It's been awhile. Something like 370 days? Well anyways, this update has been a long time coming.
Thantro Mission PhaseThe new hires have been successfully inducted into the organization.
Lab raid defenseAfter a short but anxious wait, the transport vehicle arrived and all the equipment in the lab was relocated without Mondragon interference. Command is pleased with the outcome.
TSS and all equipment safely relocated. +20 funds.Bank defenseThere’s nothing unusual on the cameras and none of the workers or guards report seeing anything unusual, but despite this Mondragon seems to have successfully snuck into the bank and messed with Thantro accounts. Unfortunately they were thorough enough that we have been unable to track where the money went. As it was largely your job to provide protection during the vulnerable phase, a portion of the stolen money has been deducted from your account.
-50 funds, -5% stability.Scientist strikeDue to city regulations the helicopter had to fly too high to be able to use TSS effectively. It would have had to fly lower than 120 feet or so to have a chance of spotting the strongest casters, which is far too low to avoid notice. Having been thwarted so early the team decided to relocate immediately to the airport. Unsure of where exactly Mondragon might park the team instead set up on the edge of Kennedy Expressway in the forested area to the East of the airport, relying on TSS to spot individuals with high thaumic potential and hoping that Mondragon chose the fastest route to get to the airport. Partially due to luck and partially due to the layout of the road, a car with one unusually strong magical signal passed by the team on the outside lane. As the car slowed to turn off binoculars confirmed the presence of three individuals inside, one wearing heavy combat armor.
Making a snap decision, Zoey opened fire as soon as the car was off the main expressway from a range of 100 feet or so. Two grenades missed entirely, three detonated close enough to destroy the tires and shred part of the frame, and one hit the rear passenger door. Wilson followed mere moments later, although mostly missed, with only three coming close enough to do any kind of damage. The car spins out and off to the side of the road, at which point the team opens fire with their carbines. There’s a moments’ pause before the far doors open and two of the targets duck behind the engine block. One of the first two fires back along with the third target, who hides behind the rear of the car. Thanks to the concentration of high level agents on this mission, however, their return fire doesn’t really accomplish anything. Grecia’s force buckler does drop, but the momentary loss is covered by force armor and then Kyle takes up the slack. Despite the relative lack of staying power provided by foal carbines, the team is able to silence the agent taking cover behind the engine block after sustained fire, as well as the presumed scientist doing the same. Rather than risk any injuries in continued altercation with the target in combat armor, the team instead decided to safely withdraw before law enforcement could arrive.
After some digging command was able to confirm that you successfully eliminated the agent. They are pleased with your success, though they question the repeated and heavy use of grenade launchers, as civilian deaths are expensive. Luckily, no civilians were killed this time, although traffic was held up on a major freeway. Informants have also reported that the repeated loss of top Mondragon staff has caused a large spike in loss of morale.
+40 funds. +10 monthly funding. ~7% Mondragon stability loss.
Grecia, Kyle, Wilson, and Zoey are more experienced.Campaign mission resultsThe setup for the event went peacefully, and so did the first day. We put one potted plant by the base of each stairs, and one fifteen or so feet away from the base of the main stairs, at the end of the Mondragon checkpoint they arranged. The final pot was placed upstairs, near the center of the room by the stairs.
A thief on the second day was easily stopped by Zachary bursting from his plant and placing a force buckler directly in front of the fleeing businessman, allowing the Mondragon agents running the checkpoint to easily apprehend him. Zachary hesitated a moment before nodding to the two agents, noting the heavy and custom made body armor they wore, then got back into his pot to continue reading The Wheel of Time. Giotto and Jasper showed up shortly after to repot the plant along with an NI official who took custody of the would be thief and his briefcase containing the stolen tech.
The altercation took less than 30 minutes all told, with minimal disruption to the event.
The second disruption of the event was a similarly unprepared thief. Audrey heard the shout through the radio and burst from her pot. All it took was a moment to spot the thief trying to run down the stairwell that Mondragon had marked as closed off, and another moment to do the same thing Zachary had.
The self concussion proved sufficient to hold the thief there long enough for our and Mondragon’s agents to cuff her, again with minimal disruption to the event.
Giotto and Jasper are somewhat displeased at the need to sweep up yet more dirt and repot the plant.
The third disruption occurred when the sound of breaking glass heralded a flashbang going off on the third floor, stunning both our plainclothes ops. They recovered mere moments later due to how far away they were from the blast. Giotto moved to cover the room that Mondragon had coopted as a surveillance center, using force buckler to protect the two agents that ran out of the room. The second agent moved to the stairwell to cover Rick’s plant pot as the rest of the agents downstairs ran up.
At the same time that this occurred agents clad all in black came in through the window the flashbang had entered through as well as the window adjacent, on the East side of the building.
