This a short story I have written to give people an idea about the characters they will be playing and also to hint at some of the weapons and playing experiences that will be in the game 
enjoy
Shintzi's Gamble - Part 1
By PinFX
Honor. It was a word that was close to Shintzi’s heart. Long had the men around him forgotten its meaning, but Shintzi, last remaining legacy of his once glorious family, would never forget. Shintzi led the Crimson Hawks, one mercenary band of many that were formed following the great war. One of many, but also one of a kind. More than once Shintzi’s infamous band of fighters had come dangerously close to extinction because of what many perceived to be a leader’s naïve ideals. Shintzi’s men looked upon him with mixed mystification and tentative admiration. It was not his lofty ideals of glory and honor that allowed him to retain his leadership, but the brute respect he commanded with his fighting ability and razor-sharp mind. To Shintzi, honor was life, it was the lifestyle he chose and the lifestyle he would live by. To believe in powerful ideals and to shout them out with all the actions of life, never to be silenced by anything but death. And if death was to be his destiny tonight, Shintzi would gladly accept it, for he had served something greater, something that would never die. He would gladly accept it, and most likely he would have no other choice.
Shintzi observed his surroundings. A forest of trees stood on a lush field of green grass, lit by starlight and a pale moon. Although they were over a thousand feet up, there was only a gentle and cool breeze on the highly advanced garden platform atop the Briggs Security Head Quarters building. At the thought of Briggs Security, an ironic smile took on Shintzi’s face. Who would have thought that the Australians would have such influence in the China of today? Following the end of the great war, the Australian private security industry, backed by the government, was appointed by the New Federation of Nations to retain firm control over what remained of the Chinese cities. The result of 30 years of reconstruction under the careful eye of Australia were Chinese cities that had “paid their debt” and become flourishing democratic urban centers, all given individual sovereignty as city-states. Who would have thought indeed. In reality, the so called New Federation was too concerned with the reconstruction of their own cities to have any power over Australia, the only country that had stayed out of most of the war. However, from chaos comes opportunity, and Australia broke its isolationist trend to “help rebuild a world of peace”.
Briggs Security had been at the center of it all. What had once been a small but very capable R&D firm developed ingenious exo-suit technologies for military use and received huge grants from the government, turning it into the leader of the security industry in the reconstruction era. Over time Briggs developed more and more technologies, which were sold to countries worldwide, and furthered the status of Australia’s globally. Now, in the many city-states of China, Briggs took on the role of the police and was relied upon by the local governments heavily. Now, there were rumors that Briggs was developing an even more powerful technology, an even more dangerous one. Rumors that had Shintzi’s new client very concerned.
Shintzi did not know who his new client was, but he had taken the mission because, for the first time in his career, he was also concerned with the purpose of his client.
It had been a sunny day in the tropics, a vacation well deserved after a particularly hard job, when Shintzi’s supposedly secure line had emitted a gentle ring. On the other end of the line had been a deep and powerful voice which informed him politely that there was a job for him, requiring much discreetness, and that information would be sent to him soon. Whoever it was had hung up before Shintzi could reply.
One day later, Shintzi received a message from the anonymous client via secure information transfer over the net. The content of that message left an imprint in Shintzi’s mind that soon turned his relaxed vacation into a restless quandary. As Shintzi communicated more with this apparently powerful client, his original suspicions became less and less of a concern as leaked documentation, reports, and even what appeared to be legitimate photographs were sent to him. After consulting with his close friend and captain, a straightforward and dependable American by the name of Chris, Shintzi took the job. He took a small team of his most capable and loyal men into his confidence, informed the rest of his team that they were off to enjoy themselves in the city, and departed for the city of Shanghai. The target was of course Briggs Security HQ, the objective was the verification of what had been revealed to Shintzi.
