You fumble a bit trying to switch from your pistol to your sword, and he leaps into the air, kicking you solidly into a tree. You feel ribs crack; you would not have survived much worse, and will not survive much more. But you now have your sword in hand, and he has landed within striking range.
--M. J. Young
See post in behind the scenes. Trying to remove a limb as stated above.
-Adam
I apologize. I had considered checking on the armor, but I thought 1) you could not have anticipated that the snoop would show up today and 2) you probably did not wear your armor constantly in the equatorial heat of Panama.
I still question whether you would be fully clad or not; my sheet gives me:
- Custom Spectra Armor -48 cover value
Custom Spectra Helmet -4 cover value
Again, sorry. I did think of the armor but assumed you would not be wearing it continuously for several months.
--M. J. Young
I wore that heavier armor all the time in Orc Rising, I am quite used to the heat. I almost never wear the helmet, in this world it's a dead giveaway to something is up. I always wear my armor, except when sleeping. I make Geneice wear hers as well. I am wearing all the parts, with a long sleeved black tshirt and tan pants covering the tops of the armor boots, and wearing those.
Adam
Also wearing the armored gloves, good for not leaving fingerprints to lead to unfortunate mixups with my likely counterpart here.
Adam
You are wearing your armor. The flying kick hits your chest and deflects off as you turn with the blow, the impact spreading and not hurting you. The attacker tumbles to the ground as you swing, your blade passing through his midsection, the hips and legs falling away from the rest of the body.
The man is dead.
--M. J. Young
Well I didn't mean to break him.....oh well. I'll call Geneice and tell her we have a cleanup outside the cabin. I'll start looting the body, taking weapons, jewelery, cell phone, radio, money. Then checking his clothing for hidden items like trackers or receivers. Then we will dispose of the body away from the hotel, dragging it off into the jungle to let the jungle do it's work.
Adam
The man is carrying almost nothing of interest. You do get a cell phone; it's computer-encrypted, and will take some work to break, probably. He has about a thousand dollars in the local currency in small denominations. His driver's license says his name is Jose Rodriquez--an extremely common name--and gives an address in Panama City. There is no jewelry other than a simple watch; you find no trackers or other devices on him.
Geneice comes and asks who he was.
--M. J. Young
He was nobody important. I take the weapons as well.
*gives her the phone*
Try to crack it while I pack up our items. We have an address to check. Will start heading to the address.
Adam
You toss her the cell phone, and she starts working on it. You head back toward the entrance to the cabana, and hear her following slowly, periodically saying something like, "No", "Right", "O.K.", mostly in Italian, occasionally interspersed with something I'd rather not put in print.
By the time you've got the room packed, twenty minutes later, she's seated in the easy chair, completely focused on this thing. There are still occasional comments. You carry everything to the bike and come back.
"Settle the bill," she says. "I'm making progress."
You go to the desk and pay off what you owe, and when you return she's still working on it. It's been about forty minutes, and her brow is furrowed and she's biting her lip (she's cute when she does that).
--M. J. Young
I'll just pause to look at her being cute and take a picture with my camera phone. Figure not a lot of moments like this left on the mission. Soon it will be time to get serious. I will wait till she is done.
Adam
It doesn't take her much longer, and then she's in.
"O.K., we've got a lot of numbers, all Aztec names, but this one, Tlatoani--doesn't that mean something?"
She copies the data to her laptop as quickly as she can, and then is ready to go.
--M. J. Young
If it means something I don't remember. I will text it to C abd let him do the legwork while we get this show on the road.
*goes out to the bike, put on my helmet, wait for Geneice and head back to the capital*
-Adam
Having copied all the names and numbers to her computer, she sends the entire file back to C, closes up the laptop and tosses it in with her luggage. "Let's go," she says, and you're on your way.
You're about halfway to Panama City when her cell phone rings. She says to pull over so she can answer it, pulls off her helmet, and talks with whoever is on the other end.
"That was research," she says. "Those are all Incan names, but the interesting one is Tlatoani. It's not usually a name; it's the word for 'king' or maybe 'chieftain'."
She has put her cell phone away while telling you this, and then shakes back her hair and pulls it back with one hand. Before putting her helmet back on, she says, "The address first?"
--M. J. Young
Reminder: if you are planning to play at Ubercon, do not answer this post until you return.
Thanks.
