|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Dec 11, 2008 0:22:02 GMT -4
Commander Samuel Zachary Guthrie was in a foul mood.
It wasn't so much that his most inept soldier had gone on national television. No, he had made peace with that in his own way. If he concentrated hard enough he could still picture it quite vividly in his mind.
And it wasn't because of his lord's displeasure with his progress (mostly), for that would be dealt with almost immediately after the events of today passed. Surely he would be pleased with Samuel after he saw what he had done to fix the homo inferior problem.
In summation, he was displeased with the means. Director Ramsey was on his way over to discuss strategy. Imagine! A boy with no combat experience talking strategy with him!
If someone would have told him that this would be happening even a week ago, he would have laughed, then locked the messenger in the Gulag for insubordination.
But Samuel was not laughing. He just sat, hands folded, with his papers neatly arranged in front of him.
He'd be there any minute.
And the thought of that made him grind his teeth in anger.
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 1, 2009 22:05:57 GMT -4
The door opened abruptly into Samuel Guthrie's sanctum office, the doorknob held by one of the SS's Hounds, as a young clean cut blonde teenager entered. He wasn't much younger than Sam, but where Sam had been hardened with years of in the trench fighting, it was the eyes of the younger man that contained the hardness that Samuel clearly wore, giving both men a sense of age beyond their years.
"That will be all, Agent. Wait outside." Douglas spoke softly, as the Hound stiffened up and pulled the door closed leaving Samuel and Douglas alone.
Douglas casually sat down, setting his PDA down on the desk edge, and leaning back while crossing one leg over, he steepled his hands thoughtfully before him.
One eyebrow raised in the silence.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Mar 2, 2009 0:20:02 GMT -4
There was a tense moment of silence. What needed to be said? What sort of conversation would they have?
"I hate you. You make me sick"
Such thoughts would damn him, with Ramsey's hounds and all. So he thought about a brick wall instead.
"Director Ramsey...." it was a sufficient enough greeting, "Where would you like to begin?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 3, 2009 13:24:15 GMT -4
Well, that was interesting. And typical. Samuel Guthrie was a driven man, and a damn good soldier. Problem was, he was also controlled by his passions, and thus, when enraged, which was often, without a subordinate to take it out upon, Samuel practically became inert and completely useless.
Douglas had chosen to enter, and allow the man the opportunity to take charge of the meeting, to see where Guthrie stood on the problem that was plaguing both men, but instead, Guthrie stewed quietly and waited to take his cue from Douglas.
So be it.
"There are two kinds of warfare one can fight, Samuel." Douglas began quietly and expressionless. "Both have their merits. There is the siege mentality. Simply barricade your enemy up and wait him out, with small skirmishes over a long period of time to wear down his moral and supplies, until he has nothing left to fight with. It's a decent means to break their spirit, so long as you can hold for the duration."
Douglas shrugged in resignation.
"Currently, this is our apparent approach with the human resistance. We pick stragglers off of the herd of terrorists, and beat the ground hoping that they will panic and run for cover." Douglas stated with little emotion. "And although I have no doubt that this method would be successful for the Imperium, point is... it allows dissonance to fester and grow. It leaves the potential for failure and martyrs. Despite our superiority in status and freedoms, we are still outnumbered by the humans. A means to win the war by this method may take longer than our lifetimes, something that is unacceptable for King Magnus, who would like to wrap this up before he gets too old to enjoy the victory."
"That leaves us the alternative." Douglas sat forward. "To clearly define the battle, and to strike at it in all possible manners-- to present our enemies with the illusion of a target they cannot resist, in a situation that robs them of their sympathetic cause and precious supplies, and leaves them exposed for extinction should they even consider taking the bait. Oh, yes, and one last thing. We should make an example out of those that would challenge us once we make this declaration."
Douglas reached one finger out and tapped the PDA on the desk. Immediately, the machine lit up and a holographic display appeared above it with the words "Operation: Zero Tolerance" flickering into view.
"Tell me, Samuel..." Douglas said with an evil smirk finally breaking the sheet of emotional ice it had been, "What do you know about the Trojan War?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Mar 3, 2009 16:52:03 GMT -4
As much as it pained him, Samuel nodded in agreement to Doug's statements. This war had to end. The humans had to be wiped clean off this planet.
