goldwells'.Red Room doesn't live up to its name, it looks like any other medium sized maintenance or server room. Still, orders are orders, and you secure the data by flipping some switches and turning and removing physical keys. Just like in training. You don't understand the half of it really, but as far as you know, one could shrinkwrap and send these babies to a rival megacorp in this state, and by the time they could extract any meaningful data with their best quantum computers, it would be too old to be of any real use.
>>5993643That's two out of five, now to the third item in list. ”Secure the area”. Looking at the building layout, the ”area” in question consists of two uppermost floors of the building, mostly office space and maintenance corridors. Counting Andersson and his men, there are fifteen of you. Firepower, well, it's limited. Mostly non-lethal gear for them apart from their handguns. Unlike your military grade gear, their riot shields and helmets can maybe stop a softly thrown brick. You feel like a trio of wolves standing amid a pack of retrievers. But they didn't choose their gear and you have to work with what you have.You rotate the floor layout in AR, wasting precious seconds. At this time the situation at the gate seems manageable, but that could change any moment now. Point of entries... There are two emergency stairwells, a large service elevator and a regular staff elevator. And the windows of course, but it's not like you are attacked from the air and these are fifth and sixth floors. You could use them to shoot outside... But everyone apart from Lorenzo could only make potshots at best and would only antagonize the rioters at worst. Low profile might be the best choice, just secure the stairwells and elevators and wait until this is all over... But if these perps actually have a hidden agenda, they might head right here given the chance. Hell, they might even start a fire on the lower floors, literally smoke you out. Making your stand at the ground floor would prevent that at least, if you can hold out, that is...So, how to secure the area?>Hole up in the fifth and sixthfloor, cut the power from elevators, lock the doors, stay quiet, monitor the situation.>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on ground>Try to secure the ground floor, retreat back into upper floors if situation becomes too hard to handle.
>>5993645>Try to secure the ground floor, retreat back into upper floors if situation becomes too hard to handle.
>>5993645>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on groundTrying to secure ground floor against hundreds of rioters with only fifteen men is too dangerous. Better to snipe any brazen enough to make the first steps and hope the rest aren't pissed enough to get domed for their cause. Now, if we had a proper platoon or SWAT backing, I would agree with ground floor but I think this is our best bet with the tools we have.
>>5993645>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on ground
>>5993645>>Try to secure the ground floor, retreat back into upper floors if situation becomes too hard to handle.
>>5993645I think either of the "snipe from upper floors" and "fight on ground floor" options is viable for different reasons. Holding the ground floor will protect the assets of the company (the building and stuff and staff inside), and we could treat any wounded when we retreat to the upper floors since we have a medic with us. Cons: we might get overwhelmed.Sniping from the top floors is good since we've got a sharpshooter with us and it keeps us safe from the mass of the rioters while thinning their number. For cons, we've got less initial area to hold and rioters could wreck the building below us.Let's go with>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on ground
>>5993645>>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on groundSituation has changed, there are at least double the hostiles then Head Office anticipated. We might have been able to hold against a hundred odd laid off workers, but a little less then 200 are unknowns, possibly serious opposition. Name of the game is triage, hold what we can.
>>5993645>Hole up in the fifth and sixthfloor, cut the power from elevators, lock the doors, stay quiet, monitor the situation.If I understand the tactical situation correctly, I would argue that this is the best way to create a natural choke-point here - with no elevators, the mob will have to ascend the two stairwells, and that would maximize the effectiveness of our riot-control troops. Our boys can back-up the riot control troops, obviously.
>>5993645>>Try to secure the ground floor, retreat back into upper floors if situation becomes too hard to handle.We just need to hold out for two hours. Best not to provoke the rabble.
>>5993645>>Try to secure the ground floor, retreat back into upper floors if situation becomes too hard to handle.Have our sniper go set up a nest to the upper floors and recon the rioters, maybe he will see something interesting and if not at least he can give us better firesupport.
