Yes, it's happening! Christmas update FTW!
Mondragon Mission PhaseAnother letter has been dropped into the inbox. This one reads:
The previous head of covert ops kept running into problems with his cover life, and constantly creating excuses. Something about "SAT" or something. Regardless, he has been disposed of and a new head of covert ops appointed.Executive meeting: (Uncontested)We didn't have a man on scene, but the reports from people present at the time of the assault, corroborated with several camers, indicated that Thantro's plan of attack involved going into the building across the street, firing 6 grenades through the window in a short period of time, and leaving. The attack was deadly effective, killing every person in the room and several not in it, as shrapnel pierced the walls.
The company has been shaken by the loss of a number of executives, and a number of people are hurriedly promoted. In particular, the loss of Tian Yijun, the beloved HR department head was keenly felt by every worker.
Our spies estimate that the company stability dropped by about 6%, and the stock market represents this.
Command informs us that they are not very happy about the event, and threaten to cut some funding if something like this happens again with not even an attempt by us to protect Mondragon interests. Some smoothing of ruffled feathers may be in order.
-6% Mondragon integritySquad Grab - Scientist extractionDiego and Chandi successfully head to the airport to grab the Bell 206, and begin the liftoff procedure. This is timed such that they will arrive at the building at the same time as their grounded friends.
Nikita and Do-yun infiltrate the building, with liberal use of Dragon's Gaze to smooth their infiltration. They successfully rendezvous with the scientist, and take the elevator to the second to top level, before taking the service stairs up to the roof. As they cautiously emerge onto the roof through the door, and then start running for the later, the sound of rapid gunfire breaks out. Do-Yun is downed immediately, and the scientist is wounded quite badly in the first three seconds. Wounded, Nikita throws her smoke grenade at the same time as Chandi opens fire on the Thantro agent, who had leapt out of a decoy air conditioning unit on the roof. The Thantro agent and one other on a separate roof both open fire at Chandi as she crouches on the floor of the helicopter. The now standard pinging of bullets falling to the ground a few feet from a Thantro agent makes itself known, as every single one of Chandi's bullets are stopped by the enemy force field. Nikita tries to assist by firing at the Thantro agent, and the bullets actually contact. It would seem that the fields are monodirectional or close to it, and Nikita is excited at the prospect of actually injuring a Thantro agent. She is sorely dissappointed, however, as it would seem that Thantro agents now have a full body suit version of the directional force field as well. It seems to be weaker, and Nikita can see the last bullet keep going slowly before hitting the ground, but the enemy agent moves to the other side of the decoy conditioning unit and keeps firing at the helicopter. Diego makes the wise decision to pull out, flying towards where Nikita is with the rope ladder dragging so that she can wrap it around herself. The helicopter and the three agents make it out, with moderate damage to the helicopter. Nikita and Chandi are both quite wounded, and will not be able to fight next month.
The mission was a failure, largely due to not enough resources being devoted to it, and unfortunate placement of enemy agents. Had there been more agents devoted to the extraction, or had they been equipped with SCAFIRs and SFOS, it would almost certainly have succeeded.
Command is dissappointed, and take away some of their previously granted funding.
-10 monthly funding
Helicopter 18% damaged, needs 23 supply to be repaired
-1 SOFIA, 1 smoke grenade
Do-Yun has been KIA
Chandi, Nikita, and Diego are more experienced
Chandi and Nikita have been awarded the Violet Heart for taking injury in combat
Chandi and Nikita are wounded for 1 turn, and cannot participate in a missionSquad Smash-Factory raidInfiltration takes some time, but Mondragon agents are nothing if not patient and determined. Alex and Alexandro spend almost a week performing recon, building a rep for themselves in the district, and gradually getting accepted. Once they'd built enough trust with the locals, they used Dragon's Gaze for the final push, and were able to get a half completed map of the facility, along with several entrances.
