May 1963
May has finally come after a very long last day of April.
BW is now in the middle of the secret fallout after the President's own SS agents tried to kill the FL and lucky, they failed due to her becoming a JB user. At the same time the President also went TACTed in the form of turning into a Watchman.
Though you almost hit your head on the table when Jackie told you that her JB was found on the floor, and she just picked it up. This once again made you question what the hell is wrong with securing things around here.
Now besides the normal BW duties, you and the rest of the group must think of ways to help the Presidential Couple, from teaching their new forms, deal with the future political fallout, the PR nightmare and worst, investigate the now dead treasonous SS agents and the reason why they did it.
ECONOMY:
Upkeep= 11,490
Federal Income= 119,250
Income= 735,343 119,250 (Fed Income) = 854,593
Legacy Fund= 168,539,325,843
Stewardship:
-] Upgrade Basic Housing for support staff
Cost- 100, Upkeep- 50; CoS- 90%;
Roll- 64 5= 69
PASS
-] Upgrade Basic Housing for officers and VIPs
Cost- 100, Upkeep- 50; CoS- 90%
Roll- 25 5= 30
PASS
-] Upgrade Basic Motor Pool
Cost- 100, Upkeep- 50; CoS- 90%
Roll- 40 5 = 45
PASS
This month, Hayden went on a construction spree in upgrading several of HQ's facilities. This was mostly because the Presidential Couple were now residents there due to having been TACTed, so he wanted the place to look shiny and efficient.
By the end of the month, several facilities had been upgraded. The Motor Pool had been increased in size to allow for more vehicles to be included and better equipment to keep any vehicles' maintenance in top shape.
The housing for both the support staff, officers and VIPs were also improved. While not exactly luxurious, it was still a better improvement than before, specially the beds. One extra detail that Hayden made that was welcomed by the females was that a new shower room that was made for them when there was only one shower room for the entire base.
("I think I speak for any sane male here that giving the superpowered women on base their own private shower room is a good idea." Hayden said when he told you about his plan for that inclusion to the upgrade.)
But the most important thing that he made sure were upgraded was the base's defenses and improving the Training Grounds.
Though in the case of the TGs, it was more repairing it after the presidential couple's training sessions and trying to make it more durable than adding anything new to it.
For the base defenses, the metal fences were reinforced to be more durable to the point that if a car tried to run through them, it might stop the car or damage it enough that it would stop running after going through the fence.
Also, with the help of the scientists in telling him what they needed, the main laboratory was not only fully repaired but also upgraded to be more equipped but also to withstand any possible future sabotage like last time.
Either way, you could say that Hayden really did his best in managing and finishing several projects at the same time even with the added pressure of the Presidential Couple.
Rewards:
Motor Pool Lvl. 1 (Small increase of number of military vehicles allowed, and better equipment for maintenance)
Housing for Support Staff Lvl. 1 (Better living conditions for staff)
--New Shower Room added, assigned to women only. Old one is now for men.
Housing for officers and VIPs Lvl. 1 (Better living conditions for officers and VIPs)
Diplomacy:
-] Tell the rest of the government
Cost- 1000, CoS- 50/5%, Reward- Rest of the government is informed; they can act accordingly.
Roll- 67 17 15= 99
PASS
-] I can do my job from here
Cost- 1500, Upkeep- 500; CoS- ???, Reward- President can run the government from HQ without any problems.
Roll- 73 17 15= 105
CRIT Roll- 44 5= 49
PASS
-] Prepare for the PR Storm
Cost- 5000, CoS- ???, Reward- PR things are ready to be used when the news comes out.
Roll- 69 17 15= 101
CRIT Roll- 88 1= 89
PASS
You honestly have earned a new level of appreciation for not only your diplomatic team but also to the President himself who seemed to drag himself every day regarding running a government as massive as the United States.
Due to the fact that the Presidential Couple could not leave HQ due to being TACTed, you needed to find a way to not only find a legitimate fake excuse as for why they cannot come out, way to keep the President active in running the country but also prepare for the fallout of their new appearances.
After a month-long complex diplomatic workload, everything was done.
