vivala | MISSION #01: SAND AND IRON PREPARATION LOG

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MISSION #01: SAND AND IRON PREPARATION LOG

MISSION #01: SAND AND IRON

With the operation fast approaching, the Crimson Corsairs mobilize to prepare. As is often the case, the Supplier and Infiltration teams take the lead, deploying within Elysium and on the continent of Hesaeth. These preparations will be vital for the success of the operation team, and the Corsairs have devoted significant resources into seeing it through.

The Corsairs have delivered their verdict, and the mining site will be Captured for the benefit of the Crimson Corsairs. We expect this will invite swift reprisal from the Empire, and the Corsairs are expected to prepare assiduously to ensure unnecessary loss of life can be avoided.

The following missions have been registered for completion. For a character to count as having participated, they must have a minimum of 3 comments in the mission thread. Characters may only participate in missions in one of the available regions, but may participate in up to two threads if desired. If more than the minimum number of log participants is available for a given log, it will impact the efficacy of the preparation. As this is the first mission, the numbers have been kept intentionally low, we will assess requirements based on how we see player participation from this event and adjust as necessary.

SUPPLIERS

Gathering Supplies: This will mostly consist of gathering ingredients to make the food and drink to be distributed among the celebrants. It might involve hunting, foraging, farming, or other methods of production or gathering depending on your character’s preference. Failure to properly stock Elysium for the party will make the visiting officers angry and alert, ensuring they can mount a more effective defense of Hesaeth.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read GATHERING SUPPLIES. At least 4 characters will need to participate in this mission among all mission threads to make this a success.
Region: Elysium
Participants: Link, Snufkin, Maomao, Kaine (4/4)

Venue Preparation: This will consist of preparing the venue for the performance and banquet. It involves setting up the area, as well as constructing areas for seating and staging for the performances which will be held in the banquet hall. Failure to properly prepare will make visiting officers bored and restless, ensuring they can mount a more effective defense of Hesaeth.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read VENUE PREPARATION. At least 4 characters will need to participate in this mission among all mission threads to make this a success.
Region: Elysium
Participants: Momo, Musse, Eva, Link (4)

Munitions Development: The assault on Hesaeth will be a sneak attack, but extra firepower is always appreciated. Based on the recent salvage we’ve recovered, we believe we can make either a lethal poison or a sleep gas to be fired at the labor camp barracks. There is considerable argument among the Corsairs over which should be used, the sleeping concoction will potentially allow for the taking of captives. The poison gas will be potentially safer in neutralizing major threats, but there are many among the Corsairs and Imperial citizenry who will find the use of such a weapon abhorrent and this may lower our standing among our allies.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read either MUNITIONS DEVELOPMENT - SLEEPING GAS or MUNITIONS DEVELOPMENT - POISON GAS. At least 2 characters will need to participate in either of these missions to make this a success.
Region: Vault
Gambit: This will make up to two Gambits available - the Sleeping Gas Gambit and the Poison Gas Gambit. Either will be available for a one-time use in a mission log.
Participants (Sleeping Gas): Rezo (1/2)
Participants (Poison Gas): (0/2)

Illicit Substance Development: With the visiting officials, now is an excellent time for Elysium to put some of its finest hedonistic delights on display. To that end, they are developing more powerful alcohol and drugs to ensure the empire cannot mount an effective defense when the time comes. The enhanced alcohol should make the officers more likely to be asleep or impaired, whereas the drugs should ensure the officers are hallucinating and unable to give effective orders. Both should be able to completely incapacitate the officers and keep them from providing any aid to the labor camp.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read either DRUG DEVELOPMENT or ALCOHOL DEVELOPMENT. At least 2 characters will need to participate in either of these missions to make this a success.
Region: Vault or Elysium
Faction: Elysium only
Gambit: This will make up to two Gambits available - the Potent Drugs Gambit and the Potent Alcohol Gambit. Either will be available for a one-time use in a mission log.
Participants (Drug Development): Maomao, Musse (2/2)
Participants (Alcohol Development): (0/2)

