- Location
- USA
I believe Edgar has adequately taken care of the latter component of his newfound standing with Skulder for the time being.
Eve of Destruction Part 2: All Along the Watchtower (Update: Now back to regular turns)
- Thread starter The Bird
- Start date
- Mature Sci-Fi Superhero
-
- Tags
- fallout series atompunk (punk) dystopia political thriller (thriller) pre-post apocalypse (apocalyptic) sci-fi communist mc cryptids weird science (science fantasy) plan quest fate of the future mechanic there is no golden ending what matters is what you can live with in the end you can't save everyone
I believe Edgar has adequately taken care of the latter component of his newfound standing with Skulder for the time being.
- Pronouns
- They/Them/She/Her
Probably, aye.
The Bird
tEM IS GUD...RITER!
- Location
- In that den of villains and scum, OKLAHOMA
Good news, everyone, the update is out on Patreon! Like always if you want to see it a little ahead of time, it costs exactly 1 dollar, each of which go towards helping me keep myself afloat. That said, the public version should be up either tommorow or wensday.
Team America #2: Dystopia Olympus
The Bird
tEM IS GUD...RITER!
- Location
- In that den of villains and scum, OKLAHOMA
Edgar stared at the man, looking at him with piercing eyes. Reading the person he was interrogating was- difficult. The mans necrosis meant there wasn't as much face to read, and Weird Radio wasn't cooperating- it kept quoting german at him, and Edgar didn't speak german. The man, the subject of the interview, Max Fowler was currently trying to approximate a smile with what was left of his mouth and eyes, but Edgar wasn't sure if it was real- he wasn't sure anything about Fowler was real. "So-" The mutated human said to him, only to be cut off by Edgar turning his recorder on.
"State your name." Edgar said flatly as he activated his tape recorder, causing the man to wince, realizing from Edgar's tone- whatever sympathy Edgar might have been theoretically willing to extend him as a survivor of the apocalypse and potentially the last australian had been thoroughly tested by the revelations he had learned. The pair of them were currently on the USS Gregory- an interrogation room- ever wall made of metal, the floor a metal grate- underneath it, countless spoons and forks. On the wall was a one way mirror. On the other side, Wilbur was watching, writing notes, and serving as a look-out alongside a handful of arcadian agents that were on the team. .
"Er, Maxwell Fowler- Mate, I told the woman-" Fowler stammered out, referencing his prior debrief with Pendleton- a document that Edgar trusted not at all to not elide and manipulate information.
"Irrelevant- You'll find we are VERY thorough, Mr. Fowler," Edgar responded flatly, writing a note down, noting the man tensing up at that. "Who did you work for?" The man gave a cough, relaxing slightly- no shame. His job- at least his official title- didn't worry him.
"I was an inspector- for the government-" The zombie explained, only to be cut off again as Edgar continued his line of questioning. .
"Do you mean the New Labour Party?" His interrogator enquired, causing the man to wince- there was something there, then. His job title didn't worry him- but his association with the ruling party did.
"Well, I mean- Yes, I suppose you could look at it that way, since they were the ones in charge-"
"What did your duties as an inspector of the New Labour Party entail?" Edgar continued, paying careful attention with each interruption and act of targeted rudeness, doing his best to get a reaction- and feeling satisfaction at the hesitancy, even if Fowler hadn't yet risen to the bait.
"I…inspected," Fowler said, carefully, clearly doing his best to figure out how to frame his work in a way that minimized how bad it sounded. "Corruption allegations, audits, accusations of treason. People who were accused of having ties to radical insurgent groups, politicians and government contractors who were dipping into the till, individuals suspected of ideological pollution. The New Labour Party kept a very clean house."
'Subject is either a liar or a dupe- likely former. All evidence points to rampant semi-sanctioned corruption on multiple levels of society,' Edgar wrote in his notes. "In other words, you were the hatchetman they sent in against their enemies," He clarified.
"That's a bit of a harsh way to put it-" Fowler responded, raising his arm and resting his hand against the table, irregularly tapping at it as the man continued to speak. "I like to think I was more of an agent for the national will."
"Who did you answer to?" Edgar asked flatly, writing down more notes- and adding a small doodle of a robot in the corner. "What organization did you serve under?"
"The Australian National Police," Fowler answered. "Bit equivalent to your yanks FBI- does that still exist? No offense, been a tick since I've heard about you yanks."
"The federal bureau isn't relevant here. I'm asking the questions," Edgar said without inflection, moving on to his next question immediately. "What can you tell me about Utopia."
Another hesitation. This one was easily readable, for once- the obvious realization that one might be in hot water politically. It was one thing to commit crimes against humanity when protected by the state promoting the actions, it was an entirely different matter when those actions were under review by a third party with little incentive to treat them well.
Most likely, had Edgar not confronted him with this information, Fowler probably would have excised it from any account he provided as best he could, in order to sweep any personal responsibility he might be determined to possess under the rug. Wouldn't do to jeopardize his shot at joining civilized society to reveal he was a nazi political cop, after all. "It was…not really my department, you understand?" The man hedged, and Edgar had no idea if he was lying, but he was almost certainly eliding information. "The public sanitation acts- MEGAMAX, the relocations, the social hygiene laws, those were mostly state troopers and the purity corp. I'm…not going to deny my participation, on occasion," He hedged. "But I only did what was demanded of me by my station and law."
"Participation- Elaborate on that." Aaaaand bingo. Fowler didn't look him in the eye as he began speaking.
"Occasionally I would locate signs of insurgent activity in my investigations- this would get the purity corp called in," Fowler explained, fidgeting and adjusting his bowtie. "They would go in- arrest as many people as it took to root out insurgents. Friends, families, old, young. It was the only way to stop the gangs- otherwise the wankers would just keep coming," Maxwell said, an edge of contempt in his voice. "Didn't like doing it, of course, but that was the only way to keep order after the Malay War." He shrugged. "Course, that was a small part of my job- mostly it was white collar fraud."
Edgar frowned slightly- still no read, but he was confident that the man was hiding several things. No doubt additional unsavory aspects of his position, the scientist mused. "The purity corp-"
"Anti-insurgency division. Formed in the aftermath of the Malay Wars- things were bad back then. Famines, plagues, unemployment. Then people started picking up guns and trying to carve out their own little territories- no better than bloody bandits, you ask me," Fowler explained. "Now, don't get me wrong- I don't approve of some of the guff the Corp got up to, but they were hard on crime and kept things nice and orderly- up until they were dissolved. Leader got charged for treason," Fowler said, shrugging. "Whole organization was compromised- so it got broken up. Happened…I think 49? Couple years before the CEC was broken up- they're-"
"We're aware of the Commonwealth Energy Company," Edgar responded, writing notes down. "What can you tell me about Otto Venk and the Royal Matchbox company?"
Fowler was quiet for a moment. "Otto was the great great grandson of the founder of the companies founder- Otto Venk the 1st. The 3rds da had been brilliant- started the switch to nuclear energy when he realized the oil fields had started to dry up, helped push the government to computerized accounting, he even predicted the housing crisis that happened in the 20's. Otto, though…" The inspector trailed off, a distant look in his eyes. "Well, he was clever, but he was also a bit barmy- unreliable, a little bit of a wanker and frankly somewhat of a weirdo. He was obsessed with fulfilling his ancestors' vision- a Utopia for the Master Race, and the next stage of evolution." He shrugged. "I'll give him this, he was good at getting what he wanted- right up until the bitter, painful end. If it wasn't for the fact that he failed and wasted everyones time, I'd almost consider it admirable."
"I take it there was a falling out between him and the New Labour Party." Edgar asked, opting to fish for information on the falling out.
Fowler shrugged. "You've seen what it's like outside- Turnbull got spooked, decided to call an audit when totenmensch breaches got a little too common. Wanted an unvarnished look at the progress the project had made without Otto or Turner acting as a middle man. Didn't like what he found, and he decided to pull the plug- and use it to break up the Royal Matchbox Company and get at least some of the investment back." A single drop of salt water dripped to the ground- the result of a micro-leak somewhere in the hull. On a lesser submarine, that would probably be a bad sign. The inspector continued, delving deeper into the story, which Edgar carefully wrote down, intending to corroborate it with all known data-points later. "Otto was screwed either way- people were angry, and Turnbull needed someone to throw under the Lorry. Peoples nans, peoples das, brothers, sisters- even kids and wee ones, we had literally millions of families forced to keep slavering and insane loved ones turned into skinless monsters under the same roof as themselves. People could only take it so long- the will is only so strong. You put enough stress on someone, nine out of ten times they break, and each ghoul at the dinner table was more and more stress. We had started getting people killing family members, themselves, neighbors- or worse, doctors and policemen."
