Chimera Syndicate Corporate Interest Zone

[Darkcomet]

The so-called 'Corporate Interest Zone' is the realm in which the Chimera Syndicate exerts its influence, though locations within it are not necessarily formally controlled by them. Reaching out to several minor settlements that sought revenge against the former Empire and its successors in Remnant and the Altaran Irregulars for any number of reasons, the Syndicate has swiftly established a network of nominal allies and others who pledge not to interfere in their war, despite largely keeping their distance from the 'natives.'

The conflict deemed the 'Chimera Incursion' by Altaran and Remnant officials shall doubtlessly reach many in this Zone, for good or ill.

Spoiler: Locations of Note

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Argentum Metropolis/Acquisition NC-0000

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A city far from Inside previously known by such names as the 'Argentum Metropolis,' it is now known as Acquisition NC-0000. It is in this city that the Syndicate originally appeared in the Nexus, conquered in a single massive strike from an unknown weapon followed by the appearance of Syndicate troops.

While the city was previously known even afar for its techno-magic wonders, it has always been extremely isolated, deliberately so by its previous rulers, and this has only intensified under Syndicate control. Most notably, soon after the Syndicate's arrival, a strange, bluish haze appeared over the city, interfering with attempts to scan it from afar. The cause of this is unknown, but Syndicate operations have proceeded as normal despite the haze, with troops seen moving to and from the city.

The diplomatic fallout from the conquest of the city has been minimal outside of Altaran-Remnant condemnation. The isolation of the city meant it had no major enemies, apart from those who envied it, and it certainly had no allies of note.

Crownsfall

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A town conquered by the old Empire, the town of Crownsfall has never quite gotten over it. Plaguing the Imperials with insurgency and a distinct lack of cooperation with attempts to 'improve' the place, the town was eventually left to fend for itself after the coup against then-Emperor Vyrn Altaran.

The town itself has a late-20th-century tech level, apart from the vestiges of the Imperial conquest. Most notably it features bits of what look like a wall around it, mostly torn down since the withdrawal of the Empire. A few remain, however, monuments to what they call 'the tyranny that was.'

Currently, Crownsfall is severely divided on what it should do with its position, as many seek revenge against what they view as a continuation and future version of the Empire, while others seek to avoid the conflict that will surely come again should they bring Altaran's wrath upon them. This division has only deepened following an Irregular raid that abducted a Syndicate official and killed his escorts and a few militiamen, and events in Crownsfall may influence the course of the war yet. For their part, the Syndicate has not yet sent another representative.

New Inside

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A town with an utterly nonsensical name named after an equally nonsensical city, New Inside is an example of a town that benefited greatly from the creation of the Empire. Previously left struggling after a rampage by a deranged sorcerer wrecked much of it, the Empire's arrival gave it the support and strength it needed to survive. The forces of Emperor Vyrn Altaran rebuilt the damage done and saved many lives, prompting the citizens to rename their home in honor of the new Imperial capital, though they still advised against tourism.

However, it was not to be. The Generals' Coup against the Emperor was not well-received news, and the New Insiders stubbornly kept a statue of Altaran they had built in the center of the town, and remained a concern of the Generals' for the remainder of the Empire's lifetime, though their dissatisfaction never turned to open hostility.

Then the Empire simply...vanished, and the sorcerer returned to reign over those he had terrorized once more with a mob of undead minions, now armed with looted pulse weaponry from looted Imperial armories. The citizens of New Inside suffered greatly, and constantly hoped that Remnant would come to take them back. But they did not.

Then Altaran returned, and they hoped he would reforge the Empire, and bring their prosperity back. He did not.

The will of the New Insiders eventually broke as the Irregulars and Remnant ignored the former holdings of the Empire, until the Chimera Syndicate arrived. Anomalous Solutions commandos assassinated the sorcerer, with Infinite Descent troops cleaning up the mess. Then Enclave Materials came in to rebuild what had been lost in the mad rule of the sorcerer.

As for the sorcerer himself, his head is now on display in the New Inside museum.

When asked to align with the Syndicate, New Inside's restored government responded by having Vyrn's statue toppled, aligning with them out of anger at their perceived abandonment. The statue remains there, a broken symbol of rage.

