Touches of corruption

Nicole Taylor

CLASSIFIED TU CONFIDENTIAL

Mission Report, Inquest on reports of supernatural activity [ACMR20150042-T]

Investigator Nicole Taylor, Void Engineers, NSC, Antwerp Construct

0. PREAMBLE

This mission report deals with the events while on mission on 2015.03.15, at the offices of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in Antwerp.

1. BACKGROUND

Initial mission information was relatively limited; we received word that a Mr Peter Nathan Texado was spreading words of a supernatural encounter, but was unwilling to speak further with Technocratic agents. Decided was that we were to head to the location to personally speak with Mr Texado to ascertain what he had witnessed, and to make sure he would not further divulge this information amongst the masses.

2. SYNOPSIS

Mission objective achieved with death of target. Evidence of corruption detected at primary mission location, including at target; achieved tactical victory over corruptive elements. Non-hostile traditionalist encountered; second non-hostile traditionalist retrieved.

3. DETAILED MISSION TRANSCRIPT

3.1 Initial ingress

As we expected no hostilities, it was decided that agent Jane and I were to go in through the main entrance, while agent Salisbury would infiltrate posing as janitorial staff and infiltrate covertly to act as support.

Agent Jane and I approached the receptionist and asked to speak to mr Texado. After a telephone conversation between the receptionist and our target, coupled with some mind procedures by agent Jane, we received permission to go to mr Texado on the 24th floor.

3.2 Initial hostile contact and team meetup

However, while agent Jane was thus engaged, I decided to perform a routine inspection procedure of my surroundings to see if there was any extra-dimensional activity going on at the premises. To my shock, the receptionist was under the influence of an EDE with entropic resonance, entropic EDE further.

After covertly informing agent Jane, feigning ignorance, I decided to check on agent Salisbury. Meanwhile, he had made contact with a third party, a traditionalist named Matthew (apparently from the Euthanathos faction), on an assassination mission. Through agent Salisbury, we learned that he had prior contact with mr Texado, and believed him to be irredeemably corrupted.

Another important piece of information retrieved by agent Salisbury was that there seemed to be no flow of electricity, or any other signals, to any floor above the 20. From what I understand there were also signs that there was no other source of electricity local to those floors.

Decided was to meet up with agent Salisbury and Mr Matthew to extract further information and to find out if a joint operation would be feasible, especially considering the revelation of EDE corruption. Local personnel were rather insistent to take the elevator straight up to the 24th floor, which, combined with the information on the lack of electricity, resulted in us deciding not to do that, and instead to meet up on the 19th floor, to proceed on foot.

After meeting up with Mr Matthews, it turned out that it was him that met Mr Texado earlier, prompting Mr Texado's exclamations on the 'occult'. It appears Mr Matthews has some crude abilities in dimensional science, and as such was able to ascertain similar corruption to the receptionist earlier in Mr Texado (and indeed, in other local personnel). It was decided that, considering Mr Texado's knowledge and involvement of the situation, he would join us upstairs to meet with Mr Texado.

2.3 Ascending by stairs

While the first set of stairs up went normal, there was a dramatic shift in architecture in the next floors up; instead of the more modern style below, it featured a rather old-appearing, wooden style. This seemed to correlate with a local disruption of dimensional barriers, making it easier for EDE's to cross to our dimension. Indeed, three such EDE's (commonly referred to as "Banes") were following us. They were doing this from across the (weakened) dimensional barrier, remaining invisible to agent Jane and agent Salisbury. Mr Matthews did seem able to discern them. They seemed especially interested in myself and Mr Matthews (presumably because of our knowledge of dimensional science). They seemed unfriendly, though not directly hostile.

Meanwhile, strange noises were heard coming from a closed room.

Ascending to the 24th floor, a scan of the elevator shaft revealed a rather large, similar EDE in the elevator shaft, seemingly acting as a superstitionist form of transportation.

2.4 Encounter with Mr Texado and hostilities

It was decided to head straight to Mr Texado's office and confront him. It seemed that our initial deception was successful, and Mr Texado awaited us to discuss a business transaction. When pressed on his statements earlier on his supposedly supernatural encounter, he quickly became more nervous and defensive.

Meanwhile, the Entropic EDE's (on the prompting of agent Jane) seemed to indicate that they did not mind what would happen to Mr Texado, as he was, in their view, easily replacable.

