New Mission

[piper90npcs]

[After a night weathering a Stuff storm, the rig has stopped, the way it has before when there's a mission. But it's different this time. Now that the Stuff rains have slowed and stopped, there are sounds of violence outside. Shouts. The rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire.]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm afraid I come to you under dire circumstances. Due to topographical limitations, the rig has been forced through one area in the valley.

Unfortunately, this area is inhabited by a small village. These people don't understand the importance of the rig, it's very necessity for humanity. We need your help with evacuation, especially since it might be more...forceful than usual.

These people can be given much safer shelter in the Livable Zone and we need you to keep that in mind if evacuation resorts to violence. You are being ordered to subdue any resistance, keeping in mind that while this confrontation may not be ideal, they will be brought to safer areas to live.

It's for their own good, you see.

Which means that if there are any New Hires that refuse to follow orders, discipline will unfortunately be necessary.

[He actually looks vaguely uncomfortable at that.]

You'll be receiving your orders shortly. Please standby.

A Goodbye

[pathkin]

[A prompt comes up on all the comms, auto-executing a program.]

[Execute: C:\Jorgwind\Secureprotocol\emergencprotocola434ff.exe]

[The Lonestar program pops up, with a message from him being sent automatically.]

If you are reading this missive, I've hit a panic button on my comm to automatically send this message. I have pre-recorded several messages based on the status of my apprehension. This particular message would only be sent if I had enough time to verify the security of the Lonestar encryption. This means I've been taken into custody for a reason than a break in our comm security. But I don't know how long that security will remain intact. It may be that now is the time to act against Jorgmund, before your situation gets worse.

Sending this also means that the threat I'm facing is severe, possibly death, so there is no more reason to hide that I am Brainiac 5.

My death or permanent capture was always to be expected given our circumstances and the clandestine actions I've been taking. If this is the last thing I am to say to you, I want you to know that I hold you all in the highest regard. Some of us have had our differences and disagreements, but our communal strength and resilience under the conditions of our capture is something to be admired.

There is much I want to say about your strength, compassion for each other, and about the nature of hope. I want you to know that my faith that the resilient can triumph over evil is not blind, that it has been tested time and again. I have seen people stand up against veritable gods to ensure the freedom and prosperity of all - and I have seen them win. Your chances of overcoming Jorgmund's control are higher than some of you may think.

The name "Lonestar" is a title that belongs to one of my team-mates, Shikari. She is one of the Kwai, a race of nomadic pacifists that prefers to flee from threats out of a respect for life rather than fighting back. Every so often, a Kwai is born that is a warrior in nature, an evolutionary throwback to times their species was more warlike, and these Kwai find a righteous cause to fight for -- the Kwai call these individuals Lonestars.

I can only hope she wouldn't mind my appropriation of the title, but I could think of no better one to use when trying to channel her spirit and felt I needed such spirit to reflect that of the people I was talking to, since I saw that same spirit in you.

It has been an honor fighting side by side with you all. If I never see it, it is my greatest hope that all New Hires can all go home or to other worlds of your choosing. There is no scientific basis for the concept of "luck", but I certainly hope the odds are in your favor.

But some technical expertise can certainly help. I have enclosed all of my observations and analysis of any schematics we obtained, as well as analysis of the shock collar retrieved from the labs. This may be able to help in the deactivation of the shock collar system.

[Attached is a massive info dump of anything he's figured out scientifically, completely up to date because he updates it constantly with anything he's figured out. There's also the location of where he hid the shock collar so other techies like Cammie can keep looking at it.]

For added security, sending this message will data wipe my entire comm device, so you now hold the only copies of this data.

I hope all this can help and that the actions I've taken can protect you.

Yours in friendship,
Brainiac 5

PS If I die, fellow Legionnaires, please pass along my regards - and love - to the rest of the Legion when you're back in contact. Let them know that my last thought was almost certainly this:

Long Live the Legion.

[Also, attached is a deeply personal note, locked for Robbie's eyes alone.]

