NSWRPF Archive The Matrix: The Life of a Soldier

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12 years after the personal sacrifice of The One, a shaky truce between man and machine still holds. Zion remains untouched by the hordes of sentinels that were once so ready to destroy mankind.

However, things are starting to deteriorate rapidly. The humans have inserted soldiers back into the Matrix to contact the Oracle on a growing feeling of disdain. Their efforts did not go unrewarded. The Oracle has foreseen the next great travesty, the spark that reignited the war....

The machines have been subtly building their forces again for a push inside of the Matrix itself. The move has been set into motion for one purpose alone. To root out and destroy any possible potential anomalies like Neo.

Now the humans have once again organized to face a hidden threat. They must find the anomalies and save them from the Agent's and their like minded programs. It is a hidden war that neither side will take responsibility for starting. The soldiers of Zion have been called upon to once again infiltrate the Matrix and beat back a stronger opponent that far outnumbers them. Ironically, all in the name of peace.

These are the stories of those soldiers.


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Welcome to The Matrix! This will be a generally open game with a bit of direction to a story to be ultimately determined by you, the player.

There will be a rank structure within the game, a small hierarchy so that a bit of orientation can be available. It will follow the same root as the original story. A ship, A captain, and his soldiers. They will hack into the Matrix and find people still hooked into the Matrix that are believed to be of a likeness to Neo. Through your journey, you will become stronger and more organized as you gain experience in combat and operations.

Keep in mind though, that any overt action within the Matrix may cause the law enforcement, still linked into the system, to rain down on your parade. And if you are very unfortunate, sometimes that may even bring with it an Agent.

Heres the rules:

No Godmodding, there will be no anomalies that are taken control of by a player. IE, no Neo's.
No Trolling
No Spamming
SWEARING WILL BE BROUGHT TO A BARE MINIMUM. KEEP IN MIND THE BOARDS OPERATE ON A PG-13 TEXT BASE. THIS MEANS NO EXPLODING BODY PARTS AND NO GORE. ANY VIOLATIONS OF THIS RULE ALONE WILL RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF YOUR CHARACTER AND A REFERAL TO THE BOARD ADMINS. (This does not mean that all swearing will be reported, but please please please keep it to an absolute minimum.)
All characters will be approved by the GM BEFORE being posted on the boards.
All issues will be resolved in PM as to not clutter the boards themselves.
Keep it real to your characters please. Stay in character and don't pull stunts that seem odd for your character type. An example is that a soldier specializing in firearms would not know as much about hand to hand combat.
All soldiers have the choice to receive more training to be well balanced within the combat field. But will not start out as such unless they are deemed worthy of the position of captain of a ship.
If a player wishes to be the Captain of a vessel, they will state clearly in their character sheets. (this does not automatically give you the title and rank, Captain applications will be sorted and distributed as the GM sees fit. Normally these people will be the more dedicated ones and the ones who seem to have the knack for leadership.)
All Captains will be expected to send reports back to Zion and stop their occasionally to recharge their ships and replenish supplies.
All Soldiers are expected to follow the orders of their appointed Captains.
Captains will have the ability to appoint ranks below them for their crew aboard their vessels.
If no player wishes to be a fully human

 

Matrix Name: Johnathan Tanner
Chosen Name: Zell
Age: 34
Height: 6'0
Weight: 195
Eye Color: Dark Blue
Facial Description: Defined jawline, thin facial structure, always clean shaven. He has medium length black hair that is kept mostly spiked out
Muscular build: Athletic
Clothing in the Real World: Two, thin and ratty looking shirts to keep warm. Loose green pants and leather boots. Also has a tendency to wear his Military beret (Occasionally wears his red captains uniform)
Clothing inside of the Matrix: 90% of the time, Zell wears a sleeveless black tank top covered with a short black leather jacket, loose black cargo pants, dark work boots. He covers his hands with fingerless leather gloves and of course has his thin framed black sun glasses.
Character Personality: Zell is laid back in most situations but has a certain commanding presence about him that helped to earn his title as captain
Chosen Weapon specialty: Being the Captain of his vessel, Zell has received the extensive combat program and is well versed in both firearms and hand to hand. He prefers a one on one fight using a japanese katana, however the situation rarely calls for the opportunity to draw his sword. He usually carries a Jericho .41 pistol, as well as his ornate katana, just in case.

Bio: Johnathan Tanner used to be a low profile soldier under the employ of a private security company. The money was decent and he could never complain about his standing. Something simply always felt off about where he was though. Even when he slept he felt like he was awake sometimes, and vice versa. His squad never saw much action in the City, normally local police were called to settle things. Occasionally his squad would get calls about terrorist cells that were trying to infiltrate his employers to break it down from the inside. This comprised the main force of his work, hunting down terrorists and rooting them out. When he was investigating a report on one occasion, he came into direct contact with a notorious terrorist named Morpheus, in many circles of security, referred to as the most dangerous man alive. The dark skinned man had been sitting in a chair in an empty room with nothing but tall white man in a long trench coat on his left and a woman in all black leather on his right. It was as if they had been waiting for him. He was about to open fire on them when a member of his squad began to make strange noises. When he turned, he saw something that would haunt him forever. Green lines of what appeared to be computer code were lining his comrades face, and then it was no longer his soldier. It was a man dressed in a black business suit with sunglasses. Johnathan had dropped his weapon in surprise and backed into a corner of the empty room as the Agent did battle with the tall white man. He was quickly dispatched with some of the fastest movements that John had scene in his entire life. When the fight was over, the man in the business suit was no longer there, but instead it was his soldier once again. The woman quickly killed the rest of his squad and turned a gun on him. But instead of kill him, Morpheus had stood and silently walked over to him cowering in the corner, and opened his hands, revealing a red pill... and a blue pill. He offered to show Johnathan the truth. At the time, he thought he was going to die so he picked the truth. What he got was a bit more than he bargained for.

He was in his early twenties at the time, Johnathan Tanner was one of the last minds that Morpheus freed from the Matrix. And has since grown into a capable soldier fighting for a different cause. He was eventually given the rank of Captain, and commands the hovercraft known as the Freedom. He is now on his first operation as a Captain, fighting a silent war with the machines inside of the Matrix with his new crew.