Rolled 2 (1d2)4 votes for>>Try to secure the ground floor, retreat back into upper floors if situation becomes too hard to handle.4 votes for>>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on ground1 vote for>>Hole up in the fifth and sixthfloor, cut the power from elevators, lock the doors, stay quiet, monitor the situation.Randomizing the outcome as there is a tie1 = hold the ground floor2 = sniping time
>Lock the doors, open the windows and try to snipe the possible rioters as they close in on ground”Okay, everyone. Which ones of you think you can shoot?” Half of the men tentatively raise their hands. You divide them up, a few of them to guard the stairs, the rest to accompany you and Lorenzo at the windows. Rufus and the rest act as the reserve. It's not long after your group has finished the fortification efforts that you receive a notification. Significant number of rioters (46 and going up) has somehow managed to break through the gate.And there they come. You wait a second to maximize the effect before giving the order. ”FIRE!” Everyone unloads their guns towards the rioters. Most turn back and flee, the rest throw themselves flat. After the shooting ceases half a dozen bodies lie on the concrete, lifeless.It's silent for a minute straight, you're about to congratulate everyone when the second attack comes. This time something has punched throught the gate barricade itself, something big. Your combat analyzer is kicked into overgear as it compiles the incoming data from the local networks. Seconds feel like eons as the wireframe picture materializes and then refocuses on the AR-visor as an image of a dronetank. A few seconds more and the analyzer has finished its process, identifying the entity as Panther Alpha with modified aftermarket parts. PANTHER FUCKING ALPHA. The most iconic WWIII warmachine, and if your guess is correct, it wants you and your men dead.Stones in your stomach, your group watches as the ghost of the wars of the past rolls into your view. Shooting that monster with your gun would be like pissing on a lion. The unnatural silence is cut when your direct audiofeed opens. ”GOLDWELL!” It's Corporal Higgs. ”THE LANDING ZONE IS TOO HOT, WE TRY TO FIND A SECONDARY LZ SOMEWHERE NEAR AND THEN FLANK THAT HUNK OF JUNK... KEEP IT BUS...”The audio feed is suddenly cut as the Panther opens fire towards the heli. It's AA machine gun would have done short work of most aerial vehicles, but this is FriAir quality machine we're talking about here. In a few seconds the the dronetank still manages to make a few hundred new ventilation holes on its side as the heli lurches forward, out of view, wounded and smoking. As if disappointed, it turns towards you. Your training finally kicks in and you jump away from the windows while ordering others to retreat as well. Some do, but Andersson's head explodes into fine red mist as the dronetank opens fire again. The air is full of shrapnell and noise. It must have lasted less than four seconds.
>>5995517You collect your wits on the floor. Body, check. Weapon, check. No damage. You look around. Andersson is dead, few others are bleeding, one badly on his face. Lorenzo somehow managed to dislocate his shoulder as he leaped into safety, but is not hurt in other ways. You fall back further towards the Red Room, aiding the wounded on the way.The server room makes a lousy field hospital, but Rufus is almost as good at patching wounds as he is at making dead baby jokes. Soon enough most of the bleeding wounds are bandaged and Lorenzo's dislocated shoulder is put on a sling. While he is busy, you monitor your feed for any new info from the outside. The gate is practically open, the forces there focusing on self-preservation rather than blocking of entry. You can't blame them, but by the combat analyzers account there is nearly a hundred intruders on facility grounds. Most seem to focus on looting the main building offices, but a force consisting of 27 individuals marches towards your building in more purposeful manner, clearly unafaraid of the Panter Alpha still guarding the open lot with its tireless robotic stare. You guess they're on the same team.Reinforcements, ETA 80 minutes, no, 20? Ah, a new dispatch force was just now added to the que. Shark Squad? You'd almost rather get yourself shot or pummeled to death by the rabble than get saved by those assholes. Almost. Guess the bean counters finally woke up on what's happening. Your Tiger Squad's heli is currently evacuating. Hopefully everyone on board is alright.But that still means you need to hold out for 20 minutes or so minimum before the help arrives. Just hold the stariway, easy enough? What else do the attackers have in store? You didn't see firearms earlier, but at this point it would be more surprising if they did NOT pack some heat.Lorenzo nudges you, pausing your musings. ”Erm, boss. I didn't have the opportunity to use this earlier, but I think you should see this.” He pulls out a medallion of sorts, clumsily cracking it open with one hand. A bullet falls out, which you quikly grab before it falls. Well well well, what have we here. On your palm rests a special bullet with blue finish. It has a fancier name, but everyone calls them AI spikes. Highly sought after and heavily regulated, these kind of bullets can put most devices with a artificial intelligence in them out for good, Even older military devices like the Panther Alpha should fry if hit with one of these. Normally only specialized rogue AI hunter forces carry these, even megacorp forces wield them on special occasion. ”Yeah, it's a real deal, and I know it's not exactly kosher to carry one, but I always thought it as my lucky talisman, just in case. Guess this is good chance as any to use it. Shame I can't pull the trigger myself with me arm gone to shits.”
