The Red and the Black

Accept Gaussian's Mission

The mission I have is dangerous, but unlike some cloak-and-dagger types, I actually like it when the people I work with know what's going on. Deniability is great, sure, but I prefer people to be able to react to a changing situation. So if you're in, I'll give you the low-down. But don't make me wait too long.

Okay, here's the situation:

You know about the branches of Vanguard, right? The Helm, Shield, and Gauntlet? Well, there's another branch. The one I run: the Sword. We handle counter-intelligence, special forces actions, all that kind of stuff. It can be some ugly work, but it's necessary.

Now here's what this has to do with you:

Some actions have gone... wrong lately. Frankly, I suspect that some of the Sword have been compromised. I can't investigate it myself, so I need someone to do it by proxy. That would be you. And this is the incident I want you to check: One of those Traditionalist Negotiators is missing. One of the Sword teams I suspect was in the vicinity, lead by Captain Flint, someone I used to trust. I want you to check out their location. If the diplomat's there, bring him back alive. I'll be waiting for your report. Oh, and the negotiator's name is Sah'Teece. Apparently he was a Rikti sports hero before he became a diplomat. Some kind of racing, I guess.

This really looks like the kind of place someone could dump a body.

Objective: You have defeated Captain Flint.

Assassination List

If you weren't a member of Vanguard, this Cipher would take serious effort to decode. But with your training, it only takes a few moments to read the names of the negotiators and diplomats this squad has been assigned to murder. The evidence is plain, but leaves you with more questions.

Mission Complete: You prevented the assassination and captured the plot's leader!

Sah'Teece has been on Earth for a while. We told him that his kidnappers were really Nemesis Automatons, and he bought it without reservation. Guess you can get used to anything. But you and I know that those were real people, soldiers of the Vanguard who've gone renegade. They're taking orders to illegally murder people with an eye towards destabilizing the peace with the Traditionalists. This isn't just Flint and a rogue squad. This is a conspiracy. And I'm going to need your help rooting it out.

Investigate Renegade Safe House

Working with the data you've collected and the testimony of the traitors you brought in, we've found the location of a rally point for the renegades. I want you to go in and try to get any intelligence you can gather. We need to know what they're planning and how they were turned against us.

So far, we've kept the presence of the Renegades within the Sword quiet. I'd like to keep it that way and end this quickly.

Nothing good has happened in this abandoned place in a long time.

Objective: You found an unfinished letter, full of regret for horrible deeds to come.

An Unfinished Letter

This handwritten letter is unfinished and discarded, probably an early draft. It's addressed to a woman named 'Martha", and attempts to explain the deep regrets the author feels regarding the harsh actions he and the rest of the Sword must undertake for the good of humanity. It's unaddressed and unfinished, so there's no way to know who Martha was, or if she ever recieved it.

Objective: You found some important looking information on Captain Grool.

The Next Target

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, you find this. It was Captain Grool's next set of orders. It doesn't name the target, but from the location and amount of forces they're preparing, the only possible victim of the next assassination attempt must be Lady Grey herself!

Objective: You've found the missing diplomat, or what's left of him, at least.

The Diplomat's Body

The Diplomat's name was Bill J. Wylde, a former astronaut and one of the chief proponents of opening talks with the Rikti Traditionalist faction. He was definitely killed by Vanguard weapons, from behind at close range. This was an assassination, and whether or not the people responsible were renegades, Bill Wylde's death is going to cause a lot of trouble with Longbow.

Objective: The writings are almost unhinged in their paranoia.

A personal journal

This laptop belongs to Lt. Ceres. It's full of mad, paranoid ranting about how the Vanguard has lost its way, and may now be too 'weak' to do the job that the writer feels must be done.

Mission Complete: You're finished at the safe house. Time to tell Gaussian what you've learned.

'It is even more troubling'

After you met up with him, Lt. Sefu Tendaji took a moment to speak to you:

'I came here to find a missing diplomat. We discovered that he had been taken here by Vanguard agents. I thought that there would be no problems, but this is madness! I have fought alongside the Vanguard, I have even defended the Vanguard to my superiors, but to be attacked like this? It is even more troubling that you seem unsurprised.

