(Venezia) Tension levels rising, overflowing even.

[Faclan]

Main city of New Tyne on Venezia, where this thread at least will start. But it can easily move outside of it. Venezia is sparsely populated with New Tyne being the only large city. Otherwise the other main location on the planet is the large Tantalum mine which serves as Venezia's main export. The main population spreads are Human and Kig-Yar with smaller pockets of Sangheili, Jiralhanae, and Unggoy. So just keep that in mind when you join. For those wishing to brush up on the history and future conflicts of this place I shall offer this well made overview . I'm pretty sure I remember reading in Kilo Five that the Venezia milita was Human only but I cant find that on the wiki and cant find my book to double check. So shoot. Im sure the other races have their own kind of security forces or mechanics to maintain the various ships and equipment being traded on the planet. There are also normal city things like schools, entertainment, and clubs.

The thread will be taking place, at first, on January 28 2553 - one day after the UNSC Patrol Ship Ariadne blew up due to reactor failure and Venezia didn't help them. The UNSC Destroyer Monte Cassino then showed up like 'bro wtf' and was told to go away. The Destroyer stepped up though and was shot at by a Type-37 Tyrant anti air battery from the surface which was then destroyed by missile strike from orbit. The Destroyer then left. This is about a month and a week before the Kilo-Five Operation on Venezia starts but I thought this would be a decent place to fill in. There may be some 'red scare' like events happening later in the thread or anything else we can think of :>

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Tav - Ruuthian Mailman (Aged 14)
New Tyne Highrise Peak Palace Lobby
Hoping this calm down.

The explosion and earth shaking had stopped since yesterday. That was no longer the big issue as his Mama had scrambled to get armed in case the UNSC was coming to 'steal all my legitimately stolen Ghosts!'. She and most others had calmed down to no longer be tipping tables and holding guns but the tension had not decreased at all. Or the anger. Least of all as the funeral processions were still being undertaken along the main street. The brave Militia and their alien helpers had been killed for wanting to stay alone and outside of UNSC influence. And now;

"Got a target on us Tav," the Human grunted as she rather aggressively cleaned her old magnum at the reception desk. "Lots of us got a lot of bad blood between us and the Snatching Eagles. Did I tell you what I did before coming here before?" Tav just nodding but knowing full damn well it wouldn't stop her explaining it. But as he was waiting to get paid its not like he could tell her to get on with it. The female pointing the magnum up at the ceiling as she continued. "Oh sure you aliens were the big threat and focus. But that didn't stop them stealing our mines and farms. It only increased it. 'For the war effort!' they loved to chant as they took and took. Putting us into poverty and then when we couldn't even afford to keep the farm up? Left for the jackals to pick over." Glancing down at the small Kig-Yar as she clicked her teeth. "Slip of the tongue there Tav, my mistake. But left!" Slamming her first on the desk. "So when we tried to get enough to survive? Criminals we were branded! Forced to run from a family home of two hundred years!"

More glaring and waving of the gun at imaginary evil eagels before she put her boots off the desk and nodded. "Right. good work with the letters today. See you in two days." Sliding a flex card across to the Ruuthian as he bobbed his beak.

"Thank you Miss." Before he quickly turned and skittered out of the lobby before he got dragged into another lecture. Aecor she was as bad as his Mama sometimes! Now outside in the noon time air Tav adjusted his headband and messenger bag before pulling out his PP to send a message to Mama.

'Second building complete, two more to go, back by supper' Before he raised an eyebrow at the instant and automated reply.

'Gone out system with other gunners, you kids on own for three days, stay out of trouble - Nale'

Well thats just great...At least he was going to get paid to keep up for these three days. Looking back down as his messenger back to do a quick count of the remaining letters and one bigger package. Didn't seem THAT bad. Maybe today would start to turn around?

[tento125]

SDF Captain "Nong" Ponguul Deerak
Just outside New Tyne Highrise Peak Palace Lobby
Well.....that happened
Tags: Faclan

"Welp, this has officially gone belly up" Nong heard one of his companions mutter under his breath, causing the officer to chuckle.

"Not really. Don't get me wrong, no one was expecting a UNSC destroyer to show up and blow an AA battery to smithereens, but it doesn't effect our primary objective" Nong replied to the sergeant before taking a swig from his can of BLAST. 

