In The Black (A Clean-up Crew RP/OOC)

[The United Federation of Terrans]

In The Black

Welcome,
You have obviously passed our many vigorous background checks and qualifications to be here today. Here of course being a member of Acheron Recovery Services; one of the premier members of our field. Not only that, you have been selected along with many of your peers to staff our latest branch of ARS. Built out of the US Air Force base and abandoned missile silo complex; Silent Mountain, Montana is our latest and greatest facility in our strive to deliver our product. Excellent consumer protection.

Now for those of you who are new; you will have already have received your briefings on the various workings of our field. But I pride myself on thoroughness. So allow me to reiterate the purpose of our new branch. Many corporations and government agencies constantly partake in various experiments and test in efforts to push the boundaries of the known. However, sometimes they push too hard. Or maybe someone gets too squeamish. Or perhaps they should have sprung for a stronger lock on the cage containing the dimensional warhound.

Whatever the reason; accidents happen. Rather then throw more resources, time, and lives, trying to contain these incidents; we are instead called. For a competitive fee at varying levels of coverage; Acheron Recovery Services handles the containment, disposal and clean-up of whatever mishap might have occurred. With our wide roster of specialist and personnel we are more then capable of proving ourselves in any situation. And it shows.

We are one of the youngest entities in our business and we have already bought out our previous North American competitor, Sandstorm Consulting. Of course our efficiency is well noted by several competitors who are jealous of our success. Something that has led to less then cordial relations on occasions when interests or contracts conflicted.

But don't worry about that. Acheron is the top of the business for a reason.

And I know you will continue to contribute to that reason.

Signed,
Samantha Norr
Acheron Recovery Services HR Director; Silent Mountain Branch

Welcome to In the Black.

Here you take the part of an employee of a sizable damage control agency. They employ everyone from soldiers to submariners; mechanical engineers to herbalists, neurosurgeons to archeologists. They are prepared for anything because they respond to anything. As long as the client's policy is paid and the checks clear; Acheron will deploy.

Whether your back at base crunching the numbers on the latest zombie virus, garroting a plucky whistleblowing reporter, plundering an Egyptian tomb or battling a psychic super soldier; Acheron has a use for you. Of course these scenarios are dangerous. Casualties are high. But the paycheck for those that survive is tempting.

That being said. Acheron isn't the only game in town. The world has a host of like minded groups and entities who provide the same services; all that's different is the branding of the helicopters that fast rope the commandoes in. Conflicts tends to arise often in the field when two groups tend to clash; some more then others given proximity of their "established" territories.

As of recent; a downtick in business has led to an increase in conflict of remaining contracts. Whether this is a temporary dry spell or the beginning of a corporate shadow war are unknown.

All that is known is that the industry is at its most dangerous.

But you know what they say. Great Risk means even greater reward. Good luck.

Welcome to the world of Damage Control (DC) in the year 2025. Its a cutthroat, dangerous game played in the shadows that has grown more hazardous as of late.

Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering corporations have recently unlocked more secrets of gene sequencing and manipulation. Causing an upheaval in the bioweapon market with the sudden influx of tailored weapons and viruses. Of course the development of those weapons have had their own snags. The past three years saw a two hundred percent increase in deployment for all DC agencies for such incidents. With Acheron most noticeably having to firebomb one town in Arizona to contain a mispackaged leak of one such agent.

Of course other threats have increased too. A decade and half prior, a Slavic based corporation attempted to make an interdimensional portal. Events occurred that resulted in the Volkoff Syndicate, Eastern Europe's largest DC agency, shutting down the test after two weeks of fighting in the Urals. However, the experiment both made the notion of interdimensional travel feasible and made the fabric of our dimension thinner. Such occurrences happen with more regularity as of late; with four such incidents occurring within North America alone in the past year. One of which without the prompting of any experiments or tests by those on our side. These breaches have also had the startling effect of giving some individuals powers described as psychic in nature. They run the gamut on practicality and actual power. However, it also opened up another can of worms with the sudden rush of shady corporations and quasi government agencies creating artificial psychics. That led to one incident in the Pacific with an artificially created Psychic carving out a brief domain on an island chain.

Then there's the sudden surge in nanomachines and portable reactor technology that have started a boom in robotics and the potential of viable cyborgs. Some of which were more successful then others; some cyborgs have even found work within DC companies.