"At some point, the public got angry enough they had decided someone was going to have to hang, and when Turnbull learned the best estimate for when the problem might be solved was decades and trillions of pounds out at a conservative estimate, he decided it would be Venk. Only thing that saved the bloke was the world ending before he could be indicted."
Typical fascist self-cannibalism- the Royal Matchbox Company made a monster, and then was eaten by it. Edgar noted the revelations down. "I'm going to say a series of words. I want you to tell me what you know about them. Do NOT hide anything from me, or you'll find that we have ways of making you talk," Edgar said flatly, causing Fowler to look away. "Project Olympus. Echidna. Aethereum. Ubar."
"Christ on a toastie, you're giving me flashbacks to the spooks in the special service corp," Fowler complained. "Project Olympus- Otto's…not a pet project. It was deeper to him, an obsession. At first, it was a matter of legacy, I think- he wanted to achieve the destiny his family had been working towards for decades. But towards the end-" He shrugged. "Otto was an old codger, and I think towards the end he was just terrified of dying. Olympus was his way of escaping it: making himself something better than human in the hopes he'd never die."
"Something like Subject 18," Edgar responded, to which Fowlers lipless mouth curled into a humorless smile.
"Project Hades figured out how to recreate the physical conditions, but not without breaking the mind. Olympus was the remedy- an attempt to use the paranatural sciences and aethereum to restore the mind. The idea was an Emitter in every city, with the Relays to help spread the signal as far as possible. Echidna…no clue about that," Fowler shrugged. "Same with Ubar, frankly, word might as well be dingo noises to me. As for Aethereum…Otto's dad, Reiner, discovered the first crystal alongside his partner, like I said, alongside his business partner, Boris Steinman. I wasn't important enough to know where the mine for it is- somewhere in the Blue Mountains. Fantastic power source. 61% of what was mined was used in Project Olympus research in Perth and Sydney. Rest of it- military, companies contracting with the government or Royal Matchbox, public works department."
There was a buzz on Edgars waist- Wilbur. Someone else was going to be in the room soon. Drat. He'd need to cut this short. Just a few more questions- starting with the ones he didn't want people finding out the answers to but still needed to know. "What can you tell me about the Aethereum Amplifier?" Fowlers eyes widened- Edgar could read him, briefly. Fear- curious.
"Thahahahat is something that was incredibly classified, and above my clearance level. When I audited the RMC, I never got close to it," Fowler admitted. "I saw a few references to it though- wasn't Otto's project. One of the other members of Royal Matchbox I think- Venks might have owned it, but they weren't the only members. Whatever it was? I told you 61% of all aethereum mined went to Project Olympus. A third of that was used to build the emitter. Another third was spent on assorted stuff Matchbox was also financing under the Olympus header, like some…stupid towers out in Melbourne and Perth that did SOMETHING asinine," Genuine annoyance filtered into his voice- something personal the man wasn't able to entirely disguise. "Or the Psycho-Relays- which were meant to help boost the range of the Emitter across the nation…I think. Don't quote me on that, this is based on decades old documents half of which were heavily bloody redacted. But the last third?" He continued, voice growing more solemn. "The last third went to the Amplifier- shipped through Sydney security checkpoints, only reason I know about em. I'dunno what they were building, other than the fact that it used enough aethereum crystals to turn the entire nation into a fireball. Turnbull might have known, he signed off on it, but he's dead, sadly."
Annoying- especially when his Pip buddy gave another beep. "Er, that going off for a-"
"Never you mind," Edgar growled- frustrated. That was the signal- Wilbur was no longer alone, and it was someone Edgar didn't want hearing some of the other questions he wanted answers to. He'd have to move on to the safer material. "What can you tell me about the day the detonation occured?"
The zombie opposite him shrugged. "I'unno. It was a thursday, I think? I had been doing office-work that day. One moment, everythings fine. The next moment- chaos. At first I thought it was a security breach with how many zombies were running around- until I managed to get home and found my neighbor on the lawn, convulsing as his skin fell off. I don't know how the hell it happened, but the serum must have gotten into the air somehow, or the water or…" He made a hand gesture.
"Y'know. Now, since there had been a few chemical spills in my neighborhood and an increasing number of security breaches, I owned protective gear and weapons- frankly, probably the only reason I survived, since the world continued going bleeding insane as I got closer to my house. Multiple black-outs, reports of radical political insurgents managing to take FUCKING Perth and executing every right-minded white person they could get their bloody mitts on, robots from Melbourne going completely bonkers and sieging the city, Australian Self Defence Units going fucking rogue, reports of peoples heads starting to explode out of nowhere, earthquakes trapping people who had fled the carnage to the Blue Mountains underground, chemical waste treatment plants were detonating-" Fowler stopped, silent for a moment.
"You get the point, mate: it felt like the end of the world. For a lot of people it was, I suppose. I tried to get out myself- I knew where some bunkers were at parliament. Fought my way through the street. About halfway through, thats when I saw it. It was like a…" He trailed off. "A wall of light, expanding from the center of the city, enveloping everything in its path. I ran like hell to escape it. Almost did- thing nicked me, right in the heel. Then, there was a sort of…" He flicked his fingers outward. "'Pop'. The light fizzled out, and it was replaced by an expanding cloud of…Well, you've seen. My gear had a hole in it, so I hightailed it to the Bunker- Parliament hadn't been in session and nobody had been able to make it to the bunker, so I was alone. I felt fine at first, but I knew I was a dead man walking- acute radiation sickness. It wouldn't present symptoms immediately. Days, weeks- I had time before I got sick, but I was on a timer. Still, at least I wasn't turned into an undead cannibal- I thought at the time I had avoided whatever vector the Totenmensch serum was spreading." The mans face was stuck in a permanent grin due to the lack of lips, but Edgar was fairly certain he heard an edge of bitterness. "That lasted until I started having my skin fall off."
"What can you tell me about the cause of these events?" Edgar enquired, to which the man simply shrugged.
"I'unno." This caused Edgar to narrow his eyes, skeptical at the notion that the person who had seen the situation first-hand didn't know what was going on.
"What do you mean you don't know?" The scientist asked. "Keep in mind, if you're hiding something from us…"
"I mean I don't know. I'm not a scientist or anything and I spent the past few decades hiding in a box. People started mutating and things started exploding, mate, I dunno what to tell you, at this point you probably have a clearer picture of the situation than I do." And unfortunately, Edgar couldn't read them well enough to definitively prove this was a lie.
"Fine-" The door to the room slid open, permitting an annoyingly familiar face to enter the room. "Pendleton," Edgar said to the woman, furrowing his eyebrows. "Is there a reason you've decided to interrupt my debriefing?"
"Is there a reason you've chosen to debrief him personally without notifying anyone instead of relying on the brief I produced?" The british woman asked sweetly.
"Classified," Edgar responded flatly, causing Pendleton to give a humorless laugh.
"My dear, I work with American Affairs- We're the ones who decide what is and isn't classified." Pendleton said darkly.
[Trigger: PSIRODAX]
"Pendleton. I gave you the computer. Don't push it." Edgar said, not backing down. Pendleton paused, frowning, pursing her lips- realizing Edgar was neither intimidated nor cowed.
"Well. I suppose you HAVE given me some very fun toys to play with. I'll let you have your secrets. For now. But you're needed topside- duty calls." Edgar growled, before standing up, passing by the smug looking spy, bumping into her by accident as he passed by. Without missing a beat, he reached and grabbed the bug she had tried planting on him, raising it to where she could see it and, moments before the door closed, crushing it as he walked away, not even bothering to turn around to see her surprised expression or dignify her attempts to spy on him with a response.
__________________________
The base camp consisted of the sydney docks and part of the connecting street: the place was still under construction for long term use. Since most of the equipment needed to construct long term habitation had been assigned to the prison and blue mountains, it mostly consisted of non-protected tents and hastily assembled barricades made from disassembled and welded together vehicle salvage and some scaffolding to use as walkways.
Below the barricades, Edgar saw them- hundreds, perhaps more obscured by the fog, of zombies, all of them glaring up quietly at him with yellowed, bloodshot, hateful eyes, a few letting out hisses, growls, and groans. The people of Utopia.
