[x] Gentleman Sniper
[x] Executive Brat
[x] Agent Operations
[X] Toughness: 1 (2)
[X] Strength: 1
[X] Intelligence: 2 (3)
[X] Charisma: 2 (3)
[X] Dexterity: 2 (3)
[X] Finesse: 3 (4)
No. of Votes: 2
Nevill
Asmodemus
Absently draining the last of your coffee in one gulp, you glance over the edits you made to the marketing team's biography with a keen eye. The initial draft wasn't
too bad, you admit as you scan over your changes, but they played down your background too much for your taste and made it seem like you came out of nowhere and got to where you are on skill alone. The section on your Olympic biathlon attempt also needed editing. You didn't even win a medal for god's sake!
Grimacing as the bitter dregs of coffee slither down your throat, you carefully place the coffee mug on the table before sending your changes back to Ellie. If the marketing people aren't happy with your changes then tough luck. After all, it's not like they'll be able to badger you after today.
Smirking at the thought of marketing having a throw down with security for access to you, you rise from your chair and stroll into the bungalows walk-in closet. For a moment, you pause as you consider which of the items to wear before settling on a conservative charcoal and black suit reminiscent of the one you wore back in Agent Operations. Despite never wearing it before, you slip into the bespoke clothes as if they were a second skin; a sense of cool self-assurance wrapping around you like a cocoon as each layer goes on.
It's good to be back, you think to yourself as you clasp a watch to your wrist. The cheap Rolex ticking with Swiss precision despite its low $20,000 price.
As you finish examining the overall look in the wardrobe mirror, your DART alerts you that someone is outside the door and a moment later the dull rapping of knuckles on wood rings out. Bringing up a view from the camera outside, you see the mass of curly brown hair that is 60% of your assistant, Ellie, standing with an umbrella in one hand and a bag of pastries in the other.
God bless her, you think as your stomach rumbles loudly; and with that, you head to the first day of EuroCorp's next big experiment
***
Engines howling like a tomcat, the dropship lifts up off the landing pad with the kind of economic grace emblematic of EuroCorp's security division before banking towards the beach and accelerating. With an audible thrumming, the engines open up and with all the grace of a wallowing hippo the dropship pulls away from the secure compound you've been staying in for the past two weeks. Roaring loudly, the craft's acceleration suddenly ramps up and soon enough your DART reports that you're flying at Mach 2. Built to carry fourteen heavily armed troops and enough equipment to wreck a Downzone block, the dropship's hold feels both cavernous and cold thanks to the fact that it's only carrying you and Ellie.
To be perfectly honest with yourself, you can't help but feel a little embarrassed over taking up an entire craft for just the two of you when it could probably be better used policing the slums that ring the Havana upzone. Still, given that you're currently being presented as the archetype of a EuroCorp executive, security insisted on it and you know enough to avoid trying to fight them. Executive's might run EuroCorp, but security stops you getting kidnapped and tortured by anarchist terrorists and former Syndicate troops turned mercenaries, and so they get the final say.
Plus, you, grudgingly admit to yourself as the dropship soars over ice-white sand and sapphire waters,
you wouldn't get this kind of view in an armoured car.
Suddenly, the dropship banks to the right and pulls away from the sea, and almost immediately the dreamlike view of Cuba is replaced by the dull reality of territory recently ripped from the grasp of another syndicate and incorporated into EuroCorp. Though it's been a little over two years now, the signs of the Syndicate War are visible to the naked eye across the densely forested terrain passing below you. Everywhere you look you see signs of the conflict; the blacked wrecks of armoured vehicles lining the roads where they died, burnt out buildings where Cayman-Global troops holed up before being destroyed, and the hundred meter-wide patches of light green foliage where defoliant and thermite warheads were dropped on hidden camps.
Before you can ruminate on the destruction for too long, the dropship swiftly clears the coast-hugging jungle and the ground below is replaced once more with water. Suddenly, the pitch of the dropship's engines lower, and you feel the craft start to slow down as you approach your destination. With a quick command to the onboard processor, you access the dropship's 360-degree hull cameras and soon spot your destination soaring indolently through the sky like some kind of air-monster from myth.
Easily the size of a EuroCorp cruiser, the Midas-class airship that will be your command centre floats in the morning sunlight like an aerial whale. Painted the same colour grey that naval vessels around the world seem to share, the airship nonetheless gives off an aura of viciousness and sleek modernity. Held aloft by disk-like hover pads which glow a dull blue in the sunlight and covered in the sharply-angled plates of the dispersion generators that make up its active camouflage system, the airship is the first of its kind and combines both recently developed and reverse-engineered technologies.
