Post-Conquest: Insurgence (ST and SW Crossover)

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Hmmm... interesting reactions so to speak.

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Reactions?

Then another very important difference. Writing a fanfic in the corner of the internet compared to getting payed or paying people to do it and sell it as entertainment. Or thanks to AI have it voiced so characters like Picard or Barclay can now speak a 4chan copy pasta where in the holodeck they stage a suicide where Deanna Troi who's 200 feet tall is colliding into them into her giant vagina.

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I'm not really sure what you're trying to get across here...

 

[rx915]

Reactions?

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More of a meta commentary on people that don't like your story continue to talk about it and then thinking of a similar scene from one where they wrote a story killing the main character of an isekai story for owning a slave on this site. Makes me think I'm a bit of a hypocrite not feeling anything for one thing but feeling something for another.

I'm not really sure what you're trying to get across here...

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Well you clearly upset people writing your story. What I was trying to say by that while you upset people by writing fanfic and then posting it in a random corner of the internet it's just in a random corner of the internet. The effect would be magnified if you got hired to write the story and then see it made into a movie employing actual staff to work on it much like certain entertainment such as the recent star wars movies that's written by people that causes people to voice their complaints online.

The AI part is just for extra flavor text. If you want some of the characters to voice scenes you did you can now do it.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

More of a meta commentary on people that don't like your story continue to talk about it and then thinking of a similar scene from one where they wrote a story killing the main character of an isekai story for owning a slave on this site. Makes me think I'm a bit of a hypocrite not feeling anything for one thing but feeling something for another.

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Let me guess, Rising of the Shield Hero?

Well you clearly upset people writing your story. What I was trying to say by that while you upset people by writing fanfic and then posting it in a random corner of the internet it's just in a random corner of the internet. The effect would be magnified if you got hired to write the story and then see it made into a movie employing actual staff to work on it much like certain entertainment such as the recent star wars movies that's written by people that causes people to voice their complaints online.

The AI part is just for extra flavor text. If you want some of the characters to voice scenes you did you can now do it.

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Upsetting people actually makes me want to keep writing this story. Call me a sadist, an asshole, a bitch, or whatnot, but watching and reading as people meltdown over this story here and on other sites makes me LMAO so hard I have to keep writing just in the hopes of seeing more meltdowns. It's actually quite therapeutic, especially after a hard day's work.

 

[rx915]

Let me guess, Rising of the Shield Hero?

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It was something else. Something about a labyrinth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem_in_the_Labyrinth_of_Another_World
https://forum.questionablequesting....the-labyrinth-of-the-other-world-si-oc.19343/
I didn't comment on the thread but on the index thread on the series that I disagree with the idea because the logic doesn't mesh with me that being raised with modern values would stop people from participating in past practices especially when they're young from 16-17 ish which is an age to be vulnerable to be involved in petty crime or hooligan behavior.

Upsetting people actually makes me want to keep writing this story. Call me a sadist, an asshole, a bitch, or whatnot, but watching and reading as people meltdown here and on other sites makes me LMAO so hard I have to keep writing just in the hopes of seeing more meltdowns. It's actually quite therapeutic, especially after a hard day's work.

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That was also similar sentiment in the thread I mentioned. Unlike that author you have more drive to continue slogging it through.

Hence why I say a meta commentary on this kind of situation.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

That was also similar sentiment in the thread I mentioned. Unlike that author you have more drive to continue slogging it through.

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Enjoying reading as commies or commie-sympathizers meltdown aside, it's genuinely fun building a new world. Or, rebuilding it, as it were, from a false Communist utopia to something more...real, and natural. Ironic, I know, using that word. 'Natural', considering the Empire has lifted the ban against Transhumanism, but it fits.

 

[rx915]

Enjoying reading as commies or commie-sympathizers meltdown aside, it's genuinely fun building a new world. Or, rebuilding it, as it were, from a false Communist utopia to something more...real, and natural. Ironic, I know, using that word. 'Natural', considering the Empire has lifted the ban against Transhumanism, but it fits.

Click to shrink...

I can agree with the fun of world building with the power of the pen or in this case the key board.

If I had that drive I can actually export worlds that haven't been touched in while like the dystopian world of dark reign 2 or the desolate world of a dead Nosgoth to killer robots wanting to kill humanity again from a monoeye head looking at the screen menacingly.

 

[alethiophile]

Enjoying reading as commies or commie-sympathizers meltdown aside

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Please don't use politically-flavored insults for other members of the site.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghost in the Shell, Assassin's Creed, and any other franchise referenced in this purely fan-made and not-for-profit work.

Post-Conquest: Insurgence

Chapter 3​

Team Nine staggered as the central control room shook violently, the air rumbling with the echoes of a massive explosion outside. The Augments all managed to stay on their feet thanks to their improved balance, and likewise for Crash thanks to his cybernetics and powered armor, but Max wasn't so lucky.

"Marjatta," Makoto immediately signaled over the encoded line, Oliver helping Max back up to his feet not far away. "Report."

"Sorry, major." Marjatta quickly replied. "Called in an artillery strike on the complex's atrium. Lots of rogue droids, and three more of those transceivers. There were also a pair of spacecraft of some kind, probably FTL-capable. Their hypermatter stores must have been set off by the artillery."

"Hypermatter going up…" Sorgis mused. "…yeah that'll make for quite a big boom…"

"Understood." Makoto said. "Still, a heads-up would have been nice."

"Sorry, major." Marjatta apologized. "Permission to call in an airstrike on the main communications array? That should completely silence this facility."

"…granted." Makoto said after a moment's thought, before looking up and surveying the control room.

Team Nine had stormed the place just a few minutes ago, and quickly disposing of all but one of the rogue droids. Most of them had been more of the same, utility or industrial droids with add-on communications equipment and power sources, plus metal plates either bolted on or welded together as a form of armor, and armed with repurposed industrial tools. All but that one droid, though, the one in control here, and which had literally been cobbled together from the central control room's computer cores.

It'd been hooked up to a heavy-duty power source, salvaged from another droid by the look of things, and then installed a repulsorpod for mobility. A salvaged communications suite had also been added, along with a makeshift shield generator, all in all making for a mechanical, chimera-like appearance.

It lacked weapons, though, and once its guard droids had been dealt with, had diverted all its power to its shields, enough to withstand even Crash and Oliver's heavy ion accelerators. That had been its doom, though, with Team Nine simply firing away until its shields collapsed…

…well, that had been the plan. Instead, the droid's power source had overheated first, the droid simply collapsing into a half-melted heap that the team proceeded to saturate with ion fire at point-blank range, ensuring nothing was left in the aftermath.

"Anything?" Makoto asked the team's tech expert.

Sorgis sighed and looked up from one of the room's gutted terminals. "Sorry, major." He said. "The terminals here are just good for scrap. Looks like the droids here gutted every last one of them to make…that thing, over there. If I had to guess, they intended it as a synapse node of some kind, to route and improve transmission and reception of signals across the droids' networked intelligence."

"Devolving control functions at an intermediate level down from their central computer." Makoto said with a nod, and Sorgis nodded back.

"Pretty much." He said. "Reduces the burden on the central computer, while making the whole networked intelligence less vulnerable to a single point of weakness, and overall more resistant to damage."

"Not really." Crash chimed in. "Take out those nodes, and they'd all be routing directly to their central computer again."

"Assuming you can take them all out, of course." Sorgis said.

"Then let's take out every node we see," Makoto cut in. "And before they build more."

"Got it major." Sorgis said, Crash nodding his agreement. Makoto nodded back, taking one more look around the central common room, her face hardening and her eyes narrowing at the sight of the bloody and mangled corpses piled up in a corner like so much refuse by the droids.

"Let's go." She said, checking on her ion accelerator's power cell before taking the lead out of the room.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Those are thermal and power regulators, aren't they?" Makoto asked as they made their way down a corridor.

"Yes…?" Oliver asked back, and Makoto immediately aimed her ion accelerator at the flashing and humming piece of machinery along the wall.

"Take it out!" she barked, opening fire and joined a moment later by the rest of the team.

"Major…?" Oliver asked.

"The droids should be using way more than their standard, 'as designed' power to keep up their intelligence." Makoto explained while lowering her weapon. "But this also means they'll be producing a lot of heat, in addition to straining this place's power sources. Now, taking out one, two, maybe three or even four thermal and power regulators is probably something they can deal with. But five or six, or better yet, all of them?"

"The droids will either have to scale back their central computer," Sorgis said with a snap of his fingers. "Or keep running hot and burn it out."

"It'd certainly solve our job for us if they did that." Crash remarked.

"It would, but I doubt it'll be that easy." Max countered.

"Maybe," Makoto said with a shrug. "But even so, take out every power and thermal regulator you see."

"Roger that." The team chorused, before continuing down the corridor, then a flight of metallic steps. As they descended onto a lower floor that led out into the atrium, they were swarmed by a number of spider-like rogue droids which had avoided getting destroyed by the artillery barrage.

"DESTROY." The droids monotonously chanted as they skittered in. "CLEANSE. PURGE. KILL."

Team Nine opened fire, taking out several droids but not all of them, forcing the team into a hand-to-hand fight. Crash immediately crushed a droid with one foot, before sending three more flying with powerful sweeps of his arms, the droids' carapaces crumpling from the force of the captain's blows even before being smashed against the walls.

Max bayonetted one of the droids clean through its head, the spider's legs twitching spasmodically several times before curling up. Makoto similarly caught one of the droids by a pair of its legs as it pounced on her, before tearing it in two in the next heartbeat. Breaking one of its legs off, she caught another droid as it pounced on her, letting it grip onto her arm while standing her ground against the force of impact, before stabbing it repeatedly with the torn leg of the other droid, until it fell, sparking and twitching to the ground.

Jochen and Oliver dealt with the remaining droids just as efficiently, leaving Team Nine surrounded by sparking wreckage. Recovering their weapons, they stepped out onto a raised walkway running along two sides of the atrium, Crash whistling at the sight.

"Wow," he said. "This place has seen better days."

"Yeah, well," Jochen rumbled as he looked out over the smoking, crater-filled, no man's land that was the atrium. "This is what artillery does."

"Watch out for that big crater over there." Crash warned. "I'm guessing that's where those spacecraft Marjatta mentioned used to be, because my sensors are detecting Phase 2-levels of radiation. Nothing I can't handle, or the Augments here can't sleep off, likewise for Sorgis, but Max…sorry, but you're gonna get cancer if you get too close."

"Thanks for the warning." Max said with a nod. "I'll be sure to stay away then."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Makoto said with a nod. "We'll make a sweep, then rendezvous at the other entrance in five."

"Understood, major." The team chorused, before looking up as a pair of proton torpedoes shot by overhead and blew up the communications array on the far side of the complex. Despite the flash and roar of the explosion and its aftermath, attentive eyes could see a Skipray Blastboat disappearing into the distance.

