recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Astra Inc.

The original Astra Inc. logo.

**Astra Inc.** was an American Research and Development company with a wide range of clients across many different industries. The company reached its peak in the mid-to-late 1980s as global mining industries expanded and ore prospecting became a profitable business. Astra filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and subsequently liquidated its assets. In 2018, Astra assets such as their signature white transport vans began appearing alongside various crimes in the United States, prompting an joint investigation by state police into the matter. The investigation was never concluded and is ongoing to this day.

## History

### Origins and Founding

Astra Inc. was founded on March 5th, 1979 in Roux, Louisiana. The company originally took on contracts with mining companies in the continental United States, Caribbean, and Africa to help prospect and analyze rare earth metals being mined. The operation remained profitable until the 1990s when many of Astra's legacy clients scaled back production and relieved their analysis departments in favor of cost reductions.

Astra officially filed for bankruptcy on June 11th, 1991.

### Modern Day

In late 2024, a shootout in a Las Vegas suburb involved a number of old Astra transport vans. The assailants assaulted a car dealership which was occupied by agents of the Hidden Order, resulting in thirteen deaths including the dealership's owner, Aurelio De Luca.
Black Cetan

Group insignia, usually tattooed on right arm of members.

The **Black Cetan** (pronounced Chetan) are an international criminal organization responsible for some of the most notorious heists of all time. The group is made up of a very small number of core members who are each extremely skilled at their respective roles, which make catching the Cetan almost impossible. On the most recent heist conducted by the group, a small error in their execution put them in the crosshairs of INTERPOL Unit, ROSE-4.

## History

It is unknown exactly when the Black Cetan were founded, however archived police reports suggest it could have existed as far back as the 1970s. The group was initially reported to have conducted various types of international crime including money laundering, drug trafficking, and assassinations but eventually halted most of these behaviours to focus solely on grand theft. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the group had reportedly stolen over $42.2 million in rare objects, items, and artefacts.

In September 2020, the group executed one of its most high-stake and lucrative heists of all time against Ankco Ltd., a global tech and conglomerate holding company founded by young billionaire Joakim Anken. The heist involved stealing an entire locked container vault from one of Ankco's most remote storage facilities in the Caribbean Sea. Upon discovery of the operation by a security guard who changed his routine patrol path, a Cetan member shot and killed the guard before promptly fleeing with their stolen goods. A trace of the bullet found in the guard's skull put law enforcement one step closer than ever to tracking down the Black Cetan. INTERPOL created a specialized task force called ROSE-4 to hunt and capture the Black Cetan members.

## Notable Heists

* Greenhead, UK (June 1st, 1988): Duke of Doherty's family heirlooms were intercepted and stolen on the highway as they were being transported to their museum in Carlisle. Worth $4 million.
* Rondonópolis, Brazil (February 22nd, 1997): A famous catholic rosary belonging to the second largest church in the world was taken from its secured display case allegedly by a janitor during a celebration. Worth $12 million.
* Mount Fletcher, South Africa (May 11th, 2004): A gold-finished concert grand piano made uniquely by Bösendorfer was taken from the auction hall in which it was being sold. Worth $8.2 million.
* Caribbean Sea (September 13th, 2020): A collection of artefacts being stored securely by multinational corporation Ankco Ltd. was airlifted out of the island facility during a stormy night with poor visibility. Unknown worth; priceless.

## Trivia

* The Cetan is a Lakota hawk spirit associated with the east and the qualities of speed, dedication and good vision.
* The Black Cetan's insignia is a hawk tattoo usually displayed on the upper right arm of current members.
Vitaly Bazarov

Bazarov and his entourage at his Gala event immediately prior to his assassination.

### Affiliation

Bazarov Gang, Hidden Order (excommunicated)

## Appearances

### Debut

Earning Rank mission

**Vitaly Bazarov** (Russian: Виталий Базаров; born May 8, 1971 – died September 15, 2022) was a Russian mobster and the leader of the **Bazarov Gang**, a notorious Mafia organization based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Known for his ruthlessness and cunning, Bazarov became a powerful figure in the Russian underworld. His breach of contract with the Hidden Order, a secretive criminal organization that controlled transactions between gangs worldwide, ultimately led to his assassination by the Monochrome Knights of the Syndicate.

## Early Life

Vitaly Bazarov was born in a poor neighborhood in St. Petersburg to a single mother who worked as a waitress. He never knew his father, and Bazarov spent most of his childhood on the streets. He dropped out of school at the age of 14 and began running errands for local gangsters.

## Career

Over the years, Bazarov became a trusted member of a local mafia, where he quickly earned a reputation for his cunning, brutality, and street smarts. By the time he was 25, Bazarov had risen through the ranks and became the leader of his own faction, the Bazarov Gang. Under his leadership, the gang expanded its operations, specializing in arms trafficking, extortion, and narcotics.