"I have to disagree sir" the female voice replied back. "With the UNSC show of force, the locals will be less willing to part with their goods to prepare themselves against further aggressions"

"Or they will be in a rush to empty their hands" another voice chimed in, this one being youngest of them all. "Don't forget Lieutenant, Venezia is a planet of merchants after all. The vendors don't have any ties to the local government, or whatever the planet's equivalent of a government is anyways, so it is possible that they want their goods sold off before it gets destroyed in another attack."

Nong can only grunt in agreement as the group idly walked along the street. He and his 3 junior companions were sent to Venezia by Saensuk's high council to acquire vehicles and heavy weapons for the expanding Saensuk Defense Force. With the recent......diplomatic incident between the planet and the UNSC just mere hours after they had landed, it will certainly affect their assignment, whether that is good or bad remains to be seen.

"Any idea what exactly happened up there?" The woman in the group asked, seemingly to pass the time.

"Details a little sketchy but apparently the UNSC were trying to insert operatives onto the planet." the sergeant replied instantly

All 3 people stopped dead in their tracks and looked at the man incredulously "Ha?"

"Don't look at me" the man put his hands up, geturing that he was innocent "it's what the locals are saying. Doesn't make any sense to me, especially since the ship actually blew up."

"And pray tell, how did you know about this?" Nong questioned.

"Bartender this morning couldn't stop yapping about it to anyone willing to listen." the man replied almost nonchalantly. "I happened to be one such individual"

The lieutenant shook her head "It still doesn't make anysense. A slipspace drive meltdown is not something you want to gamble on, regardless of how paranoid you are"

"I agree with that sentiment LT but the Venezian rebuttal also makes sense from their perspective" Nong gave his assessment of the situation that transpired in the last 24 hours. "It still doesn't excuse the utter shitshow it was, but the reasoning behind it is sound. What they should have done was to designate a specific area on the planet where the UNSC could evacuate their personnel to, from which they will be under armed supervision and banned from leaving the zone without permission from one of the militia leaders. Hell, they could've used a separate ship as the defacto holding cell if they're so paranoid of UNSC spec op personnel. Might've prevented the fire exchange from happening afterwards as well"

"Makes me glad that our own recontact with the UNSC went smoothly" the last member of the group shuddered at the potential disaster that could've happened to Saensuk. "Thank heavens that the UNSC contact group was led by one of our own"

"On that we are all in agreement. In fact, if the scuttlebutt at high command is true, it sounds like the esteemed Commander is going to resign his commission with the UNSC to join us" the captain mused, referring to Commander "Nam" Chanachon Boonphakdee who led a small UNSC battlegroup that reestablished contact between Saensuk and the rest of the galaxy. The Commander himself was a Saensuk native which was probably why he was tasked with such a mission in the first place.

"Huh really? Why would he do that? The UNSC pays infinitely more than what we get."

"It's not about the pay", Nong replied before finishing off his can and disposing it at the nearest bin. "Its about duty. The commander already saw to it that Humanity survived the Covenant, now he's returning to his roots and making sure that his home survives the aftermath. Which is exactly why we're here, don't forget about that"

At that, the rest of the group nodded solemnly, having being reminded of their task. "Speaking of which," the captain suddenly continued, having just remembered something. "Any word from Mr. Sampson yet?" Referring to the local that was hired to be their guide prior to their arrival. "Its noon already and I haven't heard from him at all lately."

"Just a moment sir" the lieutenant replied as she fished out her tac pad and started scrolling as if looking for something. "Sampson's a member of the local militia and apparently he was one of the crew members manning that AA gun that fired upon the UNSC. The same one that got blown to pieces right after."

Shit, well that complicates things. "So he's dead then"

The lieutenant only shrugged in response "No way of knowing sir. The casualties are still piling in but it's safe to say we are on our own for the time being."

Still shit. Without a local guide, its going to be tough going for the Saensukans to only navigate the planet, but also knowledge on which vendors to approach and which to avoid.

"Well, nothing we can do about it" he declared after mulling it over. "We have to find another guide in the meantime, at least until we get confirmation on Sampson's status"

"What about that guy?" the youngest one chirped up, pointing to a Jackal that had just left a nearby building and is currently just checking his own version of a tac-pad. "Looks like he knows his way around"

Nong analyzed the alien in closer detail. He can clearly see that the space chicken was carrying a large backpack of sorts and is doing a count of the contents inside. Looks like a messenger of sorts? Yeah, he'll do.

