Act 2, Chapter 1: Operation Primordial Ooze

April 7th, 2022

Thanks to a mission in Tibet and its results, ParaCom redoubled its efforts to fight the paranormal menace. The UN was generally very satisfied with the fighting force and pledged new members and additional funding. One day, an unknown substance was discovered and reported in Marrakesh, Morocco. A UN official contacted Main Officer Arnold “Center” Bradley over the incident. Paranormal sightings have been reported in the area. The UN official, with a slight Arabic accent told the commander, “We have reports of an unknown substance left by the paranormal entities. It would be much appreciated if you can send some of your forces to investigate and study for analysis. Once you have finished with retrieval, please report any findings to the United Nations. Thank you for your consideration and attention. We look forward to seeing your progress.”

Center then called up volunteers. “We have a new mission from the UN. We’ll be putting down in Morocco for this one. There have been reports of the paranormal in Marrakesh and an unknown substance across the area. We are to eliminate any paranormal entities as well as recover the substance for analysis.” The armory opened up. Kinetic weapons and armor were in heavy abundance. Both conventional weapons and electronic weapons, with both normal guns and blades as well as from railguns to vibroblades, were lined up and organized for each specialty. Both powered exoskeleton armor and Kevlar were widely available. The mission was a Search and Destroy mission against the paranormal.

The drop ships opened for volunteering operatives to board. "Large Cloud ready for deployment! Everyone get all aboard!" Once the volunteers boarded, the drop ship would take the troops to the area of operations as fast as a search on the internet during full throttle.

The first to board the nearest dropship was a fully-geared female soldier with a spring to her step and an assault rifle in her hands. Anya always made a point of being prompt, it at least earned some appreciation from her superiours both here and in Belgium. She opted for conventional equipment all around, partly because she wasn't familiar with those railguns and power armours, and partly because most of the other stuff on offer would weigh her down too much. Being in the right position was far more important against these things than slowing down for the sake of taking - what - one extra shot? If these things caught you, you were dead. She learned that on behalf of others. For this engagement, Anya took her sidearm, rifle, kevlar, knife, smoke grenade, and medkit, all as provided by the ParaCom armoury. Their tools seemed reliable enough.

As she strapped herself in, any enthusiasm Anya held in her face was dissipated by the reminder that her brother was clomping up the ramp after her. He carried a heavier compliment; powered armour, a light machine gun, a grenade and a rocket launcher. His disproportionately bulky armoured form gave its usual infuriating smile as he saw Anya and secured himself on the seat opposite her. "Nice opening mission, I've always wanted to visit Marrakech." Luc commented in French as he clipped on his seatbelt. Anya simply glared back. "Quoi? What did I do this time?" Luc said defensively in response to Anya's look.

"Do you ever take this seriously? This is a mission, not a holiday." Anya said sharply.

Luc furrowed his brow, and faced both his gloved palms up, "Of course I do! Come on, sis, it's not as if everything has to stick-up-arse serious."

Anya threw up her own arm as she shot back in rapid-fire French. "Argh! It's bad enough you have to be on the same team as me, let alone this program, but do you have to be so big headed as to toss around your big over-compensating weapons like beach umbrellas!?"

"Hey! They're delicate instruments, they have a role-"

"Yeah, like making up for your tiny prick!"

The arguing continued for anyone to witness after stepping inside, if they could understand it, that is. In any case, they could probably understand that it wasn't a civil conversation. Both siblings had agreed to speak English when talking to most others in the program, as it was the common language used, but they tended to keep their arguments in their first language to preserve the potency of their vocabularies.

For this mission, the siblings' friend, Angus, was sitting out and observing from the control room. As there was a limit on how many people they were going to take on a sweep and clear, he would have to wait for next time. In the control room, he chuckled cross armed at the siblings' argument coming through the radio. "Some things never change," he said with his distinct Londoner accent.

Xue clambered up the nearest drop ship's loading dock, his red iron armor glinting in the morning sun. Clutching a standard issue ParaCom shotgun, he scanned the interior of the vehicle. Dim fluorescent lights flickered overhead, metal seats lined the "In Case of Emergency" poster-covered walls, and a duo of soldiers sat a couple feet away, arguing in what Xue presumed to be French. Being the asocial one he is, he ignored the couple, instead taking a seat on the opposite side of the transporter, where he could view the drop ship's entrance and gaze at the ParaCom headquarters.

As he buckled himself in, Xue rechecked his inventory, making sure that his submachine gun, grenades, ammunition, and, most importantly, shotgun, were all in place. He smiled, knowing he was prepared for whatever the paranormal forces were willing to throw at him, and was about ready to kick his feet up when he realized he was missing his signature jetpack. He quickly unstrapped himself from his seat, ran down the loading dock and into the armory, where his jetpack sat on a precarious pile of crates.