These just being an example of the most common threats the various DC companies face. When they're not busy warring with each other that is. The recent boom in potential danger has also sadly seen the downfall of several previously steady customers of various DC entities. With the surviving clients having gobbled up the remains of their failed peers. So while the danger has increased; contracts have gone down as these various corporations and agencies turn to exclusive contracts. Or in some cases, trying to cut costs by training in house DC teams to various degrees of success. However, a DC corporation that has no personnel obviously can't perform a contract; which has led to some of the more ambitious and cutthroat DC's to launch raids on competing contracts or even bases in some cases.

But at least the dental is good.

Acheron started out as an Acheron Transport, an armored car company, in the 1960's based in the Midwest United States. As the times grew more turbulent they switched from armored cars to armored limousines. A chance contract however saw the company take a small security gig at a then nascent company in the early 1980's. A virus outbreak saw a zombie like infection spread through the facility before Acheron guards put it down. With the Acheron CEO of the time receiving a sizable bonus for his discretion and competence.

This small profitable event saw Acheron open a seldom seen door that led into the lucrative and dangerous world of Damage Control. Acheron quickly began to expand its roster as it took contract after contract. Luck and greed helped pull Acheron from a fledgling DC entity to somewhere around mid-tier by the time they switched firmly into their new area; rebranding themselves as Acheron Recovery Services. With an agreement with the then up and coming German Werewolf LTD, the struggling Mexican Coyote Protection Inc and the well established Excalibur International in the UK; Acheron quickly rose to challenge the then eminent North American contractor of the time. Sandstorm Consulting engaged in a scaled down war of bidding and skirmishes before being bought out in 2020 by Acheron after a shortsighted, costly contract in New Guinea.

This has left Acheron with a large area of responsibility. North America for the most part is theirs; with the exception for Northern Canada and Alaska. Which is defiantly held by the Canadian Woodsmen Insurance Company. Central America is an uneasy alliance between Acheron and their erstwhile Mexican allies, Coyote Protection. The Pacific is for the most part a free for for all between Acheron, Japan's Ronin Defense Group and Australia's Bushmaster Consulting. The rest of the world Acheron leaves to the various other DC agencies; avoiding creating more enemies and problems then needed.

However, the board is tired of seeing decreased profits. With their recent branch in Montana intended to being a new international response hub; one can see that the status quo is going to tip again.

Built in the 70's as part of the Cold War O'Neill Air Force Base consisted of an airfield for the 924th Refueling Squadron and a missile complex under the 375th Strategic Missile Squadron. Neither saw much activity outside the normal before they were mothballed a year after the end of the Cold War. They remained unused until 2021 when Acheron purchased the installation in its entirety.

Since then; Acheron has been hard at work modernizing and refurbishing both the airfield and missile base. The airfield hosts the most visible notice of Acheron's presence; an assortment of fixed and rotary wing aircraft that range from surplus Huey's to a next generation tilt-rotor that's set to replace the V-22 Osprey. Its a facilities have been modified for Acheron's new purposes ands it houses a good assortment of most of the facilities personnel in refurbished barracks or newly constructed apartment complexes on the base. Its perimeter is ensured by constant patrols and an automated senor and camera network tied into an array of linked defenses. To the inhabitants of the town; the air base is a newly constructed DoD testing facility for classified avionics; and Acheron works hard to keep that as the perception.

The missile base on the other hand is where the sensitive aspect of Silent Mountain is carried out. Located a twenty minute drive away; the route to the missile base is a sole road heavily monitored and guarded by a trio of checkpoints before one even makes it to the gates of the former base. Built into heavy granite mountains; the missile bases silos and tunnels have been expanded and refurbished to act as the nerve center of this latest branch. The top levels house the barracks and equipment of the direct action portion of Acheron; those responsible for earning the company's income. Below them lies the R&D labs; responsible for either helping solve current crises or exploiting resolved ones for gain (often under the nose of clients due to vague wording in contracts). Lying below the science and technological heart of the base; lies the prison level for whistleblowers, malcontents and/or the occasional corporate spy awaiting processing. At the bottom of the base; below the command centers, offices and briefing rooms of the branch's leadership; lies the containment vault. Empty at the moment; the vault is a heavily guarded and surveilled portion where the branch can lock up dangerous articles, entities or anything else of dangerous value awaiting for transportation to the company's disposal site in Texas.

