- Client: Agrarian Guild
- Location: Verdania
- Duration: 60 Days
- Commanding Officer: Sergeant Meridian Lee
- Primary Mission (with 100k performance bonus upon completion):
- Protect AG resources from beast attacks in jungle area surrounding Verdania
- Protect AG warehouses in the town of Verdania from ongoing thefts
- Secondary Goals (with additional performance bonuses upon completion):
- Capture or kill the beasts conducting the attacks (100k bonus)
- Determine the identity of the thieves and capture or kill them (1m bonus)
- Retrieve stolen goods (dependent on value of goods, capped at 500k)
Thorn sat at a conference table and reviewed the details of Sergeant Lee’s new mission while waiting for the team to gather. The bonuses for the mission had appeared eye-wateringly high, at least until he’d figured out those amounts were for the whole team. He still stood to receive hundreds of thousands of quints if they completed the secondary goals of the mission.
Thorn had been early to the briefing, but Lief had still been earlier and gave him crap for being late. His new prosthetics look good, and he looked good too; after escaping from the dead zone, he’d been close to dying. He was back to his cheerful and sunny disposition, sipping on a tall cup of caf, closing his eyes, and smacking his lips in contentment.
It had been three days since his escort mission for French and his conversation with Gammon. Three frustrating days spent waiting for something to happen. Of course he hadn’t sat on his hands; he’d been busy training on the range, studying standard Crow tactics, and struggling with quintessence patterns. He’d also decided to level up again. It was hard to believe he was already level 8.
Yesterday, he’d gotten a comm from Sergeant Lee. Her next mission was finally a go, and she wanted him on her team.
At 17:59, one minute before the briefing was scheduled to begin, the lanky sniper named Sedge hurried into the room and sat down on the other side of the table. He was the last one to arrive. Korakis started hopping on his feet from side to side, and pecked Thorn on the side of the head.
“Crrrrrk!”
Thorn had zero patience for his antics, not after what had happened yesterday. He sent him a comm instead of speaking out loud, even though he knew that Korakis hated comms.
Despite telling Korakis to pay attention, Thorn briefly pulled up his new custom agent, dubbed “K-Vision,” to check out what Korakis was talking about. K-Vision was just like his previous agent Map, showing quintessence signatures overlaid on top of visual imagery, except instead of using images of quintessence fields from Meditate, it used real-time imagery directly from Korakis.
The only way he could do this was with his new Skill, Data Feed. Without it, he was not able to process all of the data Korakis sent him. He’d taken the Skill last night, using the quints he’d gotten from Castellan for his “share” in Korakis’s pill-finding debacle to level up.
It had not been noted in the description, but Data Feed also came with an increase to his number of custom agents, bumping the number of active agents to 3 and the number he could archive to 6. He was pleased, but also irritated. These were the type of things he should know from talking to others who had the same System, but he couldn’t.
After the last few days of struggling to understand and replicate quintessence patterns, he’d come to a difficult realization. He wasn’t going to be mastering the formation of new quintessence patterns any time soon. It was difficult and time intensive. He’d made progress, but he estimated he could only produce twenty-five percent of the two-thread pattern for electricity conversion, and that was the simplest one. A custom agent helped tremendously, but he still had to train that custom agent by using Concentrate.
He’d had the brilliant idea to ask Korakis to send him images of the quintessence patterns. It had helped him understand the true complexity of the pattern itself, but it hadn’t helped him form the patterns with Concentrate or train his custom agent to do so. He needed to use Concentrate to train the agent. It was a chicken and an egg problem.
In the end, he’d decided to grab Data Feed instead of his other options. If he had Korakis to give him images, he didn’t need Record. He wanted an upgrade to Concentrate, so that he could use multiple threads, but he’d reluctantly put that aside until he could effectively use the two threads he already had.
After going through what K-Vision was showing him, Thorn could tell he was still the lowest level on the team at level 8. He determined the densest area of quintessence to be where Sergeant Lee was, and then after her the next brightest concentrations were the two sitting across the table from him. Thorn then noticed what Korakis had been going on about: nestled in one of the pockets of the men across from them was a constellation of pinpricks. A bag of beast cores, almost certainly.
Korakis hopped onto the table and started walking towards Sedge. Thorn hastily grabbed him and put him back on his shoulder.
“Crkk hrrk. Grww?”
