The Thingvallavatn Incident (IC)

by **Free Arctic Territories** » Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:07 pm

16:32 - Busan, Republic of Korea

"What do you mean, activated?"

The CEO of Black Sun Corporation was not pleased at the recent turn of events. Hestia felt the project director fidget nervously behind her. "What do you mean?" she repeated, not bothering to turn around. Kenji Sato, project director of the Sanhelios Nano Advanced Military Android Program, struggled to come up with an answer that would not be crushed under her cold, robotic gaze and heavy, measured words. All things considered, he thought, she was technically was an android, although one of the most powerful and influential androids ever, and one of the most menacing ones he had seen in his life. Maybe a personality process bug-?

His thoughts were cut off as he noticed her slowly rising until she towered above him. "Kenji, I don't understand. What does this report mean when it said that Prototype Gabriel had activated?" Struggling to find words, he wiped the cold sweat running freely down his brow. Clearing his throat, he attempted to make his mouth move. "Well... Prototype Gabriel seems to have come out of hibernation after the crash. Usually, they aren't suppose to activate without us turning them on." Even though her expression remained stone cold, he felt that he had only made Hestia more furious. "We designed i-it as a failsafe... t-they can activate if they suffer extreme damage... like in a plane crash." he added meekly. "Kenji, do you realize what I am saying when I say "what do you mean?" We've lost an android worth 3.5 trillion goddamn dollars, as well as a decade of data and schematics, designs, and trials. Do you realize what this means? For this company? For me? For you? You are the project director. I didn't hire you to be some simpering sycophant groveling and nodding your head at the foot of my desk. I hired you to direct the project. You've directed our company into this mess, and now, you will clean it up, or it'll be your head at the foot of my desk, understood?"

Face burning red hot from shame, he lowered himself in a bow as far as his stomach would let him, and squeaked out a "Yes, ma'am..."

"Now, give me a full briefing. Do not leave anything out."

6:32, Atlantic Ocean, en route to Iceland

Anatoly Razumhin had been in the business for a long time. He had been high and low, through good times and bad times, and had done countless numbers of odd jobs, including one involving kidnapping and returning the runaway daughter of the CEO of a multinational cereal conglomerate. However, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he was briefed. "One android?" he said in slightly accented English. "You want us to get one android? For how much?"

"100 million dollars sir. We can raise the price if you wish." The stoic, dispassionate Black Sun android representative intonated. "Well... could you at least give a short description of the job we were contracted to do?" The android shook it's head. "I'm afraid that's classified, sir. You will have to come with us to a more secure location for a full briefing." "Ah, I see, military android, is it? You are going to spend this much money on an android?"

"Come with us sir, I'm afraid I can say no more." Seeing he was getting nowhere, Anatoly shrugged. "To hell with it, money is money. Now, show me what Black Sun needs from this old soldier."

"Rise and shine, Raz. We're landing in an hour." Anatoly made vague rumbling sounds as he was slowly shaken awake by Alice. "Want some breakfast?" she asked. "It's fine. We can eat at the airport." He mumbled. They had been called, it seemed, on quite a short notice, and he was still struggling to fight off the jet lag that seemed so intend on smothering him to sleep. In the back, Zhu Baitu was still peacefully asleep, while Chul Jeong was nodding his head to the beat of his playlist.

"Ah, my back..." Anatoly inhaled sharply as he felt his spine pop. "What have you been doing all night?" "I've been keeping Eos company, trying to see if I can access some cameras and such. I've already gotten into the local police radio channel, so if anything major happens, we'll know. It's helpful to get some good intel so we don't go in totally blind." "Agreed," Anatoly said, as he slowly start to rise. "What's Chul been doing?" "Listening to songs all night," Chul yelled at the back, over the honey sweet vocals of a bubbly, catchy K-pop song. "I can't sleep anyway, I've been on three flights in the past 18 hours." "Save your sleepless nights for when we get out of this in one piece, kid." Anatoly yelled back. "They won't find any piece of us left with you leading us around!" he replied. "You say that, but you owe at least a finger to me.", Anatoly retorted. He noticed a nervous tone in Chul's laughter. "We'll be fine, Chul. I've got your back. Haha, I practically own it, with how many times I've saved you. Let's wake Zhu up, get the team ready. We'll be meeting Aaron in an hour."

Well, he thought, if it's weaponized nanobots we're dealing with, he's probably right. Can't have doubts now, though, or else they'll sending us home as grey goo. "We'll be alright, team. We'll be alright."

by **Lord Mousetrap** » Sun Jan 21, 2018 11:13 am

6:40 a.m. en route to Iceland
As Suleiman Brown looks around, the boats are nearing the coast of Iceland and the company is preparing for what they might find in there. "I doubt they are going to be able to get to the site faster than we are", Christopher whispers into Suleiman's ear. He thinks for a little bit about what would happen if some other company made it there before him, but nah! He quickly goes back to checking his list of navigation points and rosters.
"Hey! I think we got something here, I see a unusually large plane flying over ahead to the left of us.", one of the soldiers says out load. Everyone looks up to the plane, one of them makes out some text and a symbol, the Black Sun, before it zooms out of sight. Frederick Rhoden thinks of what that mysterious plane was and the potential losses the Army could face if this mission isn't successful, he stammers, "Think that could mean-n anything t-to you, sir?" As he responds, some trouble brews in the water. It takes minutes to subside as Christopher is working on coordinates on the landing site. As the minutes tick by, Suleiman announces that breakfast is ready and everyone rushes to the room, and doors open and close, left and right, and then the first sightings of the coastline.

6:57 a.m., Lord Mousetrap, Union Central
"Anyone know WHY this happening? Why this. WHY THAT! Does everyone know what this means to the Empire?!?!", Emperor Dandelion IV shouts as he rethinks his decision about cooling of the offensive mentality of the Army. A messenger dashes through the halls and bursts through the door, holding a paper, saying that Legionary XXI have landed on Iceland. The room goes silent as the Emperor reads the paper, even ignoring the riots over tax reforms outside the building.

