P A W N
Ingénierie, Nouvel Anchorage CC
C'est quoi, ça?
M O O D M U S I C
Il était temps.
L'expression se répétait dans le fond de son esprit alors qu'il ramenait ses pieds, marchant calmement dans les couloirs des sous-niveaux alors qu'il retenait son outil de données jusqu'aux moniteurs de sécurité, un fort « swoosh» sortant des portes devant lui alors qu'ils glissassaient. Le plan devait être lancé comme une attaque à double front contre New Anchorage pour des raisons complètement inconnues de lui— mais encore une fois, ce sont les intentions qui étaient inconnues de tous les pions qui avaient infiltré New Anchorage. C'était une tactique de garder la confidentialité et la sécurité de l'organisation sans nom qu'ils travaillaient à l'abri du mal de ceux qui étaient trop petits pour percevoir leurs activités comme justes et vraies. Mais pour lui, le troisième de son équipe, il n'y avait rien au sujet de l'opération qui a laissé un mauvais goût dans sa bouche et il n'a certainement pas tenu aucun doute ou crainte sur ce qu'ils étaient sur le point de réaliser. Michael Graham avait pensé qu'il était intelligent, mais il n'y avait personne d'aussi intelligent que les maîtres et il n'y en avait pas d'aussi compétent qu'eux. L'organisation sans nom a fonctionné pendant des siècles et Graham n'est devenu pertinent que pour leurs préoccupations au cours de la dernière décennie. S'il avait l'intention de questionner ses supérieurs, il aurait cru qu'il était insensé de laisser Graham vivre aussi longtemps qu'il l'avait fait; mais encore une fois, il y avait toujours un plan en mouvement. Bien que le plan plus vaste en action lui était inconnu.
Mais qui devait-il savoir? Après tout, il n'était qu'un petit pion.
Il monta sur le corps d'un soldat qui s'était posé à travers le sol, la marque d'une lame creusée à travers son cou. Un destin dans lequel le soldat n'était pas seul.
Ils avaient frappé ceux qui gardaient le quart d'ingénieur au petit matin tranquillement et avec impitoyable qu'aucun d'eux ne pouvait s'attendre. Après toute la reconstruction, Michael Graham avait passé New Anchorage à perdre tout cela serait une tragédie des siècles. Mais le Nouvel Anchorage était trop important pour permettre à une force indépendante et incertaine de s'emparer; et cela n'a pas été d'apporter la valeur d'entreprendre une attaque aussi subversive en premier lieu.
Brûlez-le au sol.
Un sourire confiant s'est levé sur ses lèvres alors que ses alliés semblaient être prêts avec les explosifs.
Les sous-protocoles ont-ils déjà été piratés?
Le plan à l'esprit était d'éliminer New Anchorage de la capacité de combattre et d'attaquer avec la rapidité que les ténèbres leur ont donné à leur avantage. Avec les principaux serveurs dans leur poche, il n'y aurait rien pour aider les soldats, les pilotes et les techniciens de la base à se défendre à leur tour. Ils n'auraient pas d'avantages et ne seraient désavantagés que dans la mesure où la réalité de la situation les absorberait et les contrôlerait. L'obscurité devient l'impuissance et l'impuissance devient la peur et la peur devient la mort.
Son sourire s'élargissait davantage alors qu'il pensait plus sur le sujet, ses mains cousues derrière son dos. Une fois le pouvoir épuisé, c'était aux autres pions, ceux qui avaient infiltré les rangs des soldats du New Anchorage, au rez-de-chaussée. Honnêtement, il n'était pas sûr comment ils pouvaient même échouer l'organisation sans nom qu'ils servaient avec l'infiltration parfaite qu'ils avaient exécuté sans problème. Les autres pions étaient armés de fusils d'assaut, d'implants bioniques de vision nocturne et avaient été formés comme unités d'opérations spéciales pendant des années. Ce ne serait pas leur première mission en tant que pions dans cette fonction et ce ne serait probablement pas leur dernière.