One of the 8 agents, a man with glowing purple eyes, seemed to have some kind of fear effect that sent the noncoms running and almost incapacitated our own.
Thankfully most of the NI attendees were in private rooms doing demonstrations or concluding business deals, and only 10 or so people were in the main room, most of which was behind our agents.
We and Mondragon opened fire near simultaneously at the invaders, only to find that no matter how we tried, every bullet would miss just barely, without fail.
The man with purple eyes pointed his palm at Giotto and a purple bolt flashed across the room, splashing into Giotto’s chest and transforming into grabbing ethereal tendrils that immobilized him. Two more bolts were fired, rapidly decreasing our numbers advantage.
Rick made a snap decision and hurled a flashbang at the man with purple eyes. Forewarned thanks to the Mondragon agent in the monitoring room shouting over the radio, most of our and Mondragon’s agents avoided being blinded, but the same could not be said about the man with the purple eyes. He cried out in pain and clutched at his face, stumbling backwards.
The agents that weren’t pinned down fired on him once more, finding that whatever protection he had possessed against bullets was now gone.
The other 7 agents fell in short order after that, as their shields, presumably provided by the man with purple eyes, had also dissipated.
There was only one civilian death, and the cleanup after the assault went well. The event was about to end anyways, so NI simply decided to end it now and conclude the business talks elsewhere.
Both teams were congratulated by NI for excellent performance. The decision to keep over half our forces in reserve or hidden, by both teams, meant that the corporation that planned the final assault drastically misjudged the number of agents they would need to capture the top floor and the tech found there. They have not reported on which team did better, instead choosing to wait until the end of the year to announce everything then. Command is pleased with the show you gave as well.
We discovered something fairly important in the debriefing. It would seem that our agent with TSS noted that the enemy caster, even at range, was as bright as the Thantro agents standing right next to Abednago. This indicates to us that we may possibly be able to enhance the magical strength of our agents past their natural potential.
NI conference successfully defended.
+10 funds.
Giotto, Jasper, Abednago, Audrey, Zachary, and Rick are more experienced.
Public opinion/governmentMondragon seems to be rather upset with our use of grenades, and presumably they sent a letter of some kind to the government. The higher ups have informed us that the government’s covops agents have made contact and stated, in no uncertain terms, that the use of grenade launchers anywhere near civilians can absolutely not be permitted. They slapped us with a fairly hefty fine which the corporation refuses to cover, as we technically are not a part of the company.
Repeated offenses will likely not have so light a penalty.
-70 funding.In other news, the civilian unrest in the city has continued to rise as the rate of incidences in this and other cities increases.
Event resultsDue to some administrative error your letter was lost on the way to the North Pole, causing Mondragon to win the event. The winning letter has been posted in the core thread. In light of your letter being lost, however, Santa has awarded you resources sufficient for a single extra revision.
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.
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.
Bell 212: 1/1. 150 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 1%.
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.
Thaumic sounding scope: [2] [3] + revision [4]
Allows perception of most active spells and people to a range of twenty five feet, more for more energetic spells/people. 4 supply.
Corporation integrity: 96%
Supply: -65/110
Maintenance: 115
(Unused supply will add to the next turn)
1 Necktap
4 Milkor MGL
1 combat suit with a PDP
12 combat suits with FA enchantment
7 kevlar vests with FA enchantment
2 kevlar vests
2 plainclothes with FA enchantment
2 combat suits
11 foal carbines
11 foal pistols
15 encrypted radio
3
pistols (scavenged)
3 encrypted radios (scavenged, still encrypted)
3 smoke grenades (scavenged)
3 smoke grenades
6 force armor enchantments
1 Bell 212
5 TSS
9 flashbangs
1 forced entry kit
2 combat knives
You have 17/20 maximum agents
[6]Maximillian (M) 2 missions, Violet Heart, Learned spells: Force buckler
[6]Grecia (F) 2 missions, Learned spells: Force buckler
[6]Baljeet (M), Learned spells: Force Buckler
[6]Giotto (M)1 mission, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[5]Zachary (M) 2 missions, Learned spells: Force buckler
[5]Kyle (M), 2 missions, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[5]Wilson (M), 2 missions, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[5]Jasper (M) 1 mission, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[4]Mara (F), Learned spells: Force Buckler
[4]Marx (M), 1 mission, Violet Heart, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[4]Audrey (F) 1 mission, Learned spells: Force Buckler
[2]Jones (M) 1 mission
[2]Zoey (F) 2 missions
[2]Rick (M) 2 missions
[2]Abednago (M) 2 missions
[2]Kyleen (F)
[1]Jacque (M)
It is now the Design Phase of May 1983. You may vote on a single design to research.