As usual the hologram of Sunder projected around the drone that occupies her chair waves away any offer of whatever the place calls food, but she also does not engage in the idle chatter, presumably her focus is still on the hardsuit parked outside and or whatever hacking project she needs to do in order to get the tracking program operational.

The tracking program is deciphered with ease, the poor E-security allowing you to isolate the missing subaltern's signal. A specific signal frequency is needed to locate the subaltern, but once the outlier signals are filtered out, it's a simple matter of brute-forcing the rest of them until you find the one that fits.

The tracking program activates and reveals the location of the missing subaltern - the outskirts of Upper.

Little was added to the conversation as Werner attacked the spicy noodles.  "It's like eating a reactor in meltdown."  He continued eating the noodles, "I can't get enough; it feels like my mouth is in the pilot's seat."  A napkin wiped his nose, "This is the best bowl I've had in years.  Great stuff Juan."

"I'm also of the idea that selling these kidnapped NHPs is not the goal here."  Werner slowed down on the bowl of spicy noodles as he got back into the matter at hand.  "Although our boss is going to want to hear that this has been going on for months.  I can think of a few things someone might be collecting NHPs for; all of them nefarious."

"How big is this Magenta Syndicate?  Seems like they're a known entity around here; I would think that if they were involved with kidnapping NHPs, they would have been doing it for a long time already."  His bowl of noodles finished, Werner pushed the bow away, "And I doubt they would want the kind of attention it would get them from Union."  He thought for a moment, idly tapping the counter.

"Do you know anything about how these other kidnappings were pulled off?"  Werner asked Juan, perking up suddenly, "Could lead us in the right direction.  Or at least provide some insight. Maybe we can track down some of the other victims as well."

"And do they - the victims - have anything in common?" RT added on, capping that with a friendly nod of the head, similar to Maya's earlier one: "RT."

Meanwhile the internal inferno raged on.

“And...” Maya leaned in, slinging an arm around RT’s shoulders “… who is it that’s getting hit? Is it just civilian targets or have they taken a shot at anything riskier?”

She lounged, enjoying the support, before a thought came to her and she stirred. Maya flagged down Juan with two fingers: “You can mark me down for whatever’s popular with your regulars. Good way to learn about a place, you know.”

Juan takes the bowl and shuttles it back to the kitchen to be cleaned, before returning and leaning onto his side of the counter, listening intently to you and the group.

"The Syndicate is big. It mainly operates here in Port Conroy, but it's got feelers out in most of the other cities left on Havelburg. They've had 10 years to expand and grow here, now that the PCPA won't touch Upper. It's to the point that they are functionally the government of Upper Conroy."



Juan nods in an affirmative, sliding RT a cup of soy milk and a plate of some really good-tasting sourdough with a side of butter, before continuing.

"From what I've heard, most in recent times have been kidnapped through hacked maintenance subalterns. Who specifically have been targeted is unfortunately information I lack. I do know that it isn't all ships - there's been some local targets as well."



Juan returns the nod before responding.

"Nice to meet you, RT. And short of having missing NHPs, I couldn't tell you. I've heard there's been ships, a couple of factories, a cargo lander, but nothing I can 100% confirm."



Juan passes you a simple pasta carbonara, with locally-made spaghetti, some cheese, and bacon combined into a delicious dish.

"As far as I know, it's just been civilian targets. I think that if they took a stab at a military installation things would get ugly really fast."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Sat 11 May.

Backtracking a bit since I missed this:

"Oh? Like what?" RT had been wondering about that. Somewhat.


"We saw some of that up there in the market," the young pilot confirmed with a nod to Juan, "They certainly filled-in the policing role... And they have Shermans."

Although they hadn't seen those yet.


"I would call you a yellow coward, but I'm too hungry right now."

RT went to say something about cowardice... and then re-considered. He went on to twirl and eat from his far-spicer dish instead, trying for different combinations and ratios of bread/butter/pasta/milk, see if he could survive to see the bottom of that bowl.

A man on a mission!