Oui. Nous sommes prêts sur votre commandement, maître pion.
Il a hurlé, "Bon". Le nouvel Anchorage ne sait pas ce qui les a frappés. Ils ne seront rien d'autre qu'un lointain souvenir. Activer la charge.
Il s'est retourné, il était temps de partir. C'était à l'autre équipe de pions maintenant; bien qu'ils aient une mission beaucoup plus rigoureuse devant eux et il était reconnaissant qu'il était en charge du sabotage et de l'insurrection de la base militaire pour exécuter effectivement ceux qui étaient trop gênants pour être autorisés à vivre. Après tout, il savait que l'équipe d'assaut s'était assignée à une mission très dangereuse qui pourrait être suicidaire si le conseil jouait contre eux. Il n'y avait aucun risque dans sa tâche et, bien qu'il ne craignât pas la mort, il ne voulait pas la chercher.
Parce qu'un pion jeté était attendu — mais pour un pion d'atteindre la fin de la planche et devenir une pièce entièrement nouvelle... maintenant cela était beaucoup plus utile.
C'est ce qu'on a dit.
Abigail Kord. Le nom qu'elle avait été assignée à infiltrer New Anchorage avait été décidé il y a longtemps et elle avait bien fait de gagner non seulement la confiance de Sophia Torres mais aussi Michael Graham dans le récent tour des événements. Aux côtés d'autres, elle a servi de «muscle» de leur mission de sabotage et d'insurrection. Son esprit avait été dans un flux constant depuis la semaine dernière et quand elle a obtenu le coup d'envoi d'Ilron Webb, le pion maître qui faisait partie du côté de l'ingénierie des choses, que ce serait ce matin qu'ils frapperaient, elle ne pouvait pas croire à quel point elle était anxieux de commencer. L'arrêt de la puissance et la saisie des données essentielles du serveur n'ont été qu'une petite partie du traitement d'une bosse assez grande pour rendre tentante l'attraction de la population locale de raideurs et l'autre partie de celle-ci était dangereuse comme elle l'avait toujours été. Elle avait fait une opération similaire dans la haute péninsule du Michigan et dans la région densément protégée du sud-ouest du Texas. Ainsi, dans son esprit, une petite base de merde dans les franges de l'Alaska posait peu de défi et encore moins de menace pour ses compagnons de pions.
Son équipe attendait, apparemment dans une position neutre quand une forte explosion pouvait être entendue sous les sous-sols et l'obscurité les a dépassés.
C'est l'heure, les garçons. Elle s'est exprimée sur les communications privées alors que ses yeux bioniques s'activaient presque immédiatement alors que ses iris bleus se déplaçaient vers un vert néon. Vous connaissez le plan, nous nous séparons en équipes de cinq sur cinq. Nous tuons tous ceux qui traversent notre chemin et nous éliminons autant de cibles POI que nous pouvons avant d'extraire. Avec chaque POI mort qui est un bonus de vingt-cinq mille crédits ajoutés à notre paie. Laissez-les faire.
Elle a tourné le coin, cinq de ses compagnons pions sur son talon alors qu'elle montait son fusil d'assaut. Elle a repéré sa première cible — un non-POI, mais elle connaissait ses ordres.
Les quelques minutes suivantes seraient importantes puisque les communications brouillages de leur protocole de piratage vers le bas dans l'ingénierie rendrait New Anchorage non organisé alors qu'elle et vingt-quatre autres insurgés, a lâché l'enfer sur le peuple pendant les deux-trois derniers mois les avaient vus comme des camarades, ne connaissant pas leurs intentions insidieuses. Comment ont-ils pu?
Il faudrait beaucoup d'habileté ou beaucoup de chance pour que New Anchorage survive à cette attaque, ce qui était certain.
John "Jingo" Strange
“Tea Cakes Anyone?”
 C A L L S I G N The Aberdeen