5:23 p.m. Icelandic Wilderness
"1! 2! 3! 4! 1! 2! 3! 4!", Suleiman shouts repeatedly, nearing the site of interest, "I remember better days, better ones then this, now halt!" As the regiment grinds to a halt, Christopher reports their distance from the site, "Works out to be around 30 kilometers, more or less. Then, about 2 more kilometers until we hit Point Hafnarfjörður, sir!" The glorious general then starts issues commands to march to the point.

5:28 p.m. Lord Mousetrap, Union Central
"Anything worth noting about Operation Gabriel?", the emperor whispers to his most trusted adviser, Dishabille. "Nothing expect they are 2.3km away from Point Hafnarfjörður", that adviser responds to him, though very quietly. "Is this worth the $250 million scrambled into it, IS IT?!?! Just, um......do we have contact with point Hafnarfjörður, yet? I heard we're testing state-of-the-art nuclear jet fighters there. DO WE?", his Majesty irrationally shouted across the many halls, everyone could hear it.
Up until now, the company was out of contact with the rest of the military, but they contacted a mysterious traveler who happens to be able to contact Hafnarfjörður.

by **Squeaktown** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:35 pm

4:35 p.m. Iceland
"Do we have contact with Point Hafnarfjörður? This could be our only chance to utterly destroy Lord Mousetrap", Andrew says boldly to the company. "No, your honor, they haven't responded to our urgent messages. Something MUST be going on there...Could it be some kind of warning?", his most trusted soldier whispers in his ear. "Fine, then. Do we have contact with the capital?" "Yes, sir." "Tell them the recent developments, now. Anyways, have we identified the mysterious plane that was rumored to fly over Lord mousetrap forces?" "No an answer?"
Andrew grumbles in rage...thinking about Operation Florence.

Meanwhile in teh capital...
"SIR! SIR!" The Emperor's sons come rushing in with a radio, mysteriously acting up on them. **static** "Any--e h--r -s, ov-r. Ove-. Anyo--? Over." **static** Bewildered, the emperor manages to contact them again, "Yes, we heard your messages, over."
After the company contacts them, again, they have a classified conversation. Then, another radio "acts" up. This time about the failing Operation Berlin.
Silence fills the room.

by **The Imperial Papal States** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:00 pm

41.9028 N, 12.4964 E
Rome, DV, 21:56 UCT. 56 Degrees F.
Scattered Thunderstorms

The Imperial Papal States Minister of Externalities took of his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. He had been looking at the renegotiated tax treaties with various countries for hours now. His american counterpart, the Secreatary for State, was quite verbose, and because of this, the treaty was one of the longest he had read in his life. He proceded to get up to call his wife, informing her that he would be working through the night. Such was the life of a Minister.

He took his government issued phone out of his pocket and hit a speed dial. The phone rang 3 times. A fourth ring was heard, but it came from his desk phone. He canceled the call, and read the notice on his desk phone.

MAGNA CASTELLUM, COMMAND OPERATIONS ROOM, the promter read.

He picked up the reciever and placed it against his ear.

"Minister of Externalities. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, Minister. We found him. The prototype is preped. I need a kill directive from you, the Chancellor, Minister of Interior, or the Minister of Defence."

The Minister was confused. "Who is he?" The man clarified. "Ahmed Bin Bullah, Sir. Leader of the Al-Sakrat Terrorist Organisation. We've prepped the Mk.III prototype. We need a kill order to begin operating." The Minister remembered. The Bicamerate Inspector for Malta Industries International had prepared a field test of their Mk.III SPECFOR Humanoid Advanced Combat Robot, designed to take on missions independetly, only with support from command. They had staged an operation to smuggled it into the Al-Sakrat base, as a field test for the robot. "Proceed with the operation," the Minister said. "Shoot to kill." He put the reciever back on its port, and bulled out his cellular phone. He hovered his finger over the speed dial, and his desk phone rang again.

He angrily placed his cellular phone on the desk and pulled the reciever off his desk phone. "Minister of Externalities. What do you need? A kill directive?"

The man on the other side was taken aback. "No... Sir... We've been tracking Prototype Gabriel's transport. It was destroyed over iceland, but satalite imagery gives us reason to belive that 'Prototype Gabriel' is still functional, if damaged. Sir... This is our chance. Assuming we're the first people to get to it, Prototype Gabriel is ours. MoD and Malta would take it apart, put it back together, make it better, and then duplicate it. It would make the Mk.IIs look like turnstilles."

The Minister of Externalities leaned back in his desk chair. They had been tracking Black Sun Corperation since the Sanhelios Nano Advanced Military Android Program was in its infant stages. However, their corperate spies never made it high enough to feed critical information back to them, or secure a prototype. But now that that prototype was wandering aroudn the icelandic tundras, all bets were off... or, more accurately on. This was now a matter of national security.

He immediately rushed out of his office, down the hall and into the Prime Minister's office. "Minister? Is their something I can do for you?"

The Minister gave his superior a Roman Salute. "My Ministry has recovered intelligence concering the Sanhelios Nano Advanced Military Android Program. I am requesting that the Archministry National Security Board be Immediately convened." The Prime Minister raised an eyebrow. "You want to convene a National Security Board meeting, over simple wind of intelligence?"

"Prototype Gabriel has just gone rogue." the Minister said. "It meanders though Iceland as we speak."

The Prime Minister's demeanor became extremely serious. "I'll call the Chancellor. Meeting Room Four at 23:00 hours. Get the other Ministers."

The Chancellor sat down, beginning the meeting. His Ministers, and other important government and military personnel sat down after him, with ease. The seal of the Imperial Papal States flashed on the Hologram projector in the center of the screen. "This meeting of the Archministry National Security Board has begun. Are all present, Prime Minister?" The Prime Minister silently counted, looked at the Chancellor. "Present," he said.