INFILTRATORS

Observation and Mapping: Infiltrators will need to get a full layout of the labor camp, including troop movements, locations of armaments, and as many details as possible. This information will be critical in ensuring the team can quickly neutralize the threats on the ground. Failure to properly scout the area will lead to the team encountering unexpected and potentially dangerous threats on the ground.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read either OBSERVATION AND MAPPING. At least 4 characters will need to participate in either of these missions to make this a success.
Region: Hesaeth
Participants: T-800, Id, Itsuzumi, Aerich (4/4)

Prisoner Uprising: Infiltrators will need to steal into the labor camp and prepare the inhabitants for their impending rescue. This includes informing them and arming them so they can assist, if willing.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read OBSERVATION AND MAPPING. At least 4 characters will need to participate in either of these missions to make this a success.
Region: Hesaeth
Gambit: This will make the Prison Revolt Gambit available. It will be available for a one-time use in a mission log, but can only be used on this mission.
Participants: Madeline, Noctis, Harlock (3/4)

Steal Dispatches: Knowledge is power, and the Corsairs can make tremendous use of the maps, dispatches, and orders that flow through prison camps like this. Infiltrators will need to enter officer quarters and sift through refuse to find these missives and bring them back to the Vault for analysis.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read either STEAL DISPATCHES. At least 2 characters will need to participate in either of these missions to make this a success.
Region: Hesaeth
Faction: Vault only
Gambit: This will make the Hamper Reinforcements Gambit available. It will be available for a one-time use in a mission log.
Participants: Donatello, Angelika (2/2)

Players are generally free to play out the mission however they wish in terms of their log. A mission’s success will be judged across all participants in all logs. Players who want to make final group planning may use the top level in this post. Any Gambits will be made immediately available once the log participation requirement is met. The Execution phase will be posted on July 10th, but the cut-off to complete a mission log successfully for the planning phase will be July 15th.

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"Imperials like throwing their weight around any time they can get away with it. Non-humans, women, lower castes, the entire imperial system is founded on the idea that there are people of lower status, and you can bully them." Political theory, yaaay.

"I can do a thing without liking it. I can keep myself going by imagining pulling off the wig at a dramatic moment. Or the cute nail polish I can use when this is over." She rubbed her hands on her skirt, as if they were dirty. "I'm willing to sacrifice my life for the cause of the Crimson Corsairs. Sacrificing my gender presentation to some imperial goons isn't that big of a deal." It clearly bothered her-but her tone brooked no argument out of this. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but if it does I might be able to literally grab dispatches off the commander's desk and read them in front of him."

"Noted," the turtlekin replies dryly. He has yet to find any redeeming qualities to the Empire and its people ever since he'd found out how awful things are. Breathing out a sigh, he forces his fingers to unclench.

"...." Donnie has experience in doing something he didn't like, but that was only after he found out how terrible Imperials could be. He still looks concerned as he listens to Angelika go on, but her positive (?) thoughts to help her cope get a faint smile from him, however brief. It's still coping. But it makes him wonder how far he'd be willing to go for the Corsairs.

"Well, if you're set on this, then I'll let you handle distraction. My methods are definitely more roundabout, but if you manage to get your hands on dispatches to read, maybe you can broadcast them directly over the ENC."

"I don't know if I'd call burglary more 'roundabout', but I'd certainly say that we might be able to compliment each other's efforts. I could map out exactly where and when you need to go, letting you follow up more quickly..."

"But I'll need to build up my disguise, my credentials, my identity for this mission. I'll need some sort of bona-fides that they'll accept. That takes time, so maybe we should wait until the group doing observation and mapping are done? That way, you can have better information on how to enter from them."

Donnie doesn't quite pout but he figures in this case it is technically burglary since he's not going after castoff items... Although that does make him consider. Humans did seem pretty careless and wasteful in what they threw away, after all.