### Contract with the Hidden Order

Bazarov's growing influence in the Russian underworld caught the attention of the Hidden Order. Impressed with his success and power, the Hidden Order offered him a contract in 2005. This contract provided Bazarov and his organization with access to resources, connections, and protection from law enforcement in exchange for a percentage of their profits.

## Assassination

By 2022, Bazarov had grown increasingly greedy and power-hungry. He sought to expand his criminal empire beyond the reach of the Hidden Order. Bazarov began forging new alliances with other crime organizations, directly violating the terms of his contract with the Hidden Order. The Hidden Order, known for its ruthless efficiency, considered this a grave betrayal and began plotting Bazarov's demise.

In September 2022, Bazarov hosted a lavish gala at the Popov Winter Estate near St. Petersburg to celebrate his new alliances and the expansion of his criminal empire. Unbeknownst to him, the Hidden Order had infiltrated the event, sending the Monochrome Knights of the Syndicate to execute him. The highly skilled assassins infiltrated the heavily guarded estate, eliminated Bazarov, and neutralized most of the gang members before escaping.

## Legacy

Vitaly Bazarov's death sent shockwaves through the Russian underworld. His assassination served as a stark reminder of the Hidden Order's power and the consequences of defying the organization. The Bazarov Gang splintered in the aftermath of his death, with various factions vying for power. Bazarov's name became synonymous with betrayal and a cautionary tale for those who dared to challenge the Hidden Order.
Cross-reality

A **cross-reality** world or timeline is one where features of the world or surrounding area are not accurate to their respective timeline, and are sometimes merged with future or past versions of the landscape. This is usually caused by corruption in the timeline and can produce portions of landmass that are not from their respective timezone. An example occurs in the Truth Plains mission where more than half of the old Belgian landscape was mixed with present day features including a modern airstrip, city, and power station. This region is known as the Space Time Continuity Zone and can cause irreversible damage to the timeline if entities from different timelines approach the zone.
Popov Winter Estate

The front of the Popov Winter Estate.

Location of the Popov Winter Estate, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The **Popov Winter Estate** is a mansion and military event center in St. Petersburg, Russia belonging to the Russian Army. It is regularly used as a place for parties and galas hosted by high ranking officials in the Russian Armed Forces. The estate belonged to and was named after the former Soviet officer, Commander Popov.
Jay Findlay

Portrait of Jay Findlay.

**Jay Findlay Finch** (preferred name, **Jay Findlay**) is a British agent on the INTERPOL special task force, ROSE-4. He was one of the three original members of the unit during its formation and specializes in operational support & logistics.

## Background

Jay Findlay was born on June 26th, 1985 in Worthing, UK to a family of five of African descent. His father worked in the government and frequently travelled to London, leaving his three kids and wife alone in their small town most of the time. Findlay was much younger than his older brother and sister which created a lot of separation between him and his siblings. When he was old enough to change his name, Findlay took on the last name of his mother out of respect for her dedication to raising him throughout his childhood.

Out of high school Findlay went to college at the London Metropolitan University where he was able to get in contact with his father again. After some years of renewing their relationship, his father helped secure Findlay a job in law enforcement and security within the Parliament. Upon finishing his degree in Criminal Justice, he applied for work at INTERPOL in their Manchester headquarters. Despite moving away from his family, he continued keeping regular contact with them throughout his career.

Following the Ankco Storage Facility Heist conducted by the Black Cetan on September 13th, 2020, Findlay was reassigned to a new unit dedicated to catching the criminal organization responsible for the attack.

## Appearance

Findlay is a Black British person with short wooly hair and a consistent long-stubble facial hair look. He has dark brown coloured eyes and a slightly lighter complexion than most of his family members. He is 6 foot 2 inches tall and often comes to the office wearing a black INTERPOL labelled zip-up vest jacket and dark jeans.
Omega Gate

Omega Gate being summoned by STCTF operators in Kryukov, Kazakhstan.

The **Omega Time Gate** (or just **Omega Gate**) is a massive Time Gate used to transport larger cargo to other timelines in The Multiverse. The gate was created by the Space Time Continuum Task Force Generation Chiron as a way of transporting an L-100 Firefighting Tanker Plane, a refill truck, and the Project Zero device into a timeline that would be used to trap the Ephemeral Orm.

## Specifications

The Omega Gate is created from the same stone material as the original Time Gate which allows it to generate the temporal field needed to transport matter. It is usually summoned at a lodestone by operators who are already in the destination timeline. The Omega Gate can only be opened when all other Time Gates are closed to prevent destabilizing the timeline and causing anomalies to form.
Cameron Throsby

**Cameron Throsby** was a security officer working for Ankco Tech during the Ankco Storage Facility #3 Heist in which he discovered the Black Cetan in the middle of their heist. Upon demanding the thieves to stand down, Throsby was shot in the head and killed. His body was found more than 30 minutes after the Black Cetan had escaped.
Generation Chiron

The **STCTF Generation: Chiron** (also known as **Generation Chiron** or **Gen Chiron**) is a former iteration of the Space Time Continuum Task Force (STCTF). Similar to most generations of STCTF, Generation Chiron was made up of capable individuals in The Multiverse who would enter into an agreement with The Time Dialer to complete a task likely to span across multiple timelines. Though much of the unit's personal information has been lost or is heavily encrypted, the unit is known to be made up of operators from different timelines.

