Operation Lost Angel

Operation Lost Angel was a DGCL infiltration of USC-occupied Artheniapolis in an effort to rescue a captured ranger during the USC raid on Ft. Vigil.

Using Paladin's contacts, Seraphim Squad used an FDC coast guard cutter to approach the southern Agalos shores and made landfall under cover of night. There they rendezvoused with Mary Rose, a young woman of the Agathonian resistance. With a civilian pickup truck she was able to transport the unit to Artheniapolis, with a night spent in a resistance safe-house along the way.

Upon arriving at the old capital of the Senate, they found the USC had renamed the city to Athenasiapolis - city of eternal life. The inner city that had been leveled was now the site of a giant Ziggurat - the eponymous Athenasia Ziggurat. Only partially constructed, the drone swarm from the nearby MARCS ship Salvation was actively building out floors from the frame. According to local network info, the lower floors and top sections were mostly complete, as well as the sub-basement where the divine machine would be housed. The entire complex was to make the divine machine self-sustaining and functionally immortal. Only USC members were allowed into the Ziggurat, with a large gathering of non-members outside forming slums in the ruined outer city. By announcement the ascension of Lucius Titus to immortality was scheduled for 12/16 at noon.

After arriving in the outer slums, Seraphim Squad met with another contact of Strategos Tyr Elethos through Paladin as an intermediary. After meeting the dark figure who called himself Jon Diamond and agreeing to guarantee the UFPF would not interfere with “his business” in the future, he revealed himself to be a shapeshifter. In return he agreed to lend his talents to their mission.

A general plan was agreed upon - Paladin would work on ex-filtration preparations, Mary Rose would look to recruit assets in the outer city, Jon Diamond would work on securing access for the wounded Ethos to receive medical care in the Ziggurat, and rest of Seraph Squad would work to rescue Serenity. After securing a safe house run by former FCC members of Seraph Squad sought to gain Ziggurat access by hacking the local USC membership database. After finding a suitable terminal in an outer city security checkpoint, they used a burning vehicle as a distraction and forged the required records. The unit then entered the Ziggurat and attempted to blend in with the Ascension Day festivities.

With forged membership access Seraph Squad searched the crowds of the Ascension Day follies and, after ranger Inquisitor saved a group of mischievous kids from the secret police, made contact with the black market. They prepared several distraction kits and improvised explosives. During this time Jon Diamond was able to forge system member access for them to enter the upper Ziggurat. He had also discovered that Serenity was being held in a district of the top level called the Presidium Glade, but had not found an address.

Before entering the upper levels the ranger Silvertongue found a system member in among the commoners to gain some insight into the social climate. He discovered that Serenity was holding social gatherings and was 'reformed' but not well liked among the system membership. While she operated under Lucius Titus's protection she would not be so lucky after the ascension ceremony, when his attention would be elsewhere.

Seraph Squad then entered the upper Ziggurat, and after a brief exploration settled in their quarters to watch the public ascension ceremony. Lucius arrived just before midnight. Arriving at the old city in a bullet-proof vehicle he broke protocol and walked the route instead, soaking in the adulation of the masses. He did the same at the elevator to travel up the side of the Ziggurat, greeting and shaking hands with members at the lower levels. Arriving at the roof he gave a short statement to the gathered socialites, saying only that he would work tirelessly to see his Ninth Age, the Age of Eternal Life, brought to fruition. He descended an elevator behind the stage to the sub-basement, accompanied by the Divine Maker, top-level officials, Serenity, and a man that looked like James Kaios.

The ranger Ethos attempted to follow the ascension procession using a cloak suit, but was blocked by a Centaur Titan, who could see through the optical camouflage.

The next morning Seraph Squad met with the heir-apparent of the system member they had contact with earlier - Cadius Ignatius Manus Polisius - at a club owned by the Polisius family called Rainbow`. He revealed that he knew they had forged their system membership, and threatened to reveal that fact unless they killed Serenity. His 'father' Gustavus was spurned by the divine makers when they chose Lucius Titus to ascend, and thus he wanted to humiliate the divine machine by showing he could not protect his prized woman.