It might not be the most glamorous abode. But its home.

Direct Action:
The doorkickers and frontline troopers of Acheron. First in and last out; Direct Action is where a good chunk of Acheron's work is done. It ranges from the troops fast roping out of helos to the pilots of said aircraft. As well as their array of support staff; engineers who force their way into facilities to psychic trackers helping hunt down escaped experiments. They make up a good proportion of Acheron's personnel. That being said it also has the highest attrition rate within the company; with the experienced survivors tending to transfer into management or other branches at the first opportunity. Some like to stay however; whether it be for the thrill or the hazard pay. Direct Action might not be the safest posting in Acheron; but its definitely among the most lucrative.

Silent Mountain's Direct Action Group is codenamed Werewolf
Field Research:
The brains to Direct Action's brawn; this branch often masterminds the solutions to containment problems incapable of being solved via more ammunition. Ranging in expertise; this branch draws from the main and fringe bodies of known knowledge. Usually with the second wave of Acheron to arrive on scene (if they arrive at all); Field Research typically has the lowest casualty rate among the company. Though accidents do happen and there have been incidents of R&D taking a turn for the worse in some of Acheron's self-performing research.

Silent Mountain's Field Research Group is codenamed Spyglass
Concealment Teams:
An oddity; Concealment Teams are on odd mix-mash of personalities and skills. They have no set job or role within any contract; instead shifting as needed to plug any knowledge of the incident from leaking to the public at large. This can range from deploying jammers to scramble cell phones; hacking personal social media to discredit/remove evidence; removing annoying whistleblowers/traitors. Sometimes performing their parts of contracts in locales separate from those of the other branches. Concealment Teams are one of the most critical aspects of Acheron's contracts. As such they are a highly monitored and regulated branch that tends to attract those the company finds reliable. It pays to be the best of the best though.

Silent Mountain's Containment Teams are codenamed Icepick and Gladius

Code: Select all

Application:

[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b]

[b]Nationality:[/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b] (Can be a text description or an image.)

[b]Branch:[/b] (Direct Action; Field Research ; or Concealment Teams)

[b]Role/Occupation:[/b] (No need to get specific unless you want to.)

[b]Skills:[/b] (What your character specializes in.)

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] ( Not needed but it helps make your character feel rounded out)

[b]Background/Biography:[/b] ( Two paragraphs minimum please. No need for excessive detail. Just the gist of how they came to be where they are; whether that be value employee, naïve new hire or perhaps from a former competitor)

[b]Personnel Effects/ Equipment:[/b] (Any special items or gear your character will use that is unique to them. Heavy gear and equipment will be provided by Acheron; so this is just things that are quirks of your character.  Such as a lucky hat, a favorite brand of boots or maybe a special knife.)


[Sapim]

Application:

Name: Marcos Paulo Adelaide Storck

Age: 25

Nationality: Brazilian

Appearance:

Branch: Concealment Teams

Role/Occupation: deploying jammers to scramble cell phones; hacking personal social media to discredit/remove evidence; removing annoying whistleblowers/traitors.

Skills: Assassination, Hacking, Stealth, Oriental Swordsmanship, Blades, Light Weaponry, Medium Weaponry.

Weaknesses: Misuse of an ancient substance called Hashish, which makes you have moments of hallucination when you are in Base.

Background/Biography: Born; on October 17th of the year 2000 of the Christian calendar in the City of Rio de Janeiro, Marcos from a young age he learned to be a murderer and a hacker, in Asia and the Middle East. At the age of 13 he made his first contractual murder by the age of 25 he will already commit 1,320 contract murders, when he turned 18 Acheron Recovery Services, located him and offered him a job, he accepted due to the contract being very good. During 8 years on Acheron's service he already made 320 official contractual missions and 150 Extra-Contractual, being one of the most important and most valued members of Acheron.

Personnel Effects/ Equipment: Outfit identical in appearance, a Katana sword, an M1911 with silencer, M1 Garand with Sniper Lens and Silencer, two hidden blades; one on each arm and a small hand-held crossbow depicted in appearance.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Marcos Paulo Adelaide Storck

Well I'm just going to be blunt. You need to tone the character down and flesh them out.