--M. J. Young
I will make this as brief as possible, as typing this on a trea isn't that fun. Geneice finally cracked the code on the cellphone and we were off to Panama City. We checked out the address at a gas station map, but the street didn't exist. I then called the king name on the phone and said something to rile him up. We then setup at a church tower overlooking the capital building.
Geneice and I went to a store to stock up on supplies, when an alarm sounded. We ran out and saw 6 guys decimating the army forces and poised to enter the capital building. I launched a grenade into them, did some damage, and they split up. We snuck back to the tower to get our gear and then looked to get into the capital building.
We jumped up to the second floor window on the side of the building. We heard gunfire on multiple floors and heading to the source of the gunfire on this one. A woman was running down a hallway, we had to show we meant her no harm, and she showed us where the gunfire was coming from. We made our way to the president's office, where we saw a dead secretary and the president at his desk, dead as well. We stormed the room, I took the right, Geneice on the left. There were three men in the room, and the battle wasn't the typical easy one. I took a small hit while taking out one of the ones on the right and Geneice took out hers. Thw last one made a run for the window, and I tried to teach myself leaping kick to stop him.I learned the kick and missed him, so out the window he went. We couldn't see him so we decided to head downstairs to find the source of that gunfire. We send the elevator down and jumped out the window where we got ambushed by the guy who jumped out the window.
It didn't work out too well for him, as he died in one burst from us. We made our way in. Throug the metal detectors. The lit up and we headed in to the sound of voices. There were 9 more men sitting in a conference room, relaxing. I decided to launch grenades at them from around the corner. I got about 4 in most doing little damageM before they came out to deal with us. I took out my sword to dispatch one, Geneice took out another, and the last and her missed a lot, but she got nicked, and I finally did the other one in.
Their leader shouted orders and they shot through the walls at us and we stormed in the room. We fared better taking the last 6 out quickly, and Geneice crippling one in the hand, which we took alive. He told us we wouldn't take him alive. I called The Reptile house which were on standbye, to pick us up. They were five minutes out.
We put another flak jacket on the prisoneer and called C to inform him of the situation. He was asleep but was woken. In the meantime the reptile house landed on the roof, I had them pop a smoke and made it to the copter. A sniper took a shot at the prisoneer, but missed.
I found out fom the prisoneer that he and 200 people were trained since childhood to worked together. He knew he was better than normal people. I remembered a Star Trek episode with Kahn, about how they were made in the early 21st century. I got ahold of C explained the situation, and said there is no short term fix, and that we needed a plan to deal with this.
In the meantime the airport was taken over and getting a jet was hard. We has enough fuel to make it to the US base at Guantonimo Bay, and caught a jet to London from there. The prisoneer asked what group I came from. I told him I was part of no group. I told him that I was better than even them, and that ultimatly they would gain power then be driven from the earth. That's where we left off.
When we get back, and meet with C. I will propose that in order to fight them, England and the US need to develop the Super Soldier serum. Using this guy as the baseline for genetic manipulation.
I propose to go back to training, but do a graduate program for genetics, and physics. I will also practice and be trained in other things. Since being at work cannot access specifics now.
Adam
Excellent summary; I think you also killed the guy who came to investigate the metal detector alarm, but it's all in a day's work.
You hit the emergency meeting. Sea Turtle is there, along with C, J, and a few others you've not met. You suggest developing a Super Soldier Serum, and that leads to a lot of questions.
It seems to J that what you're proposing developing a mutagenic virus capable of altering the DNA of grown men in controlable ways--probably starting with something like Chicken Pox, and rewriting its replication codes. This would be very dangerous in a lot of ways. First, any adult male to whom this was given would almost certainly be sterile after that, thanks to the genetic alterations in the gametes. Second, if the virus mutated, it could become very dangerous very quickly; even if it escaped confinement as it is, it would wreak havoc in the population.
Sea Turtle asks if there isn't a way to achieve a temporary supersoldier effect, using chemical stimulation of the adrenal cortex and training men under those conditions. This has its own dangers, and although the desired effects are short-term, it's not certain what the long-term effects would be, particularly as whatever was given, the body would become acclimated to it and then dependent on it, and the effects would reduce over time. J says that some of the versers in the past have spoken of something called Nagajuice that seems to have that effect, short-term enhancement of abilities followed by a crash, and then a cycle in which the body becomes more dependent and gets less benefit from the drug. It would be difficult to avoid this sort of outcome, but worth considering, as it might be safer than the genetic alternative.
