Gangs of Entropia installment 1

Gangs of Entropia Installment 21

3-6-2043 12:00

Doc sat in the warehouse all dressed up in a very finely crafted Zero Legend buisness suit nervously waiting the next phase of todays mission. He could hear all the work being completed on the far side of this warehouse. The local gangs that had helped him before were now quickly building an office space complete with communications and surveylance systems built in. Doc was staying as far from the dust and dirt as he could yet still be ready the moment the target appears in the square.

The look outs have been posted in their usual spots so no one is the wiser. It has been reported that the man in the red armor has not shown up yet this morning like he usually does. The sadly obvious government employees in the oldschool suits and wired communications gear are back in the square and doing what they always do.

Astriod hangar area 12:00

Alpha-3 straps into the seat of the private spaceship of Jon Jacobs setting the stainless steel briefcase chained to his arm on the floor next to him. On the ship with him is Simone Deborg' and two other hired guns that were to be back up secrity for this mission. A meeting had been arranged between Ms Deborg' and the glory seeker that was fortunate to have found the Atrox Queens Egg. Judging by the added security on this mission Alpha-3 is not sure if "Fortunate" will be the optimum word to describe this unknowing stranger. Luckily Alpha-5 was able to send details in a coded message to be passed on to our Teams waiting on the planet to assist as needed.

Alpha HQ Fort Argus

After a few hours nap following the morning sit rep I got back to work on the new MF chip I have been working on. I had not told the Team any findings other then I was able to load the chip after circumventing the security devises on the courier box it was in. Earlier at breakfast I had a short spark of usable thought about the chip. I was repicturing in my head the display and the error messsages I recieved when I tried to access Loki.

It had told me a second chip was required. Looking back I remember that I already had an old style Teleport chip locked into the tool for use and that allowed Hermes to boot up and load correctly. Thinking this thru more as I began to fully wake up, I realised the new implant wanted a second tp chip inserted to boot up Loki. I grabbed my coffee and headed to the nearest aucton house that had storage facilities and retrieved the two matching lesser teleport chips I had there. One I had bought months ago before I looted the minor one that I am currntly using from an attacker gen 04 out near akmuul, and the other I had removed from the broken implant of someone who no longer "Needed" the chip. A quick repair of my inserter tool and back to HQ I went.

13:38 Warehouse near Argus square.

Word has come that the man in the red armor has been seen after he arrived at the Argus Telepad a few minutes ago. It strangely seems that within a minute of his arrival our Lady friend soon appeared in the square leaveing one of the shops with several bags as tho she has already had a busy day of shopping done. Time for Doc to make contact. He went out the far side entrance of the warehouse so not to be viewed by anyone at the square. As he approached the edge of the building he paused to light a small cigar near the corner of the building so he could do a quick assessment of where all the players in this charade were. He wanted to be sure he was not spotted immediately by anyone playing this game.

As usual the man in red armor took a position leaning on one of the planter walls in the square, only today he did something different. He removed his helmet which immediately spurred interest from the crowd. A rising wave of sound came as Everyone in the square instantly started telling each other who had graced them this day with one of his rare public appearences away from his private island. Several of the younger members of the population gathered enough courage to approach the man to ask for autographs and "screenies" (pictures for us old folk) Some were even brave enough to reach out to shake hands or to touch the legondary armor so rarely seen in public.

Doc took this as his cue to approach the woman who had bugged him before to lure her away from the crowded square and out from the watchfull eyes that are always there. Being the suave and to the point man Doc approached the lady immediately reaching for her hand giving it a quik subtle kiss while stuffing his identification tag in her hand and sitting down as though this was a planned meeting between old friends or new lovers. Doc leaned twords her across the table and suggested after she read the tag that they discretely leave the area and head to the shops near the old warehouse. If she agreed to that he would fill her in more as they walked away from the crowd. He then set the bug she used on him in front of her, only it was inside a ring box like he was proposing or something.

Corinth Hangar north west of Hadesheim 14:30

The two "security gaurds are dismissed to check the hangar and surrounding area. Ms Deborg' tells Alpha 3 to remain on the ship with her for a moment. Once the goons and the pilot have left she informs Alpha-3 that the case he is carrying is holding a large sum of Peds. That money will be used to aquire a VERY rare and EXTREMELY delicate Atrox egg. Once the money has been removed he is to clean the inside of the case with a special disinfectant then to treat the case with the instant foam only in the lower half of the case before the egg is placed in there. After the egg is placed into the case he was to close the lid and seal it again with the new lock mechanisim that is in the small gear bag she now hands him. Once it is sealed he is to finish filling the case with the foam through the one way valve on the top edge. At NO point before
this was the case to be moved. The last thing would be to plug the large weapon cell into the power converter and plug that into the cases climate control system.

Once that deal is complete she informs him... ANYONE NOT her including the two security goons and the ships pilot that get within ten meters of that case are to be shot immediately. No warning NO quarter. They have been instructed on what to do and where to be and are fully aware of the consiquenses should they not follow within strict accordance.

The pilot peeks in the cabin and relays the area is secure they can move to the hangar and into the awaiting vehicle. Alpha-3 thinks to himself.. "Vehicle" these were outlawed long ago for security reasons. They only come out during special historical celebrations of major events in Calypso's history. Today is NOT one of them.

Alpha HQ 14:30

After stopping for a quick lunch break near the square I made it back to the apartment and immediately got back to working on what I thought would wake up another part of this devise in my head. I removed the Minor teleport chip from my implant and inserted the two lesser ones. I immediately got an error message stating two of the same chips could not be used. After I cleared that error Loki automaticly booted and configured the two chips including balancing the decay equally between the two. It then asked to confirm this configuration and restart Loki. I gave it permissions and almost instantly Loki came back and the H.U.D. flashed the message "Start evasion mode Scenerio 4 now?" not knowing what that was I canceled the action and waited to see what happened next.

A welcome to Locally Operated Kineticly Implemeted telportation series III screen popped up and gave several new menus to choose from. I highlighted the expand menus selection and many submenus tabbed from each main menu selection. Options ranged from setup and power usage, to balancing and matching new chips, to evasion and escape parameters, oh and of course a "Ping" option. The "ping" option was harmless last time I used it so it only seemed obvious to start there. The bad part was I did not pay attention to which menu it fell under. As soon as I activaterd the ping there was an instantanious flash of light inside my head so to speak and a feeling like riding on a roller coaster began only much more intense. Once the blinding light was gone and the feeling of movement began to subside I found myself outside of the apartment and half way down the street with the message stating maximum heat exchange reached flashing in the H.U.D. just as I felt the area where the implant was get really hot for a few seconds. By the time I felt that the H.U.D. changed and asked what to do next.

Quickly retracing what I did I now saw that the "Ping" command fell under the evasion and escape menu. At the bottom of the menu was a new tab "history" I opened that and all the information for the last three teleports was there in graphical form three dimentionly. It showed I had made four jumps in the course of five seconds it also included tactical data regarding solid structures, any people or animals in the general vacinity and statistical information available for upload to another sysytem. I also saw that "Ping" stands for Programmed Instantanious Navigational Gate array. It seems I now have the proverbial "get the hell out of dodge" chip.

Enough work for the day. I decided to do something else since there is a slight disorientation factor that comes with useing that mode of teleporting. Not to mention the walk back home.

Warehouse office 15:00

After all the introductions were done and a brief who is playing what roll in this scenerio chat Doc asks the lady agent what her involvement in the goings on around Fort Argus are. She states the standard I cant tell you anything speech and wants to know more of who Doc's friends are as there are a few in her department that have been inquiring about their doings as well.

Impaitent as a five year old the street gangs leader takes offense to this game and the fact that his people are on a "watched" status for an undetrmined reason at this moment. He begins to get loud and agitated twords the agent who manages to sit quietly back, watching and assessing the man now nose to nose yelling in her face. In one swift move she sticks her thumb in his mouth pressing his tongue down hard while squeezing with her other fingers. A quick twist of her wrist spins the man over on his back stretched across the table. Calmly she leans back into his face suggesting he not treat her that way as she IS a trained professional with legal permissions from the government to exercise whatever she feels necessary to complete her mission. Right now he was interfering with that and she was not happy.

Of course Every one of the gang immediately pulled out some sort of weapon and tried to make clear that what she was doing was not benificial to her health and well being. Her only response was to ask if it were necessary she remove their leaders face to prove she takes her job VERY seriously. Doc steps in and gets between the gang and the agent and reaches down to her hand to get her to release the leader. He states clearly that the toughest kid on the block routine is not helping him get what he needs as his mission is far more important then either the gangs persuit of government downfall or the agents need to know everyones business. Being put on a second shelf like that both the Agent and the Gang kind of stepped back to inquire what Doc had that was so much more important then what they wanted.

 

Gangs of Entropia Installment 22

3-6-2043 17:30

Alpha-1, Alpha-4, and myself walk into the warehouse meeting room where Doc, the gangs leader, and the lady agent are already seated at a table discussing the minor dealings around Argus and filling in blank areas as to what the complete picture is. It seems there are several layers of issues happening around Argus each holding its own signifcance in the future of Argus. None of them releating to the future of the human race on Calypso.

