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annexedlogs2022-08-14 08:50 pm
modaccount) wrote in annexedlogs2022-08-14 08:50 pm
Mission Log #1
How It Works
Welcome to the first mission log in Annexed!
How Mission Logs Work: There will generally be two main missions per month, with different focuses tailored to different skillsets (usually stealth vs. fighting, though other skillsets will be tapped on). Each mission will be posted in phases, with a prompt for the start of each phase. The plotting post will give you a rundown of what the missions are, how they might go, and what might be discovered. Characters may partake in whichever pat of the operation they choose, whether it's a large prominent part or a more supporting role. Characters may participate in both missions, and as many phases as they wish.
Mod Guidance: Players may request occasional scene-setting when they hit a point where they're unsure what might happen next in a log or what their characters might encounter. There will be a "Mod Guidance" comment that players can reply to in order to request this kind of scene-setting.
Completion of Missions: There will be a submissions comment for anyone who's threaded out a portion of the mission. Once a thread has been completed at least halfway, please submit your character's progress and plans for the thread to the submissions thread. These submissions are the main way that the mod will decide how the mission went in the next month's wrap-up post, so they are very important!
Plotting Post: Here!
The Cure For Immunity
The Witches have received intel through their spies in Zephyr that a lab located just outside the outskirts of the city is engaged in experiments on sentient beings to create a serum that will change those people who are incompatible with Sylphid reproduction. This serum would allow the Sylphid to take over the bodies of people who would usually be fatal to them.
The serum is said to function at a 45% success rate already.
Obviously this would be a major blow to all life on the Broken World, as 70% of the population is immune to being taken over by Sylphid. This serum would allow them to increase their population numbers exponentially and turn a powerful takeover into a nigh-unstoppable one.
The Witch will be calling a general meeting at the Command Center where she will explain the situation and the proposed missions to stop it.
Mission A: Into the Lab
Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: Stealth and recon.
This mission will focus on stealth and recon, with operatives conducting surveillance on the lab to work out the rounds of the guards and other staff so they can infiltrate and take the information on the Sylphid serum in order to reverse engineer it and hopefully make a serum to make everyone immune to Sylphid takeover. The Witch passionately states in her opening speech that this would be an immense blow against the Sylphid and is a very important mission.
Nestled in the jungle a few blocks outside city limits is a low cement building with a high barbed-wire-topped chain-link fence around it. The lab is built like a fortress with thick walls, very few windows, and a thick roof made of cement and tile, almost bomb-proof. All in all, the Sylphid aren't exactly subtle, the place might as well scream 'secret lab to create top-secret serums.' There's also a regular round of security guards accompanied by guard dogs that make their way around the perimeter, and security cameras at every entrance and exit.
There is plenty of cover around the building for operatives to watch the rounds of the guards, the way the cameras swivel, and get a feeling for what kind of people enter and exit the building. Surveillance can be conducted the old-fashioned way, by just watching the building from many different angles and sharing observations by camera. They can also be done in a variety of other ways, depending on individual powers and abilities - want to pretend to be making a delivery so you can scope out the front desk? take photos or videos of rounds or entrances and exits to study? draw a rough map of the grounds to show everybody? Go for it!
There are a variety of ways to get into the building, but surveillance will boil down to four main routes of entry:
⇝ The first is a direct frontal entry, where characters may bluff their way inside the building in a variety of ways including pretending to make a delivery, taking down a single guard and stealing their uniform, or otherwise working out a ruse to get inside.
⇝ The second is a through a single bulletproof glass skylight in the roof of the building, directly above the mess hall, which should be empty just after lunch time. There is a strong lock on the skylight, but it can be picked and there are no traps.
⇝ The third is through the back entrance, near where the guards' staff room is, in a secondary building. This route will require taking out several guards as silently as possible and entering disguised as guards.
⇝ The fourth is through a ventilation system that can be accessed by a panel high up on the wall at the one side of the building that is facing the jungle. This one will require some acrobatic skill and flexibility and might be best for a small character.