It was reported to the rest of the government, an excuse devised by your medical personnel that while treating the FL for her pregnancy, a viral infection occurred that caused the death of all the Secret Service agents, thus covering up their deaths; and left the Presidential Couple on the verge of death and that using an experimental medical procedure saved the couple at the cost of physically changing them and leaving them weak.
The medical reports stated that the couple will be able to leave the base after 3 months at best and could not receive any visitors.
Though while it was reported that the couple was physically weak, it did not mean they were mentally incapacitated. In the case of the President, after long arguments with the rest of the federal government; he was able to retain his control of the government.
Following advice from your diplomatic experts, you funded an improvement for HQ. In this case, you acquired communication equipment that would allow the President to stay in contact with the rest of the government without any delays, giving the President his own personal office for him to operate from.
Hell, it got to the point that in the event of an outbreak of a war, the President could easily run the war and the country from HQ without problems.
You gave credit to the President, the man had a tight work schedule, from his Presidential duties, medical examinations, training his new powers and body; and spending time with his wife. He was able to do all of it without looking stressed out most of the time. Though it did help that the First Lady helped him out as his secretary when she herself was not busy with her own duties.
Though the biggest issue that came was coming up with the excuse to give to the public once the Presidential Couple's appearance is revealed.
Practically every person in HQ gave their ideas for what excuses to use.
Though you honestly were starting to question if the people were taking this seriously or as a joke, especially after reading some of the ideas. One joke idea, written by Leah and Strangelove; was to say that the First Lady was doing a special Playboy interview to showcase her new form. The idea was thrown out in a heartbeat but at least the Presidential Couple had a good laugh at that.
In the end, it was decided to just simply state the same excuse given to the government at what happened, only to hide some of the few details, like change the location of the accident to the same place Tacpur and Edefoxin was developed to hide BW's involvement.
Though Walter did come up with the idea, to make the public eat up the story more; that after getting exposed to the virus and hearing about the experimental procedure, the President volunteered to go first to see if it works, not wanting to risk the life of his wife and child.
This was to make the President look in a positive light.
Regardless of all the PR preparations, whenever the public eats up the excuses is another matter.
Reward- Rest of federal government aware of the new status of the Presidential Couple and accept it.
Part of HQ has been reorganized that the President can do his daily tasks there without any problems. Can run the government in HQ in the event of an emergency or even during a war. Presidential Room established.
Excuses for PR front when the couple's physical forms are revealed ready. (Bonus for when the roll is done in a future turn)
-] Contact Lennin
Cost- 500, CoS- 50%, Reward- Contact established
Roll- 32 17= 49
Okay on the one hand, the letter, according to the postal service; it reached its destination in the Soviet Union but on the other hand we don't know if the letter even made it to the hands of Lennin, specially with how paranoid the KGB is these days.
Chris just hope that the letter reached his friend in time without any problems.
FAIL (5 to next attempt)
Martial:
-] Train Jackie Kennedy:
Cost- 1000, CoS- 55/95/125/(???-600), Reward- Jackie knows how to use her new body
--] [HELP] Yes, one JB user, Strangelove takes over.
NEW DC= 28/48/63/(300)
Roll- 7 45 10 - 30 (Pregnant)= 32
Re-Roll- 94 45 10 - 30 (Pregnant)= 119
Crit Roll- 88 19= 107
Crit Roll 2- 66 7= 73
Total- 299
Okay, so an interesting development occurred regarding Jackie.
Unlike the previous TACTed women, who instantly are inducted to train in how to use their new bodies and powers; Jackie, both from your medical staff and her husband; forbid her from doing any of the military training because she was pregnant, and no one wanted to risk something happening to the baby.
At first, she seemed to be fine with that decision.
But imagine your surprise when sometime later, you and others found out by accident that Strangelove, Leah, and Joy were training Jackie in secret during the nights, regardless of her condition. Apparently, Jackie managed to convince Leah and Strangelove, with Joy discovering them in the same night and deciding to help them out to make sure nothing happened to Jackie; in teaching her how to fight and use her JB.
When the President confronted his wife about it, she responded that she decided to do this cause she did not want to be caught off-guard again and that having needing to know how her new body operates was a necessity.
JFK's reaction to Jackie Training:
Roll- 89 10 (Understands the reason she wants to fight) = 99 vs 26 30 (She's Pregnant) 10 (Worried)= 66
JFK understands and allows her to train.