But the nerve of him! This... this CHILD lecturing him about how to wage war. As if that alone wasn't angering him enough, the little know it all was RIGHT too. With one, very tightly clenched fist under the table, he spoke.
"I Agree..."
That hurt. Wow did that hurt. The little whelp would be shocked to hear that.
"I take it you intend to use the captured Ultron as our horse then, hm?" Samuel spoke, the words sliding out of his mouth like venom, "For once... we seem to be on the same page.."
Samuel pushed his documents to Douglas. Schematics on the drone dominated most of the pages, lists of statistics were also prevalent throughout. However, it was the last section that Samuel was really proud of, his pride and joy.
"This is everything my scientists and technicians could put together on it. I do realize you may uncover more...with your gifts and all.." He continued, flicking a spec of dust off his uniform sleeve, "They seem VERY compatible with our existing Sentinel tech, which is worrisome...."
It had been worrisome, until Sam ordered them all under arrest under suspicion of conspiracy. He took a breath, then he went on.
"You should be receiving some engineers that have some explaining to do very soon." Samuel sneered, "Your hounds should make short work of the lot of them."
"I did manage to dig up something... a bit controversial.... from the vaults... But desperate times..." He trailed off, then smiled.
"Desperate measures and all that..."
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 5, 2009 3:20:43 GMT -4
Douglas took the schematics from Commander Guthrie with genuine interest. The full capacities of the Sentinel tech weren't even being tapped at the level that the Black Air division were operating in their field testing, so Guthrie's conclusions about the Ultron unit origin might be premature... but to see how the humans were actually advancing in what should be rather limited resources comparibly was a godsend. This was the humans' most advanced weapon available for deployment.
This told the Imperium a few things, Doug began musing as he turned the documents to the details of the last section.
Obviously, there were more of these Ultrons where this one came from. Exact numbers would be most beneficial to properly assess the threat, but without interrogation of the Ultron itself, knowledge of that sort would remain unknown.
Knowledge of whether it even networked with the others of its kind would be essential, as well, for any exploitation.
It also told them how tenuous the humans hold in the world was, that they would deploy only one if they had any number of units. As a weapon of mass destruction, a spread of these across the key cities of the Empire, and you would make a serious blow to the hold that King Magnus held. So, there had to be a reason for the solitary deployment.
Surely the humans would understand that once we got ahold of it, the next one would be dispatched with even more enthusiam through the weaknesses we found.
Douglas sighed.
"I see the bastard child of the Weapons Plus experiment has gained a new fan." he muttered in disgust. "What's your strategy, Sam...? To build a unit of these out of some of your soldiers to give you... hell, an "X" force...? You've seen the results. Look at the operatives that created for the Empire already... King Magnus' pet, Logan? How about Omega Red, the trafficker? Do you really want a squad of these kinds of people?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Mar 5, 2009 11:19:48 GMT -4
Guthrie's face looked genuinely shocked. To think such a thing... it boggled the mind.
"Douglas, do actually think I would allow such an atrocity to be committed against my own men?" He said, his face displaying nothing but seriousness, "The horrors they'd experience, the pain they'd have to go through... I'd feel as though I were betraying my race..."
He smiled slightly.
"I've got plenty of humans down in the dungeons for that." He stated dryly, "More than enough to complete sufficient trials before we move into production. The end result being a wolf in the fold to compliment your Trojan Horse."
And why not? They didn't serve much of a purpose to begin with (aside from Sam's "barbaric" amusement), and he cared very little for human life anyways. To him, the logic was flawless. Take human degenerate, make improvements, mind wipe, deploy weapon, win war.
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 5, 2009 13:50:22 GMT -4
Douglas raised an eyebrow. He was genuinely surprised with Sam's reaction. He would have bet a sizable amount that the concept of an elite unit of super-soldiers answering directly to him would have been at the top of the Commander's wish list, but here he was responding as if the idea never even occurred to him, it was so alien to his thinking, so abhorrent to even consider with any serious thoughts.