 

Approved by Radiance

Matrix Name: Juan Pablo Veracruz
Chosen Name: 'Jaguar'
Age: 21
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 145 lbs
Eye Color: Hazel-green
Facial Description: Handsome, yet roguish looking. A smattering of facial hair, mostly a goatee. Long dark hair that has locked into dreads held back in a pony tail. There's a scar over his left eyebrow.
Muscular build: Lean and muscular build, typical of those who constantly train in martial arts.
Clothing in the Real World: Loose fitting brown garbs based on that of a Shaolin Monk.
Clothing inside of the Matrix: Full traditional Kung Fu gear with white trim and cuffs.
Character Personality: Jaguar can be a bit of a hot head, but his usual preference in battle is to goad his opponet into making mistakes while using his skills and possibly the environment in his favour.
Chosen Weapon specialty: Though he refers to himself as a 'complete weapon', Jaguar is adept with the staff and the chinese long sword. Although he has no formal firearms training, he is familiar enough with them.

Bio: Juan pablo was an orphan. As he grew up in the orphanage it became clear that he was a child with a temper, which probably explained why he got into so many fights. Though generally amiable, Juan Pablo was given to sudden mood changes and bouts of surliness. He was considered a 'troubled-child' and thus never lasted very long in foster homes. He became especially combative as he entered his teens, however, an old dojo master from a closed martial arts school decided to adopt him. The administrators were surprised by this, but were all too glad to see this particular 'problem' exit their doors.

"Hmm...there's something about the boy." The Old Man had commented, but no one seemed to really pay attention to his words.

Juan Pablo was likewise glad to leave the orphanage, though he was wary of the Old Man. Obviously he could not be trusted.

To say that Juan Pablo, or J.P. (as he now called himself) was in for the surprise of his life is an understatement. The Old Man had J.P. cleaning and fixing up the old run down dojo, while he practiced his martial arts in the courtyard. J.P. grew fascinated by seeing the Old Man practice his forms, but then the Old Man would stop and give him more chores. This only infuriated the teen. One day, J.P. worked up the nerve to ask the Old Man to teach him and was shocked by the answer he received. "Why should I?" the Old man had said. "I feed you and clothe you. You help fix dojo. Otherwise, who will fix all this? You don't need Kung Fu anyway. You'll just use it to fight and get into trouble."

J.P. was beside himself with anger at this rejection and the Old Man gave him a knowing look. J.P. realized that he'd failed some kind of test, but was still fuming. This scene repeated itself in the months to come. J.P. pleading his case and the Old Man rejecting him, until one fateful day, J.P. was so mad that he attacked the Old Man without thinking. He wasn't surprised that the Old Man had defeated him with ease, but was surprised that the Old Man was complimenting him on his speed, strength and focus, and how his preliminary conditioning seemed complete.

J.P. apologized profusely for attacking and not recognizing the Old Man's methods. Soon, it was agreed that he would 'fix dojo', then do formal training. After that, months seemed like days and years seemed like months. J.P. did not only learn martial arts, but he also learned philosophy, perception and about the expansion of his conciousness. This is when he began to realize there was something 'wrong' with the world around him. Some secret he suspected the Old man knew, but was not telling him.

Then one day, the dojo's renovation was finally complete, but something felt very strange. The Old Man stated that he had something very important to tell J.P. it was the last lesson. He began to tell him about the blue door and the red door at the back of the dojo and what they signified. J.P nodded as he assimilated the information and gained understanding. "Now there's no time." The Old Man ha

 

GM Approved!

Matrix Name: Hagan "Til" Tillinghast

Chosen Name: Corsair

Age: 35

Height: 5'11.5''

Weight: 189 lbs

Eye Color: blue

Facial Description: oval face, slightly deep set eyes, average sized eyebrows and mouth, rounded but average nose, brown medium-short hair, black goatee, scar along left temple

Muscular build: average sized but very athletic and muscular

Clothing in the Real World: Light blue simple longsleve tshirt, black technicians vest with gadgets, gray relaxed fit pants, black boots, black fingerless gloves, silver chain around neck.

Clothing inside of the Matrix:
Suit: Black two piece, single breasted, notch lapels
shirt: dress shirt, black silk, amber buttons
tie: red silk tie
belt: black leather, silver simple buckle
suit accessories: silver tie bar and tack, silver cuff-links with amber-colored stones
jacket: black leather 3/4 style overcoat.
footwear: black doc marten boots
gloves: black SWAT tactical gloves
sunglasses: Oakley Half wires (black frame, bronze polarized lenses)
watch: black multifunction analogue wristwatch
holsters: twin composite fast-draw concealed carry hip holsters

Character Personality: Driven, protective of his crew, fearsome during a fight, somewhat of a prankster, great love of anything fast and performance minded, loyal to captain crew and ship before politics, sarcastic and smart-aleck when under pressure.

Chosen Weapon specialty:
Corsair is primarily a gunfighter, uses all types of guns but always has a matched pair of olive drab or black colored, matte finished Colt M1911 .45 pistols with swamp ash grips (claims the M1911 is "the best damn pistol ever made, period."
He is such an accomplished gunfighter that he is able to wield both pistols at once, using enhanced spatial awareness, speed, and reflexes to engage multiple opponents, as well as utilize the environment for cover as well as "bounce" bullets towards targets.

Also utilizes a standalone version of the XM-26 MASS shotgun (shoulder stock attachment.
Also favors an XM8 assault rifle (Matte black, what else), in all variations (compact, carbine, sharpshooter, automatic rifle), usually attaches aformentioned XM-26 or M320 grenade launcher.
If firepower is still needed but more discretely, he will instead utilize a pair of Uzi pistols with clamped magazines for quick changes to reduce firing times.
In general, he is able to effectively utilize a wide variety of firearms at different ranges.

Finally, while not a master of close-quarters combat, he keeps a small combat knife as a last resort. And while not formally trained in arts such as kenpo or jiu-jitsu or kung fu, he does utilize a combination of police joint locks, street fighting techniques, and an ability to find improvised weaponry in any situation.

Bio:
As a child, Hagan Tillinghast felt a calling to serve justice. Even at an early age, he was known to stand up to and fight with bullies, and generally stick up for the abused and maltreated.