## Background

### Knowledge of Existence

As per the STCTF codex, all information regarding previous iterations of the unit are immediately wiped from data centers upon the decommission of the principle operator. Supposedly, the rule is in place to protect the integrity of The Multiverse by ensuring current operators (who are not exempt from the rules of natural time flow) do not possess more knowledge about spacetime than is needed for them to efficiently complete their contractual task.

Due to a loophole, however, the current generation of STCTF operators became aware of Generation Chiron since the legacy unit went completely inactive while their task was still incomplete. Requiring a new set of operators to carry on the job, The Orb inducted a new generation into service—knowing well of the implicit risks of two generations existing concurrently. It is for this reason that there is no way to acquire indexed data on unit iterations older than Chiron.

### Unit Composition

The only information available from the decrypted data index for the unit is the composition of operators involved in Chiron. According to operator profile logs, it appears as though most operators were inducted into the unit from completely different timelines. Despite being composed of people from all across The Multiverse, a particular log entry by one of the operators left on Lunar Base STADIUS claims that the members somehow understood their purpose in the unit and were proficient in situations where they needed to be.

*"Even though I had read about these men in history textbooks as a teenager, here they stood before me nodding along to briefings about portals and automatic handheld weapons and an enemy unknown. Without having asked any questions, they seemed to know exactly what was going on and what was needed of them for the team to operate. I suppose broad-mindedness is what made them special candidates of their times." —Operator Log, Lunar Base STADIUS*

## Etymology

The unit name Chiron stems from ancient Greek mythology for a wise and just centaur, which was then adopted to represent the unit. It is unclear if the operators picked the name themselves, or if it was assigned by their Command Mainframe System. The unit symbol is denoted by the character ⚷.
Decommissioning (STCTF)

**Decommissioning** is the process of retiring Space Time Continuum Task Force operators at the end of their Generation's operational lifespan. The practice involves returning operators to their original timelines with no recollection of their time spent in the STCTF. Every operator is returned by their teammates in an optimal order determined by the Command Mainframe System (CMS), until only one operator remains known as the principle operator (PO). This final operator must then activate the CMS's termination protocol and put themselves into a state of Indefinite Epochogenic Comatose (IEC), completing the decommissioning process.

## Process

Every STCTF generation is automatically assigned a principle operator by the CMS upon induction of the unit. Members can also volunteer themselves as the principle operator as long as the CMS deems it feasible. Once a PO has been designated, the CMS also produces and maintains a sequential order for which each member will be decommissioned in.

At the end of a generation's operational lifespan (when their contractual agreement with their signor has been completed), the whole unit participates in the final wind-down process of individually decommissioning each operator. When the last non-PO member has been decommissioned, the PO will return to the unit headquarters and initiate the termination protocol on their CMS, which will trigger a memory dump and base destruction priming event. Finally, the PO will use the Epoch chambers in the medical ward to put themselves into IEC.

The principle operator is the only member who is not returned to their original timeline.

## History

Very little is known about the origins of this practice, however it is assumed that these rules exist at the induction phase of the new unit. According to the STCTF Codex which defines the regulations, practices, and constraints of the force, two generations of STCTF cannot exist at the same time to prevent strain on the timeline due to the phenomena known as Space Creep. It seems as though this rule was bypassed due to a loophole, where The Time Dialer was able to induct a second generation STCTF.

## Mishaps and Caveats

Due to knowledge of previous STCTF Generation Chiron, it is known that this rule can cause complications in some extenuating circumstances. Generation Chiron somehow found themselves split up before they were given the chance to decommission with their operators seemingly being wrenched out of their timeline and sent across The Multiverse. In logs discovered at Lunar Base STADIUS one operator wrote:

*"It has been almost 2 years since the main team were sucked into The Cogworks without us. We've been stranded out here for so long trying any way we can to get in contact with them, but the trail has gone cold." —Carter, STCTF Gen Chiron*

This memo along with other evidence located at the base suggests that a part of the team was sent into The Cogworks against their will, and the remainder of the units were sucked into other timelines all together, leaving only a handful of operators at the base that was under attack by Minutemen.
Charlie Gurrola

**Charlie Gurrola** is a former agent of the international crime syndicate, the Hidden Order. He was discovered to be the whistleblower who gave an anonymous tip to the FBI of criminal legend John Meredith's whereabouts after Meredith signed a contract with the Order.

Gurrola worked under Marshal Kirsch when he was employed in the Order.
Commander Popov

### Occupation

Intelligence Officer (1945-1965), Logistics Officer (1965-1976), Base Commander (1976-1984)

## Appearances

### Appears in

Ghost Stories, Golden Phantom

**Commander Popov** (first name unknown) was the former commander of the Soviet Union's expansion effort into the South-Pacific during the Cold War. From 1976 until 1984, Popov acted as pacific commander from his research base on the Dominion of Muri.