Well, I know I can still trust you. Let us find the diplomat, together.'

From what you've found, the situation with the renegades is worse than I suspected. And now Longbow has a stake in it. Tendaji's a good guy, but the murder of Mr. Wylde is too much. He's going to go to 'W.M. Dietrich', and then there's going to be trouble. But we have to concentrate on putting down these renegades first and that means stopping the assassination on Lady Grey. Or does it? Hmm... You know, I've got an idea...

Spring the trap on the Renegade Swords

Here's the plan, Red Tomax. The Renegades are gathering a large number of their forces for an assassination attempt on Lady Grey. I've talked to her and she's going to walk right into the trap. Only now the trap is for them, not for her. You're going to be there as her back-up, you and any allies you want to bring. We're going to break this conspiracy and put an end to this today.

The Renegades planned to get Lady Grey alone and then swarm her with hit-squads. They might have had a chance, too, but not anymore. You have two objectives: first, you have to get Lady Grey to safety. If she falls, even if we're able to miniport her back out, that still will count as a victory for the Renegades. Your secondary objective is to eliminate all the assassin squads. Good luck.

Good job! The Renegades are sure to get desperate now, and that may draw them out and give us a chance to put an end to them. That is, unless someone does something stupid...

Capture Captain Racer

With their attempt on Lady Grey a failure, the Renegade Sword units are on edge. They're making mistakes and now one of their key intelligence officers, Captain Racer, is exposed. Your mission is to catch him and bring him in.

We need to know what the Renegades are doing and what they plan to do next. You'll have to take care of any opposition on-site, but keep on-task. We need to find out their plans.

The minute you walk in, you hear the sounds of fighting. Something's very wrong.

Objective: After recovering from your fight, Sefu Tendaji told you something interesting...

'I am very worried, my friend'

Always an honorable man, Lt. Sefu Tendaji took a moment to talk to you after you defeated him.

'I am very worried, my friend. I know that these are renegades, but people are afraid, and there are many Longbow who have never trusted the Vanguard. In fact, we've had a secret monitoring station in the area for some time, listening in on Vanguard communications. It has been busy recording all of the activity among the Renegades lately, particularly after you stopped their assassination attempt.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to the listening station, but I believe that whatever the Renegades are up to can be found in those records.'

Objective: You found something.

Racer's Remains

You found some of the information you were looking for, but not everything, and you can't ask Captain Racer for more. He swallowed a poison capsule, opting to die rather than reveal his secrets to Longbow... Or you.

Mission Complete: You didn't find what you were looking for, but Lt. Tendaji did give you a clue.

This is what I was afraid of. Knowledge of the Sword Renegades is out and people are scared. Incandescent is doing her best, but Longbow is Ms. Liberty's force and the people love her. Now Ms. Liberty has decided that Longbow should handle the Rikti situation and that Vanguard should join up or stand down. She's said that we're superfluous, a danger, and that Longbow has the troops and gear to take on the Rikti better than we can. After all of this, I can see where she's coming from. She may have a point. More than that, she may be right. But I don't look good in red and white. We have to handle this.

Raid hidden Longbow data center

Longbow's been wrapping up all of our leads as they're trying to seize control of the situation and get enough rope to hang us. But we're not out of it yet. Lt. Tendaji strongly hinted to you about a Longbow listening base they have hidden in the zone, and we've found it. If they have the information that Tendaji implied that they did, it could help us confirm what we think the Renegades are up to. We need all the information we can get to stop them and we can find it in only one place: that Longbow Base.

All we want in there is the data. Unfortunately, the base will be staffed, and most likely there will be security responses each time you get some of the information. Still, it would be best if you could do this without any unnecessary action. I have my own problems with Longbow, but we're all on the same side against the Rikti.

It looks like Sefu wasn't kidding. There's a complete Longbow base hidden here!