Fortunately for Doug, such a moral quandary didn't exist. Every Hound under his command was fitted with an implant designed to effectively turn their own powers against the telepathic agent when they targeted any member of the Imperial Cabinet without a direct order from Doug.
And the advances that the Black Air division was coming up with in regards to co-processing nano-neurons and interfaces were nothing sort of miraculous. He might have to make a call to them, if Sam's idea proved fruitful. A few upgrades to integrate the Sentinel tech much more effectively and subversively, and it would allow them intelligence as well as strategic value.
It would also shift casualties over to the humans, this development, when it came time to provide the humans the illusion of self-policing.
"Commander..." Douglas began to smile again, "That's inspired, and compliments my ideas to end this war once and for all." He flipped through the pages in his hands once again. "Once we create a "master mold" for these... Omega Sentinels, we can mass produce them without any hesitation. We only need to make sure that they are completely unable to use their augmentations against mutants, unless said mutants are directly threatening members of the Imperial Council."
He placed the stack of documents back upon Samuel's large desk, and waved his hand over the PDA, triggering the holographic display to change.
"Your Omegas would work perfectly as Trojan Horses, Samuel. Now, how we can integrate them into service... that's where the rest of this operation comes in." Doug began, referencing the PDA. "Operation: Zero Tolerance takes a very radical approach to ending this war. As I said before, with current tactics, we face superior numbers and sympathetic martyrs leading the human resistance. And as long as we take this route, we will continue to generate our own opposition. Thusly, we must legitimately end the cause they rally around, the reasoning for their fighting. They claim to be fighting for self-governance, and to overthrow the oppression and slavery of their people. But here's a little morsel... most folks really don't give a shit what the political situation they live in actually is, so long as they feel appreciated and essential to their society, with some freedom to pursue their pleasures and fulfill their needs. So, if we provide them educations, job opportunities, and decent standards of food, shelter, clothing and medical treatment, their personal lives won't be any different than it was before King Magnus liberated our people from their oppressive yoke and threw them into chains."
Douglas sat back for a second. "Hearts and minds, Samuel. They desire peace, we offer it. We end this war simply by declaring it over. Their people are even more tired than our own to end this thing, but it's a matter of pride. We handed them their asses over the last several decades, and it hurts. So now we have to prove that we are superior in every aspect... by being better than they were when they had the power."
Douglas waved his hand over the display again, changing the image to the proposals.
"Thus, with the implimentation of your Omega Sentinels, we set the stage as such. Firstly, let us send a modified version of their Ultron back to them. It should be programmed to specifically target two things. The leadership of the human resistance, and other Ultrons. We need to cripple them before we can be gracious and accommodating. Make sure they think that it is in their best interest to take the deal offered, because we've practically eliminated their forces, and they will want time to rebuild and re-arm.
"That was my initial idea with using the Ultron. Create a "Nimrod"-- a Mighty Hunter-- the ultimate assault sentinel, and set it loose upon them, but taking the idea to the next level works wonderfully as the second in my proposed one-two punch to finish this thing once and for all. It provides a superior means to enforce our zero tolerance of human resistance to King Magnus' reign."
"Once the Nimrod has taken it's toll," Douglas grinned, "we will enter what many might consider dangerous territory. I propose that, if we can generate enough units, on the anniversary of King Magnus' birthday, he gives a gift to the people of his Empire. A declaration of amnesty to all humans and mutants involved in this war who have committed crimes against mutantkind and the Empire itself. An offer for the most hardened opponents to come forward and help write the policies that will govern their people, including initiatives in food, shelter, medical care and education, to remove the reasons that the average human sympathizes with the resistance."
The display image flickered, changing to the next page. "Once we have removed the reason to fight, sympathy goes out the window. But we must make sure that we emphasize with no doubts that any act against the Empire from that day forward would be met with such force and brutality against those who would slap the gracious, merciful and beneficial hand of our Lord and King, that the very idea of doing so would be abhorrant to those who've embraced their new good fortunes, making them allies as well."