Setting a goal early on to become a lawyer, he eventually reconsidered and became a top SWAT officer for the City Police, participating on numerous raids and serving many a high profile warrant.

Eventually, he earned a degree in criminal justice and forensics, becoming an investigator with an offbeat yet effective methodology which lead to numerous arrests. Establishing himself as a narcotics investigator, his methodology and hard-headedness lead to many large busts that were rumored to have been impossible to obtain.

After less than a month as a narcotics detective, he was transferred to a little known yet heavily funded department of the force known as the "Major Cases" unit. He was quickly assigned to track down a supposed network of terrorists linked by complex computer networks.
Assuming the alias of "Corsair" in cyberspace, he tracked down smaller leads but never one of the big playe

 

That's right people, I got approved.

Matrix Name: Mizuki Miller
Chosen Name: River
Age: 21
Height: 5'8
Weight: average weight for height
Eye Colour: Brown
Facial Description: Heart shaped face, asian eyes but mouth and nose look more western.
Muscular build: fairly muscular, but not bulky
Clothing in the Real World: Boots, grey trousers, green long sleeved woven shirt with grey sleeveless jacket. Hair is spikey short.
Clothing inside of the Matrix: Black boots and jeans. Red tank top with a light white cotton shirt over that. Fingerless gloves and sunglasses. Hair is shoulder length and jagged cut.
Character Personality: Laid back when not in tense situation. Focused when needs to be. Snaps when disturbed when focused.
Chosen Weapon specialty: Two hand guns for ranged battles and two Japanese Sai when in close combat

Bio: Born to a Japanese mother and an English father, Mizuki always felt slightly out of place. Her father was a cop and familier with the secuirity squad that Tanner worked with, although Mizuki never met him. She was studying at the local college and working nights at a local garage to pay her way. It was a decent life, but Mizuki and her friends talked a lot about how things in the world seemed.....off somehow. One friend, a guy who called himself "Jax" dissapeared after being taken in for questioning by men claiming to be with the government. Mizuki was worried, but never said anything.
However one night at the garage there was some kind of fight going on outside between men in suits and a woman. She was moving unbelievable fast, but one of the men was too quick for her. Mizuki ran in front of the bullet. It hit her shoulder and she fell to the ground. The other woman dispached the agents and offered Mizuki a choice as a thank you, to stay here and wait for an ambulence, after which she would probably be taken by agents for "questioning" or for Mizuki to come with her and protect people. Mizuki chose to go.
She hasn't been out of the Matrix long since then and has been transferred to Zell's crew. She serves as fighter and general ship mechanic.

 

*Approved*

Matrix Name: Sisera Nuru
Chosen Name: Nuru
Age: Looks about early 20's
Height: 5'9"
Height: 135 lbs
Eye Color: Brown
Facial Description: Sharp brown eyes, with tanned skin to match. Long black hair delicately braided and pulled back into a warrior's knot. She smiles alot, and it shows on her sharp features. Tattoo symbol on left thigh of a cat.

Muscular build: Athletic built, practices daily
Clothing in the Real World: Depends on mission.
Clothing inside of the Matrix: If she is working, she wears whatever allows her to blend in, and move freely. She enjoys long flowing skirts and dresses, but will also change into biker leathers, if the need warrants it.

Character Personality: A calm and cheery personality, unless she is working, when she becomes quite serious. She takes her job seriously, and has worked for several clients, before this last one. She is a calming influence to those around her.

Chosen Weapon specialty: She prefers silence, so she has an extended bo staff, 4 knives, and a sword hidden in a cane. If it is necessary, she also carries a 9MM, with a silencer and a tazer, and if things get very nasty, she has several grenades that she can use.

Bio: Nuru is a Guardian Protector. She has been one, for as long as she can remember. Many turns have gone by, and she has always lived by hiding, and moving about, to keep her charge and herself from harm. And when ever there has been a change, she has been there to protect the next one. But after this Neo character came around, she found things got even tougher. While a truce of things had been declared, something didnt feel quite right. It meant that she had to be even more cautious than before.

And now, a new turn began, and she wondered who her charge will be this time...or perhaps it will be the same one. She is never sure, until she is called. So until then she trains hard. The face of the enemy has changed, and she must keep up with those changes, no matter how many upgrades it takes. She knows many martial art forms, and she can turn anything into a weapon, if need be. Because of her job, she also is an excellent cook.

 

OOC: Well, I was waiting on one more but it's been a couple days and I myself am getting antsy to start the game. So, without further delay, Game on.

IC: Zell

Zion.

Zion always looked so peaceful after lights out. A settling quiet simply fell across the thousands of levels of the city and all was serene.

Captain Zell looked out over the city from the railing by his quarters. He would often do this when he couldn't sleep at night. It settled his mind and reminded him exactly what the war had been fought for. The freedom of that quiet. The peaceful notion that a Sentinel wouldn't break down your door and murder you while you were helpless and innate.

Zell ran a hand through his soft, spiked hair. His fingers traced a line to the base of his skull, fingering the plug that was located there. Sometimes he wondered if being grown instead of born, was a curse or a blessing. It allowed him to be a soldier. And not in the simple way of joining the Armor Corps. He could jack into the Matrix itself and bring the fight back to the machines in ways that real guns and defense systems couldn't.

He sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets as he returned to his quarters. Zell sat down at his work table and began to draw up plans for the morning so that he wouldn't forget anything important. The Freedom was to leave in the morning on it's fifth flight. The difference this time was that they had a very real mission to handle. Zell was finally getting deployed to operations status. He had been on the maiden voyage of his hovercraft, not knowing at the time that it would soon be entrusted to his care. He had flown the vessel himself once or twice to get the feel for the medium sized ship. But never had it been to a depth that he and his crew could broadcast into the Matrix. Tomorrow, all that would change. The crew of the Freedom was to undertake in a non sanctioned mission as far as Zion was concerned. If caught at broadcast depth by the machines, they would have violated the peace that has been on tender hooks all these years. Capture was not an option. Nor was being discovered. Inside the Matrix was one thing. But the game was different on the outside. They would be deploying into the Matrix for extended periods of time to find the people that were still plugged in, that had unnatural awareness of their surroundings. The ones that knew that something was off. Hopefully they would get lucky and find the man or woman that could bring the second coming of The One.