EDIT = *I* may not have learned my lesson, but I think RT would be a little more cautious following the previous discussion? :)


Hm... "Anything new happen in that same peroid? Say somebody new jumping on the scene? A new discovery?"

Ooc: Looking for a potential client that hired the MS for those kidnappings, and/or a triggering event that would suddenly require NHPs?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:26, Sun 12 May.

While the others are busy eating Sunder doesn't worry about rushing herself so she double checks her work, the signals, and makes sure the tracking process can't be done in reverse to warn their target. Only after all of that has been settled does she push an update to everyone's personal maps so they can see the location as it updates by whatever method they use best.

Juan shrugs before speaking. "I haven't heard anything on that end - a new face on the block capable of what's been going on doesn't exactly slip under the radar easily. My bet is that whoever is pulling this off has been here a while - if not the Syndicate, then someone or a group of someones with similar influence. Who that could be aside from the Syndicate, I'm not sure. The local IPS-N folks don't strike me as the kind to take NHPs, and I can't think of any solos with that capability."

"Ah." A bit disapointing, that. Still.... RT raised a hand in a familiar signal- Suddenly twirled it about a bit as if loosing momentum... and then went on: "Mind if I place a call? Have a friend who might be interested in this."

Better? he gestured at Vee?

If the Juan agrees, RT will place a call to Rio, helmet closed so only those with Union comms can hear him:

"Thunder here. Word on the street is that there's been a rash of NHP kidnappings in the past few months, actually, not just Emily? All types. Might have been some before too, but more discrete?" Who knows? "Whatever this is seems to be accelerating anyway... Maybe White Hat can get us details on each of those past incidents, see if Data Analysis can extract anything from it?"

By which he meant Rio's data analysis.(Weight AND near-godlike computing power, that was Union for you, sure)


RT's eyes widenned... "And this came from where?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:40, Tue 14 May.

"Picture an NHP in a cascade state.  No offense to present company of course, but they can become unpredictable.  Like a human having a psychotic break, but with more options and a lot more power."  Werner answered RT's question, "It's bad enough on the individual scale, but what if someone were to steer dozens of NHPs into a cascade on purpose, even brainwash them and give them direction?  Now we've gone from dangerous to near-apocalyptic."

Werner paused while RT updated the Rio Grande, then closed his helmet to see his HUD upon receiving a tracking update.  "Sunder's a wizard."  He mentioned, nodding after opening up the face shield again.  "Looks like we have a new lead to follow."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Tue 14 May.

Yeah and: "And unshackled NHPs sometimes show strange powers, don't they?" RT recalled from late-night conversations, getting excited. "Inject visions of past, future and could-have-beens into people's head, twist the world around them like putty, all that paracausal stuff..." Or so the stories went. "Is that what we're looking for here?"

Scary stuff all around, if so.


Which didn't explain a thing. "But- but how? When? Where?"

And perhaps most importantly: "Do you happen to know where this is, my friend?" To Juan while pointing at the slowing pulsing point on his data slate. There. There!

In reply to Rolling Thunder (msg # 103):

Almost on que, a rough link is forced through to your comms, connecting the group with White Hat. Though interference tinges it with static, Tumble's smooth voice makes it through.

++Are we through, Alphie? Oh good, let me see it for a sec. This is White Hat to the Blue Immortals, are you there?++

---

Juan's face gains a look of concern as he looks at the location given. He rubs his chin, then responds. "That's Dustbranded territory, in Upper's outskirts. They're one of the remnant gangs left over after the Syndicate came in. Buncha stimmers with stolen industrial frames and delusions of grandeur. They might be a bunch of raving lunatics, but if you're going to be heading into their territory, don't underestimate them."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 00:00, Fri 17 May.

RT did his best not to look too smugly at the older man: that was his name right there. He'd come up with it after a long, long evening of moderate drinking and playing around in the squad barracks

("But none of us are blue!" Werner had exclaimed.

"Blue is hope, you know: like Cradle's sky?" he'd countered.

"I still say Chicxulub is a much better name,"

"My highlights are blue," Sunder had said.