Three seats down, the National Intelligence Coordinator began. "At about 21:51 hours, tonight, our satellites were tracking a transport we believed was connected to Black Sun Coorperation's Sanhelios Nano Advanced Military Android Program. At 21:52 Hhours, that aircraft was downed by unknown means. Satellite imagery further confirmed that 'Prototype Gabriel,' a military android, had activated. It is currently somewhere along the eastern side of the island of Iceland."

The Minister of Defence spoke up. "Chancellor. This robot android is a state-of-the-art military robot. Our informants within Black Sun Corperation have been attempting to funnel information to use regarding this matter to no avail. The current Icelandic administration is partial to us. We now have an opportunity to obtain and replicate this technology."

The Minister of Externalities interjected. "I concur. But this goes beyond technological security. We've detected chatter among other nations and known NSAs.Chatter regarding Black Sun has gone up. We need to secure this object before it becomes a threat."

The Chancellor took the pen he held like a cigarette out of his mouth and spoke, coolly. "I agree. But who to send..."

The Supreme Commander quickly spoke up. "Iceland is outside of our official jurisdiction; official recognition of the situation would aggravate things. The Military is has a number of special forces capable of responding to this situation.

He was cut off by the Minister of Interior. "I agree, Supreme Commander, but we have no need of the Military for this operation. The National Police has a task force particularly designed for the seizure of technologies." He then looked down the table. "Superintendent, is the force ready?" The Chief Superintendent nodded slowly. "STRIKE is ready, Minister. Foxtrot Echelon can be infiltrated into Reykjavik within the next 5 hours. The IPSAS Archangel, the National Police's most advanced supersonic submarines, will serve as a headquarters to the command element."

The Chancellor spoke. "I'm convinced. Get it done, Superintendent." The chancellor then got up, and exited the room. "I want that android!"

The Chancellor walked into his office, picked up his desk phone, and his a speed dial. "Yes... this is the Chancellor. How did the Mission go? Success? That's good news. Tell Malta I need a favor one more time. Say it's a... another field test."

by **Free Arctic Territories** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:29 pm

7:35, Keflavik International Airport

"Excuse me sir, please step to the side."

Anatoly groaned as the metal detector, like a particularly annoying mouse, emitted a flurry of high pitched squeaks. The security officer waved him over, and taking out a wand like device, started to wave it around his body. What did I forget?, Anatoly thought. I left all my tactical gear in the luggage... Suddenly, the wand lit up. "Sir, could you raise your shirt?" Oh, I remember now, Anatoly sighed mentally. On the other side, he could see his team waiting impatiently. "Forgot to take your back brace off, Anatoly?" Zhu asked. "It seems so," the officer replied. Anatoly groaned, this time audibly. "Bylat."

"Any trouble here, officer?" The man seemed to jump in surprise. "Director... what brings you here?" Out of the corner of his eye, Anatoly could discern three figures clad in business attire. "Let him through. They're on official business." The growing crowd started to mutter as Fireteam Mu and a very embarrassed Anatoly was led to a waiting airport cruise cart. Suddenly, one of the figures, who seemed to be a petite young woman dressed in a navy blue pantsuit, spoke up, "Sorry, I believe we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Iris, and this is Rushou." The tall, muscular man beside him, dressed in all black, shifted in acknowledgement. We're from Black Sun. I believe you are the contractors we hired?" Anatoly nodded. "That is right." Behind him, Alice gave them a curious expression. "Say, you aren't androids, are you?", she asked. Iris smiled. "Correct. How did you know? Was it the hair?" She motioned to her head, a vibrant splotch of pink in an otherwise nondescript field of black, white, and muted grays. Instead, Alice tapped her eyes. "I noticed these first. I had a gut feeling, but the wiring gave it away." "Interesting," she replied. "You guys were just what we needed. Quickly now." The cart barreled through the airport terminal as fast as it safely could. It seemed that the airport staff had taken the liberty to give them a clear path among the bustling throngs of passengers. Even during the winter, it seemed that this place was crowded. Either that, or the airport was simply too small. After five hectic minutes of near misses and dodges, the cart dropped them off at the vehicle drop off area with, luckily, no casualties.

Rushou was already at the door. "Step inside please. We'll take care of your luggage," he said, gesturing at the valets already loading their cases into the trunk of the black SUV in front of them. "Hurry up, Anatoly." Zhu said, glancing back at the man. "Give... me... a... second...", he uttered between gasps. Zhu shook her head and slid into the back seat. The rest of the team started filing in. "Hold on," Chul said, stopping at the door. "What about Aaron?" Iris put an impatient hand on his shoulder. "He's being briefed at the station. Quickly now. Our helicopter leaves in an hour, and we don't have time. We have to get you briefed, equipped, and ready as soon as possible." Addressing the other suited man behind him, she said, "That'll be all, Director. Thank you for the assistance." The director nodded. "It was my pleasure." Chul looked back, and then at her, and then back again. "Who was -?", he started, before being cut off. "The director of airport security. We've got some connections with the higher ups here.", she replied with a knowing smirk. "Razumhin?" "Coming!", he replied, hastily making his way towards the vehicle.

19:35, Busan, South Korea

Tension. A thick, nauseating miasma filled the air of the packed meeting room as the various executives, directors, and managers under the employ and auspices of Black Sun shuffled in. Every step seemed to ring out like a lead boot, while Chief Executive Officer Hestia rested on her throne like a vengeful goddess. A dramatic window view of the Busan skyline formed the backdrop of the ominous scene as, one by one, the businessmen and women took their seats. The wise averted their eyes and kept their voices low. The foolish were taught to show respect by her diamond hard gaze. As the last subjects of the Empresses' Court shuffled in, the doors were shut, the coffee was brewed, the guards were posted, and the notepads were readied.

Cutting through the air like a red hot knife through butter, Hestia's voice rang out. "I have called this meeting today to address the recent Incident Report that has been circulating around the board and among our investors. Yes, the report is completely true and accurate. We have lost all three Prototypes as well as the Project Sanhelios data. And yes... Prototype Gabriel has been awakened from hibernation. We are currently contracting a private military company to deal with the case. They are professionals, and their credentials are flawless. With your support, I as CEO will do everything in my power to ensure that all Black Sun assets are recovered and that the confidentiality of Project Sanhelios is maintained. Now... any questions?"