## Service Career

### Cold War Career (1965-1976)

During the early years of the Cold War, Popov had moved from his role as an intelligence officer to a more senior role involving the logistics of units to various missile bases around the country. It was during this time where he met many top officials spearheading the USSR's research division. Near the end of his career as logistics officer, he was contacted by several of these former Red Army research associates for taking the role of a special command position within the research division.

### South Pacific Career (1976-1984)

In the late 1970s, Popov organized the logistics for establishing a permanent base of operations for the Red Army on the Southern Pacific Island of Muri. The base served as both a restock point for Soviet cargo ships as well as a research outpost for the Dark Sword Research Group, a highly secretive research organization created by the Kremlin.

In the events of the Ghost Stories series, Popov and the DSRG constructed a tractor-beam device on the Muri base which was intended to dislocate a near-passing comet from its orbit in order to shift tides and cause large damage to US coastlines. In the Ghost Stories timeline, Popov succeeds with his plan but unknowingly brings forth Armageddon to the world, leading to the events in the Sanctuary series.

## Death and Memorial

In the standard timeline, Popov died January 8th, 1996 due to heart complications. In the wake of his passing, his estate on the outskirts of St. Petersburg was coined the Popov Winter Estate and renovated by the Russian Armed Forces. It is used as a grounds for private functions by officers in Russia's military.
Criminal Legend

A **Criminal Legend** is an individual in the criminal underworld who is considered to be the most successful in their business. The distinction is not awarded in any formal way, it merely attaches itself to those worthy of its title by word of mouth. Only a few people have made their way onto the list of well-known criminal legends.

## List of Notable Criminal Legends

### John Meredith

John J. Meredith became a criminal legend after he converted his father's semi-trailer shipping and receiving company into a major US-based transport service for criminal organizations based within the continental United States to trade with groups abroad. His gang, the DeRose Trucker Group became one of the wealthiest criminal organizations in the United States since it's conversion to illicit transit in the 1970s.

### Michiaki Imamura

One of the largest remaining wartime mafias in Japan, the Okami, surged in dominance during the economic boom of the 1980s thanks to the family head, Michiaki Imamura. Imamura took control of the group following the passing of his father and led it through a resurgence of influence into the modern era. He continues to head the family to this day.

### Usam Kadiev

Usam Kadiev is an information broker from Russia. Widely known in the east as the best broker in the business, Kadiev has provided information for both criminal organizations and governments alike. One of his most impressive feats as a broker was to manipulate the US Government into waging a war in Sierra Leone to assist the Hidden Order with an operation they were conducting there, further solidifying himself as a criminal legend.
Command Mainframe System

The command mainframe system at the Chiron Lunar Base STADIUS.

A **Command Mainframe System** is an autonomous command-and-control subsystem of The Founder that assists and manages its assigned Space Time Continuum Task Force generation.

## Purpose

The purpose of the CMS is to provide an STCTF generation with assistance that could otherwise not be provided by The Founder (or The Time Dialer) during its absence. Since these omnipotent beings do not exist to micromanage the unit, they are often unable to answer to requests for higher forms of power at any given time. The CMS alleviates this issue by providing an interface between the mortal operators of the unit and some fundamental powers of the singularities that may be needed for their operations, such as warping through Time Gates.

The CMS also provides passive base management abilities to ensure the operators can effectively conduct their tasks without needing to worry about frivolous matters such as base organization or defence. Along with this basic functionality, the CMS will also act as the **Gate Guardian** when operators are not immediately able to protect the Time Gate during excursions.

Once an STCTF generation is fully decommissioned, the CMS will activate a termination protocol to wipe all data belonging to that generation and self destruct. Thus, specific Command Mainframe Systems are bound to serve only the generation they were assigned to.

### Known CMS Subsystems

Although it was discovered that STCTF Generation Chiron possessed a failing CMS at their Lunar Base STADIUS, the exact name and details of the system are unknown. Generation Caduceus currently has the LAMBDA Mainframe acting as their Command Mainframe System.
Inyoni

The country of **Inyoni** (Zulu for: bird) is a temperate country in the southern portion of Africa. The country has forests with lots of natural resources often exploited by foreign nations. The most recent conflict faced by Inyoni was the invasion of US and Russian forces who sought a natural compound from the forest that could be used to build a highly potent chemical weapon.

## Recent History

### US-Russian Invasion of 2022

One of the most notable conflicts to affect the country of Inyoni was the invasion of Russian and American forces in the Spring months of 2022. Russia was the first to setup a military installation on one of Inyoni's harbor islands to the south. The airbase was used to fly in equipment and personnel who would be assisting the forces with gathering scarce resource from Inyoni's vast jungles. The plant they were looking for contained a compound that could be used for building highly potent and lethal chemical weapons.