Even though he was angry that his wife was taking a dangerous risk by training, he understood her reason and allowed her to continue training, just asking her to be careful. This meant that she could now train in the day without hiding.
You accepted the President's order to allow his wife to continue her routine.
Though the scene of Brandon berating the ladies for their actions was funny, since it felt like a science teacher punishing a group of students for doing something that was not in the rulebook.
Regarding Jackie's training results at the end of the month, even though she was pregnant; she demonstrated the same capabilities as Strangelove and Leah. And with Strangelove taking personal attention to her JB training, Jackie had learned how to use her JB without problems. Her JB was just like the others, the only things different was that she could use her hair extensions as whips and that her default weapon was a katana blade.
Interesting enough, it was Joy's physical and combat training that helped Jackie the most, specially in that her training method seemed to consider that the person was pregnant.
Joy, like she did with Leah; had a test fight. This time it was her against the trio of Leah, Jackie, and Strangelove. And due to Jackie's pregnancy, she held back more than last time.
Strangelove/Leah/Jackie Tag vs Joy with handicap (not serious)
Roll- 14 10 (Jackie Pregnant) 10 (Tag Team) 10 (Joy holding back) = 44 vs. 89
Even with her holding back, the trio still could not beat the Queen.
And like last time, even with her holding back; Joy still showed she was the Alpha Female of BW and dominated them with ease. But none of the three women had a problem with that, they accepted it and hoped to get stronger.
But the important thing was that Jackie, even if the coming months she loses her capability due to her status; she can now fight with the rest of BW's combat forces and her husband if the need arises.
Reward-
Jackie is combat capable.
New perks discovered:
Student of the Boss= 3 combat rolls
Jewel Armor-
Capable of flight.
Armor and skin Bulletproof.
Partial deployment of armor and can be turned into a full body armor.
Grants Regeneration.
Peak Strength, Speed and Reflexes.
Capable of taking a tank-shot but can still feel pain.
Capable of creating any melee weapons from the armor; including shields. Katana blade is the default weapon.
- ] Train The President
Cost- 1000, CoS- 55/85/150/300, Reward- JFK knows how to fight in his new body
NEW DC- 28/43/75/150
Roll- 71 45 10 = 126
Crit Roll- 87 26= 113
Crit Roll 2- 30 13 = 43
Unlike his wife in her fist attempt, the President took to his Watchman training like fish to water from the start. This was probably because the President already had military training under his belt.
While the President received training from the Watchmen, you took a direct approach in training the President with his new body and powers. Even with the President busied with his primary duties, he still had time to attend training and excel at it.
By the end of the month, the President managed to get used to his new status and knows how to fight without problems, including making sure his Bolts were under his control and not unleash them due to his emotions.
His Watchmen body seemed to be just like Indy and Fear, which included the same Bolt capability, which he could create and control up to 4 bolts at the same time.
But the most distinct ability he discovered was that could concentrate his Bolts into his eyes directly and fire them in a continues blue beam in front of him (1). He could do this for a few minutes before beginning to tire out.
(1- Basically, what X-men Cyclops does.)
In the end, even though the President was not a part of BW's combat forces, he could now at least fight and defend himself without problems.
Reward-
JFK, is combat capable.
New perks discovered-
Watchmen (Tank Man V2)
--Lvl 2 Bolts (create a floating ball shape projectile of BL, create and control at the same time- 4);
--Lvl 1 Eye Beam (Fire continuous beams from eyes) (Like X-men Cyclops)
-] Upgrade Base Defenses 5-
Cost- 350, Upkeep- 40, Time- one month (1 turn), CoS- 35/30/10%, Reward- Defenses upgraded
Roll- 20 45= 65
BARE PASS
'See Stewardship Action'
Reward- Base Defenses 6 (20 Base Defenses) (Metal fences were reinforced to be more durable.)