There are four major routes of entry into the lab, and characters who try any route of entry should keep in contact with people outside via radio or network to relay information found out during the infiltration phase. The rebels are trying to get as much information about the internal layout of the lab as possible in case the Sylphid opt to reuse it for another purpose in the future. They would ideally like to be able to map the entire internal structure of the facility. In all cases, photos, videos, and sketches of the inside of the lab would be welcome to the rebels.
⇝ Frontal Entry: Characters who opt to enter through the front via some kind of ruse and who gain entry will find themselves faced with a maze of corridors and rooms. This may be difficult because anyone who is allowed entry into the building generally knows their way around. Success of this particular route of entry will depend on confidence and being able to keep the ruse alive as the characters run into various different people - scientists, guards, deliverypersons, janitorial staff, and other staff. Keep the ruse up for as long as possible and make sure you get as many details of the inside of the building as possible to relay to your colleagues outside as possible.
⇝ Skylight Entry: Characters who opt to enter through the skylight will find themselves faced with a heavy lock as their first obstacle. The lock is able to be picked or hacked, depending on the characters' skillset. Once the skylight is open they will have to lower themselves into the room underneath, a mess hall for the staff in the lab, and subdue the cafeteria workers. From this point, they will need to keep themselves hidden from passers-by in the hallways, and rely on stealth and silence as much as possible while mapping out the inside of the lab, and keep in radio or network contact with those on the outside.
⇝ Back Entry: This is the method of entry that requires the most fighting. Characters will enter the back area of the building where there is a smaller outbuilding that is used by the guards for a sort of staff room while they are taking breaks, and subdue several guards to take their uniforms. After the uniforms and keycards for the building are secured, they can enter through the back door and maintain the ruse of being guards that are patrolling the building. This is where knowledge of the guard rounds comes in handy, and all that surveillance will certainly help. These characters will have to be careful to avoid the real guards as they will be able to clock that they aren't their coworkers and the "I'm new" story will only work so many times! Characters in guard uniforms will have an easier time communicating out loud on radios and the network as they're expected to be communicating by radio, and will also be able to give spare walkie-talkies to those on the outside.
⇝ Ventilation Entry: This is the most physically challenging method of entry, but a very valuable one. After accessing the ventilation system, characters will be able to crawl through the duct work in a virtually undetectable way and take photos, videos, or sketches of the rooms they can view through vents. The duct work goes everywhere throughout the building and mostly poses obstacles in the form of the mazelike system of them, occasional fans and other blockages in the ductwork, and dust and debris in the ducts including possibly rats and spiders. Some of the spiders are poisonous, as jungle spiders tend to be, and anyone bitten by the spiders will experience pain and hallucinations that may hinder them. As with all other entry methods, the people in the ventilation system should be communicating with those on the outside by radio or network.
Phase III is more straightforward than the other phases of this mission - once the infiltrators have mapped out the inside of the lab, they should locate the central computer banks and anyone with the technical expertise should make a copy of the databanks. This will require some hacking and all characters doing infiltration will be provided with a device that will allow them to hack through any passcodes required by the computer to access the information inside. Copying the database will take at least a half hour, so characters may have to create diversions, talk themselves out of hot water when people come to stop by the computer room, and otherwise distract the true staff of the building from entering the room and catching them in the act.
Once the computer banks have been copied, characters should use another device they will be given before infiltration to plant a virus in the computer banks that will corrupt everything in them. The virus will take about 10 minutes to get to the point of critical mass, a guaranteed disruption of the whole system. This phase of the mission will take at least 40 minutes total, during which characters are going to have to keep any of the real staff of the lab out of the computer room through whatever means possible, making it the point in the mission most likely to go off the rails.
After the computer system has been disrupted by the virus, characters will have to escape the building without being caught by the Sylphid staff, and may leave through any exit available so they can melt into the forest and make a clean escape.
Characters infiltrating the lab will discover several rooms where sentient test subjects are located. Some of them will be in very ill health due to side effects of the treatments they've been enduring, and all will be very willing and eager to be rescued. While some characters stay with the computer banks to copy and sabotage them, other characters may go find these rooms full of test subjects, about 45 in total, and smuggle them out of the building. Once the rebel force has been alerted to the presence of test subjects, they will send a truck to wait near the back entrance, and operatives will simply have to cut the chain link fence to make space for the subjects to get into the truck to be transported back to the Witches Camp. This mission will likely involve having to subdue several guards as the back entrance is near the guards' room.
