The Rise of Tropico Chapter 3

Chapter 3—Factories, Gentlemen Adventurers, and Resources, Oh My!

One week later when word got out on what Blue Eye One had stumbled into, rumors traveled faster than FTL and it found momentum as it spread towards the military rumour mills and the entire population through lieutenants gossiping with their wives and ladies and on social media.

Normally this security breach definitely will have triggered an inquiry and investigation into who was responsible and how did it happen. The top echelons of power decided it in total agreement that openness in this case warranted this current situation.

In effect, the outside world they were in took on a mysterious and exotic locale, fueling speculation and serving as a much-needed distraction for the masses to look at while their trusty government was with efficient competence fixing things in the backstage.

El Presidente soon was going to have another headache on his full plate: gentleman adventurers.

The illustrious brotherhood and sisterhood began when an idealistic Tropican yearning for a heroic adventure had read Don Quixote and, seeing the injustice around the world, opted to make it right or die trying.

Those smart enough had taken up the Red Beret of Questing and joined the Tropican Rangers or the Rebels as is tradition. The former for the adventures being thrust upon them nonstop and the latter fighting to right those wrongs come hell or high water.

As for the rest that didn’t have the common sense to do so… well, the legacies they left behind depended on which side they were on and how much affected they were by such beings in their wake.

Heroic and selfless individuals or chaotic and unpredictable shit-stirrers, such labels were part and parcel of a wandering gentleman adventurer.

Most of the time these brave men and women were doing it solo, and if the occasion called for it to be in twos or threes to tackle dangerous prey or world-spanning threats.

But God and the toucans help the rest of the world if they formed an adventuring band and make it legal as a guild.

The collateral damage was just… mind-numbing.

Despite their age, as the 21st century had less need of such illustrious beings, the reality that they were on a new planet with untouched potential awoke embers thought long banked.

The zest of life filled their very beings as creaky bones in every movement had disappeared, and eyes so dull and weathered with age became sharp and brimming with life as the memories of their travels and endeavours came to the forefront.

Oh, to wish on being young and spry again!

One by one, independent of any consensus or committee, these retired gentlemen adventurers vowed to become the best mentors for the next generation that would answer the call of heroic adventure, starting with their family members where their blood flowed with burning passion.

Right now it seemed a good time to revive the defunct League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Adventurers and Legends, or LEGAL as they were the premiere guild of the then-British colony back in the day.

The air was thick with anticipation. Deep down in their bones all of them had an ironclad conviction that they had a part to play in Tropico’s path to the stars, for good or ill, and soon they shall hear the call to action.

===

Above the azure and tranquil sea, the dark and predatory forms of six UH-60 Blackhawks zoomed to their destination, that large complex of unknown capabilities and dubbed by high command as “Complex One” in official terms.

In the back of their minds, for the soldiers of the 1st Composition Task Force, they nicknamed it as ‘Boeing’s Doom’ or BD for short.

No one knew what entailed in their search, but knew that whatever happened, it was going to bring interesting times in the Chinese sense of the word.

Every one of them knew that Murphy is a patriotic Tropican citizen.

Except for their new attachments.

The Soviets decided they wanted to be in the action also, which Tropican Command was eager to accept as a step to more cooperation and help as time passed on. So that is why a fire team of five Spetsnaz troopers were with them.

“So,” one of the balaclava-clad spec ops troopers said. “all of us are the best and the brightest of all the Special Forces gathered here today for its first suicide mission. I’m a Ranger and certified survivalist, the good captain here’s a Commando with engineer experience, an unexpected surprise given his unit’s penchant for destruction, and our venerable Staff Sergeant’s a supermodel who found the wrong calling to be an Unthinkable and a hacker too. And now we have-”

The gasmask staring at him forced to stop, the opaque and soulless red lenses showing nothing but the speaker’s reflection. “Cut the chatter, Joker. Now’s not the time to make some of your failed wisecracks.” the burly man hefted his MG3 machine gun and looked at Joker.

“Is this even normal?” one of the Russian Spetsnaz team quietly commed over the link.

“I don’t know, comrade. I just hope that Captain Echo knows his competence.”

Captain Echo looked at the Russian lieutenant that Tropican Command attached to them. “Comrade Lieutenant Fox. I hope that you are ready for our mission?”

“Da, captain.” the man replied with a flawless English accent. “Though I’m more concerned with that Joker as he doesn’t seem to take this seriously.”

“He knows his way, alright, but takes every moment to crack jokes whether or not they’re wanted.”

The Spetsnaz lieutenant could only nod at that.

Accessing the all-radio frequency, captain Echo relayed the mission. “Alright you putas, listen up! I know that this has drilled in your skulls to death already, but let me repeat this mission’s objectives and our role in it. Staff Sergeant Belle, if you would.”


The woman laid down a tablet and pressed a few taps on the screen, filling in the space with augmented reality images of the peninsula. The sharp and ultra high 4K resolution revealed a jungle vegetation and red lines and white characters designating important legends.


“So as command has us, the 1st Composite Group to be the first line over the top and see what this complex is all about. We don’t know if there are any probable hostiles or civvies in the area, but assume that we will encounter them in the mission.