Upon hearing the plans of the Russians, US forces also deployed to the region under "peacekeeping" pretenses, however also engaged in plant harvesting while simultaneously fighting Russian forces in the region. These battles more often than not left the civilians in more critical conditions than each other.

An event that changed the intentions of the war was an accidental US airstrike on the town of Kwanele, which the US believed was occupied by Russian armed forces. The entire city was leveled, and the town's population of almost 2000 was severely wounded or killed in the event. The bombing of Kwanele formed the basis for the creation of the Flightless Crows, and instigated their rebellion that utilized guerrilla warfare tactics to attack both US and Russian soldiers across Inyoni.

## Trade Relations

Since Inyoni is a landlocked country, its fishing imports usually come from islands in the Arabian and Indian Oceans. One of Inyoni's largest importer of fish and agricultural goods are the Kiros Islands, which produce and sell a plethora of herbs and fish to help offset Inyoni's rising food shortages due to conflicts.
Epochium

**Epochium** is an element that forms into shards or crystals near sources of space time continuity. The crystal can cause adverse effects when mortal beings are in close proximity or have had prolonged exposure to the shard, which can lead to Temporal Paralysis (TP). The material can be processed and used in countermeasure equipment to keep beings participating in time warping safe from the effects of TP.

## Uses

Processed Epochium can be used in a variety of ways to produce equipment and devices that countermeasure the adverse effects of time dilation. The Space Time Continuum Task Force uses processed Epochium to produce their Space Warp Suits for operators who are frequently deployed to alternate timelines. Other uses of the material are to create more wide-area protection devices, however their usage has not been adopted yet as the research is fairly early in development

## Formation Locations

Very small dust particles of Epochium form near interdimensional rifts at Space Time Continuity Zones and eventually coalesce together to form shards or larger crystal structures. When events are more damaged by external intrusion, more Epochium is released in reaction to the larger amounts of energy being put into the timeline, which causes faster formation of crystals.

### Decay

Shards remain even after continuity events and slowly decay back into the timeline as anomalies disappear. It is believed that the decay of these crystals is what repairs damaged timelines. Occasionally misguided wanderers stumble across Epochium crystals and anticipate great value out of them, but unfortunately succumb to the effects of Temporal Paralysis due to prolonged exposure.
Imamura family

The **Imamura Family** (or **Imamura Clan**) are an affluent Japanese family who run the Okami—an organized crime group in Kyoto, Japan. The current head of the family is Michiaki Imamura who leads the Okami as the Kingpin. Each of the Kingpin's children are responsible for different subsections of the crime group's operations including Drug and Human Trafficking, weapon trades, and private security.

## History

The Imamura family are from Kyoto, Japan where they built their wealth on trade between localized villages. Throughout the 20th century, the Imamura clan's operations expanded into more urbanized development as the industrial age emerged at full force in Japan. During the Second World War, members of the Imamura family offered aid to many of the nearby villages damaged in firebombing missions by Allied forces.

Following the war, the family shifted its focus onto illegal activities during the recession in Japan caused by the war. With little resistance from other emerging gangs, the Imamura family formed the Okami crime syndicate and immediately established themselves as an influential power in Kyoto financially. Building much of their wealth extorting people who could not pay back loans they'd received from the clan, the Imamura family expanded the Okami's operations into other illegal activities such as drug and weapon trades.

By the early 2000s, the Japanese government had enacted a full force crackdown on illegal crime organizations which limited the power and reach of the Imamura family beyond Kyoto and neighboring Osaka. Today, the Imamura's greatest source of income is the weapon trade conducted by the eldest son of Michiaki Imamura, Kazuto Imamura.
HDMS Thunderbird

A painting of the newly commissioned HDMS Thunderbird, 1801.

The ***HDMS Thunderbird*** was a Danish three-mast frigate warship. She was commissioned in 1801 and remained in service until she was lost in the Arctic Circle four years later. The Thunderbird was most famously known for having Prince Emil Johansen of the Royal Family on board during her final voyage.

## History

The primary role of the *HDMS Thunderbird* was to serve as a royal escort for Prince Johansen, participating in diplomatic missions and other official events. The ship also engaged in several naval battles during its short service life, achieving notable victories against enemy vessels.

In 1804, the ship was assigned to escort Prince Johansen back from his voyage to the Caribbean. It was reported that the Prince was carrying a special cargo on board that he was planning to gift to his newly wed wife back home. Some historians have long speculated that the gift was a substantial amount of the highly rare Elbekian Gold, but these claims were never substantiated.

In December 2024, Russian Armed Forces located the ship in an ice sheet just north of the Siberian Tundra. Upon removing it from the ice, they discovered that there was in fact no gold in the cargo hold, only a higher than normal amount of gunpowder barrels.