-] Upgrade Training Ground Lvl. 6
Cost- 850, Upkeep- 200, Time- 1 month (1 turn), CoS- 35%, Reward- Training Ground Lvl. 7
Roll- 71 45= 116
CRIT ROLL- 55 16 = 71
PASS
'See Stewardship Action'
Reward- Training Ground Lvl. 7 (20 to any training rolls and 1 reroll per turn related to training)
Intrigue (Pick 3):
-] Write a fake medical excuse:
Cost- 5000, CoS- 30/5%, Reward- Medical Excuses for Presidential Couple's changes made
Roll- 94 5 (Fury)= 99
PASS
'Read Diplomacy Section'
Reward- Presidential Couple's medical excuses are ready to be used for the public.
-] Checkup of BW:
Cost- 700, CoS- ???, Reward- BW personal examined.
Roll- 90 5= 95
PASS
'Read below'
-] Investigate SS Traitors
Cost- 5000, CoS- ???, Reward- Source of traitor SS agents discovered.
Roll- 2 5 10 = 17
CRIT FAIL
Re-Roll= 99 5 10 = 114
Crit Roll= 96 14= 110
Crit Roll 2= 55 10= 65
PASS
You really are starting to sometimes wonder how the hell Fury accomplish what he does in ways that leave the mind wondering. You ordered him to do a very thorough examination of all BW's personnel in case of any potential traitors hiding between us and investigate the traitorous SS agents and find out what he could about them.
The next day he disappeared, and you were both expecting it and dreading it. At the very least he left you behind a decent stack of good baseline excuses for the Presidential Couple's medical excuses that helped the docs in coming up with the final excuses.
He reappeared by the end of the month and what he shared with you left you with the same feelings you normally deal with him, surprise, exasperation, and resignation.
Firstly, there were no traitors inside BW, all were either loyal to the US, or were loyal and/or respectful to you thanks to your actions. Or in the case of Chris, hero worship for you hiring him, which lead to him getting his legs back, superpowers and girlfriend.
That was the best news you heard.
Then came the other part of the news. Fury had spent the entire month going around the country tracking the only thing he could decipher from the agents' backgrounds they all shared, an unusual money account that was being filled with money that was not traceable, and said account was one of several interconnected accounts across the world, most of them in the US, all of them practically having the 'format' used for black ops accounts.
While he was in the middle of the investigation, he discovered he was about to be found out. At that point, he only knew about the interconnected accounts and access to them, he had yet to find the people behind each account or the name of the group behind the money. So, in a desperate rush, Fury was able to do something that he was able to accomplish through pure skill, luck and get away with it.
He managed, thanks his access; drain ALL the accounts dry and deposit the money in the one place no one would think to look and do some good in this blasted world.
Fury sent all money, by all he meant millions of dollars, not at the same level as the Legacy but still a hefty amount; to the Red Cross as an anonymous donation.
You remembered reading about that in the newspaper days ago, and you commented at that it was nice to see someone that had to be rich being a good Samaritan. Even the Presidential Couple agreed on that.
'So technically speaking, BW just donated millions to the RC, courtesy of Fury. Why am I not surprised at this.' You though when he finished telling that part of his story and you were already readying to tell Fury to hide this, as the last thing you need was to be found out by the public. You could already read the headlines:
'US black ops group steals millions of dollars from unknown criminal group and donate it to the Red Cross'
Now going back to Fury's story, after doing the transfer, Fury said he went so deep underground to hide that he almost got 'lost', hence why he was still gone for the rest of the month, after confirming that the heat for some reason disappeared of his back. When he tried to track back the accounts again, he found they were all closed and thus the trail was cold.
With nothing else to track, he decided to return and report back to you, thus ending his story.
After thinking over his story and his actions, you first told him that you were grateful that he was fine after such operation. Second, you told him that he was not to tell anyone what he did until you can figure out how to report this to the rest of the staff and the President.
"So, were basically never going to tell them, huh." Fury said to you.
"What do you mean by that?" You asked him.
"We keep forgetting to tell the rest of the group of the Legacy sir." Fury said in a deadpan tone.
"Oh, right. Well, we will them about your donation when we finally tell them of the Legacy. Rip the band aid in one fell move and all of that." You somewhat casually said that.
"Very well, sir. Anything else?" He asked.
"Yeah, you said that you could not find anything about the source of the money, nothing at all?" You asked him again.
"Nope nothing. After I was sure that I was not being followed, I tried tracing it back, but all the former accounts were closed, like they never existed. Contacted everyone I could for any leads, but it was a bust, there was nothing left." Fury said, somewhat angry that he could not finish the job.
