Yes, it is finally happening! Merry Christmas everyone!
Thantro Mission PhaseAnother letter has been dropped into the inbox. This one reads:
The previous head of covert ops kept running into problems with his cover life, and constantly creating excuses. Something about "SAT" or something. Regardless, he has been disposed of and a new head of covert ops appointed.Thantro Security Team 1 - """Disrupt""" MeetingThe plan goes off essentially without a hitch. Kyle rents a room in the building opposite the office building, heads up at the appropriate time, launches the grenades, and leaves. No one is looking up at the time of the firing, and the only reason the cops and EMS that show up far too late even know where the grenades come from, is because there was a camera on a street pole. Their investigation yields nothing but a number of Mondragon corpses, a fake name, and a dark silhouette.
Command applauds you for the clever use of the technology at your disposal, but also reprimands you for such a public act. While no one may have seen the grenades get launched, people certainly heard the explosions, and it is hard to cover up that many grenade detonations as an accident. The numerous megacorps that have footholds in the city are beseiged by nosy reporters and government officials, many of which require substantial bribes to decide that it was a gang attack. Command ended up burning one of their gangs as the scapegoat for the attack, though public tension has still increased.
+10 supplyMondragon has been shaken by the loss of a number of executives, and a number of people are hurriedly promoted. In particular, the loss of Tian Yijun, the beloved HR department head was keenly felt by every worker.
Our spies estimate that the company stability dropped by about 6%, and the stock market represents this.
-6% Mondragon integrity
-1 HE clipThantro Security Team 2 - Intercept ScientistThe team moved to the building early in the morning, got to their spots, and prepared for a wait. It was a simple thing, the deep throbbing of distant helicopters. Grecia paid the sound no mind even as it came closer, as helicopters are quite common. Grecia definitely took notice, however, when a black Bell 206 came to a hover 10 feet above the roof and lowered a rope ladder at the same time that the service door to the roof opened.
She radioed her squad mates, and waited until the two enemy contacts and the scientist emerged completely onto the roof before firing. 30 bullets flew in the first three seconds. Some missed, but enough hit to kill one of the agents as well as wound the other enemy agent and the scientist. With no armor, they didn't stand a chance. A smoke grenade blew, filling the roof with smoke, and at the same time the side of the helicopter opened and another enemy agent began firing at Grecia with another Foal rifle.
Grecia and Jones opened fire on the helicopter, their Foal rounds making holes in the chassis but not damaging any vital systems. The enemy agent who was still in the smoke cloud started firing shaky rounds at Grecia, forcing her to move to the other side of the decoy container to avoid having her force armor break.
The helicopter moved over the smoke, dragging the ladder behind it, and the ground agent managed to wrap it around their waist before the copter flew off, out of the range of the Foal Carbine. The helicopter looked to have sustained moderate damage, and one enemy agent was confirmed dead, along with the scientist.
Command congratulates you on a successful mission, and awards you with a permanent supply increase of 20 points. They also promise to more seriously consider requests from you for weapons.
+20 supply per turn
+1 to next item request roll
1 enemy agent killed
1 pistol recovered
Grecia, Jones, and Baljeet are more experiencedThantro Security Team 3 - Defend FactoryAs it turns out, force bucklers do not guarantee victory. The first sign we had of the oncoming assault was the power cutting out temporarily. It was only for about 30 seconds before the emergency power kicked on, but it served to heighten the level of tension in our hidey holes.
After a short while on high alert, Juanita, Ricardo, John, and Amanda reported enemy contact on the radio. They burst out of their dimensional broom closet after hurling flashbangs, and engaged the mondragon team in combat.
It seems that Mondragon has new combat armor of some kind, as the withering hail of fire only managed to down one of their 8 agent team. When Mondragon returned fire, it was with a weapon even more effective than the Foal rifle. And they all had one. Seven rifles at close range meant that Juanita's force buckler was quickly blasted away. John was killed due to force armor failure in the one and a half seconds it took Ricardo to throw up another force buckler blocking the hallway. Their rifles had an upgraded clip size as well, meaning that the tail end of the barrage got through Ricardo's buckler as well, injuring him and Amanda. The team retreated around the corner as another squad containing Maximilian, Marx, and Maya. The three opened fire and the SPAS rang out. The slug smashed into a mondragon agent at the waist near the spine, but their new armor managed to shrug off even that, merely throwing the agent forwards and causing him to cry with pain, but failing to kill him.