It was a long shot, but reports had stated that the system was definitely looking for them in a quiet way. It wasn't an overt action in the system. It was subtle but like machines that couldn't understand human thought, it hadn't been subtle enough.

And so Captain Zell and his crew had been tasked to find these individuals and free them before the system destroyed them.

He hadn't been back into the real Matrix since he had been appointed Captain. But he was returning with new knowledge. And a righteous fury to fuel it.

Zell placed his black military beret on his chest as he finished his list and laid down. After a short while, he fell into a fitful sleep. His dreams were of days to come. Missions that would never happen. Honest duels with nothing between his opponent and himself except skill and the clean steel of a Sword. Yes Zell slept rather well for a man with a lot on his mind. He only hoped that when he awakened, his crew would be as mentally prepared for the monumental task that had been asked of them. River, Jaguar, and of course his second in command, Corsair.

He had faith in their abilities, though Jaguar would have to be looked after. It was his first trip back since being freed. Zell hoped that his junior crew member could take the rigors of their new mission.

All of these things swirled in Zell's mind as the dreams took him to silent bliss.

tag, Crew of the Freedom.


OOC: There it is folks. I hope you have fun with this RPG!

 

Radiance approved:


Matrix Name: Thomas Underhill

Chosen Name: Kenmei

Age: 27

Height: 6? 2?

Weight: 200

Eye Color: Blue

Facial Description: Kenmei has large, almond shaped thoughtful eyes. His eyebrows, while darker than his dark brown hair, are covered by it's shaggy length. A longish, slim nose and a tight line of a mouth sit atop a pointed, bony jaw. Usually he has a faraway look, indicating intense meditation.

Muscular build: Thomas is slim, with muscular definition obtained by intense regular exercise.

Clothing in the Real World: A dark green, long sleeve tunic, and dark brown trousers.

Clothing inside of the Matrix: A full length, navy blue wool jacket that resembles a longer gakuran, which he always buttons, white pants, and navy shoes. Kenmei does not wear sunglasses.

Character Personality: Thomas is intensely thoughtful and inwardly focused, always trying to anticipate the next move of a situation. Thomas has incredible faith in his deductive skills, and can occasionally underestimate others or disregard their opinions. He is very cold and calculating, and will wait to be asked before giving his opinion, mainly so he can think the situation over.

Chosen Weapon specialty: Kenmei is an incredible sniper, with uncanny aim. Although the situation does not often call for a sniper rifle, he is just as skilled with his firearm of choice: the Glock 29, of which he carries two. His aim is due to being able to anticipate where his target is going to move next, by reading and reacting to body language. He managed to, at one point, hit an agent with one of his shots by creating a pattern of fire that eventually caused the agent to dodge into a bullet after successfully predicting his movements. He is also a practitioner of Aikido martial arts, although he does not have any specialty training in hand held weapons.

Bio: Thomas Underhill was a detective in the F.B.I. before being awakened. Thomas worked on cases that were bizarre, or seemingly unexplainable acts of terrorism. Reports of people doing incredible things flooded his group, and it was their job to find the truth. Thomas and his team managed to close in on a group of supposed terrorists, but they managed to escape, disappearing into thin air. All that was left was a cell phone in a manila envelope.

It rang, and Thomas answered. The voice on the other end offered to answer all of his questions, and he never looked back.

 

IC: Jaguar

Zion

Incredulous, Jaguar shook his head slightly. With his unwavering gaze still affixed on the Ying-Yang Symbol set on the ceiling within his small bedroom, Jaguar was still unable to fall asleep, no matter how much he tried. Of course, he'd tried meditating, which worked, but to a certain point; but for some inexplicable reason, he was unable to completely fall asleep this night. It wasn't the deep quiet that enveloped Zion after 'lights-out' that disturbed him. No, he'd gotten used to that by now. Something else was nagging him. It just beyond his concious mind, and it was keeping him awake.

As he lay there on his bed with one hand behind his head, Jaguar sighed heavily, and with a single smooth motion, suddenly got up from his bed. The junior member of the Freedom sat up on his bed and smiled ruefully at himself.

"What a strange feeling...I can't seem to shake it." He commented to no one in particular. Jaguar stared at his floor for a moment, then let himself roll down onto it. He completed a full body rotation, then came up smoothly and did a handstand. Jaguar held the pose for a moment, regulated his breath, then began to do one hundred Handstand push-ups. Maybe doing a bit more exercise would help him go to sleep. He needed to report to Captain Zell aboard the Freedom early in the morning and he wanted to be sharp, focused and rested, just like Corsair seemed to be at all times.

Finally, after forty-five minutes of some concentrated exercises, Jaguar's strange anxiety seemed to have vanished as fatigue set in. The young man lay on the floor for a moment catching his breath.

"Ok..." he said to himself as he once again began to regulate his breath and heartbeat. "I think that did the trick."

A small smile of satisfaction came to his face as the adrenal rush slowly waned. Jaguar rolled over and slowly climed unto his bed, face down. No more anxiety.

"Good night, Zion..." he said groggily, as his tired eyes fell from heaviness, and finally closed, signifying that at last, sleep had come.

 

IC: Corsair, aboard Freedom in dock at Zion

*Somehow he saw this coming. Machines were machines, always predictable like that. Automatons, slaves to their own programming. It didn't matter what kind of agreement was hammered out, weather it be truce, pact, or binding contract, the machines could never resist their own logic, their own zombie natures.

He smirked at that thought. Once again, the higher-ups had failed to listen to the hardened veterans, and once again their backs would be against the wall, and what would the crews do?
The same thing they had done in the previous war: fight on and fight hard. It didn't matter that the fleet had shrunk to a mere shadow of itself at its height during the war, that the APU forces were in dismal shape despite a surplus of weaponry for the machines, that even the infantry was ill-prepared to face the machine threat, they would all do their duty and take up the mantle of Zions guardians once more.

If they had one advantage, it would be surprise. Despite the 12 year gap between the end of the war and current situation, he had discovered that virtually all of his abilities were not forgotten within the virtual world. Endless hours in combat simulators had re-prepared him for battle, although the real test would not occur until they would run into agents. Still, the crew would be ready, that much was certain.