 N C O R I G I NNo Corporation (Technically Red Star)

 D - O - BOctober 3rd, 2644 (32)

 G E N D E RMale

 A P P E A R A N C E
 Jingo stands at 6'6", straddling the the border between tall and freakishly tall, he has a long arm and legs (his left arm missing just under the elbow), with wide sloping shoulders. His body is enmeshed in a layer of muscle, he's not a beast but he is lean and the lines and creases of his muscles are well defined. He has fair skin, crisscrossed with scars small and large a like, notably his tattered left ear and his missing left cheek, leaving his teeth and gums exposed to the air. Jingo has a fairly angular head, with a straight jaw and a thin imperial nose, he has shallow seek bones and a tall forehead with worry lines permanently furrowed into them. His eyes are set pleasantly apart, wide and full with large irises; the right eye is grey and has a very dark, defined pupil, the left one is a dull, watery blue. He has a thick shag of hair on top of his head, the color of hay and almost as course, the hair on his scalp is thicker then the hair on the sides of his head, but not by much; he has the remnants of a rough beard running down his right cheek (hiding the on set of wrinkles) and forming a goatee around his lips, though stopping on the left side because of the skin missing from his face.
When not in combat, Jingo wears an off white sleeveless shirt, now a light grey after years of wearing; on his legs he wears a pair of loose, green cargo pants, speckled with spots of paint and general dirt; on his feet he wears leather sandals and atop his head he wears a red cap. On the stump of his left arm he wears a prosthetic arm, made of yellowed plastic with a small, hook shaped set of pincers at the bottom, he controls the pincers easily enough due to a cable attached to a surviving tendon; on the left side of his torso, front and back, a black sheet of rubber is stretched over his ribs and is held in with medical staples, this is to protect exposed muscle and ribs and he can not take it off. When in combat, he wears the same cargo pants and shirt but a pair of of boots instead of sandals, with thick woolen thermals underneath everything as it gets very cold in the cockpit of his NC. He wears a tarnished pair of dog tags around his neck, with words stamped into it in a long dead language called Anglish.

 P E R S O N A L I T Y
Warm and chirpy, Jingo is an overly loud individual with very few layers to him (Not being the one to deceive), he enjoys good company and is good to the company he keeps, loving to joke, play around and generally cause good mannered mayhem. He is fond of bantering and often enjoy's having conversations with people, though being oblivious as to whether they want him around or not. He is not very perceptive, finding it hard to read people though tone of voice or body expression, this makes him overly trusting to people who he thinks are good; and overtly naive. Though he seems positive all the time, he is prone to frustration and heated bouts of cursing at people, having the capability to be a very angry person - though much preferring to keep his cool.

 S K I L L S E T
Urban Guerrilla: In his youth Jingo had been part of The Falcon Reach Militia and had been put through rigorous training in the art of fighting in an urban setting, training, assault courses and war games being held abandoned parts of the settlement. His training makes him versed in fighting for every block, building and room, employing shock and awe to crush the enemy quickly and incur as little damage as possible. This can be seen in his NC combat doctrine, preferring to cause as much damage as he can without he himself being damaged. While still taking risk.
Demolitions Expert: Having been a miner before his maiming his eyes are trained to seek weak spots in structures, natural or otherwise and when needed, use these weaknesses to collapse the structure in a spectacular fashion. But the reverse is also true, he knows where to make changes to ensure something stays up. This makes him a competent battle engineer. And VERY good at Jenga.
Attack Dog: His loyal mechanical mutt, Skitters served him well through combat portions of Graham's Ultimatum (despite Graham not wanting him to bring the dog along). Taser built into its muzzle, it did not need to be commanded to do what Jingo wanted him to do. Skitter's leapt, clawed and tasered, falling back to his ancient combat parameters. Outside of combat Skitter's is a derpy, lovable dog and Jingo's most trusted friend... Despite zapping him a few times by accident.
Forceful Optimist: Despite all the things that have befallen him, his maiming; him being sold into slavery; his mother's descent into early Alzheimer's; his sister's failed attempt to seize power, thus alienating his family and his father's murder. Throughout all this he found it difficult to continue going at the pace he was, but he did. Forcing himself to smile and think on the brighter side he made it through his problems with little (figurative) surface damage.

