Operation: Leviathan Rising

Your squad surrounds a holo projector in the middle of the craft as it flares to life, emitting a hollow blue light. You see the form of Commander Furia.

"Quantum Squad," Furia says. Her voice is choppy and digitized from the projector. Welcome to Zealandia. Not much of a sight, as most of it's underwater, but because of the dire situation in Australia, Zealandia has become a bit of a goldmine for future habitats, just underwater.

"That's all fine an well, and while there's a lack of proper government in the area, the people have been organized and civilized enough that no one's needed to step in. But it seems like someone has. Our scouts have reported a rogue offshore operation from a group of ex-military officials from the Mecha War. They've called themselves the Leviathans. Cute, huh?

"What's not cute is the amount of earthquakes that have been spiking off the coast of New Zealand. Within the past few weeks, the amount has been increasing exponentially. Now, it's nothing major. There are hundreds of earthquakes that happen all around the world every day, and your average New Zealand citizen isn't noticing a difference. But seisometers across the globe are noticing, and they're noticing a pattern. Whatever's causing these quakes off the coast of New Zealand, it's not natural. And, if the trend continues, this could cause a cascading effect across the world. Let's not let this happen, Quantum Squad.

"You're dropping in with little to no intel, Quantum Squad. We have an informant on the inside, but they will contact you once it's deemed safe. You're to inflitrate, observe, and report. HQ will keep in touch."



Quantum Squad Mission Parameters

• Drop onto nearby Secuuno Island.
• Establish an Intel Center
• Submerge and find a way to enter the Leviathan's underwater base
• Infiltrate and find the source of the quakes.
• Keep casualties to a minimum and blend in.

Quantum Squad

• Agent Arsenal [Squad Leader] - Omni
• Agent Ivor - winterwolf0100
• Agent Luminara - Ley
• Agent Spiderbite - WeepingWisteria
• Open Agent

The night after she got the assignment for Operation: Leviathan Rising, Sarah Stanfield received additional instructions from Commander Furia, via a disposable holo-letter that was left under her doormat, with no return address or any outside markings of any kind. It was only a simple manilla envelope, but there was nothing simple about what was inside. At this point, though, Sarah was used to Furia's methods of communicating. Furia did switch it up every so often, but not only were the tell-tale signs telling, but even the switch ups became noticeable after a period of time.

"Agent Arsenal," Furia's voice crackled through the holo-letter. What a piece of junk. And Sarah rolled her eyes at Furia's mention of her operative name. Yeah, yeah, she got it, security reasons or whatever. "For Operation: Leviathan Rising, I'm appointing you as Squad Leader. And as Squad Leader, you'll receive additional instructions and expectations..."

The call time was five in the morning, and suddenly Susan was reminded why she quit her previous job as a mail lady. She hated mornings. Getting up at three in the morning was her own personal hell, and she showed up at the checkpoint with nothing less than three coffees in her system and one in her hand, which she refused to relinquish as they pulled the hood over her head to move her to the classified location, or, well, probably one of many classified locations before she met up with her squad. She was content with begrudgingly sipping her coffee through the fabric of the mask rather than dumping it out. The ride was bumpy and long, and on more than one occasion, she spilled the coffee on herself more than she drank it.

By the time she was aboard the vibro-jet with the rest of her squad, she was both still entirely exhausted, not fully awake at all, and somehow the kind of exhausted that happened during midday, like that two P.M. drought after lunch. Needless to say, she was done with the whole thing. But she had a job to do. She strapped her military vest on and stepped onto the ramp of the vibro-jet. As the black vans pulled out of the hanger and the vibro-jet purred, its engines warming up, Sarah stepped past a lady in a green suit. As she did, she brushed past her with a warm nod in response to the lady's soft "oh, sorry!" for taking up space on the ramp. That must have been... Agent Luminara. She was still getting used to the descriptions of her team, but the profile matched.