Lee, Otto and Packston were one of the last groups to board the drop ship. Lee noticed that others had already got on before then, punctual as they were, they were held back by Packston's pickyness when it can to his load out. The group wasted no time finding a seat for themselves, Lee and Otto sat next to each other while Packston sat across from them. While they were waiting for the mission to begin, Lee began to fiddle with his weapons, he had chosen to go with a standard Paracom assault rifle, pistol, grenades and of course ammunition. Otto decided to go with his favorite, LMG with a shotgun, and to top it all of, some Flash grenades. As for Packston, he preferred the bigger guns in life, he had a Railgun and a simple rocket launcher, nothing else.

"Aye Otto, Packston, ya ready for some fun, can't wait for this to start." Lee said excitedly.

Naturally, Otto did not respond, he was still busy fixing his personal appearance for the occasion.

"Look Lee, this is serious, we could die here, there is no fun in war. " Packston replied with a deep gruff voice.

After that all conversation between them stopped. This is how it was with them, exchange some words out of the battle field and then forget about each other, then when the battle starts and things get serious, talking is some thing the cannot avoid. They would yell and scream at each other, but they do work very well together. The group sat there in silence, and waited for the mission to begun.

Sergeant William Burkley gripped his shotgun railgun in his hands tightly as the veteran soldier boarded the drop ship, a blank expression on his face, knowing what was to come in the next battle. He didn't need to know the briefing, because Search and Destroy missions were all the same. Get in. Kill. Get back to base unharmed.

Will sat in the drop ship and strapped himself in, his black powered armour glistening in the light inside of the plane. He stared at the two vocal and bickering siblings. "If you two would stop yapping on, we have para normals to kill and lives to save. Speaking of saving, save this argument for later."

He brought up his radio, setting it to HQ. "Assassin here. Helping out the rookies in the mission."

Ezri was never on time. Her family often joked with her that she was late for her own birthing. Constantly in trouble for her own tardiness, she did try, but something always happened. She misplaced a vital piece of her med kit or there was an explosion or ....

"Heeeeeellllo!", she waved to everyone as she dashed and darted around trying to make her way onto the drop ship as fast as humanly possible, hulking around a large duffel bag full of medical equipment, an M16 hooked around her back, and her favorite Beretta, fashioned with red flames, strapped to her right thigh. A hand clamped onto the medic hat she wore, to ensure it wouldn't fly away as she desperately ran to catch the ship before it disembarked.

She greeted everyone with a disarming, bright smile as she looked around for an empty seat. There was a pleasant demeanor about this girl, despite her punkish black eye liner, and the light shade of pink that glossed over her lips. Tossing the bag on the floor by nearest empty spot, she finally strapped herself in next to Anya. Ezri waited a moment, looking for break in the argument between siblings so she can introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Ezri", she sort of blurted out, not knowing when there would actually be a break.

The other squadmates embarking onto the dropship was noticed by the siblings, but not with any body language. They were too busy ripping into each other with words and likely none of the others understood. The argument was finally cut off as their commanding officer for the mission talked them down. Anya was quick to jerk her head to the officer and slowly shut her mouth, before her lips outright pursed in frustration and she responded in English. "Yes sir." Luc was still a little sore from not resolving the, frankly pointless, argument, so his own "Yes sir," was a bit higher in volume.

Now that they weren't too focussed, they could inspect the rest of the squad properly. It was an eclectic bunch from the looks of things, people of all different shapes, sizes and weapon choices. Though shotguns seemed to be a trending fashion.

Scanning across the faces, Anya only then noticed the dark haired woman next to her looking at her expectantly. An awkward pause confirmed that maybe Anya had missed something. Anya's cross expression turned into a curious frown at this realisation. "Oh, I am sorry, yes, my name is Anya." Anya extended a hand, "It is nice to meet you." Anya wasn't quite ready to crack a smile after such a heated discussion, but this Ezri woman didn't deserve any flak. "You are...American?" Anya hazarded. It was only a guess by the accent Ezri had, but there was the occasional weird inflection in it. Anya figured if she knew English half as well as she knew French and German that she would probably be better at judging such things.

Center would then announce, "Get ready for deployment. For all those who want in on the action, this is your last chance. We can hold up to eight operatives in the drop ship without claustrophobia. The mission should be as easy as pie."

Large Cloud, the pilot responded and acknowledged. "All aboard! Any claustrophobes must exit immeditately. This is going to be a rocky and, no pun intended, airtight flight. We will leave in approximately ten minutes after the Little Lady is filled up!" The primary dropship's nick name was the Little Lady. It was named in affectionate jest as despite its humble size and appearance, it had very good performance. Deriving from the conceptual SR-72 UAV, it was improved and designed as a "quick in, quick out" Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle. It was capable of Mach 6 at normal speed while Mach 9 at full throttle. Unsurprisingly, it was high mantenance and was comparatively quite the energy guzzler compared to conventional aircraft.