"Good eye corporal. Messengers always know their way around the place, especially if they want to keep employed. Stay here, while I go talk to the fella" he ordered before making his way to the space chicken. It would be for the best if he approaches the alien alone so he doesn't spook the poor thing.

Making sure his hidden magnum is in its rightful place and within easy reach beneath his civilian clothes in case the situation goes south, he cleared his throat before announcing himself as he reaches hearing range.

"Excuse me! Yes, hi. Can you spare some of your time for just a quick moment?"


((OOC: Yeesh. First RP post in what? 4 years? Anywho, hope all is good here! Just mulling over the recent events and some grander political shenanigans with the SDF. I'm also slightly retconning the date of which the UNSC recontacts Saensuk to fit the time frame of this story. As usual, turqoise = Thai language speaky so any passer bys wouldn't have the foggiest idea of what this group of unusual looking humans are talking about. Anywho, can't wait to start RPing again woopee!))

[Faclan]

(Great to have you back Tento \o/ - and Saensuk drama yay)

Tav - Ruuthian Mailman (Aged 14)
New Tyne main street, just outside Highrise
Attack of the clones?

As he had no real ears to flick in the direction of the oddest sounding Humans he ever pointed his beak at after he caught that language the first time Tav stepped back out of the main sidewalk as he leant against the concrete of a decorative dirt and plant piece. To help make it seem less drab or whatever. But he had much bigger issues to try and find out compared to some weird sounding flat faces. With Mama gone and Papa - well wherever he was - he was looking to find out what his siblings were going to be doing as they likely found out as well that Mama had gone out with some other former Pirate fighters it sounded like.

--> Kaln "What plans? Any change from norm?"

<-- Tav "Enclave need to check gear, make sure none obviously unsc - very busy."

So she would be stuck doing inventory, Tav pitied her really.

--> Tom "Any plan change?"

<-- Tav "Helping Human with farm, out of city two days."

So joyriding around in farming equipment. Unless this time it was real employment. That would be a nice chance.

--> Ken "Any plan change?"

"Excuse me! Yes, hi. Can you spare some of your time for just a quick moment?" Tav looking up from his phone analog to see it was one of the weird sounding humans from before. Well at least they could speak a language he could understand too. Tav leaning back to spot the other three waiting behind the first one before he returned to looking at the first one. Flicking the text conversation tool off the main screen before slipping it into his messenger bag as he stopped leaning back to stand up straight. Proper and prompt. Thats what Mama had told him how to act especially since it was his job to talk and deliver things.

"Of course you can Sirs - what can Tav do for you?" He patted the bag at his side. "I'm a mailman so if you are looking for a specific business or individual I can likely help with that."

They really all did look super similar to each other. Likely because they were from the same settlement or planet that clearly wasn't this one as he hadn't see any of their color or face structure before. Oddly kind of squished down eyes and really dark hair. Quite odd. Probably all from the same business or force - not clones obviously...unless?

<-- Tav "Help."

[Remnant]

ONI Field Operative Lucy “Nightingale” Veilyn
Venezia - New Tyne - Hannibal & Sons Storefront, Main Street
Wetwork

Lucy opened the door to the thriving shop, the bell just above the glass pane ringing with a loud jingle, alerting the store employees to her presence. Running her hand through her stylized hair, Lucy flipped it into her signature parted comb-over. She wore a solid black tank top, with a sleeveless denim jacket to show off the tattoo sleeves on both of her arms. For her lower half, she wore slate-grey, tight-fitting skinny jeans with a spiked punk belt. Completing the look, she adorned designer shoes intended to look as though white paint had splattered them. She enjoyed being in casual attire, having worked undercover on Venezia since the Galactic New Year - almost a month now. ONI had inserted her as a deep cover operative within one of the many Insurrectionist cells hidden on the planet. Going by the name of “Grace Harper”, her primary objective was to track down and eliminate key leaders within the system. Cut the head of the snake to kill the body. At least, that was the initial idea, before two UNSC warships had entered orbit, one of them self-detonating and the other obliterating an AA entrenchment. That had certainly thrown a monkey wrench into her operation. Her cover hadn’t been blown, but it had come pretty damn close to it.