Mission B: Disrupt The Supply Chain
Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: Recon and open battle.
This mission will focus on open battle and guerilla tactics, with operatives locating and disrupting the supply chain to the lab. It will focus on identifying shipments of equipment, food, and other supplies to the lab and interrupting them, destroying the vehicles, subduing the enemy, and taking whatever supplies they can back to the Witches Camp.
The highway leading past the lab is a seldom-used four-lane highway that snakes its way through the jungle in a mostly uninhabited area. While there are a few scattered farms and other occupied areas, most of the highway is bordered on by wild jungle, which provides a lot of cover for surveillance of the delivery vehicles that approach the lab to drop off supplies. Most of the trucks will contain food, equipment, and other sundries for the function of the lab. The trucks can be wheeled or hover, and will have various brand names emblazoned on them. Characters tasked with surveillance in these areas will settle at safe and well-hidden spots in the jungle to watch the roads and keep detailed notes on which trucks with which brand names enter the lab to deliver supplies. They will also need to keep in close contact with home base to relay this information, with notes on the times the deliveries happen and what sort of supplies may be being delivered, based on the logos on the trucks.
Characters will discover that there are actually several routes delivery trucks are taking to get to the lab, contrary to previous intel-gathering, which pointed to the quickest and most obvious route being the one the trucks used. Some trucks are taking side streets through a nearby occupied area, at the center of which is a rather skeezy truck stop where drivers stop for food before completing their deliveries. Characters will need to spread out to cover these additional routes in order to make sure they don't miss any delivery trucks.
Additionally, the truck stop may become a good source of intel, with staff being amenable through convincing, coercion, or bribing to give information on the drivers that stop in on a regular basis, what they haul, and what their timetables are like. Players are more than welcome to NPC some of the staff at the truck stop for mild interrogation, including waitresses, cashiers, station attendants, and janitorial staff.
As Mission A moves into its final phase, and much more likely to be discovered, phase II of Mission B will go into full effect. Operatives will have discovered four routes that trucks are taking into the lab, and will need to cover all of them for both surveillance and to blockade them or sabotage them and stop the trucks.
⇝ Route 1: The main and quickest route that trucks are taking to the lab, which is directly down the highway and off of it into the lab driveway. This will be the toughest one to blockade due to the size of the highway - four lanes, though seldom used, is quite a distance to cover.
⇝ Route 2: A winding side road that goes over a small creek and then beside it, only two lanes across and through a mostly uninhabited area. Because it's uninhabited and a smaller road with less traffic, it will be easier to blockade and is also the second most used route by the trucks.
⇝ Route 3: A relatively direct route from the truck stop through some back streets that straightforwardly traverse farmland. There is more traffic on this road that is civilian because of its proximity to farmland, and will require a bit more effort due to this civilian traffic.
⇝ Route 4: Another straightforward route, though this time through a civilian-occupied area, and close to a school for the small community surrounding the truck stop. This will be the most difficult to blockade without doing too much collateral damage to the civilian area around it and the school.
Characters will have been given bombs that they may use to destroy the roads themselves as well as access to heavy machinery they can use to move cement blocks into the roadways to block traffic from getting through. Once the roads are blocked or destroyed, characters will have to subdue the Sylphid staff on the trucks through force, which might be a significant fight, as all Sylphid, even down to truck drivers, are well-trained in combat. These drivers are also well-armed, considering the mission they're on to supply the lab, which is one of the top priorities for the Sylphid as of now.
Phase III is relatively straightforward compared to the rest of the missions - unload the trucks and carry the supplies back to the Witches Camp via truck or hover-ATV, then destroy the trucks. This will mostly be through demolitions or by setting the trucks on fire, leaving them as a signal to the Sylphid that they can't go about their research without being challenged.
Characters may disable the trucks in whatever fashion they wish, so long as it leaves a good, lasting message to the Sylphid. The Sylphid drivers that aren't killed should be captured and bound and loaded into a truck to be taken back to the Witches Camp to be interrogated or used as bargaining chips for the more diplomatic side of the rebellion.