Having finished reloading, the mondragoners whirled on this new threat and opened fire. At the same time Maximilian's buckler fell, cooked flashbang went off, stunning the enemy agents. Another shotgun blast saw an enemy agent fracture their arm, as they opened fire on the three Ms once more. The three ducked into cover around the corner as the buckler fell and, rather than stand and fight, the mondragoners chose to rush the center of the facility.
Juanita, Ricardo and Amanda took this time to retreat towards the center of the facility, but not fast enough. Caught in an open stretch, all three were killed quickly when the buckler fell, due to the weakenss of the recasting, the lack of charge in the force armor, and the deadliness of the enemy rifles.
The three Ms hung behind the enemy team, harassing them as they advanced. Ricardo killed the one he'd previously injured, although Maya was killed by a lucky shot that snuck through the buckler at an awkward angle.
The final team had barricaded the final entrance, but our same tactic was used against us. Mondragon hurled an ungodly number of flashbangs and leapt the barrier, firing at point blank range while the team was stunned. Amy, Roberto, and Tino were all killed.
The enemy team broke into the center of the facility and barricaded the door from within, barring both attempts from our agents and the factory security to break in. Realizing it was too late and the facility was compromised, the team beat a hasty retreat with as many scientists and security guards they could manage. When the center of the facility blew, the building above collapsed into the whole, and minor earthquakes shook the surrounding slums. As HQ did not want to bring attention to the illicit facility, the investigation of the occurrence was eventually blamed on a faulty gas pipeline with a leak that ignited.
Command is understandably concerned about this turn of events, although they are willing to wait a month before penalizing the team, due to previous results.
-10% thantro integrity
2 enemy agents killed
4 enemy agents wounded
-5 kevlar vests (FA)
-3 combat suits (FA)
-1 SPAS-12
-8 foal carbines
-7 flashbangs
-2 encrypted radios
Juanita, Ricardo, John, Amanda, Amy, Roberto, Tino, and Maya were killed in action.
Marx and Maximilian are more experienced.
Marx has received the Violet Heart for bravery in combat.
Marx is moderately wounded, and will receive a moderate penalty to combat next turn.Thantro Security Team 4 - Intercept Weapons DealThe plan seemed sound at first, but there was one thing we neglected to plan for. Everything went well until it was time to launch the grenades. The boat came in as expected, and just as the dealer was unembarking, the duo moved to the surface, with only the barrel of the grenade launcher poking above. Even as Wilson fired a wide spread, somehow they spotted the two through the water. Enemy agents rapidly converged on the nearby piers and bullets began raining down upon the two, but because of the cushioning water to the sides, no shots hit. Unable to escape to either side and with certain death facing above, the team simply submerged all the way to the bottom, and snuck back under the crate, in the hopes that mondragon would simply leave. After a good 30 minutes they did, and the team was able to extract.
Command is somewhat disappointed this didn't work, but acknowledge the reason why is out of your control.
-1 HE clip
Wilson and Zachary are more experienced.Public opinionThe events of this month left much of the public shaken. Individually they didn't mean much. These things happen. Building collapses, dock fights, and more take place on a semi regular basis within the city. But for those who paid attention to such things, the increase in activity painted a grim picture. Rumors have begun to fly that the government has lost control. Several riots, an increase in unorganized crime, and an increase in gun purchasing as citizens all race to arm themselves have all risen as a result of these rumors. Because of this, the government is beginning to pay more serious attention to the situation. The government now exists as a third party which, if treated delicately, may be pointed at your enemy. If you are not cautious, however, you may find that your own misdeeds haunt you.
Event!It's Christmastime! Santa is being generous this year, and whichever team can write the nicest letter to Santa will be awarded a single unique present of their choice. This present will be granted in the form of a special project that makes a single item, within reason, with a single reroll for the lowest die of the project. Multiple submissions can be written and voted upon in your personal thread, with the winning letter getting posted in the core thread at the end of the tactics phase.
EU and ammo can safely be ignored when equipping non player characters.
Weapons:
Foal N5B2 Carbine Rifle: 884m/sec muzzle velocity. Fully automatic. 700 RPM. Effective up to 500m. 5.56x45mm cartridge. 2 EU unloaded, 3 EU loaded. 6 supply. 30 round clip size. 30 rounds 1 EU. Can pierce 12mm of steel at 600m.
Foal N2822 Semi-Automatic Service Pistol: 253m/sec muzzle velocity. Semi automatic. Typical range 25m, effective to 40m. 0.45 ACP cartridge. 1 EU unloaded, 2 EU loaded. 3 supply. 7 round clip size. 32 rounds 1 EU. Cannot pierce substantial armor without repeated shots.