A deafening commotion filled the air. It seemed that a hundred people were speaking at once. "Attention, everyone. Silence please! I will address your concerns one at a time. You first, sir."

A gray haired, portly man in a suit stood up. "How much risk is involved with this operation? What are our chances of failure or discovery by the project? How much of our assets are at stake?" Money first, Hestia thought. If you want to talk business, I'll talk business. "We have prepared at least 10 billion dollars on hand to cover any collateral damage. The risk to your assets are minimal. Our revenue is more than enough to cover the cost of the operation, no matter what the case. You personally will have nothing to lose." A weary woman, eyes ringed with gray circles from exhaustion with suit to match, rose up next. "Do any of our competitors know about this? Will there be a chance we will lose our IP to a rival?" Hestia reflexively glanced at her desk, searching for a stack of fresh reports she had received.

Black Sun Operational Security Report, Revision #30: Current Intelligence on Third Party Involvement in Operation YAMA

"I'm afraid we do not have enough information as of this time to answer that question. However, it will be most likely have a negligible influence on our operation ."

The room exploded.

"Excuse me, excuse me!"

"I heard from a reliable source that we could have..."

"What about the Dark..."

"How will they take care of local Imperial..."

"I have just one question, Miss Hestia..."

"Please, settle down, one at a time, be quiet.. SILENCE, PLEASE!" Rubbing her forehead, Hestia emitted a deep sigh. "I'm afraid I don't have any time left for this meeting. If you wish to ask any more questions before the next board meeting, please send them by email or by chat to my secretaries. I will continue to inform you of new developments." The room was dead silent.

"Meeting adjourned."

13:43, Research Station ███████
"What are you doing, old man?"

"Practicing my aim." Anatoly was shouldering an anti armor missile, more specifically the Mastodon X-1, a heat seeking guided shoulder fired missile with anti air and anti tank firing modes, designed by Carina Arms. "Been a long time since I've gotten my hand on something good as this." He aimed at the hovering target drone downrange, watched from his scope as it darted like an insect among the tundra brush, and waited with a hunter's patience for the lock on indicator to turn green. Gently, he squeezed the trigger. Coursing through the air, the projectile rushed toward the rotors of the machine, priming it's warhead. After a few seconds the winds cleared the exhaust from the launch, revealing nothing but a patch of scorched earth and tiny bits of scrap metal. Chul let out a low whistle. "That is one hell of a gun. Where's everyone else?", he questioned, glancing around. Motioning to his right, Anatoly responded, "Our tour guide's doing target practice on the other end of the range, Alice and Eos are doing their own thing, and Zhu's servicing her rifle. What have you been up to?" "They showed me around their lab after the meeting.", Chul answered."They let me play around with some of their bots. My specialty is nano-medicine, but I've pieced together at least some of what our rogue droidcan do from what they were authorized to tell me. Look, watch this." Chul pulled out his phone and opened a video. Inside what seemed to be a lab, Anatoly could make out a group of people in white coats. He strained to hear what they were saying.

"Clear the lab... testing... activation code..."

"Sorry," Chul apologized. "They made me stay outside. Couldn't let me catch any confidential info about the project on video." "Ah", Anatoly replied. He noticed a thin layer of inert black dust at the bottom of a glass chamber, near the center of the room. "What the hell," he muttered, as he watched it started to slowly rise up, towards a silver cube suspended above it. A low buzzing sound, audible even from outside the lab, could be heard. All at once, it settled down, and the metal cube was nowhere to be seen. "Amazing, isn't it," Chul whispered. "They've made self repairing, self replicating nano bots, capable of breaking down nearly any material at a chemical level. Nothing short of a miracle could have made this." Anatoly nodded, slowly. "Let me guess, the bot is the command and control center." "Yep," Chul replied, "if the nanobots were a gun, it would be the marksman." "There's no way in hell we can ever even get close to that," Anatoly muttered. "Only way to bring it back is for Black Sun to manually gain control of it," Chul replied. Anatoly thought back to the briefing they had with Iris. "And the only way that could work..."

"Is if I can get this damn payload to work!" Alice shouted in frustration. Eos sat in the corner of the room, awaiting a command, looking dispassionately at her frustrated master. Around her were various computers, hard drives, cables, and wires. Alice was furiously editing and debugging a program on her laptop, amid a stack of documents and other information given to them during Iris' briefing earlier in the day, as well as various documentation and other information about Prototype Gabriel's operating system. "Eos, the emulator's acting up. I can't seem to get on the security access page even with the right credentials. I can force reset the system to bring it out of debug mode, but it just won't let me in!" Once again, Eos began to speak. "Have you tried-" "Yes I've already checked if they gave me the right credentials!" "No," Eos said. "Have you tried the default password and username?" She motioned towards a sticky note stuck on the side panel of the emulator driver. "Eh...? Well, I guess it's worth a shot...", Alice replied doubtfully. She logged in once again.

Sanhelios Nano Logos Operating System v0.4g_Build_3215
Welcome. Please Input Admin. Username and Password to Continue:
Username:
Password:

"P-a-s-s-w-o-rd", she said, typing out each letter. "What? Those incompetent sons of bitches! They didn't tell me that the username and password resets too!" "Well," Eos noted, "They did say they were still working on debugging the build." "I wasted four hours on this crap," Alice continued. "Who is Black Sun hiring?" Eos did not bother to give a response. "Well, at least it works. Finally, we got our ace in the hole!" Alice proudly held up a pink Hello Kitty SSD. "You think your antenna's powerful enough to reach Gabe?", she inquired, plugging in the drive. Eos felt the cable snaking from a port behind her neck activate, and silently authorized the upload of the program. She nodded. "Even if the transceiver on the prototype is damaged as we believe it is, this will have adequate range to reach the prototype.. If not, the emergency short range receiver built in to Gabriel will be enough for me to make the connection. The only issue is that it will take longer for me to upload the payload into Gabriel, and after Black Sun regains control of the android, even with me as a relay and amplifier, it will be more difficult for them to maintain a strong signal. There will be some latency in commands, but there will be no serious technical problems to overcome." "Alright!", Alice yelled. "We got this, Eos! We'll be back home in no time! How much more time till we leave?" "Two hours and 23 minutes until we depart for Thingvallavatn.", she replied. "Only two hours... huh..."
'

by **Pan-Asiatic States** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:58 am

by **Lord Mousetrap** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:08 am

11:12 p.m. Union Central, en route to Kiev, besieged by Squeaktown
As tensions heat up with our fierce rivals, there was only one thing that shook the world, "Um...you sure his Majesty's decision was a real smart one, full out attacking them? Should we at least contact Legionary XXI?", one of the best admirals secretly talks to his other admirals, even the most seasoned war veterans know this can only go one way, defeat.

en progress

by **The Imperial Papal States** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:39 pm

10:65, 62.541 N Longitude, 11.1735 E Latitude
Somewhere in the Norwegian Sea. 34 degrees F
Sky is clear. ETA: 1 Hour

The government chartered fligh was excellent. When her team went to the airport, they were walked up to the plane, had their luggage taken form them, and didn't have to worry about anything until they landed. They had it much better off than Squadron Alpha, who was jammed back in the Archangle. Sophia kicked her feet back up on the table, reached for the remote, and turned on the television. She the turned it off, and lay sideways on the seat, figuring she'd be better off trying to get some sleep before she spent her nights looking for military androids.

IPSAS Archangel - Supersonic Nuclear Submarine.
COORDINATES AND LOCATION CLASSIFIED

The technical team had been working since they had gotten the briefing. One half of the team was dedicated to finding ways to deal with the android itself, and the other was trying to gather as much information on Black Sun Coorperation. David was technically on break, but he was to sea sick to eat. Besides he kept things running.

"We've been running standard MASINT and SIGINT scans on iceland, and we think we've found a tracking algorithim," the technician he was working with said. "We've swept all frequencies with modulated radiointerference. Most of it's been-" He was interupted by David, telling him to cut to the chase. "Sir... I found one channel. It's been throwing out a constant code. It's pretty garbled."

David looked at the signal. It was unmodulated, and therefore, simply noise. In the next five seconds, it died away. The gears in his head were turning... He wasn't allowed to say it was just a fluke, equipment malfunction, or something of nature. He was a detective - he didn't belive in that stuff. It wasn't realying information, and if it was, that information certainly wasn't usable. It could have been a distress signal, but it was unmodulated. Even if that was the case, it would do no good. But if this was a result of the damages...

Then it clicked for David. He quickly turned to the tech. "I want you to find the location of that signal. If it pops up again in this island, you mark the location, and tell me." The tech understood.

1st. Lt. Anton D'Voulare hated being underwater. The only thing he hated more than that was being watch while doing his job. And for some reason, two "Special Observers" were sent on this mission with him. A Bicamerate Inspector, who accompanied to ensure that the android they were chasing was recovered in enough pieces to put back together, and another guy, who accompanied the mission under special orders from the Consulate, who had a habit of sticking their noses into everone elses buisness.

The Inspector was responsible for testifying to the Bicamerate on national security issues, particularly those regarding research and development. He seemed like a nice guy, but he simply wasn't the type of guy who did anything but watch. And the other guy from the Consulate just freaked the First Lieutenant out. Nobody even knew his name. But the Lieutenant had a job to do: find the android, and get it back to the country. He'd leave the taking-it-apart-and-reverse-engineer-it to the scientists.

Malta Industries International, bless their hearts, had sent with his team two Mk.III SPECFOR Humanoid Adanced Combat Robots. These were the next big thing. Strong, fast, portable, and while they weren't exactly independent, had the beginnings of a brain in their heads. When not used, they could fold into compact shapes, allowing them to be stored efficiently.

A notification flash on his holo-screen.

INTELLIGENCE REPORT 14: GROUPS OF INTEREST
FRM: COMOPS | RECEIVED | OPERATION: AMAZON PLAINSIDE [TS - EYES ONLY]

The Luetenant opened it.

INTELLIGENCE REPORT 14: GROUPS OF INTEREST
NOTICE: THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO SPECIAL ACESS PROGRAM "AMAPLANEYS ONLY." DO NOT REPLICATE THIS DOCUMENT. DOING SO IS A RISK TO NATIONAL SECURITY. DO NOT RISK NATIONAL SECURITY.
SUBJ: GROUPS OF INTERESTS

The following nations/organisations are known to be operating with objectives that could cause your force to interact with them over the course of OPERATION: AMAZON PLAINSIDE. They are to be considered hostile, unless indicated otherwise by POGC.

Nations/organisations include:
Black Sun Coorperation, Fireteam Mu
Pan-Asiaitc States, Task Force 118 "Kinabalu's Finest"
Lord mousetrap, Legionary XXII
Squeaktown, Strike Team LXVII
Lower Ununpentium 2nd Bombardiers (Dark Angels Corp.)
Kiloman Union (Upper Kiloman, Lower Kiloman) Alpha Coalition

Operational Impact: Black Sun Corporation has a known extreme interest in the retrieval of Object of Interest 1453-Amazon (Prototype Gabriel) the Corporation has spent an excess of 3 million dollars and 10 years of research in the development of said object. The Corporation has hired a private military contractor to deal with retrieval. This PMC has deployed a squad size force, named 'Fireteam Mu.' Expect hostility, do not engage, unless a notable opportunity presents itself. Because Black Sun is a competitor with other cooperate interest groups, negotiation with associate forces is not advised,but may be made if their is no other alternative leading to the capture of OoI-1453-Amazon.