Your character should be specialized in a few fields; such as hacking or assassination with maybe some dabbling in the other fields. Experts at everything are no fun to play with.

As for their background. It doesn't meet the minimum I asked for and its way too vague and inflated. Your character was born in Brazil and somehow became a hacker and contract killer with no explanation. With a ridiculous kill count I might add. As well, they're a bit young to be a valued employee when his services haven't been ,mentioned as otherwise notable.

I'm not saying the character is bad. You just need to flesh it out more; tone down their kill and mission counts and give some reason for how they came to be where they are. Acheron doesn't really headhunt outside North America. If you want to discuss this more. Feel free to TG me and we can work something out.

[Cylarn]

Gonna throw a tentative taggerino up 'ere.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Tag for interest.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

An example app if you will

Application:

Name: Daniel Graves

Age: 34

Nationality: American

Appearance: Standing at a lean 6'2"; Daniel Graves typically sports dark hair in an overgrown crew cut and persistent stubble. When he's not wearing his combat glasses; his dull green eyes have always been described as unnerving and piercing. He possesses only two noticeable markings; an Eye of Providence tattooed between his shoulder blades and a old scar on his left forearm from a dimensional warhound's claw.

Branch: Direct Action

Role/Occupation: Silent Mountain Field Commander/ Branch Co-manager

Skills: Field Command: Graves has a natural knack for the controlled chaos of Damage Control operations. While not infallible; he has the ability to multitask various details needed to keep the operation running despite set-backs and mishaps. Constantly adjusting strategies on the fly to salvage at least a favorable outcome for Acheron.

Combat: Comes with being former Delta Force. Graves started his career as a SAW gunner for 1st SFOD. While his choice of weaponry is often detailed to the contract's situation; he is at home in a firefight as he is in the command center. From hand-to hand to advanced marksmanship; Graves has kept up as much as his current job allows. While his days of kicking in doors may be passing by; Graves isn't afraid to join in when the situation (and casualties) call for it.

Pre-Cognition: A few close calls with dimensional rifts and one unfortunate incident when he was exposed to dimensional energy had Graves develop an ability early on in his Acheron career. He found he was able to predict a probable event a seconds into the future if he concentrated. Over the years he has learned how to utilize it and the limits of his ability; though it curiously ebbs and flows at random times.

Weaknesses: Unpredictable Powers: As stated; while Grave has mastered how to use his power; the power itself varies. There are times where he has seen a full hour into the future while others he has failed to utilize it at all. Graves and Acheron's R&D have yet to isolate the reason behind the strengths and pitfalls of his ability and Graves as such has learned not to rely on it given its randomness.

Burnt-Out: A veteran of Delta Force and Acheron; Graves has seen a lot in his time. While he does his job well; he is beginning to feel the futility of some of his efforts. Given that Acheron's various clients seem intent on repeating the same mistakes over and over; leaving a trail of bodies and destruction that Acheron cleans up at the expense of more bodies on Acheron's part. However, Grave's is a professional; doing a bad job isn't in his blood.

Five Rounds Rapid: Graves has outgrown his stigma of education and his time with Acheron has demonstrated that sometimes there needs to be a strong brain behind the Direct Action and Concealment Teams' brawn. However, his first instinct usually involves heavy firepower and manpower; with that continuing until it proves ineffective. Then he will usually switch to the suggestions of his Field Research team.

Background/Biography: Born September 1991 in South Dakota ; Daniel Graves grew up the eldest child of farmers. Growing up on the farm saw Daniel split his attentions between schooling, his mother's insistence, and the farm at his father's. However, an educated career nor that of a farmer appealed to the young Daniel. He wanted to see the world beyond his patch of land and make something of himself that wasn't inherited or done at the cost of schooling. So he took the path most youths in his area did to escape; he enlisted in the Army despite the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the protests of both of his parents.