"What exactly is the problem, Sergeant?" Edgar asked, unsettled at the sight of the zombies- he hadn't gotten the chance to study one from afar in a situation where they weren't also chasing him down in an attempt to murder him. At rest, they were- far more unnerving, he observed- he had expected them when presented with a barricade to try and swarm it, but instead they seemed to have enough presence of mind to recognize the futility. Occasionally, he could see a few shuffling along the walls, looking for openings, while the rest- waited. Patiently allowing the expedition time to screw up and saving their strength for when they finally did.
One of the creatures raised its hand, pointing a finger at Edgar- and letting out a rasp. "Hhhhhhate," It rasped slowly as it stared daggers at him, each syllable dripping venom, and Edgar looked away, deciding he most definitely did NOT just hear a zombie explicitly express the ability to use language- for the singular purpose of threatening him specifically.
+1 ???
The soldier next to him cleared his throat. "Uh, well sir, some of the guards have expressed concern about the perimeter strength. We've got the camp surrounded, but its only some rusted machine parts standing between us and, er, them," He said, raising a gauntleted hand and pointing at the crowd. "It's not exactly super structural," The man admitted. "And we have no idea how many zombies are in the crowd. I know we didn't have enough resources to deploy the force field emitters before, buuuuuuuuuuuut since we have all those fancy batteries-"
"No," Edgar responded, bluntly. "Unfortunately, the combat capabilities of the majority of zombies and zombie mutates has been deemed significantly below that of our equipment. Guns, power armors, and turrets beat claws and radiation- and unfortunately we have several infinitely more pressing uses for the power crystals. Request denied."
It was at that moment the ground began to shake- the barricades rattling as the ground began to shift and move beneath their feet, the sudden-ness of it causing Edgar to lose his balance, tumbling over the edge of the barricade…
Only to have themselves grabbed by the arm by the soldier accompanying them. "Steady sir," The man said as he lifted Edgar back over the edge and onto solid ground as the ground continued to shake beneath them, firmly keeping his grasp on Edgar until the tremors subsided after a few minutes.
Regaining his footing, Edgar dusted himself off- well, that had been unfortunate. "Zombies, radiation, and now earthquakes- at this point, it's getting to be easier to list what isn't trying to kill us all," He groused. "Edgar to team, someone inspect the perimeter- make sure that didn't knock any holes in it, otherwise we're going to be recreating a mid-day screening of "Night of the Living Ghouls" and up to our ass in zombies."
Welcome back, dear Team Americaniacs! Last issue, we learned about Utopia, and how the apocalypse happened, and discovered a number of key locations relevant to the fall of Australia.
Now possessed of most of the facts, Edgar's search is narrowing as more and more valuable salvage looms. Power Crystals and other ultracite based technology. MONODAX and other hyper specialized computers. And even more singular treasures loomed, some of which like PSIRODAX and the Lost he had already obtained, some of which like the Ultra-Amplifier he had only heard of, to say nothing of what still lurked in the shadows.
However, danger looms. The Nightcrawler and other mutant terrors loom in the night. Hidden agendas loom in the heart of Edgar's subordinates. Increasingly worse tremors plague the region. And little does anyone know, there existed a snake in their midst!
Heartpounding Horror! Awesome Action! Drama! Chaos of seismic proportions! All of this and more in TEAM AMERICA #2: DYSTOPIA OLYMPUS!
In order to streamline things, we are altering the format somewhat: you will still assign gear and characters to each task, but Edgar will only join three tasks, all of which will be chosen by myself, your humble narrator, PROFESSOR PATRIOT, according to their overall plot importance, which will be the only tasks to get their own scene. The rest will be handled in the background and their rewards summed up at either the end of the turn or the end of the event. In total, this means there will only be THREE UPDATES TOTAL!
AVAILABLE LOCATIONS AND TASKS:
(Please note rewards are not comprehensive, but rather an abstraction of what Edgar thinks he's likely to find/potential rewards.)
CAMP DARKNESS: Located in the Blue Mountains, currently being used as a base of operations by Cpt. Roger and the navy contingent of the expedition, they were attempting to locate sites they could use to establish a long term observation facility in Australia.
-Operation Moving Day: According to collected intel, the Royal Australian Army had been one of the various competing armed forces operating in National-Socialist Australia. One of their bases, located south of Sydney, had been discovered- it's exact purpose seems to be unknown, but several items and devices of considerable interest were found, making it a high priority for the Navy for both salvage and, if possible, reclamation of facilities. Rewards: Military Technology, Surplus Equipment. Small chance for Community Card.
-Operation Clarke: Black Springs, West. The Psycho-Relay was something created by Halligan Electric in collaboration with the Royal Matchbox. According to files each one was intended to massively boost the signal and power of the emitter. The device had only partially succeeded, irradiating the town and frying the brains of several nearby ghouls. The machine was connected to cables going directly underground: excavation could prove useful. Reward: Weird Technology, Prototypes. Small chance for Weird Token.
-Operation Darwin: There were a variety of creatures that the C-Files division wanted to try and acquire. Chief among them was the Nightcrawler- something that Rogers concurred with, considering the thing kept attacking his men. It wasn't the only dangerous creature in the outback, however. Rewards: Biological Samples, Live Specimens. Small chance for rare Cryptid Card unlock.
-Operation Fallow Fields: AGRIMAX was another INFINIMAX facility- an agricultural one designed to produce vast quantities of food, fertilizer, farming equipment, and trained labour for farmers who qualified for government assistance. Located just outside Sydney, it didn't appear to be significantly irradiated- just lethally polluted and guarded by killer mechamonkeys. Exploring it wasn't necessarily a top priority, but the light radiation and low amount of zombies meant it had the potential to be quickly restorable- this time without the slave labour. Reward: [Agriculture] Token that can be spent on various rewards, surplus equipment. Small chance for additional [Agriculture] Tokens.
Sydney Streets: Mashita and her team had been using the jetpacks to great effect. Throughout Sydney, there were a variety of locations of interest she had located that likely contained valuable resources and items, as well as live specimens.
-Operation Asset Seizure: Commonwealth Energy Company. Currently, the top levels had been secured- containing most of the remains of the Ubaric Chamber project that hadn't been seized by other companies. Mashita wanted to look into clearing out the rest of the building, both to salvage whatever resources could be located and securing it for potential further use by Cambridge. Rewards: Ultracite Samples, Energy Technology. Small chance to unlock free Phase One Private Research Lab in Sydney.
-Operation Bunker Busted: Thanks to intel provided by Fowler, several locations of note had been identified, chief among them the location of the Utopia Shelters- created to house the majority of the population in case of nuclear holocaust, they likely would have been the first place people fled. Reward: Biological Samples, Surplus Resources. Small chance to unlock free Phase One Supply Depot Warehouse.
-Operation Goldrush: One of the locations that Mashita had located: the First Bank of Australia. She wanted to, essentially, loot the place: not just of whatever assets and physical treasures they might be hiding, but also financial documents and economic data the place might have, in order to help both Team America and Cambridge finance the mandates Better Think had saddled both organizations with. Reward: Documents, Treasure. Small chance to unlock [Education] tokens that can be spent on rewards at events end.
Sydney Hospital: Owned by MediCo, this facility served as the nexus of Sydney's eugenics program- as well as their distribution of Totenmensh Serum. Currently, Phoebus and Skulder were turning the place upside down to both collect documentation on other locations of importance and technology that might be useful.
-Operation Pipe-Camera: The Sydney Hospital was built right above the sewers- according to MONODAX, there were several emergency orders on file (none of which had ever been used) that when issued would order citizens to evacuate through the hospitals emergency access. Phoebus had suggested exploring- there were apparently references in some of the classified material to hidden facilities, and the place was more likely that the surface to have remained non-lethally irradiated, which meant more live specimens. Reward: Cryptid Cards, Weird Technology. Small chance to unlock free Phase One Private Lab.
-Operation Rabbit Hunt: The Lost were a horrifying example of what science could do in the hands of irresponsible people. Several have already been captured, living and dead, as had what remained of the machine that created them. However, large parts of the facility were unexplored and unsecured, especially in the top levels- there were almost certainly more of the mutants. If the hospital was going to be fully seized, the Lost would need to be found and removed- preferably alive for further study. Reward: Biotechnology, free Phase One DoP Clinic in Sydney. Small chance to unlock Weird Token.
-Operation Metal Handbag: Crocoborgs- cybernetic crocodiles produced by MediCo for the purpose of security. Phoebus had been studying the ones that had been captured, but he wanted to try and learn how they had been manufacturing- there was apparently a facility in Syndey were the creatures were raised and augmented. If it could be located, it could prove a valuable source of technology and insight into the cybercrocs. Reward: Cryptid Cards, Biotechnology. Small chance to unlock free special phase one Gator Farm.