 B A C K S T O R Y
Jingo was born in a settlement quite far from Smith's Rest, it was called Falcon Reach, a semi subterranean community built into the side of a white limestone cliff, using the natural tunnels and caves as dwelling. Falcon Reach overlooked a massive salt bed, the dried remains of what was once a sea sprawled out all along it, dotted with the rusting husks of stranded boats and ships. His mother was a miner, along with most of the town, she was a small, asthmatic, eighteen year old girl; his father was a Falconer, one of Falcon Reach's elite. They met by sheer coincidence, when one of his Falcon's flew down the mines and his mother brought it back up, it didn't take long for the pair to fall in love and they quickly got married upon finding that she was pregnant. Seven months later, out popped a pair of twins, Jingo and his sister Lisa, both pursued different paths, Lisa became a Falconer like her father and Jingo became a miner like his mother.
However he didn't really choose the life of a miner. Red Star owned and ran Falcon Reach in a de facto manner, despite the corporation having given it partial self governance. He was selected for his strength... And his gullibility. He was not as smart as his sister and so he was easier to trick, trick into thinking that if he worked as both militia and miner he would get a position as high ranking as his sister. His big break came from the militia. As part of their training they had to go through a test to see how well they would synchronize with an NC, he managed to be one of the few who were able to. Within days he had a plug put in him, it wasn't quite what he wanted but he allowed the procedure to go on instead of being beaten and forced into it.
One day he was minding his own business performing exercises in his NC, it was as normal an occasion as any other, too bad it didn't pan out as usual. High above him, blasting was taking place, this was normal, the stones were meant to fall in to the tunnel as opposed to out and down the cliff side but it did. A large boulder fell from the blasting site, launched outwards by the blast just far enough for it to path with Jingo, he saw it fall, he made a move but he was too slow. The left side of the NC was crushed by the immense weight of the falling lump of stone, sending it rag dolling into the floor; inside, Jingo was screaming in agony, the left side of his craft having collapsed inwards and crushing him against his seat. The boulder was lifted off after fifteen minutes, by this pint he had passed out from the pain and lack of oxygen, they had to cut him out as the hatch had been crumpled shut by the force of the falling rock. His injuries were far beyond the healing capabilities of the doctor's of Falcon Reach, so they loaded him into a helicopter and flew him to the nearest place with good medical facilities. Though of course, Red Star did not provide any assistance in the matter.
At the time, the best place on the surface to get treatment in Falcon Reach's area was Smith's Rest. Back before it's decline it thriving town and where there was a thriving town, there were doctors that were more then happy to make a buck off of sick people. Jingo was in hospital for weeks, his arm was completely ruined, that had to come off; the pieces of the left side of his skull had to be reassembled and held in place with pins and all the skin on the left of his torso had to be removed to rebuild his ribs. Throughout this, the doctor's were charging outrageous prices for their services and before long, his father had sold everything he had to pay the up keep. Eventually the family had to give Jingo to the doctor, as a kind of indentured servant, he worked under the doctor as a lackey, sweeping the floors and carrying boxes. After a few years of this, the doctor left, Smith's Rest was in decline and no one could pay for his services, so he took his accumulated wealth and moved to an underground metropolis. However the doctor wasn't completely horrible to Jingo, for years of free work he left Jingo an old auto-shop in the corner of town. He stayed in Smith's rest, not having enough money to get back to Falcon Reach, eventually he integrated, dropping his thick sea accent and getting use to the cold winters.
Sometime after his first missions with the corps Jingo received a letter from home, his father had passed away and there was a dispute over what he had left for Jingo. The doctor who had patched him up was a claimant for the sum that was left behind, arguing that because he did not technically release Jingo from his servitude the money belonged to him. A lengthy legal battle took place, something that surprised Jingo because court hearings over things like inheritance were rarely heard of. A few months had passed and the hearings grew more and more heated, legally Falcon Reach did permit slavery (though no one owned slaves anymore) making the doctor the rightful claimant, however most people preferred Jingo and saw the law as a formality. The whole case eventually ended with doctor being pushed off of the side of the cliff by a gang of ruffians, something Jingo didn't openly condone but was glad about on the inside. His inheritance secured, he was getting ready to return to the newly founded New Anchorage.
His train was going to be delayed.
From outside his family's home, Jingo could hear gunshots and explosions. He knew that the heightened Red Star control on Falcon Reach's administration was unpopular but he didn't think it would break into open revolt. His sister, Lisa, begged him for his help but he knew it wasn't wise for him to help her. In the end he convinced her to make an escape before the Red Star soldiers found out it was her who instigated the violence. Jingo had struggled for the inheritance his father had left him, so naturally watching it fly away in a chopper with his sister and his wheelchair bound mother was painful. Returning to New Anchorage on one of the last outbound, he had arrived in time for Graham's Ultimatum, he didn't recall having to take a physical exam but it seemed like a sane measure. He passed well enough, despite taking his time climbing his NC.