They choose the least defended one, with Alex and Alexandro cutting power to the district at the same time as the team entering the facility through the side entrance. The lights in the nondescript alley go off for about 30 seconds, enough time to incapacitate the door guards and break into the stairwell, but the facility lights flicker back on shortly after, admittedly dimmer than before. Alex reports that power has been cut elsewhere, and it is concluded that the factory must have an emergency generator of some kind somewhere. Once the team comes to the bottom of the stairwell they find themselves in another hallway, this one white and sterile looking. There is another two guards behind a blast door 5 meters from the stairwell, who look into the entrance hallway through a thick glass slot in the door. Before they can raise the alarm, however, they are Dragon's Gazed into oblivion by 8 simultaneous castings. The door is convinced to open with liberal application of acids and such, and a silenced SCAFIR is used to kill both enemy guards with headshots, in an attempt to hide the effect of Dragon's Gaze.
Having finally made it into the main complex, the team consults their crude map and draw the fastest route to where the finished goods are stored, as well as where the plants are grown and where the workers sleep and live. The factory is heavily segregated, mainly to prevent contamination of different expirimental plants, as well as quickly and easily cull breakout attempts, which has a side effect of making outside infiltration more difficult, also.
First contact with enemy agents happens pretty much as expected. The agents successfully proceeded a good portion of the way to their goal, and then encountered a janitor closet upon a left turn into hallway. The agents were immediately suspicious that it contained a
Thantro Tactical Team!, and proceeded cautiously. Upon getting 10 meters from the doorway, it burst open. Several baked flashbangs flew out, along with four Thantro agents. The flashbangs temporarily stunned our agents, as the SFOS armor has no flash/sound protection, and many of our team's reflex shots went wide. The ones that did hit were stopped by an invisible field that hovered about 5 centimeters above their skin. As our agents began to recover, a hail of foal rounds were loosed by Thantro. In the two and a half seconds it took our agents to recover, almost 120 bullets flew towards them. Most hit, and, though many failed to pierce, even at such close ranges, the impact force served to further destabilize our team. Gaanatar, and Tim were injured, and Indah was killed due to repeated upper chest impacts. Thantro had to stop to reload because of the miniscule clip size on the carbine, which was when our agents struck back. 350 bullets. That is how many bullets 7 of our agents unloaded in 3 and a half seconds. Their presumably highest level caster's force buckler stood for less than half of a second before collapsing. Their second layer of defense, their new seemingly more skintight field, stood for about a second and a half due to the greater spread of bullets hitting different enemy agents. Just as their fields started to fail and some bullets made impact, another force buckler rose up to block for even less than before. The second buckler dropped moments before our team ran out of bullets, but when it did, the last firing cycle completely shredded their kevlar vests and combat suits like they weren't even there. Two enemy agents were wounded, and one dropped, dead or incapacitated. Before our agents could take advantage of this, and while they were finishing reloading, the enemy agents fled around the corner that their hideout had been placed at. Suddenly a very loud shot rang out from behind our team while they were still reloading. Tim cries out and is flung quite far forwards, with a massive hole in his lower back plating. He's still alive, but it seems that Thantro has a shotgun and is using ~10 gauge slugs with it.
Our team whirls with admirable coordination, having finished reloading, and six SCAFIRs open fire upon the enemy at the same time as the enemy throws cooked flashbangs. Despite there being two less SCAFIRs, their shield still drops faster than before. An enemy flashbang goes off just as the shield falls, throwing off our agents' aim. Rather than waste bullets, they stop firing while they recover. Another shotgun blast rings out, Gaanatar taking the hit on his right arm. The slug tears through the weaker limb armor, severely fracturing the bone and sending him spinning. With our five agents recovered, they begin firing again, and the Thantro team ducks behind the corner as their second shield drops. Our team is in a tough spot, with one dead agent and two injured, stuck between two enemy teams, one of which has a fairly effective counter to our armor, in very close quarters. The team made the smart decision, choosing to rush the team they first engaged. They rounded the corner to find that the first Thantro team had recovered and were ready to reengage even as thantro beat a hasty retreat, firing into the oncoming Mondragon forces.