New Inside is a town with a tech level not dissimilar to that of the old Empire, with holes caused by a mad sorcerer's rule patched up by Enclave Materials' help. Its now-militant government has a fair amount of old Imperial military materiel, to make things worse. While not a formal Syndicate holding, it is believed that it will become one in due time...at least, once the corps decide who gets to control it. Perhaps most notably, New Inside now contains a Syndicate embassy of sorts, making it the place to go should anyone wish to attempt to speak to them.

Enclave Materials Adamantine Mine

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A massive strip-mining operation undertaken by Enclave Materials is going on in the former site of a large forest, now gutted and dead as EM discovered adamantine beneath it. Mining lasers have sliced a massive wound into the earth, allowing the adamantine beneath to be gathered by Enclave Materials' miners.

The adamantine and other ores are brought back to Infinite Descent's Mantle Military Base, with regular convoys moving to and from the mine. The regular convoy between the mine and Mantle may prove to be an ambitious target for the allied factions in their war against the Syndicate...or perhaps some particularly well-equipped local bandits or pirates.

The mine is guarded by EM's private forces, along with an Infinite Descent detachment.

Mantle Military Base (Infinite Descent)

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A full-fledged military base under the control of Infinite Descent, Mantle is located just inside the Corporate Interest Zone, relatively close to New Inside and Crownsfall. The base itself is walled off by a forcefield fence, and contains facilities for troops, ground vehicles, and VTOL aircraft alike. It also comes with a radar facility, and it has a notably large number of anti-air vehicles.

Mantle was constructed extremely rapidly by Syndicate craft bringing in prefabricated modules from their own world and deploying them in a suitable location. It is highly likely that any offensives made will use Mantle as a staging point, and that the allied war effort will see it as one of their first main targets. The base is also an important link in the Syndicate's operations, as Enclave Materials uses it as an intermediate point in the transfer of adamantine it has mined. From there, it is believed that portions of it are sent to the Anomalous Solutions research base, sent deeper into the Zone and eventually to NC-0000, or sold to the Syndicate's nominal allies.

Anomalous Solutions Research Base

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A research facility operated by Anomalous Solutions, this is an underground facility, its only visible entrance a large hatch not far from New Inside. While its purpose is unknown, Anomalous Solutions-marked men and vehicles have been seen moving to and from the base, leading to it being marked as a probable research base on allied maps.

((As with my last major Syndicate-y post, WIP. More locations will be revealed in the future as the plot progresses, and I'll probably just add more at some point anyway.))

[Darkcomet]

[???]

Executives Tronstad, Morgan, and Lockley sat around the conference table.

"Honestly, why do we not simply step on them? If we diverted military forces from our territory, we could have Altaran finished off easily. Why do we not simply wipe them from the map?" Tronstad was clearly as unamused as his Irregular counterpart regarding the lack of progress, slamming a hand down on the table in indignation.

Morgan sighed in exasperation. "Do you want to unite this place against us, Tronstad? Honestly. It just isn't good business. What we must do is compete. Altaran gets away with what he does because he provides a service and doesn't give the locals reason to get rid of him and his attempts at creating a new Dominion."

"It's too late for that! They'll believe him and A-3 over us, and with how thoroughly abnormal the populace is-"

"I just want to point out that that procedure was your idea, Dr. Tronstad, and then the Dominion got a hold of it and made the war worse than it already was," the younger Lockley interjected. "Honestly, it's your fault we're in this mess, if not for that we could make it work much more easily. And why must we do that? We're not under some backwards religious obligation like the Altarans' toadies were, and if we just put more research into advanced cybernetics research, we could close the gap between the normal human and the standard C-class Anomaly within..."

"It would never work, Mr. Lockley. The fear and hate is too ingrained, especially in the former Dominion territories. We'd have a full-scale revolt on our hands," Morgan pointed out, punctuated with a roll of the eyes. "Not to mention the influence of Dr. Tronstad here, not that I would imply that Anomalous Solutions would suppress competitive technologies to stay in business."

Dr. Lenard Tronstad was growing increasingly incensed at the open defiance his nominal subordinates in this effort were expressing, sighing in frustration. "All that aside, what do you propose we do, then? Altaran and A-3 have most of the locals who don't have a grudge against them on their side already, and we're not going to be able to repair that kind of PR damage if we want to do this without resorting to raw force. Unless they believe us over them, we can do nothing to alleviate that very simple problem."

"Not my area, Doctor. Infinite Descent is here as a military force, not your PR department. Don't you have paid employees for that? We do." Lockley didn't seem to care very much about Tronstad's increasing frustration. He'd probably laugh, were he not in the middle of the meeting.

