forum Castor and Pollux

Started December 22, 2023 by @EldritchHorror-Davadio health_and_safety emoji_events

tune

To the head of the Apotheosis Program;

From the Desk of Commander Dereth Vancina: Greetings.

I am writing to you today to inform you of changes to the structure of covert operations within Quad-Continental Coalition forces. As part of the overarching Project BARNES, you’re aware of many of the advances we’ve made in so called ‘super soldier’ building. You may also be aware of Earth’s new status as a major supplier of special forces. It turns out, even though our biology makes us less privileged than other alien species, our adaptability and propensity for violence makes us excellent individual soldiers.
Effective immediately, several divisions of QCC covert operations will condense under the Trophy Hunter command. You and several others will report directly to me from now on; this is not to diminish your control on your program, but to provide unified oversight, and to funnel our results into the same training pipeline. The Apotheosis members will be rolled into Trophy Hunter training, and will mix with the Revenants.

I would also like to ask that you separate out a few of your best for a new platoon; the qualifications are as follows:

1. IQ of no less than 140
2. Physical ability at no less than 98th percentile, or a willingness to grow in this area
3. Works well alone, or in small groups
4. Familiarity with AI, as well as the Aegis Armor weapons platform

I believe you should have no trouble filling these qualifications; I have only ever known the highest level of results to come from your program.
Those selected for this new platoon will be part of a new project, suggested to us by Yedsvir High Command. The DIOSCURI Program will select 2 soldiers, from the various programs and groups being condensed, and form them into a two-man team to take on missions requiring a scalpel’s precision. Our larger black ops teams will certainly still need men; the newly enlarged Trophy Hunters will now also be supplying the Yedsvir Squads on a regular basis. However, the DIOSCURI will fill a hole in the Yedsvir strategy that they’ve only realized they had since humanity joined their rank.

I hope to have your full cooperation in this new move; we welcome the members of Apotheosis to our ranks.
I’ll expect your response soon.

~Commander Dereth Vancina, QCC Trophy Hunters Division

Seasick, car sick, and now what? Space sick?? Is that what you would call this?

Balta tried his best to swallow the bile that threatened to come out of him, his arms tightly wrapping around his stomach as the spacecraft left at speeds no human had ever been able to accomplish in the past few years.
In the ship accompanying him were two of his friends, also chosen from the eight in their small group- they seemed to be doing a lot better than he was at the moment.

The organization they were from carefully filtered out soldiers who were the best of the best and then built on top of those already natural skills to produce something they didn't quite call human- it being an honorary title if you were considered other than, however, only simply in name.
There were different types of specialized units in the Nexus institution, but the one they were known for was the Apotheosis program, they were by far the most successful, albeit wild cards in their unpredictable natures. It was a good thing they had chosen to ship off the ones who had a low unpredictability rate.
…
Or well, at least Balta's two friends did. Balta was very questionable in his choices at times even if they were effective in getting the results Nexus wanted.

While all of them checked off the requirements on the list provided in the letter and took their jobs seriously when it came down to it, their personalities outside of their jobs were…

Well, let's just say Nexus had a hard time wrangling the young adults at times.

Balta held onto the belts that kept him in place, his breathing picking up. Oh god. Oh fuck. Why had he agreed to this? He knew there was a low possibility, in fact, it was close to zero that something would go wrong, logic and statistics never failed him, but unfortunately for him, his brain and fears didn't care what the numbers said.
Maybe he really should have taken up his older's brother offer of prayer before getting on, cause he was going to die. Oh god he was going to die and he would never see the people he loved again and-

Astrid watched as Balta had gotten on his hands and knees when they had landed, one hand on the giant building before them as he faced the ground, trying his best to retain the last shred of dignity he no longer had. Everyone had seen his pathetic display of hysteria and she was pretty sure that everyone was seriously doubting Nexus' choices in sending Balta as well. Wow, is this really one of the top fighters in the one percent category?

"WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!!" Balta had screeched at the top of his lungs when they had approached the protective dome over the base they were to be landing on, only for the ship to stall for a second as the captain had nearly jumped out of his skin at Balta's cry.

But the ship had zipped right through the dome at lighting speeds before Balta had the chance to say anything else, landing perfectly in less than a second, the aircraft floating just barely over the surface of the giant rock.

Astrid's face heated up recalling the memory. Maybe she was better off not associating with Balta for the rest of their time here.