Thorn ignored the beast and his pecks. One might think that the sizeable haul of cores he’d gotten yesterday would have briefly satiated Korakis’s lust for quints, but it had not in the slightest. If anything, it had excited him even further, and made him more aggressive. He’d stolen the biggest source of quintessence he could find, and instead of being punished, he’d been rewarded. If only the world were so kind to Thorn.
“Cutting it close,” the man sitting next to Sedge muttered.
“Always am, Rigs. Always am,” Sedge said with a wink.
Thorn knew most of the rest of the people around the table: Sergeant Lee, Lief, Kels, and Sedge. There were two others he hadn’t met before: the short, wide man with bushy red hair and a thick beard sitting next to Sedge, and a young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair at the far end of the table. Thorn looked through the briefing notes for the man’s details. He must go by his last name.
Sergeant Lee cleared her throat.
“Our client is the Agrarian Guild, specifically an R&D branch located in the jungle several hundred klicks north of Aba. It’s a remote area, with few large population centers close by. The area is naturally dense with quintessence, particularly in these valleys… here and here.” She gestured and a holographic map projected onto the tabletop. “Their protection is currently run by the Red Hand.”
That got a series of boos from the table. Thorn had heard of them. He’d even delivered sausages to their outpost in Aba and been inside their compound. They weren’t anything compared to the Crows, but from the reactions in the room, there must be some kind of rivalry.
“There is a chance if we knock this mission out of the park, the AG in that sector will reconsider their contract with the Reds. They’ve screwed up, and we got a chance to get inside and kick them to the curb, so this mission has some strategic importance to the brass.”
The detail on the map changed, highlighting a series of small areas in red.
“There have been losses of personnel and property in these areas I’ve highlighted. Our job seems simple: reconnaissance in force over these two valleys, and subjugation of the beasts that have been causing their losses.” She paused and looked around the room. “Unfortunately, there are some major complications. First is our time frame. The SOW says sixty days, but I’ve been told we need to make progress faster than that, or they might terminate the contract.”
“How much faster?” The woman at the end of the table asked.
“We need to show progress within a week.”
“Which captain agreed to that timeline?” The woman at the end of the table groaned. “Don’t tell me, I think I already know.”
“I know, Mari. Trust me, I know. But we don’t need to rehash the time-keeping capabilities of the officer grades.”
Mari just shook her head and tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder. The woman was drop-dead gorgeous, in a holo-drama kind of way, and Thorn was trying hard not to stare.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“The second red flag,” Sergeant Lee continued, “is the lack of any detail. What type of beasts? Who was abducted? What was stolen? Nothing. No advance information of any kind.”
“Yup, that smells fishy,” Rigs said.
“Could be any number of reasons. The client has more quints than sense, and are too lazy to give us the lay of the land. Could be the Red Hand getting handsy with the AG’s goods, and the wrong people found out, but the AG doesn’t want to say anything outright that’ll spook them. Could be locals stealing from the AG, and the ‘disappearances’ are just made up. Could be beasts, a single one or a group of different ones, either intelligent enough or with sufficiently advanced stealth abilities.
“At the risk of stating the obvious, we need more intel, and we’ll need it fast. Before I get into the operation details, any questions?”
“Are the Red Hand still in the area? And do they know we’ll be onsite?” Rigs asked.
“Yes, and almost certainly yes.”
“Counter intel?” Rigs asked.
“That will be me,” Sergeant Lee replied.
Thorn wondered what exactly counterintelligence would involve. There wasn’t anything in Sergeant Lee’s profile either that gave him any hints about what she would be focusing on, or what Skills her System gave her. He knew that she operated nano-drones, but not much other than that.
“My normal role as a scout will be handled by the two new additions to the team: Lief and Thorn. Both have first-hand experience with the Agrarian Guild and hunting beasts.”
Lief waved to the team. “Howdy y’all. Former AG. Warden system, if you know it. Drone recon, wilderness survival, and wildlife management if you don’t. After getting kicked out of the AG and prior to joining the Crows I mostly delivered reconnaissance jobs as an independent contractor.”
When Lief stopped speaking, it was Thorn’s turn. He didn’t quite have Lief’s resume, but he went with what he had.
“Good to see a few of you from the last mission, and nice to meet the new faces.” He nodded towards Rigs and Mari. “I’m Thorn and this is Korakis. We hunt beasts for cores, and have worked a lot with Lief in the past. Born and raised in the AG, so I’m also happy to answer any questions about my former guild.”