After a short conversation, Mr Texado noticed Mr Matthews and became increasingly hostile, recalling his earlier encounter. Meanwhile, Mr Matthews explained his lethal intents. I attempted to calm the situation, inviting both Mr Texado and Mr Matthews to come with us to discuss what happened in a more suitable setting. Mr Matthews seemed suspicious of our motives, and instead opted to seize Mr Texado, and use traditionalist means to shift dimensions, taking Mr Texado with him.

After a short discussion and consulting Construct leadership, we felt it likely that Mr Matthews would make good on his earlier promises. While not an ideal solution, it would fulfil our primary mission objectives, and giving chase was deemed unnecessarily dangerous. We thus instead set ourselves to dealing with the local corruption.

A swift, decisive attack took the EDE's by surprise, one being taken out after being hit both by a dimensionally charged blast from myself as well as conventional energy weapons fire by agent Salisbury. We fought a slow retreating battle towards the stairs from then on. Three EDE's crossed the dimensional barrier, allowing them to throw balls of fire at us, but also allowing returning small arms fire. Eventually, the EDE's were taken down with only minor injuries on our side.

During the encounter, it was determined that destruction of the upper structure of the building would be an effective, if crude way to both destroy the deviant facilities as well as provide a plausible explanation for the masses. The EDE's fireball set numerous small fires throughout the facilities, providing a base for agent Franklin to use destructive forces procedures. Agent Jane, after procedural analysis, destroyed a weak point in the building to provide delayed demolition.

2.5 Extraction and encountering captured traditionalist

During our extraction, we decided to check out the room mentioned at the end of paragraph 2.3. In it, we found a disturbing team, where a young woman was trapped in a mechanical device, which was continuously extracting and filtering her blood.

We determined that extracting her quickly would be possible with acceptable levels of risk, and a more careful approach was not possible given the circumstances. The restraints were easily taken care of, and the device itself was also easily decoupled.

Extracting the victim back to the 19th floor was done without further complications. Once there, we triggered the fire alarm (which was not present on higher floors) to evacuate the building, simultaneously allowing us to extract from the premises successfully.

During the ride home, while administering medical care to the woman, we noticed the presence of Enlightenement in the woman. After basic first aid during transport, she was transferred into the care of our doctor, Dr. Bashir.

4. CONCLUSIONS

4.1 Primary mission outcome

The primary mission objectives were to find out what Mr Texado witnessed and to make sure he maintained silence on it to non-Enlightened personnel. The first turned out to be the traditionalist, Mr Matthews. The second was achieved by the (likely) death of Mr Texado at the hand of Mr Matthews. While capture would have been a preferred outcome, his termination was an acceptable outcome, especially after the discovery of EDE influences on Mr Texado.

The method of Mr Matthews' extraction makes confirmation of termination infeasible; low-level background monitoring to ensure we notice if he returns is called for.

4.2 Encounter of corrupting elements

The fact that EDE's were rampant among all encountered personnel at the location is of course very disconcerting. While the apparent source of the corruption was dealt with, the presence of EDE corruption amongst lower-level staff on lower floors means that some corrupting elements are likely to remain. Further surveillance and termination efforts should be employed.

While exfiltration proved easy, we should assume that elements of the hostile force have witnessed at least parts of our actions, and should proceed with discretion.

4.3 Traditionalist presence

Two traditionalists were encountered at the premises, although they are unlikely to be directly connected with the corruption there.

The first, Mr Matthews, plays a pivotal role in the events. His eagerness to end the life of Mr Texado was concerning, as such fanaticism can quickly turn against our interests. He identified himself as part of the Euthanatos faction.

The second is an unknown for the moment. She is currently secured in our facility and undergoing medical treatment. Further debriefing, to determine more about herself and the way in which she ended up at the location, is needed. Later Determined to be Sofie Derde

4.4 Casualties and material losses

No casualties in friendly personnel, except for minor injuries. Similarly, no material losses were encountered, except for consumable materiel (to wit, ammunition and medical supplies).

4.5 Final conclusion and thoughts

While our encounter achieved more than we initially set out to accomplish at the start of the mission, it was also a clear indication that dangerous superstitionist elements are active in the city of Antwerp, including until now unknown factions.