An awkward silence settled over the conference table, until Executive Morgan spoke again. "Well...if knowledge of the Tronstad Procedure is the problem..."

"No, Morgan. We will not-"

Morgan waved a hand dismissively. "I'm not proposing turning them all loose, Doctor, I wouldn't dream of it. All existing Tronstad Procedure products will remain under our command. But most Anomalies are a drop in the bucket to this place. We could simply...deport some rogues here. It'll give A-3 some pause, if he thinks we're reforming. He does work with Altaran despite the Dominion's use of the Procedure, does he not? And we need not necessarily continue the policy after we are no longer contested here. It's a temporary measure to ensure the viability of the most potentially profitable excursion in history, nothing more. The Anomalies can be brought under control once we no longer have the Dominion's ashes flying in our faces."

"I have to say, it's no worse than any other investment with an element of risk to it. How much did you pour into research on the Procedure again, Doctor, before anyone knew if it would work? It's no different," Lockley added.

"...Meeting adjourned, Executives."

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

A train of large trucks drives up to New Inside. They look like they've seen better days, and will stop if there's a proper checkpoint, and otherwise follow traffic signs, and head toward a more run-down or otherwise crime-inviting part of town.

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

As it turns out, there is a checkpoint. The town is walled in much the same manner as Inside, the anachronistic defense method introduced by the Empire in something of an answer to equally anachronistic means of attack, and with the war on and all, there are checkpoints at the gates.

This one is just inside the gate, a quaint little thing manned by a few New Inside militiamen. They're equipped rather well, all things considered, with what's recognizable as K-Corp era Imperial trooper armor and Syndicate LR-46 laser rifles. Not on the level of your modern Irregular or Remnant trooper, but easily on par with Imperial-era infantry in equipment, if nothing else.

It's shockingly low-tech, with the men just standing in the way. Well, until the forcefield fence springs from the ground and activates, a red forcefield blocking further passage. One of the militiamen goes to the driver's side of the lead truck, assuming they actually, y'know, stop instead of trying to plow through.

"Welcome to New Inside, strangers, no Altarans or Rems allowed. State your business."

How...friendly?

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

They... actually stop. The guy driving the first truck is wearing goggles, is bald, and has these big pauldrons surgically added. "Hey! Me and the boys heard you have a nice place here, away from the Alts and the Rems. Mind if we come in?"

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

The retro-Imperial-looking militiaman nods. "Expats then? Don't blame you, used to get a lot of folks out of the 'capital' while the Imps were still around. But with this many at once, we've got procedures we've gotta follow, 'specially since the Imps went and declared war on our new friends here. The rep of theirs we've got here says any unknown visitors have to present valid identification or be searched to make sure they're not up to anything."

Oh dear.

"If you've got issues with that, I'm sorry, but we'll have to turn you away."

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

"Sure, go ahead 'round back and pop 'er open." the man says, hiking a thumb over his shoulder. He's really confident about whatever they'll find back there.

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

The militiamen head on back behind the truck to open it up and search the cargo! Whee.

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

The man will see a glimpse of plate metal and manly beards before hands reach out to grasp his hands and throat to pull him into the truck. Immediately afterward, other hands will then reach to slams the doors shut.

If you're guessing that murder is attempted, you'd be right. The things in the truck are very good at murder.

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

The militiaman up there gets yoinked in and then horrible things happen.

The other two hear the door slam back down, look at each other, and then at all the trucks, and start running to take cover behind the forcefield, because they can tell something terrible is going to happen to them if they stay in 'get run over' range. It helps that there's probably something telling them that guy just died in their helmets or something.

One gets the bright idea to shoot one of the lead truck's tires with his laser rifle before he bolts. That might be a problem.

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

The tire is popped, and the driver smiles. "Aww, you've done it now. At least I'm not going to be late to the party."

He honks the horn twice. The sides of the truck bulge. An armored hand pierces one side of the truck, and a sword-like blade punctures the top. Then it just shreds. It bursts like a bunch of beetles bursting from a sack, ripping and tearing as they go. Sixteen men, with manly beards and full plate armor. Sixteen dwarves, sealed in metal. Sixteen killing machines, their weapons of choice grafted to their bodies. Sixteen slaves to the god of blood, enhanced with excelsior drug and crude technology, swarm out. The first line tries to smash the shield generators, opening the way for the rest of the dwarves, and the convoy, to enter the city. Two of them are armed with crossbows... the kind of crossbows that superheat rebar. They try to take out the pair of guards as soon as they have clear shots.