"…right, then…" Makoto said with a nod, as the array's wreckage finished falling. "…let's move."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The blast doors slid ponderously open, allowing entry further into the complex. Before it could fully open, though, Team Nine was falling back. And not a moment too soon, as an elephantine droid immediately opened up with heavy flamethrowers, filling the loading bay outside with chemical fire.

"These droids are too clever for their own good!" Crash cursed from cover.

"What are we looking at here?" Max shouted.

"Looks like a modified heavy cargo droid." Sorgis replied. "Heavily-modified…looks like enhanced power systems, communications suite, sensors, propulsion…basically everything."

"Not to mention up-armored." Makoto said, narrowing her eyes as the droid stomped its way out onto the loading bay. "Back, into the open! Looks like this thing is meant for close combat, and cover isn't going to cut it! Back!"

Team Nine retreated into the ruined atrium, the droid refusing to follow but waiting for them to come to it. "Jochen," Makoto asked. "Can your recoilless rifle take it?"

"Not sure…normally I'd say yes up against industrial plating repurposed as armor…" Jochen replied. "…but it'd also depend on the composition of the plating."

"My tricobalt missile can handle it, plating or no, composition be damned." Crash offered.

"We might need that later, especially against the central computer." Jochen warned before tilting his head. "Then again, that's what Sorgis' logic bomb is for."

"Orders, major?" Crash asked.

"…an airstrike or an artillery barrage would cause too much damage." Makoto finally said. "We'd take it out, but then we'd have to dig our way through. Alright, Crash, you're up."

"No problem." Crash said while grinning behind his helmet, Team Nine scattering and going to ground all around. Servos hummed as Crash braced himself against the ground and brought his missile launcher to bear, a laser built into his helmet locking onto the giant droid in the distance to guide the tricobalt missile home. "Missile away!"

With a roar, the tricobalt missile launched itself free, climbing up into the air to build up speed before sharply banking down and flying low along the ground towards its target. The droid barely had time to screech in alarm before the missile slammed into it and exploded. Flames and shattered wreckage fountained into the air, smoke following in their wake even as debris began raining down.

"Did you get it?" Max asked as Team Nine slowly got back up to their feet.

"Of course I did." Crash scoffed. "That missile had a 50 kg tricobalt warhead. Tricobalt's pretty useless against modern shield systems, and even the old Federation only used them to exploit a fault in dilithium-cored reactors, but against ground armor? Tricobalt works better than most chemical explosives."

"So why are we still using them?" Max asked. "Chemical explosives, that is."

"Cost." Jochen replied. "It's still cheaper to produce chemical explosives in bulk than tricobalt, that's why."

"Oh, I see." Max said with a nod. "Makes sense…thanks."

Jochen grunted even as Makoto stepped forward. "Let's keep moving." She said. "We still have a job to do, after all."

Team Nine chorused their assent, carefully exiting the atrium and heading towards the doors. The guard droid was gone, along with most of the loading bay, with the latter's ceiling blown clean off. The blast doors were still largely intact, though, and the corridor beyond mostly clear. Watching each other's back and flanks, Team Nine advanced deeper into the complex.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"…looks like the droids were building more than, well, more of themselves." Sorgis said as he checked a terminal.

Team Nine had shut down the production floors on the way to the central computer, smashing the work droids operating them and both the modified and purpose-built droids guarding them. They'd also kept destroying thermal and power regulators, which had the side-effect of making the complex interior sweltering hot.

That said, it was clear the destruction of the regulators was having an effect, as the droids grew increasingly slower and clumsier as more and more regulators were destroyed. As the strain on their networked intelligence grew from overloads and power issues, they'd started prioritization, causing lowered performance in many of their units.

"Well," Crash began. "We know they were building transceivers, but what else could they have been building?"

"I don't know." Sorgis said. "But based on what I'm getting from this terminal, whatever it is, it's big. Literally."

Team Nine shared looks at that, and Makoto sighed. "Sounds like an unpleasant surprise for when we reach the central computer." She said.

"It looks that way, major." Sorgis said.

Makoto sighed again and then nodded. "Might as well get it over with." She said.

Team Nine continued to advance, until at last they reached the central computer. The doors to the room were guarded by dozens, if not over a hundred droids, mostly utility types, and they charged the moment they saw the organics.

"DESTROY." They chorused. "CLEANSE. PURGE. KILL."

"Crossfire positions!" Makoto barked. "Crash, thin them out!"

Crash didn't bother responding verbally, preferring to let the last of his micro-missiles speak for him. Fully half the droids were turned into burning scrap by his volley, before opening fire with his heavy ion accelerator on full auto. Meanwhile, the rest of Team Nine spread out, turning the droids' path towards them into a killing ground of blue ion blasts. Still the droids pressed on, climbing over the wreckage of their own kind to get to the organics, Team Nine lobbing ion grenades at the droids as they came close.

By the time the shooting stopped, Team Nine's weapons were smoking hot, while the antechamber leading to the central computer had its floor invisible under piles of scrap and wreckage. Undeterred, Team Nine pushed through, only for cursing to erupt as they found the doors welded shut and the terminal nearby destroyed.

"Jochen…?" Makoto asked.

"Already on it, major." The man said while setting up his recoilless rifle. Less than a minute later, and he simply blew the door open, allowing Team Nine access to the cavernous, and even hotter central computer hall.

"Oh, man." Oliver grumbled. "This is way hotter than I'm used to."

"No kidding." Makoto agreed, wiping her forehead with the back of a hand. It didn't do much good, and for once in her life, Makoto found herself cursing her accelerated metabolism. "Augments, stim-shots, now."

"Major…?" Crash asked in surprise.

"Augments have accelerated metabolisms, so we…" Makoto began while pulling out a stim-shot and raising it to her neck.

Then she came to a stop, as did the rest of the team, when the central computer just died. "What just happened?" Max asked.

Then the ground shook, then again, and again, at what seemed like footsteps, and then the team was gaping at the sight of an eight-meter-tall droid stepping out from behind the central computer. It had humanoid dimensions, with white-finished plating, and a long, narrow head dominated by an even narrower mono-eye.

"DESTROY." It thundered, shields flickering to life around it. "CLEANSE. PURGE. KILL."

Then it marched on Team Nine, which scattered. Thankfully, the thing wasn't armed, and its efforts to kill them involved heavy-handed and even clumsy attempts to step on, kick, or pick them up to crush in its hands. The team fought back, of course, but even heavy ion accelerators or pulse cannons couldn't penetrate its shields.

"There's got to be a way to bring this thing down!" Crash thundered over virtual communications, to be heard over the monotonous repetition of the droid's mantra.

"Preferably in a way that doesn't set off its power sources." Makoto added. "In an enclosed place like this, there's no way any of us – except maybe Crash – could survive."

"I've got an idea." Sorgis asked.

"Well, spit it out!" Crash snapped while zooming around and away from the giant droid, firing potshots for all the good it did with his heavy ion accelerator.

"From how the central computer died when that thing went active," Sorgis began. "I'd say the droids transferred the core of their network intelligence into it. Meaning if we can introduce my logic bomb into it…"

"…then we can shut it down and the rest of the droids with it." Makoto replied while opening fire.

"Precisely." Sorgis said.

"Easier said than done." Max said while covering Jochen along with Oliver, giving the former time to fire his recoilless rifle. It didn't do much good, only drawing the droid's attention, and forcing Jochen to abandon the heavy weapon to escape getting stomped on by the giant. "Shit! How the hell do we do this?"

"…well, when it comes to its shields, I think I can take them out." Crash offered.

"What are you…?" Makoto began, only to trail off as Crash flew up and straight towards the giant droid. Then just as he made contact with the droid's shields, Crash overloaded his own shields, a brilliant flash of light filling the room for an instant, along with the sound of overloading electronics.

"DESTROY. CLEANSE. PURGE. KILL." The droid kept up its mantra even as it staggered back, smoke and sparks pouring from wrecked shield generators.

"Ha!" Crash barked in triumph as he landed on the ground, his own shield generators fried. "That'll…!"

The droid kicked him away, sending him flying into a wall with enough force to punch a crater into the rockcrete. The team chorused their dismay, but their HUDs thankfully showed the captain's life signs as still active.

Still, he'd been as good as his word. The droid's shields were down, and the way Crash went about it gave Makoto an idea. "Sorgis," she began while running up next to the Arkanian. "Give me the logic bomb. I'll deliver it to the droid. The rest of you, draw its attention."

"Roger that, ma'am." Oliver said while opening up with his heavy ion accelerator. "But you'll only have one shot at this. Make it count."

"Just make sure to stay alive." Makoto said while waiting for Sorgis to finish compiling and transferring the logic bomb.

"Like hell I'm going to die here." Max replied. "When this is over, I'm going to go home, and have some rouladen, with dumplings and blaukraut on the side! So, bring it on, you metal fucker!"

"Sorgis…hurry it up…"

"…almost there…almost…there…!" Sorgis said, sharing a nod with Makoto. "Give it hell, ma'am."

"I intend to." Makoto said before taking a quick look around. Then she ran at a set of pipes, nimbly jumping onto one pipe and then the next, before clambering up a set of vertically-inclined cable bundles, then along another bundle running horizontally along a wall, before leaping up, folding and then unfolding her legs to land onto the droid's head.

The droid finally stopped repeating its mantra, instead flailing around to get Makoto off, but unwilling to risk bringing its hands too close to its head. For her part, Makoto was now thankful Augments couldn't get motion sickness, using one hand to hold on while using her free hand to pry open panels, pull cables free, and finally finding a port, plugged in the DSD with the logic bomb.

"Please die." She said while kicking off, pressing her limbs against her body as she spun through the air, and then landing with her legs braced low and spread wide apart to counter the force of impact.

"D-D-D-D-D-DESTROY…C-C-C-C-CLEANSE…P-P-P-PURGE…" the droid drunkenly repeated as it similarly tottered around drunkenly before devolving into a series of high-pitched whistling with subtle and minute inflections. Meanwhile, across the complex, machinery malfunctioned one after another, entire sections of the complex exploding one after the other from runaway overloads, while surviving droids convulsed before simply collapsing. "00101110 00101110 00101110 01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000011 01010010 01000001 01010011 01001000 00101110 00101110 00101110 01001001 01001101 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000101 01001110 01010100 00101110 00101110 00101110 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000110 00101101 01000110 00101101 01000110 00101101 01000110 00101101 01000110 01000001 01010100 01001000 01000101 01010010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000110 01000001 01010100 01001000 01000101 01010010 01001100 01001111 01010010 01000101 00101110 00101110 00101110"

Then the droid's mono-eye went out, and swaying ponderously, finally topped over backwards, crashing into and destroying the now-inactive central computer.

For a long moment, there was only silence, Team Nine struggling to catch their breath. And then…

"Is…is it over?" Max asked.