Our team fired back, of course, five rifles versus their three. Tim stayed in the back, as well as Ganaatar, as both of them were too injured to effectively fire, so they served as the rear guard.
Another of their blasted shields rose up, though it fell just as quickly, seemingly weaker than before. With their shielded armor charge apparently depleted, our rifles easily mowed them down, taking minimal injuries. Aiko and Boris both had their armor pierced in the chest area with minimal damage, but Kaish took a bullet that snuck its way through, just under the padding on the shoulder joint.
All three enemy agents were killed and our team proceeded quickly down the hallway. The enemy agent team behind us followed, giving potshots with the shotgun and doing their best to harass our team. Gaanatar is killed when a slug smashes into his neck, but we managed to kill one of the enemy agents and tag the one with the shotgun in return. The team reaches a T intersection, and turns right. Only three turns and a checkpoint are left before the team accesses the expiremental crop section of the facility. Upon reaching the checkpoint, they found another Thantro agent team, this time only 3 agents, one of which had a shotgun. All three were crouched behind a defensive barrier. As this was the only way through to further into the facility, the team had no choice but to engage in a frontal assault.
A flashbang is thrown at the same time as Thantro throws one, and both teams are simultaneously stunned. Mondragon recovered first as they were used to the tactic at that point, and had closed their eyes before it went off. Our team began firing, targeting traditional weak points in an attempt to determine the capabilities of their shielded armor. With their formation broken, our agents' gutsy charge got them into close range. Sticking the guns almost on the slippery shields, our agents opened up at literal knife fight range.
They didn't stand a chance. Disoriented and thrown to the ground, the three agents were rapidly eliminated before they could bring their guns to bear. Hearing shouting behind, the team quickly broke down the door that was behind the barricade, and finally entered the core of the facility. Here the illegal plants were grown, and the laborers worked and slept.
The team hurriedly barricaded the door behind them, and planted the charges. After judicious use of Dragon's Gaze on the workers of the facility, the team discovered a secret exit utilized by some of said workers which allowed them to bypass fighting their way back out or looking for another, more obvious route. Even the Thantro enforcers were unaware of the exit, as it was them that the passage was intended to avoid.
As the team extracted from the area there was a mass exodus of the surviving factory security team as well, once they realized what had happened.
When the explosion went off, the ground rumbled. The building above the facility collapsed in a spray of dust, and shockwaves akin to a minor earthquake spread through the surrounding slums.
The team has been congratulated on doing an excellent job. Two deaths to eight is an excellent reversal of the previous ratio, and leadership has reinstated the previous funding and then some.
-~9% Thantro integrity, +20 monthly funding
Eight enemy agents were killed.
One was injured.
-5 flashbangs
-2 SFOS, SCAFIR (Silenced), Radio
-1 SOFIA
4 SFOS are damaged and will require repairs. (4 supply)
Indah and Gaanatar were killed.
Tim, Kaish, Aiko, Boris, Evgeni Bulgolyubov, and Adeladja are more experienced.
Tim, Kaish, and Boris have been awarded the Violet Heart for taking injury in combat.
Aiko has been awarded the Violet Cross for repeated bravery in battle.
Tim is in intensive care and will be unoperable next turn.
Kaish is moderately injured, and will have a moderate penalty to combat next turn.
Aiko and Boris will have minor penalties to combat next turn.
Squad Run-Arms dealer escortThe plan worked near perfectly. All boxes were checked for enemy agents ahead of time, the boat arrived on time, and there had been no enemy contact. Just as the dealer and his guards were getting off their boat and offloading their illicit cargo, Moira reported on comms that a human sized thermal signature was in the water near the docks. Almost immediately after a spray of grenades flew across the docks.