"Well, you tried your best and you are alive, that is more important. Either way, whoever this group was, you dealt a huge blow to them by taking away their money, which if the amount you reported is accurate; is not something they will be able to get back up from quickly." You said.
"Yeah, not to mention the possibility of this group becoming a bit paranoid at the fact that someone just stole all that money from under their noses. So, they might suspect that they might have a mole or something." Fury said.
"Hey, anything that hinders this group and helps us in the long run, the better." You said.
"One other thing about the group is that besides their money, as we know they were able to buy off the SS agents, their connections might also be long and wide." Fury said.
"Maybe we will get lucky and without all the money, those connections will dry off." You said hopefully.
"I seriously doubt it sir. A group like this, it must have a contingency in the event of something like to happen." Fury said.
"We can all dream, Fury. We can all dream." You said.
Unknown to both men, their actions had unleashed a toxic chain reaction that was building up for the last year inside the group they just stole the money.
The group the money was stolen from was the group that Boris had warned Jacob about, the Philosophers.
Fury was right about the Philosophers having contingencies for this and in a normal case, they could have handled this event. However, due to the fiasco around the CIA and the lost of access to resources they originally had access; the group was only operating on the funds they had access on hand, since they were still looking for the Legacy to replenish their resources.
With the loss of effectively all their money and the pressure they been under for the last year; the members of the American Philosophers lost it among themselves, accusing each other of being traitors.
By the end of it, all the major players of the American Philosophers were dead and their bulk of their grunt forces as well in the infighting. And with no more money, any surviving members could not afford to rebuild, which included paying off any connections they had in places of power.
Unknown to the competing Philosopher factions around the world and to those who knew about them, the American Philosophers ceased to exist.
If Joy were to find out what Fury had done, she would be torn between strangling him or shagging him as a thank you.
Lastly, a certain spirit wondering around had a real smile instead of the fake ones he was used to showing on his face. For once, he did not feel sorrow but peace.
Reward-
Fury could not discover anything related about the group that was working with the traitor SS agents except where they got money from.
Mysterious Group's resources stolen and given to RC.
(Unknown to BW: American Philosophers are done)
LEARNING (Pick 4-2= 2):
- ] Fix the Lab
Cost- 2000, CoS- 50/???, Reward- Laboratory fixed
Roll- 78 5 5 10= 98
PASS
It took some doing but, in the end, Hayden managed to only repair the Lab but there was still enough of the budget for the repairs to upgrade the lab following some of the requests made by Marcus and the rest of the R staff for specific machines and resources for their respective projects.
The lab was once again up and running and better than its last version.
Reward:
Lab repaired and upgraded
Laboratory Lvl. 7 (20 actions in lab, 1 reroll in lab actions)
-] Examine the Presidential Couple
Cost- 4000, CoS- ???; Reward- The Couple's condition is known.
Roll- 88 10 10 2= 110
CRIT Roll- 55 10 = 65
Any changes to the pregnancy development:
Roll- 75 vs 22 50 (Changed body) = 72
No accelerated change to the body. Babies will be born on the destined month, October 1963
Do they detect the new twin:
Roll- 11 vs 88
New twin not detected, will be revealed when the birthing comes.
As part of what is now SOP when it comes to new Watchmen and JB users; the Presidential Couple was given a very through examination, specially the First Lady since she was dying when underwent her TACT, not to mention that she was pregnant as well.
After the 'normal' battery of tests on both, the results were in.
The President was perfectly healthy, and his body was now exactly like Indy and Fear in terms of current established Watchmen types. And apparently the news that he was completely healthy was a good one for the couple, which you and Brandon found strange until the couple disclosed to the two of you the truth of John's medical history.
The President has been sick for some time, suffering from something called Addison's Disease, which apparently was the cause for his tanned skin. After hearing about this disease, Brandon ran the tests again to be sure, and specifically looking for it.
Another round of tests was done, and Brandon could easily confirm that the disease was gone from the President's body.
Sufficing to say that Brandon once again made you aware of the fact studying the Catalysts that create Watchmen should be made a priority since just like it was done with it curing Kara from her cancer, Addison's was a rare but a very deadly disease without a cure, only a lifelong treatment was possible.