Douglas turned the display off. "If we deploy the Omegas into the populace when we make this declaration under the guise of freeing all former prisoners and war criminals...? Its the perfect cover. They won't even know what's been unleashed upon them."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Mar 7, 2009 16:43:21 GMT -4
He hated to think that there would ever be a time for him to praise Ramsey. The little twerp had done nothing but make him feel inferior since they had attended the academy together. Guthrie envied his luck, envied the fact that Ramsey had been GIVEN all his success without any sort of toil.
Guthrie had the scars to prove his worth. Douglas did not.
But in the end it was perfect. Kick the legs out from under them, raise them up...
And then annihilate any opposition.
He smiled grimly and nodded in agreement.
"You'd need approval from Carosella... not that I foresee that as a problem. " Guthrie said, "We'd have to work with the media quite closely...."
Not an issue. The media LOVED Guthrie. Who didn't though? Honestly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 8, 2009 21:36:59 GMT -4
"You'd need approval from Carosella... not that I foresee that as a problem. " Guthrie said, "We'd have to work with the media quite closely...."
Douglas raised an eyebrow. Approval from Carosella...? Who did Guthrie think sat on the throne? "Strange, Samuel," he said slowly, "I would have figured that we'd have needed approval from King Magnus... not some decadent opportunistic media mogul." He sat back shaking his head slowly. "Carosella will do what is needed because if he doesn't, I will pull the plug on his entire operation. You forget, Samuel... I wrote the programs that run his systems. I could cripple his network in the time that it would take him to turn the television on and realize he was off the air."
Douglas Ramsey leaned forward again, plucking the PDA off the desk. "You are right, however. We will indeed need to work closely with the media. We are going to need to set up not only the proper press releases, but also promotional strategies, educational videos and photo ops, like the release of the prisoners. Anything else I am missing?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Mar 11, 2009 2:22:50 GMT -4
Why you arrogant little..
He had to literally bite his tongue to stop the flow of venom from gushing out from his lips. He couldn't speak civilly, so he nodded curtly.
"I think everything is in order. The matter with Orion, are we still going through with that?"
Of course they were, it was Ramsey's idea after all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 24, 2009 18:36:24 GMT -4
"Yes, I think so. Orion makes a great poster boy for disinformation, since he's proven his obliviousness and talent for leaking state secrets." Douglas grimly nodded. "Again, I think the best course to take with him is to assign him the human fluff assignments, so he can be percieved as the sympathetic law enforcement officer... the 'good cop' as it were. Let the humans take a liking to him, trusting him. If the Flatscan Resistance should take him out during one of these assignments, all the better. The merciful and kind mutant authority figure dying at the hands of the heartless human terrorists while helping their own people." Douglas chuckled heartily, "We couldn't arrange a better media angle if we wanted to, so no matter how this plays out, we win."
Douglas stood up, putting the PDA away into the deep folds of the long duster, after it beeped a response to his thumbed inquiry. A smile crept into the corner of the blonde teen's mouth, looking nearly cruel. Guthrie had no idea that every page of the document that Doug had just flipped through had been successfully scanned and uploaded onto the PDA.
SHIELD had its uses, but ultimately...? It was just another weapon to be aimed and deployed in the Imperial arsenal, just one more tool to be used, and its secrets properly belonged to the Imperial Secret Service, to exploit as Douglas saw fit, for the benefit of the Empire. Everything else was expendable.
"We should approach one of the Princesses..." Douglas began slowly. "Although King Magnus ultimately should make the decree, if we get the support of one of the Princesses, it would allow enough distance between the King who conquored the humans and the daughter who desires to unite the two people in peace. The humans would accept our terms and programs that much easier coming from one of the Princesses."
"Princess Katherine is the obvious choice," Douglas noted. "She is endeared by her servants, and is very sympathetic to the sensitivities of those around her. If things should somehow backfire, her status as the adopted daughter allows King Magnus the freedom to separate himself from the failed program without losing any face. The only issue that I see with Princess Katherine is the very thing that makes her the perfect choice also cripples her use when it comes to the enforcement of Operation: Zero Tolerance. I cannot imagine the Princess supporting the brutal penalties that would be needed to ensure our victory." Douglas stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Besides, she's a longshot for succession, and we must look forward. King Magnus is not a young man, and whomever endorses this program should have a much larger stake in it succeeding."
Douglas waved his hand lazily in dismissal of the idea.