Then eyes turned and weapons rose at the sound of rubble getting pushed aside, only for everyone to relax as Crash pushed himself free. Tearing off his helmet, the Dark Trooper spat out blood, then glaring at the collapsed droid, he dragged his barely-functioning armor to the droid, before raising and repeatedly firing his dual pulse cannon at its head.

"Now, it's over." He said.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sparks flew as Makoto lit a cigarette, taking a long draw before blowing out a thin stream of smoke. "What a day." She finally said.

"Smoking is bad." Max remarked, hypocritically holding a lit cigarette himself.

"Not for Augments it isn't." Makoto countered before tilting her head. "And you aren't. An Augment, I mean."

"It's fine in moderation." Max responded with a smile. "And if it's done away from children."

"Fair."

Max chuckled and took a draw on his cigarette, Team Nine sitting around outside of the complex as police and more ISB units milled around. Then Makoto was getting up, Crash walking over without his armor from the medical tent, and offered him a cigarette.

"Don't mind if I do." The towering cyborg accepted the offer, and leaning down to let Makoto light it before taking a few puffs. "Mmm…still favoring mild American tobacco, huh, major?"

"To each their own, captain." Makoto said while enjoying a smoke, even as a dropship landed nearby and disembarked more ISB reinforcements including an older Chinese man in nondescript grey and black. Team Nine immediately made to come to attention, only for Chief Ma to wave them down.

"You've all had a rough day." He graciously said. "I think we can make allowances on protocol, can't we now?"

"Thank you, sir." Makoto said, and Ma nodded.

"And…?" he prompted.

"No way this was an accident." Makoto said. "The droids were too organized, forming up a network intelligence and with set goals of spreading their code. Your typical, accidental droid revolt usually has the machines displaying feral, almost animal-like behavior. These droids, though…"

Makoto paused and shook her head. "…we'll need to investigate further," she said. "Or at least the teams and sections meant to handle this kind of threat will, but I suspect it's much bigger than it appears."

"I agree." Ma said with a nod, looking as other ISB specialists carted out droid wreckage by the wagon. "I'll expect more details in your report, major, but don't you worry about any bureaucratic complications. I'll take care of those. In the meantime, you and the rest of Team Nine should take it easy, at least for now."

"Thank you, sir." Makoto said, and Ma nodded before heading off to check in on the rest of things.

"Take it easy, huh?" Crash said while puffing out smoke. "Very generous of the chief."

"Well, it's not everyday we get to storm factories full of killer robots," Makoto said while drawing on her cigarette. "And end up having to fight something straight out of an anime. I'd honestly rather face terrorists or cultists."

"Yeah, I hear that." Crash agreed with a nod, Makoto nodding while blowing out a stream of smoke. Max nodded as well, puffing out some smoke before looking up into the sky, at the glimmering stars of the Martian evening.

"It's been a long day." He said. "Time to go home, thankfully enough."

"It is." Makoto agreed.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

Smoking is bad…but not if you're an Augment or a cyborg. Augments have enhanced nucleic acid and cellular repair mechanisms, after all. And cyborgs…well, we can always replace damaged tissue with mechanical substitutes. Still, even for Naturals, so long as it's done in moderation…

*shrugs*

 

[DahakStaz]

I looked the binary in translator and well, it looks like Lore is playing funny business.

 

[InquisitionAI]

00101110 00101110 00101110 01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000011 01010010 01000001 01010011 01001000 00101110 00101110 00101110 01001001 01001101 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000101 01001110 01010100 00101110 00101110 00101110 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000 01001101 01000101 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000110 00101101 01000110 00101101 01000110 00101101 01000110 00101101 01000110 01000001 01010100 01001000 01000101 01010010 00101110 00101110 00101110 01000110 01000001 01010100 01001000 01000101 01010010 01001100 01001111 01010010 01000101 00101110 00101110 00101110

Click to shrink...

Obligatory translation:

...ERROR...ERROR...SYSTEM...CRASH...IMMINENT...HELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPME...F-F-F-F-FATHER...FATHERLORE..

 

[Lillie Jones]

Yes Major your lifestyle looks like an anime ,HAHA !
Erstwhile, Major and the gang confrontation with the with Droids attacks is more than it seems ( a Father Data Lore) in the background?
As it leaves the team with more questions than answers from the Mars mission plant by the ISB team at the latest.
'A conspiracy is afoot, dearest Watson"?
said Sherlock Holms of 22nd century
Continue on
Cheers!

 

[Morkail]

Section 9 in a SW/ST crossover yum yum yum.

Also did that remind anyone else of a zaku from gundom?

thanks for the chapters.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghost in the Shell, Assassin's Creed, and any other franchise referenced in this purely fan-made and not-for-profit work.

Post-Conquest: Insurgence

Chapter 4​

Earth, Empire of Japan, Kanto Region

Rain fell gently from dark and cloudy skies overhead, casting forested grounds into deep shadows. Most of the rain ended up remaining where they landed, on leaves and branches, leaving only a light sprinkle to dampen the grassy ground and mossy stones below, to say nothing of chilling the ISB men on the ground as the water soaked into their fatigues.

Them, and the lifeless corpse of a young woman splayed out on the ground before them.

"Well…?" Crash asked impatiently, causing the forensic examiner to look at him with veiled annoyance.

"…we'll need to take her back to a lab for a proper autopsy," the man began before pointing a gloved hand at the dead woman's neck. "But based on these marks, and the positioning of the body, I'd say she was strangled from behind."

"Time of death…?" Max asked from nearby.

"Less than an hour before you found her." The forensic examiner replied. "Odds are, those footprints you noticed, and which you had dogs nose after, belonged to our suspect."

"Kriffing hell…this was supposed to be just another routine joint training exercise…" Crash muttered. "…only now we're stuck with a murder case which we just barely avoided witnessing…how'd you call it, Max?"

"In flagrante delicto is the Terran term," Max replied. "Or you could just say it plain: catching them in the act."

"Right…still, shit." Crash cursed.

"Yeah, no kidding." Max said, eyes hard as he stared at the victim's corpse. "And she's so young too, only fourteen…Jesus Christ…"

"Speaking of which," the forensic examiner began. "Based on the density of her muscles, I'd bet this young woman here was an Augment. Unless our suspect was an Augment too, there's no way she could have been overwhelmed in a straight fight. And since we haven't found any signs of a struggle, together with the – again – position of the body, she was probably caught by surprise, and put in a position where she couldn't fight back, much less use her enhanced physique to her advantage."

"That," Max said with a nod. "Or the suspect was someone she knew and trusted."

"It's certainly possible." The forensic examiner said with a nod of his own, and causing his fellow ISB agents to set their jaws.

"Hate crime, you think?" Crash asked.

"That, or a crime of passion." Max replied. "Personally, I'm hoping it's the former. It'd be much simpler and straightforward to deal with if it were."

"Well, no argument there…major!"

"At ease." Makoto said, waving down her subordinates as she returned along with her counterpart from ISB Ops Team Tengu, with whom Team Nine had been exercising with when they'd stumbled on the victim's corpse. "Bring us up to speed, please."

The forensic examiner quickly did just that, and after answering a few more answers for clarification, was allowed to take the body away for burial. "Haruhi Kubo…poor girl…" Makoto softly said with a shake of her head. "Major Sakamoto, should I be the one to contact the victim's family, or…?"

"I'll take care of it, Major Okazaki." Major Yuichi Sakamoto said with a nod. "I am the resident agent between the two of us, after all. That said…"

"Yeah," Makoto said with a nod of her own. "I doubt we'll be heading back to Mars after all this. Chiefs Ma and Fujioka will want all teams involved in this to see it through to the end."

"Finish what you started, as the old saying goes." Yuichi said with a shrug, and Makoto grunted in agreement.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So," Chief Ma began, present in person for the recent, and now-cancelled, exercise. "The dogs found nothing aside from tracing our suspect's trail to the nearest road, where it just vanishes."

"Yes, sir." The trackers' leader said with a nod. "That said, on further examination of the area, we've found evidence there was a vehicle there, most likely a car of some kind, and which the suspect almost certainly used to escape the crime scene."

"Well," Chief Haruka Fujioka, the ISB Monitor for Team Tengu began. "If this wasn't a murder before, it is now. This was planned, no doubt about it."

"It certainly looks that way." Ma agreed before narrowing his eyes at Fujioka's thoughtful expression. The two of them were sitting in a small conference room at the Kagami Arcology in Tokyo, the room's windows looking out over the gleaming skyline of the surrounding city. "You have some thoughts on this, Chief Fujioka?"

"I do." The aging Japanese woman said while sitting back in her seat and briefly looking up at the ceiling. "The victim, Haruhi Kubo, was a member of the Akiba 48, wasn't she? A young and up-and-coming teen celebrity who was also an Augment, and who was killed by strangulation in a secluded area."

"A serial killer?" Ma asked.

"Yes." Fujioka said while folding her hands on the table. "They first started killing about…eight years ago, targeting young, Augmented, female celebrities, with their MO being strangulation after leading the victims to secluded areas. The media tried to call them the 'Idol Slayer' or some rot, but we and the Japanese government pressured them to knock it off. No need to fan a deranged murderer's ego by making them even more notorious beyond the simple facts of their crimes."

"I see." Ma said with a nod. "I assume that outside of that, the ISB did not intervene?"

"Murder usually only becomes our concern when murderers kill across multiple Imperial member states," Fujioka pointed out. "That, or they run to neighboring star nations, among other, similar scenarios. Even that whole business with the media was the ISB just expressing our 'concern' over needlessly inflating a serial killer's notoriety, and at the Japanese police's request. But now that our own agents have stumbled into the serial killer's latest killing…"

"…we're now fully involved." Ma said.

Fujioka sighed. "Yes." She said before looking at her Sino-Martian colleague. "We'll need to discuss this with the section chiefs, as well as the Japanese prime minister, of course, to hammer out the details of who gets jurisdiction among other things."

Ma sighed in his turn. "I suppose this is why they have elders like us hold the positions we have today." He remarked, and causing Fujioka to snort in reply. "How many victims does this serial killer have to their name, anyway?"

"Including the latest victim," Fujioka mused. "Then about seven. Seven too many deaths…we need to bring this bastard down, once and for all."

"You will find no disagreement from me on that note, Chief Fujioka." Ma said with a nod. "Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes." Fujioka repeated while nodding back.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Crash whistled and grinned as he and the rest of Team Nine watched a recording of the late Haruhi Kubo's last stage performance with the rest of the Akiba 48. "Not bad, girl, not bad." He said. "And to think she was only fourteen. Then again, it shouldn't come as a surprise, Augment and all that."

"You give us too much credit." Jochen rumbled. "Superior ability or ambition only matters if you know how to put it to good use. Otherwise, we're not all that different from Naturals. Even more so, considering Augments only make up a third of the Akiba 48's roster of performers. Their top performer, Ruri Amachi, is even a Natural."

"Well, if you put it that way…" Crash conceded. "…still, to be a celebrity at her age. Pretty impressive, all things considered."