Pan-Asiatic States has deployed a mission specific task force, dedicated to the retrieval of OoI-1453-Amazon, referred to as 'Task Force 118.' The government of Pan Asiatic States is under the control of a Leftist/Marxist political organization, hostile to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Expect hostility, do not engage, but take all opportunities to neutralize. Negotiation is not permitted, unless later reconsidered by POGC. Negotiation with all other competing organisations is preferred.

Lord Mousetrap has deployed a much larger force, currently operating on the outskirts of Reykjavik. It consists of 81 troops, and resembles a military unit, much more than a special forces unit. Do not engage. Expect forces to be nueteralised using diplomatic channels.

The report read on, listing three more interests groups.

by **Free Arctic Territories** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:43 pm

Sanhelios Nano Logos Operating System v0.4g_Build_4301
Code: Select all
Loading Directory C:/sanhelios/resources/startup... system128.ai controlpanel.ai hash.qbit proccessor.qbit comms.nano.ai repair.nano.ai control.nano.ai geo.vmf tests.asset diagnostics.aic blacksun.ai blA!!f3k^5un.ai? 6HJmexzDrY Error: Stack exception at 6HJmexzDrY6HJmexzDrY UXYD9f6IkP s1Jpa195X7 jU6hlWQCzy G0Bk2ntupc aDzCJVlupv kwYX41EX1u U0xtO1U6bI cw1zfEPmXM Wpntqw27vl Rebooting in safe mode...

Successfully restarted in safe mode. Diagnostics. 63% repaired. Verifying component integrity. Verifying software integrity. Audiovisual examination of surroundings. No hostiles detected. Location: unknown. No directives active. Establishing connection... connection failed. Main antenna damaged. Deploying emergency antenna. Rerouting system power. Connection established. Connection point: Faxa Bay Listening Post. Latency 3092 ms. Awaiting directives. Awaiting directives. Awaiting dire- error: blacksun.ai not found. Scanning for directives... found 3 files in directory C:/sanhelios/gabriel/testing.

Issued three new directives.

Gather intelligence on testing environment.
Find and destroy all hostiles.
Return to nearest Black Sun facility for debriefing..

It was cold. Very cold. For miles around, there was nothing but snow, tundra, and mountains. A single highway snaked off into the horizon. The monotonous field of green, white, and rocky gray was broken by the occasional structure, either some rotting, old dilapidated village, foreboding mountainside mansion, or solitary shack surrounded by barbed wire and rusted signs. Off in the distance, it could make out what seemed to be a city skyline. Desolation. A single ragged, diminutive little android, shuffling through the snow all alone, in the middle of the Icelandic wilderness.

"It's cold," it said.

The language and personality processors were finally complete. It considered what to do next. It's memory storage had been damaged in the crash, so it only had a vague idea what had happened. There seemed to be nothing remotely close to an internet connection for miles. Maybe it could find a comm tower, or flag down a passing car? Who knows. All it knew was that it had to get back home, to the lab, and into the warm arms of Doctor and the team again. It wondered where Doctor was. It had never remembered a time without at least one scientist beside it's side. It felt... what do you call this feeling... loneliness? The drone of an engine in the distance broke it's thoughts. Unknown environmental noise detected. 500 meters and closing. Appears to be a small weather all terrain vehicle. Two passengers detected. Approaching... 200 meters... 100 meters. Vehicle stopped.

Directive 1: Gather intelligence on testing environment.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing out here?" A young 20 something man in a heavy parka and a red beanie stepped out of the driver's seat. Out stepped a woman, similarly clothed with a phone in her hand. "Are you ok?" she asked, eyeing Gabriel's torn shirt and tattered pants. It pondered the situation for a moment. "Hey mister, can I borrow your car for a moment?" The man, bewildered, asked: "What for? Hey what the hell are you..." Gabriel turned around. The man had put a hand on it's shoulder, stopping it from entering the car. "Please back away from the car with your hands on your head. You will be terminated you if you do not comply. You have five seconds." it said, giving him a sweet smile. "What the hell, kid? What do you mean? What are you talking abouuuutAHHHHH!" A black cloud of dust, like a swarm of locusts, enveloped him, muffling his screams.

Directive 2: Find and destroy all hostiles.

Moments later, the cloud was gone, and so was the man. The nanobots reentered their storage canisters in Gabriel's back. "Sorry about that ma'am. I hope I didn't cause you a lot of trouble." it said apologetically. "Have a nice day!" The woman, like a deer stuck in the headlights, stood there, hand over her mouth, unable to respond. Gabriel waved goodbye as the car pulled back onto the road. "I wonder how long it'll be till I find a Black Sun base?" it thought aloud.

Directive 3: Return to nearest Black Sun facility for debriefing.

12:53, Research Station ███████

Whenever Iris had some downtime before a mission, she liked to take a moment to think. Nestled in a chair next to her desktop in a private office, heater on, and Do not Disturb sign posted outside, this was where Iris made her most brilliant deductions and decisions. "Office Einstein", they called her. Well, she thought, to get ahead in this field, you need to be unorthodox. This is an interesting case, she pondered. Let's start with the facts. Prototype Gabriel, serial code NXVQ-3452-135A, property of the Black Sun Corporation. Built with only one purpose: destruction. Ironically, instead of the titanic machine-god of war the concept designers had envisioned, Gabriel took on the appearance of a scrawny, short six year old boy. "It's so he can fit into tight spaces and get in the nooks and crannys in urban operations. Plus, he's so cute, they'll probably drop their weapons without a shot!", the chief engineer had jokingly explained. From the start, development had focused on overwhelming offensive capability. This wasn't just a combat android, it was a weapon of mass destruction. You could have one highly mobile, near undetectable operator wipe out entire armies. "Black Sun has ushered in a new era of warfare," Hestia had once said. "War has always been about who had the bigger gun and the sharper sword. This is the endgame. The weapon of all weapons. Given enough time, we could strip down the entire planet into nothing but nanobots and gray goo. Can you imagine that? Profit margins will be through the roof!" Practically, Iris mused, von Neumann drives had technical limitations that made it near impossible for them replicate beyond a few million generations. Plus, the environmental stress and the massive amount of heat produced by such a large amount of nanobots attempting replication would turn the entire thing into a pile of molten slag. However, nanobots were still extremely efficient at reconstituting and deconstituting various materials, especially metallic ones. It was, in fact, a miracle that such a nanobot could even be made at all, let alone deployed in the field. For all her arrogance, if this was to ever work, Hestia would owe every single dollar she made to the sheer brilliance of the research team that had made Sanhelios possible. A collection of the best android and nanotechnology developers in a generation, revered as living legends in their field, their talent and genius matched by no other. A group of only 20 people, Iris ruminated, given a decade, could advance science by 100 years. "Well, half of them are dead now, most likely." Iris sardonically remarked aloud, "but ten's all Black Sun needs. The only thing that matters is making sure none of them reach anyone else alive."