Introductions were short and sweet, no time for pleasantries there was important buisiness at hand. Doc filled us in that the lady agent was in fact our dead double agents handler. She was under the impression the double agent was working on a political coup to gain power in Fort Argus. That all went south with the shooting in the office complex that we had witnessed. Alpha-1 gave Doc the nod to fill the handler in on what we knew. The handler informes us she was waiting on a package from the double agent and more information regarding the alliance that contracted the coup back here in Argus. MACorp, Jan Whelper, and Mr Jacobs were all brought up in the conversations, but each faction here had different reasons tieing them all together.

There was surveylance video from all three factions at the meeting regarding the players and it was all beginning to fall into place as one big story. A timeline was established and video documentation matched to what was stretched out over time with most of the gaps in information being filled in by one side or the other. Now that a complete picture has been established of the past it was time for them to logicly decipher the future that MACorp and partners in space were building for Calypso and its inhabitants.

4-6-2043 08:00 East Hadesheim inside the old exchange building.

The report came over the radio that the area was secure and the client was approaching with only one other with him. It was asked what course of action should be taken. Ms DeBorg' stated to stick with plans for the complete deal as no harm must come to the Egg. As the two men appraoched the door one of the security told them to hold position as they were to be checked for weapons or detection and tracking equipment before entering to complete the deal.

Cleared to enter the two men causiously entered the exchange to make their mark on history. As they passed the threshold and into the main hall the second man pressed the little button embedded in his jacket lapel activating the signal predetermined to bring the news team transport within range to cover the story AND to ensure the two walked away still breathing and a touch more rich and famous.

As short introductions were made the sound of small hovercraft arriving outside could be heard. Before anything could be said or done the radio came alive with a message there were media personel comming out of the woodwork with cameras and lights and huge microphones all shouting questions long before they even made it through the doorway into the hall.

Quickly realising nothing could be done Ms DeBorg' immediatly played to the press completeing the buisness transaction for the Egg as professionally and expediantly as possible. After a quick exchange she informed the media that she would not answer questions and that she did not want to take away from the new now famous and rich hunter beeming for his moment in the spotlight. Directing the news people to the hunter and friend Ms DeBorg' grabed Alpha-3 by the arm and made haste for the vehicle awaiting them just outside the rear entrance to the exchange.

4-6-2043 09:00 Alpha HQ Argus

Alpha-2 had been monitoring radio traffic on all local bands and coordinating teams to converge on the drop area for the Egg but had been too late in aquiring a location. Finding out only after a news broadcast he switched from a tactical aquisition of the Egg to full out search to intercept prior to its leaving Calypso for the security on the asteroid.

All local and private hangars were a buzz with media trying to find the where abouts and the destination the Egg was headed for. An interview of the buyer of the Egg would surely net the reporter a jump in stature not to mention possibly promotion to a network anchor position if only for a short time.

An incomming transmition from Delta teams surveylance crew stated they now had an unauthorised vehicle being tracked by satelite headed north west twords the Corinth hangars. The closest team was Charlie companies training squad out on an extended navigation trac twenty five kilometers southwest of Corinth hangars. To have that squad intercept meant a swift march thru the edge of the ice banks across the marshes and into Corinth. That means a training detail would have to treck thru an area infested with big Aramax, sporadic Neconnu, and worst of all the larger Atrox that roamed the plains between the ice banks and the beach ares near Corinth. IF they managed to avoid all that this team of newer recruits would have to plan and execute a tactical mission to recover the Egg while avoiding any type of media coverage or other unknown threats not researched prior. After a quick consult with Billy and Alpha-1 on a secure channel it was determined to let the Egg go to the asteroid as we still have Alpha-3, and -5 in deep cover up there. Alpha-2 was also told to make plans to send Doc and myself back to the asteroid as investors interested in aquiring this now famous Egg from Mr.J
"ND" Jacobs himself.

4-6-2043 13:40 Alpha HQ Argus

After finding out that ALL transportation to the asteroid has been booked solid for the next three days I decided to continue research on the implant. I had enquired about us taking our own ship but was informed the hull identification numers were on a watched list by several government and private agencies now after the exsodus we made the day of the test in dome four. All the better as I was not much for undercover spy vs spy work. Id rather face what was needed head on and either complete the mission or deal with what ever circumstances arose in its failure.

Back to the implant. Having worked thru both Hermes and Loki sections of the chip and for the better part becomming proficiant in its use it was time to back track to Thor. Going by the logical patterning within this devise conecting with aincient methos I thought it out and determined Thor was regarding thunder or ligtning. Taking thunder and lightning further I tied in Thanato's in the use of lighting as well. First deduction ruled out thunder and made me focus on lightning more. Lightning is massive amounts of electricity in a focused release. The old style nerve blasts were electricly based and were in an accepted standard for Mind force use. I decided to retrieve my old nerve blast chip from storage and see what else I could produce using this new implant.

I took a quick run to storage and got very excited again and decided to go to the warehouse as I could not wait to load the nerve blast chip in anticipation of what could unfold. I was no sooner through the door when I began removing the two teleport chips I was working with earlier. Practicly throwing them into a case and grabbing the nerve blast chip to load into the insertion tool I started to notice it was strangely quiet for a large warehouse specificly one I was just in a few hours ago. Someone should have been here if only to monitor the new communications gear we had just set up this past week. I did not have any weapons with me so I went ahead and loaded the Nerve chip so I would at least have one shot if I needed to defend myself. Again the implant got warm and an error message appeared. I cleared the error fast knowing a new operational system would automaticly boot and set up the chip.

I was correct as I now had access to the Thor section of the chips programming menu. Not knowing what if anything was wrong or if I was not safe I did a self made crash course on what Thor was and how it operated. The menu system was the same from the other sections along with directory formatting so finding the information within this structure was easy. I ran a short diagnostic on the chip which gave me the list of capabilities the chips new structure could do. It also gave me an optmization tool which I understoood would "condition" the chip to enhance its performance through the new implant. If I was correct the new setup boosted the chips power from fifty thousand megajoules to over one million at double its normal range. It also gave the option to add and optimize a second matching chip prior to booting Thanatos's electro harmonic oscilating pulse emitter. I opted to stay within Thor tabbed to the firing sequence menu and precharged the chip in anticipation of the need to use it.

Ready to at least protect myself I went into by the book mode for a tacical situation inside where there could possibly be mulitiple threats. I used the personal com we all carried and alerted Alpha-2 who did a fast screen of communication here at this facility to find unauthorized computer access in the main com room. He advised to hold positon and wait for further orders while he contacted Alpha-1 and Delta team who were on a recon just outside of Argus an hour ago.

4-6-2043 Asteriod hidden lab

As Alpha-3 rounded the corner carrying the Case holding the Egg he saw that at least twenty five people had gathered for the arrival of his team and the Egg. Alpha-5 was there and saw Alpha-3 long before anyone else had been quiet enough to realise they had entered the room. Quick glances between the two was all that was needed to fill each other in on what each had learned and what to do regarding that information. Jan Whelper, Jon Jacobs, Ms DeBorg',and the complete legal staff from Tamburos, Sinclair and Westinghouse LLP were there for the arrival of the newly aquired Egg. Many of the isolated scientists working on the project were also there as several initial proceedures need to be done immediatly to the Egg to ensure its viability for the project.

Alpha-3 was instructed to bring the case to a sealed chamber where he was to seperate himself from the case and then punch in the security code to unlock it. Playing nervous and dumb as expected he did the oposite of what was instructed. He punched the security code to unlock the case first but used the incorrect code on the first try. Another look to Alpha-5 and he knew to proceed as ordered. Stating his nervousness and appologising profusely he unlocked the cuff conecting him to the case. He then punched in the correct code, tilted the case lid and removed the security devise from it and stepped away as the door closed. The case was spun around on the revolving pedistal into a clean room to be disinfected and cleaned prior to any of the scientists handling it or the Egg.

 

Gangs of Entropia Installment 23

4-6-2043 shortly after 17:00 Argus Warehouse

It had taken over two hours to get a response team to the warehouse. By then I had done a complete recon of the facility and determined what the situation was. There was only one person in the warehouse that was not authorised to be there. Several of the employees that were authorized were locked in a storage room inside the com room. Alpha-2 ensured me that all outside transmission both in and out going were blocked and old recorded transmissions were being looped into the com room to make it seem as tho it was still active and access was not restricted.

As soon as the team arrived I informed them of the situation and who was in the communications control room. That person was the man in the P.O.E. armor we have been watching on our daily activities in Fort Argus. His name is Zachurm Emegen the new owner of a land area known as Treasure Island almost dead center of Amethera, Calypso's second continent to be discovered and habitated. The question was, what is his involvement in the happenings way out here in Argus, and why has he infiltrated our communications room.