"Do we even have time to do all that? I'm not exactly sure what the schedule is here," he admits. "I don't think we can wait that long if we're supposed to be getting all the info together for the main phase. We might have to go along with the others doing observation and mapping if it'll take time. Maybe even do our own basic mapping if we don't at least get main entrances and best exits down."

Angelika is in full planning mode now, her mind a whir with possibilities, probabilities contingencies and plot after plot. It takes some of the earlier slackness and control out of her features, as a bit of excitement bubbles up.

"We'll coordinate with the others. See about their schedules, the timing for the attack, the window of opportunity..." She ticks each off on her fingers. "I think we have at least a couple of weeks before the attack goes in-but we should leave some time for people to actually look at the patrols and dispatches and plan accordingly." She sighed. "I guess the only thing I have to do right now is figure out how good a boy I can make."

"That...is basically what I was talking about," Donnie mutters as he watches her go through things. "We can't take too long because we need to account for information gathering and then get it back to everyone for further planning and application. But yes agreed. We'll touch base with whoever else is going to be out there and see how they're approaching things and when they plan to head out." Two weeks isn't much when you took into account all the moving parts to things, and that wasn't even including travel time.

"Since you've got experience with this religious stuff and what all the Imperials won't overlook, I'll leave that and the details of prepping for it to you." He isn't sure how much help he'd be in that department.

"And I'll leave the details of touching base with the others to you-coordinate and communicate!" She does a little adorable fist-pump. "I'll need some time to get credentials and a disguise together-when should we meet up to deploy?"

She had quite a lot of things to gather...but a lot of them, she already had. The Inquisitorial uniform, for instance, just needed a few adjustments to fit her new body. The inquisitorial badges and other paraphernalia were similarly authentic. She had to make an ID card, but she knew enough about paper to fake the watermark, though it took a few tries. The short wig and the hair-net to hide her blond locks were the hardest part to get on short notice, but she knew where to find them-even if it meant a run to Elysium and some work with a pair of scissors.

When they rendevoured to deploy, makeup, the wig, the change of clothes, all of it conspired to make her look very different-until you saw those green eyes and the slightly worried expression. "How does it look? I can't tell if I've missed any details..."

[OOC: Sorry for the delay, I'm gonna try to speed things up a bit to get us back on track. Let's get that paper! Literal paper. ]

((OOC: no worries! \o/))

With their tasks set and what he hoped was a manageable timeframe before they reconvened established, Donnie sets to work. He can only trust that Angelika knows what she needs to do, but at least it sounded like she knew what she was talking about. But then she's also trusting him to do his part as well, he reminds himself.

His side of things isn't nearly so complicated if mostly coordinating when the best time to head out is and provide a rough idea of their plans. As the time for their departure nears, he starts to feel that familiar buzz of anxiety making its rounds, hotwiring itself through his system. And then he's met with an unfamiliar face- or at least it is at a glance. Donnie has to double-take, relaxing slightly once Angelika speaks up.

"Wow that is really creepy. Yeah, I didn't recognize you for a second," he admits, blinking.

"Its not creepy it's just...makeup and clothes." She reaches up into her shoulder and removes a pad, showing it to Donnie briefly before re-inserting it to broaden her shoulders. "I hope they pay more attention to the paperwork than the disguise, because this really won't hold up if anyone touches me. I look like a teenager who's not done growing yet but I don't feel like one."

But then she stiffens up and tries to hold her most imperious position, dropping her voice. "Well, beastkin? Do I strike fear into your heart? Fear of the righteous anger of the Divine, and the power of the Inquisition?" The lines of her face hardened, and a kind of snear adorned her face...before she burst out laughing. "Oh, oh, no, that was too much. I can't keep a straight face talking like that..."

"It's creepy when you're not expecting someone's voice to come from an otherwise complete stranger," Donnie points out. "Which means the disguise is very effective. Nicely done."