Alina Ivanova privately radioed William Burkely, "Sergeant Burkely, make sure the new recruits do not disappoint. Especially Erzi." Farhad Mehrzad was also watching on. The captain, unlike lieutenant Alina, was quite confident in the performance of the recruits. Both acted as reserves in case more officers were needed.

Burkley nodded, mostly to himself, and privately radioed back. "Roger that." He looked around the airship, studying the recruits. Ezri, especially. She seemed too peppy to be going into a war like this. In fact, Burkley frowned. This brightness would be diminished as with many other rookies that had lost their lives in a battle. Of course, that was why he was here in the little lady with the rookies.

To stop them from completely fucking up and dying on their first mission. "Alright, rookies. Some of you have been in wars already before and some of you haven't. Doesn't matter. What we're going up against is something you won't have ever faced before. Hopefully we only get a few Ghouls, but if a manticore or a Djinn gets to you...You're good as dead. That's why I'm here. To make sure you don't screw this up completely."

He stopped looking at the rookies and stared intently at the drop ship exit, waiting for the ship to land...

"We're ready to rock and roll, sir, don't worry" she said confidently as she polished her hand gun, and checked her ammo. Her demeanor never diminished, but her confidence showed a different side of her. Her bright blue eyes gleamed as she readied herself for combat, and of course, readied her medical equipment as well.

Lee and his team was not really listening to the pilot talk at all, they were all to busy doing nor important things with there time. Otto was fixing his beard, making sure it was looking goo for the ladies when the battle started, Lee was praying, as he always did before a fight. But Packston was doing something a bit more productive, he liked to be the logical one in the group. He was reading over the mission breaking.

"A search and destroy mission in Morocco. Won't that be fun." Packston mumbled to himself and he continued to read on, trying to get as much information as he could.

Ten minutes later, the Little Lady was fully pumped. "All aboard! We're heading to Marrakesh!" Large Cloud announced the intentions for takeoff. The volunteers were under supervision of the seasoned sergeant, William Burkley. The volunteers landed on the outskirts. "We're now clear for deployment, Center!" "Loud and clear, Large Cloud. We'll take it from here. The squad has the green light to begin. Be careful out there."

Marrakesh, normally renowned for its beauty and exotic appeal, seemed like a damaged wasteland as the citizens were evacuated until the ParaCom cleans up the mess. The operatives can spot a lone ghoul in the distance. It was armed with a magic crossbow and was possibly scouting. Whether the operatives can attack head on or sneak around the scout was up to the individuals. Caution was advised by Center before. Whether that advice falls on deaf ears would be all up to the collective.

The LOP Trio was all quiet during the journey, preparing for them selves for the fight that would soon begun. It was like this every time, they would sir down like this and think about life, although that was not always the case, that is what the thought they were doing and they went with it any way. Lee and Otto took this time to load and cock there guns, Packston had done long before they took of so he was ready and prepared for battle.

It was not so long after that when they finally landed and we're given the green light to begun. The Trio were the first to exit the ship, Lee and Otto took a knee at the entrance and swerved there guns around taking in all the information they could before they set out. Lee signaled for Packston to exit the ship and get behind cover. Packston jogged as fast as he could in his heavy armor and faced his back to the wall, stealing little glances at the paranormal scout not to far from there location. Signaling the there were clear, Packston motioned for Lee and Otto join him. They sprinted for the wall, hiding behind it just as Packston did. "Flank em." Packston whispered to Lee.

Lee needed no more than that to realize what Packston's plan was. Lee sprinted around the scout, keeping to the shadows of destroyed buildings. He hid behind a destroyed truck, and used it for cover. He was know behind the beast, waiting for Packston to make the call, there plan was to simple, draw the monsters attention so Jack could get a clear shot without getting spotted in his vulnerable position. But before the plan could go into effect, he needed to let the rest of the team know, he did not want to go in guns blazing when the team did not know what was going on. He motioned for the rest of the Squadies to join him and find cover so he could tell them his plan.

Will got out of the ship quickly, his armoured feet pounding on the floor. Over intercoms he said, "Kill any and all paranormals you see. Update every time you attempt extermination. Over." William went behind a pillar, obscuring him and providing cover. Peeking around the corner, he saw Lee hiding behind a truck near a Ghoul. Will decided to help him out, as Jack was in a vulnerable position and could be killed if he made a wrong move, because even though Ghouls are weak, they could still kill you.