Not knowing how well he was armed or what his purpose was here it was decided that the com room be surrounded and a low level nerve agent be released in that room after which power would be cut to the lighting system. When everyone was in place the order was given to release the nerve agent. The man in the red armor slumped over in the chair like a drunk uncle at a wedding reception. The lights went out and the team moved in to secure the now sleeping intruder.


5-6-2043 Asteroid Lab shortly after midnight

By now most of the celebration was finished and most of the non working guests had gone. Only three scientists remained to follow through with the testing of the Egg. Alpha-3 was relieved of duty but had stayed along with Alpha-5 as interested parties to what was going on. Both were allowed to stay due to their involvement with the tests and aquisition of the Egg itself. Ms. DeBorg' would come back to the lab hourly for a report on what progress was made. Elise, Mr. Jacob's personnal assistant stayed as well and was in constant contact with him.

Shortly after three a.m. the scientists cleared the Egg as a viable entity for the program. It was determined the project should go on as soon as possible. The Ok was given to proceed with the first phase and introduction of the nano bots was completed after the Egg was submitted to an ionization process designed to slow the metabolism and growth developement inside the Egg. An order was given to set the Egg up in a sealed container to help slow that process and call it an incubator. It was then to be set in the main hall where every patron to the asteroid had a chance to view it. The media leak would work in the experiments favor so with it being publicly accessable there would be less chance of problems and prying eyes then if they kept it hidden away. With the slowed metabolism and developement that Egg could potentially NOT hatch until the following year. By then all the excitement and media attention would die down and the experiment could continue after an announcement that the Egg just wouldnt hatch no matter what the scientists did. It would fade to an exciting moment in history and no one would do more then say "Gee, I wonder what ever happened to that Egg?"


5-6-2043 Secure facility under Billys Spaceship !!!!!!!!!! 03:48

Delta team had taken charge of Zachurm Emegen A.K.A. "Deathifier" and transported him to the facility where Billy and the remaining members of Bravo team were based. Billy was more then happy that this had come to pass as he was quite bored living under ground just monitoring communications and coordinating operations of the four teams now involved and active in this growing scenario.

It was determined to bring Deathifier there because he had a relationship with Billy shortly after the robot wars had chased us to Calypso. His father had served with Billy back on Earth and in the initial securing of Port Atlantis and Twin Peaks early in our migration here. If anyone could determine his involvement Billy would since he was as close to family that Zachurm had on Calypso. But that would have to wait as the effects of that nerve agent however mild took several hours to wear off with memory loss as a side effect taking up to three days to clear at times.

5-6-2043 Fort Argus

Having one more day before heading to the asteroid I spoke with Alpha-1 and was able to go to Fort Fury for the time left before departure. I wanted to test this new chip implant using Thor but determined indoor testing was not a good idea. There were rumors that Gangs of Feffoids had been massing and attacking Fort Fury on a regular basis and a call had been put out by the towns officials for available hunters to come and help thin out the population before they organize well enough to over run the small settlement.

I determined that would be a very good way to learn Thor under real life conditions and to kind of stress test the implants abilities. A quick check of the auction at Fury before I was off for the hunt revieled a matching nerve blast chip with a good starting price. I added twenty ped to the active bid and hoped for the best for its aquisition. It would be nice to have a matched set to run Thanatos after a complete testing of Thor. I routed through my storage and dug out the five thousand units of Force Nexus I had mined over the weeks prior to getting involved with saving the world. Starting to get excited over a hunt with a new weapon I decided to buy the Vibrant Sweat needed to mix with the Nexus to make more Mind Essence used to power the implant and associated chips. Several new arrivals were in the town square trying to sell the small amounts of sweat they had managed to collect after learning how that is done. I approached a few standing in the same general area and offered to buy what they were selling slightly higher then they were asking to help them get a start on Calypso. BIG BIG mistake! NEVER say in public you will do this. I was immediately swarmed by new arrivals trying to sell their wares. Most were polite and paitent several had pushed ahead through the small crowd to gain position and two were flat out rude jumping in line and interupting everything I was trying to do. I made it a point to buy from the few that my original offer was extended to along with a few of the less aggresive of the crowd. I had come up with almost three and a half thousand sweat which was probably more then enough to experiment with. I bought another one and a half thousand at slightly less then what I originally offered just to thin the crowd out a little bit as it was approaching mob proportions. How did so many newcommers get this far out in the frontier and NOT be prepared as they should especially with the attacks that have been happening here. Ill bet some profiteer is escorting them here under big promises of wealth and prosperity then dumping them here after payment.

I converted the sweat I aquired along with the Force Nexus I had into a nice stockpile of useable Mind Essence. After a brief tutorial on what it was and how it was used for some of the new arrivals who had stayed around to chat after I was done with buying sweat it was time for the hunt.

I had hunted Feffoid out here long ago in hopes to get rich from selling the weapons and materials they tend to horde. As you see, my involvment with Billy and Alpha Team proves I was not successful in that endeavor as the rich people rarely if ever leave the comforts of the asteroid with all the fanfare and parties and clubs. I did not bother taking armor for this trip as I knew the area well and there was not much threat of major injury fighting what lived around the edges of Fort Fury. Most likely this new implant has boosted the nerve blast chip enough that it will take one or two shots from it to drop most anything out here. I decided west and a little north would be a good place to start as the hills not far from the Fort made a nice area for feffoids to gather and trade amongst themselves. This also was a place that was fairly well hunted and usually there were fellow hunters who could aid me if needed through out the hunt. In fact I can almost garantee several followers once I use this implant becuase any change in technology here ALWAYS gathers great interest. It is most certain that I will get many offers to buy this new equipment and probably a few will be more then tempting offers.

5-6-2043 Mid day news broadcast E.B.N

Breaking news has been released from the Asteroid. Owner Jon "ND" Jacobs is the person who has bought the Atrox Queens Egg and has now put it on exibit in his private club on the asteroid. In a very short interview Mr Jacobs stated he has put the Egg on display for free and will not be charging anything for the public to see this new piece of Calypsonian history. He would not disclose the amount paid to aquire the Egg but stated the investment into the phenominon will most certainly be a great investment in his asteroid as many people who would normally not be found up there will come if only to say they saw the Egg. Businesses on the asteroid should benefit from this as well because most people will not waste the trip and cost to get there and not SEE the whole facility. Hopefully this will attract more inhabitants of Calypso to return here more frequently to see and use more of the asteroids many attractions and features. Who knows maybe even invest in apartments up here for vacations or even move here permanatly.

5-6-2043 13:30 west of Fort Fury

It was not long before I came across a lone Feffoid wandering across the open plain headed straight for the Hills I concluded would be the best place to hunt. A quick check of the H.U.D. told me the chip was charged and the Feffoid was already in range and was locked in by the tracking software. It was hard to tell the maturity of this particular Feffoid due to the extended range on the chip. Its range was twenty five meters longer then the range of my Justifier MK II and not having a scope to look thru I just could not tell. After a deep breath and a look around for cover should the attack fail I activated the chip. I felt implant get warm again as the air around me gathered the charge of static from the are I was standing in. In a few milliseconds the chip was charged and had fired in the direction of the Feffoid. A blinding ball of
energy was released and it traced a path directly to the Feffoid. I knew it was a hit because the ball intensified near the are the Feffiod was grew extremely bright in a flash and the compression from its discharge actually hurt my ears. It took a few seconds for my eyes to focus again to recharge the chip before doing anything else. I used the Thors tracing feature to aquire the Fefoid for the next shot. I got a no target selected error and relised the Feffoid had literaly went up in smoke.

Even more excited then before I ran to the spot where the ball of energy had discharged confirming exact location by the charred ground and the thin layer of primative glass on the ground. There was nothing left other then the charred ground and a blob of metal embedded in the ground. After chipping the glass and dirt off the molten blob I determined it to be a chunk of melted gazzurdite that the Feff must have been carrying to make trade with others in the area.

I thought to myself that this is not a productive way to hunt if everything was going to be disintegrated into a melted mess. After looking through the program a little further I found a section for the automated controls of the chip. It seems that a minor power sacrifice along with a slower firing rate could let the system calculate mass and distance factors and have it adjust power needed for maximim damage yet not total distruction of the target. It also seems this can now be used on elecrical componants to disable not destroy working systems. In other words hunt robots but leave the electronics intact and salvageable.

On to the next target.

 

Gangs of Entropia Installment 25

6-6-2043 Fort Fury Early morning.

After an hour or so out in the woods picking off the odd Feffoid that were wandering about I decided it was time to head back to prepare for my flight later on. The new chip preformed flawlessly. I had only missed when testing the extreme range of the chip un aided by computer targeting. When the Tracking software was used it seemed impossible to miss. I only managed to disintegrate three more in the course of the test but over all was VERY impressed with its capabilities. I only wish I had the time to test it on a few Bots.

6-6-2043 12:00 hours Billys hiden complex.