At this point he was saying that the Catalysts could possibly cure known incurable diseases that affect humanity. You told him you would think about it.
Now when it came to the First Lady, her body was now exactly a match to Leah and Strangelove due to the JB and was healthy as well.
Regarding her unborn child, Brandon said that there was nothing wrong showing in the child, that he or she was growing fine in her womb at normal grown rates. If anything, he was pleased to tell that whatever seemed to affect her previous pregnancies was not showing up at all.
He expects the baby to be born by October of this year.
The First Lady broke down in tears of happiness, knowing that her baby was still fine and there was hope her baby would be born healthy. That her transformation did not do anything bad to she or him.
Though Brandon did say that they should prepare for anything since it was literally unknown how a baby born out of a transformed JB would come out, like small possibility that the baby could be born with a JB of her own if it was a girl since all studies Brandon done on them, they seemed to be more organic than metal sometimes.
He also recommended that the First Lady stayed on base for the next 3 months to monitor the pregnancy for any unexpected changes.
The couple were grateful to Brandon for his help and to you for facilitating all of it. They also understood the need to wait for the next three months. The President once again told you that anything you or BW needed, he would grant it if it's in his power.
You accepted his thanks and told him that it was job to make sure his C and his wife were fine.
Reward-
Presidential Couple examined and both are fine and healthy. President's disease is gone.
Unborn baby is fine, will be born in October barring any weird circumstances happening.
(Unknown- Second baby was not detected)
-] [FREE] Teach Dragon Squad=
Cost- 1000, CoS- 50/40/30/20/10% (No Bonus here, just the base dice); Reward- Bonus points to the Dragon Squad roll below (50=10, 60=20, 70=30…)
Roll- 50
PASS, 10 to Dragon school roll
School Roll- 7610= 85
Current Grades- B
When you decided to make Dragon Squad go back to school so that they could finish their education, you honestly though it was going to be hard on them due to the workload of studying and their military duties.
But imagine your surprise when you heard that the squad went to speak with the R staff, asking them for tutoring for their studies. And that even though they were busy, the staff took at least some of their free time to help them at best they could in clearing up their doubts.
An apparently even if their help was minor, it seems it's enough to help since from what the school principal told you on their monthly performance was a good one, their grades were currently going good at Bs.
You could honestly say that you hope your soldiers were able to get through this without hassle or burning up.
Reward-
Dragon Squad got tutoring done.
Turn 19's school performance pass. End in Turn 21.
] Investigate Cube's history-
Cost- 700, Upkeep- 250 (while the action is being done), DC- 400, Reward- Cube's origins discovered
Current DC- 199
Roll- 14 10 5 5 5 2= 41
Because most of the the staff's attention was on finally finishing the armor's investigation this month, the assignment to investigate the Cube' history was once again but on the backburner and continued slowly like always.
PASS, NEW DC- 158
] Investigate Kid's Armor: the armor that the kid came wearing was nothing anybody in BW has ever seen. It should be a priority project to find out what exactly this armor is made of and what it is capable of. *
Cost- 5000, Upkeep- 2500 (While action is taken), DC- 300/500/1000 (Understand/LP/MP), Reward- Armor understood.
-] Computer Room (BRLESC): (10 to one Learning Action per turn that could use a computer to help)
--] use on Investigate Kid's Armor
Current DC- 27/259/727
Roll- 2 5 5 5 10= 27
CRIT FAIL PASS
Okay, so good news and bad news regarding the kid's armor.
Good news, after a long ass time; research into the armor was finally done and the results were driving your R staff, specially Chris; mad.
According to the final report, the armor was made of several layers. The first layer was made from an unknown combination of extremely strong titanium alloyed with steel, while the second layer was made of laminated carbon fibers and heat-resistant polymers.
When you asked what laminated carbon fibers was, Chris told you that it was a supposed type of fiber that was made of carbon that in theory should made the material stronger than the known types of fibers. He says that experiments were still ongoing in trying to create this type of fiber in large amounts and that said fibers could contain a large percentage of carbon after the process is done.
Marcus aired his thoughts on this, saying he heard from rumors from some of his scientist friends back on his home nation that the UK was close to making the process of this work.