>>5995518You consider your options now that you have them, weighing the AI spike on your hand. Losing their military surplus killbot should make the attacking force lose their morale, maybe even retreat altogether. Then again using an AI spike unauthorized might lead to reprecussions. And then there is the matter of hitting the damn thing, a distraction would be needed. Between you and Rufus, you can vouch you are the better shot, but you can't outaim a military AI, even one past its prime. You half remember Panther Alphas suffering from tunnel vision when engaging with multiple targets, which you hope would help you survive the encounter.What to do?>Collect the few smoke grenade you have and have them thrown them out at the same time, hoping the heat they produce will confuse the thermal sensors. Smoke might be useful inside as well, though.>Order good part of the remaining men to climb on the roof and produce as much noise as they can. Will they obey after facing bloodshed already?>Try to do both, but do you have enough time to instruct the men before the attackers are already inside?>Abandon the idea, conserve your resources and try to hold out for 20 minutes until help arrives.
>>5995522>Try to do both, but do you have enough time to instruct the men before the attackers are already inside?
>>5995522>>Order good part of the remaining men to climb on the roof and produce as much noise as they can. Will they obey after facing bloodshed already?
>>5995522>>Try to do both, but do you have enough time to instruct the men before the attackers are already inside?
>>5995522>Try to do both, but do you have enough time to instruct the men before the attackers are already inside?We already barricaded the doors, frankly I'm less worried about a bunch of rebels then the fucking military surplus Drone Tank! Whoever was in charge of threat assessment for this op has a fuck ton to answer for classifying this as rioters and missing the rebels with armor!
>>5995522>Try to do both, but do you have enough time to instruct the men before the attackers are already inside?What other choice do we have?
>>5995522>Abandon the idea, conserve your resources and try to hold out for 20 minutes until help arrives.We'll be fine if we concentrate on holding the stairs.
>Try to do both, but do you have enough time to instruct the men before the attackers are already inside?”OKAY EVERYONE! LISTEN UP! WE HAVE ONE CHANCE TO PULL THIS OFF; BUT EVERYONE HAS TO WORK TOGETHER!” The men look up, some expectantly, some shaken. Discounting the wounded, there are ten able bodied men left. You mentally divide them up into three groups in terms of usefulness. You, Rufus and, by your account, three of the security men are steady enough to make decisions. Another three look shaken, but you believe they can still follow simple enough orders. The remaining two look too shell shocked to be of any real use.”I HAVE A WEAPON TO BRING THAT OVERGROWN ROOMBA OUTSIDE DOWN; TOO BAD IT HAS OTHER IDEAS. I... WE NEED A DISTRACTION. LORENZO, RUFUS GIVE ME YOUR SMOKES.”You select the steady trio of security for the task. After explaining how you want the smokes to be thrown and so on, Rufus and the remaining men are tasked to guard the entrance. What time is it? Crap, that took two minutes? It take another long minute to re-program Lorenzo's gun biometrics to accept your grip and realign the telescope sight for your statistics.You can already imagine the rioters, looters, enemy spies(?) to clamber up the stairs, but decide to not spend even more of the precious time (and your nerves, you hate to admit) to check the local security network. That would be the future you's problem, better focus on the next few minutes first.You sneak as close to the windows as you dare and wait for the distraction to begin. Focus on breathing, In. Out. In Out. In. Out. Almost inaudible clang from the outside is the first the warning you get, a few other follows, after that spaced out and inregular gunshots from a few handguns. That lasts a few seconds before getting cut out completely. A second of silence followed by the deafening roar of a machinegun rips through your vision, Employing every vestige of your remaining courage you nudge yourself closer to the window while all this is happening. No time to hesitate. One final breath, you spring up and brace your weapon against the intact enough part of the windowsill. Just like in training, right?>Roll 1D20, best of three posts. High rolls are good, low ones are bad.
