The guy from the Animated Story was found permadead!

[Myers]

The bald guy who was involved with Dust Brigade in the animated story was found dead. The Omni Herald reported it today. His remains remain unidentified. http://www.anarchy-online.com/conten.../stranger.html

[RandaZ]

Permanent death by unnatural causes is a relatively rare occurrence, and is cause for concern with investigators, who refuse to speculate about the possible use of life-force disruptor weapons.

Life-force disrupters? Comon', the man obviously died from sub-standard implants. Just look at him! For crying out loud, they're external! He just died from infection of the ocular socket, simple as that... case closed.


Tap

[Jynne]

Interesting, very interesting. Life-force disruptor weapons are highly restricted Omni-Tek technology, according to my recollection of the timeline.

Yay, a story tie-in! Woo!

[Bionitrous]

"Now, listen closely. You screw this one up, you die a thousand deaths ... a hundred thousand. We'll bring you back and snuff you out till your mind is a blank ... till your soul is no more. Now, here's what you're going to do .... "

Seems somebody screwed up.

Is that a female voice behind the Masqued Commando on the screen?

[______________Martov]

What the...? They killed off that cool looking dude? WHY?!

[Jynne]

I think that was a female voice behind the Commando on the screen, yes. "If you are not with us, you are against us!"

And remember, this guy with his protruding eye implant thingy was trying to hose the Amnesty. I can't quite remember... was it ever made clear in the animation that he was working for Omni-Tek? I remember he seemed to be working as a liason/contact between a corporate interest and the Dusters.

[Arila]

"The Stranger" worked for Sol Banking, not Omni-Tek. He used false ID and such to cover it up

[Bionitrous]

I just have to interject totally and unabashedly out of character that this type of discussion is so totally refreshing. It renews so much vigor into my suppositions regarding the goings on behind the scenes on Rubi'Ka.

I wonder how many remember back in Beta when an encrypted message was leaked to 'the press' and we tried so hard to crack the algorithm I wish I could dig up some of the threads regarding that. In retrospect, I wonder if we applied 'Dust to dust' to the scrambled letters if we could reverse engineer the code.

We all know that somewhere out there still lurks a bald black man who recently uploaded the rules for Chess to his NCU. We panned out to the entrance to the Foreman's Office. But, current whereabouts unknown.

So back to the immediate topic. If this guy was indeed snuffed by the Dust Brigade, was it as promised owing to his 'failure'? Is this an admission of defeat by the Dust Brigade with respect to their immediate plans?

And the Dusters who left the Tir Grid yesterday and were seen heading to the CoT building. Let's just hope for the sake of political stability that they didn't leave a present with a five-hour timer on it.

Edit:

Found a link to part of it:

http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/a...=&fpart=1&vc=1

Did they really get that close to figuring it out? And odd my memory failed me in that it was August and not beta (on the other hand ....)

[Jynne]

And OOCly speaking maybe now that I'm almost level 140 I won't just be low speed bump for the Masked Commando mobs.

I will be a mid-sized speed bump instead!

[____________Travesty]

I want to be a speed bump too! Yay, Voice of Freedom is back! Something is happening!

Oh and on the dead guy...he was looking kinda sick anyway. He didnt need that eye implant. He needed a face implant, preferably quality 200.

[______________Ragnar]

Originally posted by Bionitrous
I just have to interject totally and unabashedly out of character that this type of discussion is so totally refreshing. It renews so much vigor into my suppositions regarding the goings on behind the scenes on Rubi'Ka.

Yay! Me agrees. This is the kind of discussion I can really get into

I think it's safe to say that the authorities won't let this case go until they've solved it. Life-force distruptors are baaad, and so are mysterious, unidentified dead bodies. Those of you who've seen the animated show know that the "Stranger" played a key part in the introduction of the Dust Brigade...and if you haven't seen the show, go check it out. Now. Yes, now.

-Ragnar

[____________Bonefish]

*sniffle* They can't kill off "The Stranger", he is (was) my hero!

*sniffle* He's been my desktop wallpaper for over six months!

...

Oh I got it. He's a martyr now. Right.


And by the way Ragnar. Please please don't stop posting. Your sudden recent appearance on these forums makes a huge world of difference to many of us older players who do really care, love, and enjoy AO, warts and all!



Garret "Bonefish" Silvestrini
Director - SPARTA
Director of Operations, OTSEC

Founding Member of the Omni-Tek Security Council

garret.silvestrini@ot-sparta.org
www.ot-sparta.org

[Kzak]

What's all this, then? *peers closely*

A storyline? I thought they were extinct... but if storylines are being reintroduced to Rubi-Ka, then we should indeed rejoice!

(Even if it cost the life of a Story Character(TM), it's a nice way to get the ball rolling again.)

Any published details on the stranger's death and circumstances thereabout will be eagerly devoured by the starved masses, I should think. And speculation ensues.

(Finally a reason to put more hours into AO again!)