And that had been that.)

"Blue Immortals copy. Go ahead, White Hat. How is it going over there, Tumble-man?" He still liked that guy.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:22, Fri 17 May.

Maya looked up, an errant bead of sauce marking the corner of her mouth. A thoughtful expression marked her features, and it lingered even as her pink tongue flashed out to swipe her lips clean.

“So what I’m getting here...” she opened, gesturing Werner’s way with her fork, “… is that we’re facing down a total shitshow, and if the authorities haven’t shut things down so far then it’s damn likely whatever nightmare scenario’s in the works’ll go off without a hitch. They’re just waiting to hit critical mass or something – get everything where it needs to be?” A shrug. “Maybe we’ve got that going for us at least. It’s got to feel like they’ve got all the time in the world, no pressure.”

---

As for Juan’s new information…

“Does this seem like something them lot – Dustbranded – would be behind, because I’m not exactly getting mastermind from that? Have you ever heard of them making some kind of move against Lower, let alone something clean and careful like this?” Maya threw out her arms. “’cause you can’t count out crazy, but I’d go for a third-party hiding on their turf before assuming guys with a grudge against Syndicate would play this kind of long game.”

"The reverse maybe?" RT suggested with an I Don't Know shrug. "Magentas trying to point fingers that way if anybody followed the sub out the Embrace?"

Truth be told, he'd sort of been hoping the blip was just sitting there in the basement of that casino of theirs... That would have simplified things.

Ah well... On the bright side: "Combat insertion with full mounts?" Finger taping that spot on the map.

Surrender's first live drop. RT couldn't hide his excitment.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:02, Fri 17 May.

"It wouldn't be the first time a new player moved into an area and hired local muscle."  Werner said in response to the revelation of this Dustbranded gang.  "Assuming our hacker/kidnapper isn't a local themselves.  I'm still not convinced the Magentas are part of this scheme; but I can't imagine they would frown on us kicking around one of their rivals."  He nodded, clearly eager to test out his newest frame modifications, "I vote combat drop.  I doubt these Dustbranded would answer any of our questions unless they were staring down the chamber of a heavy laser anyway.  If we don't learn what we need, we can still parlay the attack into a favor from the Magenta Syndicate."

"The Port Authority, and probably IPS-N, might want to know what we're up to if they detect us making a combat drop in the area.  Luckily for us, Union didn't hire us as diplomats."  Werner nodded towards RT's active communicator, "Gonna need to get marching orders from the boss before we pull the trigger though.  You guys pick any of that up, White Hat?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:11, Sat 18 May.

Tumble pauses for a moment before replying. ++Tumble-man, huh? Anyways, we leaned on the PCPA a bit and dug up some info on what's been happening here. Nothing super conclusive, but it'll hopefully be helpful. I'm not sure how much you may have learned down in the city, but we've gotten just about what we can up here.

First off, their lack of action here is due to, as they describe it, a mixture of jurisdiction and prudence. They suspect that Emily, as well as other missing NHPs, have made their way to Upper Conroy. However, as a result of abandoning the place for 10 years, they can't collect information there reliably and covertly. Going in to bust heads could prove a problem as well, considering it's currently run by a militant crime syndicate and houses several well armed gangs. I can't exactly comment on the methodologies of corporate policing, but they certainly didn't seem to think it was a good idea, you know?

What they were able to give us was a suspect - the Magenta Syndicate. They're the ones I mentioned before. They don't know for sure what they'd be doing with them, but the general consensus is that it wasn't anything good.++

---

Juan shakes his head. "I can't say I see them pulling something like this. They're more of the type to go charging in and blow stuff up. The only plans I've heard about them making were to take revenge on the Syndicate. As far as I can tell, Lower isn't really on their radar."

---

The comms crackle back to life as Tumble replies. ++We did. Relaying your info now.++ After a few minutes, the response comes through, relayed by Tumble. ++Green light on pulling the trigger. You are fully authorized to engage as necessary.++

"Sounds like it's time to mount up," Werner acknowledged. "We'll go link up with our mechs and get to this Dustbranded stronghold ASAP.  Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll cooperate."