Rolled 20 (1d20)>>5995628
>>5995643Well there we have it.
>>5995643Welp
Rolled 14 (1d20)>>5995643lmao
Rolled 10 (1d20)>>5995628For procedures sake.
Rolled 6 (1d20)>>5995628
Sorry for the delay, wasn't happy with my initial draft. Try to post later today.
>>5997225Roger that. :)
>>5997225Good to hear
When something like this happens in a sleezy action movie, the hero always has a cool oneliner to cap the situation. A silent ”woah” is the best your overstrained brain manages to produce. The AI spike did its job and then some, as by some mechanical miracle the Panther Alpha's ammo storage explode with a loud boom. You marvel your handiwork for a second before stepping back. The men look nervous. Did it work? Slowly the good news spread amongst them. You have to step in before they forget their duty in face of jubilation. The situation is not over yet. By the security feed's account most of the assailant fled after the explosion, but you can never be sure.After 18 long minutes a loud noise of the rotor blades announces the arrival of the Shark Squad. You and Rufus meet the delegation. ”You needed some help here?” Corporal Hartmann asks. He is a heavy built and rude man. ”We managed to secure the upper floors, but it's still a warzone down there. One dead and several wounded by my understanding.” ”Two dead”, Hartmann retorts. ”Costava bite the bullet. Higgs is in coma last I heard. Looks like you folks really screwed up this time.” Your stomach lurches as you hear the news, but you manage to keep you voice steady. ”It wasn't us who screwed up, the intel wasn't good! Look what's down there! It's a small miracle we're still standing!” You wave your hand towards the smoking wreckage. Hartmann gives a whistle before his comeback. ”Just one? Well, I guess you can't ask too much from you rookies.”You start the cleanup process. Slowly and methodically the men advance downward the building, floor by floor, room by room. Any cupboard and alcove large enough to hide a person or worse. By the time you finish the whole building an hour has already passed. As you're advancing towards the main facility, APC after APC starts to enter from the wrecked main gate. Finally, the reinforcements proper came up! Even while the most agressive members of the rioters already met their bloody end or exited the facility, there is a fair number of looters still inside and you rather have the numerical advantage. Some company police officer you can't care to remember assumnes command and you can finally relax a little.You lit up a nicovape and look at the remains of the carnage that unfolded two hours ago. It's not that you're relieved yet, but you just can't give a damn at this moment, fuck everything. The corpses of the rioters and the burnt out dronetank make the late night industrial lot look like straight out from an old wardoc. The company police officers keep coming in in numbers and after them a small army of technicians and paramedics, documentinc the scene, collecting bodies and maybe even some of the wounded. One even tries to give you a medical check up, but you dismiss him without a second thoght. You don't need a shrink or bandages, you need a good sleep and a hot meal.
>>5997613After your self-appointed alone time you make some token effort in aiding with the clean up, more to keep you occupied and warm than for sense of duty. The darkness of night sky turns into twilight. You and your temporary team are having another break, this time properly scheduled, when a small ruckus nearby catches your attention. An older crime scene technician is manhandling a young woman. ”Stay still, girlie... HEY, EVERYONE! I CAUGHT ONE! WAS SNEAKING AROUND THE OLD HANGAR! PROBABLY ONE OF THE LOOTERS!” She struggles herself free from his grasp. ”Hands off, you old oaf! I am not a looter, I'm a reporter! I have a licence from FUNCO!” Great, some over-eager star-strcuk teenager trying to make a name out from herself. Just what you needed. Your actionstarved compatriots look curiously at the girl, something about the situation makes you feel uneasy, so you decide to take action.”I take her.” Everybody look at you. ”To be processing, I mean, processing. Yes.” Long night has taken its toll. As the highest ranking person present, there isn't much to argue. You cuff her and firmly walk her towards the mobile command center. As you pass the gate, she struggles a bit.”Wait! Could you please let me go?””Not in a million years.””But if you take me in, it'll take days before I'm out! I lose the scoop! It will take months before I can get another chance like this!””Not my problem.””Please? I'd owe you a favour!””A favour?””A BIG favour!””What's your name?””Heather Dietz, see?”, she flashes her FUNCO licence card.The thought amuses you just enough to be worth considering. What favour could a mere teenage girl offer you? Well, beyond the obvious, of course, she is pretty enough to look at, but extorting such benefits through coercion isn't really your style. No, IF you were to do something so foolish, so RECKLESS, it would be out of rebellion, establishing your will, proving to yourself that you aren't mere puppet of the corp. Who would even care? And who knows, maybe that favour would turn out to be useful after all. But could you really do that? You pause for a second to reach your decision.>DUTY: Not. My. Problem. In we go.>REBEL: Fine, you can go. But you better not say anyone a word how you got in or out!