Balta after a second more of being very overly dramatic, stood, there being a slight trembling to his legs as if he couldn't believe he was standing on something solid once more.
"Dereth…" Balta said hoarsly. "Dereth Vancina, gotta meet up with…" Balta could barely get any words out, the shock of everything still fresh.
"That's Commander Dereth Vancina to you." Astrid hissed at Balta, her gunmetal blue eyes shooting Balta a death glare before turning to the building.
The glass-like material on it made it so that everything reflected off of it like a mirror, and for a moment she saw her pale skin and black hair shining back at her even from this distance. Balta's curly brown hair and golden honey skin tone also standing beside her as he had joined her, his reflection looking like a humanoid-shaped blob, most of the details lost until Astrid walked closer to it after waiting for the rest of the crew to unload.

Her eyes looked over the freckles on her face before they darted away, the doors now opening so they could pass through.

"Sequence complete. Shuttle landed just fine." Marcus snickered quietly, doing his best to keep his composure. "Despite that guy screaming over the comms in the background."
Ronnie just shook his head slowly, watching as the shuttle opened, and the passengers spilled out, literally, in the case of one guy. "I really hoped they wouldn't be sending us newbies who'd never been in space before… guess I was wrong."
Marcus hit a couple of switches, and the hermetic doors opened down in the receiving hall. "Yeah, well… they'll have to get used to that. Gonna be your job to help whichever one you get paired up with get used to it."
Ronnie nodded slowly, and headed down out of the observation bubble, mumbling "Lucky me…" as he went.

He stepped into the entryway, and stopped in the at-ease position, wearing his armor undersuit. As Revenants went, Ronnie wasn't incredibly intimidating. 6' even, 200 lbs, military cut brown hair, no visible tattoos or anything- he was just a regular guy, until you looked him directly in the eyes.
Then, the steel in his gaze tipped you off to what kind of man you were talking to.
"Welcome, Apotheosis recruits. We've been expecting you. Welcome to Lunar Base 2, and the DIOSCURI Program. My name is Ronnie Vale, and I've been sent to escort you up to Commander Vancina's office. Right this way." He indicated the hallway in front of them, which sloped gently upward and lead to what looked like an elevator.

They stepped into the little pod, and the doors closed. "Mani, Commander Vancina's office, the long way around." There was a quiet blip as something in the little pod acknowledged Ronnie, and then they were moving. "Clear walls, please." There was another quiet blip, and suddenly, the walls of the pod were completely see-through, allowing the 3 passengers to see the base around them as they moved through it on magnetic pulses. They seemed not to be attached to any rails or cables or anything, just kind of… levitating in the grip of a few massive magnets. z
"Let me give you a quick rundown as we move. Lunar Base 2, your new home, is relatively small. Training facilities, administrative offices, living quarters, and munitions sit in 4 massive levels, in that order. The Magnetic-Levitation system can get you anywhere in the building. The Base AI is named Mani, and she's always ready to help should you need something." A small light blinked on the wall, and suddenly, a little blue avatar was holographically floating in midair. A clearly feminine figure, she was wearing some kind of medieval looking armor, and had a cheery look on her face. She gave a little wave, and blinked away again.
"If you'll look out now, we're passing the training facilities. Lots of simulators, as well as dedicated gyms, both for sparring and physical enhancement." The Pod was levitating over a massive wide open area, with hallways splitting off every direction, indicating even more space. In the area below, men in full Aegis Armor could be seen sparring, the blows ringing like hammers on anvils. Ronnie gave a quiet sympathetic grunt as one of the trainees got clocked in the side of the head and crumpled, his armor keeping the blow from being fatal. "You'll be spending a lot of time on this first floor. We all do."
The pod took a drop down into the next floor, and took off down a hallway. "Second floor is administrative offices. Most of the time, grunts like you and I will just zip through this floor on our way to training, unless we've got business in the office. Today, you do." The Pod came to a gentle stop, and Ronnie stepped out. He glanced at the 3 recruits over his shoulder was they walked down a short hallway, and knocked on a little pad next to a set of doors.
"Corporal Vale to see Commander Vancina. I have the recruits." The sliding doors opened, and Ronnie stepped through, snapping to attention once he was in the room. "Sir."

"At ease, Vale. You too, recruits." They had stepped into a decently large office, though it wasn't wasted space. The desk was pretty big, but every screen was in use, data pads and physical files lying open. There was a large screen one one side of the room, as well as a long table circled by chairs on the other side. A full sized avatar of Mani was standing by the desk, smiling just a little. And seated at the desk was an imposing man- Commander Dereth Vancina.
Sitting there, the scarring on his face already made him a figure who could intimidate. The dense muscles only lightly concealed under his uniform helped that image, as did the thick but well-trimmed beard.
And then he stood up, and just kept going, up and up and up. The man must have stood nearly 8 feet tall, and looked like some kind of giant out of the fairy-tales.
"I'm Commander Vancina, and I want to welcome you to your new home." He stepped out from behind the desk, his hands folded behind him. "I'm not sure how your leaders handled this transition, so I'll ask you- What do you know about your new assignments, soldiers?"

