Sketches on a Csilla Plain

[TAC]

"Introduction and Espionage Series"

Mission #1:

---

A Chiss sat in a preping room, leaning forward on his knees, a cold metallic bench beneath him. The room was unusually dark for the brilliant Csilla cities, deep underground the frozen tundra, but still a beautiful and technologically advanced world. Csaplar, where the Chiss was currently, was connected to every single other city under the frozen ice, and thus it never stood alone. Billions of Chiss and others were spread through the Ascendency's Capitol, but in this moment as the Chiss looked at his meshed fingers as he sat, he felt very alone.


But that was how he liked it.

The Preping Room led to a briefing room, and after he had been prepared and sat for several hours, a red light next to a door started to blink. It was oddly familiar to the aging Chiss, and it reminded the man of times long past. Rising to his feet he walked with a slow determination towards the door. It swooshed open and he walked inside, without a moment's pause, to the bright white briefing room. There was a holotable in the center of the room, and on it stood a slightly miniaturized version of a Chiss Military Officer. The automated system that spoke through the hologram officer spoke the usual jargon, words and ideas that had not much changed since the Chiss had served and been through rooms very much like this one years ago.

When the formalities were completed, the Officer was replaced by an attractive younger Chiss woman.

"Welcome, Operative Mar'vion'timurius," she spoke, gracefully. "Your mission today is simple. Two Chiss are escorting highly valuable information from an office on the 24th floor of a building, to an awaiting hovercar on the ground floor. Recover the package and escape the building unharmed. Do you have any questions?" As she spoke a diagram of the building came, and the office and hoverpad on the ground floor were both highlighted. The Chiss shook his head no in response, and the woman gestured to a pod on the far side of the briefing room.

Sighing, Mar'vion'timurius walked over to the pod and opened it. He stepped inside and wheeled, making eye contact with the Chiss woman without changing his facial expressions. Then, taking another step back, little sticky pads with wires attached to them shot out from inside the pod and fixed themselves to the Chiss. The pod closed before him, and a blue scan went from bottom to top of the inside of the pod, scanning Mar'vion'timurius. He didn't move, simply staring forward at the now closed door.

The world broke down around him, and then suddenly rebuilt quickly into the courtyard in front of the tall building that had been described. Mar'vion'timurius looked behind him at the pad, without a hovercraft there yet. He then refocused his attention on the doors of the building and quickly started ascending the 30 or so stairs towards them.

---

"Operatives, welcome," the female Chiss said as two Chiss soldiers entered the briefing room. "The simulation today is simple. You will be working against an operative in attempting to secure several important documents. You'll be starting on the 24th floor the building and moving downward to a waiting hovercar. Reaching it will mean success, and losing the package will be considered failure. Good luck." Without any further words two pods that would "take" the two Chiss to the 24th floor of the simulated building opened, inviting them inside.

 

[Miike]

The hologram female flickered out of sight leaving the table looking dull and grey in the vast white of the briefing room.
Ronin shrugged, his arms clasped in front of him. He swallowed hard as he gazed into the empty pod. "Very well," he thought, exhaling, before stepping toward the pod. He offered his compatriot a courteous nod, safe in the knowledge that they both understood their brief.

What filled Ronin with apprehension was the pod itself. The "transfer", as some of his instructors had called it, had not agreed with him during his younger years training in the military. As the room around him dissipated; the vast matrix of dots that swarmed and germinated into the setting of the training programme, Ronin often found the sensation left him feeling disoriented, and on more than one occasion such training exercises had caused the Chiss Lieutenant to leave the training pod lined with the contents of his stomach.

Turning as he positioned himself inside, Ronin scowled, not noticing the soft pads that affixed themselves to him. To his disappointment, Ronin's thoughts, which should of course be on the mission at hand, now dwelled on the possible content of the package he was charged with protecting. "Enough," he found himself ushering aloud, before wincing as the room around in melted into the main office of the 24th floor.

 

[Tribunal Power]

Listening wordlessly through the briefing, Sovexa watched as the hologram disappeared and she was urged to the pod. Her comrade nodded to her, and she nodded back; she didn't know who he was, but his bars said lieutenant, and it was a naval insignia. Whether it was Defense or Expeditionary, she was unsure, but either way she was satisfied; naval officers were some of the most brilliant men she'd ever known.