Billy had swung by the mess hall and grabbed food for both himself and his charge. Almost before he got into the room Zachurm had started to greet him as if he had not seen him in many years. As he set the food onto a mobile table next to the bed Billy greeted him back and asked how he was feeling. Zachurm hesitated a second or so and replied he still was not sure. He also calmly asked where he was and how it came that he was here with Billy now.

Billy took a deep breath and started out with his usual "Well". He had decided when he heard who the man in the red armor was that he would not hold anything back from him. Billys first response was to ask what Zachurm remembers to this point and he would fill in the blanks. Zachurm remembered up to the point of being in Argus when he was swarmed by the crowd and asked for autographs. Billy picked up a slight hesitation told him point blank that was not all. "Why were you in that office?" "What was your reason to be hacking through someones security syatems?" "Thats not your normal persuit of something fun to do"

Zachurm knew there was not much he could keep from Billy nor could he flat out lie because the bond between them was real, just like being a family member. He told Billy flat out he was looking for the woman double agent. She was supposed to meet him in Argus over a week ago with information and a package that contained new technology that realy should not be out in the general public. He also told Billy that after his father had passed he had left the Planetary Defence Forces to seek a more meaningful job then just soldier. He said he had scored high enough and had many recomendations from his superiors to move into the special forces within the PDF. During that transitional period he had been head hunted by Defense Departments Bureau of Planetary Affairs. He went through many more months of intense training to lead a very covert and special "Black Opps" type mission. He did not realise however that he would be the sole member in this operation.

6-6-2043 Asteroid Labratory Office

Elise called a meeting to get the next phase of the testing moving as to not lose time during the incubation of the Egg. At this meeting were the five lead scientists, Elise, Alpha-3 and Alpha-5, Ms DeBorg', and of course the Lawyers. Elise gave a quick overview on what has been done and what is necessary in the future to complete the task on schedule.

The Science team was to continue with the experiments in dome four refining the aggression and repellant formula's that have been started and tested to date. The Legal team was to continue with patent rights, property aquisition, and any further matters concerning the media and what will and will not be released to the public. Ms. DeBorg' will facilitate and coordinate all matters planet side now to clean up the media mess the video from Billy's has created and play that out to benifit the program. The security team headed up and coordinated now by Alpha-5 will move planet side to tie up the loose ends down there that could possibly become a problem down the road. The main focus is to find the people that survived the dome 4 experiment and make them disappear, second is to recover the MF equipment that was taken from the R&D departments security storage facility.

Finally Elise will coordinate with Deathifier to finalise the use of his out back area for breeding and genetic enhancements of Calypsos creatures for future use as live stock to feed the growing population.

6-6-2043 Mr. Jacobs private office

In a private meeting between Jacobs and Jan Whelper with unidentified personnel somewhere in deep space passed the Asteroid orbititting Calypso, the following conversation was intercepted over secure scrambbled satelite repeaters hacked by Billys Team. Although the video feed of the transmission was coded in a way they could not unscramble the audio feed was perfectly descrambled and could not be more clear. The following is the transcript of the conversation.

Mr. Jacobs: "Good evening gentlemen" "This meeting has been called to work out the final plans for the conversion of Calypso as a main jump point to further aquire more distant and profitable reaches of space" "Mr Whelper is here with me to provide answers regarding the securing of Calypso and to answer any questions regarding containment of projects that have leaked to the public"

Unknown 1: "I must say before this meeting starts that we are happy to see progress beyond initial expectations of our original plans." "However we are also GREATLY disappointed with security and secrecy of the over all operations specificly regarding your Asteroid Mr. Jacobs." "When we included you into our project you assured us the complete lack of exposure that keeping your asteroid as a viable business would be to us." "It seems that is not entirely possible for you to be able to do."

Unknown 2: "We are most unhappy with the lack of security you have provided even though the underground facilities on your property are the perfect place for us to go on with our studies and protocols for the over all plans." "This buisness with the Egg out in the publics view is not the type of conditions we were expecting to be working under."

Jan Whelper: "Gentlemen understand the overall picture of what that Egg means and holds for Calypso in the public's eyes." "At some point word of its finding would have hit the press regardless of how well we control it to date." "You are well aware of the pirate media transmissions that are popping up all over Calypsonian intranet" "Mr. Jacobs disposition of the Egg is pure genious!" "Hiding such an important item out in the open like that not only dispells some of the conspiracy theories evolving down there, but also takes the asteroid from its scrutiny involving such conspiracies"

Unknown 2: "Regardless of what Mr. Jacobs determines as necessary any further changes or even the slightest of deviations from our scheduled plans WILL be communicated to us PRIOR to any changes and we will make the decissions over practicality and impact for the project" "For the lack of security we will be sending our own specialist to clean up and over see ALL matters regarding the project"

Mr. Jacobs: "There is no need for further security or yet another person to slow the project even further here." "My people have found the leak and have silenced the flow of information outside our organization." "My security team is heading to Calypso within the hour to persue the lost items that the agent we found had stolen and sent to the planet" "In fact one of my allies on Calypso has infiltrated and hacked a secure facility there and has gained much information on those disrupting our operations planet side." "Adding a strange face into the security pile would only set it back many many months and could force our adversaries into hiding for a time which will all but stop the project from being completed."

Unknown 1: "O.k. Mr. Jacobs." "We will further trust you to regain control of your assets." "Understand this, as another failure on your part will no longer be tolerated." "Be sure your team is most trusted and very efficiant and effective in their ways." "If Calypso is not secure and back under your control we WILL be replacing you and your people with ones we know can and will handle our interests in a more secure and professioanl manor."

Un known 2: "Now, give us the report on the standings regarding further space exploration concerningthe general public"

Jan Whelper: "MaCorp has been slowly releasing into the media a steady stream of information guiding the public to support further space exploration." "They have been using information released to the public that Earth has infact repelled the robot attacks" "Adding to that we now have full control over Calypso in their eyes as we are releasing and testing less and less our new robot technologies here on Calypso" "Our only concern over the robots is the conclave that had been sent to explore the outter reaches and begin the teraforming of Akil."

Mr. Jacobs: "We had pushed the idea of testing robots here on the ateroid in one of the domes." "Concerns that would be too obvious we made them are strong." "I however do think one dome of robots under private invite only restrictions would help over all." "If I were to keep it on a private invite only and leak that I import robot parts and recostruct them here we could get away with more robot experimentation then the few random robot attacks we have formed on Calypso." "It would definately make for more stable and controlled research then before." "Not to mention that it would be a major fee to get the invite to hunt a dome like that." "This would enable us to recover most if not all of the costs to produce the robots." "it would also allow for more experimentation on the higher level or structure robots we are now testing."

Unknown 2: "That is all well and good Mr. Jacobs but you are avoiding the main reason for this meeting." "Which is to make sure you understand how important your roll in this project is." "Also how important for your future it is to protect the project and your involvement with it." "It would be sad to see you in the same position as Billy for disrupting the project and its completion." "No more needs to be said regarding this as your loyalty to us in the past has proven you will stand up to the task and produce the results we expect."

With that ends the conversations.

6-6-2043 Underground facility at Billy's

As Billy reads through the transcripts a look of concern ripples across his face then returns to its normal stablity. He mumbles something in regards to inquiring about this in the morning and hands the transcripts back to the coms tech for retransmission to Alpha-1 and his team.

 

Gangs of Entropia Installment 24

6-6-2043 Fort Fury Early morning.

After an hour or so out in the woods picking off the odd Feffoid that were wandering about I decided it was time to head back to prepare for my flight later on. The new chip preformed flawlessly. I had only missed when testing the extreme range of the chip un aided by computer targeting. When the Tracking software was used it seemed impossible to miss. I only managed to disintegrate three more in the course of the test but over all was VERY impressed with its capabilities. I only wish I had the time to test it on a few Bots.

6-6-2043 12:00 hours Billys hiden complex.

Billy had swung by the mess hall and grabbed food for both himself and his charge. Almost before he got into the room Zachurm had started to greet him as if he had not seen him in many years. As he set the food onto a mobile table next to the bed Billy greeted him back and asked how he was feeling. Zachurm hesitated a second or so and replied he still was not sure. He also calmly asked where he was and how it came that he was here with Billy now.

Billy took a deep breath and started out with his usual "Well". He had decided when he heard who the man in the red armor was that he would not hold anything back from him. Billys first response was to ask what Zachurm remembers to this point and he would fill in the blanks. Zachurm remembered up to the point of being in Argus when he was swarmed by the crowd and asked for autographs. Billy picked up a slight hesitation told him point blank that was not all. "Why were you in that office?" "What was your reason to be hacking through someones security syatems?" "Thats not your normal persuit of something fun to do"

Zachurm knew there was not much he could keep from Billy nor could he flat out lie because the bond between them was real, just like being a family member. He told Billy flat out he was looking for the woman double agent. She was supposed to meet him in Argus over a week ago with information and a package that contained new technology that realy should not be out in the general public. He also told Billy that after his father had passed he had left the Planetary Defence Forces to seek a more meaningful job then just soldier. He said he had scored high enough and had many recomendations from his superiors to move into the special forces within the PDF. During that transitional period he had been head hunted by Defense Departments Bureau of Planetary Affairs. He went through many more months of intense training to lead a very covert and special "Black Opps" type mission. He did not realise however that he would be the sole member in this operation.