-MEGAMAX: The beating heart of Utopia, at least in Syndey- MEGAMAX was a super-prison designed to house the vast majority of the population in Syndey belonging to the suspect races and provide for the cities domestic industrial needs in order to allow the citizens to live in luxury. Conditions had been deliberately designed to be hellish by default in order to encourage prisoners to volunteer for likely lethal medical research in order to earn better treatment for them and their loved ones and potential transfer to one of the nicer infinimax prisons.
-Project Mortis: The prison had been a place of horror and misery, and it appeared that not even death had freed all the victims of MEGAMAX- several people had reported sightings of what appeared to be a genuine ghost. Whether this actually was a spirit from beyond the grave or some sort of consequence of ultracite based psychic technology being used to irradiate the city was unknown, but it was still something that probably needed to be studied. Weird Research, Terror. Small Chance for Rare Cryptid Card.
-Operation Wiesenthal: There had undeniably been survivors of the apocalypse who had hid within MEGAMAX- guards who worked and starved the remaining prisoners to death. At some point they left- Wilbur believed they might be trackable, however. Reward: Wrath, Intelligence. Small chance for Mischief Token that can be spent on rewards on events end.
-Operation Tartarus: Unfortunately, there were still considerable amounts of the facility unexplored- including a highly secured section referred to in documents only as 'Tartarus Wing'- if the upper floors of Sydney Hospital had been the beating heart of Project Olympus and its affiliated projects, according to Fowler, Tartarus was the beating heart of Project Hades and its successor programs- expect zombies. Reward: Live Specimens, Totenmensh Research. Small chance for rare chems technology.
You have 8 fusion cores to spend the following assets you can assign to tasks:
(Please remember that if not cost is listed, it means it uses the default 1 fusion core cost)
Fusion Tank: Normally, these were reserved for specific fronts of the war, but a few had been sent by the DoD 'just in case': fusion powered with a plasma cannon, it would allow your teams to break past barriers and run over slash ignore any zombies, glowing or otherwise- to say nothing of defensive applications. 1 Use Max
Jetpacks: You had a few of these laying around: people trained to operate a jetpack weren't common these days- not after the jetpack bubble had popped- but so long as the people using them didn't get stupid, they should be fine. 2 Use Max
Military Power Armor: The military had provided a few suits of their latest experimental power armor for this, prototypes for something they called the T-51: the creators wanted to start collecting field data to iron out any flaws before it was time for the model to hit the production line. Cost 2 Fusion Cores.
Extra Force Field Generators: They were power hogs, sure, but they could be useful for establishing a defensive perimeter around a site, whether the landing area or a particular location you wanted explored. 2 Use Max.
Armored Jeep: It was a bit of an adhoc solution, but you had brought along some extra vehicles and fuel- you'd need to do some welding work and borrow a heavy weapon, and you'd have a fairly decent solution to transport. 1/3 Charges.
Basic Camping Gear: You'd need to rely on the people and assets assigned to establish a perimeter, but once that was accomplished it might be useful to start building a camp at a site of interest in order to simplify field research and archaeological documentation (as well as security and logistics). 2 Use Max.
Advanced Field Lab: Hardened and extremely advanced analysis equipment that your research teams could use to conduct research in secured sites, chemical, medical, genetic, and radiologic analysis that you had built yourself. You didn't have many of these: the electronics were expensive to manufacture and even while hardened, they would probably break down fairly quickly, meaning you needed to be careful about how you used them. 1/2 Charges.
PSIRODAX: The super computer contained a wealth of information and could even analyze data and use it to answer questions posed to it. It was a highly useful tool- though fragile and slow to operate. 1 Charge per turn.
Please assign Edgar, Skullder, and all available guest stars along with preferred assets to chosen tasks. Please note that this turn will, again, only comprise three updates total- operations not assigned any additional personnel or assets will be abstracted, as will ones assigned unsuitable personnel or assets. Some advice, it's better to tactically deploy a taller net with more assets on less tasks- it will mean accepting the minimum possible reward on several tasks, but spreading your net too wide will likely result in losing on the chance for more valuable rewards and task goals.
Vote using the following format. Do not include tasks with no asset or character assignments.
[ ] Insert plan name here
-[ ] Task
–[ ] Heroes, Assets, Fusion Core Spending
-[ ] Task
–[ ] Heroes, Assets, Fusion Core Spending
-[ ] Task
–[ ] Heroes, Assets, Fusion Core Spending
And one last warning, Americaniacs: somewhere within these locations lie the Ultra-Amplifier! Locate it to trigger a epic paranatural showdown!
__________________
"State your name." Edgar said flatly as he activated his tape recorder, causing the man to wince, realizing from Edgar's tone- whatever sympathy Edgar might have been theoretically willing to extend him as a survivor of the apocalypse and potentially the last australian had been thoroughly tested by the revelations he had learned. The pair of them were currently on the USS Gregory- an interrogation room- ever wall made of metal, the floor a metal grate- underneath it, countless spoons and forks. On the wall was a one way mirror. On the other side, Wilbur was watching, writing notes, and serving as a look-out alongside a handful of arcadian agents that were on the team. .
"Er, Maxwell Fowler- Mate, I told the woman-" Fowler stammered out, referencing his prior debrief with Pendleton- a document that Edgar trusted not at all to not elide and manipulate information.
"Irrelevant- You'll find we are VERY thorough, Mr. Fowler," Edgar responded flatly, writing a note down, noting the man tensing up at that. "Who did you work for?" The man gave a cough, relaxing slightly- no shame. His job- at least his official title- didn't worry him.
"I was an inspector- for the government-" The zombie explained, only to be cut off again as Edgar continued his line of questioning. .
"Do you mean the New Labour Party?" His interrogator enquired, causing the man to wince- there was something there, then. His job title didn't worry him- but his association with the ruling party did.
"Well, I mean- Yes, I suppose you could look at it that way, since they were the ones in charge-"
"What did your duties as an inspector of the New Labour Party entail?" Edgar continued, paying careful attention with each interruption and act of targeted rudeness, doing his best to get a reaction- and feeling satisfaction at the hesitancy, even if Fowler hadn't yet risen to the bait.
"I…inspected," Fowler said, carefully, clearly doing his best to figure out how to frame his work in a way that minimized how bad it sounded. "Corruption allegations, audits, accusations of treason. People who were accused of having ties to radical insurgent groups, politicians and government contractors who were dipping into the till, individuals suspected of ideological pollution. The New Labour Party kept a very clean house."
'Subject is either a liar or a dupe- likely former. All evidence points to rampant semi-sanctioned corruption on multiple levels of society,' Edgar wrote in his notes. "In other words, you were the hatchetman they sent in against their enemies," He clarified.
"That's a bit of a harsh way to put it-" Fowler responded, raising his arm and resting his hand against the table, irregularly tapping at it as the man continued to speak. "I like to think I was more of an agent for the national will."
"Who did you answer to?" Edgar asked flatly, writing down more notes- and adding a small doodle of a robot in the corner. "What organization did you serve under?"
"The Australian National Police," Fowler answered. "Bit equivalent to your yanks FBI- does that still exist? No offense, been a tick since I've heard about you yanks."
"The federal bureau isn't relevant here. I'm asking the questions," Edgar said without inflection, moving on to his next question immediately. "What can you tell me about Utopia."
Another hesitation. This one was easily readable, for once- the obvious realization that one might be in hot water politically. It was one thing to commit crimes against humanity when protected by the state promoting the actions, it was an entirely different matter when those actions were under review by a third party with little incentive to treat them well.
Most likely, had Edgar not confronted him with this information, Fowler probably would have excised it from any account he provided as best he could, in order to sweep any personal responsibility he might be determined to possess under the rug. Wouldn't do to jeopardize his shot at joining civilized society to reveal he was a nazi political cop, after all. "It was…not really my department, you understand?" The man hedged, and Edgar had no idea if he was lying, but he was almost certainly eliding information. "The public sanitation acts- MEGAMAX, the relocations, the social hygiene laws, those were mostly state troopers and the purity corp. I'm…not going to deny my participation, on occasion," He hedged. "But I only did what was demanded of me by my station and law."
"Participation- Elaborate on that." Aaaaand bingo. Fowler didn't look him in the eye as he began speaking.
"Occasionally I would locate signs of insurgent activity in my investigations- this would get the purity corp called in," Fowler explained, fidgeting and adjusting his bowtie. "They would go in- arrest as many people as it took to root out insurgents. Friends, families, old, young. It was the only way to stop the gangs- otherwise the wankers would just keep coming," Maxwell said, an edge of contempt in his voice. "Didn't like doing it, of course, but that was the only way to keep order after the Malay War." He shrugged. "Course, that was a small part of my job- mostly it was white collar fraud."