With the briefing finished, she stood from her seat and moved toward the latter of the two pods. She climbed in, reclining into the cushioned seat, tilting her head back as automatic nodes applied themselves to her body. Two beneath her chin on her throat, several to her chest with one over her heart, and one for every major muscle. The tight, conductive suit she'd been given allowed for the transference of information between her body's synapses and the software's avatar. The involuntary thoughts she'd normally use to move her arm would be intercepted and used instead to move her avatar's arm, resulting in a sense of realism unobtainable in other mediums. It was as if it were a hyper-stimulating dream, so real and so vivid that one might forget it was a simulation.

The inside of the pod went dark, and Sovexa saw only black. When the lights came on, she was surrounded by an office, and she was fully geared. The numbing feeling in her muscles dissipated quickly, nothing more than a delay between her body sending signals and the virtual system receiving them. She wore her standard issue Shadow Walker gear; her UGOA suit with the HUD mask hung around her neck, her NTR-2 sniper rifle modified with a short barrel and a 2x magnification scope with back-up reflex sight to better suit it to urban combat, and the 92SE/A sidearm in her drop-leg holster.

The package sat on the ground between them.

Sovexa laid her rifle lax over her chest, the two-point sling that was affixed to her scout armor at the shoulders holding it securely in place. She drew her sidearm instead, knowing it was better suited for the corner-to-corner combat possibilities of being inside an office building in a hostile situation.

Taking responsibility, as she generally preferred to, she opted to take the package. The strap to the case was long enough to fit around her petite body, and she laid it at her side, before unbuckling her ammunition harness to refasten it around the package. "Package secured," she affirmed quietly to her brother-in-arms. "Let's go."

 

[TAC]

The doors were opened when Marvion reached them, and he pulled them up and trotted confidently into the wide opening of the main lobby. The building was empty, except for a lone guard standing behind a desk. The guard was human, and he gave an odd look to the Chiss as he walked up in his combat gear. His eyes widening, the stout human put his hand on his blaster pistol and held the other out in front of him, "Stop!"

The Chiss stopped, raising his hands to either side of him to show he was unarmed. He suddenly clenched his fist, his brow furrowing in concentration. The guard's head cocked, unsure of how to react to the Chiss's movement. Quite suddenly the man started to double over, vomit propelling from his mouth as both hands came forward to stop himself from smacking his head as his body wretched with sickness. With his unclosed first Mar'vion pushed forward, slamming the man into the wall with the force. The human guard's head cracked the wall behind him, his eyes wide as he fell to the ground unconscious. Or dead. Mar'vion did not really care which it was.

There were a set of stairs along with six elevators, three on each side, as Mar'vion continued past the guard. Systematically he opened each of the doors, using the force to tear the thick cables that were holding the elevators in place, and allowing them to drop to the ground and smash. The Operative then walked to the door of the stairs, opening it carefully and leaning against the first railing, looking up. His breath was heavy from the force usage, but he again called on the Power as he reached out and tried to feel the two presences of his opponents distantly above them. He stayed there for a moment, catching his breath before starting to head up the stairs.

 

[Miike]

Lurching forward, Ronin stretched as he adjusted to the weight. His combat gear was not massively protective, in fact there was very little difference in his uniform appearance from when he entered the briefing room, other than the black breathing apparatus that now rested over his mouth, giving his breathing a hollow rattle. Dropping his shoulder, he allowed the thick, polished form of his TX-31 Charric to rest underneath his left arm, and securely fastened his belt upon which rested the crescent-form hilt of his lightsabre, and several cobalt-blue SM-1 smoke grenades.

Watching as his companion picked up the package, he sized up the sniper rifle she brandished. She couldn't be much older than him, Ronin thought, and must, at least, be Shadow Walker class. He felt immediately at ease with this, as he had no doubt of the capabilities that such a title invoked, and it was obvious for her to take the package. The polar opposites of the pairing were not accidental, he thought. His bulky, soldier-like demeanor and weaponry-to-match would provide ample cover for her perfect petite form and undoubtedly quick speed to secure the package. The silver doors of the main office swept open at their approach, and they crossed the corridor.

Ronin stopped and raised his hand. Along the wall to their right came a cacophonous thunder, hissing increasingly as if beyond the panelled-wall something large was passing at alarming speed. The sound dwindled, before a great crash caused the ground beneath them to shudder. They picked up the pace, moving towards the end of the corridor, where a great doorway lead to the stairwell. Pausing momentarily, Ronin doubted that this would be their only point of exit, and figured there must be a secondary pathway out of the complex. Turning to where the hissing sound had come from, Ronin entertained the thought of blasting a hole clean through to the elevator shaft. Thrilling, perhaps, but not much use to either of them from 24 storeys up.