6-6-2043 Asteroid Labratory Office

Elise called a meeting to get the next phase of the testing moving as to not lose time during the incubation of the Egg. At this meeting were the five lead scientists, Elise, Alpha-3 and Alpha-5, Ms DeBorg', and of course the Lawyers. Elise gave a quick overview on what has been done and what is necessary in the future to complete the task on schedule.

The Science team was to continue with the experiments in dome four refining the aggression and repellant formula's that have been started and tested to date. The Legal team was to continue with patent rights, property aquisition, and any further matters concerning the media and what will and will not be released to the public. Ms. DeBorg' will facilitate and coordinate all matters planet side now to clean up the media mess the video from Billy's has created and play that out to benifit the program. The security team headed up and coordinated now by Alpha-5 will move planet side to tie up the loose ends down there that could possibly become a problem down the road. The main focus is to find the people that survived the dome 4 experiment and make them disappear, second is to recover the MF equipment that was taken from the R&D departments security storage facility.

Finally Elise will coordinate with Deathifier to finalise the use of his out back area for breeding and genetic enhancements of Calypsos creatures for future use as live stock to feed the growing population.

6-6-2043 Mr. Jacobs private office

In a private meeting between Jacobs and Jan Whelper with unidentified personnel somewhere in deep space passed the Asteroid orbititting Calypso, the following conversation was intercepted over secure scrambbled satelite repeaters hacked by Billys Team. Although the video feed of the transmission was coded in a way they could not unscramble the audio feed was perfectly descrambled and could not be more clear. The following is the transcript of the conversation.

Mr. Jacobs: "Good evening gentlemen" "This meeting has been called to work out the final plans for the conversion of Calypso as a main jump point to further aquire more distant and profitable reaches of space" "Mr Whelper is here with me to provide answers regarding the securing of Calypso and to answer any questions regarding containment of projects that have leaked to the public"

Unknown 1: "I must say before this meeting starts that we are happy to see progress beyond initial expectations of our original plans." "However we are also GREATLY disappointed with security and secrecy of the over all operations specificly regarding your Asteroid Mr. Jacobs." "When we included you into our project you assured us the complete lack of exposure that keeping your asteroid as a viable business would be to us." "It seems that is not entirely possible for you to be able to do."

Unknown 2: "We are most unhappy with the lack of security you have provided even though the underground facilities on your property are the perfect place for us to go on with our studies and protocols for the over all plans." "This buisness with the Egg out in the publics view is not the type of conditions we were expecting to be working under."

Jan Whelper: "Gentlemen understand the overall picture of what that Egg means and holds for Calypso in the public's eyes." "At some point word of its finding would have hit the press regardless of how well we control it to date." "You are well aware of the pirate media transmissions that are popping up all over Calypsonian intranet" "Mr. Jacobs disposition of the Egg is pure genious!" "Hiding such an important item out in the open like that not only dispells some of the conspiracy theories evolving down there, but also takes the asteroid from its scrutiny involving such conspiracies"

Unknown 2: "Regardless of what Mr. Jacobs determines as necessary any further changes or even the slightest of deviations from our scheduled plans WILL be communicated to us PRIOR to any changes and we will make the decissions over practicality and impact for the project" "For the lack of security we will be sending our own specialist to clean up and over see ALL matters regarding the project"

Mr. Jacobs: "There is no need for further security or yet another person to slow the project even further here." "My people have found the leak and have silenced the flow of information outside our organization." "My security team is heading to Calypso within the hour to persue the lost items that the agent we found had stolen and sent to the planet" "In fact one of my allies on Calypso has infiltrated and hacked a secure facility there and has gained much information on those disrupting our operations planet side." "Adding a strange face into the security pile would only set it back many many months and could force our adversaries into hiding for a time which will all but stop the project from being completed."

Unknown 1: "O.k. Mr. Jacobs." "We will further trust you to regain control of your assets." "Understand this, as another failure on your part will no longer be tolerated." "Be sure your team is most trusted and very efficiant and effective in their ways." "If Calypso is not secure and back under your control we WILL be replacing you and your people with ones we know can and will handle our interests in a more secure and professioanl manor."

Un known 2: "Now, give us the report on the standings regarding further space exploration concerningthe general public"

Jan Whelper: "MaCorp has been slowly releasing into the media a steady stream of information guiding the public to support further space exploration." "They have been using information released to the public that Earth has infact repelled the robot attacks" "Adding to that we now have full control over Calypso in their eyes as we are releasing and testing less and less our new robot technologies here on Calypso" "Our only concern over the robots is the conclave that had been sent to explore the outter reaches and begin the teraforming of Akil."

Mr. Jacobs: "We had pushed the idea of testing robots here on the ateroid in one of the domes." "Concerns that would be too obvious we made them are strong." "I however do think one dome of robots under private invite only restrictions would help over all." "If I were to keep it on a private invite only and leak that I import robot parts and recostruct them here we could get away with more robot experimentation then the few random robot attacks we have formed on Calypso." "It would definately make for more stable and controlled research then before." "Not to mention that it would be a major fee to get the invite to hunt a dome like that." "This would enable us to recover most if not all of the costs to produce the robots." "it would also allow for more experimentation on the higher level or structure robots we are now testing."

Unknown 2: "That is all well and good Mr. Jacobs but you are avoiding the main reason for this meeting." "Which is to make sure you understand how important your roll in this project is." "Also how important for your future it is to protect the project and your involvement with it." "It would be sad to see you in the same position as Billy for disrupting the project and its completion." "No more needs to be said regarding this as your loyalty to us in the past has proven you will stand up to the task and produce the results we expect."

With that ends the conversations.

6-6-2043 Underground facility at Billy's

As Billy reads through the transcripts a look of concern ripples across his face then returns to its normal stablity. He mumbles something in regards to inquiring about this in the morning and hands the transcripts back to the coms tech for retransmission to Alpha-1 and his team.

 

Gangs of Entropia Installment 25

7-6-2043

Fort Argus warehouse facility.

Alpha-1 and Alpha-4 begin final check of the gear before it is loaded onto the transport to head for the flight to space from the Corinth hangar the travel agency arranged for the team. I had already packed and checked my gear and was removing the chips from the implant and making sure all the chips I was bringing on this trip were at full repair. I only wish I could find more documentation regarding the level chips this implant is able to control. An assumption that it is only limited by the users capabilities could prove fatal if they were to exceed that limit. I do not worry as of yet knowing only two other people even know I have and am using it to research its functionality and limitations.

About an hour before scheduled departure Alpha-1 recieved an intercepted transmission from the Billy's underground facility. He debriefed us on the transmission almost laughing because we were headed to the asteroid to slow down anything we could up there and the rest of our team that is embedded now as part of the ememies security is on its way down to the planet to hunt us down to stop us from interfereing with their plans. Almost comical Alpha-1 said.

During the debriefing he decided that this trip would be a great time for a direct assault on their underground facilities on the asteroid while they were planet side hunting for us. The final plan would be worked out while we were enroute to the asteroid later this day.

7-6-2043 Asteroid hangar area #2

Ms Deborg' was giving a final briefing on what was to happen planet side when the security team arrived. She states "From the intel we recieved from inside we have coordinates for a main facility that needs to be neutralized" "Our security team will be outfitted with a new Mind Force weapon system like no other in use today". "This will be a direct assault using as much force as possible to show our strength and tactical advantages so this will make our ememies rethink their ability to hinder any progress we make in the future" "No one or thing shall be left standing when this assault is over and a clear message WILL be made that any future interference will be met with similar or worse repercussions".

Two men enter the room with a small cart carrying several Payne Inc. neural implant inserters along with several other cases holding Mind force chips to be used with the inplants on the mission. The security team is handed manuals for the system and are told to start reading certain sections pertaining to the use of the weapons for this mission.

To finish the meeting Ms Deborg' hands a file to Alpha-5 holding information on three targets for termination and confirmation before the missions end and return to the asteroid facility is conducted.


7-6-2043 Billy's underground facility

Late in the afternoon Billy again heads off to check on his long time friend Zachurm in his room. This time Billy brings a small file with him in hopes of helping Zachurm's memory to return faster. In the file were old pictures of Billy and Zachurm's father both military and personal. There were also pictures with Zachurm as a child on vacation both on Earth and at Billys property on Calypso.

Right now those were all merely phycological in nature as Billys true need for Zachurm's memory return was not for personal but of survival's nature. Billy needed Zachurm to remember who he worked for, and what his mission was that made him breech a secure facility like he had even though the risk for capture was high. Billy knew that there was a big probability that Zachurms handlers had known he would be captured and had intended for this to happen anyway as a way to draw out their enemies.