Edgar frowned slightly- still no read, but he was confident that the man was hiding several things. No doubt additional unsavory aspects of his position, the scientist mused. "The purity corp-"
"Anti-insurgency division. Formed in the aftermath of the Malay Wars- things were bad back then. Famines, plagues, unemployment. Then people started picking up guns and trying to carve out their own little territories- no better than bloody bandits, you ask me," Fowler explained. "Now, don't get me wrong- I don't approve of some of the guff the Corp got up to, but they were hard on crime and kept things nice and orderly- up until they were dissolved. Leader got charged for treason," Fowler said, shrugging. "Whole organization was compromised- so it got broken up. Happened…I think 49? Couple years before the CEC was broken up- they're-"
"We're aware of the Commonwealth Energy Company," Edgar responded, writing notes down. "What can you tell me about Otto Venk and the Royal Matchbox company?"
Fowler was quiet for a moment. "Otto was the great great grandson of the founder of the companies founder- Otto Venk the 1st. The 3rds da had been brilliant- started the switch to nuclear energy when he realized the oil fields had started to dry up, helped push the government to computerized accounting, he even predicted the housing crisis that happened in the 20's. Otto, though…" The inspector trailed off, a distant look in his eyes. "Well, he was clever, but he was also a bit barmy- unreliable, a little bit of a wanker and frankly somewhat of a weirdo. He was obsessed with fulfilling his ancestors' vision- a Utopia for the Master Race, and the next stage of evolution." He shrugged. "I'll give him this, he was good at getting what he wanted- right up until the bitter, painful end. If it wasn't for the fact that he failed and wasted everyones time, I'd almost consider it admirable."
"I take it there was a falling out between him and the New Labour Party." Edgar asked, opting to fish for information on the falling out.
Fowler shrugged. "You've seen what it's like outside- Turnbull got spooked, decided to call an audit when totenmensch breaches got a little too common. Wanted an unvarnished look at the progress the project had made without Otto or Turner acting as a middle man. Didn't like what he found, and he decided to pull the plug- and use it to break up the Royal Matchbox Company and get at least some of the investment back." A single drop of salt water dripped to the ground- the result of a micro-leak somewhere in the hull. On a lesser submarine, that would probably be a bad sign. The inspector continued, delving deeper into the story, which Edgar carefully wrote down, intending to corroborate it with all known data-points later. "Otto was screwed either way- people were angry, and Turnbull needed someone to throw under the Lorry. Peoples nans, peoples das, brothers, sisters- even kids and wee ones, we had literally millions of families forced to keep slavering and insane loved ones turned into skinless monsters under the same roof as themselves. People could only take it so long- the will is only so strong. You put enough stress on someone, nine out of ten times they break, and each ghoul at the dinner table was more and more stress. We had started getting people killing family members, themselves, neighbors- or worse, doctors and policemen."
"At some point, the public got angry enough they had decided someone was going to have to hang, and when Turnbull learned the best estimate for when the problem might be solved was decades and trillions of pounds out at a conservative estimate, he decided it would be Venk. Only thing that saved the bloke was the world ending before he could be indicted."
Typical fascist self-cannibalism- the Royal Matchbox Company made a monster, and then was eaten by it. Edgar noted the revelations down. "I'm going to say a series of words. I want you to tell me what you know about them. Do NOT hide anything from me, or you'll find that we have ways of making you talk," Edgar said flatly, causing Fowler to look away. "Project Olympus. Echidna. Aethereum. Ubar."
"Christ on a toastie, you're giving me flashbacks to the spooks in the special service corp," Fowler complained. "Project Olympus- Otto's…not a pet project. It was deeper to him, an obsession. At first, it was a matter of legacy, I think- he wanted to achieve the destiny his family had been working towards for decades. But towards the end-" He shrugged. "Otto was an old codger, and I think towards the end he was just terrified of dying. Olympus was his way of escaping it: making himself something better than human in the hopes he'd never die."
"Something like Subject 18," Edgar responded, to which Fowlers lipless mouth curled into a humorless smile.
"Project Hades figured out how to recreate the physical conditions, but not without breaking the mind. Olympus was the remedy- an attempt to use the paranatural sciences and aethereum to restore the mind. The idea was an Emitter in every city, with the Relays to help spread the signal as far as possible. Echidna…no clue about that," Fowler shrugged. "Same with Ubar, frankly, word might as well be dingo noises to me. As for Aethereum…Otto's dad, Reiner, discovered the first crystal alongside his partner, like I said, alongside his business partner, Boris Steinman. I wasn't important enough to know where the mine for it is- somewhere in the Blue Mountains. Fantastic power source. 61% of what was mined was used in Project Olympus research in Perth and Sydney. Rest of it- military, companies contracting with the government or Royal Matchbox, public works department."
There was a buzz on Edgars waist- Wilbur. Someone else was going to be in the room soon. Drat. He'd need to cut this short. Just a few more questions- starting with the ones he didn't want people finding out the answers to but still needed to know. "What can you tell me about the Aethereum Amplifier?" Fowlers eyes widened- Edgar could read him, briefly. Fear- curious.
"Thahahahat is something that was incredibly classified, and above my clearance level. When I audited the RMC, I never got close to it," Fowler admitted. "I saw a few references to it though- wasn't Otto's project. One of the other members of Royal Matchbox I think- Venks might have owned it, but they weren't the only members. Whatever it was? I told you 61% of all aethereum mined went to Project Olympus. A third of that was used to build the emitter. Another third was spent on assorted stuff Matchbox was also financing under the Olympus header, like some…stupid towers out in Melbourne and Perth that did SOMETHING asinine," Genuine annoyance filtered into his voice- something personal the man wasn't able to entirely disguise. "Or the Psycho-Relays- which were meant to help boost the range of the Emitter across the nation…I think. Don't quote me on that, this is based on decades old documents half of which were heavily bloody redacted. But the last third?" He continued, voice growing more solemn. "The last third went to the Amplifier- shipped through Sydney security checkpoints, only reason I know about em. I'dunno what they were building, other than the fact that it used enough aethereum crystals to turn the entire nation into a fireball. Turnbull might have known, he signed off on it, but he's dead, sadly."
Annoying- especially when his Pip buddy gave another beep. "Er, that going off for a-"
"Never you mind," Edgar growled- frustrated. That was the signal- Wilbur was no longer alone, and it was someone Edgar didn't want hearing some of the other questions he wanted answers to. He'd have to move on to the safer material. "What can you tell me about the day the detonation occured?"
The zombie opposite him shrugged. "I'unno. It was a thursday, I think? I had been doing office-work that day. One moment, everythings fine. The next moment- chaos. At first I thought it was a security breach with how many zombies were running around- until I managed to get home and found my neighbor on the lawn, convulsing as his skin fell off. I don't know how the hell it happened, but the serum must have gotten into the air somehow, or the water or…" He made a hand gesture.
"Y'know. Now, since there had been a few chemical spills in my neighborhood and an increasing number of security breaches, I owned protective gear and weapons- frankly, probably the only reason I survived, since the world continued going bleeding insane as I got closer to my house. Multiple black-outs, reports of radical political insurgents managing to take FUCKING Perth and executing every right-minded white person they could get their bloody mitts on, robots from Melbourne going completely bonkers and sieging the city, Australian Self Defence Units going fucking rogue, reports of peoples heads starting to explode out of nowhere, earthquakes trapping people who had fled the carnage to the Blue Mountains underground, chemical waste treatment plants were detonating-" Fowler stopped, silent for a moment.
"You get the point, mate: it felt like the end of the world. For a lot of people it was, I suppose. I tried to get out myself- I knew where some bunkers were at parliament. Fought my way through the street. About halfway through, thats when I saw it. It was like a…" He trailed off. "A wall of light, expanding from the center of the city, enveloping everything in its path. I ran like hell to escape it. Almost did- thing nicked me, right in the heel. Then, there was a sort of…" He flicked his fingers outward. "'Pop'. The light fizzled out, and it was replaced by an expanding cloud of…Well, you've seen. My gear had a hole in it, so I hightailed it to the Bunker- Parliament hadn't been in session and nobody had been able to make it to the bunker, so I was alone. I felt fine at first, but I knew I was a dead man walking- acute radiation sickness. It wouldn't present symptoms immediately. Days, weeks- I had time before I got sick, but I was on a timer. Still, at least I wasn't turned into an undead cannibal- I thought at the time I had avoided whatever vector the Totenmensch serum was spreading." The mans face was stuck in a permanent grin due to the lack of lips, but Edgar was fairly certain he heard an edge of bitterness. "That lasted until I started having my skin fall off."