Still, machines weren't the only things able to adapt and surprise. 48 hours ago, Corsair had worked with River for a long day and a sleepless night on a ship workup. The net result was a fine tuning of Freedom, meaning that whatever may come, she would not have the mechanical screw-ups and demons that plauged other ships in the field, or at least would have a dramatic reduction in that particular probability.

However, after she had retired after that jaunt, his work continued. Working through fatigue, he had gone into the loading program of Freedom and begun the fine-tuning process there, working closely with an Operator to ensure that their virtual resources were nearly limitless, and that they had appropriate training and testing sub-programs that would benefit all.

Of particular importance to him was the creation of a weapons lab sub-program. He had an important project that needed to be worked over, one that had the possibility of being a difference maker when it really counted. However, he would not reveal it to anyone until it was trully tested out within the framework of the Matrix. Hopefully it would be one helluva first trial.

Once he was satisfied that the ship was prepared to go, he left it to the captain to give it his final approval. Rather than head to his small quarters and catch up on rest, he instead headed down a few levels into one of the open caverns, to remember why he deprived himself of rest and why he put himself in harms way.

With the influx of freed minds from the initial truce, there had been a sort of cultural renaissance in Zion, and one of his most beloved pastimes had made a return. Taking a seat on some roughly step-shaped stones, he watched a game of baseball that some of Zions children were playing. While the ball was made out of resin instead of hide, and the bat was shaped out of plastic with a lightweight metal core, the game remained faithful to the original.

It was this sight that gave him hope, that though at one time roughly half of them had been part of the mainframe, and it spoke to him of human spirit, something that had to be defended at all costs, even his own life.

With the winning team taking a victory by two runs, he headed back to Freedom. Since he had no family in Zion and only a few fleeting and superficial relationships with a handful of women, saying goodbye was not a chore, and he had done it earlier on, preferring to focus on the job at hand.

Laying down in his quarters, he had gotten a few hours of hard sleep, not apparently dreaming once. In fact it felt like he had just laid down to sleep when he opened his eyes up. However, he felt le

 

IC: Kenmei, the docking bay of the Freedom



Kenmei flipped through intelligence reports one final time, and turned back to his map. The hint of a smile pulled up a single edge of his mouth. Even he was impressed with the course he had set.

They would be at perfect broadcast depth, and no patrols in the area for days. They would get close, but not close enough to detect them(most people wouldn't take the risk, but Kenmei was confident). Getting there would take a bit longer due to zigging through patrol routes, but it would be worth it. It was perfect. It always was.

Kenmei didn't have any family, and hardly any companions. He spent most of his time in the military archives, reading about previous missions, playing chess, or in a training simulator.

Humans had been outsmarted by machines before, but if he had anything to do with it, it wouldn't happen again. The Freedom would find the next Chosen One, and then they would end this. Humans would once again rule the earth.

"Perfect..." he whispered to no one in particular with the faraway look his eyes always had. "Hmmh".


Tag: All


Sorry it's so short, there's just not too much to do at the moment.

 

IC: River

In the engine room of the Freedom


"Get inside you stupid little......" River muttered, tightening the bolt. It was a particularly stubborn piece of metal that seemed to have decided it didn't want to be part of the ship.
River had been on the ship for the past couple of days now. First to work with Corsair and now to do the finishing touches on engine work.
She'd already said goodbye to anyone she'd wanted to, like her old crewmates on the Persia and some of the other she shared quarters with here in Zion.
The bolt finally in place, River shifted from under the mass of machinery and oil. It had always struck her as a kind of dramatic irony that they needed machines to defeat the Machines.
Soon they'd be leaving, and then......
River hadn't been inside the Matrix for a long time. She wasn't thrilled about going back in, but if it was what she needed to do to help Zion, she'd do it.

TAG: any

 

IC: Zell

Zell woke up early the next morning and checked the time. He quickly cleaned himself up and checked his reflection in the mirror. He looked just as he remembered. Nothing different. He made this a daily ritual upon waking up in the morning to confirm at least to himself that he was still human. A small confirmation that no sense of Deja vous had occured and no black cats walk by twice as the Matrix changed something on him. But everything was fine. Nothing out of place, nothing odd or remotely disturbing. He nodded to himself silently as he dressed in his red captains uniform.

The Captain glanced at the time again and realized that the rest of the crew was likely already on board of the Freedom and ready to go. It was still early but they were probably anxious for the mission ahead. He grabbed his bag of gear and slug it over his shoulder as he carefully placed his black beret on his head, it's flap extending with military precision down his face, to rest an inch from covering his right eye. Now he was in business mode.

There was likely only one person not aboard the hovercraft yet, as he normally waited for Zell to rouse him first. It wasn't exactly laziness per se, but simply convenient. The Freedom's Operator lived only 8 doors down from where the Captain of the vessel did. And was also on the way to the elevator that would bring them to the dock. It was now somewhat of a custom for Zell to get him before leaving for the ship.

Zell left his quarters and walked with a straight back down the 8 doors to his last crew members room, and knocked 4 times. He knew that the man behind the door was probably scrambling around, trying to ready himself at a moments notice as soon as he heard the signal to move. Zell simply waited patiently and leaned against the wall beside the door.

The door swung inward and a young man burst out with numerous bags slug on his person, his shirt half hanging off of his torso and a set of goggles perched on top of his head. His face was pale and his breathing came ragged.

As Zell stood there against the wall with his arms crossed, he looked on at this spectacle with the seeming indifferent facial expression that officers seemed to master. On the inside however, Zell was chuckling to himself.

"Edward."

The boy, just breaking out of the teen years and into the 22nd year of his life, straightened as best as he could with his shirt only attached to his body by one sleeve.

"Yes Sir!"

Zell blinked before answering.

"Calm yourself. Slow down, straighten yourself out. We have time."

Edward smiled lightly and began to gingerly put some of his equipment on the ground while he made himself presentable.

"Yes Sir.."