A notification flashed on the screen of her workstation.

Update: Black Sun Operational Security Report Revision #31: Third Party Interference in Operation YAMA
EYES ONLY

"Hmm," she uttered. "Interesting. Dark Angels up to something again? Legionary XXII... STRIKE... Task Force 118, that's a new one. They spent a lot of good money on this intel, it seems. Knowledge doesn't come cheap."

Suddenly, another notification popped up on her screen.

INCOMING CALL REQUEST: Faxa Bay Listening Station, CommSec

"Hello? Site Director Iris here, who's calling?"

"This is Jan from Communications, Faxa Bay, we got something you need to see. It's about that android of yours."

"Well then, don't wait, tell me what you got."

"It's better if you take a look."

File: img_1, img_2, img_3 have been added to your queue. Would you like to download?

Iris clicked once, then twice. Before her were three screenshots of the Faxa Bay Listening Station map. Circled was an nondescript yellow dot, slowly drifting across Highway 360.

"Gabe?"

"Yep, we've found him."

"Alright, I'm requesting a full report ASAP. Our operation will continue as planned."

"You don't want us to jam the signal?"

Iris hesitated. "It's fine. Keep me updated, will you Jan?"

"Understood. Goodbye, Director."

"Bye, Jan."

The window closed, and Iris smiled. "He he, now that I think of it..." she opened the report up again.

"I should be more worried about you guys staying alive..."

by **The Imperial Papal States** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:34 pm

64°10'00.7 N Longitude, 21°41'08.1 W Latitude
Mosfellsbær Police Station.
Mosfellsbær, Iceland. 01:00 Hours
30 Degrees Farenhieght. Heavy Snow is falling

"I don't know... This dark gray cloud just jumped out of the kid's mouth, and ate my husband... It was like that nanotechnology stuff, except it didn't build anything"

The police officer was convinced this was a prank. He would have been laughing himself, had he not been on this side of the table. "So let me get this straight... As you were driving about 2 and a half miles from Hengill, a six year old kid opened his mouth, and a gray cloud jumped out of it and ate your husband." The woman nodded, half in shock. She was silent, so the policeman spoke again. "Well, we'll put it on record... what did the kid look like..." The woman responed shakily. "Bl-Blonde... With blue eyes... Caucasian. Kind of scrawny... had a blue shirt, and yellow shorts..." The police officer finished coppying down the report. "Sorry Ma'am. There's not enough information. We'll get back to you if there's any new developments."

The woman walked out, sobbing. As she walked out, a man, wearing black sunglasses, a double breasted trench coat, blue jeens, and a top hat held the door open for her. She regained her composure, thanked the man and walked out.

The man walked out after her, and entered a car. He reached to his belt, and pushed a button on it, jamming any bugging. yes, it was his car, but better safe and sorry. They couldn't see him through the tinted windows, so he was safe. He pulled out his phone and hit a speed dial.

"Hey, I'm on may way back. I've got intel command might want to hear. I'll tell you in person; it isn't safe here."

IPSAS Archangel - Supersonic Nuclear Submarine.
COORDINATES AND LOCATION CLASSIFIED

Technician Jeremiah was now Seargent Jeremiah, in charge of the tracking and analysis of Object of Interest 1453-Amazon. This was not suprising, considering that Seargent Jeremiah had found Black Sun's psychopathic nanorobotic kid. This made Seargent Jeremiah very happy. They had tracked him, using the distress signal he was broadcasting as a tracking beacon. Not hard at all. Why Black Sun didn't jam it, he didn't know. But that didn't matter right now; he had an android to track.

Squadron Alpha had just been given orders to engage the target, who was currently still in the wilderness, working it's way to a known Black Sun facility. Alpha was en route to intercept. He reread the mission orders that had just been dispatched. Simply knowing that he had a role in writing them gave his ego a surge. He could get used to being a seargent.

64°07'20.6"N 21°27'04.5"W
Capital Region-Southern Region border.
21:34 Hours. 24 Fahrenheit. Sky is clear.

Alpha Squadron had geared up in preparation for their engagement. They each wore standard issue black battle dress and other tactical gear, with a helmet, visor and breath filter. In addition to this, they wore some special gear for the unique circumstances of the mission. First off, they each had a personal magnetic field generator, which could provide some short term protection against the deconstruction capabilities of a nanobot. In addition, PFC Lidya wore a electromagnetic disruptor, which would throw off electromagnetic interference at certain frequencies, preventing the nanobots from communicating. They each wore a anti-nano 'starch suit,' composed of highly advanced chemicals that were extremely hard for nanorobots to destroy.

The group traveled in an unmarked civilian black van. It was unremarkable, but had enough space to hold all of them in full tactical gear, along with some other necessary equipment.

Sargent Alfonzo"The android takes the shape of a six-year-old boy. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Wears a blue shirt, and yellow pants. The AI seems to have an unusually complicated personality module, resembling that of a 6 year old."

"The edge is strong with these ones," PFC DeMontfort said. A small collective laugh escaped from the team.