Graves was initially unnoteworthy in his Army career. A standard infantryman who eventually volunteered for Ranger school for the challenge it presented. However, his service with the Ranger's was exemplary; multiple battlefield commendations and a Silver Star followed Graves' first deployment with the Rangers. Riding his successes; he applied and was accepted into 1st SFOD's selection process. Delta Force selection was grueling but Graves managed to survive and earn a billet as a SAW gunner for his first tour with the unit. Graves was found to be dependable and enjoyed a notoriety among the unit for his devotion to accomplishing missions by sometimes extreme means.

His recruitment to Acheron however was by a fluke. While home on leave to try and mend things with his parents in 2017; disaster struck. A pseudoscience/occult group going rogue from a dimensional research outfit tried to open a rift between worlds in Graves' family field; a thinner barrier existing by a sheer fluke. The beings that emerged quickly slaughtered their summoners and began a rampage through the county. Acheron, alerted by the research group ( and under contract), deployed to close the breach. After a furious night of fighting the threat was contained and the breach was closed. Daniel Graves was discovered barricaded in the remains of his childhood farmhouses' basements; the mauled bodies of his parents accompanied by a multitude of dead dimensional intruders killed by his own hand.

Initially, the shell shocked Graves was taken in for damage assessment and containment. Once his background came to light; he was offered a job instead of whatever method Acheron would have implemented to keep his mouth shut. Still in shock, Graves accepted, and found himself being slotted into Direct Action. Lucky turns of events and several contracts saw Graves rise in both rank and infamy within the company; with his pre-cognition powers cementing his standing. Graves eventually found himself among the rare ranks of Direct Action personnel who survived more then five years. This plus his unusual abilities gave him a high standing in the company that saw him take on the role of one of Acheron's Field Commanders. Several contracts as a commander have cemented Graves' status and eventually earned his promotion to Co-Manager of the new Silent Mountain expansion.

A prestigious assignment. But one that hold's the risk of blotting Graves' rising star within the company.

Personnel Effects/ Equipment:
-A modern Japanese made Tanto (Courtesy of a Ronin operator that no longer needed it.)
-A box of Gurkha Cigars ( Looted from a office in the midst of a contract)

[Theyra]

Application:

Name: Kedem Girma

Age: 26

Nationality: Israeli

Appearance: Kedem

Branch: Direct Action

Role/Occupation: Tracker/Infantry

Skills: Leadership - Kedem after years with Golem United has developed good leaderships skills and knows how to motivate his men and get them to finish their mission. Even when things seem hopeless and despite increasing casualties.

Experience - While he was trained militarily, most of his combat experience comes from when he was in the field with Golem United and is used to dealing with dimensional beings.

Special Vision - After a incident at Golem United's main base. Kedem has developed a ability to see into a different plane. Enabling him to see pass walls, identify dimensional and psychic beings, track them to a extant and even see beings that are invisible. Plus, see dimensional and psychic energy.

Multilingual - Due to his upbringing, service in the military and service in Golem Untied. Kedem knows Hebrew, Amharic, English and Arabic.

Weaknesses: Still learning - Kedem is still learning his new power and has a way to go before he has mastered it. Currently, he still gets confused sometimes when using the sight as the transition from normal vision and his special vision can make things hard to see. Like doors, walls or even objects.

Vision Problems - While Kedem special vision does have benefits, they come with their own problems. Like if he uses it for too long, he starts getting headaches and it is not a passive ability. He has to turn it on and off and whenever he uses his special vision. His eyes glow a bright blue the entire time so it obvious when he uses it. Plus, the stronger the being is either dimensional or psychic wise, the brighter the being is to Kedem while using his special vision and so a being powerful enough could blind him.

Background/Biography: Kedem was born in Tel Aviv to Einku and Tinsae Girma in 1999. The middle child of three and his parents were Israelis of Ethiopian descent. Life for Kedem was not like most other children due to his parents' connections to a Israeli damage control agency, Golem United. Golem United was run by his uncle, Tarik Girma. A former military man turned business man who managed to take control of Golem United from his original owners. While his mother and his uncle had a good relationship with each other and Tarik would give gifts to his family as a sign of that bond. Which made Kedem's life easier growing up and he would have a good opinion of his uncle.