Edward was one of the youngest operators in Zion. Normally someone his age wouldn't be considered for a position aboard a ship but his skill was undeniable. Zell filled with pride when he told people that the Freedom housed the youngest, yet best and most capable hacker in the whole of Zion. And he truly believed it. He had seen Ed hack systems before and it was as if the whole thing was second nature. He could even multi task and look, and talk to other people while his fingers flew on the keyboard and made a perfect hack. It earned him the nickname among his fellow crew and peers, "Radical Edward."

When he was ready, the two men set out for the elevator and made their way to the dock. Since the last breach of the machines, 12 years prior, the security on the Dock had been beefed up exponentially. More automated turrets were still being put into place even now. In the APU hangar section, new armor plating was being added to the Mechs. The Dock itself was still in a state of disrepair, but it was far from the shambles that it had been left in 12 years before.

Straight ahead of the pair lay the only vessel berthed in the Dock.

The Freedom.

Zell turned to Edward and nodded towards the ship.

"Go ahead and get on board, prep for launch. I'll be along shortly."

Edward nodded and walked off towards the ramp leading to the in

 

IC: River

Aboard the Freedom

River's eyes snapped open at the sound of Zell's voice over the comm. She'd fallen asleep on the floor of the engine room. Getting up she grabbed a nearby rag to wipe the worst of the grime from her hands and face. She wanted to report in to the captain looking halfway presentable, but it didn't seem that was happening.
She climbed out of the engine bay and up to the cockpit.
"Reporting sir." She said.

TAG: Zell

OOC: sorry it's so short.

 

IC: Zell

Zell was sitting back in his chair, watching the various displays come to life when he heard a voice behind him.

"Reporting sir."

He turned to see River standing there looking like she had just taken a headlong dive into engine grease, and then had made a futile attempt to wipe it all off which only served to smudge it in most spots.

Zell nodded to her in acknowledgment.

"I see you have been playing around with the engines again River. How does she look?"

tag River

 

IC: Corsair, Freedom passageways.


"Alright ladies and gentleman, unless we have any objections we are ready to blast out of here. If you left your extra underwear back in your quarters in the city, now is the time to mention it because we wont be coming back for a while...."

*Corsair swore to himself. He had been pre-occupied with other things and now had to uncharacteristically dash for the bridge.

Jogging through a few passage ways, he never broke stride as he passed their young and talented, albeit a bit hyperactive operator, giving him a heads up as he jogged by*

"Lets go over the loading program after we're underway Eddie! It needs your stamp of approval!"

*turning a corner and clambering up a ladder, he brushed himself off a bit then strode into the bridge, pressing himself against a console to avoid greasing himself by brushing against River, who was in mid conversation with Zell. The captain had just finished asking her a question about the engines.*

"...How does she look?"

*Rather than wait for her initial reply, he got a playful jab in, one of the "privileges" of command.*

"Well if its anything like last time, we had better install 5 point racing harnesses."

*He grinned as he sat down. It was a running joke, since the last modifications had given the ship a bit more grunt than either he or the captain were used to, and had resulted in a steep learning curve when it came to throttle control. The resulting stories from the heaving hovercraft were legendary.
It had become an in-joke by now, another common thread that bound this crew together, and a measure of their solidarity that would bolster them when things would inevitably get tough.

Still, that would be the long and short of it. River had a report to give, and second in command or no, his role was to shut up and listen at this point as well.
Once she had finished, he nodded approvingly, and after the Captain made his remarks, he gave his as well.*

"Excellence as usual Riv. Thanks again by the way for fine-tuning the ship, I know it was an enormous pain in the ass, and I could not have gotten it done without you. Now if only we can keep the gremlins out..
*he snapped his fingers and shook his head in mock frustration*
...nevermind, somebody let Eddie aboard again."

*he turned to Captain Zell and laid his notepad down*

"She's in good working order Cap. Got a workup and test list before we get into enemy territory, mainly the offensive systems and the EMP. Looks we also got some of the new rations aboard, although from what Ive been hearing they don't keep as well as the standard gruel, go figure.

Id also like to get everybody in to go through the loading program plus the sub-programs if that's kosher with you sir. We finally have a weapons lab sub-program that is viable, plus the usual sparring and testing subs as well. Its a new update so there's bound to be kinks to be worked out before we jack in.

*he went over the screens in front of them as well. Freedom seemed to be powering up without incident, meaning their hard work was already paying off. There had been stories of ships that would have nagging little problems on any sort of start up, which was acceptable in dock but not in action.
He turned back to Captain Zell*

"Well Cap, looks like Freedom is ready to go. Captains prerogative as usual, do you want to take her out this time?"

 

IC:Jaguar

Zion Docking Bay, Aboard the hovercraft Freedom

Jaguar woke up with a start. It was that same dream again. The Old Master fighting off that agent and he running for the red door. Though usually a vivid dream, this time it felt real again. Jaguar found himself breathing hard. Shaking his head after letting out a long sigh, he rolled down on the floor and assumed a lotus position, then began a calming and breathing meditation. The nagging sensation was trying to return, but he wasn't having it.

After a few moments he felt much better and quickly got up and showered. Jaguar had few belongings, so getting ready for duty was a cinch. As he prepared to leave his small room, he noticed a brown bag on his table and immediately knew what it was. His landlady had left him a small breakfast. Jaguar smiled and mouthed a silent 'thank you.' He didn't know the woman very well, but she seemed to do these small favours for him now and again. Maybe it was her way of supporting the 'Freedom Fighters' as Jaguar sometimes refered to himself and fellow crew members.

Quickly slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder, Jaguar grabbed the brown bag, opened the door, locked it behind him, and literally ran all the way to the dock, leaving the rooming complex he lived in far behind. He ate his breakfast as he went, which he tended to do more often than not.

There was something grand about the docking bay that always took his breath away. Perhaps it was that footage he'd seen of that fateful day little over a decade ago, when the machines had breached the walls. It was here that Zion had made what would have been its last stand. Of course, Jaguar wasn't around then, but the images he'd seen left a deep impression in his soul. He was deeply inspired by those brave men and women who'd fought that day with all they had, despite the fact that they were facing possible extinction as a race. They did so with unbound courage. For Zion. For humankind. And now it was his turn to honor them and perhaps return the favour.