>>5997616>>DUTY: Not. My. Problem. In we go.No simping
>>5997616Third option:>CONSOLATION: No can do, miss, but if it makes this any easier to you, I can give you an interview tomorrow. Exclusive.
>>5997616>DUTY: Not. My. Problem. In we go.Journos are scum of the earth, and an ivory tower upbringing like ours doesn't change that.
>>5997634>>5997616>CONSOLATION: No can do, miss, but if it makes this any easier to you, I can give you an interview tomorrow. Exclusive.
We are for sure going to get asked about the journo later. Not handing her in would be a bad ideaAlthough getting a foot in the door with FUNCO could be handy later, maybe>>5997634>CONSOLATION
>>5997634>>CONSOLATION: No can do, miss, but if it makes this any easier to you, I can give you an interview tomorrow. Exclusive.She could be useful later
>>5997616>>DUTY: Not. My. Problem. In we go.
>>5997616>CONSOLATION: No can do, miss, but if it makes this any easier to you, I can give you an interview tomorrow. Exclusive.
>>5997634>CONSOLATION: No can do, miss, but if it makes this any easier to you, I can give you an interview tomorrow. Exclusive.Our name does carry some weight, even if we're reluctant to admit it. On the upside, taking this interview would gain us some publicity.
Consolation 5Duty 3
>>5997616>DUTY: Not. My. Problem. In we go.
>>6000837+1 to Duty. Personally, I think we should shoot her in the face. A rival company's press getting to break a story about us isn't good. Our own PR should be dealing with this. We're not media trained, we don't want her breaking the story... so tell her to piss off or drop her.
Rolled 1 (1d2)Since we got a tie again, the dice will decideDuty: 1Consolation: 2
>>6001154Board waited for 3 days to fuck up consolation win for duty
>>6001171That wasn't my intention, just got distracted by other shit.
>>6001281Yeah, still three days and two first voter get vote tie and you manage to roll 1 for duty. You would feel irritated too
Vote is okay. Coin flip is fair. Thanks for returning QM, life gets hectic sometimes. Ignore the whiner.
>>6001558Was not asking for as it it would not be fair for three other duty voter.
>>6001564We speak English here, sir. Now shut up.
>>6001588Boy, shut your stupid ass up.
>>6001667Shut the fuck up and quit sperging about quest progression.
>DUTY”Sorry, miss, but rules are rules. Should have thought that before breaking into an active crime scene.”You walk her to the temporary field command center. Utterly defeated, she makes no further attempts to escape. You feel nothing as you watch her taken into custody. While checking out, the clerk on charge catches your name. ”Goldwell, was it? Was about to call you, the higher ups want you for debriefing.” You're drained, but there is no arguing a direct order. At least you get to rest a bit during the car trip to the local FriAir Security center.The Security center is a mix of a police station, military compound and law firm. It's early in the morning and night staff has started to leave after an eventful shift. You recognize a couple of them, though most are complete strangers. It's not like it's you work in HR. ”Practical problem solving” is right up your alley, not this meet and greet shit.You'r guide leads you into a waiting room. This doesn't feel like the standard process, this is much more personal. Like a proper interview instead of the usual forms to fill. Sure enough, as soon as you receive your fresh mug of caffeine from the coffee machine from the back, a pair of bigshots enters the offices, straight from another meeting by the looks of it, and beckon you in. You feel more than a little out of place, groggy, still wearing most of your combat gear and still smelling of old sweat and all the other shit from the night before. They don't seem to mind, so you decide to push throuhg it as well, it's not like there are other options.The older of the two, man, adresses you. ”Ah, please, close the door, thank you. I see you got yourself some refreshments already, jolly good. I am Major Gilligan, this is Captain Braxter.” The older man offers his hand and gives a handshake so firm you end up spilling some of your coffee. Captain Braxter, a woman in her thirties by the looks of it, is content with just a nod of aknowledgement. Major Gilligan continues. ”And you are Lance Corporal Zeke Goldwell, correct? Good. Now that all the pleasantries are over, lets get straight into the business. You did erase those Omega records, right? There is absolutely no chance none of them were stolen last night?” Captain Braxter gets slightly startled by this but regains her composure almost immediately. ”Major, the official term is 'Red Room data register', all information beyond that is heavily classified.” Major Gilligan waves his hand with slight annoyance. ”What nonesense! We are all on the same side here! I am sure mister Goldwell here has a head on his shoulder and knows when to keep his mouth shut! But more importantly, you did succeed in your task, did you not?”