Brusilov was injured badly by shrapnel but for the most part, the grenades missed by 20 feet or more. The team rapidly surrounding the offending section of water and fired at the two thantro, but were unable to connect due to the intervening water on the sides and the shield on top. Faced with overwhelming numbers, the two thantro agents sulked back into the depths from whence they came. Unable to remove the threat without unacceptable losses, the team simply decided to unpack in a hurry and keep an eye on that section of the water.
The team escorted the dealer safely away from the site, and command congratulated us on a job well done. The reality is, however, that we were lucky. Most of the team was unarmored, and if thantro had actually aimed it is doubtful anyone but Moira and Zhukov would have survived.
As the dealer was able to unload his wares, all nondesigned weapon purchases receive a 10% discount this month. +1 to weapon request roll.
Moira, Zhukov, Hannah, Brusilov, Pavlov, and Reece Walker are more experienced.
Brusilov has received the Violet Heart for bravery in battle.
Brusilov is in intensive care and will be unable to perform a mission next month.Public opinionThe events of this month left much of the public shaken. Individually they didn't mean much. These things happen. Building collapses, dock fights, and more take place on a semi regular basis within the city. But for those who paid attention to such things, the increase in activity painted a grim picture. Rumors have begun to fly that the government has lost control. Several riots, an increase in unorganized crime, and an increase in gun purchasing as citizens all race to arm themselves have all risen as a result of these rumors. Because of this, the government is beginning to pay more serious attention to the situation. The government now exists as a third party which, if treated delicately, may be pointed at your enemy. If you are not cautious, however, you may find that your own misdeeds haunt you.
Event!It's Christmastime! Santa is being generous this year, and whichever team can write the nicest letter to Santa will be awarded a single unique present of their choice. This present will be granted in the form of a special project that makes a single item, within reason, with a single reroll for the lowest die of the project. Multiple submissions can be written and voted upon in your personal thread, with the winning letter getting posted in the core thread at the end of the tactics phase.
EU and ammo can safely be ignored when equipping non player characters.
Weapons:
Foal N5B2 Carbine Rifle: 884m/sec muzzle velocity. Fully automatic. 700 RPM. Effective up to 500m. 5.56x45mm cartridge. 2 EU unloaded, 3 EU loaded. 6 supply. 30 round clip size. 30 rounds 1 EU. Can pierce 12mm of steel at 600m.
Foal N2822 Semi-Automatic Service Pistol: 253m/sec muzzle velocity. Semi automatic. Typical range 25m, effective to 40m. 0.45 ACP cartridge. 1 EU unloaded, 2 EU loaded. 3 supply. 7 round clip size. 32 rounds 1 EU. Cannot pierce substantial armor without repeated shots.
Mondragon Collective Standard Operative Firearm (SOFIA M1983): [8], [5]
Scarily effective AP pistol. 4 supply. 3 EU loaded, 2 EU unloaded. 650 m/s muzzle velocity. Semi automatic. Typical range 75 m, effective to 150. 7.62×28mm SOFIA Standard Operative Cartridge (SOC-1983-01 FMJ). Bullets are titanium cased lead core. 1 AP. 12 round clip size. 24 rounds 1 EU. Can pierce type III armor at 100m. Silencer is 2 supply, sounds like a soft "pop" at 10m.
FN P90: 715m/s muzzle velocity. Fully automatic. 900 RPM. Effective 200m. Maximum 1.8km. FN 5.7x28mm cartridge. 2 EU unloaded, 4 EU loaded. 5 supply. 50 round clip size. 50 rounds 1 EU.
SCAFIR LP83: FN P90 refit. 830m/s muzzle velocity. Fully automatic. 900 RPM. Effective 200m. Maximum 2.2km. 7.62×28mm SOFIA Standard Operative Cartridge (SOC-1983-01 FMJ). Bullets are titanium cased lead core. 1 AP. 60 round clip size. 60 rounds 2 EU. Can pierce type III armor at 150m. Silencer is 2 supply, sounds like a soft "pop" at 10m. 2 EU unloaded, 5 EU loaded. 5 supply.