 T H E M E C H

Compared to other NC's, the Aberdeen is a rather discreet, quiet machine, that doesn't attract much attention to itself, it has a very long range due to it's light construction and a top running speed of Sixty miles per hour, with an optimum cruising speed of Thirty. Due to the powerful piston arrangements in the legs, the Aberdeen has the ability to jump 40 meters and land safely because of it's radial shock absorbers and independent tread pads. These things taken into account, it makes an excellent scouting platform and light support unit. The Aberdeen is old but reliable, like most old things, it won't ever fail Jingo but it still has some things that are rather annoying, like how the coolant housing is open to the cockpit and makes the space freezing cold
Equipment:
- Rhythmic Emission Detector: An onboard system that casts a kind of ultrasonic bubble a large area around The Aberdeen, the computer detects fluctuations and disturbances in the bubble and displays them on the layered display. This allows the Aberdeen to detect distant heart beats and engines, using a database to interpret the vibrations and narrow down what they could be, filtering out things like animals, wind and running water.
- High Gain Band Scanner: A radio signal scanner that goes through all available bands and pin points any readable ones, though it does this with relative ease, it doesn't have any means of interpreting the data, leaving the pilot to do so by giving him the list of readable signals. It doesn't read cyphers or decrypts enigmas, that is left for the pilot to do, it can only be used when the NC is not in combat as it requires the unlatching of sensitive transmission equipments.
- Albin-Coxwell HD Film Auto-Cam: A high definition camera with a sixty times optical zoom, the images are stored on solid state hard drives stored in the cockpit, the gathered intelligence can be transmitted to other NCs but an antenna has to be raised and can easily be damaged when not handled with care.
- 2x Albin-Coxwell Flying Camsmitter: Fired from a hatch on the top of the NC, it is a rocket propelled cylinder with a camera in it, gathering aerial, birds eye view images of the land below, the transmitter has a ten mile range but the images aren't as high definition as the Auto-Cam's. The image is viewed as a constant stream by The Aberdeen and then stored on a solid state hard drive, only one stream of images can be stored per drive.
- Track Suppressing Technology: Units in built in the feet of the Aberdeen to dampen the sound of walking and reduce track size to a minimum. Using a constant stream of concentrated, downwards pointing air, it blows dust back down on to the ground and make sure there are no large plumes behind the moving NC and to fill tracks back in. Used best at cruise speed.
- (Right Arm) 2x 20mm Antiaircraft Guns: A pair of guns stripped from an old tank, the twin automatic guns have a high rate of fire but due to their relatively small caliber they need to sustain fire for a long time on a heavily armored target to significantly damage it, or aim for weak spots. They are best used against lightly armored targets, aircraft or infantry. Jingo keeps them around to minimize weight.
- (Left Arm) High Energy Field generator: Built into the segment in the left arm, the Field generator produces a circular shield that Jingo can use when he is sustaining heavy fire and must maintain the integrity of the NC itself. It works excellently against all small arms, AA guns and medium caliber artillery but rockets and energy weapons are very good at bypassing it.
- (Left Arm) Cutting Blade: What it says on the tin.

 R E L A T I O N S
Anastasia "Stein" Kalfox: Jingo hasn't had much opportunity to talk with the woman but regards her with respect, he knows of her talent and ability and is thankful that there is someone like that in the field to remind him everything isn't fun and games.
Kathryn "Ryn" Dradht: Loud and abrasive, About as much as Jingo could gather from his interactions with her. However she is fun to talk to and has impressed him with her ability as a pilot, despite being so young. His only issue with her is her insistence on using bad language.
Tahlia Styles: Jingo can't say much about the Aussie, other then he doesn't much like her cigarette smoke.
Elizabeth "Eli" Jackspar: Jingo doesn't know her that well (or at all) but the tits and tats that he's heard of her past make him feel for her. But he knows that there's a lovable side in there, Vera is a good indication of that.
Percy Moore: The only person that Jingo can really call his friend. No strings attached, he knows that he can rely on Percy when he needs him and he hopes that Percy knows he can rely him. Considers Percy to be his right hand man
Madison Cole: He remembered her that day on the Truck, he couldn't stop remembering her since. Jingo has a tiny little bit of a crush on her, or at least what he thinks she is. Regardless, he doesn't know that she's gay.
Alan Fouren: One of the new crew, Jingo finds the man's jokes funny and his company comfortable but he's not sure about his skills as a fighter and doesn't really want to get killed out there. He'll keep his distance for the moment, on the field that is.
Ordent "Orry" Callaway: At first Jingo wasn't really sure about this one, but when he got past his subdued nature he learned to appreciate how hard Orry was willing to work. This only made it easier for Jingo him his way around guns.
Ana Moore & Vera Voloshyna: The Children, oh how Jingo adores the children, he doesn't think he could do it day to day without at least spotting them once. They are necessary sunshine in a world of boring, mind numbing monotony.