[Shyenia]

Originally posted by Ragnar


Yay! Me agrees. This is the kind of discussion I can really get into

I think it's safe to say that the authorities won't let this case go until they've solved it. Life-force distruptors are baaad, and so are mysterious, unidentified dead bodies. Those of you who've seen the animated show know that the "Stranger" played a key part in the introduction of the Dust Brigade...and if you haven't seen the show, go check it out. Now. Yes, now.

-Ragnar

Perhaps the upcoming patch and server maintenance this morning will introduce a change in the world due to these recent occurances.

/me ponders the thought

Anyway I feel after the dust brigade made their little chemical weapons they had no more use for this man, or maybe he designed and made something altogether worse and they had no more use for him. We have yet to see.

/gloat

[Sallust]

He isn't dead, he faked it so he could hide out and go undercover. He's now posing under the identity "Ragnar" on earth. Just notice the unusual posting activity.....

but who is he hiding from? and who helped him fake his death?

[____________Travesty]

Paying 10 million credits for one of those Life-Force disruptor thingies! I need to give some guy named Ross some lovin with it.

[_________Crazynotion]

Isn't Ross too old for insurance technology to reliably work?

[Skeena-]

Perhaps the upcoming patch and server maintenance this morning will introduce a change in the world due to these recent occurances.

/me also ponders the thought

Presumably, an ICC "peacekeeping" force is on its way to Rubi-Ka to protect the "stability" of the notum supply. I, for one, will be actively scouting all known notum production facilities as well as the notum cannons for any sign of ICC or SBC incursion.

As a loyal citizen of Rubi-Ka and a tireless employee of Omni-Tek, I relish the thought of expelling these troops from our home with extreme prejudice. Let's just hope that we can clear out those ICC dirtbags before they have a chance to insure!

[______________Luxxan]

Originally posted by Skeena
Let's just hope that we can clear out those ICC dirtbags before they have a chance to insure!

Those "ICC dirtbags" are kind enough to allow you to continue your shady lease and exclusively mine this planet. If you know what's good for you, you'll be extra-special nice when you run into them.

Honestly, I suppose I should be promoting this idea...good Omni, go shoot the Peacekeepers. We'll see how well you do with another aerial bombardment from TruSpace Networks. Maybe this time they'll cancel your lease all together instead of just severely restricting it.

As for Ross and insurance...he doesn't have any. He's not too old, he just refuses to use it. Hence why he never leaves Omni-1.

[Skeena-]

Those "ICC dirtbags" are kind enough to allow you to continue your shady lease and exclusively mine this planet. If you know what's good for you, you'll be extra-special nice when you run into them.

I probably should have stated my position on ICC first: Please consider the following facts:

1. At the behest of Sol BC, ICC has invoked emergency powers that allow it to act against member hyper-corproations without majority approval. Not surprisingly, ICC's first dictatorial action has been to dispatch armed troops to Rubi-Ka, under the guise of a peacekeeping effort.

2. This extreme response by ICC has supposedly been motivated by the need to maintain stability between a weakened CoT and a discordant OT. However, relations between these groups are currently not heavily strained. Rather, any recent instability has been as a result of the external influence of the DB and the CoA.

3. OT and CoT have abided by the terms of the Tir accord, whose formulation and signature were observed by ICC. In fact, OT has gone beyond the original terms of the agreement to completely withdraw its mining operations from all Clan-held territories. Nonetheless, ICC continues to meddle in Rubi-Kan affairs on the grounds that the Tir Accord is being jeopardized.

4. ICC was unilaterally responsible for abridging OT's lease on Rubi-Ka and nearly abrogated the contract in spite of a lack of concrete evidence demonstrating wrongdoing by OT. The option to renew this lease is 100% contingent upon OT complying with all future ICC directives.

5. Although ICC's stated mandate is to represent the interests of its consituent hyper-corporations, its actions are constantly in conflict with OT's agenda. You may remember that ICC initiated a failed military campaign against OT, which was abandoned due to a lack of member support in the wake of the corporate wars.

Whereas OT and ICC may have once been in league, it is clear to me now that this is no longer the case. I am currently of the mind that ICC, backed by SBC and potentially greater interests, are behind many of the destablizing events of late. On the surface, it would appear that their interest is to seize the notum concession from Omni-Tek and end the Clan bid towards sovereignty.

In this regard, it is highly likely that they are the unseen backers of both the Dust Brigade as well as the Council of Ares. It would seem to me that ICC has been using these agencies as tools to sow discontent and provide an ideal pretext for an ICC invasion of Rubi-Ka.

As such, ICC no longer has any legitimacy in my opinion. How can ICC continue to function as a respresentative body when it is no longer accountable to its consituents? How can ICC claim to be a neutral arbiter of the situation on Rubi-Ka when it is clearly being manipulated by SBC? How can ICC expect the citizens of Rubi-Ka to recognize their peacekeeping authority when their agenda clearly runs counter to the interests of OT and Clan alike?

In summary, ICC are hypocrites of the highest order. They are not to be trusted by OT employees nor should they be welcomed by Clan or neutral supporters. I would further recommend that you adopt a similar view as the "extra-special-nice" approach is liable to get us all killed.

Wake up people! There are far greater forces at play here!