It's kind of amazing what a little bit of this and that does, but he understands the effect is only for superficial appearances. "Well, hopefully no one grabs you for whatever reason-"

Golly but even though he knows who it is, it's just weirdly convincing when she manages to shift into character. It's both startling and kind of ridiculous for the words, and Donnie's still trying to work out how he's feeling about that by the time Angelika breaks character.

"Ohhh wow that was... Something. Do they actually talk like that? Then again from my experience, I guess it isn't that far off..."

"I hardly changed the look of my face at all-the Adam's apple is just painted on too, I didn't have time to make a fake one and fix it to my skin..." The girl's standards for disguise are clearly very high, but maybe that's why she's so good.

"Not exactly like that. Some of the most effective inquisitors are very...calm." She looked disgusted a bit as she pressed on. "They are extremely sure that you are sinful, they aren't, and they're just going to need to press a bit for you to break and tell them everything they want to hear. That's not what I want to be. I want to pretend to be...someone who's a bit unsure of himself, so he's loud and angry all the time to fill up space so nobody questions his authority. That's a useful character for this disguise. Nobody wants to touch someone like that."

Clearly Donnie has no experience in disguises, but then that's why he and his brothers trained to be good at being virtually invisible. Sticking to the shadows, blending with your surroundings, light as a feather and quick on your feet. Angelika's definitely the disguise expert here for the things she makes mention of, getting another albeit impressed blink from the Turtlekin.

"...I hope I don't run into any," he says with a shiver. He's just had to deal with stuffy nobles who thought they knew everything, but they did know just enough, and it didn't make them any less scary, especially on the other side of a suppression band.

"Makes sense though. Think you can manage throwing your figurative weight around without laughing?"

"Raised in an orphanage, remember? I didn't just run into them, I was raised under their 'teachings'." She shivered a bit.

"I think so. I'll be talking to people with no sense of humor, and it's my life if I screw it up. Unless you can bail me out of that situation-which I hope it won't come down to." She squared up her shoulders. "I'm ready to get started when you are-if you've done all the research you need?"

He shares another shudder at that. "Can't imagine how that'd go but I take it it wasn't pleasant."

Donnie frowns, but nods. "Not ideal for our mission but it comes down to it, I'll do what I can." He's not leaving anyone behind. "I'm set." Ready as he'll ever be, anyway. "Got it all up here," he says, tapping at the side of his head.

"So let's do this." He hopes his smile is a confident one, anyway.

"The less said the better. I'm in a much better place now-here!"

"Let's do it!" was a strange thing to see a quasi-inquisitor say with a smile of her own before they set off. But on this one, it was hopeful and cute.

---
[ should we transition directly into a 'execution' log or start a new thread for that?]

That's a sentiment he can agree with.

Donnie can't help but laugh a little at the enthusiasm, but it does help chase off some of those pre-mission anxieties.

((OOC: I think the Execution log is for the next/end phase altogether so we can probably just new-thread it on this log!)

[OOC: Or we can just set it up like...this! ]

The landscape was made of sand. Loose sand, pebbled and bluffs of sandstone, loose scrub and grass dry and brittle as the rough dunes themselves. In the distance, there stood the squared off fortress of the mining camp, its towers squared off and projecting over the exterior walls. It huddled against a large rocky spire, but a creaking conveyor belt dumped spoil over one wall that threatened to pile up and overtop it.

Angelika squinted at it, and pointed at the belt. "Do you think that's a way in for you? I'll be going in the gate but you might have a rougher time of it."

While sand and pebble isn't any terrain Donnie's unused to, it's entirely an alien setting to him for the placement and the lack of a pleasant beach at his back. He quickly decides he hates the place even before they've made their way in, but given what all lies within, he feels completely justified.

"It's exposed... but not impossible. I think I can manage it," he muses as he looks at the potential point of entry. Noisy too, he considers, although with the noise from the machinery alone, screaming of much-needed maintenance, it should be enough to cover any noise and shifting gravel that he might cause. He casts a look around for the guard posts before glancing back at Angelika.