Will ran to the Paranormal, feet pounding and shotgun in hand. He took cover by a broken crate very close to the Ghoul. Bringing his shotgun up, he aimed at the ghoul and...

Blam. He pulled the trigger.

Conversations apparently died down one the dropship began lifting. There were a few words, but it seemed as though most people's way to get psyched for the mission was to remain silent. This was even uncharacteristic for Luc, but he didn't want to piss off his commanding officers on his first operation by falling into another exchange with Anya while sitting across from her.

The trip took hardly as much time as most of them were expecting. Testament to the supersonic flight at the project's disposal. Anya and Luc shuffled out behind everyone else with their guns raised, scanning the area. The paranormals had ripped the place to shreds before they arrived. It was already like a warzone with all the rubble, just a little too quiet.

Anya was the first of the two to spot the ghoul a short distance away, and was quick to report in. "Contact, 12 o'clock, one of them." Anya's report was acted upon before she could even finished speaking as their squad leader, Sergeant Burkley, opted to run to a firing position for a swift kill. He seemed to skip his own advice of calling his shots before taking them, but this particular case didn't have much ambiguity to it.

Luc's movements brought him to deploy the bipod of this machine gun and get prone onto a pile of rubble, overseeing the area they landed in. Anya ran for a wall to put her shoulder to and watched over her sight lines similarly.

Before everyone so eagerly runs off the ship, Ezri hands them each their own special med kit, just in case. Each kit held reinforced bandages, lined with a goopy paste of crushed herbs. It oddly had virtually no smell except for that extra clean hospital scent.

Leaving the dropship herself, cautiously, she pulls her rifle from her back. She hid behind a wall as shots were fired in Lee's direction, but quickly followed through the gun smoke and rubble to join him at his position. She scanned the area as he explained the plan to her, looking for a cover spot of her own. She finds a spot nearby, seemingly gone through already, the wall was ripped in half, shot gun casings and torn up bodies littered the ground. But Ezri was small enough to fit just behind the wall, also hidden by the barricade already set up in front of her. This was a great vantage point. She was equipped for mid ranged, not for long distance sniping, but she could very well cover her comrades safely.

She crouched down between the wall and the barricade and loaded up for her first shot. She waited patiently till one was in sight. A nasty ghoul making its way towards her. "Lock and load, 3 o'clock, about 5 seconds till it's in range. I'm taking it out", she reported quietly. She smoothed a deep breath over those five seconds, leaning over the edge of the barricade with anticipation, then pulled the trigger.

William had quickly turned the ghoul into worm food. Erzi on the other hand missed as the ghoul already was in process of hitting the ground. Packston's ploy did work to a degree. Otto and Lee discovered a trio of ghouls. The ghouls suddenly hissed at the sound of gunfire, hiding behind crates and walls of a wrecked building. Anya and Luc both witnessed the ghouls scrambling for cover. Once the ghouls scrambled for cover, the closest one, behind a pillar a medium distance away from Lee and Otto, was on overwatch.

Xue was in reserve and can join the fray as needed.

William took a deep breath as he saw the three ghouls. He pumped his shotgun, prepared to dash for the one on 'overwatch' as ParaCom called it, and said over intercoms, "Hauling ass. Going up against the overwatched Ghoul." William relied on his training, zig zagging to dodge the up coming shot that was going to happen then tucked and rolled beside the pillar, to the side, peering over and looking at the Ghoul.

"Killing the bastard."

He aimed and pulled the trigger.

Shut hit the fan quick, one of the agents killed the one near Lee, but 2 more popped up when the random gun fire started. Lee was stuck behind cover, although the agent with the shotgun was planing to take out the over watch, the other paranormals were still firing. Otto had not moved from his spot, still awaiting orders from Packston. "Otto, move up and assist shotgun! Lee, move up and flank the paranormal from behind!" Packston yelled, trying to get the situation under control.

Packston came out of cover and sprinted to were shotgun and Otto were. "Listen I got Lee flanking the enemy from behind. Me and Otto will draw the enemy fire and if you want, you could join Lee and engage the enemy from behind." With that Packston and Otto sprung into battle, Otto taking cover behind a crate and firing at the paranormal, and Packston aimed and shot at the crates in which the Paranormals were hiding behind in an effort to push them back into the rest of the team, he hoped the others would catch on.

She frowned as her shot missed. She'd hit the next one, she was sure.

Ezri watched closely as Packston and Otto started shooting. She was supposed to be support and that is exactly what she would do. She took aim at one coming out from behind the shattered crates that Packston shot at. "do svidánija", she whispers, her finger pulling on the trigger.

From behind her, she heard the harsh breathing of the enemy. Within one swift move, she reached for her handgun and spun around, becoming face to face with the ugliest thing she could imagine. No hesitation ... BAM ... she fired her Beretta