She then saw a mecha sitting in one of the seats on the right and her jaw tightened. Couldn't even get a top secret job without seeing one of them here. From food service and flipping burgers to top secret, end-of-the-world type of jobs. She knew she had to work with them, and knew that she had one on her team this mission, but she was really gettin' tired of it. She couldn't complain to Commander Furia about it until after the mission was over. It wasn't gonna do anything good to complain, so she just shut up about that. As long as this machine didn't get her killed, she would handle it just fine.

Sarah focused her attention on the view console at the middle of the vibro-jet and pressed a thick rectangular button at the front of the console. Commander Furia's form appeared in her signature hollow blue form. Sarah had never actually seen her in person before. Furia turned to view them. "Agent Arsenal." Sarah nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Agent Senorita Swag." Sarah had to appreciate that woman's balls for that kind of operative name, and she personally was astounded that Furia accepted that jokey kinda name under her headquarters. People would have gotten fired for less at Sarah's previous jobs. "Agent Ivor." Sarah had seen Agent Ivor at HQ once before, but had never been on a mission with him. She was surprised he wasn't the Mission Leader. He had more experience than she did. Perhaps there was something behind that. Maybe he asked not to be Mission Leader. Sarah wished she had the guts to do that. Especially if a mecha was involved. "Agent Spiderbite." Speaking of mechas... No, no. The less she thought about it, the better. "Agent Luminara." The woman she bumped into earlier. Honestly didn't seem fit for the job, but Sarah knew better than to underestimate women. Well, that was her team.

"Quantum Squad. It's a ten hour flight to the drop site, so get comfortable. Get comfortable with the mission debriefing, get familiar with your squadmates. And, make sure to get some rest. It may be a ten hour flight, but it'll still be in the middle of the day when you get there. Agent Arsenal is your Squad Leader. Raise your hand, Agent Arsenal." Sarah did so and nodded vaguely to the craft. This kinda shit made her feel like she was back in high school, like she just moved and had to introduce herself to the class. And she hadn't been in school for a long, long time. Furia continued, "Route any questions you may have to her while on route. Keep comms clear. Good luck, Quantum Squad. Furia out." And her form dissipated, the filler static that was once in the air leaving the jet in uncomfortable silence.

After a moment of silence, Sarah realized she was probably supposed to say or do something. Or, gosh darn, Arsenal. She needed to get used to that for the foreseeable future. The team only knew her as Arsenal, and Commander Furia did not take it lightly when anyone used their real names. "All right, team," she said, checking the military watch on her wrist, "We're due to leave in fifteen, so make sure you're in here and all of your belongings are checked in, double checked, and tripled checked. We're not turning back for someone's stuffed animal." Without bothering for a response, she stepped past the console --on the other side of where the mecha sat-- and made her way to the cockpit. There was no pilot, because of course there wasn't. Instead, a monitor built into the center of the jet console flared to life and a glitchy gray face appeared. "Greetings, Agent Arsenal."

"Hey there... ship."

"My name is Coria. Is there something I can assist with, Agent Arsenal?" The console said in a neutral tone. But, somehow she thought it was being sassy with her. She didn't like it. And she really hated talking with these things. She never knew how to properly do it. "Are we prepped for flight?"

"Yes, Agent Arsenal. My current projections place us flight ready in eleven minutes."

Sarah still got that feeling that the ship was giving her lip. She didn't respond, though. She would feel stupid arguing with a screen. Not the best thing to do in front of her new squad. Instead, she gave a curt nod and went back to the main cabin. They each had a seat with their name over it, and the seat was imbedded into the wall, so it gave more walking room around the console. It reminded her of those fancy ass seating with all the buttons that littered the sides in her one, and only, time she got into first class. It felt so unnecessary and performative, like everything the rich did. But, it beat sleeping upright in this particular scenario. In her seat was her duffel bag, which she heaved up and over her head, stashing it in a small compartment above her head. She was careful to make sure the duffel was secure and wouldn't budge. That bag not only held her personal things but also her gun, and she didn't want that darling hurt.

After she successfully secured the bag to her satisfaction, she picked up the envelope that lay on her seat, and sat down herself, taking its place. She opened the envelope.