“System? Capabilities?” Rigs asked. “Your profile from the Sergeant is a bit bare.”
Thorn looked at Sergeant Lee for backup.
“Recruit Farmer is under orders not to divulge the nature or details of his System.”
Rigs did not appear happy with that answer, but it was Mari at the end of the table who spoke up. “So is that why we have two scouts on the team? Because one of them isn’t actually a scout, and is just dead weight that will take up an extra share of the payout?”
Mari stared at him with disdain. She certainly knew how to speak her mind.
“We have two scouts because the mission parameters require more intelligence gathering than directed fire power,” Sergeant Lee said. Her tone was cold. “I appreciate your candor, Specialist Mari, but I do not appreciate my decisions being questioned. Do I need to remind you that the composition of the team and its members are my responsibility and not yours?”
“No, Sergeant,” she replied.
“Good.”
Thorn appreciated Sergeant Lee backing him up, but he felt the need to defend himself as well. He ignored Mari, though, and addressed Rigs.
“I can’t tell you details about my System,” Thorn said. “But Korakis and I are quite good at sniffing things out. I was able to detect our client’s invisible bodyguard on our last mission. And tonight, after Sedge walked in, Korakis has been going nuts because Sedge has at least eleven… No wait, twelve cores in a hidden pouch around his waist.”
Sedge’s hand drifted down to his waist before he stopped and scowled at Thorn.
“Crrrrrkk.” Korakis hopped onto the table. Sedge scooted back in his chair and put his hands around his midsection protectively.
“Get back here,” Thorn said, picking Korakis up and placing him back on his shoulder.
Rigs chuckled. “A bird after my own heart. And sensing quintessence fields is a rare Skill, or expensive tech, to have.” He nodded decisively. “Sergeant Lee is always good at putting a team together.”
Mari rolled her eyes at Rigs’ obvious flattery.
“Lief is still using an AG System. It will be obvious he’s our main scout, so I’m assuming you’ll be flying the new kid under the radar then?” Rigs asked Sergeant Lee.
“That’s the idea,” Sergeant Lee said. “In the long run, it may not be possible to keep people in the dark completely, but since Thorn’s System is offline and he’s relatively low level, they won’t be able to pinpoint his role right away. He’s new, former AG, and can blend in to ask questions more discretely than the rest of us.”
Thorn had only thought of his offline status as hindering his ability to coordinate with the team; he hadn’t thought that it might have a silver lining.
The briefing continued and Sergeant Lee laid out the plan for their engagement in detail. It was going to be a busy first week, and Thorn would be involved in both the “fact-finding” part of the mission as well as a series of patrols through the jungle.
After the briefing ended, Sergeant Lee exited, followed by Mari Mari, Kels, and Rigs, right behind her.
“See ya tomorrow,” Lief said. “Shelly offered to help fine-tune the calibration on my new prosthetics a bit further, so—”
“Ew. Just ew,” Thorn said. “Stop talking and get out of here.”
Lief laughed as he walked out. Sedge trailed behind him, but then he stopped and turned, the door closing behind him.
“Oh man, I forgot to bring this up in the briefing,” he said, “and I have an appointment with one of the engineers here for some custom work…”
“What’s up?” Thorn asked, in what he hoped was a helpful manner.
“If we’re going to be looking for beasts in a quintessence field that’s that rich, we might need a quintessence resonator beacon. Do you mind picking one up from the Quartermaster?”
“Resonator beacon. Sure, no problem,” Thorn said.
Sedge smiled broadly. “I appreciate that, man, taking one for the team. I’ll owe ya.”
After he turned and left, Thorn walked out into the hallway. Kels was waiting for him.
“Lemme guess,” she said after Sedge disappeared around the corner. “Sedge stayed back and asked you to pick up something he forgot about? It’s fake.”
“Oh, I know.” Thorn chuckled. “He asked me to pick up a ‘quintessence resonator beacon.’ I’d be shocked if such a thing actually existed, and if it did, there’s no way Sergeant Lee would have forgotten if it was actually needed. Don’t tell me: he’s tried this move before?”
“You got that smart-ass look about you,” Kels laughed. “I should have known. Figure I’d give you a warning, since I wandered around our last outpost for hours looking for one. Didn’t live that down for weeks.”
Thorn’s smile turned up at the edges. “Hey, I’ve had a rough week and I got an idea on how to pay Sedge back. Want to help me out?”