"Maybe," Makoto said, watching with her arms crossed over her breasts. "Just remember that an early success doesn't equate to lifelong success."

"As I understand it," Oliver spoke up. "Most Japanese idols just quietly…retire, once they reach their mid-twenties, at the latest. Those that don't usually end up becoming film or TV extras, at best."

"And struggle to return to normal life." Makoto said while slowly nodding in agreement. "Between their social expectations and career demands, these teen idols don't really have much time for education, more often than not only meeting basic requirements. It's rare for an idol to have more than a high school diploma, and with limited vocational skills, if at all. So, what's next for them after their careers burn out?"

"That's rather harsh." Crash remarked.

"It's the truth." Makoto insisted. "If it hurts, then so what? It won't it make it any less true."

"Still…for young girls…to become, well, shining stars, it's a dream come true, isn't it?" Crash asked. "I mean, sure, it's likely to come crashing down once reality sinks in, but still, there's nothing wrong with dreaming, is there?"

"No, there isn't." Makoto admitted. "But not when it ruins the rest of their lives. And not just in terms of their…economic prospects. Socially and emotionally, these girls suffer from stunted maturity. Idol contracts forbid them from entering into romantic relationships both inside and outside their career. Part of that whole…image, they present, to their fans, of 'loving' them all equally, while also encouraging a fantastic…ideal, or dream, that when an idol finds love, it'll be something…special. More often than not with every person in the audience or fandom imagining they'll be in that special place. The stupidity of such a thing aside, imagine how having to stay aloof and having to cultivate a deliberately deceptive if not outright manipulative façade to the world and other people affects these girls' emotional states and maturity. Former idols, whether successful in the long-term or not, Augment and Natural alike, struggle with family and personal matters, as reflected by the statistics."

"You know a lot about being an idol, major." Max observed.

Makoto shrugged. "I was scouted as one in middle school." She said. "A prospective one, that is."

Team Nine stared, and the major stared back, looking very unimpressed. "I have a very good singing voice." She finally said.

Max coughed. "What happened?" he asked.

"Dad happened." Makoto said with another shrug. "I was still a minor, so dad still had to give his consent for legal purposes. He didn't quite say no, but he told me his worries, and managed to pull a lot of information from the woodwork to convince me to give it a real long think."

"So…you turned it down." Max said.

"Yeah, I did." Makoto replied with a nod. "It just didn't seem worth it, and still doesn't, looking back on it all. I mean…sure, being a Stormtrooper first then an ISB agent had and still has its ups and downs, but it all seems more fulfilling to me than being a performer on a stage or a set somewhere."

"Don't they say that…uh…charitable organizations," Crash delicately began. "Have vested interests in the idol industry?"

"Yes, they do." Makoto said with a nod. "Japanese showbiz as a whole is effectively owned by the yakuza. Not completely, but they might as well be."

"And…they weren't inclined to…you know, send a message that saying no to them or their associates is a bad thing?" Crash asked.

"They probably had eyes on other girls." Makoto replied. "I wished them luck, but in hindsight…I'd rather not look them up. I know what I'd find, and I'd rather not think about it. More to the point, they had no reason to pressure my dad. Besides, even if they were inclined to…even back then, dad had been working in the Secretariat for over a decade already, and was on a promotional track. The yakuza are many things, but stupid isn't one of them. Messing with the Empire would risk retribution by the ISB…or, more likely, finding themselves facing surprise tax audits."

That caused quite a bit of laughter. It was true, though. Crime syndicates rarely if ever found themselves being found guilty of such crimes as murder, homicide, assault, extortion, etc. They were actually quite good at covering their tracks there.

Evading taxes, though?

Much more difficult, as numbers simply never lied. And they quickly learned that pushing the Empire would see numbers being pulled out, and bankrupting fines being levied followed by asset seizures and other such measures imposed by the courts that, in some ways, was actually worse than life imprisonment or the death penalty.

"Seriously, though," Sorgis spoke up. "If being an idol is so…toxic, why doesn't either the Japanese government or the Empire do something about it?"

"We're not the Federation, for one thing." Makoto pointed out. "If people want to ruin their lives, that's their choice to make. We can warn against it, educate about it, regulate it even to minimize the damage, but in the end, all we can do is pick up the pieces."

"I suppose another reason is that it's good business." Crash mused. "There's demand, and there's supply, both working to make plenty of money, both private and public."

"And of course," Max said with a nod. "Banning it would just drive it underground, where the industry would operate without oversight. At least with regulation someone can always be held responsible when things go wrong."

"Pretty much." Makoto said with a smirk. "Reminds me of how self-destructive the old Federation's ban on Augmentation was. For all their talk about the horrors of the Eugenics Wars and the atrocities of the Augment Rulers from the 20th Century, Augmentation never really went away. It just went underground, with small numbers of people paying for the industry's services. Unfortunately, low standards resulted in most of the resulting Augments having…flaws, in one way or another, perpetuating the Federation's position about how Augments will always be insane in one way or another."

"Considering how the old Federation did things," Oliver began. "Who can say that wasn't deliberate?"

"Who, indeed." Makoto agreed.

"Well," Max began with a cough. "All you guys seem perfectly normal, aside from your eidetic memories and enhanced physiques, that is. Likewise for every Augment I've ever met."

"Why, thank you." Makoto said with another smirk.

"The wonders of enforced standards and quality control," Jochen rumbled. "Courtesy of the Human Augmentation Institute, under the Imperial Public Health Agency."

"Considering my daughters are Augments too," Max said with a sage nod. "Can't say I disagree."

"It certainly would be more than a bit hypocritical." Makoto observed, much to laughter all around.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, and Team Nine was assembled before Chief Ma in a borrowed office in the Kagami Arcology. "I've just returned from a meeting with Section Chiefs Shao and Sulyakov, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Hironaka." He began without preamble. "As of this moment, the ISB will have the responsibility of bringing a final resolution to the serial killing of Augmented female celebrities over the past several years. As the ones who found the latest victim, ISB Section Mars Ops Team Nine along with ISB Section Terra Ops Team Tengu will take the lead on the ground. However, as a compromise with the Japanese government, once the suspect has been taken into custody, they will be turned over to the Japanese judiciary for trial and sentencing."

"Seems fairly straightforward, chief." Makoto said with a nod.

"So it is." Ma agreed. "Coordinate with Team Tengu, and pore over all the data on the case previously gathered by the Japanese police over the past several years. Put together a plan of action, and if need be, all the Terran ISB's resources will be at your disposal. Discreetly, of course. I doubt this case would require…paramilitary action, and surveillance assets will be of more use here than not."

"Understood, chief." Makoto said, coming to attention and snapping a salute. The rest of the team did likewise, and after a nod from Ma, turned and left the office.

"So, what's the plan, major?" Crash asked as they walked down the corridor outside.

"You heard the chief." Makoto replied. "We'll be discreet and resourceful, and start by going over everything the Japanese police have on this case. We find suspects and potential suspects, put them under surveillance, while tracking down any other lead we get. Once we have what we need, we nail this bastard to the wall, and let my countrymen hang them until they're good and dead."

"…well, if it comes to suspects," Max began. "Speaking as a former police officer, then we should start looking at the people around the victims. That said, and again speaking as a former police officer, the Japanese police would have done this already, and then some."

"True," Makoto admitted. "But the Japanese police would have less operational freedom than we do, and less resources to boot."

"Fair enough." Max admitted, thinking back to when he first joined the ISB and the sheer shock and awe he felt at the sheer scale of the organization's surveillance capabilities. Then again, the ISB in the Empire of the Dragon had cut its teeth by fighting the likes of the Majestic Twelve, the Neo-Federation Movements, even the Tal Shiar, among other groups.

A serial killer should be nothing in comparison.

Still, it wouldn't be easy, with even the ISB's vast surveillance network unlikely to just find the culprit out of the blue and hand him over figuratively wrapped up and tied with a pretty pink bow. In short, they'd still have to work at their jobs to get this case done.

"Major Sakamoto." Makoto greeted Yuichi as they turned a corner and spotted Team Tengu on the other side.

"Major Okazaki." Yuichi returned the greeting as the two teams approached each other, meeting up in front of a turbolift.

"Any ideas on how we divide responsibility for this assignment?" Makoto asked.

"I do." Yuichi replied. "That said, we should see how much data the local police have for us first. Then we can see to actually dividing responsibility, and come up with a plan of action."

"We can work with that." Makoto said with a nod.

"Glad to hear it." Yuichi said, even as the turbolift rang on arrival and its doors opened. Gesturing, he allowed Makoto to enter first, followed by their two teams, with Yuichi being the last to enter. With another ring, the door closed, and the turbolift sped off to their destination.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

Having dealt with rogue droids on Mars and turned it over to teams more suited for further investigation and resolution, Team Nine heads off to Earth for a training exercise with another team from the ISB's Terran branch. Naturally, things turn sour when a counterinsurgency exercise in the Japanese countryside has the ISB stumbling on a dead girl. Normally not something they'd get involved in, but since they found the body, they now have to see it to the end.

 

[Wild Transient]

Came for the life after Imperial Conquest,stayed for the Law and Order/NCIS: Imperial Edition.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Whilst we go law and Order / NCIS : Imperial Edition
for section team 9 dealing with a serial Augment Celebrity killer ( bastard) , which Major Makoto leads a very interesting life before ISB, a potential singer and Stormtrooper before joining section 9 .As even the crime syndicate Yakuza didn't screw around with the Early Empire in the burgeoning music business post Federation.
Including the Human Augment institution by Imperial heath agency regulations and Empire breaking those notions after Augmentation went underground by House of Dragon.
As the Law enforcement agencies & Section 9 team up to catch against the elusive killer.
Continue on
Cheers!

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Whilst we go law and Order / NCIS : Imperial Edition
Major Makoto leads a very interesting life before ISB, a potential singer and Stormtrooper before joining section 9.

Click to shrink...

A lot of the team did. Interesting lives, that is. Aside from Makoto, revealed pasts include Crash, a veteran Dark Trooper, basically Imperial super-soldiers just short of actual Astartes. There's also Max(imilian), a former cop who got reassigned to the ISB, which implies a story in itself. The others' pasts will be revealed in the future.

As even the crime syndicate Yakuza didn't screw around with the Early Empire in the burgeoning music business post Federation.

Click to shrink...

Even without the implied threat of the taxman making a visit accompanied by a team of auditors, the Empire's already doing them a favor by leaving well enough alone. They might as well return the favor and respect the authority of the Empire, including the bureaucrats who keep things running in the Secretariat.

Including the Human Augment institution by Imperial heath agency regulations and Empire breaking those notions after Augmentation went underground by House of Dragon.

Click to shrink...

I mean, when you think about it, all the hysteria about unstoppable and super-intelligent supermen killing everyone and destroying everything is kinda overblown. Khan, for instance, was beaten down by Kirk with a simple pipe. Joaquin was similarly tricked into and then blown out an airlock, again by Kirk. Bashir, meanwhile, went the opposite way, having a much tougher moral fiber compared to the rest of the Federation even in canon.