Below it, floating in the green-blue Cuban waters like a lily pad a hundred meters wide made of metal and painted snow-white is the gateway generator. Thickly forested with metal spikes that spear the sky at angles that only make sense to the evolutionary algorithms that designed it, the gateway generator will direct appalling amounts of energy to a point in space-time only a little larger than an atom and force open a doorway between worlds.
As you watch the gateway generator float listlessly in the sea, the board meetings and behind-closed-doors discussions you heard after the mission in Africa start replaying in your head unprompted.
****
Crickets chirp and owls hoot as darkness descends on the Swiss countryside as softly as silk. You never expected to be
here of all places
, certainly not without another thirty to forty years of experience under your belt, and despite your best efforts, you're sure that
they can sense it. Swallowing nervously, you straighten your cufflinks and glance around the stone and mahogany room and the ruler of the world that it contains. Before you, sitting still as a statue behind a desk that you suspect is meant to be in a museum and staring at you with appraising eyes, is the CEO of EuroCorp, Linh Kita.
"Please, have a seat," says Kita and gesture to a chair that looks like it outlived the US, and meekly you move to obey.
"What do you think EuroCorp will do once it supplants the other Syndicates?" she asks you suddenly. Halfway into the chair, you freeze and simply stare at her nonplussed before slowly sinking into the aged leather. With a thin smile that still somehow reminds you of a shark, Linh chuckles once before her face settles into steely seriousness.
"Well," you say cautiously, "even if it's a relatively peaceful resolution with minimal casualties, say a merger or a buyout, we- EuroCorp, would likely need to spend extraordinary amounts of money simply rebuilding assets lost."
Slowly, despite the extraordinary situation, you find yourself growing more and more confident in your response as you let your mind puzzle out the problem.
"We could, of course, recoup losses by expanding into the niches vacated by the other syndicates, and the construction businesses in EuroCorp's portfolio will see explosive growth, as will PMCs and security division due to the need to police occupied territories."
For a moment, you pause as you consider cushioning your next words before deciding to roll the dice.
"That said," you continue, "even if EuroCorp came out of it without a scratch we'd probably see profits stagnate or even decrease thanks to the level of destruction we're talking about. Hell, the investments made during the rebuilding process would likely take years to
begin earning a profit and you could probably kiss R&D goodbye for a long time."
"And afterwards?" Linh asks flatly.
"EuroCorp would effectively be competing with itself," you reply equally flatly.
"We'd be competing for the same markets, the same resources, and, without totally rewriting policy and law, we'd be offering basically the same products. You might even start to see fractures forming within the various divisions due to branch-loyalty. Unless you can discover underserved markets that can be exploited, Eurocorp ultimately might not benefit from such a situation.
For what feels like hours, Linh stares at you impassively, and you begin to feel a knot of tension form in your gut as you worry that you've said the wrong thing.
"Excellent," she says suddenly, a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes forming with practised ease, "they told me you were clever."
"Your analysis isn't one hundred percent correct, but it's good. You were, after all, right about the need to expand to new markets. Tell me, have you heard about something called the Gateway Project?"
With a gentle chime, your DART suddenly announces that it has a connection to a nearby secure server and without even asking for permission, it starts downloading and opening files.
***
"Whoa..." Says Ellie finally as your dropship swings over the airship's back and glides down towards one of its four landing pads.
"Whoa," you agree with a grin as the dropship settles on the deck with a dull-clunk of metal on metal, its engines spinning down and their high-pitched whine steadily falling. Almost immediately, the door on the side of the dropship's hold slides open and you're assaulted by a wave of crisp heat, and the smell of salt, fuel, and metal. Stepping onto the deck of the massive airship, you can't help but feel a little giddy at the audacity of what EuroCorp is planning. The horizons of science, business, and humanity are all going to expand and you're going to be the one leading it.
Now, you think to yourself as you bring up your crew roster,
let's make sure everybody's on board.
===
OOC: This is a long one, but I wanted to make sure that you guys know what you're getting into. Essentially, you'll be stealing technology and plotting the hostile takeover of whichever world you land in because of (my terrible understanding of) capitalism.
Now for the second-to-last set of choices!