That had been three days ago. Upon arriving and quickly formulating a plan of action, Shintzi’s men had, with no small effort, infiltrated the Briggs Security HQ. Although Briggs had the best security technology could offer, no such attempt had ever been made, as the Briggs HQ was stationed in the middle of a city, and it was hard to believe that anyone would try to go against them. It was their overconfidence that allowed Shintzi to be successful. In the dead of night, they had slipped past the perimeter guards, hidden by light-absorbing armor which masked their heat signatures and movement through advanced electronic jamming. Using silent, magnetic-powered grappling hooks, Shintzi’s men scaled the side of the HQ building with trained speed. When they reached a location just under the top floor, Shintzi’s electronics specialist, Enzo, located the wiring connecting the window to the alarm system and deployed a “dummy device”. The device used titanium spikes to spike into the wiring and, as Enzo had explained earlier, “became the window”. The men quickly cut a hole in the window and entered the large and empty office, which according to his client, should have contained top-secret files thought safe by Briggs.
Instead, upon taking one step into the office, a silent alarm went off. In a dark room somewhere else inside the Briggs HQ building, one man’s smile was revealed by the flickering light of a computer screen. He stopped the videos reviewing the entrance of Shintzi’s team and smiled. The man looked across the room to a dark figure sitting behind a grand desk and said crisply, “Sir, security forces are 30 seconds away from reaching the decoy office.”
The dark figure answered in a deep and powerful voice: “Let’s see what he can do.”
One minute later a puzzled search was interrupted by one small silver capsule piercing through the office door and landing squarely on a remaining portion of the window, sticking there. One second later the small capsule began to emit a high-pitched sound, each member of Shintzi’s team wordlessly raised a hand to their vision-enhancing goggles and clicked a button. In an instant the transparent lens of the goggles flickered into opaque blacks, an instant later the small capsule exploded silently, flooding the room with a blinding white light.
The room burst into action.
Shintzi’s men drew their weapons and ran for the window at the same time. The vivid light illuminated the sharpened crystal blades of their custom-made katanas. The lightweight swords were sheathed with silenced pump-action shotguns loaded with EMP shells. The sound of metallic footsteps came from beyond the door. As Shintzi, followed by four of his men bolted for the thin air beyond the window, a fifth man raised a pistol-like device using his left hand as he turned toward the door. The wooden door shattered into a thousand pieces as the bulky torso of a power-armored guard burst through the door. As the guard was still coming through the door and raising his weapon, the thin blue beam of an intense laser shot out of an emitter on the fifth man’s goggles and pierced harmlessly through the chest of the armored guard. Time stood still, in the fifth man’s eye flashed green characters from his distance indicator, “5 M 27 cm”. The fifth man fired.
In a split second the forward momentum of the charging guard was reversed by the magnetic field distorter fired by the one-shot pistol. As the charged shell made contact with the guard and the force faded, he had already been taken clean off his feat and crashed into the guard behind him. It took two seconds for the guard behind the first to catch him, shove him away and raise a machine gun mounted on his right arm. Ready to fire, but Shintzi’s men were gone.
Outside, the pitch black figures of Shintzi’s men were silhouetted by the stars as they swung upwards towards the garden platform. Sailing over the safety railings, they landed silently and moved into a grove of trees.
And here he was, knowing that their stealth equipment would hide them for a short time but also that the garden platform was being scanned as he was thinking. After completing the scan they would reach Shintzi’s team and capture or kill them with ease, either way Shintzi’s team could not even dream about ever getting away. They would try in vain to find out who had sent them and never speak of the incident to the public. A company like Briggs had a reputation to sustain. Could it be that he had been set up by this anonymous client? Had he made a great mistake to come here at all?
Shintzi could not see the faces of his men, but he could feel their anxiety. Even so, he could also sense they were keeping a professional calm. They trusted him. If he did not want to waste all of their lives, he would have to come up with something, and come up with something fast.