Objective: You found something

A Tactical Projection

This unfinished but well-researched report details one Agent Ikah's theories about recent Vanguard activity. Ikah lays out the probability of a renegade branch within the Vanguard and then analyzes their recent actions. His conclusion is that if they make an attempt on Lady Grey's life and fail, they'll likely take a desperate measure to cut off what they see as the source of all their problems at the source, and made an attempt to destroy the conduit between our world and the Rikti homeworld. It sounds like a good idea, but as Ikah points out, the barriers between Earth and Rikti Earth are so weak right now, such an action could have unimaginably bad consequences.

Objective: Opening the crate has made too much noise someone heard

Captured Vanguard Gear

This crate is filled with gear captured from Vanguard agents. There's also a lot of technological items re-captured after being stolen by Sword Renegades. There's enough here to build some kind of portal-related device.

Objective: You found something

Transmission Logs

There is a massive amount of data here, a record of every transmission made by a Vanguard Unit. It looks like they sorted them all by branch. There are even separate files for the Renegades' transmissions. The listening post must have assumed they were a new branch.

Objective: Cracking the computer has triggered a silent alarm

Objective: Cracking the computer has triggered a silent alarm

Mission Complete: You got the information you were looking for.

This is bad. If Longbow is right, and I think they are, the Renegades are about to cause a catastrophe. If they manage to use the device they're building to destroy the inter-dimensional corridor between our world and the Rikti Homeworld, it won't seal the thing off, it will open them up. To EVERYTHING. It could change the laws of physics, free the Rularuu, and worse. They have to be stopped.

Stop the Renegades

We've been tracking the movements of a large group of Renegades, but didn't know their objectives. However, the information you found has made their aims abundantly clear. I believe this group is armed with a portal destroyer, and are going to try and use it in a last-ditch attempt to stop the Rikti invasion forever. Which wouldn't be a bad idea, except that trying to destroy the inter-dimensional conduit between our world and the Rikti homeworld could make the universe collapse. So we gotta stop them.

It's a crazy world, ain't it? This is the Renegade's last push, so they've gone all out. You'll need to capture two of the Renegades' top technicians, defeat the Renegades' leader, and destroy the disrupter before they reach their target. They'll be a bit distracted from all the Rikti, so you have a good chance. Oh, and to make it even more complicated, Longbow will probably be there. They're a lower priority, but if W.M. Dietrich is there, you'll need to defeat her, too, before they'll give it up.

This branch of the tunnel system is headed towards the crashed saucer. Do the Renegades know about another way into the cavern underneath?

Objective: You have destroyed the disruptor before it could be used.

Wreckage

This batch of destroyed equipment was going to be the portal disrupter that the Renegade Swords were planning to use. If it had been assembled and triggered, it might have been able to break the interdimensional conduit between our world and the alternate reality the Rikti come from. Unfortunately, that would have also shattered the barriers betwen the two universes, collapsing them in on each other, or worse. You have to wonder just how often the entire universe is placed on the brink of destruction by something like this.

Objective: You have taken Capt. Dietrich out of the fight.

Objective: You captured one of the technicians!

Objective: You captured one of the technicians!

Objective: You have defeated the leader of the Renegade swords.

Capt. W.M. Dietrich [Elite Boss] Captain Wilhelmina Marlena Dietrich has proven herself as one of Longbow's top-notch field leaders in several major actions during her career. She has recently been placed in control of Longbow's Anti-Rikti Operations. She has long been a critic of the Vanguard and it's open-door policies.

Mission Complete: You have put an end to the Renegade Swords.

You really saved the day, Red Tomax. The surviving Renegades are all in custody and the dimensional barriers are safe. A quick trip to the hospital cooled off Dietrich, and once she had proof that this was a Renegade group acting on their own, she took it to Ms. Liberty, who's back off on calling for us to be disbanded. WMD may not like us, but she's honest, I'll give her that. Overall, things worked out okay.

Well, except for me. All of this happened on my watch, so I've got a lot of people in Vanguard pretty angry at me. I need to spend some time and clean up my organization. In the meantime, the Watcher asked me to send you his way. I don't know what's up, but whatever he things of me right now, he's heard a lot of good things about you.

I'll see you later. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get the Swords sharp again.

The Dark Watcher doesn't make requests lightly.