(Also, I forgot these earlier
)
[] Character Name:
[] Gender:
Airship Upgrades:
Pick one
-
Level 2 cybernetic systems:
-
[] Level 2 cybernetic systems
A larger, more advanced version of the cybernetic systems present on the standard Midas-class airship, level 2 cybernetic systems allow for the construction of even more advanced technologies than normal. These include devices such as Thermite guns, reactive armour systems, and Kusanagi assault rifles. Level 2 cybernetic systems also improve the overall effectiveness and speed of the engineering department thanks to more effective expert systems.
-
Quantum computer:
-
[] Quantum computer
A self-contained quantum computer core capable of a frankly disturbing number of calculations per second. A single one of these machines can improve the effectiveness of a research department by up to 10% and could conceivably be used in a variety of ways outside that. (Reduce the time needed to research items by 10%. Also, unlock additional SIGINT and cyber warfare actions).
-
Crack Enforcer squad:
-
[] Crack Enforcer squad
A squad of enforcer corp troops seconded from one of EuroCorp's elite units. Well trained, heavily armed, and equally at home with black ops or urban assault, this squad of enforcers is the bunker-buster to an Agent's thermonuclear warhead. Equipped with the best liquid, spectre, and reactive armour suits available and armed with top-tier weaponry, this squad of troops can go toe-to-toe with significantly larger forces and come out on top, or infiltrate and assault nigh impregnable bases. (Replace the standard enforcer squad with a crack squad that are better in pretty much every way).
-
Shrike stealth assault dropships:
-
[] Shrike stealth assault dropships
Two heavily-armed variants of the reverse-engineered Rapiña stealth dropships normally stocked to board the Midas-class, what the Shrikes lose in terms of stealth they more than makes up for in block-levelling firepower. Unlike the Rapiña dropship which only mounts a single 14mm autocannon, the Shrike mounts a heavy-duty COIL laser system, two side-mounted semi-automated HMGs with Kusanagi-derived overpressure systems, and multiple missile hardpoints. (Replace your two Rapiña dropships with two Shrike assault dropships. Shrikes can still cloak, they're just less effective at it).
Agents:
All agents can hack security devices using their DART chip though additional research may be needed when dealing with new technologies. Agents can also attempt to regain wounds after killing enemies, though there is a cooldown period.
If an Agent gains stress while being puppeted, you may lose control over them.
Pick two unless otherwise stated
-
Agent Tsveta Monahan
-
[] Agent Tsveta Monahan
- EuroCorp Agent through and through
- Cleverer and less sociopathic than most agents due to experimental agent process designed to make independent thinkers that play well on camera. May attempt to break control during puppeting.
- Good mix of CQB, hacking, and ranged skills.
Toughness: 4
Strength: 3
Intelligence: 2
Charisma: 2
Dexterity: 3
Finesse: 3
Stress: 0
Wounds = 7
-
Agent Bulan Thorn
-
[] Agent Bulan Thorn
- Former Pravitel Agent
- Has rapid regeneration. Gets a free wound regeneration every 2nd round of combat/when appropriate.
- May become bloodlusted during combat due to experimental procedures
- Prefers CQB due to regeneration letting him get in close.
- Permanent plus 1 stress due to experimental bio-tech procedures.
Toughness: 4
Strength: 5
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 1
Dexterity: 4
Finesse: 2
Stress: 1 (permanent +1 stress)
Wounds = 9
-
Agent Julian Webb
-
[] Agent Julian Webb
- Recovered Cayman-Global Agent
- Has an experimental self-modifying, hacking-focused DART chip which grants special Breaching options.
- Prefers ranged combat.
Toughness: 3
Strength: 3
Intelligence: 3
Charisma: 1
Dexterity: 3
Finesse: 4
Stress: 0
Wounds = 7
-
Agent Tatsuo Shimizu
-
[] Agent Tatsuo Shimizu
- Recovered Aspari Agent.
- Media friendly.
- Has HyperAdrenal system. Micro-step gives bonus die for dodging melee/ranged fire and can use Hyper-Step to move 2 hexes in any direction once every 3 rounds
Toughness: 3
Strength: 3
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 3
Dexterity: 3
Finesse: 4
Stress: 0
Wounds = 6
-
Agents Oriane Crane and Rauha Sault (single pick)
-
[] Agents Oriane Crane and Rauha Sault
- Twins.
- EuroCorp Agents through and through
- Pair bonded agents (can heal each other's wounds over a distance of three hexes).
- Combined arms agents which often have one agent going in close and the other staying at range.
- Prefer to stay close to each other (will roll to add stress if prevented from communicating for extended periods of time).
Toughness: 3
Strength: 3
Intelligence: 2
Charisma: 1
Dexterity: 4
Finesse: 4
Stress: 0
Wounds = 6
