Arbiter
Voice of the DeathDrop
The Capital City of Lothal was about to get a new landlord. The contract had come in fast, quiet, and lucrative.
A client had decided it was time for Lothal to undergo a governmental restructuring. Tricky business. With how the planet’s people had cycled through governments throughout the past, any operational attempt to pacify them required… finesse.
From the observation deck above, hidden behind tinted glass.
Arbiter
watched the rag-tag individuals gather. Its optics glowed a steady yellow.“Capable… I wonder.”
Eyes flickered blue. Its vocoder lightened, carrying an almost reassuring tone.
“...Perhaps this time, success will justify the faith placed in this batch.”
Blue fading to purple. Voice lowering to something colder. Broken by a rasp of a distorted static.
“If not… at least the mission will be instructive. Failures still yield data for future operations.”
Back to yellow. A dry buzz of amusement crackled faintly through the modulation.
“Begin.”
Beneath, the briefing room dimmed as the holotable lit the chamber with faint light. A wireframe of a slowly rotating planet, Lothal, shimmered into view. Zooming in on its Capital City into focus until its streets and districts hovered in sharp projection. A synthetic steady voice with a tinge of playful cadence poured from the briefing room’s speakers.
“This is a complex situation, Droppers.” the console purred. “The natives here don’t much care for hostile takeovers. Our client wants legitimacy, and so you will make legitimacy.” Multiple images of the Capital City bloomed in midair. Current footage of crowds in the streets. A military parade of the current government and its officials waving stiffly from armored transports and buildings. “The current government thinks their military might is uncontested. Convince the people that our client is the correct choice.” Images shifted to the current government officials. “We are going to decapitate their government. Remove their ability to resist. Prove to the people that their current government can’t and won’t keep them safe. Leave just enough plausible deniability that the people of Lothal will believe they chose this change.”
Suddenly, the holotable projection zoomed out, cycling to highlight sectors around the capital.
“Two teams. Two stages. This is delicate. Communication is paramount. Precision and discipline will decide if this ends in profit… or in spectacle. One team will be leaving immediately, the other will be dropping tomorrow.”
The hologram expanded to show a district outside the city walls.
“Team One, Ember. No drops today.” the voice said with a mocking condescension tone “Your mission is to sneak into the city. Infiltrate the parliamentary building.” Its tone turned playful, edged with amusement. “Quite simply, kidnap their Governor. Should be easy enough considering all the attention will be on our daring Team Two.”
Projections of the military installation east of the capital rotated. A cluster of hardened bunkers, AA turrets, and armored hangars flickered into view.
“Team Two, Inferno. You’ll drop directly onto their main Lothal Defense Force Military Installation. A moderately sized base capable of deploying military forces rapidly across the planet.” A synthetic chuckle emitted from the voice. “Surely, they wouldn’t expect a DeathDrop assault dropping on the base directly. Mayhem is your mission. Draw every eye, burn every ounce of their attention. Afterall… There is a military parade to crash as well. Stay alive as long as you can. Die if you must, but do it loudly. After all, as inconvenient your deaths would be… well I hear death is bad for you.” Words carried the faint distortion of a grin beneath the static-laced voice.
“Communication is key. Ember does not move until Inferno makes their strike and Inferno cannot withdraw until Ember has secured the target.”
The projection split between two icons.
“Ember, keep your casualties as low as possible. Maintain a low profile. Acquire as much information as you can about the defense forces and do be on the look out for any information regarding our client. Information is leverage and data becomes currency.” The voice dropped into a harsher and aggressive rasp. “Inferno. Carnage, carnage, carnage. Make it impossible for resistance to follow you as you make your withdrawal. Break their guns, smash their air cover, and vanish in the smoke!” Its voice reset. Slipping back into a mechanical cheer. “If you fail to reach the extraction… Well, I hope you enjoyed the scenery of Lothal. No one is coming back for you.”
At last, the hologram centered on the capital plaza.
“This is your evacuation zone. Bring a fan because it’ll be hot. You’ll be converging from opposite ends. Consider it a team-building exercise! Don’t forget to bring the package. Two reinforcement teams will already be in position to cover the withdrawal. That’s a total of eight more Droppers at your side. Don’t say I never did anything for you~!”
With that, the projection flickered and died. In its place, the DeathDrop sigil spun slowly in the dark. The lights turned back on in the briefing room.
The voice fell silent, replaced by Arbiter’s amused yellow glow behind the tinted glass. Its voice now projecting in the briefing room.
“So,” it said, each word punctuated. “Any questions? Or are you ready to work for a living?”
Objective 1: EMBER
Objective 2: INFERNO
** Ember and Inferno MUST extract together **
- Infiltrate the Capital City quietly. Use the mayhem Inferno causes to sneak into the parliamentary building.
- Find and kidnap the Governor without drawing widespread attention.
- Collect intelligence on the Lothal Defense Force and any information regarding the client’s interests.
- Keep casualties as low as possible. Maintain a low profile. Ember cannot act until Inferno’s assault begins.
Objective 2: INFERNO
- Drop directly onto the Main Lothal Defense Force military installation
- Launch a direct assault to cause maximum chaos and destruction. Distract and draw all military focus away from Ember’s infiltration.
- Disable anti-air defenses, break heavy weapons, and prevent pursuit.
- Cause carnage without restraint. Inferno cannot withdraw until Ember secures the Governor.
** Ember and Inferno MUST extract together **
