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<b>ACCESS LOG</b></span> --&gt; <i><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">DOSSIER</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">LOOKUP</span>.</b></i></span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)"><span style="font-size: 15px"><b>CDR. CANAAN DRENNEN</b></span></span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 12px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)"><i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'">CURRENT STATUS --&gt; ACTIVE.</span></i></span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span style="font-size: 9px">access to subject records: denied.<br/>
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<s> <s> <s> <s>//	 </s></s></s></s><br/>
</span></span></span><br/>​</div><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 10px">The transport back to base after a pick-up mission was never what the Commander would consider adrenaline-rushing. There were no post-standoff rounds to pick out of a fresh wound or praise to be given after some member of the ground team successfully shoots their way out of a literal corner. Truth be told, even before Operation Bloodmoon they were never the team to send in on missions as low-risk as Operation AXS-062. His team was always the one that was sent when a job needed to get done - and that hasn't always been easy for him. He's known the horrors of war. He's had good marines die under his command - and without McDermott, well, sitting in silence with Avielle at his side seemed the most logical outcome of it all. He didn't understand how the Nazarov siblings could prattle on when there was an impending mission waiting for them back at base... their first real one since Bloodmoon if Sugawara's urgency was to speak for itself. Mostly, he spent the ride back staring out of the exposed port of the aircraft - the ashy wind tousling his hair and, for the most part, doing nothing to drown out the others' yelling above the sound of the rotors. The only other silent one in the Vantablack besides the focused pilot was the Avoxxis. <br/>
</span></span></span><br/><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)"><span style="font-size: 10px">Drennen was still in the process of coming to terms with the fact that this personification of the uncanny valley would not tend to possess the same quirks as any other flawed human would. He even snuck a couple glances in, back resting against the hard metal and in a crossed-armed state. Avielle didn't tend to move much or say anything - and that was yet another aspect of it that he didn't approve of. Speaking out of turn was one thing, yes, but the Commander was the type of man to want to at least know his subordinates on a somewhat personal level before trusting his life to them. But even if Avielle was sociable enough to offer up anything about its life what would it say? It has no hobbies. Its' spent the majority of its' short life under the same monitored white-walled roof. No. It wouldn't have those things to share. It wasn't birthed from a loving mother's womb. And then he was doing nothing but dwelling on the menial.<br/>
<br/>
He looked to the sun as it did and wondered but one more thing before stewing on the issue with the DOD and VTI again - was this the first time Avielle had seen daylight with its' own eyes?<br/>
<br/>
Back at base, Drennen didn't even so much as have time to piss or find Ylona a cold shower after fawning over Avielle before he'd found himself in the pleasant company of Sugawara once again. The holoscreens lit up with a different company insignia - Vantablack Technological Innovations. Sugawara stood tall and crossed his arms behind his back.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)">"Before I give you the debriefing, I want you all to know that this operation will require tact and diplomacy. We don't want to bring any neutral foreign power into this war on the wrong side because one of you -" </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)">Sugawara paused, side-eying Mikhail, </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)">"was a little too trigger-happy. I realize diplomacy isn't a strong suit of this particular squad but we wouldn't send you if we didn't feel you could get the job done."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)"><span style="font-size: 10px">The General directed his full attention to the Commander momentarily.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Commander, we all know that Bloodmoon was a disaster but, well, I respect you. Always have. Your name carries weight in the Corps and I didn't have to pull any strings to get your squad on this mission."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)"><span style="font-size: 10px">Sugawara returned to addressing those present as a whole. So far, Drennen felt that this speech was too heartwarming to be true. He got the vague suspicion that his XO was trying to stall something... his brows drew together and a corner of his lips twitched into a small smirk before he caught himself.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)"><span style="font-size: 10px">"I want you all to think of this next operation as a chance to redeem yourselves. I want you to think of it as a chance to test your meddle as much as pursuing success in your goal. This is no simple pick-up."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)"><span style="font-size: 10px">With that, the General waved a hand, sweeping away the VTI logo on the holoscreen. In its stead, a jumble of blueprints with photographs and more technical jargon. Besides lamenting the fact that none of the information provided on these missions was ever dumbed down enough for a layman like him to understand - the Commander caught a glimpse of an assortment of metallic, sleek firearms bearing the inscribed VTI insignia. These looked very much unlike anything he'd had the pleasure of carrying into the battlefield and, though he was well known for criticizing even the smallest flaws in anything that was present... he found himself at a loss for words. No. These were only pictures. Perhaps the weapons would turn out to be too bulky to realistically carry or have some new awkward mechanism that would have to be learned - but for now all he saw was a selection of perfectly aerodynamic rifles and handguns before him. Finally, something him and Mikhail could drool over.