Milkor MGL: 3 RPS (rapid fire), 18 RPM (sustained). Effective range 375m, maximum 400m. HE, Flashbang, Irritant rounds. 6 EU unloaded, 8 EU loaded. 9 supply. 6 round clip size. 1 clip is 3 supply. 1 clip 2 EU.
Franchi SPAS-12: Can be fit with a choke for effective accuracy at either 20 meters, or 40 meters. The first will do less damage past that point, and the latter will do more damage if it actually hits, assuming the target is closer. The slug is accurate up to 80 meters. The feed system is 8+1 rounds. Slugs have an AP of 1 at less than 60 meters. BB round do either a lot of concentrated damage, or less spread out damage, depending on range. Generally comparitively ineffective against armor unless very close. 5 supply. 4 EU unloaded, 5 EU loaded. 8 round clip +1 in barrel. 9 rounds 1 EU.
Combat knife: A small knife capable of piercing limited armor. 1 AP. 1 supply.
Armor and equipment:
Kevlar vest: Light protection of torso, shoulders, and upper legs. Gray. 3 EU. 2 supply.
Combat suit: Thin bodywide protection. Black. 1 EU. 1 supply.
Encrypted radio: 100 meter broadcast radius. Static gets rather bad at max range. Encrypted to prevent enemy intercepting, although use signals that agents are in the area to anyone listening. 1 EU. 1 supply per radio.
Smoke grenades: Can form a cloud of smoke roughly 10 meters in diameter that reduces anyone inside to vague shadows. 1 EU for 3. 1 supply for 3.
Flashbangs: Likely stun and disorient anyone caught within the 3 meter blast radius. Anyone outside of that gets a reduced effect. 1 EU for 3. 1
supply for 3.
Forced entry kit: Lockpicks, acid and other assorted gear for breaking in. 4 EU. 5 supply.
Bomb/trap defusal kit: A series of items useful for defusing bombs. 4 EU. 6 supply.
Breaching charge: A small but powerful localized detonation meant for creating man sized hole in walls with a thickness of less than 15 centimeters. Ineffective against anything stronger than brick. 2 EU. 4 supply.
Designed technologies:
DNSIT, Direct Neural-Spinal Interface Tap or "Necktap": [1] [3]
A barely functional hacking aid requiring specialized training to use. 10 EU. 10 Supply. Only 1 man per squad is capable of using one.
Improves hacking attempts by 2% (!!!).
Pocket Dimension Pockets: [4] [4]
Increases space in a pocket by 5 times. 1 hour charge. Difficult to do initial enchantment, but enchantment does not fade. Provides protection from a myriad of sensors for anything inside. 2 supply to place enchantment on a piece of armor or clothing. Trivial to refresh.
Force Buckler: [7] [6]
An effective force wall capable of blocking 10 N5B2 rifle shots at minimum size when cast by a thaumic potential 3 spellcaster. A difficult spell, half of the force can cast it. Variable shape and strength, stronger by 100% for each thaumic potential level above 3 of the person casting it.
Force Armor: [3] [5]
A layer of force on top of armor. 4 supply to enchant on a piece of armor. Very difficult to enchant, trivial to recharge. Blocks 2 rifle rounds at same range as force buckler testing. 4 rounds at same distance as original force armor. Stronger by 100% for each level above 1.
Blink: [1] [2]
Nigh impossible to cast. Complex. Requires two wizards, and 1 minute for one use. "Instant" 10 foot transportation.
Corporation integrity: 91%
Supply: 161/120
Maintenance: 18
(Unused supply will add to the next turn)
1 Necktap
2 Milkor MGL
2 Franchi SPAS-12
1 combat suit with a PDP
2 combat suits with FA enchantment
2 kevlar vests with FA enchantment
5 combat suits
2 foal carbines
1 foal pistols
4 encrypted radios
3
pistols (scavenged)
3 encrypted radios (scavenged, still encrypted)
3 smoke grenades (scavenged)
You have two squads out of two maximum (12/20)
[6]Maximillian (M) 2 missions, Violet Heart, Learned spells: Force buckler
[6]Grecia (F) 1 mission, Learned spells: Force buckler
[6]Baljeet (M), Learned spells: Force Buckler
[5]Zachary (M) 1 mission, Learned spells: Force buckler
[5]Kyle (M), 1 mission, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[5]Wilson (M), Learned spells: Force Buckler
[4]Mara (F), Learned spells: Force Buckler
[4]Marx (M), 1 mission, Violet Heart, moderate injury, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[2]Jones (M) 1 mission
[2]Zoey (F) 1 mission
[2]Rick (M) 1 mission
[2]Abednago (M) 1 mission
It is now the Design Phase of April 1983. You may vote on a single design.