Operations Phase, 1955MOLE forces responded to a distress call from a guard at a Merkane
Human Power Inc. office. They entered the facility utilizing simple distraction tactics and suppressed Subduers, as Command wished to avoid another all-out gunfight in the streets of a Merkane city.
Our operatives quickly located the offending
KOSMIC agents and opened fire. But much to their dismay, the
KOSMIC team had put suppressors on their assault rifles and as such brought them with them. While they only had a relatively small amount of A-R1942s, that small amount combined with what appeared to be a new Astrian-manufactured (suppressed) pistol beat our Cheap suppressed pistols.
Yet it was a close loss. Every
MOLE operative had a suppressed weapon, and not every
KOSMIC operative had one, while theirs were much superior to ours. The skirmish (relatively) gradually turned to
KOSMIC's favor as the agents fought amongst cubicles and office supplies, but not without significant casualties on their end.
Most of our surviving operatives come from a split part of the team located on floor 34, that decided to use a Blackout grenade in order to escape. They
almost suffocated to death, but they
did survive.
Command believes that a viable route to secure future victory in HPI is to move the focus away from outright battles if we can't win them. Espionage efforts in HPI result in these skirmishes because that's the natural result of
KOSMIC and
MOLE techs and skills clashing together. If we develop ways to avoid combat, then we can, well, avoid combat.
The company seems to be under complete control of
KOSMIC and, by extension, Astria.
MOLE command is already preparing to begin serious counter-intelligence operations within our own government, unless the company can be retaken. Command's confident that with the access afforded to
MOLE by being a Merkane agency, we should be able to keep them out unless anything changes.
Astria gains further control of Human Power Inc. [A: 4/4; M: 0/4]. Astria can now begin infiltrating Merkan. If Astria holds control of Human Power Inc. for one more year, they will gain the bonus: +1 to Skills Bug roll.But while we suffered a loss at Human Power Inc., our new technology helped significantly in repelling a
KOSMIC raid on a
Singleton Arms factory.
MOLE operatives, equipped with A-R1942 and the Night Owl, engaged A-R1942 and armor-wielding
KOSMIC operatives in a closed (at the time) factory. Their armor was much less useful than last time thanks to every
MOLE operative holding an assault rifle, and our Night Owl agents, while at the same ranges as the assault rifle agents, gave us the edge needed to win as they easily pierced Astrian body armor and eliminated those that our AR-wielding operatives couldn't get at.
Within a short duration, we accounted most of the sighted
KOSMIC forces as dead on site, though a few escaped. We didn't even use the Blackout grenade, as it was unnecessary (and fairly hard to use during combat).
With some minor rewording of the event, the Merkane government manages to find and eliminate most Astrian influence garned at Singleton Arms last year.
Merkan gains further control of Singleton Arms [A: 2/4; M; 2/4]Finally, operatives sent to the
Global League report a setback once they return, fewer in number.
Our team entered the target compound without a problem. While the Subduer is suppressed and is useful for limited gunfights, it's still notable; we have to
severely limit deployment of it when using the Distract skill to gain entry to high security area. As such, only a couple
MOLE agents wielded the Subduer.
Like last time, our operatives eventually realized that some workers (who had arrived at a similar time) were actually
KOSMIC operatives in disguise. While this wasn't
quite the shock it was last time, it still allowed
KOSMIC operatives to engage the
MOLE team on their own terms.
And their terms were quite awful. Multiple workers drew the same pistol we had seen earlier this year out of small containers they had held and opened fire on
MOLE agents. We returned fire, but because only one pistol was snuggled in via the Distraction skill, our operatives had to retreat just as the security arrived.
Meetings at the Global League don't go well for our diplomats, apparently. Multiple key members convinced last year reverted to a pro-neutrality stance between Merkan and Astria.
Astria gains further control of Global League [A: 2/4; M; 2/4]It is now the Design Phase of 1955. Vote for a single Tech or Skill proposal to be worked on as this year's design.
Companies
- Human Power Inc. [A: 4/4; M: 1/4] (Gain bonus to Skill Bugs)
- Singleton Arms [A: 2/4; M: 1/4] (Gain bonus to Tech Bugs)
Governments
- Astria [A: 5/5; M: 0/5]
- Merkan [A: 0/5; M: 5/5]
Global League [A: 2/4; M: 2/4] (Gain bonus to Expense rolls)
- Distraction - Operatives will team up to get past security via some Operatives throwing rocks and making noises and whatnot while the others sneak through. Cheap.
- Conditional Retreat - Operatives will immediately (and temporarily) abort their mission and sneak out if they're spotted, to avoid unnecessary casualties. Operatives make judgement call to stay+resume mission and eliminate spotters instead if they believe spotters can be successfully and stealthily defeated. Cheap.
- Memorized Orders - Operatives are given their mission in person at HQ, and are expected to remember the specifics of their mission until they report back (again in person) for debriefing and a new assignment. Cheap.
- Merkan Arms MA-DMR-01 Night Owl: A wood-and-metal 7.62mm 10-round magazine DMR with a rather weak integrated suppressor. Fairly bulky and quite large, limiting operative mobility and deployment during battle. Extremely obvious. Expensive.
- A-R1942 - A simple yet functional assault rifle
stolen developed during the war, roughly on par with the weapons of other world powers developed around the same time. Very obvious, but quite versatile. Cheap. - Merkan Subduer - A 5-round low-caliber semi-automatic pistol originally developed for special operatives in the early years of the war. Can be somewhat concealed with enough effort, but is very easily located if anyone cares about the holder carrying weaponry. Suppressed, so it won't alert the entire facility but while quiet for a gun, it's still quite loud and notable. Cheap.
- "Blackout" Smoke Grenade - A smoke grenade that unleashes very large amounts of thick black smoke to completely obscure an area. Can completely disrupt a building and suffocate operatives if used indoors, and attracts large amounts of attention. Cheap.
Author
Topic: Shadow Race - Merkan, 1957 (Revision Phase) (Read 12955 times)