But Shintzi was running out of ideas.[/color]
Stay tuned for part 2 of Shintzi's Gamble, a fictional saga in the world of Neoshock.
enjoy
Shintzi's Gamble - Part 1
By PinFX
Honor. It was a word that was close to Shintzi’s heart. Long had the men around him forgotten its meaning, but Shintzi, last remaining legacy of his once glorious family, would never forget. Shintzi led the Crimson Hawks, one mercenary band of many that were formed following the great war. One of many, but also one of a kind. More than once Shintzi’s infamous band of fighters had come dangerously close to extinction because of what many perceived to be a leader’s naïve ideals. Shintzi’s men looked upon him with mixed mystification and tentative admiration. It was not his lofty ideals of glory and honor that allowed him to retain his leadership, but the brute respect he commanded with his fighting ability and razor-sharp mind. To Shintzi, honor was life, it was the lifestyle he chose and the lifestyle he would live by. To believe in powerful ideals and to shout them out with all the actions of life, never to be silenced by anything but death. And if death was to be his destiny tonight, Shintzi would gladly accept it, for he had served something greater, something that would never die. He would gladly accept it, and most likely he would have no other choice.
Shintzi observed his surroundings. A forest of trees stood on a lush field of green grass, lit by starlight and a pale moon. Although they were over a thousand feet up, there was only a gentle and cool breeze on the highly advanced garden platform atop the Briggs Security Head Quarters building. At the thought of Briggs Security, an ironic smile took on Shintzi’s face. Who would have thought that the Australians would have such influence in the China of today? Following the end of the great war, the Australian private security industry, backed by the government, was appointed by the New Federation of Nations to retain firm control over what remained of the Chinese cities. The result of 30 years of reconstruction under the careful eye of Australia were Chinese cities that had “paid their debt” and become flourishing democratic urban centers, all given individual sovereignty as city-states. Who would have thought indeed. In reality, the so called New Federation was too concerned with the reconstruction of their own cities to have any power over Australia, the only country that had stayed out of most of the war. However, from chaos comes opportunity, and Australia broke its isolationist trend to “help rebuild a world of peace”.
Briggs Security had been at the center of it all. What had once been a small but very capable R&D firm developed ingenious exo-suit technologies for military use and received huge grants from the government, turning it into the leader of the security industry in the reconstruction era. Over time Briggs developed more and more technologies, which were sold to countries worldwide, and furthered the status of Australia’s globally. Now, in the many city-states of China, Briggs took on the role of the police and was relied upon by the local governments heavily. Now, there were rumors that Briggs was developing an even more powerful technology, an even more dangerous one. Rumors that had Shintzi’s new client very concerned.
Shintzi did not know who his new client was, but he had taken the mission because, for the first time in his career, he was also concerned with the purpose of his client.
It had been a sunny day in the tropics, a vacation well deserved after a particularly hard job, when Shintzi’s supposedly secure line had emitted a gentle ring. On the other end of the line had been a deep and powerful voice which informed him politely that there was a job for him, requiring much discreetness, and that information would be sent to him soon. Whoever it was had hung up before Shintzi could reply.
One day later, Shintzi received a message from the anonymous client via secure information transfer over the net. The content of that message left an imprint in Shintzi’s mind that soon turned his relaxed vacation into a restless quandary. As Shintzi communicated more with this apparently powerful client, his original suspicions became less and less of a concern as leaked documentation, reports, and even what appeared to be legitimate photographs were sent to him. After consulting with his close friend and captain, a straightforward and dependable American by the name of Chris, Shintzi took the job. He took a small team of his most capable and loyal men into his confidence, informed the rest of his team that they were off to enjoy themselves in the city, and departed for the city of Shanghai. The target was of course Briggs Security HQ, the objective was the verification of what had been revealed to Shintzi.