Astrid and Balta had been going at each other, C4 in the back towering over them, coming in at 6'2", taller than most men could say. C4 wasn't her actual name however, it was Chaerin, pronounced as "Sherrin", a "Ch" at the beginning, but the single letter name had been tagged as a nickname due to… certain events that had unfolded in the past.

C4 looked mostly distracted, not paying the two any attention. She stuck out like a sore thumb among the others, her strikingly long white hair and height being the main things that set her apart from nearly everyone there. She had been the first one to stand properly when Apotheosis had been addressed. C4 was a lot of things, but unserious was not one of them. She took her job like she took most things- as if her life depended on it.

Astrid was the next to follow C4's lead, silently cursing Balta for having dragged her into his petty argument. And Balta, of course, was last. Only catching on when Astrid had stopped bantering with him.

Both C4 and Astrid gave polite nods as they followed, Balta, now wondering why he had been the one sent to this place instead of say, Vixen or Lisette- knowing they both also took their jobs seriously, if a little too far sometimes.

Once they were in the pod and moving, Balta had a mini freak out, his legs still a bit shaky from the previous… horror.
Astrid was trying to keep it together as Balta resorted to his dramatics. They had just landed and she was already about to be at her wits end with him, she prayed to whatever force was out there that he didn't embarrass all of them as he had already done.
Balta looked over at who he presumed was their leader, if only temporarily- he didn't know that for sure however but it didn't change the fact that he gave him his undivided attention. New home. Balta felt suddenly sick at that thought. It wasn't so much as he disliked it, but that he would miss everyone back on Earth.

At the mention of turning their attention to the outside of the pod, all three did, Astrid being the one who was mainly enchanted by everything she was seeing. A smile tugged at the edges of her lips, her eyes starry as she watched as they drifted by. C4 on the other hand looked like she had seen everything before even though this was her first time witnessing the extent of what humans could do. It was all impressive but if she thought so, it didn't show.
Balta listened in as his eyes also panned over to look at the rest of the building's interior, he looked slightly bored- that was till he saw the people sparring underneath them, his eyes widening and a huge smile gracing his lips when he saw the armor on the fighters, the sounds that came from it only making Balta's smile grow. Balta was a bit cocky when it came to fighting others, but even if he lost, nothing replaced the feeling of being in the middle of all the action- if anything, it excited him greatly, nearly looking like he was vibrating out of his skin at just the thought.

The rest of the ride was drowned in silence on behalf of the three as Ronnie gave them a general breakdown of the utilities. There were a lot more questions Astrid had but she knew that they would be filled in later so she decided to keep them to herself until they were given their instructions.

Astrid watched Ronnie as he stepped out, following with the other two and stepping into the office themselves, all three of them assuming the "Attention" military stance before they relaxed at the command.

Both Astrid and C4 seemed fairly calm once Commander Vancina introduced themselves- if looking a little shaken up by the stature and intimidating appearance. Balta on the other hand was the first to speak, his mouth working faster than his brain could.
"Hi- yes, uh three of us got chosen to go on missions- er, I was the first chosen for some reason…" Balta trailed off, muttering something under his breath about how he was surprised it hadn't been a mistake before he realized he had stopped taking mid-sentence. He snapped his attention back to Vancina in a heartbeat, trying to get the files in his brain in order- if anything, they were scattered all over the place.
Still, he didn't get the chance to, Astrid now taking the wheel.
"Thank you for the warm welcome sir, we're happy to be here. My name is Astrid and from my understanding, we were brought here to be part of a larger group dealing with special missions that need high skill levels. We'll be split into teams of two people to carry them out, but most of all we're here to train for those occasions and many others" Astrid glanced nervously over at Balta who seemed slightly relieved to have Astrid talk in a way where people actually understood what was being said.
Astrid however, was almost a hundred percent sure he would get himself severely disciplined somewhere down the line at least a couple hundred times. Her explanation wasn't a lot by any means but she summarized what Aristide had told them before shipping them off. It was the baseline and Astrid hoped more details on their assignments would be shared once they arrived.

C4 gave a slight nod in agreement to Astrid's words, not needing to say anything for the moment.