When Billy enters the room Zachurm is awake and sitting at a table ready for his return. Zachurm had had some memory return through the course of the night and early in the day so he had began to write things down. Before Billy could say anything Zachurm had gotten out of his chair and handed the papers to Billy saying he would probably like to read that as soon as possible. Kind of puzzled now for not knowing how much of this is really Zachurm and how much is the training he recieved or even if this is part of his orders, Billy looks at the papers and non chalantly sets them down on the table without reading a word. Billy did this more to see Zachurms reaction then anything and quickly worked past the moment by handing him the small file he had brought with him.


8-6-2043 00:40 30 minutes till arrival on the asteroid

Alpha-1 calls everyone to a small storage room stocked up and made into a team room on the small frieghter that had been chartered for this mission. As everyone is making their way into the room Alpha-1 starts to unroll a paper map onto the main table in the room. Usually all intell is projected onto a white board from a vid terminal but obviously frieghters do not have a need for such tecnology. On a makeshift eisel next to the table there is a chunk of old card board with a timeline drawn across it divided into fifteen minute increments and in some sections down to five minute increments.

Once eveyone was in the room Alpha-1 told me to secure the hatch and for everyone to grab their coffee and pay attention as the timing of this assault is critical to its success. He starts off pointing to the huge map drawn on the paper he had just laid over the table. On it was a complete layout for the club on the asteroid, a smaller break out with all the shops and the main observation room, and finally the sub basement of Beta West one of the four appartment complexes on the asteroid.

Various markings and notes were hand written on the drawings as if the person who did the surveillance drew all of this by hand. Alpha-1 told us to take five minutes and study the drawings and then he will proceed with the tactical breakdown following any questions regarding the drawings. He then walked to the door and left the room without another word. We all kind of looked at each other strangely since this was not his normal demeanor in meetings like this.

We all studied the map for the time specified and Alpha-1 still had not returned so we began to talk over possible tactics and scenerios regarding what we were there to do. Most was speculation as we had not been given direct instructions of what was to be done. There were seveal places on the drawing that showed passages traveling in non standard directions in relation to the buildings layout, several false walls were also highlighted, and two sets of stairs with only coordinates labeled on them as it seemed there was no hall or passage leading to them.

About the time we started discussing the stair features Alpha-1 returned with two of the ships laborers who had wheeled two huge boxes down the hall from the frieght elevators to the door. Alpha-1 stopped them from entering the room and dismissed them like bellhops at a cheap hotel. He designated Alpha-4 and myself the ones to bring the contents of the containers into the room and stage them where they can be opened and inventoried without spacial constraints.


8-6-2043 01:00 Hangar bay one second level asteroid

Ms. DeBorg' calls Alpha-5 into the control room for the bay and closes the door. She instructs Alpha-5 to take a seat at the small control panel and to look at the display terminal on the console in front of him. She asks him to read back what was on the screen and acknowlege that he fully understands what is there and what it is asking him to do. she then asks if he is sure he can carry out those instructions should the need arrise at any point during the mission. Alpha-5 Stands and faces her with a stone cold look on his face and acknowleges his orders and confirms his answer to them.


8-6-2043 Billy's underground facility 06:00

Billy sits in the briefing room waiting for the tactical operations officer to arrive for the morning meeting and notices a look of concern on one of the younger members of Delta team. Just as he was about to inquire what was on the young soldiers mind the communications operator came into the room asking permission to interupt the meeting. Billy calls him forward and takes the message from his hands and sees it is a coded message and is for secure viewing only. Billy passes control of the meeting to the Delta member to make him focus more on what needs to be done and not the possible outcomes of their operations.

The message needed to be deciphered using an old code developed back when Earth had originally colonised Mars in the early years of space exploration long before the robot wars. This code was used now as only a handfull of people left alive even knew of it from family members of times long past. As Billy worked through the code he was starting to get a picture of what was about to happen and who it involved. It seems that a special sweeper team is on its way from the Asteroid to take out the new warehouse facility in a very forcefull manor to set an example for others who would think to oppose the people demanding this measure. The message also states three targets for termination with extreme prejudice. The message specificly states the time of the assault on the facility and the means of which it will be destroyed. Billy heads back to the meeting to consult with the Team Leaders and probably a video conference with his superiors.

 

Gangs of entropia Installment 26

8-6-2043 08:00 Billys private office.

"According to the message that attack is scheduled in under eight hours!" "We dont have information on who or where the attack will come from, it could be from our own people for all we know" After a slight pause Alpha-1 responds that his people are part of that team comming down here and there is an alternate plan in place. He tells Billy that he needs the demolitions teams lead tech to prepare the building as soon as possible this morning and to make it look like a massive gas leak destroyed the building. Our people are "cleaning" that warehouse of sensitive material and will be gone within the hour.

"We are also preparing a statement for the media regarding this accident and will have it ready to air on the noon news broadcast" "Timing here is critical as this needs to happen before that team arrives but after they hit point of no return during trip from asteroid" "They are comming via space freighter so it would not be viable to send it back since that team is not its only cargo" Alpha-1 states the importance of this to be investigated and its cause HAS to be determined a public works accident involving a gas leak.


8-6-2043 North hangar number four asteriod terminal 08:00

After distribution and repacking of gear we all grab the small carry packs holding our gear and head for our respective rooms in the apartment complex on the asteroid. Some of the team casually walk thru the hangars passageways others use teleporters at the recieving entry where all the hangars passageways converge into the main facility. We have to be very careful not to be seen and avoid surveylance equipment we have mapped from prior missions to the asteroid.

Within the hour the team has reformed into two smaller sub teams each with the same orders and gear. One team will be the main team to do the mission the second a back up should they fail or be detered. A short breifing was held to confirm each members duties and the timeline things need to happen. Shortly after 12:00 hours the mission will start. I grab my gear and head to the main teleporter for the domes. Once there I do the normal stand at the repair terminal to fix gear, then buy ammo and get ready for another hunt. While I am at the terminals I enquire where most of the action has been for the last few hours and how many people seem to be working the domes. I say hello to serveral people I really do not know just to look like I fit in and happen to be the average hunter up here for private hunts of specific creatures. I see that no one has noticed I have purchased a decent quantity of the seizmic bombs used for mineral detection even tho I carry no mining gear.

After a few more moments studying to see who may be watching I determine I have not been compromised and head to the dome I was assigned. During prior missions I knew there were two cameras at either end of all domes that were set to monitor the teleporters incase they should malfunction and people could not leave the dome under emergency situations. I begin to work my way to the back side of the one at the end I arrive in. A few odd kills for the camera to see I am hunting fairly close and I will move out of view before starting my job during this mission. Once past the camera I hang around a quiet area with no disruptions and moniter the local radar to make sure no other hunters are close before unpacking gear. Once that is done I take careful aim and shoot into the distribution panel that feeds power to the camera watching the teleporter. Once the smoke starts to roll from the panel I watch for the halon system to deploy and prevent fire from spreading. This will also trigger an automated shut down of local controls for the camera, the teleporter, and the gun
emplacement next to the teleporter.

We estimated there would be aproximately ten minutes until a maintanance crew would show up to do repairs. I gather several of the mining bombs and tape them together in a cone shape then secure them to a small dish shaped piece of metal I brought to direct the bombs blast effects in a single direction to make them more effective. I quickly climb the small tower and place that devise along with a detonator directly under the guns drive system. This will stop it from rotating and hopefully set off the ammunition to totally destroy its ability to take out anything that should happen to get within range later. After that I climb down and get to the teleporters keypad control circuits and begin to wire it to stay in direct link with the main facilities teleporter once activated by remote transmitter. This will make it so anything getting
near the teleporter will automaticly be sent to the main complex where all the shops are. Alpha-1 will be doing the same at the other end of this dome only setting the teleporter to take its occupants to the hangars main area where all tunnels meet. After that is accomplished we wait until the power is restored and the rest of our plan will go into effect.

8-6-2043 North space base hangar facility 10:00

Alpha-5 instructs the team to unload all gear and set it down by the piers end and he will check on the transportation that is arranged and should already be here. He calls Alpha-3 and instructs him to let someone else grab his gear and to follow him to the loading area. It is at this point that Alph-5 tells him that their mission will be to take out the rest of this team at the warehouse before it is destroyed and make it look as though something went wrong and they were lost to the explosions and fires. He told Alpha-3 that other bodies were going to be placed along with the team to make it look like he was killed as well. Once that is done they will meet up with Doc and Billy to complete the last phase of the mission.

8-6-2043 Warehouse facility 11:00

Delta teams demolition squad has arrived at the warehouse to set up the explosions to make it look like a flaw in its construction caused the gas main to fracture which in turn will set off an explosion that will completly destroy the entire facility. Several bodies from "other places" have been brought in to add to the plan to make it more realistic by having casualties from the explosion.

The plan is to have the leak fill the main open area with the gas by causing a break in the line below the floor. The gas will then be ignighted remotely from the office area and the explosion should destroy any evidence it was man made long before any fire crews will be able to stablize the area. After all is setup the team leaves the area with only the leader there to finish the task of setting off the explosion.