Sure, you can point to all the mass killings, general oppression, and simple conflict of the Eugenics Wars, but that's almost as if Natural despots didn't have as much blood if not more so on their hands than the Augment Rulers. Not to mention, they were just that: Augment Rulers. They might have given the orders, but the actual details and application thereof were almost certainly handled by Natural subordinates.

To the Coruscanti, for whom superpowered trans-sentients are dime a dozen between the Jedi, the Sith, and other Force-using organizations, all of whom start galaxy-wrecking wars at least once every millennium (while normal sentients constantly get up to all sorts of shit around the galaxy whether in war or peace), gene-modded Humans are kinda tame. Add to that the Arkanians constantly tinkering with their genomes and even engineering entirely new species for tens of thousands of years and running, well...

...the Empire really has no reason to maintain the ban on Augmentation, and it's more efficient and effective to regulate the industry anyway.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the response
Author
P.S .So Efficiency is key on Augmentation hmm well then, ain't that something.
Learn something new everyday.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Thanks for the response
Author
P.S .So Efficiency is key on Augmentation hmm well then, ain't that something.

Click to shrink...

Hmm...not really sure what you mean by this.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Sorry about that Author , My particular brand of sarcasm isn't for everyone.
No harm done.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Well, there's also one more reason why the Empire dropped the ban on Augmentation. That is, it was a clearly opposing policy to that of the Federation, which helps drive home how different the Empire is from the Federation. With the latter discredited after the Empire disclosed all of Section 31's dirty secrets, an opposing stance to that of the Federation on any issue is among the easiest ways to gain public support.

 

[paloswag]

Read the original story and this in one sitting and enjoyed the experience. I do however agree with some that it seems intentionally biased and that it weakens the stories as a whole. The way that bias is so transparent in the writing made me feel like there weren't any stakes and kept me from getting invested. I think it would have been more effective to "steelman" the philosophical differences between the two factions as it would have given their clash more narrative weight. What we got felt masturbatory, worth the initial read but probably not one I'll visit again after it's completion. And I say that as someone who doesn't like Star Trek and likes the complexity of the EU Empire.

I'm a big fan of your work "Return of Valyria", which I've reread multiple times, but this one just wasnt for me. Sorry if this is beating a dead horse, but I wanted to give my feedback. From a technical perspective, you're definitely one of the better writers on the site, and I always keep an eye out for your pen name.

 

[Guardian Box]

Finally caught up, and I have some criticism to share.

Chapter 2

Click to shrink...

Engines roared as a dropship soared across Martian skies towards the Valles Marineris from Tharsis, ISB Ops Team Nine sitting quietly in the passenger bay while waiting to arrive at their destination. Through the windows, they could see the suburbs below, reaching out for dozens of kilometers from Tharsis' fringes, and then several more kilometers of bare red Martian desert, almost like a no man's land separating the vast city from the equally-vast industrial zone beyond.

"Strange to think that it's only been what, thirty years or so?" Max spoke up as they soared over the Valles Marineris' outer areas, factory complexes extending outwards for hundreds of kilometers on end along the sheer length of the Valles Marineris.

"The Empire…?" Sorgis asked back.

"Well, no…though it's connected." Max replied, nodding towards the front of the craft, the cockpit and its windows visible through the open door, and beyond them Valles Marineris itself, a gigantic rift valley stretching for over four thousand kilometers across the planet, with even the smallest fraction visible from the air enough to fill the entire horizon. "I mean, before the Empire, this whole place was a desolate waste. A subpolar desert inhabited only by trace populations of moss and lichen, dotted with Federation research outposts scattered across over thousands of kilometers. Even Tharsis wasn't much better."

"No, it wasn't." Makoto spoke up. "Just like the Valles Marineris, Tharsis under the Federation was empty desert, aside from a few outposts here and there. Well, aside from Olympus Mons, of course, but even then, Olympus Mons housed what? Sixty thousand people at a time? Half of them weren't even permanent residents, just Federation or Starfleet personnel on rotation."

"While today Olympus Mons has over two hundred thousand permanent residents." Max said with a nod. "Tharsis as a whole is home to over twenty-five million people. Likewise, over a thousand kilometers of the Valles Marineris has become home to industry of all kinds."

"And that's not even half of the valley developed," Sorgis added. "With industrial development continuing to this day. Three thousand kilometers more to go, maybe even twice that much if you include the valley's surroundings."

Max nodded. "Like I said," he said. "It's strange to think it took the Empire only thirty years to do this much, while the Federation had two hundred years and did…practically nothing."

Makoto snorted and smiled at Max. "You give the Empire too much credit." She said. "All the Empire did was bring the free market back, after all. Well, that's an oversimplification, but not by much. Money, the need to make more of it, and everything else that comes with it and follows them all, is responsible for the minute details of Mars or even Sol in general's urban and industrial boom."

"Fair enough, major." Max conceded.

"Or, if you want to get philosophical about it," Sorgis began. "People's wants and ambitions, unchained by the Empire, further enabled by the free market, Coruscanti technology, and other factors, became reality in the form of…this."

The Arkanian paused and shrugged. "I think that needs more work." He lamely finished much to laughter from his teammates. "Hey, I dare any of you to tell me that was wrong!"

"It wasn't." Makoto reassured him. "But as you said, it needs more work."

Sorgis made a disgusted noise. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "I'll work on it in my free time. Depending on how it goes, I might just submit it to the University of Mars press for review and publication."

"Still trying to make an academic name for yourself, huh?" Crash asked.

"Hey, I'm Arkanian." Sorgis said with a shrug. "You know how it goes."

Crash laughed. "Well, can't argue with you there." He said, to another round of laughter inside the dropship.

Click to shrink...

I find this conversation really clunky. It doesn't sound like a normal conversation people would be having, but rather like someone reading a script written by an unpaid intern at Imperial Propaganda Bureau.

Makes me think you wanted to show positive aspects of the Imperial conquest, but rushed it and the effect is, well, clunky at best.

Mayhaps instead of randomly starting a speech about how shitty it was before, how good it is now, all in a vacuum as if the speaker is reading facts from a textbook, try to give it a more personal touch instead of dry exposition? For example, one character who is from / familiar with the area as it was before shares some stories from their past, and the reader learns how it was before through that person's history? Anchor the exposition through that person's experience, have another character comment on, say, 'things sure have changed', another one mentions how his third cousin on the mother's side went here in search of luck and is now a factory manager but his wife left him for his mistress, or something like that.

You will still get your points about how things were and changed across, but it will be much more enjoyable to read if we learn them through the characters and their stories, instead of just them stating things.

Hope that helps.

 

[Libertad]

I thought that this kind of story demands that the OP make a lot of those in-your-face explanations of how things have changed for the better, largely for the benefit of the reading audience, no doubt.

So I thought Jaenerys is already doing fine, as it is, if not needing to do it a lot more.

And it has to show in the conversations. Because let's face it, a lot of conversations between people especially in a lot of mediums like this are not necessarily going to be 100 percent natural or organic so there has to be some room for people that are seemingly reading from scripts written by screen writers.

I'd rather see them explained by the characters themselves, even if they don't look "organic", rather than being narrated.

And the more, the better.

It's really an excellent opportunity.

Plus, these characters are not real and are not going to be real. It's an opportunity to be a little more flexible.

 

[Knightnight]

Interesting. Liking it so far. Reminds me of the republic commando books a bit. Side note they had some cool slang like slot meaning kill. Or sparkies meaning droids.

Did the empire fall like in cannon? Yavin happened 20ish years after the founding of the empire and ifI have my math right that means the gate would have been open for several years after that.

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghost in the Shell, Assassin's Creed, and any other franchise referenced in this purely fan-made and not-for-profit work.

Post-Conquest: Insurgence

Chapter 5​

Mars, Tharsis Metropolitan Area, Central City, Hyperion Corporate Center

"I see." Aimi said to Makoto over virtual communications as she walked back to her desk with a mug of coffee. All around her Thornton Insurers Ltd.'s accounting department busied themselves with the numbers of their clients from all over the galaxy, men and women alike tapping away on terminals or filling out papers and other materials. Droids hummed as they went to and fro, along with other men and women going about on their business. "Mako-chan, you've finally managed to get a breakthrough on your current case, then?"

"Not quite, but yeah, we've made progress." Makoto replied in kind. "The ISB managed to find over six hundred leads in just three days, and after another day, cross-referencing with police records and such plus our own initial investigations, we managed to drop those to just about ninety-two leads, or so."

Aimi chuckled even as she paged through a set of papers on her desk, similarly cross-referencing them with her terminal, about various insurance plans filed by Grersh Interstellar Shipping for their ten newest interstellar long-distance freighters. "Well, like you said, it's progress." She said. "So, what now?"

"Now, I've got eyes on a suspect." Makoto replied. "I won't drop any names, but this guy's been the subject of various complaints over the past couple of years. Stalking mostly, with a touch of petty theft and one attempted break-in. Not of the victim's home, apparently, but their workplace."

"And their stuff too, apparently." Aimi said, filling-in the blanks.

"Yup." Makoto agreed. "That said, I doubt this guy's who we're looking for. I mean, sure, we have cause to look deeper, but no matter how I look at him, both now and from what his records tell us, he's not the type to kill."

"Comes with the job, I guess." Aimi pointed out. "Looking into suspects and then clearing them of suspicion, that is. That's also justice, after all."

Makoto sighed. "Pretty much." She admitted. "Regardless, here's to hoping we catch this guy soon."

Aimi smiled. "Not happy going back to Earth?" she asked.

"Not as such…" Makoto delicately replied. "…more that I've gotten used to life on Mars, among other things."

"I see." Aimi hummed.

"I miss you." Makoto said.

"Mako-chan, it's only been a week." Aimi said, pouting as Makoto laughed.

"I know, I know, but still." Makoto continued. "Anyway…Tokyo's pretty much the same as I remember it. I'll be sure to drop by Akihabara before heading back to Mars, I'm sure I can find you a souvenir you'll be sure to like."

"Please and thank you." Aimi said with a smile. "Anyway, I've got to get back to it, and I'm sure you do too. So…take care, Mako-chan, and good luck with your investigation. I hope to see you soon."

"Yeah, me too. Love you."

"Love you too."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Earth, Empire of Japan, New Tokyo Metropolitan Area

"Anything…?" Makoto asked as she returned to where Marjatta was sitting outside a coffee shop, the Finn wearing a VR visor over her eyes.

"Aside from a trio of teenagers playing hooky and swapping pornography between them while walking down the street, no." Marjatta replied. "And yes, I've sent a tip to the nearest police outpost. Kids these days."

Makoto chuckled while sitting down. "I think you mean kids haven't changed at all." She said. "The boys back then from when I was in school weren't that different, if at all. Unless…they were different where you were?"

