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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 5453769" data-attributes="member: 3285">The Windthrope Legacy: Part 4 – ExpositionThey met in the drawing room.  A portrait of Queen Victoria done by Burne-Jones hung over the fireplace.Jenkins reported a message for Jim-Bean right around when Hammer and Guppy returned from their respective supply trips. It was an audio recording on a reel-to-reel tape from Section H."What is this?" asked Guppy.Hammer sighed.  "Believe it or not, audio equipment used to have moving parts.""Funny," said Guppy.  "I know that.  I just don't understand why a message from Jim-Bean's organization came on an obsolete tape.""Not obsolete," said Jenkins.  He lugged out a dusty tape deck.Archive blew the dust off of it.  "This thing has to be decades old!"Jenkins plugged the tape in and pressed PLAY."I'm not sure what happened to you, but I do know what came for you – the Shan, those brain spiders as your report once called them," breathed a husky female voice in mid-stream with an upper class British accent. "And if they're after you, you're going to need some help to survive.""That'd be Dr. Ariadne Hennessey," said Jim-Bean with a smirk. "She's section chief of Section H.""Accompanying this tape are your new cover identities: you are now officially employed by the British Archeological Review Board, which reviews applications for archaeological digs. It liaises with English Heritage, the Department of the Environment, and the British Museum.  You are all specialists in your field: arcane research, research, and security.  And of course, Jimmy, you're just stepping back into your role as mission leader."Hammer flinched.  It hadn't hit him until now.  Jim-Bean had more authority here than he did. "Priorities have shifted after the Nightmare Wave.  The Bringers believe the explosion unleashed eldritch horrors of cosmic malevolence, called the Iconnu, or sometimes the Unbidden. The Unbidden, attempted to consume our reality, reshaping it for some unknowable purpose. This attempt, called the Intrusion, should have spelled the end of the world, with little humanity dying a swift, horrific death and six billion souls consumed by these Unbidden bastards who didn’t even fully recognize their existence."Jim-Bean arched an eyebrow.  He'd never heard Hennessey swear before."The Iconnu weren’t even really aware of us. We’re as unknowable to them as they are to us. We were just too insignificant for them to notice. Yet the Intrusion wasn’t the end of the world.  Something stopped them. Not sure what, but it stopped them and stopped them hard. Despite this resistance, the Iconnu established a sort of foothold in the world — specifically in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a seething sphere of nightmarish unreality. Currents — including those strong currents by which mariners have navigated for centuries — were irrevocably altered. Trade across the ocean ground to a standstill as ships became becalmed or were carried far off course or sunk in freak whirlpools.  Furthermore, the Intrusion sent a ripple through existence that altered the rest of the world. Changed the whole nature of reality, really. "That's what we witnessed!" exclaimed Archive.  "That was a tear in time and space!  It explains the time jump, and what happened in this reality. ""This ripple, called the Nightmare Wave, left its mark in many ways, some small, others not so much. In some locales, particularly those close to the Intrusion Point, the Nightmare Wave wrought terrible physical destruction. In others, the changes the ripple brought were subtler and more insidious." "Their goal was to wipe us out entirely, so their victory was a partial one. Unsatisfied, the Iconnu then loosed spirits and demons into the material world. At first they were just trying to figure out what was stopping them from their goal, like when you stop on the street to figure out if there’s gum on your shoe.""Some of these spirits merged with human bodies and souls to become composite entities. Others clothed themselves in earthly matter and took on the guise of men and women. These beings seek to complete the world’s destruction — through terror, through misinformation, through assassination and brutality and murder. Though it may be important to know that as strange and horrific as they are, they’re not the Iconnu themselves.  Even to these demons and things, the Unbidden are alien and unknowable. These things are more like agents, corrupted and converted to work for them.""Yet again something happened that the Iconnu did not expect. Once more they underestimated the human spirit. Some of the possessed humans retained control of their bodies. They resisted the Iconnu and maintained their free will. Many turned their powers against the Iconnu and work to save humanity. I am one of them.""There are layers within layers of conspiracy.  PISCES may be in league with some of the Iconnu, but if they are they are very unhappy about it. After you reported the brain spiders in the organization, I did some investigating on my own and came up with far too many nervous breakdowns in other departments. When the Bringers of Sacred Light contacted me it became clear; the things known as the Shan are vying for dominance.  They want their own Iconnu to come out on top, and in the mean time they're suppressing all other supernatural activity.""That brings us to now. We’re in the wake of a focused apocalypse. These agents of the Iconnu travel throughout the world, seeking to complete its destruction. Their own kind fights against them, along with true human allies — some who know more than others, and some who wield ancient powers given new potency. A maelstrom of warping reality howls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The Nightmare Wave’s influence haunts sites across the globe." "PISCES has its hands full trying to stop the Iconnu’s agents, and people throughout the world struggle to discover what’s really happened and what’s happening. Few of them get close. We’re fighting a shadow war for Earth and all humanity. Also included with this tape is information for your first mission.  I need you to take out two of the composite entities I mentioned previously.  Their pictures and bios are included."Jim-Bean dutifully handed out copies of the mission folders. The files were typed on paper and photocopied. A red stamp labeled the files as OPERATION GOTHIC."This is a trial run. Your team is uniquely positioned to help me take down the Shan – you're the only group I'm sure is uncorrupted.  We'll see if you have what it takes to handle these two. Jenkins, destroy this tape after it is played."Lightning fast, Jenkins grabbed the tape and tossed it into the crackling fireplace."But—" protested Hammer. It was too late.Archive beamed.  "Just like old times."Jim-Bean looked around.  "I don't like it."Hammer didn't smile. "We should be worried about our own mission…""You mean the island?" asked Guppy.  "I checked.  There is no island.  That island, the whole place, disintegrated in the Nightmare Wave.""Then we'll need the backup.  Until I can get weapons this is our best lead," said Hammer.  "I say we do it.""I don't like it," said Jim-Bean.  "At all.  Hennessey's one of those…things.""I'm in," said Guppy.  "It's our best bet in the short term anyway.""Me too," said Archive.Jim-Bean frowned but didn't say anything else.  When the time was right he would have words with Hennessey personally and judge for himself. "I just hope Caprice is okay," said Guppy.</blockquote>

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