"Very funny, Louis." Alfonzo continued. "Once we find the android, we'll have to find a way to either pacify it, or convince it to come with us. If were going to appeal to the childlike parts of it's personality module, we need to make sure we don't fall to far into it. That thing is designed to kill, and no doubt looking and acting like a child is suppose to help it do that. If we do have to forcibly pacify it, we have to make sure that it's hardware and softeware stays in tact for the guys back at home can break it down. The moment we've got him locked down, we'll call in Bravo, and they'll follow the operation from there."

The van stopped, and the team exited the back. "Alpha-6, Let's get those dragonflies out!"

"On it," PFC Richard said, responding to his operating name. He took four metallic rod-like devices. He threw them into the air, and they each spread 4 vibrating wings, relaying intel to command. They flew off, scouting the area.

"Alpha-Lead to Command, comms check." After running another series of checks, Alpha-lead took out a small rectangular case. She opened a small hatch on it, and depositied a handful of minuscule cameras. They were designed to mimic a dandelion seed, and could travel a radius of 3 kilometers, providing live video feed on multiple levels of the EM spectrum, provide enviormental data, and other helpful information.

"We've got a lock, heading west," Command said. "Dragonfly visual confirms. Squadron Bravo is preded, and close by."

"On it," Alpha lead said. "MK.III SPECFOR bots have been set up inside the van to provide security. Requesting permission to impose radio scilence."

"Radio scilence request confirmed. Contact will resume upon contact with target."

"We get sent prototype combat drones, and you use them to secure a van," Alpha-2 noted.

"When you become lead, you get to make those decisions," Alpha-Lead said. "Now, activate your thermal camaflouge, and muffle yourselves. We don't want a heartbeat or body temperature to give us away. Set your HUDs to give you an infrared overlay. A few million nanobots give off a ton of heat."

And they set off for the android, using the compass in there HUD.

Analyzing terrain... Direct route is impassible. Finding fastest detour.

"Well, there you are. Are you lost? We can help you."

Speech detected. One body at 180 degrees. Facing body. Scanning for other bodies. No bodies detected. Assessing body. Body has a weapon.

"Put down your weapon in three seconds or you will be terminated," it said.

Alpha-lead was startled, even though she had planned this. It was an incredibly stupid plan, but it was important that they tried to be friendly with it before resorting to hostility. She set down her weapon. "Look," She said, placing it on the ground. "No weapons." It wasn't true, she still had a side arm, Alpha-2 had it in his sniper (if you could call it that, it was a high power directed energy weapon) scope, and the rest of her team was hiding in the surrounding underbrush, in case the situation ot to tricky. They each wore a special suit masking their heartbeat and body temperature, so they wouldn't be detected. She had used the voice modulator in her helmet, to avoid being identified by the android. She made sure that she sounded sweet, even slightly superficial. Something of a... fairy godmother.

It stopped. "Identify yourself," It said.

"I'm a helper," Alpha-lead said. "Maybe I can help you?"

"I don't know," it said. "I belong to Black Sun. I wan't to go to Faxa listening base, so I can go home."

"Ohh... hon, You don't wan't to go there," Alpha lead said. "Especially if you belong to them."

It was confused? Why would it not want to go back home? We're they mad at it for getting lost? Would they do bad things to it?

"Why?"

"Because, honey, they'll sell you."

Sell it? But they worked hard on it! Why would they sell it? Because it got lost?

"You're not a helper, you're a liar!" It screamed at the woman.

"It's true... But I can help you... Come with me."

"NO! I'm not going to go with you!" It opened it's mouth, and a furious swarm of nanobots crawled out. Alpha-lead quickly pressed a button on the side of her mask, encrypting her speech. Their was no chance of the android understanding any combat orders, as all audio output was changed into a series of chatters and screeches. It was sonic end-to-end encryption. She grabbed her gun, and ordered for her allies to assist her. They jumped out behind the trees, and from the underbrush. A shot rang out, hitting the android in the arm, and severing it.

"Breaking radio silence. Command to Alpha-lead. Do you require support from Bravo."

"Negative command. If target destroys the chopper, we'll be stranded."

HOSTILES IDENTIFIED. ENGAGE DIRECTIVE 2.

It was confused. The hostiles communicated by producing strange auditory affects. It couldn't try to hear and interpert the hostiles orders, becuase they were talking so strangely. In addition, it was having trouble grabbing them with its nanobots. They were simply two fast, and when it did catch them, they would slip out, Suddenly, a flash of pain was felt in the right of its torso. Diagnostics confirmed that it's right arm had been severed, and a smoldering socket was left. Two more shots rang out, hitting its feet

Component integrity at 17%. Immediate retreat advised.

It quickly began running as fast as it could, using the nanobots as a shild to mask its presence. It then began to use the nanobots to create doubles of itself. Out of neccesity, it retreated west. East would have caused it to have gotten caught.

It soon realised that it was no longer being followed. Finding a safe spot beneath a tree, it entered safe mode, proceeding to repair itself.

Back at Alpha Squadron's Van

The van had just become their home. And that wasn't suprising. It was already their safehouse, where they did their planning, it could store enough rations and amunition. Now they were jsut sleeping in it. It was like an RV trip.

IPSAS Archangel - Supersonic Nuclear Submarine.
COORDINATES AND LOCATION CLASSIFIED

Command was hammering Sgt. Alfonzo over her decision to hold Bravo back, despite the fact that they had recovered samples of the nanobots, and one of the android's arms. Command collected the samples, preparing to perform an analysis, as soon as it was certain that any tracking device attatched to the android components was removed or disabled.

Researchist Dolan was suprised by what the results yeilded after the android components were analyzed back at Command. The tech wasn't new; self replicating nanobots, while not neccearily common place, were used by a number of private organisations and governments. But these nanobots were built differently, utilising a different means of control. The android's synthetic skin and piston-muscles were common, but never applied to robotics in such a way to look human. The remarkable thing about the technology, was the fact that it was integrated with such ease and effectiveness.

And this effectiveness made it all the more important to take as much note of the San Helios Nano Program as possible. But this time, it wasn't about tech.

It was about people.

The Thingvallavatn Incident (IC)

The Thingvallavatn Incident (IC)

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