>>6001813You give the account on what you did and how. The answers you give seem to please them for the most part. When the story moves on how your group had to face a dronetank and how Andersson met his end, Major Gilligan gives a grimace while shaking his head. ”What pity! Andersson was quite reliable man, what a remarkable end for such an unassuming career!” Captain Braxter seem to double check your story while you tell it, asking for clarifications from time to time. After you've finished your story, she reads the whole account back to you. Finally you confirm the whole thing with your biosignature.Major Gilligan gives the record his stamp and theathretically dusts his hands as to sign that the matter is close. ”Well, that is taken care of, then. Now to the next matter at hand. I presume you might have heard what befell Corporal Higgs.” You nod. ”I understood he is in coma.” ”Quite right, quite right. His condition is stable for now, but you know how it is with brain injuries.” Brain injuries? That's new. ”Is he, you know...?” ”Vegetative? Possibly, the diagnosis is still pending. But I doubt he will be throwing hoops anytime soon.” Major shakes his heads. ”And Private Costava, killed in action. I am saddened to bring you such foul news, I've lost too many squadmates myself.” He straightens up. ”As it stands, Tiger squad is three members short, Private Lorenzo being out of operation for weeks. The decision was made to re-schedule the active squad structure for the coming month. To put it more clearly, for the next few weeks you and your squadare out of the usual rotation, to give you time to heal and replenish casualities.” You think about it. ”Replenish how?” ”The details are still undecided. Take a couple of days off. You've earned it.” You get up and are about to leave, when Captain Braxter lifts her eyes from her notepad. ”Just a moment, there is one more thing, sir. You mentioned in your account that you used the Quanto-electrical Artificial Intelligence suppression projectile, colloquially known as 'AI spike', to disable the dronetank employed by the aggressors- However, such device is not listed in the standrd equipment of your squad nor are they freely available from the market. Could you perhaps disclose how you aquired that piece of munition?” Oh crap, that thing. Yeah. They're not strictly illegal in most places, but megacorps in general want to keep that kind of hardware off the streets. Makes your drone armies much less scary if you can oneshot most pieces of equipment with an infantryweapon. This might have some consequences.>TRUTH: Tell them you got the AI spike from Lorenzo.>VAGUE: Tell you don't know how you got it, it might have been on the site, perhaps dropped by one of the attackers.>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.
>>6001817>>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.We can take the heat, if there is any. Lorenzo probably can't. I doubt they'll give a shit, honestly, but you never rat out your guys. Never.
>>6001817>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.Lead from the front.
>>6001817>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.
>>6001817>>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.We should ask that they be a part of a special infantry equipment package. Basically turned the situation around completely with minimal resource lost.
>>6001817>>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.Duty anons voting to not teel truth to corp, top kek.
>>6001817>FALLGUY: Tell you bought it yourself ages ago from black market.This is plausible since we’re also a rich asshole and probably untouchable due to being part of “THE Goldwells”
>>6002358We have a duty to our men first and the corp second.
>>6002684How rebel of you. I don't think the corp agrees.