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)">"For about as long as SSAG have been working on the Avoxxis supersoldiers, Vantablack has been working with the DODs' top engineers as well as neutral organizations in Japan to develop a new type of firearm they call 'phasic weapons'. When I say they are truly remarkable, I'm not doing these prototypes any justice. What Vantablack has done with this is beyond anything we could have imagined. These 'phasic weapons', as I understand, are made up of a light alloy steel to keep them durable but light in the hands. These beauties can take beatings and still fire as good as they did during their testing stage..." </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)">- there is a twinkle of admiration in Sugawaras' beady eyes just thinking about it. Perhaps the Commander and him aren't so different after all, Drennen thought - </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(51, 102, 0)">"... but what is the most ground-breaking with these prototypes is that they are able to take any standard military-issue ammunition and adapt to their environment as they are fired. <i>Phasic weapons. </i>You replace an emptied clip of 9mm rounds, and suddenly you're shooting fire in the middle of the New USSR or chilling Axis soldiers in the middle of the Sahara - and that means none of you ever have to scavenge for modded ammo again."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><span style="font-size: 10px">The Commander took advantage of the brief pause to put the pieces together himself. Right about now the General sounded more like a shady salesman making a pitch than a high-ranking military official.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff"><span style="font-size: 10px">"In your transmission you mentioned that these 'phasic weapons' could turn the tide for space warfare as we know it. So they could even potentially adapt to Zero-G conditions?"<br/>
</span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#336600"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Space warfare is what they were originally being developed for, Commander. These weapons can adapt to any pressure conditions and travel through Zero-G more reliably than typical S-grade weapons. I'm only so well-informed because this was a DOD contract up until two months ago."<br/>
</span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff"><span style="font-size: 10px">"VTI dropped out two months ago... why didn't we know sooner?"<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><span style="font-size: 10px">For once, Sugawara seemed taken by surprise at the Commander's query. It was at that moment that his suspicions were confirmed. The stoic dick Sugawara <i>exhibited emotion</i>. Something else was at play. <br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#336600"><span style="font-size: 10px">"This was a very highly classified incident. I only knew because I was one of the few allowed to know - it directly affected our branch. The government already seems incompetent enough. If a whistleblower were to provide this information to an Axis power they would be the first to jump on this technology and use it against us. You've been around the block more than anyone else around here, Commander. You should know how these politics work no matter how much you hate them. I know I do."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><span style="font-size: 10px">Translation: if one of the big badges moves to make you a General one of these days, don't take it. Noted. The Commander offered a silent nod of acknowledgment in reply. With that bit of business out of the way, Sugawara quickly moved on to the next topic. There was another wave of the hand over the holoscreen.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#336600"><span style="font-size: 10px">"What we're especially interested is something VTI had called a T.A.R exosuit. The acronym stands for Tactical Aerospace Reactor, a heavy set of combat armor that harnesses the radiation of deep space to power its' tech drives. The tech drives provide a HUD that assists targeting for long-range aim and predictive algorithms for potential scenarios that you might encounter during an operation. All-in-all, very vital to anything you might have to face down in the future."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><span style="font-size: 10px">Blueprints for the T.A.R exosuit replaced those of the phasic weapons. This was all very scientific, but what was the General hiding that he wasn't willing to share? The Commander had enough common courtesy not to call him out in front of everybody in the room. Every word that fell from Sugawara's lips just seemed slighted, but is a man a liar for not addressing the problem at all? <br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff"><span style="font-size: 10px">"So we need to retrieve this tech from Vantablack. I have a feeling it won't be that easy."<br/>
</span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#336600"><span style="font-size: 10px">"You're right. Our intel suggests that VTI no longer has these prototypes at their HQ. They did what we were afraid SSAG might do, they sold to the highest bidder."<br/>
</span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Any leads on possible locations?"<br/>
</span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#336600"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Yes. That's why this mission is considerably more difficult than you think. For the past two months, our recon agents have been shaking down potential buyers. We feared that the tech may have been bought out by an Axis power, turns out it was bought out by an independent organization based out of Tokyo."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><span style="font-size: 10px">Japan. One of the few countries that had successfully managed to stay neutral through it all.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Now I see why this requires tact."<br/>
</span></span></span>​</div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080"><span style="font-size: 10px">The Commander looked to his speculating squad. If they were going to go into this with clear heads, they'd need all of their questions answered beforehand.<br/>
</span></span></span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffffff"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Thoughts?"</span></span></span>​</div>