That had been three days ago. Upon arriving and quickly formulating a plan of action, Shintzi’s men had, with no small effort, infiltrated the Briggs Security HQ. Although Briggs had the best security technology could offer, no such attempt had ever been made, as the Briggs HQ was stationed in the middle of a city, and it was hard to believe that anyone would try to go against them. It was their overconfidence that allowed Shintzi to be successful. In the dead of night, they had slipped past the perimeter guards, hidden by light-absorbing armor which masked their heat signatures and movement through advanced electronic jamming. Using silent, magnetic-powered grappling hooks, Shintzi’s men scaled the side of the HQ building with trained speed. When they reached a location just under the top floor, Shintzi’s electronics specialist, Enzo, located the wiring connecting the window to the alarm system and deployed a “dummy device”. The device used titanium spikes to spike into the wiring and, as Enzo had explained earlier, “became the window”. The men quickly cut a hole in the window and entered the large and empty office, which according to his client, should have contained top-secret files thought safe by Briggs.
Instead, upon taking one step into the office, a silent alarm went off. In a dark room somewhere else inside the Briggs HQ building, one man’s smile was revealed by the flickering light of a computer screen. He stopped the videos reviewing the entrance of Shintzi’s team and smiled. The man looked across the room to a dark figure sitting behind a grand desk and said crisply, “Sir, security forces are 30 seconds away from reaching the decoy office.”
The dark figure answered in a deep and powerful voice: “Let’s see what he can do.”
One minute later a puzzled search was interrupted by one small silver capsule piercing through the office door and landing squarely on a remaining portion of the window, sticking there. One second later the small capsule began to emit a high-pitched sound, each member of Shintzi’s team wordlessly raised a hand to their vision-enhancing goggles and clicked a button. In an instant the transparent lens of the goggles flickered into opaque blacks, an instant later the small capsule exploded silently, flooding the room with a blinding white light.
The room burst into action.
Shintzi’s men drew their weapons and ran for the window at the same time. The vivid light illuminated the sharpened crystal blades of their custom-made katanas. The lightweight swords were sheathed with silenced pump-action shotguns loaded with EMP shells. The sound of metallic footsteps came from beyond the door. As Shintzi, followed by four of his men bolted for the thin air beyond the window, a fifth man raised a pistol-like device using his left hand as he turned toward the door. The wooden door shattered into a thousand pieces as the bulky torso of a power-armored guard burst through the door. As the guard was still coming through the door and raising his weapon, the thin blue beam of an intense laser shot out of an emitter on the fifth man’s goggles and pierced harmlessly through the chest of the armored guard. Time stood still, in the fifth man’s eye flashed green characters from his distance indicator, “5 M 27 cm”. The fifth man fired.
In a split second the forward momentum of the charging guard was reversed by the magnetic field distorter fired by the one-shot pistol. As the charged shell made contact with the guard and the force faded, he had already been taken clean off his feat and crashed into the guard behind him. It took two seconds for the guard behind the first to catch him, shove him away and raise a machine gun mounted on his right arm. Ready to fire, but Shintzi’s men were gone.
Outside, the pitch black figures of Shintzi’s men were silhouetted by the stars as they swung upwards towards the garden platform. Sailing over the safety railings, they landed silently and moved into a grove of trees.
And here he was, knowing that their stealth equipment would hide them for a short time but also that the garden platform was being scanned as he was thinking. After completing the scan they would reach Shintzi’s team and capture or kill them with ease, either way Shintzi’s team could not even dream about ever getting away. They would try in vain to find out who had sent them and never speak of the incident to the public. A company like Briggs had a reputation to sustain. Could it be that he had been set up by this anonymous client? Had he made a great mistake to come here at all?
Shintzi could not see the faces of his men, but he could feel their anxiety. Even so, he could also sense they were keeping a professional calm. They trusted him. If he did not want to waste all of their lives, he would have to come up with something, and come up with something fast.
But Shintzi was running out of ideas.[/color]
Stay tuned for part 2 of Shintzi's Gamble, a fictional saga in the world of Neoshock.
