| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <Shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Cordoned Off |
| Date: | Thu, 7 Jan 1999 00:28:12 +0000 |
+++++begin news item
"This is Justin Ballard Watkins, by the Renraku Arcology." The reporter
huddles in his heavy coat, as the rain drives harder around him: heavy
drops blowing under his umbrella. In the background, four soldiers in
battledress are uncoiling razor wire across a the street as another two
drive stakes to anchor it. In the background, the wall of the Arcology
towers over them all, glowing from within and lighting the rainy air
weirdly.
"In the fourth day since UCAS troops began to cordon off the huge
building, over two weeks since the Arcology doors sealed themselves and
the security systems attacked anyone coming close, mystery remains as to
the cause of these bizarre events that have so far left over thirty
people dead and many more injured."
The cameraman zooms in on the soldiers, who ignore the attention to
continue their work of blocking off the street. They're all in combat
armour with web gear, rifles slung. "All around the Arcology, this scene
is being repeated. Some are reminded - painfully - of recent events in
another city."
(The picture briefly cuts to troops erecting similar obstacles,
captioned 'Chicago', as Watkins' voice-over continues.) "Why have the
UCAS sent in troops to seal off the Arcology? Are they keeping something
out... or something in?
(The view cuts back to the reporter, walking along the street and still
talking to the camera. "Colonel Velovich, of the 335th Battalion of the
101st Airborne, has agreed to give us a short interview." Watkins
explains, as they reach a coffee shop that seems to be serving as an
improvised field HQ: radios and tactical displays cover many tables, and
stacks of olive-green crates and boxes line several walls. "Colonel?"
Velovich looks surprisingly young to be commanding a battalion: short,
powerfully built, with silvering hair cropped short. Like his troops,
he's wearing combat gear, and unusually for a colonel, he's got a M7
carbine over one shoulder. The weapon doesn't look like an affectation,
either, he wears it like part of his body. "Mr Watkins."
"Justin, please. What can you tell us, Colonel?"
"Not a great deal yet, Justin." the Colonel admits. "We're unable to
make contact with anyone inside the Arcology, and we have no information
about what may be going on inside."
"So, why is such a vigorous response needed? Thousands of troops, whole
city blocks cleared and cordoned off..."
"My previous experience for this work was helping to secure the
Containment Zone in Chicago, Justin. I have to emphasise, we don't have
_any_ evidence of a similar situation here, but it's quite obvious that
there is _some_ sort of very serious problem inside the Arcology, and so
we're acting early rather than late to protect the Metroplex and, as far
as possible, the Arcology. I'm very glad to be here with my men, close
enough to learn what's going on and poised to react as necessary. If we
need to contain a threat, we're here. Or, if people inside need our
help, we're here. And if this is just some computer catastrophe and
there's no real problem after all, then this was at least a useful
training exercise."
"So the UCAS doesn't know what's going on inside?" Watkins presses.
"No, Justin. And I will admit, that's troubling, and the reason we've
been brought in. Whatever's causing these problems inside the Arcology,
though, we intend to prevent it from doing any harm to the citizens of
Seattle."
"What about the Arcology itself, Colonel?"
"Well, that's Renraku territory, and so officially outside our
jurisdiction. But I would like to thank Renraku for their co-operation
and support so far. We're not letting territorial issues get in the way
of protecting Seattle, securing the Arcology and assisting its
occupants. Of course we and Renraku have different priorities, but our
overall goal is the same. We're working together on this one to try to
find out what the problem is, and to solve it, as quickly and safely as
possible." The Colonel might even mean it. Maybe.
"Thank you, Colonel Velovich." Justin turns back to the camera. "And so
the siege goes on. What mysterious force has sealed the Arcology? What
of the hundred thousand souls trapped inside, when the doors were
sealed? And what dangers does this present to the Metroplex? This is
Justin Ballard Watkins, by the Renraku Arcology."
+++++end news item
Now, I don't know much about the military stuff there, but Colonel
Velovich was tense, trying to be open, not hiding much.
I only really started to get flickers on the bulldrek meter when he was
talking about how happy he was to be working with Renraku. I guess he's
less than delighted to be cleaning up some corporate mess... again.
Interesting point that he mentioned Chicago. I think that was meant to
be as reassuring as possible to the UCAS, "look! If there's another CZ
it'll only be around the Arcology and not around you!" Hopefully it
won't backfire.
Also fascinating that the official line is "we have no fragging idea
what's going on", which seems to match all the unofficial statements and
the general background buzz I've heard. Anything from bugs to Fuchi
taking over the arc to a rogue AI to aliens.
Not often you hear the Government admit ignorance, though I guess it's
the least bad option.
Any other comments?]<<<<<
-- Bungle <00:26:42/01-07-60>
>>>>>[The soldiers are expecting a fight. Maybe they've already had a
few. The wiring team were an eight-man squad, and at least one of their
two SAWs was deployed covering the road from the Arcology. You could see
one here.
+++++include enhanced video image
[Only just visible in the corner of the image, beyond the soldiers
rigging the razor-wire barrier, another soldier crouches behind a steel
dumpster, his squad automatic weapon braced on its bipod, aimed down the
street. Stephanie has thoughtfully circled him.]
They're all carrying live ammunition, and they're locked and loaded.
That also suggests they've had hot contact, because you don't usually do
that unless you want to be ready for a fight like right now, accidents
happen especially when you're tired and wet and cold and miserable like
if you've been rigging razor wire all day in the rain, usually you only
load up before a patrol or guard duty and you'd unload otherwise to make
sure you don't ND your weapon.
So they're expecting trouble to come hit them fast, so fast that taking
a magazine out of their web gear and locking and loading might take too
long, which is sort of worrying when you think about it, you only saw
things like that among second-echelon troops at Chicago.
The soldiers look like they know what they're doing, which I'd expect
from the 101st, Daddy might have ragged on the Army a lot but only
really to tease them into improving and the Airborne are pretty damn
good. The 335th did two tours on the Wall, that's how come Colonel
Velovich is a colonel and commanding that battalion, because you get
promoted pretty fast when the bugs surge your sector of the wall and
overrun battalion HQ and you're the senior company commander left alive
so you organise the counterattack that wipes them out and win a Silver
Star doing it, all of which he did, so I wouldn't really want to try
breaking out through that particular piece of perimeter if I were a bug
inside the Arcology which I don't think I _really_ want to be because I
don't like bugs.
I think he's really pissed off at Renraku for making a big stupid mess
that we're going to have to sort out, too, but he's being nice in public
so they don't sulk and get huffy instead of helping us clean it up. I
think Renraku know exactly what happened, as well, but they're too
embarrased to say so, it was probably some secret biological weapon they
were developing that got loose and is eating everyone inside and they're
scared that if they tell anyone they'll get in trouble so they're
pretending they don't know instead.
I suppose I really ought to charge you some consultancy fees for this,
Mr Bungle, but I'll let you off. This time.
But if this turns up in your degree project and I don't get referenced,
then I'll be unhappy.]<<<<<
-- Captain S S R W Lynch <00:30:16/01-07-60>
OC Kursk Coy
Rusanov's Rebels
