NationStates Jolt Archive

Rayden Vorder, a Colonel in the newly merged Brotherhood Marines, stood watching as Marines in what was once designated Trooper armor. They took to the suits well, enjoying the simple HUD and the advantages of the full body covering, rather than the minimalistic armor they had once worn.

Vorder was about to turn around and continue his reports on the new Civil training regimens when he realized he wasn't alone in his office. The sounds in the room had subtly shifted, as if bouncing off another person. He slowly looked back over his shoulder and saw a man in a suit standing several feet away, on the other side of his desk. The Colonel frowned. "Who are you?"

The man, who appeared to be in his late 50's, tilted his head. "A guiding light for men who have the guts to take what is offered. I've looked over every Marine Colonel and General's record. You're the most promising I've seen."

Vorder turned fully and walked up to this... man. "Who are you?" he asked again, with more force. He wasn't about to be spoken to like a recruit.

The man tilted his head the other way. "Agent 283 of the Crimmond Black Staff. The most dangerous man on this base and one of the most dangerous in the nation, should I choose to do something destructive."

Impossible. The Black Staff was merely a dark chapter in history. Nothing was left of it, supposedly... "The Black Staff is dead. Delta killed it."

"Yes, yes he did. But he didn't kill me... And training doesn't go away. I'm here for a reason though, sunshine. You're the best of the best, in the upper echelon of officers. Omar's in charge right now, but one day he'll need a replacement. Someone with enough balls to do what's needed and enough sense to hold the Brotherhood together. You might just be that man, son." He looked at the awards on the wall. "Now I'm not telling you to go out and kill anyone or depose our esteemed leader, seeing as he's doing a fine job at the moment. I just want to make sure that an heir is groomed and ready, should the time come for a new ruler. Be it Omar stepping down or death or whatever else might happen."

Vorder eyed him carefully. "You speak of conspiracy."

He sighed. "Now why is it any time someone even breathes of a dictator not being there forever, it's a conspiracy? It's called planning ahead, kid. You could be the next Kane, shepherd of the Brotherhood. Or you can be a sheep all your life. Your choice. I'm just telling you that I would rather have you in charge than some of these Generals that Omar has under him." At that, 283 turns and walks out. "Good luck, kid..."

Vorder watched him leave and had a tail placed on the old agent. After three minutes, the tail reported that the Agent had simply vanished into a crowd of Civils somehow. The Civils claimed to not know where he had gone. Training never went away, it seemed. And experience brought it's own rewards. The fact that the Civils either didn't know or were denying knowing troubled him. They were top hunters. They should have tracked the man easy... that meant they did know and were denying it. Being that Delta and the Black Staff developed the Civils, they must have some sort of respect for the last remaining Agent. Respect that could be a tool or a danger.

283's words kept going around in Vorder's head for hours after the meeting. 'You could be the next Kane, shepherd of the Brotherhood. Or you can be a sheep all your life. Your choice.'

"My choice...."

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Agent 283

=========

Three months later.

General Vorder sat at the large table of assembled commanders. He had be promoted a month ago, due to the sudden resignation of his superior. Someone had exposed the General's extra-marital affairs with three women at the same time to the nation, making him an embarrassment to the Corps. Vorder was chosen to take his place, being the most senior Colonel under him. Vorder had never doubted that it was 283 that had exposed him. A little boost to get the new General going in the direction he wanted? Fine. Vorder wanted it as much as 283.

The meeting was to discuss training, deployments, leave schedules, rotation of commands and other things that were important, but very, very boring at times. At the head of the table sat a video screen, Omar Pace on it. Being in Avalon, overseeing the war, he had to conduct this meeting remotely. At the moment, he was listening to a report about Civils being deployed to Africa to combat increased attacks on cities by rebels. The attacks were starting to become an embarrassment, as several squads had been overpowered and taken hostage by militant groups. The attacks were also well planned to hurt the Brotherhood to the maximum degree at minimal risk to the rebels.

Vorder spoke up as another General finished the report. "My command has the largest amount of Civils at the moment. If authorized, I can deploy a brigade to Africa within a week and begin operations to keep the rebels out of the major cities." The other general scowled. He was trying to convince Omar to send his forces. Several others looked at Vorder as if he was insane.