Ronin cleared his throat and grunted; not wishing to invoke just how much the thought of combat in such close-quaters, particularly with the higher ground, gave him a buzz. His companion wielded a 92SE/A, a fine-looking blaster. Perfectly equipped, Ronin felt. He unclasped a smoker from his tunic and rolled it around in the palm of his hand.

"So then, Shadow," he mustered, "Stairs it is"

 

[Tribunal Power]

The sound of the elevators plummeting down to the lower level set Vex on edge. She stopped when her comrade lifted a hand and listened as they rushed past through the closed shaft doors, smashing into the ground with a ferocious crash. The Shadow Walker flexed her fingers around the grip of her machine pistol, her trigger finger idly tapping the exterior of her trigger guard.

They approached the stairs, and Vex stacked on the right side of the door frame. Her companion drew a smoker, and she nodded to him, saying, "Smoke and clear then, on my mark." She lifted the mask that was hanging around her neck onto her face and clasped it to the hood of her armor, the HUD instantly streaming before her. Setting the vision to infrared, she took a breath and nodded to him, waiting for him to prepare if he needed to.

The moment came, and she spoke over the comm, "Mark!" as she shoved open the door to the stairways to allow him to toss the smoker in.

 

[TAC]

Once the Chiss had realized that his two opponents were far above him, he started up the stairs with no hesitation, sprinting up at a steady pace. The operative wanted speed, but he knew he still had a difficult fight ahead of him, and he certainly wasn't getting any younger. He was, actually, quite old. Continuing onward he reached the third floor, and above him he heard the slam of a door as it flew open and whacked into the wall. The Chiss paused, looking up, seeing the bloom of a small explosion as a smoke grenade went off. Mar'vion was familiar with the Chiss's special grenades, and but didn't figure that he would have a problem with them.

Continuing upward, he reached out gently with the force. As the two came closer he was more able to hone in on their exact position. Once they were three floors above him, the Chiss Operative quietly opened the door and slid inside, shutting it carefully behind him. There was a small, rectangle window in the top half of the window he peered out of as they inevitably drew closer.

Taking out his pistol, Mar'vion double checked it and then closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath and centering himself, the Chiss called upon the force. In the landing between stairs, only a few feet from his door and blocking their way, an exact replica of the Chiss appeared. The man was breathing, smiling, standing with his arms crossed and leaned up against the wall opposite of the door. His gun was holstered, his helmet off, a much younger version of the aged Chiss who stood behind the door. The image coughed, the sound as audible and realistic as it might be by a real person, and his closed fist rose to cover his mouth.

 

[Miike]

The grenade had blown sending thick grey smoke billowing down the stairwell in front of them. Ronin gripped his charric across his chest & inhaled, beginning their descent, he marched determinedly down the staircase and hoped the shadow would follow him.

Caution was an afterthought at this point. After eighteen, maybe twenty floors, at a push, he figured that abandoning such an enclosed environment would be worthwhile at the risk of hauling themselves down an empty elevator shaft. His partner moved impeccably; almost silently. Had he no prior knowledge of her presence on the mission, Ronin would not have guessed he was being followed.

Moving swiftly, his breathing drew heavier, wheezing through the lined moulding of his mouthpiece. The stairs seemed unrelenting. Suddenly a muffled noise from below stopped him in his tracks. Ronin raised his charric & rested his finger on the trigger. The noise could not have been more than a floor beneath were they were standing, and allowing himself a fraction-of-a-moment, he focused. He felt a presence, for certain, only, strangely erratic. As if one being stood, their mind being in two places in time. What sense that made to Ronin eluded him. He'd raised his weapon and watched his footing as he moved forward.

"Shadow," he whispered, motioning towards the two remaining smoke grenades clipped to his belt, "take them."
His comrade acquiesed and unclipped the smokers. Should a firefight ensue, Ronin had no questions regarding his partner's ability, of the two of them, to make haste for the hovercar that by now would be waiting for them and the package.
"What can you see?", Ronin continued, eyeing his shadow's mask and hoping her infrared view could cast any light on their guest one floor below.

 

[Tribunal Power]

A noise froze Vex in her tracks, coming from below them. She glanced to her partner, who instructed her to take the two smoke grenades from his belt. They were useful in situations that needed cover and lacked it, and so she did take them, clipping them to her harness. But for now, there was enough smoke in the stairwell, and her mask-- complete with IR/thermal vision overlay and a breather-- proved invaluable.