In total regarding the armor, Chris said that the armor itself could completely withstand, as demonstrated in tests done on it; getting shot with all known form small arms available and even survive several direct rounds of high caliber weapons before they could get through the armor.
The armor itself was also capable of being airtight with a pressurized underlayer protected by heavy armoring and fed by a tank of air, which if the counting they were able to read from the tank on hand, could last over 8 hours.
Robert said that he was impressed by the armor because if his studies on the material were right, anyone wearing the armor would be safe from biological attacks and even radiation, making the current anti-radiation suits he uses look pathetic. Heck, he said that it could also be used for underwater operations in areas where the pressure was not strong.
He also said that whatever the armor's power source was, it was nuclear in origin and the fact that it was that small impressed him. He just needed to wait for Strangelove to finish her work to get started on finding out what the power source truly was.
The armor's helmet even had a unique filter installed that seemed designed to protect its wearer from impurities in the air if the filter is changed every time it's used.
But the one thing that seemed to be driving Strangelove with excitement was discovering that the armor seemed to have some sort of supercomputer that was small enough and more powerful than their room size computer.
And if she was right, the computer was there to regulate some hidden features inside the armor. She was trying to find a way to access it from an access console on the armor's left arm.
All in all, the armor was said to be a masterpiece of engineering and military defense. Even the President, when he was shown the results, was also impressed and wonder how long the armor would take to be mass produced and equipped for the rest of the armed forces.
But sadly, for everyone involved, there came the bad news that currently had Strangelove hating herself.
While attempting to access the computer, something must have happened and activated a failsafe since the computer began to beep red and then next instant, it fried itself and all the circuits that were inside the armor, rendering the armor useless.
The less said about the power source, which went dead as well; the better.
When you asked her if she could repair it or maybe even reverse engineer something from the remains, she gave you a look like as if she was daring you to ask another stupid question.
In the end, Chris said that with the computer and inner circuits destroyed, recreating the full armor was impossible. But he did say that in theory, he could attempt to create a new armor without any of the computer parts and the power source with made of the same materials, which he will admit that looking at the finished product and his own knowledge, he could recreate the process in due time, specially the carbon fibers.
You told him to take his time, that there were already enough projects around BW to handle and that he could take a break on the armor project.
You really wished the kid would wake up to ask him from where he came from. Cause how the hell does a small kid have this type of armor that makes armors used by the military look like pieces of paper.
Reward-
Knowledge of armor's composition and possible capabilities known.
Armor's computer destroyed. Power source disabled.
Capacity to create a new armor from gained knowledge unlocked.
Can continue or stop project in the next turn.
Random Event Roll- 4
"Give me a status report now!!"
"The entire state has gone dark, literally."
"Sir, NASA is on the line."
"That's it, I am giving the order. Martial Law is now in effect."
May 28, 1963
Crown Wall, CIC
"Give a status report now!!" President Kennedy yelled while inside CIC as everyone was running around like headless chickens trying to get a handle of the situation that developed as of 6 hours ago.
One minute the President was talking with Colonel Terrance on some sensitive defense issues when the lights around the base seemed to flicker for a few seconds when they went back to normal.
Both though it was the R staff doing an experiment and left it alone but then 10 minutes later, Joy came running in distress, telling both that there is a wide load of SOS being shouted in nearly every radio signal.
The entire base had been mobilized and everyone was doing something at that time.
"From what we been able to get from available radios and still usable landlines, the entire state has gone dark, there is no power while the surrounding states are reporting everything is fine. Emergency crews that had reached the major substations that are connected to the Western Grid and the Eastern Grid report they are catastrophically damaged. It's going to take months to repair." A staffer said in a hurry.
"What about the local power plants, what is there status?" The President asked.
"Crews in those stations have reported the same thing, damaged as well. The only thing that seems to be intact are the transmission lines and the transformers along them. To be honest sir, it seems that this base and Hartford are the only places in all of Montana that are still running at full power." The staffer said.
"And the only thing in common between the two is that they have been directly being powered by the Cube's energy. That can't be a coincidence. Is there still any clues as to what caused this?" The President said.
"The entire R staff is still looking into it. Doctor Oppenheimer says that he has a possible idea as to what happened, but he needs time to correlate the data." The staffer said.