## Construction and Design

The HDMS Thunderbird was a 1,500-ton displacement, three-mast frigate warship, measuring 150 ft (45.7 m) in length, with a beam of 40 ft (12.2 m) and a draft of 16 ft (4.9 m). Constructed at the Royal Danish Shipyard in Copenhagen, she was built using high-quality oak and iron fittings. Its design was based on contemporary Danish frigate blueprints, featuring a sleek hull shape that improved speed and maneuverability. As a reflection of its owner Prince Johansen's status, the ship was adorned with intricate carvings and gold leaf decorations.

### Propulsion

Equipped with three masts and square rigging, the HDMS Thunderbird boasted a total sail area of 18,000 sq ft (1,672 sq m) and could achieve a maximum speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).

### Armament & Personnel

Heavily armed for its time, the HDMS Thunderbird carried a total of 44 guns. This included 26 18-pounder long guns on the main deck, 14 9-pounder short guns on the upper deck, and 4 24-pounder carronades for close-range engagement. The ship was manned by a crew of 240, consisting of 20 officers and 220 enlisted personnel.

### Notable Upgrades

In 1803, the HDMS Thunderbird underwent several modifications aimed at enhancing its combat capabilities and endurance for long voyages. Upgrades included the reinforcement of the hull and rigging for increased durability, installation of improved gun carriages for faster reloading and better accuracy, and the addition of extra provisions storage and water tanks for extended voyages. The hull was also sheathed in reinforced copper to protect against marine borers and improve speed.
Ankco Tech

**Ankco Ltd.** (also known as **Ankco Tech**) is a multinational conglomerate technology company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company owns numerous private and public companies in fields related to medicine, healthcare, robotics, retail, entertainment, security, and defence. The corporation was founded by young billionaire CEO Joakim Anken in December 2008.

## History

Ankco Tech was incorporated on December 21st, 2008 by Joakim Anken who had completed a rapid double degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics at Stockholm University. The company originally produced automated systems and robotics for clients in Scandinavia's advanced healthcare industry, but soon went international due to the speed and quality at which their products were developed. By 2016, Ankco had expanded to three continents and had already acquired several growing tech startups along the way.

Anken's family relationship with the ultra rich gave his business a competitive edge in many leading markets and propelled the company's value to new heights. Ankco Tech eventually ceased its own production of technology and focused on the management of its subsidiaries. In 2020, Ankco Tech earned $197 million in revenue from its various projects and ventures.

## Incidents

One of Ankco Tech's most successful ventures is its private security and asset protection business. Although the number is unknown, it is estimated that the company owns upwards of six high-security storage facilities in various nations and international waters across the earth for protecting assets belonging to wealthy clients.

On September 13th, 2020, an Ankco Storage Facility located in the Caribbean ocean was attacked by an international crime group known as the Black Cetan. During the heist, the assailants stole more than $40 million of property including a priceless artefact belonging to the Anken family themselves. Following the incident, Ankco's public share price fell 6% over the next week resulting in a net loss of over $11.5 million. The heist also became publicly reported which stirred debate around the real safety provided by private security firms.
Usam Kadiev

An oil painting of Usam Kadiev.

**Usam Kadiev** is an information broker and criminal legend from Russia. Widely known in the east as the best broker in the business, Kadiev has provided information for both criminal organizations and governments alike. Most recently, Kadiev joined the Hidden Order as an associate information broker.

## History

### Early Life

Kadiev grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. He began doing his earliest brokering with a mafia based out of the city, but eventually shifted focus to a more national and international stage where his clients were more high profile.

### Joining the Hidden Order

In late 2024, Kadiev was approached by officers in the Russian Armed Forces to become a broker for them as they had been searching for the wreckage of an old Danish frigate, the *HDMS Thunderbird*. In exchange for his services, the officers promised his safety from other parties interested in this information.

On December 13, 2024, Kadiev's guarded estate in the Siberian Tundra was raided by agents of the Hidden Order who needed his information to help track down Thunderbird for themselves. After realizing one of the agents of the team was an old pupil of his, Kadiev provided the agents with the assistance they needed to find the wreck. Following this encounter, Kadiev's old student offered he join the Order as an information broker instead of them needlessly killing him there. Kadiev accepted and joined Monochrome as an associate broker.
Archangels

Archangels campaign banner

The **Archangels** were a Second World War US Army unit led by Captain Roy MacGilligan. The unit was made up of members from the 2nd Ranger Battalion and was often seen as a renegade group due to their dangerous forays deep into enemy territory and courageous missions against the Nazi occupation of France. The Archangels' primary objective throughout the war was putting a stop to the Kampfzug, a German war train armed with immense firepower.

## Trivia

* Roy MacGilligan was inducted into the STCTF Generation Chiron to help stop The World Builder from destroying The Multiverse.
Compete

Like everything in Main Assembly, if you can imagine it, you can create it- including multiplayer fun! Whether you want to chase, race or shove your genius creations in their face, the choice is yours! In sandbox areas you are free to play the game your way. Remember, friends who play together, stay together!
Raffaello Cardone

A painted portrait of Cardone in 1620.