Omar nodded slowly. "General Vorder... you have your authorization. Oversee the deployment yourself and give me a report in one week on the progress. Then a report a week later on your plans and progress at that point." Vorder nodded and stood, walking out quickly. What he had just done was dangerous... in the Brotherhood, power was everything. You take as much as you can... but step on the toes of anyone more powerful than you and you risk your career. And the general he had just stolen a major deployment from was very powerful. That would not matter much, if Vorder was successful at routing the African rebels, though. The sway that he would gain with the leader of the Brotherhood would null what the other man had, for a time. And with continued success... Omar was bound to take a liking to Vorder.

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General Omar Pace
Leader of the Brotherhood

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General Rayden Vorder

Explosions rocked the city of Cairo, sending the masses running. Attack aircraft roared overhead, the roar of their engines the only thing that could drown out the din of the mob, and even then only for scant seconds.

Down several road in Giza, battletanks slowly made their way forward, protected by smaller vehicles, troops and attack helicopters. Ahead stood a mini-palace. Ten minutes later, it was burning rubble. Anyone, man woman or child, that attempted to leave the grounds was gunned down without mercy. If these were Marines fighting, the women and girls would be spared... but these were Civils. And Civils were as cold hearted of hunters as there ever could be.

Inside seven other major cities, the Brotherhood was acting in unison to push the rebels out from hiding onto open ground. There, they could be led to slaughter like farm animals. When fighting ceased every so often, the locals were understandably wary of the Civils. That passed when they realized that, though the satanic looking warriors were always on guard, they held no malice against the people of the cities. Only the enemy.

--------

General Vorder watched the reports come in. Only days into the conflict and things were going spectacularly... which was dangerous. The rebels were not fools. The leaders were desperate, but they would not just walk into the gunfire of his Civils. They would have to be hunted down like dogs and killed or tortured, depending on who the person was.

He turned on the newslink and was pleased by the new coming from the continent. Crimmond's allies undoubtedly monitored the news services and all of them were stating the same thing... General Rayden Vorder was crushing anything in Africa that dared to even think of lifting up a weapon against the Brotherhood. He heard his own voice in an audio clip, as well. 'What is happening in Africa can happen anywhere in Crimmond. Seditious groups had best watch their backs carefully.' The talking heads went on to say that if this is how Crimmond handles internal strife, then one can only shudder to think what would happen to any enemy of Crimmond.

"Idiots..." He muttered as he turned off the sound. "There are strict rules of war when fighting another nation. Even an enemy soldier is respected for doing their duty. These rebels, though... are traitors... we don't treat traitors with respect, we just slaughter them like sheep."

A month had passed since Vorder took over the operation, his Marines clearing out five cities of rebels, making good headway and proving to the masses that any revolt was futile, while treating the non-rebels with respect and dignity. No need to breed more hatred, after all...

The latest news was from Giza. Marines and Civils had decimated the resistance inside the city and had forced the rebels to flee into the open desert. They tried to hide among the pyramids and the Sphynx, thinking the Marines would not destroy such treasures of the past... two minutes of artillery barrage convinced them otherwise. In fact, the barrage was a calculated move. Cause enough damage to the strutures to make the rebels surrender while leaving most of the landmarks intact. Damage assessments stated that the damage was no worse than five hundred or so years of wear by the sands, which was deemed an acceptable loss.

Vorder looked over the other reports and smiled. One message stated that Omar Pace wanted a personal report on the operation. "Colonel... I'm going to go pay a visit to General Pace. I'm sure you can handle things here quite fine in my absense. I will be returning in a few days, most likely." The officer nodded as Rayden walked out of his office and headed towards the flightline.

--------------

Vorder walked into Omar Pace's office in Avalon and up to the desk, saluting as he came to a stop. "General."

"Ah, Vorder. Take a seat. I have heard a great many good things from your operations in Africa. I don't think we'll ever completely crush rebellion, though. Send it packing for a decade or two, yes... but rebellion is a passtime on this contitnent, it seems. Tell me, what is your most current status report?"