8-6-2043 Warehouse facility 11:26

Alpha-5 and company arrivive at the ware house and move into position for the assault. He gives Alpha-3 a direct order to leave the area and proceed with his mission to locate the other targets stated in the mission briefing this morning. Once Alpha-3 is on his way the order to take the building is given and the team moves in. Alpha-5 charges the chip already inserted in his implant and prepares to fire. Thirty seconds into the initial assault the team notices the lack of people here and almost simultainiously stop dead in their tracks as they realise it is a set up. As they turn to face Alpha-5 for instructions he discharges the chip that is loaded in his new implant.

The air quickly fills with static as it does in a thunderstorm just before lightning strikes. The panic sets in as the team feels the air charge knowing this is their end. Being trained soldiers they instinctively raise their weapons to take out the threat only a split second too late. The metal in the weapons act as lightning rods giving the current that has now buiilt up a path to follw to ground. Seven simultainious lighting bolts rip through the team as Alpha-5 fires the new "Thanatos" program from his newly aquired weapon system. It takes about 30 secoinds for Alph-5 to recover from using the chip. When he is able to refocus himself he sees that the entire team has been neutralised. The weapons have melted in their hands and the bodies lay there smoldering but other wise intact. Alpha-5 turns quickly and draws a bead on the demolitions team leader with his Ml-45 as he hears him enter the warehouse behind him.

After a fast indentification acknowlegement they realise they are on the same side and the two prepare to complete the mission and destroy the entire warehouse facility. The team leader sets off the co2 powered air hammer to crack the main gas feed into the building and quiclky heads for the nearest exit. Once he and Alpha-5 put several buildings between them he dials his cell phone to trigger the relays in the phone circuits to turn on power to a computer terminal which produces the spark needed to set off the gas explosion. With a massive compression follwed by a loud detonation and lots of debris falling around them the mission is now complete.

Alpha-5 uses his communications gear to tell Ms DeBorg' that phase one of the mission is complete and all the "Loose Ends" have been taken care of. He is now proceeding to phase two.

 

Gnags of Entropia Installment 27

12:00 E.N.N. Broadcast

Breaking News this morning as a huge explosion rocks Fort Argus downtown section. Firecrews are working furiously at this moment to contain the fire. Initial speculation was a retaliation attack between rival Tech Gangs and Local Officials who are wageing an on going battle over the governments lack in creating jobs, and its control over local media. The Gangs say the officials there are supressing the real information about Earths current state and how bad the robot war is really going.

One of our local affilates has tried repeatedly to send in undercover reporters to see how much of what these gangs are saying could be true. Several attempts at interviews regarding this with the local officials has lead to several journalist licenses to come under rewiew. More on this as the story unfolds.

12:00 Asteroid hangars.

I meet up with Alpha 1 to hand over the four cans of the spray the scientists were sure was a deterrent from last weeks problem in dome four. "This Spray will draw at least one third of the domes population to the area it is released at". "My guess is that you have approximatly three minutes before the first creatures make their way to ground zero". "I suggest you set a can at the back side of the teleporter and release it there twords the center of the dome". "That should draw any of the attacking creatures directly into the teleporter".

The two teleporters in dome four are set to send anything that makes it there to the Main Shopping Complex if they are north of the dome and the Main Control Room where the revive terminals are from the south of the dome. The last two cans are for the Daspilator dome north. That televator will be hijacked once the confussion steming from dome four commences. Alpha 2 will hack the system while all security for the asteroid is deployed to contain the Atrox. He will set the teleporter there to send any Daspilator making it to the teleporter to the coordinates inside the Underground Facility after disabling the gun turrets.

I am ready to grab my flight to Crystal Palace and head back planet side to meet up with Billy after retrieving Alpha-3 and 5. You guys are scheduled to go down in a sealed shipping container within the next two hours so any unresolved part of this mission must stay that way until a new plan can be arranged. I have checked on the container and all is set. It is on level four dock seven. There is a secret panel near the rear of the container on its roof to the starboard side. The container has been sealed by the Planetary Commerce Department after its inspection earlier this morning. The code for the hatch is the same as the Argus facility that should be totally destroyed by now. I wish him good luck and success with his part of the mission and head to the hanger for my departure to Crystal Palace.

12:15 Lunch meeting in Jon Jacobs office on the asteroid.

"Phase one on Calypso has been completed" Ms Deborg' informs Everyone at the meeting. "They have suffered a few casualties but are able to move on to the next phase" "I assume MaCorp can release a public statement within the hour regarding the neutralization of the Militant group responsable for for all the disruption on both Calypso and the Asteroid?" Jan Whelper asks. "Am I correct in thinking the rebellion that has been hindering our plans will subside after the assassinations we agreed upon have been taken care of?"

Unknown 2: "I would hope for your sake this is true" "After all the extra time and cost to contain this problem I expect to be moving on with OUR plans by the end of the day" "We will be sending someone to take over coordination on the Asteroid as Ms. DeBorg' is much needed back here with us to develope the next phase of operations back on Akil"

"So far all is going as planned down on Calypso." "It should be a matter of a few hours until the mission is complete." "I was informed earlier there has been progress with the Eggs developement" Jon Jacobs states to change the tone of the meeting. "I was informed today the latest scan has shown growth and was really hard to get an acurate measurement of how much due to the amount of movement within the Egg."

Unknown 1 "Good!" "Then everything finally seems to be falling into place" "Maybe our doubts in you have been misplaced and some form of reward be made for such an important success" "Inform us later with the final results of the assault on Calypso." "We should have further plans to move ahead by then."

With that the main part of the meeting is done. A quick overview of the state of the Asteroids daily functions is given with no real attention to the happenings in dome four. Everyone at the meeting kind of sits back and take a deep breath to finally be on top of things. The alarm bells ring indicating a breech in one of the domes security measures and all active security personel are to gear up and head to the main control room AND the shopping complex's exhibit area.


12:36 Beta complex north telepad.

Alpha-1 sees Alpha-2 as he materialises at the telepad, the injuries he sustained were not life threatening but will keep him from performing the hijaking of the teleporters in dome twenty and seventeen. He quickly leads Alpha-2 into one of the vacant shops in the lobby area of the housing complex to tend his wounds. From what he could gather the maintanence crew is fully trained with security protocol and tactics. It seems after repairing the main control panel they did a sweep looking for any breech in the dome. It just happened they caught Alpha-2 just as he was stowing his gear to leave the dome and knew he was involved in the problem in dome four. He also learned that Alpha-2 had completed his part of the mission and released the attractant just after the first blp round caught him in the shoulder. By the impact of the third round he had managed to teleport out leaving the security team trapped at the telepad only to be able to go where
Atrox would soon be massing.

They decided that Alpha-2 could talk Alpha-1 through the last phase of the mission via secure com gear they have been using on every mission on the Asteroid. Alpha-1 having stablized Alpha-2's wounds sufficiently to keep him functioning moved out to secure the main transportation control room three floors below where they were now. It is a low security section of the complex so taking over a technician and a cordinator should not be a problem for Alpha-1. He did have to get there fast as word will get out and a secure lockdown of all the Asteroids main centers will surely follow. His duites there will no doubt take a few minutes more then if Alpha-2 would have taken but the entire team has done cross training for just such a situation. He is not at all unfamiliar with what needs to be done but will need confirmation and guidance so steps will not be over looked and jepardise the timeing of mission critical stages.

Alpha-1 had just opened the stairwell door to the floor where the control room was as the alarms started to sound. He was not sure if the doors between him and his objective were electricly sealable for such a low level security stature or not so he had grabbed the pulse generator tool to force the magnetic locks if necessary from the blood stained gear bag Alpha-2 had carried back thru the teleporter. As he hit the first door there were no locks present. A good sign so far he thought as he crashed thru to the next hall. Two doors to the left is his next nav point with no one in sight and nothing to say there may be problems.

A quick stop at the corner for a recon of the door and area close before he passes thru shows no detering features there. The next point will be to the door of the control room itself fifteen meters down this corridor with a right hand turn into a ten meter enterance way. Another stop for recon shows a slight problem that was kind of expected in the planning for this mission. Through his tiny mirror he used to look around the corner confirmation of a gun turret above the door had been made. Alpha-1 calmly reaches in the gear bag removing a ball of ten seizmic bombs taped together for just this situation. The only factor determining success here was how close and how fast Alpha-1 could throw the ball of bombs to the gun before the auto targetting mechanism could aquire the movement and fire. Hopefully the explosion will take out the gun AND disable the locking mechanisms on the door itself.

The old North American sport called Football came to mind as he threw his "Hail Mary" at the gun. One second..Two seconds... Thump as the ball hits the ground with no gun fire to set off the expected explosion. A few seconds pass for Alpha-1 to sort the confussion created from the unexpected lack of response. At this point a million things race through his head. All the what ifs and whys effecting this situation were now running through his mind.