Lucy’s temporary handler, Xavier Harris (Codename “Skink”), made it clear that ONI was about to expand its operations on the planet. He didn’t say how, though, as even he was kept in the dark about what was coming. She didn’t have much longer to complete her mission before she’d be pulled out and reassigned - or worse, reconditioned. Time was running out for her, though her own allegiance was beginning to shift. Too long had ONI hounded her. She quickly developed a headache as the mental pain from her conditioning seeped in. Shaking the thoughts of insubordination out of her head, the pain subsided. Returning to the task at hand, Lucy entered the store, having awkwardly stood in the open doorway for little over a minute.

“Grace! What brings you here today?” Daniel “Danny” Hannibal greeted Lucy. Danny was one of two sons, the other being John “Johnny” Hannibal, who operated the store with their father and namesake, Charles Hannibal.

“The usual, Danny. Merchandise for sale.”

“Standard mail or special delivery?” ‘Special delivery’ was the term Danny used for black market, as too many ears were in store, always listening in.

“Express.” Lucy said, toting two metallic green hardcases as though they were briefcases. Danny ushered her into the back while Johnny took over his spot as cashier.

Opening the door for her, Danny led her into the backroom where an empty table was stationed at the center, a small light hanging above it. The light illuminated the various gunracks and guncases around the room, along with a few heavy duty safes. Hefting the two hardcases onto the table, she clicked open the locks on one and lifted the lid up. A dangerous and rightly feared weapon, the M99 Stanchion Gauss Rifle, laid within the formed styrofoam of the case. Danny stared at the weapon for a few moments, speechless. Lucy clicked open the locks to the second case as Danny looked over her shoulder.

“What… is that?” Danny said in awe and bewilderment.

“A prototype. The MLRS-1, codenamed ‘Hydra’.” Lucy stated with a knowing smirk.

“Grace, how did you..?”

“Procure it? We all have our secrets, Danny. Some of which will never see the light of day. As an arms dealer, I can’t risk having competitors knowing mine. Let’s keep it like that.” Lucy winked at the stunned man.

“How much?” Danny asked for a price.

“Hundred thousand, not a credit less.”

Danny coughed, the look on his face one of confusion and admonishment. “Grace, we could sell every weapon in this shop and the shop itself - we still wouldn’t have that kind of money.” Danny said, objecting to the extraordinarily high price.

“Not from you. From the top. They’ve been wanting to get their hands on new hardware for years, well here it is. The price is more than fair, believe me. I’ve put a lot on the line to acquire this shit.” Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes glaring at the man before her.

“Give me a minute. Lemme talk to pops real quick.” Referring to his father, Charles, Danny walked out of the room.

Lucy was ecstatic. Both of the weapons contained micro-trackers embedded within the upper receivers of the weapons, emitting a highly encrypted signal that Lucy could keep tabs on. Once the weapons circulated to the top of the chain, she’d have the location of at least one of the soon-to-be-deceased cell leaders. After what seemed like 10 minutes of waiting, the father-son pair walked back into the room together. Danny closed both hardcases and brought them both into a rather large vault, where even more valuable commodities were being stored for future shipments. She got a glimpse of a selection of sealed crates stacked on some wooden pallets. What looked like a heavily reinforced garage door took the place of the back wall of the so-called vault.

“The credits have been wired to your account, missy. The boss thanks you for your services and urges you to leave. You’re done trading for the day.” Charles spoke to her in a gruff, very commanding tone of voice.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me, Grace. We’re grateful for the package but we aren’t stupid. Somewhere along the lines, you’ve had to piss somebody off to get that type of hardware. I don’t know who the hell you stole it from, but I’ll bet my retirement that you’re high profile now. Especially considering the damn UEG fascists just blew up a goddamn air defense tower. Boss doesn’t want you around the store for a while, not until this situation cools down and blows over.”

“Understood. Lay low, stay outta sight.”

“Keep outta contact with the rest of the cell. If you’re compromised, we don’t need everything falling apart. I’m sorry, Grace, but this is just how it’s gonna have to be for now.” Charles said, escorting her out of the backroom and into the main portion of the store.

“No worries, Charles. It’s part of the mission.”

“The mission?”

“Figure of speech.” Lucy smirked, leaving the business and entering the busy-bodied street. Now all that was left was to play the waiting game.