The floor is open for other ideas.
--M. J. Young
I am not thinking of a normal virus. I am thinking of genetic resequencing, using the subject in our custody, to alter characteristics to soldiers. We would also need to make the virus a one shot deal, and it die, perhaps once it give out it's code, it lacks what it needs to reproduce, and dies off in days. I think that drugs or short term solutions are not going to stop the threat the pose.
That's why I want to learn Genetics myself, I have read and seen the effects of a super soldier serum, and I think it's the best quickest way for England and the US to field soldiers that can have a chance against these guys. If there were dosens of people like Geneice and myself we wouldn't have to goto such lengths. Right now, as sad as it is to say, we are the one of the few that can deal with the threat until we get a plan in motion.
It's up to you C, I have no fear of dying, if you want me to go out and fight them till I die, I've learned a lot from here, and It wouldn't be an unfair matter. If you want to stop them from invading larger countries, you need to take a risk.
Adam
(I will do what I wish to train in the next post)
C agrees to get you involved in medical and genetic education--both of you, working together. You've got some catching up to do, but with concentrated effort you should be able to manage it.
You won't have much time outside this doctoral level education program, particularly since an effort is being made to move you through it in as short a time as possible. You'll be doing seven hours a day six days per week for the next two hundred days, with some of the most difficult reading, lectures, and lab work you've ever done; it will leave you quite exhausted, although you'll be able to put in a bit of physical exercise in the down time to keep up your metabolism and help clear the brain.
Are you down with that?
--M. J. Young
I'm fine with that. Let's continue.
Adam
I'm not sure I know what month it is, but we're going to do this month by month and we have to start somewhere. You were in Panama for quite a while after starting a mission sometime in the late winter, so we'll call it the September Revolution and start your program with October. Your instructors will insist on having a break at Christmas and a break in the Spring, so you will finish the program in the end of April.
There is a revolt in India in October; a man called Kahn is attempting to seize power. India being considerably bigger than Panama, this will be a drawn-out conflict.
Meanwhile, the new Panamanian government is working to bring down its neighbors.
--M. J. Young
Not much we can do about them without having the forces to fight them. Continue with the program.
Adam
By the end of November, India has fallen, and Kahn has attacked Pakistan. Tlatoani is whittling away at Central America in both directions, slowly but surely. There is international unrest, and no one is quite certain how much of it is because of fear of the rising threat and how much is the action of that threat attempting to generate fear.
--M. J. Young
I am assuming there is a UN in this world, in fact, I'm sure of it, some of the movies I have been in have directly mentioned it. I'll tell C that he better find a way to get the security council to meet in an special session to condemn these acts, and authorize military force to contain their aggression. The UK, France and Russia should organize bombing runs on Pakistan, the US should work on Tlatoani's aggression. Until we have the super soldier formula, ground troops aren't an option. Superior humans or not, no one stands up to the firepower a jet can unleash, and these countries have very little options to stop them, with the stealth jets and bombers the modern nations have. Onto next month.
Adam
The Western nations are getting hung up in debate over whether to intervene, particularly as significant figures in many third-world countries are making public statements to the effect that Western countries have forced their views of appropriate political systems on them for too long. Further, there are people in the governments of these Western countries who are driving debate, arguing that it is not a concern of the West what happens in such places. Top leaders, such as the Prime Ministers of England and Candada, the Presidents of America and France, and the Premier in Russia, have made statements openly condemning these "acts of aggression", but their own legislatures are undermining efforts to react. Several of the major news outlets are siding with the pacifists, arguing that this is not the time for major powers to become involved in minor skirmishes of no real concern to their own citizens.
The two power centers have established themselves, and Nigeria has fallen. Some in the press say that it is good that the Nigerian government fell, because the new government sports strong leadership which might be able to deal with the major problems in that country, such as the AIDS epidemic there.
You get your Christmas break, one week off between Christmas and New Years.
--M. J. Young
Continue with what I'm doing.
Adam
In January, all sides seem to have come to an impasse; the enemy is not gaining ground, but not losing ground either.
You and Geneice need to come up with thesis subjects toward which your research will be aimed. She wants to discuss this with you to figure out the best approaches.