>FALLGUY”I bought it months ago from some anonymous seller. And frankly, with all due respect, they should be included in the standard kit. Really turned the tide on this one.” The lie escapes your lips almost effortlessly. You have lied to your parents as long as you can remember, but lying to your peers and superiors, it's different. Even when it's for the good cause, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Major Gilligan lets out a quiet sigh and sinks deeper into his chair. ”Goldwell, this is off the recod, but on personal level I agree with you. Nevertheless, the protocol exists for a reason. The damn things don't officially even exist and if every squad from every corp was carrying one, it would take a month and every punk on every gang would want their own, and that would lead to total anarchy. Remember that you could shut down the city subway system with just one of those things.” He scratches his jaw. ”So using one without permit is bad. Very bad. Keeping these things under the wraps will take lots of effort. However, given the circumistances, I am sure the higher ups will show some leniency, this time. Nobody expected things to get so heated up. So the consequences for you should be light. Slap of the wrist, as they say. Well then, is all in order, Captain?” Braxter nods and after short farewells, you get to leave.Could have gone worse. Could have gone better. You're too tired to outright fume, but the folks at armory know to keep their mouths shut as you return your equipment. What a horseshit ruling! If everyone had AI spikes, then Costava would still be alive! And Higgs... No, now is not the time to grieve. Sleep first.You sleep during your off hours in a company dormitory. Mom would propbably gave up her second yacht if that would keep you out from such meager accommodation, but after living most of your life in luxury, this kind of ascetism is outright refreshing. Besides, what more a person needs than a small room with a bed, a shower and a shared kitchen area? Beats the bunk beds in the barracks. You can't even bother taking off your clothes before falling onto your bed and knocking yourself out.
>>6005192Strange humm wakes you up. What time is it? 4 PM? Could as well get up. Light ache reminds you from the last night. Stretching and yawning, you walk into the kitchen area still wearing the clothes from yesterday. There are four people living in your shared apartment, and one of them, Langston, is watching pornball from the big screen. The humm must have been the noise from that. Pornball is part spectation sport, part prowrestling and part hardcore fucking. The FUNCO excec who came up with that idea probably bought an island resort all for himself. Such uncouth form of entertrainment has never interested you, but it is nevertheless very popular among single males. Langston, an overweight research assistant working in some company lab by your understanding merely glances at your direction before shifting his gaze back to some buxom bimbo theatrically fumbling with a ball. ”Yo. You got a letter.” he mumbles before muching another fistful of potato chips. A letter? At this day an age? That could only mean one of a few things. Surely enough, a pristine envelope rests on the kitchen table. Expensive paper. Without a second thought, you rip it open. Hah. Another dinner invitation from your family? You'd think after you declined the last two times, they would take the hint, but they sure are persistent. Day after tomorrow? 'I Appreciate Your Quick Response', underlined with red. A bit abrupt for mother. You turn the paper on your hands for a while before throwing it into the garbage incinerator. You'd handle that later. IF you handled it, that is.Instinctively you start to scroll through your feed while nibbling at cold food straight from the fridge. There are quite a few headlines about last night. FriAir newsources underplayed the incident, claiming that criminal elements had caused some minor damage on Service Facility 18. FUNCO sources instead focused on rough treatment of the working class, showing images of riot polices beating out protesters. Other networks showed similiar agenda driven half truths. None of the mention the dronetank.Your personal messages have a few unread ones. Mostly uninteresting work related shit. One pops out from the rest. It's from Damian, one of your few friends outside from work or family. It reads: ”ZAK, TRISH SHOWED US THIS COOL NEW BAR NEAR THE TRACKS, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED MEET YOU AT SIX YOU KNOW WHERE”. You haven't met Damian in months. Maybe it's time to refresh some memories together. Your heart sinks a bit. Is now the time? Maybe you should visit the hospital instead, Lorenzo, Higgs and the others might cheer up?>NIGHT OUT: Meet up with Damian and his group>HOSPITAL VISIT: Buy some flowers and Get Well cards and visit your comrades instead
>>6005195>HOSPITAL VISIT: Buy some flowers and Get Well cards and visit your comrades insteadReally be the fallguySorry for the headache and coma bud
>>6005195>>HOSPITAL VISIT: Buy some flowers and Get Well cards and visit your comrades instead
>>6005195>>HOSPITAL VISIT: Buy some flowers and Get Well cards and visit your comrades insteadMaybe drinks after that
>>6005195>HOSPITAL VISIT: Buy some flowers and Get Well cards and visit your comrades insteadWe may be a corpo, but we're still a bro.
>>6005206>>6005678>>6005762>>6005899+1 to every hospital-bro.
Sorry for the delay again, I'm experiencing bit of a mental block regarding the details of the next update. I try to post later today.