"What can you tell me about the cause of these events?" Edgar enquired, to which the man simply shrugged.
"I'unno." This caused Edgar to narrow his eyes, skeptical at the notion that the person who had seen the situation first-hand didn't know what was going on.
"What do you mean you don't know?" The scientist asked. "Keep in mind, if you're hiding something from us…"
"I mean I don't know. I'm not a scientist or anything and I spent the past few decades hiding in a box. People started mutating and things started exploding, mate, I dunno what to tell you, at this point you probably have a clearer picture of the situation than I do." And unfortunately, Edgar couldn't read them well enough to definitively prove this was a lie.
"Fine-" The door to the room slid open, permitting an annoyingly familiar face to enter the room. "Pendleton," Edgar said to the woman, furrowing his eyebrows. "Is there a reason you've decided to interrupt my debriefing?"
"Is there a reason you've chosen to debrief him personally without notifying anyone instead of relying on the brief I produced?" The british woman asked sweetly.
"Classified," Edgar responded flatly, causing Pendleton to give a humorless laugh.
"My dear, I work with American Affairs- We're the ones who decide what is and isn't classified." Pendleton said darkly.
[Trigger: PSIRODAX]
"Pendleton. I gave you the computer. Don't push it." Edgar said, not backing down. Pendleton paused, frowning, pursing her lips- realizing Edgar was neither intimidated nor cowed.
"Well. I suppose you HAVE given me some very fun toys to play with. I'll let you have your secrets. For now. But you're needed topside- duty calls." Edgar growled, before standing up, passing by the smug looking spy, bumping into her by accident as he passed by. Without missing a beat, he reached and grabbed the bug she had tried planting on him, raising it to where she could see it and, moments before the door closed, crushing it as he walked away, not even bothering to turn around to see her surprised expression or dignify her attempts to spy on him with a response.
__________________________
The base camp consisted of the sydney docks and part of the connecting street: the place was still under construction for long term use. Since most of the equipment needed to construct long term habitation had been assigned to the prison and blue mountains, it mostly consisted of non-protected tents and hastily assembled barricades made from disassembled and welded together vehicle salvage and some scaffolding to use as walkways.
Below the barricades, Edgar saw them- hundreds, perhaps more obscured by the fog, of zombies, all of them glaring up quietly at him with yellowed, bloodshot, hateful eyes, a few letting out hisses, growls, and groans. The people of Utopia.
"What exactly is the problem, Sergeant?" Edgar asked, unsettled at the sight of the zombies- he hadn't gotten the chance to study one from afar in a situation where they weren't also chasing him down in an attempt to murder him. At rest, they were- far more unnerving, he observed- he had expected them when presented with a barricade to try and swarm it, but instead they seemed to have enough presence of mind to recognize the futility. Occasionally, he could see a few shuffling along the walls, looking for openings, while the rest- waited. Patiently allowing the expedition time to screw up and saving their strength for when they finally did.
One of the creatures raised its hand, pointing a finger at Edgar- and letting out a rasp. "Hhhhhhate," It rasped slowly as it stared daggers at him, each syllable dripping venom, and Edgar looked away, deciding he most definitely did NOT just hear a zombie explicitly express the ability to use language- for the singular purpose of threatening him specifically.
+1 ???
The soldier next to him cleared his throat. "Uh, well sir, some of the guards have expressed concern about the perimeter strength. We've got the camp surrounded, but its only some rusted machine parts standing between us and, er, them," He said, raising a gauntleted hand and pointing at the crowd. "It's not exactly super structural," The man admitted. "And we have no idea how many zombies are in the crowd. I know we didn't have enough resources to deploy the force field emitters before, buuuuuuuuuuuut since we have all those fancy batteries-"
"No," Edgar responded, bluntly. "Unfortunately, the combat capabilities of the majority of zombies and zombie mutates has been deemed significantly below that of our equipment. Guns, power armors, and turrets beat claws and radiation- and unfortunately we have several infinitely more pressing uses for the power crystals. Request denied."
It was at that moment the ground began to shake- the barricades rattling as the ground began to shift and move beneath their feet, the sudden-ness of it causing Edgar to lose his balance, tumbling over the edge of the barricade…
Only to have themselves grabbed by the arm by the soldier accompanying them. "Steady sir," The man said as he lifted Edgar back over the edge and onto solid ground as the ground continued to shake beneath them, firmly keeping his grasp on Edgar until the tremors subsided after a few minutes.
Regaining his footing, Edgar dusted himself off- well, that had been unfortunate. "Zombies, radiation, and now earthquakes- at this point, it's getting to be easier to list what isn't trying to kill us all," He groused. "Edgar to team, someone inspect the perimeter- make sure that didn't knock any holes in it, otherwise we're going to be recreating a mid-day screening of "Night of the Living Ghouls" and up to our ass in zombies."
Welcome back, dear Team Americaniacs! Last issue, we learned about Utopia, and how the apocalypse happened, and discovered a number of key locations relevant to the fall of Australia.
Now possessed of most of the facts, Edgar's search is narrowing as more and more valuable salvage looms. Power Crystals and other ultracite based technology. MONODAX and other hyper specialized computers. And even more singular treasures loomed, some of which like PSIRODAX and the Lost he had already obtained, some of which like the Ultra-Amplifier he had only heard of, to say nothing of what still lurked in the shadows.
However, danger looms. The Nightcrawler and other mutant terrors loom in the night. Hidden agendas loom in the heart of Edgar's subordinates. Increasingly worse tremors plague the region. And little does anyone know, there existed a snake in their midst!
Heartpounding Horror! Awesome Action! Drama! Chaos of seismic proportions! All of this and more in TEAM AMERICA #2: DYSTOPIA OLYMPUS!
In order to streamline things, we are altering the format somewhat: you will still assign gear and characters to each task, but Edgar will only join three tasks, all of which will be chosen by myself, your humble narrator, PROFESSOR PATRIOT, according to their overall plot importance, which will be the only tasks to get their own scene. The rest will be handled in the background and their rewards summed up at either the end of the turn or the end of the event. In total, this means there will only be THREE UPDATES TOTAL!
AVAILABLE LOCATIONS AND TASKS:
(Please note rewards are not comprehensive, but rather an abstraction of what Edgar thinks he's likely to find/potential rewards.)
CAMP DARKNESS: Located in the Blue Mountains, currently being used as a base of operations by Cpt. Roger and the navy contingent of the expedition, they were attempting to locate sites they could use to establish a long term observation facility in Australia.
-Operation Moving Day: According to collected intel, the Royal Australian Army had been one of the various competing armed forces operating in National-Socialist Australia. One of their bases, located south of Sydney, had been discovered- it's exact purpose seems to be unknown, but several items and devices of considerable interest were found, making it a high priority for the Navy for both salvage and, if possible, reclamation of facilities. Rewards: Military Technology, Surplus Equipment. Small chance for Community Card.
-Operation Clarke: Black Springs, West. The Psycho-Relay was something created by Halligan Electric in collaboration with the Royal Matchbox. According to files each one was intended to massively boost the signal and power of the emitter. The device had only partially succeeded, irradiating the town and frying the brains of several nearby ghouls. The machine was connected to cables going directly underground: excavation could prove useful. Reward: Weird Technology, Prototypes. Small chance for Weird Token.
-Operation Darwin: There were a variety of creatures that the C-Files division wanted to try and acquire. Chief among them was the Nightcrawler- something that Rogers concurred with, considering the thing kept attacking his men. It wasn't the only dangerous creature in the outback, however. Rewards: Biological Samples, Live Specimens. Small chance for rare Cryptid Card unlock.
-Operation Fallow Fields: AGRIMAX was another INFINIMAX facility- an agricultural one designed to produce vast quantities of food, fertilizer, farming equipment, and trained labour for farmers who qualified for government assistance. Located just outside Sydney, it didn't appear to be significantly irradiated- just lethally polluted and guarded by killer mechamonkeys. Exploring it wasn't necessarily a top priority, but the light radiation and low amount of zombies meant it had the potential to be quickly restorable- this time without the slave labour. Reward: [Agriculture] Token that can be spent on various rewards, surplus equipment. Small chance for additional [Agriculture] Tokens.
Sydney Streets: Mashita and her team had been using the jetpacks to great effect. Throughout Sydney, there were a variety of locations of interest she had located that likely contained valuable resources and items, as well as live specimens.