"Twelve hours ago was the last operation wide report. We are gaining ground on all fronts, including gaining the trust and respect of the population centers, despite civilian casulties in the areas of heavy fighting. We will most likely be done with the operation sometime next month and will have to do a random sweep operation from time to time, to keep rebels from simply reforming their cells and striking at us again."

Omar nodded slowly as he listened. "I see... so you are saying that a group needs to be formed to handle such operations?"

"That would assist matters greatly. A force consiting of... perhaps the size of my operation... plus a brigade or two... could easily handle the job of dealing with any and all dissention in the Brotherhood. There would be no safe harbors for them anywhere within our sphere of influence." Vorder said, wondering if he had made it far too obvious what he wanted.

Omar looked at him for a time and then slowly nodded. He knew exactly what Vorder wanted and apparently saw no real reason to not give him the command. "So be it. General, you are increased in rank one grade and are now answerable only to me. You will lead the Brotherhood Special Task Force, made up of your current operations, plus a brigade and an air wing to be transferred to your command shortly, and will safeguard the Brotherhood from all internal threats, in addition to defending Crimmond and Gholgoth as a normal Marine command." Omar extended a hand. "Keep this up and one day you'll be running the Brotherhood."

Fear lanced through Vorder, though his face showed none of it. Did Pace know of 283's dealings? "Hopefully not for many, many years, sir. You are truely the best ruler of the Brotherhood since Kane." He answered, taking the hand and shaking it firmly. "Peace Through Power."

Agent 283 watched as pieces of the puzzle fell in place. Watched as Delta's influence grew in Crimmond again, with the supporting of Rayden Vorder. Soon the Khan could return to power. He would have smiled, had such displays not been battered from his mask of neutraility.

He moved out of the office in Cairo and paused as he hit the hot air outside. He was being watched... but by who? He discreetly looked around and was about to continue on, training kicking in as several motions to reveal a tail sprang to mind... but he didn't get the chance to take even one step before a shot rang out.

---

The news that Agent 283, one of the most mysterious men in all of Crimmond, had the back of his head blown off in a sniper attack spread quickly through the Empire and into Gholgoth. He was a man that orchestrated almost all the power shifts in Crimmond. He had personally shot and killed Reil Tian to get Delta into power. He had gotten Delta into power a second time by disgracing Varchak's government. It could only be assumed that he was planning to get Delta into power for a third time... but someone had stopped him.

---

Riok Oran and Agent 283. Two immensely important figures in Crimm history had died by her hands. She had taken part in Delta's return to power, but despised the man-demon. Most people thought that 283 was the last Black Staff agent alive... she knew better. There were two. It would have been three, had she not just killed the manipulative agent. One was Delta. The other was Epsilon... the only female Agent to have held a Greek designation, rather than a number.

And now she had just shattered Delta's plans to return to power.

She returned to her duties, knowing that even Delta would be hard pressed to find out who had killed his best operative. Those duties were to oversee the training of new Brotherhood troops. Epsilon was dead, the 'real' name given leading in circles to four other false names. She was using her own name again and had returned to her own duties barely a year ago. Major Sonya Volsung, Crimm Marine Corps.

Killing 283 was only a stop-gap measure. I have to keep Delta from taking power again. she thought, observing several squads train under the supervision of foul mouthed sergeants. There's only one way I can do that though. Take the throne myself. With the lack of a strong female Empress in the past, that would be hard to accomplish. Lady Lara Tian was a weak minded fool and Catalina Vakko-Coleman was... well, no one knew why she had done what she had. And no one ever would now that she was dead. "I don't need their examples... I'll set the example." She muttered to herself.

======

Weeks later, she was on her way.

To battle, not the throne. Having requested a transfer to a combat unit, she had gotten it. And was leading a group of Marines against rebels who struck at the farmlands of what was once Ethiopia. Farmland. Ethiopia. It still seemed odd to her, even when looking at it from a helicopter, but the Empire had transformed the soil with enrichers, mild terraforming and a water distribution network that boggled the mind. That network was what the rebels were attacking. Destroy the water system and the whole farming industry crashes out.