Enough of this he thinks to himself as he steps around the corner shoots the explosives and rolls to the far side past the corner on the other side of the passageway. Boom!!!! Schrapnel flys past as the door obliterates from the over use of explosives stacking in a pile along the far wall after impact. A quick check for injuries and Alpha-1 sticks his head around the corner to assess the situation. Still smokey from the blast he cannot get a good look into the room.

Hearing no screams of pain nor shouts of angry people ready to defend themselves Alpha-1 is again puzzled. Raising his
Ml-45 to the ready position he charges the room. Empty. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Just a huge trunk of wires disappearing into the wall.

 

Gangs of entropia Installment 28

8-6-2043 13:00 Three levels below Beta Complex.

Alpha-1 calls Alpha-2 on coms unit to request Teleport coordinates to alternative control panel in Alpha Complex. As Alpha-2 relays the coordinates Alpha-1 relays a quick sit rep to pass on to the team. After Teleporting to Alpha Complex a security check is done and relayed back to Alpha-1 stating the O.K. to proceed. With the coords so close only two doors need to be breeched to get to next target area. No alarms are sounding yet in the housing complexes as the plan had succeeded in drawing all Asteroid Security to the main shopping complex and the control room where most guests acess the domes from.

No locks on first door as expected. Twenty five meters to the left is the target room where teleport controls should be. A quick check around the corner shows two security personel gaurding the door. A natural assessment of the threat shows they are only armed with Justifier MK II's and Maddox III blp pistols. Seeing such a weak show of force Alpha-1 determines that the likelyhood of a critical hit from any of those weapons is slim he crosses the threashold and takes the two in an unarmed fight dropping both in a matter of seconds with not one round fired. The advantage of surprise has worked in his favor as a technician was dumb enough to open the door to see what the thump was he heard when one of the security team had fallen against the door. Alpha-1 quikly neutralized the technician and moved to secure the remaining technician before he could sound any alarm.

8-6-2043 13:00 Jon Jacobs private office.

Looking on the monitors in his office Mr. Jacobs sees the chaos and damage happening in the three areas under attack. As he yells into the com at the security teams coordinator to start recruiting hunters to help secure the loose mobs he is contacted by a "Special" Security Team Leader who states that all is secure within the labs below the main shopping complex where all the main problems are so far.

8-6-2043 13:00 Outside Jon Jacobs private office.

Ms. DeBorg' reaches for her personal com devise and presses a few icons and is linked directly to a satelite which transmits her call back to the spacestation on the other side of calypso from the Asteroid. when her call is finally answered and transfered to her Boss she begins to relay the happenings here on the Asteroid and asks for instructions as to what should be done.

Ms. DeBorg' is told to contract the first captain of a spaceship able to get her to the space station and call back once she is clear of the asteroid.

8-6-2043 13:30 I arrive at Crystal Palace

Upon arrival at Crystal Palace I am surprised by the amount of excitement and activity as news of what is happening on the Asteroid has already reached here. Many of the upper level hunters are negotiating transportation as fast as possible to the Asteroid so they can "get in on the FUN".

I am stopped by several of the hunters I have met in the past and asked why I was not going to the Asteroid to help. I inform most that I am heading to Calypso to retrieve all my gear as my trip to CND was for pleasure and the possibility of meeting Neverdie for a buisness propsition I had regarding rental of one of his dormant domes. I almost felt bad not telling several of them not to go but knew I could not jeapodise the entire operation and let it be known I am involved and know others working in this resistance movement.

Now to make it look as though I am in a rush to get to the teleporter so I can get my gear and get back to CND as fast as possible.

8-6-2043 14:00 Billys underground facility.

Alpha-3 teleports into the secure facility at a predetermined time to keep the security in place and only momentarily interupted for his arrival. Billy meets him immediately upon his arrival in a debriefing room to get caught up with all the activity Alpha-3 can confirm personally.

Billy informs Alpha-3 all is going as planned so far with only the minor deterrance for Alpha-1 due to Alpha-2's injuries. They both have a laugh as the talk through what it must be like in the main shopping complex on CND getting over run by Atrox. They try to imagine all the unprepared shoppers trying to hide in the tiny shops with no doors betwen them and the Atrox.

Hopefully within the hour the final assault will begin as the Daspelators and and larger Atrox and other odd mobs get transported into the labs underneath CND. That will disrupt any plans they have for taking control of Calypso with the new mutated monsters they are trying to create in those labs. Hopefully some of the technology they are working on can be salvaged and made public after this is all done. New personal teleportation devises with accurate targeting, new mindforce weapons that have been withheld, and most of all the nano technology that can be used for medical not warefare purposes.

8-6 2043 14:00 Teleporter control room under Alpha complex.

Alpha-1 has finally secured the control room and has hacked the controls to gain acess to the telepads needed to complete the mission. He calls Alpha-2 on the com and instructs him to use the north telepad in the beta complex shopping area and he will transport him directly to dome seventeen to release the attractant, then send him from there to dome twenty for the final release of the spray.

8-6-2043 14:00 Dome Seventeen

Alpha-2 materialises at the north telepad and assesses his radar for Daspilators within range. Only five in the immediate area. None close enough to be an immediate thraeat but close enough that Alpha-1 will need to be fast in rerouting where that teleporter sends them after Alpha-2 is sent to dome twenty.

They do a few fast run thru's of what needs to happen timeing each try to determine how fast the combination of transports can be done. They determine that twenty three seconds is needed just to move Alpha 2 safely out of the dome. another 13 seconds to run a scripted program to reroute and disable the telepad in dome seventeen. That is the critical time because the chance of a Daspilator making it to the telepad before that script has completely run and putting it right on top of Alpha-2 in dome twenty.

A back up plan is made for Alpha-2 to run straight south as soon as he Teleports into dome twenty. This will put a little distance between the telepad and gain a few seconds for a disoriented Daspilator to have to find, and make the decission to attack Alpha-2 and not one of the mobs in the immediate area of the telepad. This also gives the gun turret a chance to put a few rounds into the Daspilator further distracting it from going for Alpha-2.


8-6-2043 14:13 Forgotten space station

Unknown 1: Is there any word on the assessment of threat to our project yet?

Unknown 2: We will know more when Ms. DeBorg' departs the asteroid and gives us a final report.

unknown 1: I dont think we have time to wait. Jacobs has lost all control even of his own Asteroid. How he did not see this happening right under his nose I will never understand. I say we purge the entire facility and retrive our data and equipment later before it is all lost. If that facility gets discovered with the immanent investigation all will be lost and our cover here blown.

Unknown 2: we will always have our final say regardless of what happens. Many Dna from the original colonists are still on file here and we can start a new on any planet of our choosing. The robot forces can start terra forming any number of planets at our whim and we can rebuild another Calypso just as we did here.

Unknown 1: I supose you are right. I am just leary of unresolved issues and loose ends.


8-6-2043 Dome 20 14:15

As he materialises in dome twenty and begins his run south Alpha-2 sees a large group of un armed civilians huddled near the gun turret for protection from the larger mobs in the area. after a few seconds he determies that the script had run fast enough to make the switch. He quickly calls Alpha-1 on his com and gives him a sit rep on what he is seeing and awaits new orders. Alpha-1 tells him to send all those people to the other tranporter in the far end of the dome and continue the mission as it would take far to long to rewrite the code for the transporter changes.

Alpha-2 assumes a controling tone and authortivly instructs all the people to transport to the far end of the dome as he is going to shut this one down as a security protocall. The people seem hesitant to want to leave the safety of the turret but were soon motivated as one of the smaller Dasplators had gotten close enough for the to activate the very turret they used for safety. As soon as the gun fired when the Dasplator broke the plain of the hill up to the televator they seemed to find the motivation to follow Alpha-2's instruction.

As the last person disappeared into the teleporter Alpha-2 pulled the pin on the remaining attractant and keyed his com to tell Alpha-1 to start the escape script and he would meet him at the hangar containing the Cargo container they were to escape in.


8-6-2043 Underground facility. 14:25

The screams from the labratory scientists, workers, and security personnel were all that was transmitted through the coms system to Jon Jacobs office because of the dead communications specialist slumped over the console keeping the channel open. Breaking equipment, gun fire, screams and the sounds of fire crackling was all Jon Jacobs heard as he could not see past the body slumped over the camera of the com system.


8-6-2043 14:26 Forgotten space station

Hearing the same thing that Jon Jacobs was and seeing their com system with an incomming distress signal from the under ground facility the decission is made to purge the asteroid of all atmosphere in all Domes, passageways, and living quarters. The labs main security system had already activated and was filling its space with halon dispatching any breathable atmosphere that would contain any fire AND kill any living creature within its secure walls.

Unknown 1: It is time to turn off the containment field on Akil and let the robot force clean any life from Calypso. Send the signals now. Dispatch four drone ships to find us another planet sutible for terraforming and report back daily until one is found and we can start all over.

Unknown 2: And reload Ms. De'Borg's DNA and start her retraining as well.

 

I know this is way late. But is this it? This cant be it! It was starting to get good...