To: 12th Light Special Ops
Date: 846.0411.1128
Subject: DEPLOYMENT PREP ORDERS
Report to High Command status of 12th Light Special Ops.
High Command understands current understrength status.
Prep for high-risk deployment in 48 hours.
Expect final deployment orders in 24 hours.
Good hunting.
High Command
Ten-shun!
As you were.
OK, Captain Matthews is handing out to y'all braintape modules on three of our best researchers in nanotech, hyperspace physics and applied rift tech. The warbots have some kind of interstellar shared consciousness thing going on. Take it out.
You'll be part of a joint strike force. No stupid shit on this mission, and that's backed up all the way up the command chain. If we win, there will be time to slap around the Dominions later. If we lose, it won't matter.
From: Jim MacKenzie, Executive Vice-President
To: Colin Marshall, Deputy Director (Operations), Project Titan
Subject: heads-up: Theseus is go
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Colin,
Looks like PD/FSA are going ahead with Theseus. Get your squads of Gimels and Beths ready; they'll ship out later this week. Bob should have formal marching orders for you later this week.
Jim
"Oh, hey Scooter. Oof!""Holy shit, and Kwan! Wow! What're we all doing here?"
"Got me. Mike says she knows, but isn't telling."
"No, I don't know. But given that the three of us are here--""You think it's a research thing?"
*snort*
"Heads up -- look who just came in. Hello, Ms French."
"But the 'bots aren't stupid enough to have a single point of failure.""Hello, Mike. Greg, Kwan, good to see you all. Sit down.""Kwan's right: this is a deployment. And it's a bad one. Here's the deal. The PD and FSA... well, the rumors are true. They're losing against the warbots. But the FSA has figured out that they have a shared consciousness. So they're doing a strike against their deep-space bases. The hope is that if we can virally infect enough of them, it'll disrupt the warbots."
"No, they aren't. So we're deploying multiple teams. The first team will have it easy -- but any team afterwards is going to go up against warbots who've been warned.""Don't get me wrong. This is probably a suicide mission. But it really may be the best hope of defeating the warbots."