Damage to civilian property or injury of civilians, especially children who may be playing at the playground by the school would be seriously looked down on and a huge blow to the rebellion's reputation, so characters are encouraged to keep destruction to a minimum on Route 4 in particular. In fact, the rebellion would prefer if operatives could load the trucks onto heavy machinery and take them to the Witches Camp for demolition instead of leaving them on Route 4.
Additionally, operatives along the routes will find that some of the trucks contain caged and restrained test subjects. Once these are discovered, they should be taken by truck back to the Witches Camp. Unfortunately, these test subjects can't be returned to their families in Zephyr because their chips would immediately mark them for death - the Sylphid would, without thinking twice, kill people that were marked as test subjects who escaped, especially after being rescued by the rebellion, in case they were corrupted by the rebellion. These test subjects will have to be comforted and brought back to the Camp to either join the rebellion or be civilians in the Camp.
III
Codi slides up to Rokuro's side from a nearby embankment and points to a nearby truck, trying to look as casual as possible in spite of being in essentially full civilian gear with some standard-issue armored padding to protect her vital bits, and, you know, the fact that she has not participated in the fighting at all so far. Participation doesn't mean lack of observation, though; she's used this opportunity to tail a group of rebels and chart their abilities, their communications, their weaknesses. All vital information for working with them later.
...Oh, and she's also been passing on bits of intel that she picked up from the truck stop earlier to help guide them to a convenient bridge crossing--mission stuff. Much less important to her. Codi finds the man who can control water and throw cars with his brain like they're toys a lot more interesting, especially because he looks a little lost. Like he's waiting for someone to give him instructions.
So, she does. "Please don't damage the truck," Codi says, voice completely level in spite of the convoy's guards shooting in all sorts of directions. She is definitely afraid of getting shot, but looking that way will help absolutely no one right now. "We need an escape vehicle, right? I can drive it if you clear out the front seats."
no subject
"Very well."
Some people are made to lead, and others were born to follow. Rokuro is solidly in the latter category. While he is quick to offer his opinion on the battlefield, he must remain focused and entirely present in his own body to best tap into his abilities. Thinking lofty thoughts will only divide his attention and reduce his efficacy.
Rokuro lifts the creek high, water arching spectacularly in the night sky, and brings it down hard on the roof of the target. Superficially denting the metal and almost assuredly scaring the absolute shit out of its driver.
It's possible the truck's tires pop with the force, but Rokuro wouldn't know anything about that. He's only familiar with wooden wheels. The perils of trusting a feudal era water-witch and Hylian magnet-gremlin to carry out sophisticated orders.
no subject
Well, I guess that works. Straightening her back and brushing off her blouse, Codi strides out from behind Rokuro's shadow with her thumbs hooked casually in her pockets. "Good work," she says. Giving the man as much praise as she wants to give him doesn't seem necessary - he's willing to do what she wants without it, and she'd rather it not get to his head. "Cover me?"
Between Rokuro and the little pointy-eared guy dressed in trash, there honestly isn't much resistance remaining on this bridge for him to cover Codi from. But that would be just her luck, wouldn't it? To get shot by a stray bullet while she's trying to look all imperious. Better to hedge her bets, while she has the resources to do so.
no subject
The barrier's only true weakness is Rokuro himself. If he exhausts himself, it will weaken, and eventually fade away. If he dies, the barrier immediately dies with him.
no subject
Then it's back to the mission. The woman jogs with her mobile cover to the driver's side of the abandoned truck - resisting the temptation to take her time and strut there instead, since the source of her barrier is looking pretty tired and she doesn't want to push him to the point of failure for the sake of her ego - and tries the door. A few ripples in the bubble's surface are the only indication that it's doing its job to protect her from projectiles. Codi ignores them, focused on the fact that the truck's door, annoyingly, won't open. It's unlocked, but...jammed?