Snapping out of his 'daze', Jaguar ran across the dock until he reached the Freedom. He couldn't help but to smile at the sight of the ship. To him, it was more than a ship. It symbolized its name sake. It was literally a vehicle to safeguard the freedom of all that resided in Zion, and he was a proud member of its crew.

With the practiced ease of countless repetition, Jaguar keyed in his security I.D. and was granted access into the ship. As he ran up the ramp, he noticed the internal lights were on. Someone was either early, or had not gone home at all. Jaguar slapped the intercom near the entrance and spoke into it.

"Jaguar reporting for duty..." he said in an even tone. Just to make sure, Jaguar passed by the Operator's station and glanced at the internal security camera feeds. As far as Jaguar was concerned, Ed had 'eyes' that could see into every nook and cranny of the ship. Jaguar tried to look for some of them, as a test for himself, but besides the obvious ones, it was impossible to tell what had 'eyes' and what did not.

"Hey, River..." Jaguar said in greeting after seeing their gifted mechanic still in the engine room. Had she evens slept? he wondered, but gussed that she had, since they were going out on official business. As it was, it didn't seem that anyone else was aboard the ship. He knew that would be changing very soon.

Not stopping for a response, Jaguar moved smoothly through the small and familiar ship corridors. Inside a moment, he was at his designated spot.

The rear Defense Gun Turret.

Jaguar smiled as he hopped on the gunner's seat. Though it was true that he was somewhat familiar with the basics of personal armaments, quite unlike Corsair who was a reputed virtuoso gunslinger, Jaguar was (ironically) quite proficient with the Gun Turret. He tried not to admit it openly, but he found it downright exhilarating. It was almost like doing Kung Fu.

Not wasting anytime, the youngman began to do pre-flight system and sensor checks. The

 

Sisera Nuru

Nuru grabbed a towel, and wiped the sweat from her brow, as she looked at her timepiece. She had been working out in her gym all morning, fine tuning herself. Soon, she would be called once more. She would have work to occupy herself with. She was glad for that. She hated waiting. The gaps seemed to get longer to her. But she could not think about that now. She had much that she needed to do before a mission.

Nuru left the area that she had used for her gym, taking the back way out. She never took the same way to a location, or back. It was a old habit, that had kept her alive for many missions. No reason to stop now. Besides, then she would not have to make idle chit chat, with the others out front. She was not in the mood. She headed for her flat, to pick up her supplies, before she was to leave. One well cooked meal before she left, would also be nice. She had time. They would not show up for awhile yet. But there was much to do before then. She could feel it. Nuru looked at herself in a mirror, as she cooked. Her braids were pulled back into what she called a warrior's knot. She gave a smirk, as she turned back towards her meal. Yes, she could feel the tension building.

They would begin to look for her soon. She would have to move, just as she had done many times before. She would let another take over her place. She already had a new on picked out. I didnt bother her one bit. She lived on the excitement. Her things were packed. True, she would miss this location. There had been a very tiny garden there, if one could call it that. Two lone flowers, desperately trying to grow within the poor soil given them. But they seemed to survive somehow, always managing at least one bloom. Nuru considered it a sign.

She finished her meal, and cleaned up her dishes. She sat, looking out her own personal tiny view of what was around her, as she contemplated her next actions.

Soon.

She would be ready.



TAG:GM

 

OOC: General announcement everyone. Ktala is going to be acting as my CO GM. Please grant her the same respect you would grant me.

IC: Zell

Zell was a laid back man. Nothing could be said to the contrary. As Captain he liked to keep the authority decisions to a minimum. Instead, he made decisions based off of the general feel and tone of his crew. He was, after all, a soldier just like them. However if a tough decision had to be made he would of course step in.

The fact that Corsair came in with half a dozen suggestions of what he wanted to have done on tests and the like both intrigued and irritated Zell. He respected the fact that Corsair had the ability to take charge. But such things simply weren't necessary when Zell was around. He would have to have a talk with the man after they were underway.

All of this coupled with the nicknames of "Riv" and "Cap" disturbed Zell. He was laid back, yes. But he was still the Captain. And these men and women aboard his ship were nothing less than soldiers in an army. Their mission as serious as death itself, for if they failed they would meet nothing less. He did keep an air of relaxed nature aboard the Freedom so that his crew could be at ease at all times. Maybe this was a direct manifestation of the consequences of that.

All of these thoughts passed through Zell's mind as his facial features remained impassive. He had only served with Corsair for a short while now but had had enough interaction with the man to have his companion know his stern looks and precisely what they meant. Right now as Zell blinked, he looked directly into Corsair's eyes with the look that said "Slow down, and fall in."

Corsair should know better than to take control like that. It was one thing to take most of the responsibility upon himself so that Zell didn't have to. It was quite another to take ALL responsibility. This was their first real mission and there were kinks in command to be expected. But Corsair well knew that unless a command decision had to be made... he was just another member of the crew. His authority only had true effect in the event that Zell were killed, incapacitated, or otherwise absent in a situation. A fact that he would remind his colleague of when they were out of the earshot of the others.

For the time being he simply stared at Corsair with those impassive eyes. While he waited for River to give an update he heard Jaguar comm in and report the turret status. He nodded to himself and waited as River spoke about her work. Not yet answering or addressing Corsair.

tag all

 

IC: River

Onboard the Freedom

River nodded to the others as they came in, then turned back to Zell.
"Well Captain, I look a look at the syncronisers and they're stable now. So at least we won't be having any rough rides for a while as long as we're not bouncing off the walls."
She looked over to Corsair as he cut in. He was a very strong person and his interjection threw River off for a moment. she turned back to the Captain, her mind suddenly a blank.
"Umm....Oh! I also fixed the boosters. I don't know what our top speed will be till we get up to it, but it should be pretty fast, and I made sure the tuning was up to scratch to handle it. Other than that everything that should be working is working. The egines will work as clean as a whistle."
She looked down at her hands, sighing and raising her eyebrows. It was begining to look like the grime was growing with it's own intelligence. She looked up and smiled, slightly apologetic.
"Clean in the figurative sense of course Captain."