Peering down the gap between the stairwells, she saw nothing at first, until a presence lit up like daylight, a glowing glob of vibrant white and red and yellow against a backdrop of cold green. But his weapon was holstered, and his helm was taken off-- he was just standing there.

"I see him," she said in a hushed whisper. "Just standing there. Doesn't feel right."

It had to be a trap. What his intentions could be were far from Vex-- standing exposed like that was a fool plan, but it was just too easy. She could put two rounds center mass right now, drop him down just like that, but that had to be what he wanted. Vex took a second to silently look over the area, looking for a hologram projector or a decoy beacon, but found nothing. All she saw was the stairs going up, the stairs going down, and a door along the wall. The door... Maybe he'd hidden something in that room, a trap of some kind that he would trigger when they made their presence known to him. It still didn't make a lot of sense, but Vex couldn't understand what he was doing.

"There's a door," she commented in a fast whisper, "Nothing else. Whatever he's doing has to have something to do with that. I say we go around altogether."

Silently, she approached the railing of the stairway that overlooked the drop down through the open gap between each flight of stairs. She removed the goggles of her mask and passed them to her partner, pulling a clip from her waist that was attached to a rope coiled around her inside a sheath in her suit. "I'll fastrope down-- cover me. As soon as I go over the edge, lay down some fire on that target and on that door, keep him contained. Follow me down after, but try to be quick-- he's got something up his sleeve to keep us in one place."

Unless her companion protested, she would take a deep breath and clip the load-bearing clasp to the railing and swing herself over. The plummet was fast, controlled only by the coil in her suit and her free hand on the rope, and she zipped past the landing that bore the man's appearance and all those below it. When her feet touched the ground, she would hit the emergency release button which would immediately sever the cord, leaving it hanging for her companion to come down. If worse came to worse, she still had her wrist grapple that she could fire for him to follow her down from another location, but hopefully he wouldn't have any problems using the rope already linked up.

 

[Miike]

Taking a step back, Ronin watched as his companion lunged over the railing and spiralled elegantly and rapidly downward. He swung the bulk of his charric into his chest, his fingers finding purchase on the rough scratches along its gunmetal blue and grey alloy body in which he'd etched the words "Big Baby" - the other hand clasped the trigger and he took aim at the figures feet. He surged forward now, taking the stairs two in a stride, and squeezed out two shots which hurtled from the charric with a ferocious crack. He clenched his teeth as he fired, waiting for a sign of response from his friend perched casually against the door. The whirring noise ceased as the rope down which his companion sailed tautened, before the *click* from below suggested the line had been cut. Now he had to jump.
Ronin cursed under his breath as he reached across and grabbed the railing. From the gap below him and the stairwell below flew a smoker grenade, arching neatly into the air between him and the door. Ronin jerked himself forward, his hand snatched at the rope as his feet finding purchase on the railing. He took aim & fired. The smoker shattered mid-air. Should anything be behind the door, it would be a few moments before they could see anything more than a metre ahead of them.
Ronin felt his feet leave the railing. He grunted as he curled down the rope and hit the floor, swinging his lil' (big) baby over his shoulder and arched his back, firing two shots directly above him into the cloud, should anyone have attempted to follow his verticle lead.
His companion was already darting away from him. He clutched the weapon and kept his eyes forward. He was beypnd impressed with his ally. "Our craft should be here," he barked after her, his body charged with the rush of gunfire and adrenaline.

 

[TAC]

Unfortunately, when dealing with a Chiss Operative, things rarely go as planned. Mar'vion felt the two Chiss milling about, and felt their minds and presence turn to him. The old man let a smile crack as one of them walked over to the railing and fiddled about. There was no doubt that they were trying to pull a fast one past him, however that was not something he was interested in having happen.

His first opponent jumped from the stairs, as the other started striding towards and down the stairs, laying fire down towards the reflected vision of Mar'vion. The Chiss operative jumped, and the image jumped over the bolts with him. With the jump came an enormous yell, and the power ruptured from Mar'vion's hands, ripping the door from it's old fashioned hinges at an alarming speed. Although he couldn't be sure, Mar'vion was confident the flying door was at the required angle and velocity to smash into the first operative trying to escape via rope. if she was good, she'd simply have the wind smashed out of her. If she wasn't, she'd sustain something far more deadly.

Upholstering his weapon, then, Mar'vion turned just a little out the now-empty doorway. He let several shots ricochet towards the operative barreling down him, who seemed to be busy shooting at the old Chiss's replicated image.