Oh, right - the roof. Codi tries tugging on the handle with a bit more force, then when that doesn't work, scowls, plants a foot next to it on the chassis, and heaves back with a frustrated growl. The metal groans in protest but doesn't give. This might take a minute.
no subject
Is it a potentially foolish waste of energy to bring the column of water back around to blast the door open? Possibly, but it gets the job done-- while soaking the interior of the truck. The barrier will protect Codi from many things, but a wet bottom isn't one of them.
no subject
The barrier doesn't protect her from the muddy road, either.
Codi scuttles back to her feet, back and sides coated in mud and a look of utter shock on her face. Abruptly it twists into a grin, accompanied by a high-pitched, manic laugh.
"Guess I deserved that, huh?" she chortles - moments before her head whips around to Rokuro. The laughter dies in her throat and her eyes narrow, a hint of murder behind them.
"In the car. Passenger side." The side of Codi's mouth twitches. "You have done enough."
no subject
An incline of his head, more out of habit than any real deference, and he gracefully climbs up into the truck behind her. Rokuro spent the earlier half of the mission investigating the trucks, and at this point has stopped/wrecked a great many of them, but this is his first time inside of one.
And his first time as a passenger in any automobile. Before arriving on this planet, Rokuro had exclusively traveled by horse and carriage. Between the squelching seats, scent of creek water, and claustrophobic interior, he is less than impressed.
Rokuro's body is not ready for this. He also has no idea what a seatbelt is.
"What an inelegant form of transportation."
no subject
She's lucky to find the truck's keys still in the ignition - or what Codi figures is the futuristic alien approximation of a key-and-ignition combo. It's a small bit of shaped metal inserted into a button near the steering wheel. Close enough. Codi puzzles around this and other such minor differences for a few seconds while Rokuro joins her on the passenger side.
"Hardly a luxury car, that's for sure," she murmurs, experimentally twisting the key and pressing on a pedal that she thinks is a clutch. It's what she remembers Marcus doing when he drove her to the start of this route, anyway. The truck sputters for some moments before whirring to life with an alarming lurch. "--Ah! Got it. Good girl."
no subject
The truck is supposedly machinery, entirely man-made and without will of its own, but it feels alive. His seat is vibrating, the engine is loud, and Rokuro is suddenly aware of how small and soft he is in comparison to this giant metal beast, which may as well be a mechanical dragon.
"How does one know if it is 'good' or a 'girl'?" Do the trucks have personalities of their own after all? Should Rokuro have made some kind of offering or apology before climbing inside?
no subject
"It's 'good' because it turned on!" Codi answers cheerfully. Her hand feels for the stick and - ugh, a manual? In space? This is going to be rough. Not because Codi doesn't know how to operate a manual transmission (she absolutely does, since she's favored driving older cars to avoid frying the electronic components in newer models), but because the stick layout is completely foreign to her. There's something like twelve notches and none of them are labeled.
Ignoring her displeasure, Codi rambles on, defaulting to the excuse she used as a child to see how much it unsettles Rokuro and confirms her suspicions about him. "It's a 'girl' because it told me!"
Experimentally, Codi moves the stick one notch and eases on the gas. The truck wobbles forward on its popped front tires with a scream of the engine. Definitely the wrong gear. Codi absently works the clutch as she cycles through the gears, truck struggling to move the entire time.
no subject
"Is it supposed to be so loud? Why is it protesting? Must we fear its displeasure?!" Walking is looking more tempting by the second, even if he's exhausted and dizzy. At least he isn't confined within a small space, at the mercy of a foreign woman and possessed machine.
no subject
"There! Gotcha." Codi affectionately pats the trucks dashboard for effect. She doesn't have her electricity-manipulating abilities available to make the truck's electronics 'talk back' to her, like she would've done when she was younger, but that doesn't mean she can't bluff it. "Nothing to worry about. She's a good listener. See?"
To emphasize - and because she's got a fairly good guess of what the next gear up should be - Codi mashes the clutch and shifts, right as the engine starts to protest again. The revs calm, as if on demand, and Codi flashes Rokuro a wide, toothy grin.
"Everything's totally under control."
no subject
He doesn't share Codi's amusement, however, and is looking paler by the minute. Definitely leaning more terrified than impressed, at least until the truck stops making loud, roaring noises.