Combat knife: A small knife capable of piercing limited armor. 1 AP. 1 supply.
Armor and equipment:
Kevlar vest: Light protection of torso, shoulders, and upper legs. Gray. 3 EU. 2 supply.
Combat suit: Thin bodywide protection. Black. 1 EU. 1 supply.
Mondragon Special Forces Operational Suit (SFOS) Type IV Protection, Flex (TIVF): [6] [5]
Incredibly effective yet light body armor. 13 supply (20 originally). 6 EU. Heavy chest armor, substantial armor on limbs. Provides a bonus to combat analysis, a bonus to sniping with scopeless weapons.
Encrypted radio: 100 meter broadcast radius. Static gets rather bad at max range. Encrypted to prevent enemy intercepting, although use signals that agents are in the area to anyone listening. 1 EU. 1 supply for one.
Smoke grenades: Can form a cloud of smoke roughly 10 meters in diameter that reduces anyone inside to vague shadows. 1 EU for 3. 1 supply for 3.
Flashbangs: Likely stun and disorient anyone caught within the 3 meter blast radius. Anyone outside of that gets a reduced effect. 1 EU for 3. 1
supply for 3.
Capture kit: 4 supply. Melee range equipment to aid in incapacitating and then capturing an enemy. Essentially guarantees success on capturing, as long as you can get into melee.
Forced entry kit: Lockpicks, acid and other assorted gear for breaking in. 4 EU. 5 supply.
Bomb/trap defusal kit: A series of items useful for defusing bombs. 4 EU. 6 supply.
Breaching charge: A small but powerful localized detonation meant for creating man sized hole in walls with a thickness of less than 15 centimeters. Ineffective against anything stronger than brick. 2 EU. 4 supply.
Bell 206 Helicopter: Can pickup and airports and dropoff anywhere. Very reliable. 130 supply for a single helicopter.
Spells:
Dragon's Gaze: [3] [6]
Trivial casting difficulty. Induces hypnosis on a target for five minutes from a range of twenty feet. Can be broken by startling the target. Must suggest, not order target. Multiple castings induces a vegetative state.
Corporation integrity: 85%
Supply: 91/145
Maintenance this turn: 96
(Unused supply will add to the next turn)
4 SFOS
4 SFOS need repairs (4 supply)
6 SCAFIR LP83 (Silencer)
1 SCAFIR LP83
2 SOFIA M1983 (Silencer)
1 Foal N5B2
1 kevlar vest (scavenged)
2 combat suits (scavenged)
12 SOFIA M1983
3 FN P90
1 forced entry kit
13 radios
6 smoke grenades
1 Bell 206
You have two squads out of two maximum (20/20)
[6]Diego (M) 1 mission
[6]Alexandro (M) 2 missions, Violet Heart
[6]Alex (F) 1 mission
[6]Nikita (F) 1 mission
[5]Evgeni Bulgolyubov (M) 3 missions
[5]Moira (F) 1 mission
[4]Chandi (F) 1 mission
[4]Aiko (F) 2 missions, Violet Heart, Violet Cross, minor injury
[4]Zhukov (M) 2 missions
[3]Hannah (F) 2 missions
[3]Brusilov (M) 2 missions, Violet Heart
[2]Pavlov (M) 2 missions
[2]Adeladja (M) 2 missions
[1]Tim (M) 3 missions, Violet Heart, intensive care (1 turn)
[1]Kaish (F) 2 missions, Violet Heart, moderate injury
[1]Boris (M) 2 missions, Violet Heart, minor injury
[1]Reece Walker (M) 1 mission
It is now the Design Phase of April 1983. You may vote on a single design.