Which after Kedem's mandatory military service did his uncle offer him a job at Golem United. Kedem accepted and was in charge of their combat forces. While he did not know he was up to the task, he still tried his best to make his uncle proud. AT first it was hard for him but after some time and help. He was starting to get the hang of it. This lasted for five years and Kedem's leadership skills did show and helped the company through some tough contracts. He even went on some missions himself and personally fought with his teams. But, his uncle was growing more ambitious and cutthroat. Putting a strain on their relationship. Then when his uncle accepted a contact that unknown to both men, it would spell the end for the company.

The contact was simple, capture a entity that had escaped from a facility and hold it until a new containment facility could be built. Capturing the entity was not easy and they lost a good number of men to capture the thing even through it was in a weakened state. Once it was secured in the company's vault, Kedem through a aide learned that his uncle's was planning on secretly betraying the client and selling the entity to the highest bidder. When Kedem confronted his uncle over this, a argument broke out and during it the entity managed to break out of the vault. It causing major destruction and chaos throughout the base. Kedem tried to contain the entity and even tried to kill it before it managed to escape by opening a portal and Kedem was close enough to it that he was exposed to dimensional energy.

In the aftermath of the incident, The Golem United's main base was mostly destroyed with few survivors. Kedem and his uncle being one of them with Kedem waking up in a hospital and learned that his uncle's plans were revealed and now no one wanted to work with Golem United anymore and without contracts. The company soon went under and its rivals soon took over Golem United's former territory.

Kedem after recovering, wanted nothing to do with his uncle and tried to find work with something with his skillset. That was when Acheron learned about him and offered him a job. Though not in a command role but, a position in their direct action force. As they did not fully trust in a command role and wanted to see if he could be trusted. Kedem accepted and now using his skills and newfound power for Acheron.

Personnel Effects/ Equipment: A green military cap that he used to wear during his time with Golem United but, has since removed the Golem United emblem on it.

A ornate knife that he got as a gift from an Arabic associate after finishing a rough contract.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

[quote="Theyra”]
Kedem Girma
[/quote]

ACCEPTED
Welcome aboard

[Dyelli Beybi]

I was threatening to make an app and turns out, as part of my manic posting spree, I have!

Application:

Name: Stan Miller

Age: 32

Nationality: Canadian

Appearance:
(I've been very lazy with this one)


Branch: Direct Action

Role/Occupation: Field Engineer

Skills: Breaking, and occasionally fixing machinery and assorted tech. Stan is remarkably good at figuring out how random gizmos work and then stopping them from doing so.

Weaknesses: Unobservant and about as stealthy as a rhinoceros on a football field.

Background/Biography: Two years ago Stan Miller was working in a cybernetics lab as a junior engineer. It was one of those labs where everyone was extremely enthusiastic about the thing they were creating, not quite realising it was an uncontrollable monster, despite more-than-a-few tell-tale signs. Stan saw the signs, but nobody listened to Stan. This is something of a permanent state of affairs, at least as far as Stan in concerned. Naturally a few weeks later the 'Armoured Scorpion of Death' went on a rampage, massascring most of the staff. Stan had the good foresight to crawl into a vent where the gigantic robotic arachnid didn't seem to be able to find him. He imagined sooner or later either the thing would wander off somewhere else or someone would come and destroy it and hunkered in to wait for one of the two events to happen.

The Scorpion didn't wander off, though an hour or two later, Aceron showed up. What happened after that was a bit of a blur. Stan remembered trying to crawl out and escape while the Scorpion tossed Aceron operatives around the room, though finally he summoned up the nerve to do something to help, yanking out an exposed cable in the robotic monster's tail as it targeted a more threatening individual. The cable caused a short and the creature to stop working. It wasn't that impressive really. Anyone could have pulled the plug on the Monster, if they' been working on it and known the plug was there. Despite his protestations, Stan was offered a job at Aceron and, given that his current employers were in a spot of bother after the giant arachnid rampage he decided to take them up on the offer. Mostly because of the dental.

Stan continues to work for Aceron to this day and it quickly turned out that his intuition for ways to make things break down didn't just extend to gigantic armoured arachnids. It also turned out he was quite good at repairing things, though for some reason that skill didn't turn out to be quite as necessary. Stan greets every mission with a depressed groan, constantly threatening to quit, though he never does. The dental, it turns out, is a pretty strong drawcard.

Personnel Effects/ Equipment: An electrician's toolbelt.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Stan Miller

Welcome aboard. I’m sure they’ll be plenty of things for you to do