-Operation Asset Seizure: Commonwealth Energy Company. Currently, the top levels had been secured- containing most of the remains of the Ubaric Chamber project that hadn't been seized by other companies. Mashita wanted to look into clearing out the rest of the building, both to salvage whatever resources could be located and securing it for potential further use by Cambridge. Rewards: Ultracite Samples, Energy Technology. Small chance to unlock free Phase One Private Research Lab in Sydney.
-Operation Bunker Busted: Thanks to intel provided by Fowler, several locations of note had been identified, chief among them the location of the Utopia Shelters- created to house the majority of the population in case of nuclear holocaust, they likely would have been the first place people fled. Reward: Biological Samples, Surplus Resources. Small chance to unlock free Phase One Supply Depot Warehouse.
-Operation Goldrush: One of the locations that Mashita had located: the First Bank of Australia. She wanted to, essentially, loot the place: not just of whatever assets and physical treasures they might be hiding, but also financial documents and economic data the place might have, in order to help both Team America and Cambridge finance the mandates Better Think had saddled both organizations with. Reward: Documents, Treasure. Small chance to unlock [Education] tokens that can be spent on rewards at events end.
Sydney Hospital: Owned by MediCo, this facility served as the nexus of Sydney's eugenics program- as well as their distribution of Totenmensh Serum. Currently, Phoebus and Skulder were turning the place upside down to both collect documentation on other locations of importance and technology that might be useful.
-Operation Pipe-Camera: The Sydney Hospital was built right above the sewers- according to MONODAX, there were several emergency orders on file (none of which had ever been used) that when issued would order citizens to evacuate through the hospitals emergency access. Phoebus had suggested exploring- there were apparently references in some of the classified material to hidden facilities, and the place was more likely that the surface to have remained non-lethally irradiated, which meant more live specimens. Reward: Cryptid Cards, Weird Technology. Small chance to unlock free Phase One Private Lab.
-Operation Rabbit Hunt: The Lost were a horrifying example of what science could do in the hands of irresponsible people. Several have already been captured, living and dead, as had what remained of the machine that created them. However, large parts of the facility were unexplored and unsecured, especially in the top levels- there were almost certainly more of the mutants. If the hospital was going to be fully seized, the Lost would need to be found and removed- preferably alive for further study. Reward: Biotechnology, free Phase One DoP Clinic in Sydney. Small chance to unlock Weird Token.
-Operation Metal Handbag: Crocoborgs- cybernetic crocodiles produced by MediCo for the purpose of security. Phoebus had been studying the ones that had been captured, but he wanted to try and learn how they had been manufacturing- there was apparently a facility in Syndey were the creatures were raised and augmented. If it could be located, it could prove a valuable source of technology and insight into the cybercrocs. Reward: Cryptid Cards, Biotechnology. Small chance to unlock free special phase one Gator Farm.
-MEGAMAX: The beating heart of Utopia, at least in Syndey- MEGAMAX was a super-prison designed to house the vast majority of the population in Syndey belonging to the suspect races and provide for the cities domestic industrial needs in order to allow the citizens to live in luxury. Conditions had been deliberately designed to be hellish by default in order to encourage prisoners to volunteer for likely lethal medical research in order to earn better treatment for them and their loved ones and potential transfer to one of the nicer infinimax prisons.
-Project Mortis: The prison had been a place of horror and misery, and it appeared that not even death had freed all the victims of MEGAMAX- several people had reported sightings of what appeared to be a genuine ghost. Whether this actually was a spirit from beyond the grave or some sort of consequence of ultracite based psychic technology being used to irradiate the city was unknown, but it was still something that probably needed to be studied. Weird Research, Terror. Small Chance for Rare Cryptid Card.
-Operation Wiesenthal: There had undeniably been survivors of the apocalypse who had hid within MEGAMAX- guards who worked and starved the remaining prisoners to death. At some point they left- Wilbur believed they might be trackable, however. Reward: Wrath, Intelligence. Small chance for Mischief Token that can be spent on rewards on events end.
-Operation Tartarus: Unfortunately, there were still considerable amounts of the facility unexplored- including a highly secured section referred to in documents only as 'Tartarus Wing'- if the upper floors of Sydney Hospital had been the beating heart of Project Olympus and its affiliated projects, according to Fowler, Tartarus was the beating heart of Project Hades and its successor programs- expect zombies. Reward: Live Specimens, Totenmensh Research. Small chance for rare chems technology.
You have 8 fusion cores to spend the following assets you can assign to tasks:
(Please remember that if not cost is listed, it means it uses the default 1 fusion core cost)
Fusion Tank: Normally, these were reserved for specific fronts of the war, but a few had been sent by the DoD 'just in case': fusion powered with a plasma cannon, it would allow your teams to break past barriers and run over slash ignore any zombies, glowing or otherwise- to say nothing of defensive applications. 1 Use Max
Jetpacks: You had a few of these laying around: people trained to operate a jetpack weren't common these days- not after the jetpack bubble had popped- but so long as the people using them didn't get stupid, they should be fine. 2 Use Max
Military Power Armor: The military had provided a few suits of their latest experimental power armor for this, prototypes for something they called the T-51: the creators wanted to start collecting field data to iron out any flaws before it was time for the model to hit the production line. Cost 2 Fusion Cores.
Extra Force Field Generators: They were power hogs, sure, but they could be useful for establishing a defensive perimeter around a site, whether the landing area or a particular location you wanted explored. 2 Use Max.
Armored Jeep: It was a bit of an adhoc solution, but you had brought along some extra vehicles and fuel- you'd need to do some welding work and borrow a heavy weapon, and you'd have a fairly decent solution to transport. 1/3 Charges.
Basic Camping Gear: You'd need to rely on the people and assets assigned to establish a perimeter, but once that was accomplished it might be useful to start building a camp at a site of interest in order to simplify field research and archaeological documentation (as well as security and logistics). 2 Use Max.
Advanced Field Lab: Hardened and extremely advanced analysis equipment that your research teams could use to conduct research in secured sites, chemical, medical, genetic, and radiologic analysis that you had built yourself. You didn't have many of these: the electronics were expensive to manufacture and even while hardened, they would probably break down fairly quickly, meaning you needed to be careful about how you used them. 1/2 Charges.
PSIRODAX: The super computer contained a wealth of information and could even analyze data and use it to answer questions posed to it. It was a highly useful tool- though fragile and slow to operate. 1 Charge per turn.
Please assign Edgar, Skullder, and all available guest stars along with preferred assets to chosen tasks. Please note that this turn will, again, only comprise three updates total- operations not assigned any additional personnel or assets will be abstracted, as will ones assigned unsuitable personnel or assets. Some advice, it's better to tactically deploy a taller net with more assets on less tasks- it will mean accepting the minimum possible reward on several tasks, but spreading your net too wide will likely result in losing on the chance for more valuable rewards and task goals.
Vote using the following format. Do not include tasks with no asset or character assignments.
[ ] Insert plan name here
-[ ] Task
–[ ] Heroes, Assets, Fusion Core Spending
-[ ] Task
–[ ] Heroes, Assets, Fusion Core Spending
-[ ] Task
–[ ] Heroes, Assets, Fusion Core Spending
And one last warning, Americaniacs: somewhere within these locations lie the Ultra-Amplifier! Locate it to trigger a epic paranatural showdown!
__________________
StarSingerBlue
Zenryoku Zenkai !
- Location
- The City of Lights
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I imagine the Supply Depot Warehouse and Phase One Private Lab can be put anywhere ? Since unlike Asset Siezure they don't specify "in Sydney"
The Bird
tEM IS GUD...RITER!
- Location
- In that den of villains and scum, OKLAHOMA
Assume unless stated otherwise they will be in Sydney, since the idea is "hey we can renovate these facilities for our own use maybe!"
chellewalker
President of the Water Seeker Fan Club
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This is the plan I put together during the Patreon preview; I don't want to spread ourselves too thin, so I tried to get at least 2 things on each operation. Open to feedback.