"Thanks for the info Juan." His helmet closed shut once again and Werner made to leave. "Best noodles I've had in years."

"Uh, Yeah? That's why you guys were sent over there: to look through PCPA's files on the Syndicate in general... AND Magenta Red in particular?" Let's not forget that bit! RT looked to the others, slightly puzzled: Another comm snafu or what? "You saying they've got nothing on that at all?"



RT nodded at that -- grim, excited, in full agreement.

"Hazardous environment, shoddy intel, hostile locals, and we might be picking a fight with someone prepping a superweapon." Maya rolled her shoulders, a lioness stretching as it rose. "What's not to love?"

She meant every word of it: not a drop of cynicism there.

Maya pushed her own bowl forward and thumbed Werner's way, offering Juan a beaming smile. "And he's not wrong. If all intel runs were this easy - this tasty - then you'd never catch me mouthing off about going walkabout again."

After giving the others a few moments to assess the situation Sunder connects to their communication channel again, this time to speak her thoughts on the plan.

”It seems like we have a clear enough mission objective to proceed in force then.  An area clear of innocent bystanders, of minimal collator damage cost, and almost certainly full of one or more person in need of rescue to include our contracted objective, we should probably get moving before to long.”

++Right, sorry,++ Tumble hastily replies. ++We asked about her too - ex-supersoldier, incredibly powerful crime boss, has connections with former HA members plus most of Havelburg, that sort of thing. The codename 'Achelois' came up, but the PCPA is still following that trail. As for the Syndicate, they're founded and led by Magenta Red, have control of Upper and some influence just about anywhere on the planet, and would have the means and resources to pull off the NHP kidnappings. This all still falls under the 'unreliable intel' umbrella though - like I said, 10 years out of an area can do that.++

---

Juan thanks the group for their patronage, wishing the group luck on the upcoming mission. You all now have some Downtime while your mechs are readied for combat, and Gertrude is recalled to the ship (if she shows back up, I'll have her rejoin the group as soon as I can, but for now we will keep her character on standby). Once this is complete, the group will be ready to set off into the outskirts of Upper Conroy to find the subaltern!

"Looks like there's a little time to kill while our machines are getting prepped." Werner commented after the squad had left Juan's. "And I've already eaten.  Think I'll go browse this Dustmarket I keep hearing about. A place where I might find anything can't be passed up."

True to his word, Werner made for the topside of Port Conroy.  He dove into the Dustmarket with zeal, examining anything technical like a curious child.  Though compared to the merchants Werner seemed to have a keen understanding of the products he browsed.

"A wavelength of 777 nanometers does not make it a 'jackpot laser.' That's in the infrared spectrum! It wouldn't burn through a thick jacket, let alone body armor."

"I'm a man who enjoys his explosives, but these bombs are pretty weak. You do know that General Massive Systems weapons are cheap and available everywhere, right?"

"I could mount that on my mech, sure.  But that drill is larger than my laser cannon, and I'm not a miner."

After a while of this, Werner finally stumbled on something he liked, "One-shot stabilisers..." It reminded him of his newly acquired ZF4, "You know what, I'll take them. Now these might come in handy." The merchant appeared relieved.

Of course with the new acquisition came the installation.  Werner would have to hurry back to the mech bay to get them installed before the drop.  At least they looked like a simple job.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 12:04, Mon 27 May.

In reply to GM (msg # 116):

RT swore upon hearing that name -- Achelois. He'd sort of twitched at Harrison being involved, but you couldn't just assume *everything* coming out the Purview was connected to him, personally... It bloody heck was though, apparently.

"Ok so that's something new there. Maybe look into that 'former HA/Achelois' connection thing then? They might be connected to the NHP kidnappings somehow..." Speaking of, "Seems like there's been several of them in the past few months by the way, not just the one. So... Might be a good idea to get everything PCPA has on every. Single. one. while you're there so Rio can data crunch?"