"Marines! Prepare for contact!" She shouted over the din of the engines. She was dressed just as they were, in black and red armor with the seal of the Brotherhood on it. An officer who says 'go do battle' will get some results. An officer who says 'follow me into battle' will get superb results. Leads to good officers dying more often... but oh well. She checked the equipment on another Marine as hers were checked. Soon they were over the pump station, firing from the side of the helicopter at the rebels. As the helicopter's wheels touched ground, she was the first out, running and firing. She felt herself get hit twice by enemy fire, but the armor did it's job. She'd bruise up, but not suffer any long term damage. Her Marines were all fighting hard and the outcome was quite certain. There was no way for the rebels to get into the station or to damage it now. Within a half-hour, the short battle was over and Sonya's long climb to the throne had begun.

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Major Sonya Volsung

Several months had passed since the start of Sonya's rise. She had taken part in several key battles, taken part in the cleanup of Giza and the subduing of riots there and was now staring at the largest expanse of barren sand on the planet. "Only the Brotherhood would think this was a good place to garrison troops." An officer nearby nodded. There was literally nothing around the base. Even though it was on the edge of the Sahara, the base was still remote and unreachable except by the most well trained forces on the planet.

She walked inside of the administration buildings and into her office. The door read 'Lieutenant Colonel Volsung' for good reason. She had disposed of her superior several weeks ago and taken his command from him. Oh, no one knew it was her, of course. She had seduced the swine and convinced him to let her into his bed. He never even got to see her undressed before he died by his own combat knife, an apparent self inflicted wound. Distasteful, but necessary.

Now Sonya commanded the garrison and answered directly to the man she saw as her next target... General Rayden Vorder. Being that he answered directly to Omar Pace, Sonya had become one of the most potentially powerful women in the Brotherhood, even if she was in a hellhole, waiting for orders to assault the lands further West.

----------

In a private transmission to Dayne the Evenstar, Sonya sought what she would need most. Outside political support. Being a former Black Staff agent, she easily got the transmission through without any trace to her or even what continent she was on. The trail erased itself as soon as it was created, all the way up until it reached Pantaran communication systems. The message was sent directly to Dayne's personal computer terminal, via it's ID number. A number she had memorized years ago.

SUBJECT: The Future of Crimmond is in Your Hands, Lord Reaver.

Lord Reaver, I am a ranking member of the Imperial Marine Corps of Crimmond. How you are reading this without anyone knowing it was sent to you stems from my past as an infiltrator of Delta's Black Staff. I know of your distaste for instability in Crimmond. Omar's reign will not last long, anyone can see this. He is a misanthropic, paranoid zealot who tries to have it both ways. Crimm and Nod. He will have his power taken from him in time. As of now, his likely successor is a man named Rayden Vorder. A Nod officer even more fanatical than Omar. I am a Crimm. I have seen the darkest turns of my nation and this is but one more dark turn. I implore you... pledge your support for someone other than Vorder. All I desire is that a Crimm power take control, rather than the Brotherhood of Nod. Imagine your own nation taking over a territory and then your Empire being deposed by a political party from those conquered lands. Imagine how your people would feel to have power taken from them in such a fashion. Please help the people of Crimmond. We can take back our nation, but support is needed from Gholgoth. Not via guns and ships, but by words. Support someone outside the Brotherhood. Help us regain our nation from these fanatics.

We need you.

-Crimm Officer once known as Agent Epsilon

If Dayne could not remember Epsilon, a quick search would reveal that she had killed Riok Oran during Delta's return to power. She had also done several detestable things in service to Delta, but there were rumors that she served as his balance at times. Kept Delta from slipping down a slope of destruction. She had also headed up the Imperial Inquisition for a time and forcibly dismantled it, first chance she got.

Her loyalties seemed with the people, much of the time. She removed tyrants and tyrannical institutions, but was cold and hard enough to force her way into positions of power in them. She was obviously a manipulator, to do so much... but what she asked of Dayne did not seem unreasonable. The Crimm wanted their own ruler, not a holdover of Kane and his Brotherhood.