"What about Colonel Terrance and his men?" The President asked.
"Like he stated, he left one squad behind in the base to directly guard the Cube since it seems right now it's are only source of power. Another squad is guarding the factory. He and all our combat operatives are in Hartford running security from all the people that are coming from around the state since it's the only town with real power, sufficing to say that the local hospital has already reached to max capacity." The staffer said.
"And as much as I wish we could open this base's medical ward, it would revealed too much of our secrets, not to mention exposing our coma patients. Anything else?" The President said.
"We also got confirmed reports from several priority cases we been monitoring. The generators at important locations are still up and running but they said that unless normal power is restored, the generators will fail in two weeks if they are keep running straight without break. All military assets and the National Guard across the state are in working condition and ready for deployment." The staffer said.
"Well, that is one issue not to worry about. What about the Governor, where is he?" The President asked
"It took some looking, but Fury managed to locate him. Apparently when the blackout occurred, he and his staff were in route to a meeting and their limo got struck in a pile up. He and his staff are in medically induced comas at St. Peter's Health in Helena." The staffer said.
"So basically, the state of Montana is currently without civilian leadership. Well, that is just fucking great." The President said with anger in his tone.
Normally the President wouldn't say this type of language but at this point, he was reaching the end of his patience.
"What the civilian population?" The President asked.
"Right now, across the major cities, the situation is tense. The population that has not decided to run to the neighboring states that stayed behind are currently calm but there have been reports of small riots that have been contained and the population is demanding when the power is going to come back. In Fury's word, it's a powder keg waiting to explode." The staffer said.
"It's a whole load of bad news with some doses of good news in between. And we still don't know what led to this blackout." The President said.
The staffer was going to say something else when someone came running into the room in a hurry, it was one of the low-ranking R staff members.
"Sir, we just got confirmation as to the source of blackout from NASA." The researcher said.
"NASA? What does NASA have to do with this blackout?" The President asked.
"Dr. Oppenheimer called NASA to confirm his theory. Apparently, the cause was a solar flare that hit the state." The researcher said.
"A solar flare, what does that mean?" The President asked.
"I didn't understand it either sir. Dr. Oppenheimer said he would explain it in detail later. But the basics is that something came from the sun and upon hitting the atmosphere, it generated an EMP wave that covered the entire state, thus the reason why the power plants all went down." The researcher said.
"An EMP? That can happen naturally?" The President asked, thinking back to the report that had cross his desk a month back about the existence of EMPs, how they are generated by the detonation of nuclear weapons, and how easily this could disable the US infrastructure.
"Yes, it can sir. Sufficing to say that according to Dr. Oppenheimer, we are lucky that all that happened was this blackout. A solar flare of this type if it was bigger, it could have covered the entire CONUS." The researcher said as the President began to imagine the entire nation suffering a blackout of that magnitude.
If the Soviets didn't take that as a chance to invade or throw their nukes at them, then they were idiots.
"Very well. Is there anything else to inform?" The President asked as the researcher just shook his head. "Ok, tell the Doctor thanks for the information and I will await his full report." The President said as the researcher left the CIC.
He then turned to the staffer and spoke to him.
"With the Governor currently unavailable, I guess there is no choice. Get on the horn. On my orders, Martial Law is to be declared on the state of Montana. All Military forces are to deploy to the major cities to keep the peace. The National Guard as this moment is federalized and are ordered to deploy around the towns to keep the peace there." The President said as the people around him stopped what they were doing to hear his orders, all showing shocks at what he said but that was a brief stop as they got back to work to carry out his orders, showing how dedicated they were to their jobs and the emergency.
The President just stood as he watched them work, thinking on what is to come in the next days.
'And to think all I wanted was a nice, normal birthday with my wife. Instead, I get this.' The President though in his head.
'Reward'-
Montana is suffering from a statewide blackout.
Important locations around the state are running on generators.
Civilian leadership incapacitated
Martial Law has been declared on the state to keep the population calm.
Final Cost Result:
New Upkeep= 11,490 3,640 = 15,130
Federal Income= 119,250
New Income= 854,593 – 29,200 (Turn Cost) – 15,130 (Upkeep) = 810,263
Legacy Fund= 168,539,325,843 (not touched this turn)