"I'm bringing the party with me, wherever I go."

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

"We're under attack! Anyone, call ****ing ID, I don't-AAAAAAH!"

This is the sound of one terrified militiaman as the forcefield fence's emitters are smashed apart.

Then he and his buddy take superheated rebar crossbow bolts. Needless to say, this is at the very least disabling, and probably fatal! However, the Freaks might want to look out, because one of them was in the process of tossing a flashbang grenade, which falls to the ground and rolls...

And detonates.

Needless to say, this might be unpleasant. If it delays the Freaks at all it might be serious trouble, especially if it buys time for militia reinforcements or god forbid, Syndicate troops to arrive.

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

The Dorfs grumble crankily. It's a good thing they weren't cave-adjusted!

"Hey! Come over here and help me with this!" The driver calls, a spare tire in hand. Two of the Dorfs rush over and help lift the van a little so that Crankshaft (the driver) and a freak from the second van can change the tire fast. They aren't as fast as a racing pit team, but they are very fast!

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

Nothing seems to happen! Yet.

Though if anyone can hear over all the noise, a somewhat distant sound of engines is audible. Nothing visible in the air, though.

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

The dorfs pile onto what's left of their van, the other guy rushes back to his van, and the group heads out.

The convoy no longer cares for street signs or traffic laws. They don't try to crash their vans, but they don't care if they run a few stop signs! They have a destination in mind, having chosen a large, sturdy, and (allegedly) abandoned building in the less-good part of the city.

As if to add insult to injury, someone starts blasting a loud, heavy, and somewhat crude song. As if they weren't drawing enough attention to themselves as is!

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

Oh boy.

ROAD RAMPAGE.

A spree of car wrecks (sudden stops and turns to avoid the rushing Freaks will do that) and horn mashing occurs as the Freaks make their way through the town. Then it gets worse. Oh so much worse.

Because a Chimera Syndicate SST-21 stealth shuttle decloaks with a sparking distortion effect in the air in the convoy's path, and immediately starts firing its twin laser turrets down at the lead truck.

The Dread Cindy has arrived.

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

The first truck veers impressively, the Dorf working together to ensure everyone stays on the now-open top vehicle. Some of the dorfs take laser bolts to the armor, and one even takes it to the beard, but they all survive without any serious injuries.

The second van veers in a second way, and overall the convoy suddenly spaces out to let them all dodge if they need to. Not professional drivers, but they likely have done this kind of thing before. Or played too many sandbox crime games.

If the ship isn't keeping up with the vans and staying in front, after the third van passes it the back opens up, revealing an Ork with a missile launcher.

Yes, Dok Chop Da Chop Dok knows how to use missile Rokkit Launchas. What kind of Ork doesn't know how to use Rokkit Launchas?

No, I don't know where the freaks got a military-grade fire-and-forget Tank-Buster missile! What's important is that it's fired at the shuttle.

[Darkcomet]

[New Inside]

Who the unholy **** are these guys?

These are the thoughts going through the shuttle pilot's head as the Freaks not only shrug off the SST-21's lasers, but suddenly pull out a a missile launcher and open fire. Of course, then the shuttle pilot demonstrates just why the SST-21 has been in common use throughout the Chimera Syndicate for years.

The shuttle recloaks and its engines fly into overdrive, sending it upward and away. The trick with shuttle-type vehicles like it is that they can often act as VTOL craft like helicopters and like fighters, and the Syndicate's classic stealth shuttle is no exception. The thing doesn't reappear, though. Not until that missile is gone and dropped, at any rate.

[Lost_Deep]

New Inside

The back is closed, and the convoy should be nearing their destination. An abandoned but not outright condemned factory, made of bricks and metal. Unless something appears to stop them, the vans drive into the open door of the loading bay.

[Lord Raziere]

New Inside

A curious catfolk named Valcario sees in the distance, all this commotion. Interesting. What is all this then?
It looks like a war. Or at least a battle. Good. Always a good opportunity to rob something. People too focused on the commotion to notice a good thief. Valcario searches for a part of the wall that seems deserted right about now, hopefully because the militia in question is busy focusing on the Orks and such. That and its a town he has never seen before. Always a good idea to check out towns you never seen before, never knew what your going to find there! If he finds a place of the wall that seems absent of guards, he activates his spring boots and bounces straight over them and lands on the other side of the wall, and goes sneaking around...