TAG: Zell, any

 

IC: Kenmei, the bridge of Freedom


Kenmei greeted Ed with a friendly nod. The young man was an excellent student of chess, and getting better. Perhaps they would have a chance to play on this tour. Perhaps not. Games came second to duty, of course.

He stood to the side, as usual, taking everything in with those cold, blue eyes. They were less covered in the real world than they were in the Matrix. He didn't like to let his hair grow too long here, as it might hinder his vision, whereas in the Matrix that was not a problem.

He listened to River's report, and observed the interruption by Corsair. He always was very forward. Kenmei tried to read the captain's face, but as usual Zell was keeping it a sea of calm. Still, his eyes spoke of the incredulity of Corsair.


Kenmei smirked slightly (He was not as good at hiding his emotions as the captain), waiting for the response to the captain's unspoken reprimand from Corsair. An interesting pre-flight, to say the least.


Tag: Bridge

 

IC: Jaguar

Zion Docking Bay, Aboard the hovercraft Freedom

It took him only a split second before it dawned on Jaguar that he was being expected on the Bridge. The Captain hadn't answered him verbally and all the chatter he was picking up was coming from that location. It seemed that everyone was already onboard and he was the only one missing from the mission briefing.

Silently reprimanding himself, Jaguar leapt all the way down to the ship's main corridor from his seat in the gunner's chair. He landed in a crouched position with feline grace, then set himself on a quick sprint to the bridge. He was going to be the last one again. Jaguar pushed that thought aside as he focused on making good time. He ran from the back of the ship to its cockpit as if he were traversing an olympic obstacle course. He leapt and jumped over crates and even flipped over railings.

To his surprise, he made good time as he slowed down several steps before the Bridge entrance. Taking a deep breath, he walked in with a bit of a rush, saluted the Captain, who had that 'neutral' look on his face, then fell in-line with the rest of the crew.

From what little he could read in peoples' faces, Jaguar surmized that he'd missed a bit of interaction. Hopefully it wasn't any bad news. Either way, Jaguar stood at attention and waited for the mission briefing to start.

Tag: Captain and Crew

 

IC: Corsair, Freedom Bridge

*As soon as he caught the first stages of that look, Corsair knew that Zell was less than pleased with his job as XO. Truthfully most of it was his fault, he had not gone into combat for a long time, and his nature as a laid-back detective had overtaken his tactical discipline.
He was also certain a small part of it was due to Zell being wound up with worry, going into combat, which was not his fault, it had been over 12 years for him as well.

Rather than openly apologize, which would not do well for the crew, he simply nodded, a slight down tip of his head that simply said "Understood"

He then donned a headset and jacked it into the radio.*

"With your permission captain, ill request clearance from Zion to depart. Would you like to take her out, or would you rather one of us take her through the channel?"

Tag: Zell, All.

 

IC: Zell

River finished her report and Zell nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good River, keep up the good work."

He looked around the now cramped cabin and realized that everyone besides Edward was present. Which was fine. His briefing was mainly for the ones going into the Matrix anyway.

Zell looked back over to Corsair and saw that the man had understood perfectly what was on his mind.

"With your permission captain, ill request clearance from Zion to depart. Would you like to take her out, or would you rather one of us take her through the channel?"

The Captain checked the time once again before yanking off his beret and standing up.

"Go ahead and switch with me, you can listen while you take us out."

Zell switched places and took the copilots chair as he glanced at the briefing sheets that Lok had given him. Then looked up as he tossed his beret on top of the clipboard in his lap.

"Well. Now is as good of a time as any to let you know what we are doing." Zell spoke with an even tone.

"We are going to hack into the Matrix, as I am sure you have all guessed. Our objective will mimic the main objectives of those retired soldiers that came years before us. We are going into the Matrix to free more minds than ever before. But there is a defined difference in our new task. It may seem menial at first but I assure you, our mission is more critical than ever before. As of right now, we are the only crew that is available for this mission. Most everyone else is still under the pretenses of peace. The other Captains and their crews are completely in the dark to this. On top of that, Zion has not sanctioned this move. The orders on this paper don't exist. We will not have backup. If we are caught by the machines, as far as Zion is concerned we have gone rogue with a stolen ship. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that this mission is going to be easy and that everything is going to be alright. This is going to be the fight of our lives people, no doubt about it."

Zell ran a weary hand through his naturally spiked hair and crossed his leg to get comfortable as the ship began to move with Corsair's touch.

"But here is the pay off. The minds we are freeing are not just normal people that see strange things with the world. They may be ready to be unplugged but unfortunately we aren't the ones to do it. The people we are going after have a strong possibility to be future anomalies within the Matrix.... Like Neo.."

Zell paused to remember the man that had helped free him and smiled unconsciously.

".... The system is trying to stamp them out of existence so that they don't have a repeat. Our job is to prevent that from happening. We go in, find them, extract them and get them safely to Zion. Simple enough to the ears I know. But our Intel says that the machines know we are coming. Regardless of our efforts to keep the operation a secret. The machines probably are prepared for us inside the Matrix. We don't believe that they will take overt action outside of the Matrix here in the tunnels. They want to be able to deny what they are doing as well. The fact that we know what they are doing was a coincidence stumbled upon by pure accident. Thats the official word anyway. Between us I think that the oracle had something to do with it. Ironically, she has been nowhere to be found since we got that information. Whatever is going on inside the Matrix right now, Seraph is taking a lot of steps to keep her hidden. So I hope that puts things into perspective when I tell you we are alone out here."

Zell looked each of his crew in the eye.

"In my years of being unplugged, I don't think I could have put together a finer crew. I mean that with all my heart. This operation is going to take nothing less than seamless teamwork to pull off. I could not have asked for more qualified personnel than what I have gathered on the Freedom. If we all do our jobs, we should get through this and save a few innocent people in the process. And thats it. I'll brief you all again once we reach broad

 

IC: River

On board the Freedom

"We're going back in? I can't go in." She blurted out. River looked around at the other crew, quickly turning her shock into an easy smile.
"I mean, I haven't been inside the Matrix with any of you. I might not be up to the needed standards for the mission." She looked back to the Captain. He probably knew why she was so on edge, but nobody else would and she'd asked the Captain not to tell anyone.
"Maybe if I just did some training programs and helped Ed with the operating or something."

TAG: Zell, any