……
Thorn rolled out of his hammock feeling like he’d been beaten within an inch of his life. He stretched and ran through a few calisthenics until he felt like he could walk without limping. He took care of business in the communal bathroom at the end of the hall, grabbed his pack and a grumpy “gimme more cores” Korakis, and trekked to the Armory.
There was a line of sleepy Crows checking out weapons. Of course there was a line. He hadn’t considered the fact that other Crows going out on missions might also have the same schedule as him. His first mission must have been on an off day. As the line moved forward, a few familiar faces joined him, cutting in front of the people behind him. There were a few grumbles, but no one complained.
“Morning Kels, Mari.”
Both grunted in his general direction. Neither were morning people, it would seem. When Thorn patted the top of his pack and winked at Kels, though, she perked up a bit.
When it was finally their turn, Thorn showed his badge to one of the three people behind the counter, and they produced his rifle, sidearm and ammunition. Mari was even more sparsely armed than Thorn, only checking out a small laser-powered sidearm. It made sense, though, since she was a pilot.
“I need to run ahead and start the pre-flight checks,” Mari said. “Don’t be late.”
Thorn waited for Kels. Thorn watched in naked jealousy as she assembled her full set of machine tech armor, piece by piece. The process took a few minutes, but only because Kels was checking and rechecking each piece, running diagnostics and confirming it was in perfect shape. When she finally stepped into her armor, she was a foot taller than Thorn and completely covered in the interlocking, matte-black pieces of machine tech.
“You look awesome,” Thorn said. Korakis gave a low caw of agreement.
Kels slid the faceplate back and Thorn saw her grinning face. She slapped him on the back and almost knocked him down. The armor had added considerable bulk to her frame, but it hadn’t reduced her speed or agility at all; if anything, she seemed even faster and more predatory than before.
“Let’s go, little man, or we’re going to be late.”
The two hurried up to the top of the outpost, no time for breakfast. The sun was still below the horizon, but the first rays of light were hitting the red sky above Aba.
Multiple teams were heading out on missions; their crew swarming up to the landing pads and onto the waiting ships. Two circular landing pads were open to the air, carved out of the side of the mountain; Thorn had used those before, but none of his team were boarding either of those ships. Behind them yawned the entrance to a hangar carved deep into the mountain.
Lief, Sedge and Rigs were standing at the back of one of the dropships spinning up just inside the mountainside hangar, and Kels and Thorn rushed over. Rigs was also wearing machine tech augments that he had not been last night at the briefing, but in a much different style. His tech formed an open framework around his body, servos and hinges whirring at the major joints. A large belt-fed grenade launcher hung from the frame attached to his right arm, and a large shield, almost as tall as he was, was slung over his back.
Sedge looked much the same as he had at the briefing, except for the massive sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. Lief had his usual kit, massive thermos of caf included.
Thorn suddenly felt outclassed, with only his smaller rifle and distinct lack of any machine tech. These people, the rest of his team, were what he expected a group of Crows to look like. What a murder of Crows looked like. Lethal, competent, professional.
“Did you get that resonator beacon, Recruit?” Sedge yelled.
Rigs looked at Sedge and rolled his eyes. “Not again,” he muttered.
“Yup, got it no problems,” Thorn said, reaching into his pack and pulling out the small box that he and Kels had procured last night from Cook. On the top, next to the Stellar Eats logo and printed in the same style were the words “Resonator Bacon.”
“Or did I get the wrong thing?”
Sedge took the package with a curious look on his face, and when he read the words on the package, his mouth hung open slightly. Kels let out a few chuckles.
“I like this kid.” Rigs burst out laughing.
“And what do we have here?” Sergeant Lee’s voice reached them before she stepped out from the back of the dropship. She glanced at Sedge and the box of ready-to-eat bacon, then over at Thorn.
“Not a good look for the two newest members of the team to show up last,” Sergeant Lee said, but without any heat. A small smile played at the edge of her lips. “But at least you brought breakfast. Or were you not planning to share, Corporal?”
“Of course! I always share my bacon, Sergeant.”
“Only after it’s been cooked,” she replied, to another round of chuckles, and a genuine laugh from Sedge himself. He opened the package and started handing out pieces of bacon.
“Alright then, we’ve had our fun,” Sergeant Lee said through a mouthful of bacon. “Let’s move out.”