[A letter to his son is sent to all Legionnaires on the rig, in the hopes at least one of them will bring it home.]

The End of the Road

[piper90npcs]

[cw: violence, mild gore, character death, shock collar punishment.]

The scene opens on the roof of the rig. A few small puddles of Stuff from the last Stuff storm shimmer here and there on the rugged metal.]

[Some of the rig executives stand there, like Fust and Glotfelty, along with several security guards. Washburn stands in front of the camera someone is holding, looking anxious. Lubitsch is there too but doesn't look happy about it. He's bristling where he stands. This maybe is not something he's there to watch by choice. It's possibly a punishment.]

[And there is Brainiac 5, kneeling on the rig roof, nose bloody, one eye swollen, jumpsuit collar rumpled.]

[Washburn says:] New Hires, I'm afraid I bring you bad news. Recent investigation into Reid Planker's death and evidence from his autopsy has discovered that his death was not from natural causes, as we first thought.

The aneurysm that killed him was caused by poison, one made from common cleaning chemicals that were found in Mr. 5's possession.

[A lie but this isn't about justice. This is "you kill one of our people, we kill one of yours." It's a frame job.]

The -

[His voice cracks. Dickwash clearly doesn't actually like this.]

The consequences for murder are severe. We are far off in the wilderness. Prisons are still being arranged and built in the Livable Zone. Martial law is the way things are handled for severe crimes on the rig.

For that reason, Mr. 5 will unfortunately have to be executed.

You are allowed view this so that the consequences of his actions are presented in an open and honest atmosphere. So you understand the overwhelming necessity of this.

I'm sorry that it's come to this.

[But things aren't going to go to plan without a hitch. "Aw, fuck it," says Lubitsch in the background and then he elbows one of the guards in the neck and upper cuts another, then grabs that one into an arm lock, breaking his elbow and dropping him to the ground before moving to the next guard. Clearly, he's well trained, and his frequent laziness has been hiding something.]

[Where he kneels, there is a sudden clink from Brainy picking the handcuffs with bits of metal he keeps in hidden pockets in his clothes, and the handcuffs drop to the deck. Brainy pops up to his feet, and lunges for the nearest guard, using him as a shield, directing his gun away and forcing him to fire. He aims for the feet of the other guards, a debilitating but hopefully nonfatal injury. But he's aiming for the guards, not the executives. He's ranked the threats, and the executives rank low, especially Celeste Lillian.]

[This is a mistake.]

[Because Celeste is always packing a concealed gun and is a crack shot thanks to her CIA training. The gun is drawn and the shot over the guard's shoulder is on the mark. The personality inhibitor on Brainy's forehead shatters. He staggers back several steps, green blood pouring down his face.]

["No!" calls out Lubitsch, but Washburn pulls out the same clicker device he uses to shock the New Hires and Lubitsch goes down, too, twitching and convulsing as he gets shocked.]

[Brainy falls back against the railing of the rig's roof, eyes wide with shock. Several more shots of gunfire ring out, blood spatters, and new wounds appear in his chest. Celeste re-holsters her gun and walks over to where he's leaning against the railing. Then she reaches down to grab his legs, lifts them up and casually tips him over the railing. Just like that, he's gone.]

[She walks over to whoever is holding the camera. There is no vapid grin, no airheaded woo-woo.]

[She says:] Planker's last medical scans showed no signs of a budding aneurysm. We're not idiots. But even if it was natural causes, we will respond if circumstances of a staff member's death seem questionable.

No more games. No more pretense. You are all going to follow orders or suffer the consequences. And any attacks on rig staff will result in immediate retribution.

Now, with this...distraction over, attend to the new mission at hand. Your orders will be forthcoming and we expect you to follow them.

[Washburn cuts out the shock therapy and Lubitsch stays there, shaking, on the ground, tears in his eyes. Washburn's face is almost green as he looks at the green blood spattered on the deck.]

[Celeste nods at the camera person and the video cuts out.]

[ooc: Characters can react in the comments and just lock their conversations.]