"I'll get myself in position. -good luck."

Walking across the dunes was no picnic for either of them, and Angelika found herself hating sand for it's slipperiness and the way it robbed you of energy at every step. Her shoes were dusty, and her trousers had picked up road-dust at the cuffs which cut into the hard-edge she had been intending to cast, but the sweat from her pores wasn't making the makeup run. Good preparation that, not good luck.

"I trust you can-maybe you can drop in from the rocks behind it or find some other weakpoint but I wouldn't be able to spot it from here." She squinted again, not noticing as her eyes flashed a brighter green than normal. Just for an instant-maybe it was the sun reflecting off her iris.

"Thanks-I'll try to keep them all busy as long as possible." She stepped out-and slid down the side of the dune towards the single road leading towards the entrance. She set off-not at a jog, but at a fast walk, something she could maintain for a long time. And she walked towards the mouth of hell itself-or the closest thing to it in the general area. It was just a mining outpost. With luck, she'd out-rank everyone there as a fake inquisitor.

The dry, dusty sand was unpleasant against his bare toes, but there were plenty worse places to walk, not that he could think of any at that particular moment. Donnie'd decided to attire to a minimal and at least compared to how chilly things could get in the upper atmospheres, down on the ground it's much more comfortable temperatures that he doesn't have to worry about too many layers. Not that he can say the same for Angelika given how miserable she'd looked during the trek out.

"There should be some access points once I'm on the other side. And if that conveyor belt is anything to go by, if they haven't been on the upkeep for ventilation covers and all that, I shouldn't have a problem getting inside."

As Angelika looks off into the distance, that's a strange detail that doesn't go amiss as Donnie watches her. He arches a brow but otherwise says nothing more. And with their respective duties set, the turtle starts off towards the conveyor.

Sticking to the shadow of the rickety thing, he waits for a sizeable load to come by before grabbing onto the edge of the belt, dangling as it continues to trundle its way up. Once he's more than halfway up, he hooks a foot onto the thing to pull himself up beside the mound, preparing for the drop as it nears its pinnacle.

Angel had her own row to hoe, and it was all talking. Talking she started by demanding to know who was on gate duty, and which she bullied and aggressed her way up from there. Talking that escalated into the base commander-and the chaplain, an old drunk who liked his comforts and didn't like young brats. This was a harder prospect than she had expected, and by the time Donny was reaching near the apex, the shouts from the three of them were echoing across the yards. "-Spiritual contaminations-My flock-A gallant knight and-Unknown and undocumented heresy-I've never tolerated heresy in my life-I'll never tolerate heresy and I'll shoot any heretical man I see!"

At least the guards were distracted by the shouting, looking in that direction when they could catch a spare moment from smoking or staring bored out across the desert or the inner yard where...yes, there was a huge wheel with paddles shoving the spoil down a hole into the ground. It came out of one hole in the ground and was shoved down into another, how useless. Were they hitting the rock with hammers underground to shove it on a conveyer belt, that took it to a different underground place where more prisoners with hammers would smack it? That made about as much sense as anything else.

Not that he can do anything if the shouting turns out to be a bad sign, but from the glimpse he catches of the guards, it doesn't seem like they've been put on alert.

Donnie only has a few seconds to get a good look at what's on the other side before he dropping down to skid down the ever-growing pile. He has to take care to avoid the larger, sharper chunks. It'd be pretty pointless to be compromised early on if he cut up his feet.

At the foot of the slope he crouches, waiting and listening, but from here he can't hear as well beyond the groaning machinery and the crumble of rocks that continue to be deposited. His eyes rake across the yard and along the sides. Down isn't particularly where Donnie wants to go, but he spies what he's looking for, nearly hidden by the carelessly spread rubble.