"That leaves Princess Wanda and Princess Lorna." Doug considered a second. "Princess Lorna is a true chip off the old block. In fact, she is too much like her father, militant minded, and I see her ability to sell the idea to the humans being percieved as insincere and with suspicion. She is much more comfortable with being the iron glove, hard and brutal, and having no concern how anyone besides her father percieves her. Add to that the fact that she is second in succession, and again, I see a problem with future commitment to our plan."
"Princess Wanda, however," Douglas continued, "seems to be best qualified for our needs. As the next in line for succession, a program to govern with or a legacy to create a lasting stability would be one of the things first and foremost in her mind. Add to this her love of attention and desire to be adored by her subjects, and we have someone who has a vested interest in this succeeding, as well as a psychological alignment with motivating it to work. It is in her best interest to not only create the legacy of her family, her reign being the most important one after King Magnus either steps down or passes on to guarantee the Empire's continued existence, but lay down the foundation of a continued lineage uncontested by rebellion and dissent. She cannot afford a power vacuum to follow her father's reign."
Samuel Guthrie had seen Douglas Ramsey peer intently at people before, both at himself and others with piercing eyes that seemed to look deep into one's soul, but the smouldering intensity and driven conviction that burned behind his pale blue eyes were beyond anything he had seen before, even during intense interrogations.
"None of us can afford a power vacuum to follow her father's reign."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Mar 26, 2009 10:10:24 GMT -4
Was he serious?
Wanda was a spoiled, vacuous, wicked witch of a woman. He remembered all too well their last encounter, and how she had toyed with him for her mere enjoyment. It was humiliating.
Guthrie didn't like that one bit.
"I suppose if we had no other option... there isn't much else to do." Guthrie said. The sad thing was, tactically, Samuel saw that it worked. Tactically it was a sound plan. Tactically it was the wise choice. That didn't mean that Samuel had to like it though.
At his mention of a power vacuum, Guthrie's eyes darkened. Surely Ramsey wasn't implying that Samuel would grab for power? His loyalty to the empire made such an underhanded deed impossible. He was a warrior, not a politician. Although if Magnus had decreed it...
He'd think more about that later. It wouldn't be wise to for the time being.
And he would die before kneeling to King Ramsey for that matter.
"We wouldn't want that at all." He agreed darkly, "Not at all."
|
|
|
|
Post by Doug Ramsey on Mar 29, 2009 22:32:24 GMT -4
OOC: Sorry Kyle, this thread completely slipped my mind with the others snowballing [not that there is much more to do here... LOL]
IC:
"I understand your hesitation, Samuel." Douglas nodded to Sam's reservation to the inclusion of one of the Princesses, "Believe me, if I thought we could do it without one of them, I'd be before King Magnus as soon as I left this office."
Doug internally rolled his eyes.
Office. Mental note to self: Next meeting, schedule for my own office. This... closet... doesn't even have carpeting, much less a scenic view of the Castle grounds. Let Samuel stew on the fact that his office is a stark barren utilitarian room compared with my plush accommodations. In fact, I'll insist on a fireside chat.
"But we both know that the humans are much more likely to bite the bait if it comes from the next in line, instead of their conqueror," Douglas shrugged. "But, worst case scenario, if it all blows up in our faces, there is always the Wyndham Equation of Natural Selection of Mutation, based off the early theoretical genetic works of Essex-- in five generations, there won't be any humans left." Douglas chuckled.
"I'd prefer we solve this problem sooner," Douglas turned to leave. "I'll petition a meeting with the Princess. If we can convince her that endorsing this plan would curry her father's favor to name her publically as successor, she will leap at the chance to help us. We have to just make that clear to her."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam Guthrie on Apr 3, 2009 23:08:32 GMT -4
Okay, Douglas was sure to figure it out eventually, so Samuel spoke. "My last encounter with Princess Wanda ended less than favorably." He stated flatly, "Her highness put me in a compromising situation... one that I did not enjoy being in at all." His pants. Oh god his pants. "But I'll put my humiliation aside...it's for the good of the Empire..." He added. But she was getting nowhere near his pants. That was for certain.
His Pants? Confused? Check out what happened here |
|