**Rafaello Cardone** (1591-1630) was an Italian explorer and cartographer known for his early maps of islands in the Baltic Sea. The then uninhabited Cardone Island was named after him in 1622 after he became the first person to officially produce a map of the island.
Kazuto Imamura

Portrait of Kazuto Imamura.

**Kazuto Imamura** is the eldest son of Michiaki Imamura and currently leads the weapon trade operations of the Okami. In 2022 he was captured by INTERPOL special unit ROSE-4 during a meeting in one of his Kyoto based Mahjong Casinos, but was subsequently released after Japanese authorities pressured INTERPOL to do so.

## Background

### Early Life

Kazuto Imamura was born in Kyoto, Japan, as the eldest son of Michiaki Imamura, the current leader of the Okami crime syndicate. Growing up in a family deeply entrenched in organized crime, Kazuto was exposed to the darker side of society from a young age. Despite this, he managed to develop a passion for Mahjong and even became a prefecture champion before fully embracing his role in the family business.

### Rise to Power

Kazuto's involvement in the Okami's criminal activities started in his late teens, when he began learning the ropes of the family's underground operations. He was particularly drawn to the weapon trade, as he saw the potential for substantial profits in the booming black market, especially in countries with strict weapon laws. With his keen business acumen and ruthless ambition, Kazuto quickly made a name for himself within the organization.

As Kazuto's expertise in the weapon trade grew, his father, Michiaki Imamura, recognized his potential and entrusted him with the responsibility of leading and expanding the Okami's weapon trade operations. Under Kazuto's leadership, the group's weapon trade flourished, with a vast network of suppliers and customers extending from Japan to South-East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

To maintain a low profile and evade law enforcement, Kazuto cleverly operated his weapon trade business out of Mahjong bars and casinos, using them as fronts for his illegal activities. This allowed him to keep a close eye on the operations while indulging in his passion for Mahjong.

### Capture by International Police

Kazuto's rise to power within the Okami was not without challenges. In 2022, he was captured by INTERPOL's special unit ROSE-4 during a meeting at one of his Kyoto-based Mahjong casinos. However, due to pressure from Japanese authorities, Kazuto was released shortly after his arrest, and the charges against him were dropped.

Today, Kazuto Imamura continues to lead the Okami's weapon trade operations, further solidifying the group's power and influence in Japan and beyond. His strategic mind, ruthless determination, and strong leadership skills make him a formidable figure in the underworld of organized crime.
Indefinite Epochogenic Comatose

**Indefinite Epochogenic Comatose** (abbreviated **IEC**) is a condition resulting in death caused by a slow and controlled exposure to Epochium radiation. The condition is extremely rare due to the precise amount of radiation that is needed to enter a human into this permanent state of slumber.

## Usage

IEC is extremely uncommon in the natural world due to the conditions that must be met in order to have living things become comatosed. Natural exposure to Epochium will usually lead to effects of Temporal Paralysis, but IEC can be achieved by only directing radiative energy to a subject rather than exposing them to the raw material. It is for this reason the Space Time Continuum Task Force uses IEC during its termination protocol where after all other members have been decommissioned, the principle operator is the only one to enter themselves into IEC.

In order to enter a human being into IEC several key factors must be accounted for including body dimensions, biological age (measured via biomarking), and records of past direct or indirect exposure to Epochium. If any of these variables are incorrectly measured, the controlled exposure process can fail and cause the subject to develop Temporal Paralysis.

## Known Cases

Only four people are actively known to have died from IEC. A specialized sub-team of STCTF Generation Chiron were found deceased at Lunar Base STADIUS by Generation Caduceus during the events of the STADIUS mission in the Golden Phantom Series. Though it is unclear why they had entered the permanent state of slumber, their containment pods stated it occurred over a century and a half prior to the arrival of the current generation STCTF.
Guiding Light

The Guiding Light candle burning.

The **Guiding Light** is an artifact discovered within the shipwreck of the Danish ship, *HDMS Thunderbird*. This extraordinary candle is noted for its ability to burn perpetually without consuming its wick or wax, and its brightness increases when in proximity to a specific form of gold known as Elbekian Gold.

## History

The Guiding Light was uncovered in 2024, from the wreck of the *HDMS Thunderbird*, frozen in the ice sheets of the Siberian tundra. Archeologists, intrigued by the ship's lore, excavated the site and came across a range of artifacts, the most intriguing of which was this seemingly ordinary, yet extraordinary candle.

## Appearance

The Guiding Light is unassuming in appearance, resembling a typical 18th-century ship's candle, encased in a modest brass holder. Its wax is an off-white color with a slightly translucent quality, and the wick, though seemingly ordinary, has never been observed to diminish or char despite constant burning.

## Properties

The Guiding Light's distinguishing feature is its seemingly endless burning without the consumption of wax or wick, a property that has stumped physicists and chemists alike. Initial studies have hypothesized that the candle might be an example of a zero-point energy harvester, tapping into the omnipresent energy that exists even in the vacuum of space, or perhaps, it's exploiting some as-yet-undiscovered quantum phenomenon. Further investigations are ongoing to understand the mechanism behind its continuous burn.