"It feels as if we are sitting within the belly of a metal dragon." One that only Codi has the reins to. Given how little they know one another, Rokuro has yet to decide if that is a positive or a negative.
"What was wrong with carriages? This hardly feels like an improvement... though I suppose the seats are rather comfortable."
no subject
"That, and they can move a lot faster," she offers - in spite of the fact that the seats, to her, are way too squishy and damp for her standards. "This one's just...injured. So we have to limp her a little."
There's a pause, as Codi considers the best way to try and settle Rokuro's nerves for the remainder of the trip. He seemed to like being given directions; maybe finding something for him to do will help?
"--They can carry a bunch more, too! See this little window here?" Codi shifts in her seat slightly so she can rap her knuckles on the back wall behind her, where a shuttered, rectangular window sits closed between them. "You can see what this one's carrying if you look through here. Wanna check?"
no subject
He twists in his seat to open the window and peer through it. Rokuro hasn't been entirely helpful in the 'identification' phase of the mission, given he doesn't recognize most of the equipment he sees around him, never mind understand it's uses, but in this specific case? Knowledge of technology isn't necessary.
A sharp inhale, singular crimson eye widening.
"People. It is carrying people. They appear unwell... perhaps these are sick prisoners who no longer suit the Sylphid's purpose." A hard swallow. They don't have laboratories in feudal Japan, but those deemed sick with contagious illness are rejected by society at best, and sentenced to death in mass graves at worst.
"I do not believe they are being transported to another medical facility." Coolly, in spite of his clenching stomach. Crammed thoughtlessly into the back of the truck without provision or attendants, the intended destination of these prisoners is all too clear.
no subject
"The fuck--?!" Without stopping the truck, Codi flips around fully and cranes her neck so she can see through the small window, squinting incredulously. There they are. She stares at the huddled mass of passengers for long enough to let the engine struggle again, which snaps her attention abruptly back to driving. Thankfully the truck's burst front tires have hobbled its speed, else she might have crashed them. Suddenly that's a much bigger concern than getting her and Rokuro into hot water for losing intel.
"Not anymore they're not," Codi confirms with an anxious crease of her brow. On the one hand, stakes are higher; on the other hand, those stakes might recognize her heroism and vouch for her later. A little twitch tugs at the corner of Codi's mouth. "But we can change that. Do you have any medical training? Basic first aid?"
no subject
"I know how to stop bleeding, and stitch wounds..." Rokuro's brow is similarly creased, although heroism couldn't be farther from his thoughts. Once again he finds himself ignorant in the worst way, and now innocent people may suffer for it. "If you give me directions, I will follow them to the best of my ability."
no subject
"Good," she states with a brisk nod. "If you have something to put over your mouth and nose, like a mask or a cloth, do that first." Because it wouldn't be super productive if she got her new lackey sick, would it? Codi at least knows that he'll do better not to inhale whatever alien germs are floating around in there. "Go in the back, check for injuries you can treat and do what you can, prioritize the most severe cases first. If you don't know what to do, focus on making people as comfortable as possible and listening to what's wrong with them, so we can tell Command later. Got it?"
no subject
He climbs out of the truck without further commentary, ripping a piece of fabric from the bottom of his already cropped shirt to tie over his face. What's a little more skin on the battlefield? Opening the back of the truck (after some confusion how) Rokuro is glad to have covered his face, if only to mask his reaction to the overwhelming scent of fear and death.
The prisoners are either too ill to notice his appearance, or shrink away from him in fear. Although unsure of himself before, Rokuro steels himself now. Determined to provide these people with what they need most: Kindness and comfort.
"Fear not. I am from the Witch's Camp. We are bringing you to safety." At that, the prisoners begin to stir, some quietly talking amongst themselves as others cry out in relief. Rokuro begins attending to those closest to him, asking after their ailments with a soft voice and warm touch. Whether or not he can do anything to help, he will listen.
There is one thing Rokuro can do that he had not described to Codi, and that is his ability to look into a person's body and see their blood and organs. When he sees a body that no longer registers to his chalcedony eye, he covers them as best as he can and moves them away from those who are still alive.