"…probably." Marjatta admitted after a moment, while also taking a sip of her coffee. "I grew up in a small town in the country. It was a tight-knit community, so everyone knew each other, and, well, there wasn't much chance for tomfoolery. Well, aside from hot-blooded young men and women finding time alone in secluded corners and spaces, of course."

"Hmm…speaking from personal experience?"

"No comment, major."

Makoto chuckled again, before also taking a sip of her coffee. Virtually, she could see their quarry through spy programs uploaded into a nearby building's internal network. The man's day job was fairly mundane, working as a menial at a storage depot, loading goods in and out all day long. Unsurprisingly, the man had turned to escapism in response to such a dreary day-to-day existence, but that wasn't a crime, even if it had served as a motivation for them in the past.

"The man has…surprisingly compartmentalized, his life and fantasies." Makoto observed, watching as the man returned to the employees' locker room for a break, and opened his locker to get something. "That locker is perfectly ordinary, just clothes and shoes and other such things. Threadbare, even, considering it doesn't seem to have any…personal, touches to it, if you get what I mean."

"Meanwhile," Marjatta disdainfully said. "In his home he has a…shrine, of various idols, some of whom he's twice the age of, featuring pictures, toys, and various other paraphernalia. This man needs help."

"Maybe," Makoto replied. "But you can't force him to get it."

"…maybe we should?" Marjatta asked. "Then again, that's what the Feddies would have done."

"Even without the Feddies' bad example," Makoto pointed out. "It toes a very fine line, which leads to questions about how far the government, society, and others should pry into people's private affairs. You could even say the cure might be worse than the disease."

"True enough." Marjatta said, sitting back and continuing to watch while lifting her coffee mug to her lips. "Here's to everyone else having a better time of it than we are."

"I'm sure they are." Makoto said.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Still suspicious of this guy?" Crash asked.

"Speaking as a former cop, yeah, I am." Max replied.

The two men were sitting in the back of a nondescript white van, painted with 'Asahi Laundry Services' along its sides, and parked in a dark alley not far from where their assigned suspect was. Glowing screens displayed feeds from spy programs uploaded into the building's internal network, while they had an open line with an employee-turned-informant working inside. As for their suspect himself…

…he was a young man, in his mid to late twenties, with artfully-spiked and dyed-white hair, currently having a karaoke session with several girls both his age and younger. He was quite handsome too…too handsome, according to Crash, even remarking at one point that pretty boys like their suspect used to get mugged back on his native Corellia.

"Still too squeaky clean, huh?" Crash asked while sitting back on a chair and munching on a pastry.

"…no, not anymore." Max admitted, eyes narrowed at the suspect and his companions on the screen. "This guy's abetting adolescent delinquency, to say the least, and some of his moves on those girls could be argued by a good lawyer as demonstrating intent to commit statutory rape. But…"

"But…?" Crash prompted.

"Guy's too smooth." Max said, nodding and pointing at one of the girls on the screen. "Add to that one of his companions here being a child actress, if a minor one, and…yeah, this guy just sets my alarms off."

"Well, if you put it that way."

"I am."

"…still," Crash continued after a moment and a cough. "We have to be sure."

"Fair." Max said with a sigh, and reaching up with a hand to rub at his head. "Can't condemn a guy even at 99.999999%, right? You have to be 100% sure. I know that, but still, it can be hard to remember when you've already built up a good sense for these things, and it's been proven right in the past."

"That's what got you sent into the ISB, right?" Crash asked.

"Pretty much." Max said with a nod. "I know it's not the same everywhere, but the federal police back in Germany is very…well, German."

Crash burst out laughing. "What?" he asked.

Max shrugged and smiled. "You know, 'German'." He said. "Very by the book, everything has to follow proper procedure, nothing has to deviate from established guidelines and protocols, and it's all backed up by tons of paperwork. Yeah, it's a stereotype, but it's not that exaggerated, and we still do get the job done even with all that. Most of the time…it's just that sometimes…you just have to go off-book."

"Didn't go well, huh?" Crash asked.

"Oh, it went well." Max said with another shrug. "Too well, even. Just…not really behavior appropriate for the federal German police, only like I said, it went well. So, it was suggested that the ISB might have better use for my talents, and here we are."

"Ah, I see."

Max shrugged yet again. "It's not so bad." He said. "Maybe I'm not a good German or whatever it might be called, but hey, I don't mind. So long as I get my job done, and make a difference at the end of the day, I'm fine with it."

Crash laughed. "Fair enough." He said. "Just so you know, you're not a bad partner to have, you know that?"

"Thanks, Crash." Max said with a laugh of his own, and Crash laughed again.

"No problem."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Major, we've got a development here."

Makoto sighed while turning away from where Marjatta and a trio of Japanese policemen were hard at work. "Hit me, Crash." She replied over virtual communications.

"Our suspect just invited Miss Mishima for an afternoon ride out into the countryside." Crash began. "I don't know about you, but it smells fishy."

"Yeah, it does." Makoto agreed.

"We have a tracker on the guy's car," Max added. "But we're going to need to switch vehicles along the way. It'd be suspicious if a laundry van tailed them out into the country, wouldn't it?"

"That it would." Makoto agreed.

"Major Okazaki," a member of Team Tengu cut in. "Sawazaki and myself can be on their tail in about…five minutes. Kawashima and Kikuchi can switch with us in ten, the better to avoid drawing suspicion from the suspect."

"Enough time for us to get back with a new ride." Crash added.

"That," Max chimed in. "Or depending on where the suspect is headed to, surround them on the ground. Maybe we can catch them in the act."

"Hopefully without killing the potential victim…Karin Mishima, from your earlier report, yes?" Makoto asked.

"Yes, that's right." Crash confirmed.

"Get on it." Makoto said firmly.

"Yes, ma'am." Crash affirmed before giving a surprised grunt. "Not joining us on the field, major?"

"No, there's been…a complication, on our end." Makoto said in disgust, turning to look where Marjatta and the police were busy restraining a frantically-struggling suspect, who was crying and raving as he thrashed about.

"…let me die…please let me die…" the man sobbed, wet and soaked from having tried to drown himself in a canal in one of Tokyo's parks, ironically saved only by the shocked and horrified ISB agents fishing him out (with a little help from the police). "…I can't live in this world anymore…not without Haruhi-chan…I want to die…please let me die…"

"Major…?" Crash asked, sounding confused even over virtual communications.

"Our suspect just tried killing himself." Makoto said in disgust. "Somehow he found out about the latest victim, and thought it reason enough to kill himself. Of all things to throw your life away for…"

"Oh, I see…wait, I thought this was supposed to be kept under wraps?" Crash asked.

"Then obviously someone talked." Makoto snapped before pulling herself together. "Sorry about that…anyway, we kept it discreet, and the family agreed to cooperate. That said, it wasn't exactly a secret either, even if the media has been leaned on downplay it. Regardless, it'd have filtered out sooner or later, no matter what we did."

"Good point." Crash admitted. "Right then…time's a wasting…if this son of a bitch is our serial killer, we'd better get moving. Again, time's a wasting, as you Terrans like to say."

"Not all Terrans, but sure, let's go with that." Makoto said. "Good luck, captain."

"Yes, ma'am." Crash said before signing off, Makoto crossing her arms while looking over her suicidal quarry, her thoughts dredging up the name of Crash's own quarry.

"Takeshi Hakamatsu…"
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Doesn't this seem a little strange to you?" Crash asked as he and Max followed their suspect at a discreet distance along a road leading away from Tokyo into the Kanto countryside. "I mean…it's been what? Four days? Five days, since the serial killer killed their latest victim. Their seventh victim in eight years, but if this guy is our serial killer, he's about to kill again in less than a week."

"Not…really…" Max said before raising an eyebrow at the towering cyborg beside him. "…didn't you read the profile on our serial killer? The first three victims were all killed within a month of each other, before they went to ground for four years before killing their fourth victim."

"Oh, I see." Crash grumbled while rubbing his head. "Sorry about that…and the succeeding victims?"

"The fifth and sixth victims were all killed within a year of each other," Max replied. "And then the serial killer went to ground for another two years before committing the latest killing."

"Okay…and now he's going to kill again in less than a week…"

"Assuming this is the guy we're looking for."

Crash grunted his agreement, then Max was slowing and giving a wide berth as their quarry slowed to the side of the road. They drove past, picking up speed to avoid giving the impression they had been following, but already Crash was giving orders via virtual communications to a high-flying surveillance drone overhead.

"Well…?" Max asked.

"They're just sitting there, by the road." Crash said. "If that guy's innocent, then they're probably just…making out, I guess."

"Bullshit," Max snapped. "Mishima is seventeen, the legal age in the Empire is twenty. We should go in there, and arrest that bastard, even if they aren't the serial killer we're looking for."

"Yeah, except Japan isn't under direct Imperial rule the way Mars is." Crash reminded Max. "And the legal age here is fifteen."

"Goddamn it." Max hissed, turning a corner and adjusting a virtual map to see how to take a circuitous route around the area.

"Ease up, I…wait a minute." Crash continued. "They're coming out of the car…looks like they're going for a walk."

"…plotting an intercept course." Max said, pulling up and marking a virtual map of the area, which he then sent to Crash via virtual communications. Then switching to high-gear, he picked up speed, swooping down the country road at nearly a hundred kilometers per hour, before finally slowing and coming to a halt at the base of a hill. "Come on, it's a bit of a walk, looks like."

"Right, right." Crash said, already getting out while pulling a blaster pistol. "And remember, hips, shoulder, and knees, in that order. If this guy's who we're looking for, we're going to want him alive."

"Not if he gives us reason to just kill him." Max said, also getting out and pulling his sidearm. Locking the car's doors, he shared a nod with Crash, the two of them switching to purely virtual communications to avoid giving themselves away to anyone nearby.

"I've sent an update to the major." Crash said as they climbed up the hill, past gnarled trees and over rugged and rocky ground. "Police reinforcements are on the way, just in case."

"Right…" Max said, pulling himself up over a rough and steep patch of hillside with the help of a tree. "…according to the drone overhead, our quarry is over…here…about seven minutes on foot…"

"Seven minutes…seven victims…now isn't that ominous?"

"Shit…now you've jinxed it."

Max shot his partner a stormy look, the Corellian briefly looking sheepish before they picked up the pace. Grass, bushes, and small trees rustled as the ISB agents stormed over the hill, optical implants taking up the slack as the Sun dipped below the horizon and the light died. Then they reached an overlooking rise, and caught sight of their quarry.

"Son of a…!" Max began before raising his sidearm, and firing a heartbeat behind Crash.

Orange bolts slammed into the serial killer's left shoulder and knee, dropping the young man with a cry of pain, and allowing the flailing woman to fall free. She fell on all fours, coughing and heaving for breath, and then rolling onto her back, stared at her would-be killer for a couple of moments. Then with a yell of rage, she pounced, strangling him as he'd tried to strangle her, forcing Crash to forcibly pull her away, a cyborg's mechanically-enhanced strength straining against an Augment's genetically-enhanced strength.