Seraph Squad agreed to his terms but continued to plan for her escape. They used the Polisius influence to obtain an invitation to the social events that Serenity was holding each evening. Several members went that day to gauge her situation and get details to plan the escape with. Serenity greeted them as guests and made no indication that she knew them beyond their false identities, but during the party used a subtle gesture to tap out a signal message that stated “Don't tell me anything.” They also met Gustavus Constintinus Romulanus Ithica, the cyberologist assigned to Serenity by Lucius. He was suspiciously vague on the reason Serenity needed a full-time cyberologist constantly looking after her. That night the USC MARCS-class ship Salvation departed the area.

The next day Seraph Squad met with Gustavus Ithica under the guise of a consultation. They pressed him further on his dealings with Serenity, and by discovering an Orthodox prayer necklace among his curios, were able to convince him to tell all. He revealed that Serenity was being subjected to intense mental and VR torture each night, and Gustavus was ordered by Lucius to ensure that the damage was reversed or otherwise hidden.

That evening the rangers staged their rescue operation. Paladin had procured a verti-jet from a USC Shadow, and would secure the roof of the Ziggurat to extract from. Jon Diamond would sabotage the power on the Apex at the Seraphs' signal, and a platoon of resistance fighters led by Mary Rose would provide distracting fire on the apartment from the old city below.

That night at another of Serenity's parties Seraph Squad launched their rescue operation. With the element of surprise and fire support from the resistance they were able to overwhelm the secret police presence in Serenity's residence, including a Centaur Titan.

After the initial fighting was done Serenity painfully removed several trackers from her body. The team moved down the street to a dead drop where Jon Diamond had stashed their long guns, body armor, and other gear. Seraph Squad then assaulted and overwhelmed a road block manned by System Guard soldiers loyal to Polisius.

Upon reaching the main landing of the Apex Seraph Squad was stopped and pinned down by a large contingent of System Guard along with a Titan Frame armed with a heavy automatic grenade launcher. Jon Diamond, through subterfuge, caused a general melee within the System Guard by exploiting partisan divisions, and destroyed the Titan Frame with a satchel charge. Seraph Squad used the chaos to link up with Paladin and exfiltrate via a stolen vertijet on the roof.

Upon returning to coalition territory Serenity began debriefing, providing valuable details about the ascension ceremony Lucius underwent:

• The procession entered the basement to find a shallow moat filled with artificial blood (white milky mineral oil-like substance). A solid black marble wall of the divine machine housing was at the other end. Steps led down into the pool, then back up to a scanning pod set before the wall. The gathering lined the near bank of the moat while Lucius Titus waded in with Dominus Aurelius Horus Maximus Galicus, a divine maker from Sector Zero. The divine maker was a Chimera Construct, eschewing human aesthetics for utility.
• The group repeated “ianoda nete le he sabrab”, in rising voices. Serenity is instructed to join in but she suddenly lost her voice.
• After the chant rose to a climax the divine maker silenced the group with the raising of a hand. He anointed Lucius with oil, then gave a short speech. He explained that the pool was a metaphor for the ignorance and superstition of the old world, where people believed that simple repeated words or mystical rituals would bring gifts from the gods. Lucius would rise out of the pool to the next stage of humanity, one without death, hate, or division.
• At the divine maker's signal Lucius entered the scanning machine. A whirring scanning fork spun around his body at high rate of speed. Serenity blacked out at this point, but came to quickly. The Divine Maker grined at her knowingly and chuckled.
• The Divine Maker announced that Lucius's mind had been uplifted, and all that remained was to destroy the last physical vestiges of the man. He assured them that while the pain often contorts the body, that it would serve as a reminder of what he left behind. The scanning fork fired lasers that seared all of Lucius's flesh and heated his metal bones white hot. But rather than flinch Lucius simply spreads his arms wide. The skeleton, still hot, was moved by a crane and placed into the divine machine housing, another set of lasers heating the marble to have it melt over the skeleton, leaving a monolithic wall depicting Lucius's last pose.
• A dark, malevolent presence then loomed over the gathering, but a man (Serenity refused to say who) put a hand on her shoulder and assured her she would not be consumed or stolen away.