Episode 11: Principles of Power / Scorpion

What about the Ghost in the Shell video games? Discuss them here

Moderator: sonic

Locked
Slipstream
Posts: 95
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:48 am
Location: Prince George

Episode 11: Principles of Power / Scorpion

Post by Slipstream »

EPISODE 11

Gregori riffles through his external memory. Images from his past fly by. Every moment dedicated to memory. He scans through minute after minute after minute, hour after hour, trying to find the one moment that stands out…the one moment that Mark 13 would want to destroys their minds over. He shakes his head in frustration and throws another few days away and work on another batch. The clock reads 3:00 am. His eyes tire. He lifts the total immersion for a second and rubs them. He pauses. He looks at the top of the device and the company logo…Sagawa Electronics…

A realization sweeps over him. He slams the TID over his head again. He spins the dial. Slowly fine-tuning, he stops on a single moment…

“Jackpot…”

PRINCIPLES OF POWER / SCORPIAN

It suddenly hits him. Its about Sagawa Electronics and their Bertarve Geofront. Their first mission under the hack led to an abandoned Warehouse under their ownership. The Golem program was stolen from their labs. Whoever the Mark 13 are, they obviously have a connection with Sagawa Electronics. Checking his external memory, Greg runs over his time in the Geofront…

…A hit. Yoshimana Mizuo, the security chief, died in a helicopter accident 10 months ago. Mark 13 replaced him. Meaning the person they talked to was not really him, but a forged identity.

…A hit. The Geofront’s on-site vehicles include one Yodanari transport. Checking its flight schedule, it coincides with the one Section 10 used…and it was recorded landing 30 minutes after it cut their old base to shreds.

...The Nuclear Reactor went online 9 days after being scrammed. There is an engineer report indicating there is a radiation anomaly in the reactor’s containment structure. There is an abnormal spike but all requests to investigate have been declined.

Greg checks around and realizes there is a radiation spike in an upper frequency band, coinciding with weapons grade plutonium. Greg checks to see how far the Yodanari could fly after stealing the warheads. Four other reactors are nearby. One is in the Aeropolis II Geofront, the other is operated at Spring 8. Another is on site at the American Military Base. The Sagawa is the fourth location. What a better way to hide a nuclear weapon than inside another nuclear reactor’s containment structure. Greg wakes up the other members of Section 10 in the building. Unlike everyone else, Greg paces, wide awake.

Sagawa may be a willing or unwilling partner in Mark 13’s plan, both past and future. The Geofront is still under construction and will be for several years. Contacting Sagawa main headquarters in Newport reveals that they have no information concerning wrongdoing but will send a team of investigators to bring the matter to a close and to keep it compartmentalized. They agree that Mizuo was killed in an accident but searching through their files indicated for some reason, his security clearance remained open.

Section 10 must keep this under wraps as any leaks could reveal their knowledge to the enemy. They could storm the Geofront and see for themselves. If they let Sagawa deal with it, they will quietly burry everything they uncover to protect themselves. Section 10 insists on an on-site inspection by their people. An executive from Sagawa, Ogura Hyakunin, will arrive in one hour.

Meenwhile, Greg studies up. Manji hacks into one of the Operator Androids. She explains she has little time because of the intensity of Section 10’s firewalls. As it is, this is merely a deposited virus which will be defeated in a few moments. She has information she must share before the group starts their mission. Greg taps into the back of the Android and Manji deposits a datafile. Manji also offers him up an ISP where they can contact her later.

It is a schematic and plans for the Xu-00 Digzub Chagya, a Chinese model walking tank. This model was designed and built to compete with the Japanese EW-204 Next Generation Multi-Ped tank. Smaller and lighter, the DC boasts superior maneuverability and stealthier concealment package. It packs an exposed 20 mm Assault Cannon and an array of concealable missile packs including HID, AP, and FAM warheads. It also carries a shielded cargo area for transporting sensitive cargo. Three current models exist in test beds around China. The third prototype found its 20 mm cannon replaced with a 30 mm Gauss rifle. It has about two-thirds the armor and armament of the EW-204 but is as fast and maneuverable as a Tachikoma.

The question is, have Mark 13 stolen the prototype or is China sending this tank into Etorufu to take back their nuke. Greg stumbles upon a communication file that the Yodanari transport from Sagawa will be picking something from the lower levels of the Geofront and transporting it to a warehouse in Block 4….that same warehouse. Section 10 could stop this now and take the Nuke from the Geofront, OR perhaps, follow the flight and catch Mark 13 in the act. Either way, Kobotai will increase the threat level to A-4, allowing a greater weapon load out to the mission. They also get a new toy, one GSDF Combat Suit Type 303 with a full load out. It is on loan from the GSDF and may be a permanent addition to Section 10. However, maintenance is an issue and the more its damaged, the more it will be out of future combat missions.

Section 10 decides to follow the Nuke to the warehouse and try to take out the Mark 13 cell in its entirety. Catching them at the warehouse results in stumbling on 12 Terrorists that fight to the death, even to the point of explosives detonating in suicide maneuvers. They find only one nuke. The other is nowhere to be found. They load it in the car. That’s when the Chinese tank bursts through the wall. Ben and Sharron (in the Arm Slave) try to fight it off but only succeed in delaying as Greg stuff the nuke in the BMW. Ben raced up to the drivers seat. What follows is a cat and mouse game through the industrial area of Etorufu in the middle of the night between Section 10 and the Chagya tank. It chases them around. Finally, Ben detours into a parking garage. It breaks through concrete walls trying to reach them. When reaching the roof, the Arm Slave pounces on the tank, trying to rip it open. Ben and Greg escape down below. Eventually, Sharron drags the tank over the edge of the parkade. The tank launches cables that latch onto the legs of the Arm Slave. The Slave grabs onto the edge of the parkade wall. Its grip now holds itself and the tank from a twelve-story drop. Sharron tries to escape but gunfire from the pilot in the dangling tank keeps him pinned. Sharron jumps down to the tank and drop a grenade inside. He leaps off before the Arm Slave looses its grip and both tumble to the ground below. Sharron hangs of a piece of expose rebar, twelve stories from the ground.

In the end, one of the nukes is retrieved. This is one of the Chinese nukes Section 10 lost to Mark 13. There is no evidence or indicated data as to where the second nuke is located.
Creator, Ghost in the Shell D20 RPG
www.serenadawn.com
Image
Locked