Even more puzzling is the fact that the candle's brightness increases when it is brought closer to Elbekian Gold. This property is speculated to arise from a unique resonant frequency interaction between the specific atomic structure of Elbekian Gold and the energy field produced by the Guiding Light. This interaction is believed to stimulate an increase in the emission of photons, thereby enhancing the candle's luminescence.

Some researchers have proposed that this interaction may be the result of "atomic sympathetic resonance," a concept suggesting that certain forms of matter can influence each other across a distance due to matching or harmonizing frequencies. This is similar to how two tuning forks of the same pitch can resonate when one is struck, even from a distance.

## See Also

* HDMS Thunderbird
* Elbeks
* Permafrost Mission
Ankco Storage Facility 3 Heist

Storage Facility #3 at night during a tropical storm.

The **Ankco Storage Facility #3 Heist** was a high-profile theft operation conducted by the Black Cetan in order to steal a set of artefacts (one priceless) from Ankco Ltd. The heist was carried out in the middle of the night during very harsh sea conditions which made chasing the criminals almost impossible. The almost-botched execution of the operation led ROSE-4 on the trail of the Black Cetan.

## Operation

### Early Heist

In the middle of the night on September 13th, 2020 during a severe thunderstorm, the Black Cetan initiated a heist upon the remote island storage facility belonging to Ankco Ltd. One of the company's conglomerate ventures is the storage and security of valuable assets in hard to reach facilities such as site #3 which was the most remote and difficult to reach. The island only had one seaport and one heliport to travel on and off the island, and was monitored 24/7 by armed security personnel.

Around 12:22AM a stealth VTOL Dual Jet aircraft approached on a low-altitude flight path and stopped at a hovering position over the largest underground concrete vault area in the facility. At 12:29AM, a team of four descended from the aircraft via ropes and setup a series of timed explosives to cut a hole into the concrete reinforced vault area. Using the cover of the storm, the explosives were set off without alerting any guards and the bandits entered the room to attach the interior metal vault to the aircraft's cable system.

### Discovery of Operation

At 12:37AM, security officer Cameron Throsby strayed from his designated patrol path in the underground tunnels, possibly after feeling slight vibrations from the explosives. He headed straight for the concrete vault where he saw the heist underway. After scanning his card and entering the room, Throsby supposedly called out to the robbers to put their hands up and get on the floor while aiming his weapon. It is at this time that one of the Cetan members shoots Throsby in the head. Upon realizing they had been discovered, the Black Cetan hoisted the one vault out of the opening and disappeared into the storm. Throsby was discovered dead at approximately 1:11AM, long after the Cetan had escaped.

## Aftermath

Following the heist, Ankco Ltd. quickly announced the emergency with the international community. Due to the facility's placement in international waters, no specific police force could handle the heist, thus INTERPOL introduced a specialized task force in response. During an early investigation it was found that none of the sensor systems in the vault area had been alerting the security staff throughout the operation.

As media coverage on the heist became more widespread, the international community pledged to aid INTERPOL in locating the Black Cetan however possible. That support has since dwindled as public interest in the event subsided.
Temporal Paralysis

Unrecognizable patient after four weeks of TP exposure.

**Temporal Paralysis (TP)** is a condition that forms in mortal beings who travel between timelines for extended periods of time. The condition has severe side effects and can lead to death in extreme cases. TP can also form following prolonged exposure to Epochium without proper protective equipment. The Space Time Continuum Task Force uses their Space Warp Suits as countermeasures to the effects of TP by being made out of processed Epochium.

## Symptoms

Temporal Paralysis is easy to diagnose on patients who have been travelling inter-dimensionally, as the condition causes damage to random tissues and organs in the body. This disorder is more difficult to diagnose when the patient is in their own timeline because the side effects can be synonymous with any number of other medical conditions. Major symptoms of TP include:

* Loss of sensation in touch, smell, hearing.
* Blindness in one or both eyes.
* Mild to severe damage to major organs, tissues, and body parts that can lead to pneumothorax (collapsed lungs), cardiac arrest, first degree burns, or acute liver failure.
* Paranoia, hallucinations, altered perception of reality.
* Aggression towards friends and strangers.

## Treatment

Currently an effective treatment is unknown apart from removing the subject from the environment that leads to TP. This involves warping operators back to their home timelines and transferring them to an ICU, or moving affected people away from concentrated sources of Epochium. Every suspected case of TP should involve medical attention in order to ensure physical tissue injury has not already taken place.

## Prevention

In order to prevent the effects of Temporal Paralysis, specialized countermeasure equipment must be worn before time-related activities are engaged. The material must be made of processed Epochium in order to work as a neutralizing agent for the wearer. Wide area prevention devices can also be used that reverse the polarity on Epochium shards and generate a wide range of protection around the device. This can be mounted to a vehicle or installed in a base to provide large scale protection for multiple operators.