[] Plan: Ghost Stories
-[] Operation Moving Day
--[] Captain Roger, Basic Camping Gear, Fusion Tank
-[] Operation Clarke
--[] Dr. Mashita, Armored Jeep
-[] Operation Fallow Fields
--[] Wilbur Ashton, Basic Camping Gear
-[] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[] Sarah Pendleton, PSIRODAX
-[] Project Mortis
--[] Davian Phoebus, Advanced Field Lab
-[] Operation Wiesenthal
--[] Mully Skulder
-[] Operation Tartarus
--[] Military Power Armor
[] Plan: Ghost Stories with Goldrush
-[] Operation Moving Day
--[] Captain Roger, Basic Camping Gear, Fusion Tank
-[] Operation Clarke
--[] Dr. Mashita, Armored Jeep
-[] Operation Fallow Fields
--[] Wilbur Ashton, Basic Camping Gear
-[] Operation Goldrush
--[] Sarah Pendleton, Jetpacks
-[] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[] PSIRODAX, Extra Force Field Generators
-[] Project Mortis
--[] Davian Phoebus, Advanced Field Lab
-[] Operation Wiesenthal
--[] Mully Skulder
-[] Operation Moving Day
--[] Captain Roger, Basic Camping Gear, Fusion Tank
-[] Operation Clarke
--[] Dr. Mashita, Armored Jeep
-[] Operation Fallow Fields
--[] Wilbur Ashton, Basic Camping Gear
-[] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[] Sarah Pendleton, PSIRODAX
-[] Project Mortis
--[] Davian Phoebus, Advanced Field Lab
-[] Operation Wiesenthal
--[] Mully Skulder
-[] Operation Tartarus
--[] Military Power Armor
[] Plan: Ghost Stories with Goldrush
-[] Operation Moving Day
--[] Captain Roger, Basic Camping Gear, Fusion Tank
-[] Operation Clarke
--[] Dr. Mashita, Armored Jeep
-[] Operation Fallow Fields
--[] Wilbur Ashton, Basic Camping Gear
-[] Operation Goldrush
--[] Sarah Pendleton, Jetpacks
-[] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[] PSIRODAX, Extra Force Field Generators
-[] Project Mortis
--[] Davian Phoebus, Advanced Field Lab
-[] Operation Wiesenthal
--[] Mully Skulder
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So for Operation Wiesenthal do we know what would happen to any guards that we might find? Like would Edger just summarily execute them after an interrogation or would they be brought back to the FUSA when this event is over?
Judging by the mention of Wrath gains it's probably the latter, but I'm also thinking it could just be the general anger that seeing these kinds of people inspire.
Judging by the mention of Wrath gains it's probably the latter, but I'm also thinking it could just be the general anger that seeing these kinds of people inspire.
chellewalker
President of the Water Seeker Fan Club
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I would assume the guards are dead, and Edgar's Wrath would come because they left people to die in horrible/preventable deaths.
I mean it's possible, but it's also called out in the operation description that they left MEGAMAX alive, and since the investigator ghoul survived all this time I'm thinking it's possible some of them did to.
The Bird
tEM IS GUD...RITER!
- Location
- In that den of villains and scum, OKLAHOMA
It is unknown whether or not they're alive or not but if they are its probably not going to turn out well regardless- Fowler is getting soft gloved because there's no direct evidence he participated in atrocities against humanity. People who were proveably involved...
What exactly happens to them, though, probably depends on what assets and characters you assign.
[ ] Plan: Ghosts, Guards and Gold
-[ ] Operation Darwin
–[ ] Armoured Jeep, Extra Force Fields
-[ ] Operation Mortis
–[ ] Phoebus, Extra Force Fields
-[ ] Operation Goldrush
–[ ] Wilbur Ashton,
-[ ] Operation Clarke
--[ ] Sarah Pendleton, Advanced Research Lab, PSIRODAX
-[ ] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[ ] Captain Rogers, Military Power Armour
-[ ] Operation Wiesenthal
--[ ] Skullder, Jet Packs
-[ ] Operation Darwin
–[ ] Armoured Jeep, Extra Force Fields
-[ ] Operation Mortis
–[ ] Phoebus, Extra Force Fields
-[ ] Operation Goldrush
–[ ] Wilbur Ashton,
-[ ] Operation Clarke
--[ ] Sarah Pendleton, Advanced Research Lab, PSIRODAX
-[ ] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[ ] Captain Rogers, Military Power Armour
-[ ] Operation Wiesenthal
--[ ] Skullder, Jet Packs
chellewalker
President of the Water Seeker Fan Club
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Pendleton doesn't really add much here; this is a paranormal tech investigation which is more suited for Phoebus and Skulder (and to a lesser degree Dr. Mashita).
There's no indication that this operation will have much combat in it, and neither Rogers nor the Power Armor are helpful with finding "hidden facilities."
Jetpacks are probably counterproductive here; it's hard to track someone if you're several stories above any possible clues.
(I'm also a little skeptical of how much use Force Fields will be against ghosts, but that one might be fine.)
The Bird
tEM IS GUD...RITER!
- Location
- In that den of villains and scum, OKLAHOMA
It should be noted that Wiesenthal isn't, like, following physical tracks scooby doo style: it's investigating key points of interest after pouring over documents, maps, correspondance, emails, and whatever relevant items and forensic data can be found at each area of interest.
My hope is that, as a Rank 5 spy and infiltrator, she'll be able to help us access a secure facility and with the mastermind trait she might be able to help us figure out more about the overall network. Admittedly I'd prefer to have put Phoebus on it but I thought that having him work on Mortis would be more important.
The sewers beneath Sydney have had twenty years to soak up any number of cryptids and ghouls, I feel as though giving them some defensive ability would be useful. Rogers also has the [ECOLOGIST] tag and is rank 3 which means he might be more useful then we think on scientific matters.
It's more to give the Operation a bit more range in order to travel to any sites where the guards might've hid out, the actual investigative segment would've been done by Skullder.
SneakyWalrus
Is the Water Free?
Reading about what happened to Australia is making me wonder how New Zealand has been doing. I wonder if they have any information or potential refugees from Aussie living there.
The Bird
tEM IS GUD...RITER!
- Location
- In that den of villains and scum, OKLAHOMA
New Zealand probably doesn't exist any more because of climate change and the resource wars.
Like I'm not sure they'd be fully underwater but by this point for a lot of nations the flooding alone would have been apocalyptic- and thats before we get into the decades of warfare caused by peak oil and other non-renewable resources starting to run out. Plus, y'know, living next to a fascist state while being a lil guy historically ends poorly.
chellewalker
President of the Water Seeker Fan Club
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Plan: Ghost Stories with Goldrush
-[X] Operation Moving Day
--[X] Captain Roger, Basic Camping Gear, Fusion Tank
-[X] Operation Clarke
--[X] Dr. Mashita, Armored Jeep
-[X] Operation Fallow Fields
--[X] Wilbur Ashton, Basic Camping Gear
-[X] Operation Goldrush
--[X] Sarah Pendleton, Jetpacks
-[X] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[X] PSIRODAX, Extra Force Field Generators
-[X] Project Mortis
--[X] Davian Phoebus, Advanced Field Lab
-[X] Operation Wiesenthal
--[X] Mully Skulder
My biggest priorities for this plan are as follows:
-[X] Operation Moving Day
--[X] Captain Roger, Basic Camping Gear, Fusion Tank
-[X] Operation Clarke
--[X] Dr. Mashita, Armored Jeep
-[X] Operation Fallow Fields
--[X] Wilbur Ashton, Basic Camping Gear
-[X] Operation Goldrush
--[X] Sarah Pendleton, Jetpacks
-[X] Operation Pipe-Camera
--[X] PSIRODAX, Extra Force Field Generators
-[X] Project Mortis
--[X] Davian Phoebus, Advanced Field Lab
-[X] Operation Wiesenthal
--[X] Mully Skulder
My biggest priorities for this plan are as follows:
- Basic Camping Gear at Moving Day and Fallow Fields (to ensure their usability in the future so civilization can get a foothold post-war like the Pacific did)
- Rogers + the Fusion Tank will ensure the potential new Community Card is more secure
- Wilbur will deal with the issues at Fallow Fields (which are likely to be more social/mental than physical)
- As many tokens as possible (1 [Weird] token can get us a new subordinate, and while I doubt they'll all be on that level, I'd still like to get as many as possible)
- Guaranteed 1 [Agriculture] token from Fallow Fields
- Possibilities for an unspecified amount of plural [Agriculture] (Fallow Fields) and [Education] (Goldrush) tokens
- Possibilities for 1 [Weird] (Clarke) and 1 [Mischief] (Wiesenthal) token
- Finding the Amplifier (this is only a lower priority in the sense that we have to guess at the answer rather than knowing it already; I think the most likely candidates are Operation Clarke, Operation Pipe-Camera, Operation Asset Seizure, and/or Operation Tartarus)
- Also doing Project Mortis because I personally just think that ghosts are cool (people theorized this could could be the location of the Amplifier, but I'm personally skeptical)
Votes open
[X] Plan: Ghost Stories with Goldrush