--M. J. Young
I will focus on viruses, how to manipulate them, and Geneice will focus on gene resequencing. That will give us what we need.
Adam
During February, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada send troops to Pakistan to stem the invasion from India, and the U.S. starts organizing Central and South American countries to fight against the Panamanian invaders. It's a small step, but it has reversed the advances a bit.
You are learning a great deal about virii.
--M. J. Young
Onto March.
Adam
Venezuela falls in March, and it is now putting pressure on the Central American countries south of Panama; Pakistan has been taken, with Kahn now starting to push toward Afganistan. There is also significant civil unrest in Africa, with every indication that it is going to destabilize any day.
--M. J. Young
Continue to April.
Adam
By the end of April, everything south of Mexico and north of Columbia either has fallen or is so heavily infiltrated that it is beyond saving; the India/Pakistan block has consolidated, and the government of Afganistan is crumbling, although freedom fighters in the mountains are hitting back hard, using lessons learned from Al Quaida.
You graduate (adjustments behind the screens). What's the next step?
--M. J. Young
The next stop is to develop The Super Soldier Serum. We have our baseline subject, we have our skills. Geneice should be working on how to codify the results we get from our baseline subject, while I create a stable virus blank, that spreads it's code and dies, and stops replicating when there are no more changes to be made into a subject. I will also limit it to be blood to blood transmission only, and lock it down to prevent it from becoming airborne, or mutate. We then start with 100 volunteer test subjects (unfortunatly with this level of Gene Resequencing, it's limited to human only tests). I assume we have been planning this from the start, wrote our Thesis on it, got the grunt work done. We will create both the Super Soldier Serum, and make one to reverse the effects of any gene resequencing. We will also see how our test subject got his superhuman powers, and see if we can reverse that as well.
Adam
You start by reading and comparing the genetic code of your captive.
He was born this way. How much of it was genetic manipulation (of his parents) and how much eugenics (selective breeding) is difficult to tell, but it is clear that there are marks of both--and equally clear that he has not been altered.
It takes three months to determine what you need to know here, during which time things are going very badly in all quarters of the world.
It takes you most of August to actually design the code for the virus you need to make; the good news is that several countries that were starting to topple have stabilized in this time, and the line is holding.
In almost no time at all you have your virus.
You very quickly put together the antidote, and by the end of September everything is ready. The political situation is continuing to stabilize, with the Superiors falling back to regroup.
How do you pick your test subjects?
--M. J. Young
Easy will give pay increases to soldiers who are about to go into special forces or SAS so we get good subjectsM without risking our elite soldiers. 100 US and 100 UK soldiers will be the subjects. I assume C can convince the US to try the program.
Adam
Of course, there's a war going on; and of course, your project is top secret, so they can't really advertise it. It takes most of October before your test subjects are gathered in London.
In that time, though, the human forces have managed not only to hold the lines but to push back some of the insurgency and stabilize more of the weakening governments.
Once you have your subjects--
- What do you tell them?
- How rapidly are you dosing them?
- How are you monitoring them?
- What do you expect to see, how quickly?
--M. J. Young
I will tell them we are giving them atibodies to fight off the effects of chemical and biological weapons. I will do 10 a day so I can see the results. I expect that in 10 days that the first group's bodies and minds are well on their way to becoming a super soldier. They already have good skills, if this experiment works out. I suggust treating the US and UK soldiers as a whole.
As a sidenote I am not giving out my formulas and the serum will be handled by C. I will keep 50 doses of each for myself. I am not taking them just putting my ownership claim on them.
Adam
When you say you are not "taking" them, just putting your "ownership claim" on them, does this mean you are setting aside fifty vials in C's storage area as yours, and if so are you telling anyone else that these are yours; or does this mean that you are removing those vials and storing them with your own property somewhere, but not "taking" them in the sense of dosing yourself with them?
Within the first week, a few men get sniffles or rashes (effects of their bodies trying to fight the virus), but there are some early signs of improvement in coordination tasks.
--M. J. Young
I am claiming ownership of 50 vials or each, letting C know that I am claiming them. I am not dosing myself with them, but I will the virus on my blood outside the body and see if it grants me any performance worth taking it.
I am glad for the progress is going good, if the results continue to be this positive, we might be able to make sure the UK and US armed forces have a real shot in fighting the meta humans.
Adam