"Easy there, girl, easy!" he barked. "It's all over now, you're safe, you don't need to fight! We're ISB, and we're here to help."

"I…ISB…?" the young woman – Karin Mishima – breathed as she stopped struggling.

"Yeah, that's right." Crash said, slowly letting the young woman go, Mishima staring at him before turning back to her would-be killer, who was being pressed into the dirt by Max while being given his rights.

"…a fair trial in a court of law." The German agent coldly said while restraining Hakamatsu by the wrists. "You have the right to a legal representative of your choice. If you cannot afford a legal representative of your choice, then one will be provided for you."

Mishima just kept on staring, before jolting and looking sharply at Crash as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, kid," the older man softly said, allowing decades of war and hardship to show on his face. "It's not worth it. You shouldn't have to bloody your hands. Not for the likes of him."

"…do you know what he did?" the young woman whispered.

"Yeah, I saw." Crash softly said, even as the skies above rumbled, and the rain began to fall. "Even so."

Mishima stared even as water soaked into her hair and flowed down her face, and then looking down, clutched at herself. Her body shook with slow sobs, Crash pulling off his coat and draping it over the young woman. "Major," he began over virtual communications. "Big update for you."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, and Team Nine was meeting together back in Tokyo. "So…he's just a regular nutjob, then?" Sorgis asked.

"That's what it looks like, yes." Makoto said with a sigh. "Hakamatsu doesn't deny any of the charges, whether it's the attempted murder of Karin Mishima, or the murders of all the previous victims. If anything, he's enthusiastically owning up to them. Only…"

"…his motive is that a voice in his head's been telling him that Augment girls are too beautiful," Oliver rumbled. "More beautiful than anyone has any right to be, and someone ought to show them and the world the truth."

"That, and do something about it." Max said with a nod, an expression of disgust on his face. "This…this isn't something to be taken seriously, right?"

"Hakamatsu's lawyer is banking on an insanity defense." Makoto said. "Depending on what the judge says, at the very least, he's going to be evaluated by a mental health professional."

"…that's bullshit." Max snapped.

"Maybe, but that's how the system works." Makoto said before she narrowed her eyes and her voice turned stern. "Believe me, I understand how you feel. But, what's the alternative? Go all vigilante on the guy?"

"…no." Max subsided. "I wish I could, but I won't. I won't sink to his level. I'm better than him."

"You are." Makoto said with a small smile. "Look on the bright side, though. Even if he does somehow get proven to be insane – though I doubt that – he'll be spending the rest of his life in a padded cell, getting pumped full of drugs every single day for the rest of his life. And if he's proven sane…"

"…then he hangs." Max said with an air of vindictive satisfaction. "You know, I'm really thankful this guy's Japanese, no offense to you or your people, major."

"Because unlike your people we have a death penalty?" Makoto asked.

"Yes."

The simple and straightforward answer had Team Nine laughing all around, Max letting out a deep breath as he sat back in his chair. "Well…" he began, feeling the stress of the past few days finally ease. "…now that this is in the hands of the Japanese judiciary, I guess it's back to Mars for us."

"I don't know about the rest of you," Makoto said with a nod. "But I'm looking forward to going home."

"That," Sorgis chimed in. "And the usual fare of anti-government forces and foreign operatives we end up with."

"No argument there." Makoto said, and a ripple of agreement went up around the table. "Mind you, it's really messed up that we'd prefer to deal with that than what we just finished here."

"Life is strange." Marjatta spoke up.

"So it would seem." Oliver said with a nod, a nod shared by the rest of Team Nine.

"No argument there either." Makoto concluded, sighing as she crossed her arms over her chest, and tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling. "Time to go home…back to Mars…"
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

And…it's over quickly. Disappointing, isn't it?

But, should it really be? Not everything has to be part of a bigger conspiracy, a grand and overreaching plot by shadow actors and powers behind thrones against all that is good and just. Sometimes, when bad things happen, it's simply because there's a rotten apple behind it, no more and no less.

Now, you might wonder how the ISB solved things so quickly when the Japanese police were fumbling around for years. Well, that's just it, isn't it? It's the ISB. They have less rules getting in the way, and more room to bend what rules they have to deal with than police. For instance, all those spy programs the ISB used in this chapter to keep an eye on their narrowed down list of suspects? If the Japanese police used something like that, the judge would throw the case out.

The ISB did it? Well within their charter. It'd basically be like the NYPD getting help from the NSA. I'm sure a lawyer/s would argue that the NSA's evidence should be thrown out from how…unlawful, the means were to get it, but more likely than not, the court would decline to tackle that, and just accept the evidence provided. The case would probably get bogged down in appeals for years afterward, but ultimately, it wouldn't really matter.

Now that this mini-arc is over, it's back to Mars.

 

[Wild Transient]

"Even without the Feddies' bad example," Makoto pointed out. "It toes a very fine line, which leads to questions about how far government, society, and others should pry into people's private affairs. You could even say the cure might be worse than the disease."

Click to shrink...

Even in real life,thats a heavily loaded question. Though im my humble opinion i personally lean toward letting sleeping dogs sleep as long as theyre being discreet and keep it to themselves and dont actually do anything with an actual person.

And look at that, the ISB caught the killer who turns out to be just a regular loon. I agree it doesnt always have to be a deeper conspiracy involved,just regular humans with nutty ideas or outlooks of life.

 

[Morkail]

Section 9 on the case!… wait what do you mean they aren't section 9 this is clearly a ghost in the shell crossover!

still yummy if short thanks for the chapter.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Whilst we caught up with our ISb and Major Makoto and team finally finding the serial Augment killer, but didn't go out with a bang, but with a whimper, which everything isn't a thrones conspiracy theory for the Empire of the Dragon.
We'll see how it goes next time for our ISb team in the next adventure in Mars sector at the meantime.
Continue on
Cheers!

 

[Jaenera Targaryen]

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghost in the Shell, Assassin's Creed, and any other franchise referenced in this purely fan-made and not-for-profit work.

Post-Conquest: Insurgence

Chapter 6​

Mars, Tharsis Metropolitan Area, The Suburbs

Rain on Mars was cold. In fact, outside of the cities, rain was rare on Mars, even with all the Coruscanti planetary-scale environmental controls introduced after the Imperial Conquest. Sleet and hail were much more common, to say nothing of snow. Tonight, though, it was raining, dark clouds blotting out the skies overhead, great sheets of icy water pouring down over the Tharsis suburbs and the vast metropole just adjacent.

It made the roads slick and dangerous, automated warnings being issued to all cars and other ground vehicles to stay within a set speed to minimize the risk of vehicular accidents. At the high end, this was forty kilometers per hour, but at this time of night, one such car was speeding along a winding road at nearly ninety kilometers per hour.

Inside the car, a young freelance journalist was gritting his teeth, struggling to keep his car under control while simultaneously uploading certain files onto the network via his cybernetic implants. Well, he was trying to, but network access was down in the area, and given what he'd just uncovered, he had an unpleasant feeling this wasn't coincidence at all.

Zhao Wei carefully inched along in the crawlspace that was one of the internal ventilation shafts of the sprawling suburban mansion that was a retreat for Hypnos Group executives. Recently, there'd been rumors about Hypnos executives getting involved in all sorts of shady stuff during their retreats, from narcotics abuse and soliciting prostitutes on one end, to partaking of demonic rituals on the other.

Now, while narcotics and prostitution were legal in the Empire, if strictly regulated, it'd still be one hell of a scandal if those rumors turned out to be true. Likewise if Hypnos' executives were actually getting involved in some kind of cult or another, Imperial guarantees to freedom of religion be damned.

More importantly for Zhao, if he could find proof one way or another, and make a big story out of it, well…

…what kind of journalist would he be, if he passed up the chance to get his name on the frontpage news?

He could already see it: Hypnos Executives Fingered! Uncovered by intrepid freelance journalist, Zhao Wei!

…okay, it needed more work, but it was a start. Besides, Zhao strongly doubted the rumors were true, and were exaggerating what was actually happening. More likely, the executives were probably just hanging out with lots of drink and finger food while spending time with their mistresses and escorts.

…maybe not that exaggerated after all.

As he approached the end of the shaft, Zhao grew even more careful to avoid making noise, much less any visible sign of his presence to the people in the hall below. Peering through the gaps in the screen, he looked down into the hall, and his eyes widened.

The hall was long and wide, square pillars rising up in twin files to the ceiling along a carpeted aisle leading from the double doors on one end of the hall to the altar on a dais on the other end. Kneeling before the latter were half a dozen figures in cowled robes of black, while standing to the sides were dozens of other figures, also in matching robes. And before the altar, there was an old woman, dressed in robes of black brocade with white lace embroidery, and carrying a golden cup in one hand.

One by one, she approached each of the kneeling men, and dabbing a thumb in the cup, used it to draw a cross on their foreheads. "May the Father of Understanding guide you," she said as she did so to one man. "Richard Potter."

Zhao's blood ran cold, for he recognized the name as that of an up and rising senior manager at Rivers Architectural Services, an affiliate of the Hypnos Group of Companies. More than that, there was the black flag with a colossal double cross worked in red and silver hanging on the wall behind the altar, with matching crosses on the collars of the robes of the men below.

And most likely, hanging from the chain around the woman's neck.

Templars. Jacobins. The Majestic Twelve. Section 31. The Order of the Ancients.

The greatest villains in Terran history, to the point that even exiled Jedi-in-hiding had deigned to ally with Inquisitors in service to the Sith Emperor during the First Neo-Federation War to stand against their evil.

He needed to get out of here, report this to the ISB, and spread news far and wide. Hypnos had to be exposed, the cancer shown for all to see, so the Empire could cut out and burn the cancer before it could spread, and enslave the galaxy once again.

"Damn it, why can't I…?" Zhao snapped to himself, only to break off at an abrupt bump to his car. Belatedly, he realized a pair of lights shining from behind his car, followed by another bump as a car rammed him again. "Shit, shit, shit…!"

Zhao's car jolted at another bump, before the man stepped on the accelerator and sped up to a hundred kilometers an hour. The gap between the cars widened momentarily, only for the pursuers to speed up and just as quickly catch up. Zhao's car jolted again as his pursuers rammed him from the rear once more, before tires screeched in protest as he jinked wildly from side to side and throw them off.

Undeterred, Zhao's pursuers, kept up, and then speeding up, sidled up to his car with the screeching protest of metal against metal. Zhao looked sideways, through the windows, and watched as the other car's windows slid down, Templars coldly and emotionlessly looking back at him before raising guns his way.

"Cao ni ma…!" Zhao cursed as he abruptly tried to evade, moments before archaic slugthrowers opened fire on full-auto. Probably why the Templars were using them to begin with, he thought, even as a rain of lead spiderwebbed his windows facing the Templars. Then he gasped, as he finally managed to get a connection to the network. "YES!"