He slinks along the walls, ducking into the nearest shadow when he can't find a good chunk of debris to hide by, eventually picking his way to an old grating. The air that gusts out is warm and not unlike the feeling of the inside of someone's mouth, which does not make him any more inclined to go inside, but he tells himself it's only temporary. Getting the bolts loose isn't too difficult, the stonework around them cracked and the metal itself worn and rusted. Just a bit of jimmying with one of his tools and eventually he's carefully setting aside the latch that kept the thing locked in place.

The grate itself is a hefty thing and would have been easier if his big brother were there to lift it, but the turtlekin's no slouch either, managing to get it open wide enough to slip between, holding his breath as the old hinges protest, hoping it's written off as just the other machinery making noise. And then he eases it down behind him, shaking out his arms before he turns to make his way down the awful tunnel.

Angelika is making headway, bulling her way forward. At the very least, she has gotten inside the front gate, and is now standing ramrod straight as the much taller camp commander upbraids her for her nose being stuck in where its not wanted. "Nobody cares about the spiritual welfare of the workers! They work, and that's their place."

"They work-but is that all they do? Do they truly only work and slave away, or is there more to them? Do they yet harbor hope that, perhaps, false gods and idols might save them from their rightfully divine-appointed fates?" Konrad, for that was the name Angelika had given her alter-ego, sneered. "And your guards are mostly peasant stock. They have no knowledge of proper idolotry, not the bone-deep hate of the Inquisition for these so-called gods."

Gods, Konrad was a prick. But he was a useful one-everyone lower in rank than him was a moron, everyone higher in rank a powerful moron. His contempt for both was palpable, and nobody liked Konrad. So any thoughts about his girlish build and lackluster height were clearly what Konrad was compensating for with this bullying and browbeating. "If you doubt my conviction, then I can bring my superiors here so that they can behold it and your doubts. But all I ask is time with your guards for a few...questions."

As for Donnie-well, the grate lead to where all the ventilation grates in the mines did-the central fan room, where an ether crystal's magic was tapped to...turn a fan to suck air out of the mines and pump clean air down in. But it also was where all the other air-return shafts terminated too, not just the mine ones.

It might've been entertaining to watch such a slight little Inquisitor figuratively stomping on everyone's toes. It might also have just been more of an excuse for Donnie to question the culture.

At least he's in the right place, letting out a breath as he allows himself a faint smirk. It's too bad these things aren't labeled. He closes his eyes, pulling up a mental image of the rough layout of things. Otherwise it's mostly going to be some guesswork, but at least he can try making sure he's going in the right direction.

He studies the walls where the other shafts open up to, glad it doesn't look like they'd spent much time in making things nice and smooth. Plenty of hand and footholds to make use of. "Okay Donnie, you can do this," he whispers to himself as he stretches an arm out and hooks his fingers on a promising protrusion of rock. Thankfully there's only but a couple of close-calls and nothing but rocks falling into the fan blades below. Donnie breathes out a sigh once he gets to the shaft he'd been aiming for, shimmying on in and hoping his estimations are right.

'Konrad' didn't care much about what people thought of him-still young and foolish and swinging his power like a club, but he did care about getting what he wanted-face time with the guards, or at least a schedule to do so. "And I want to inspect your servitors as well. Good workers and obedient ones might even get rewards. I have some budget for that-extra food, things of that nature." That got some attention. Starving workers who didn't work hard enough was part and parcel of how the Empire worked but extra rations for good workers, much less generally sufficient ones, were rare at the bottom of the food chain. And these men needed good, well fed workers to do the hard physical labor. Without calories to burn, nobody could wield a pick or shovel. Dangling the promise of extra food was useful for the supervisors as well because if it went only to obedient workers, there was greater reason to obey.

As for Donnie-the shaft was tight, but not impossible to crawl through. It looked like it had the tool marks from when it had been made. If Donnie looked closely, he could see it must have been hand-carved. Some poor bastard, with a pick, or a hammer and a drill, had crawled along here, smashing rock to bits, and then crawling over it. There were better ways to do this-but this was what had been done. At least it meant the shaft-at least the first bit, wasn't the kind of thing that made a lot of noise as you crawled inside it.

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