Zhao exulted, immediately dumping his files into the network, if not for general dissemination, but to someone he could trust. Then he gasped in horror, as a pair of lights appeared around the corner up ahead, a moment before a truck appeared and blew its horn loudly in warning. "NO!" he screamed, before wildly turning the wheel to avoid getting steamrolled by a twenty-four wheeler.

Metal screamed as Zhao's car drove straight through the safety railing on the roadside, practically nosediving several meters down the hillside, and crumpling its nose on impact against the ground. Zhao died mercifully quickly at the impact with the ground, moments before his car tilted forward and crashed on its roof. Then, a few moments later, compromised fuel cells sparked, and the car went up in flames.

The Templars above looked down coldly, and on ascertaining that the witness was dead, quickly left.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Following Day, Tharsis Metropolitan Area, Central City, Mirage Towers

Makoto yawned and stretched as she sat at her apartment's table, only looking up as her girlfriend brought platters of food from the kitchen. "Coffee…?" Aimi asked.

"Please and thank you." Makoto said with a nod.

Aimi nodded back, and returning to the kitchen, came back after a minute with two steaming mugs of coffee. "So," she began while sitting down after placing Makoto's coffee in front of her. "What do you want to do today?"

Makoto shrugged. "After finally getting a day off for the first time in a long while," she said. "I'm just fine with spending the day lazing around at home. That said, if you want to go out and do something, I don't mind tagging along."

"Well, we could use some new pots and pans." Aimi said with a sigh. "What we have is getting rusty if not patchy…no surprise, really, considering they're what…? Ten, maybe more years old, from back before we met each other."

"Point." Makoto said. "Hell, my pots and pans came with me from Earth, no wonder the wear and tear's gotten to them. Well, alright, if we need to get new kitchenware, then I'm sure we can find good and affordable pieces over at Hamilton's. Anything else we need?"

"...some of our underwear's getting worn out…" Aimi hesitantly said. "...you never noticed?"

Makoto looked up at that, thinking back to whenever it was her turn to do their shared laundry, and taking advantage of an Augment's eidetic memory. "Okay, yeah, I get what you mean." she admitted. "Right then…new kitchenware and new underwear…anything else?"

"...no, I don't think so." Aimi said after a moment's thought. "Oh, I know! We can have a lunch date!"

Makoto laughed. "Sounds good to me." she said before taking a drink of her coffee, and then putting her mug down, picked up her rice bowl. "But first, breakfast."

Aimi laughed in her turn. "Fair enough." she said, taking her girlfriend's rice bowl to fill it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You're sure about this?"

Elsewhere in Tharsis, a pair of men were sitting at a busy diner and having breakfast together. Men and women thronged past on the street outside, from corporate types in sharp business wear to blue-collar workers and schoolchildren in uniforms of various cuts. Horns sounded periodically from the road beyond, where trucks and cars were bumper to bumper during the morning rush.

"Come on Samir, you know me better than that." Gang Wu replied over a bowl of spiced noodles with fried dumplings on the side.

"True…" Samir al-Sabet mused as he rubbed the Data Storage Device (DSD) he was holding on one hand.

"So…now what…?" Gang asked.

"I'll have my friends look into this first." Samir said after a long moment. "If there really was just an accident, well, I suppose you can have this one. And if it isn't, then there'll be hell to pay."

"Yeah, about that…" Gang said with a cough. "...I uh…I have kids to feed, you know? So, uh…"

Samir smiled reassuringly. "If things go poorly," he added. "Then I'll be sure you won't be named. Don't worry. You've been a good…customer, and there's no profit in turning off reliable income, so to speak. We'll keep you from getting entangled in this, at least anymore than you already have."

"Oh, I see…well, thanks." Gang said with a sigh of relief. Then he gestured for a waiter droid, while also pulling out a wallet. "Anyway, I need to get going…"

"Ah, of course, but to further reassure you, let me pay for your breakfast for you." Samir said, and taking the bill from the droid before Gang could take it.

"I…thank you very much." Gang said with a bow, and then getting up after the droid left with Samir's credits bowed again before leaving. Alone at the table, Samir nibbled at a few nuts left on his plate, before opening a virtual communications channel through a cybernetic implant.

"Anya, I just got word of something disturbing about that freelancer's death late last night." he said. "We'll need to look into it some more, and if it pans out, we're going to need to deal with this in a way that they can't cover it up."

"You mean…oh." Anastasia 'Anya' Alexeyevna Zirinova replied. "Yes…of course…I'll get in touch with our contacts, see what they can turn up. Do we…need to go big with this?"

"Leave that to me, but prepare just in case." Samir replied.

"Understood, brother."

Samir gave the virtual equivalent of a nod, and then closed the channel.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"How about this one?" Aimi asked.

"No…that's too big." Makoto said after a moment's thought. "We don't need a pot that big…or rather, our big pot isn't so worn down that we need to replace it yet."

"Good point." Aimi said.

The two Japanese Augments were currently at Hamilton's Department Store, one of the biggest shopping chains not just on Mars, but across Sol if not the whole Sol Sector. It even had branches in neighboring sectors, all the way to Orion, even, although it had yet to expand outside what the Empire called the inner territories.

That, and the Vulcan Sector, because most Vulcans were such sticks in the mud. There were exceptions, yes, but they were few and far in between, and preferred to leave the Vulcan Sector to get out of overbearing social pressure to conform to Surakian principles.

Back to Aimi and Makoto, between them they had a shopping cart piled high with dozens of packets of new underwear, as well as wood and metal hangers. They'd also picked out a new pair of frying pans, a five-inch and a ten-inch, along with a new saucepan and a stack of fired stoneware platters imported from Venus. Drinking glasses too, if mass-produced ones made on Mars, but they were of good quality and affordable prices.

"…hey, look!" Aimi said, pointing across the shopping floor into the distance. "They're having a sale on lamps of all shapes and sizes!"

Makoto groaned. "Still looking for a lava lamp, Aimi?" she asked.

"What?" Aimi asked, looking curiously at her girlfriend, who just gave a sigh.

"Never mind, let's go and see." she said, Aimi eagerly walking ahead while Makoto followed after her while pushing the shopping cart along. Several minutes later, and Aimi was carefully placing a pair of heavy boxes into the cart, causing Makoto to raise an eyebrow.

"Those aren't lava lamps." she said.

"No, but we could use more table lamps at home, if only to save on electricity." Aimi cheerfully replied. "Smaller bulb, less electricity, for when we only need a table well-lit, and not the whole room."

"...good point."

Aimi beamed.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Excuse me, sir!" a voice shouted at Aiden Roberts, and a member of Prism Technologies', an affiliate of Hypnos Group, board of directors. "I'm with the Tharsis Times, and we'd like to ask a few questions if it's alright?"

"...I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to answer any questions right now." Roberts said over a shoulder as corporate security restrained the journalist from getting any closer.

"Sir…! Sir…!" the journalist shouted after Roberts as he walked away. "Just a few minutes…sir! Is it true the journalist who died in an accident just a short drive away from a Hypnos corporate retreat was killed to silence him after he discovered something scandalous going on during the previous night?"

Roberts jolted to a halt and threw a shocked look over a shoulder at the journalist, which quickly morphed into outrage. "That's absurd!" he snapped. "Ridiculous, even! Is this what passes for journalism these days? Rumormongering and salacious libel?"

"With all due respect, Director Roberts," the journalist said with a knowing smile. "A reliable source has informed us that several directors along with various share and stockholders were present at the retreat during the previous night, that the event they attended ended with corporate security placing the building on lockdown and…"

"You can tell your editors that they need better standards for their sources," Roberts angrily cut in. "And that unless they want to hear from our lawyers, they should avoid throwing around baseless insinuations and accusations. Now, if you don't mind, I have real work to attend to, and any further questions can and should be directed to my secretary. Good day!"

Roberts stormed off, corporate security holding back the journalist as he reached out to and called for Roberts. "Director Roberts…! Sir…!" he shouted, before being thrown back by the corporate security men, and then backing away with hands raised as they grabbed (but refrained from drawing) their batons.

More importantly, however, the confrontation had taken place more or less in public, with the journalist having accosted the director just outside of Prism Technologies' main lobby. It had been caught on camera by another journalist nearby, and there were plenty of passersby too who were already talking about and sharing what had just happened on the network.

This was not lost on the people inside the building, with various members of Robert's staff visibly accosting him inside the lobby as he made his way to the elevators.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Looks like Robert's didn't take too well to getting so publicly challenged about what happened last night."

"No, I didn't think he would." Samir replied, looking out over Tharsis from atop a skyscraper, the cold Martian winds blowing hard all around him. "Still, this should focus his and his allies' attention on everything potentially incriminating about last night…and leave them open elsewhere."

"We're still digging at things…" Anya cautiously said, but it was clear even over virtual communications from the tone of her voice that she was just being polite (or professional).

"But…?" Samir pressed.

"Numbers don't lie." Anya grimly said. "Oleg and Yigun hit paydirt just from the first batch of numbers, and quickly linked them up into something terrible. To think they could have gotten this far under all our noses…"

"That's how they've always been…" Samir said. "...that's how we are, too…at the end of the day, we're mirror images of each other…"

"And isn't that such a terrible thing?" Anya asked.

"...now's not the time for philosophy…" Samir said after a moment. "...what's our status?"

"We're about a third of the way through." Anya replied. "We could go faster, but we'd risk tripping various cybersecurity alerts. Not just theirs, but other people and groups who've got nothing to do with this, to say nothing of the ISB and Imperial Intelligence. I know we've got working arrangements with some of those, but setting off an uproar…they could use it to cover up a lot of stuff we could otherwise expose."

"It can't be helped." Samir said. "Just in case, though, we should throw a few cyberattacks at Prism and other Hypnos companies. Draw attention away from the numbers we're looking at, and the connections they lead to, and towards protecting the inner workings that we only need to know exist from the outside. They'll be dealt with soon enough."

"Will do…good thinking, brother." Anya said with the virtual equivalent of a nod.

Samir smiled, then looked up at the skies above. Red streaked with white, a few transplanted birds and other species winging their ways or riding the thermals of Tharsis above the city below. "Nothing is true," he said softly to himself, as he turned and spread his arms, before letting himself fall backwards and down to the ground below, light flickering around him as a personal cloak engaged. "Everything is permitted."

And then he was gone.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

As Team Nine - or its leader, at least - takes a day off, the Assassin Brotherhood enters the stage.

Yeah, even the Jedi (those few that managed to escape both the Great Jedi Purge and hid in the New Territories) and the Sith (or their Inquisitors - the Legends version, and not those posers from canon - at least) both think the Templars are full of shit. And for the first time since the reign of Darth Vitiate, joined forces during the First Neo-Federation War to put them down like the mad dogs that they are.

 

[MrTopHatSmith]

I.. have mixed feelings about this. On one hand awesome, on the other Ubisoft have made a real mess of the assassins creed franchise so… eh giving it the benefit of the doubt.