“We are landing here, at LZ Alpha, 15 kilometers south southwest of Complex One. If you don’t know why we have an engineering detachment, their job is to create an outpost and fallback position for us that will serve as a future base to discover the peninsula. All of us are going for a long hike through the jungle and according to intelligence-”

“With an IQ of 66 as usual.”

“-thank you Joker in your wisdom. According to intelligence we might encounter hostile wildlife as the predators have never encountered human presence, or so they think. We will take some photos regarding our unfamiliar terrain as a tertiary aim.”

Lt. Fox asked the captain. “What if we encounter such creatures, what then comrade captain? Rules of engagement?”

“Lieutenant Fox, if we find ourselves in such a situation, it’s weapons free. The survival of yourself and our team is essential for the mission. What the environmentalists don’t know won’t hurt them.”

Captain Echo continued his briefing. “Once we approach the AO, we must ensure stealth. We are doing a recon drive-by of the area, and if we can access the interior of the complex, we must take any intelligence that circumstances allow us to.”

Staff Sergeant Belle spoke up, her husky, smoky voice often the cause of awkwardness in the barracks, and yet Captain Echo could see sharp intelligence in her brown eyes.

“Captain, are we even prepared for some snatch and tag operations?”

“Yes, sergeant. All of us,” he looked at everyone inside the helo. “have been equipped by our armourers with tranquilizer guns to grab any personnel should the situation call for it. However, let’s try to remain unseen.”

Joker said, “No worries, captain. Infiltration has been my bread and butter, and I can ghost my way through the complex. Been a while since I’ve done it in Korea.”

Now there’s something resembling wisdom from his mouth, thought the Captain.


All of them were the best of the best. Despite the idiosyncrasies of each team member, it honoured all of them to be part of an august gathering.


The next sentence out of Joker’s mouth ruined what a good impression the captain had for this man. “And for the record, I’m glad that we get a stuffy officious name instead of Penultimo’s pansy ass proposal of RAINBOW. No offense to gays, but this ain’t no pride parade.”

Belle only rolled her eyes at such immaturity.

Captain Echo could only sigh. He had to take back control of the briefing. “Once we have gained sufficient intelligence, begin exfiltration for extraction here,” the holograph moved to a location west of Complex One. “10 kilometers west at EZ Golf as the primary extraction zone.”

He then manipulated the images to show two more extraction zones, 12 kilometers southeast and 2 kilometers west of EZ Alpha. “Should there be any complications, there are secondary and tertiary extraction points, EZ Charlie and EZ Golf, respectively. Charlie is 2 kilometers west of Alpha and our tertiary is 12 kilometers southeast of our primary extraction point.”

Everyone knew it already, but it never hurt to get reminders again and again.

“Our Blackhawks will be our egress vehicles away from the AO and return immediately to Tropico for priority debriefing. Is that clear?”

All of them chorused. “Sir!”

“Godspeed everyone.”

===

The helicopters landed at LZ Alpha with no problems, with the teams setting up a crude forward operating base with tents and portable radios that would connect therm back to Tropico.


While the Blackhawks returned to Tropico as they were going to do some air refueling on the way back, the 1st CTF with their Spetsnaz attachments headed deep into the jungle.

Fifteen souls all traveling into the great unknown.

All of them were traveling single file, spaced apart at 10 meters each, and had Joker and two other scouts recon ahead of their position. Lt. Fox and his fire team were at the rear of the formation, a sign of trust from the Tropicans to watch their backs.

Joker and the two rangers had taken pains to cover their tracks and leave Tropican only tracks for the rest of the team as they blazed ahead of the column and reported back once in a while.

From the barracks’ rumours joker could parse, Leggy got her name because she was quick as a hare in running while having legs any leg model would have amputated themselves for, while Dangler forgot to wear pants during an inspection call, giving the drill sergeant a full show of his manhood, and the notoriety stuck to him ever since.

Right now they were 300 meters ahead of the primary group, and to pass the time, the trio began some idle chatter.

“Feels like home, you know?” One of them said.

“Yeah. I could plop the jungle here into Tropico with no one the wiser, but I’d have thought being in a new planet meant we were going to deal with exotic wildlife and civilizations.”

Joker added in his two cents. “You mean that one short story where a stone age tribe of teddy bears somehow defeat an advanced company of troops armed with laser weaponry and in fully sealed armour too using nothing more than sharpened sticks and stones?”

The first scout Dangler looked in surprise. “You read that piece of shit too? Honestly, it sounded like some badly done deus ex machina. I mean, what the fuck, it should’ve been a massacre with the soldiers just laughing at such a pitiful display before killing them all at least.”

His second companion nodded. “I’m expecting here to encounter some high technology, or at least seeing some fallen civilizations on the planet.”

“What if we encounter some deadly predator here? Something like a dinosaur or six legged panther, just like the old sci-fi short stories?”

Leggy shrugged. “Run away like hell and tell the Commandos to fuck shit up in this direction.”

Joker gave a low whistle. “Damn son, that’s some brutal honesty there. Hope-” a rustle in the leaves made him halt, raising a clenched fist. “Hold on.”

The three rangers stood still, fingers at the triggers, while Joker’s hand was hovering on the emergency beacon button to alert the rest of the force.

Up there in the canopy of green, they saw something. A bird most likely, as they heard the flapping wings. The team relaxed slightly when the mystery bird revealed itself.

Their eyes widened and their mouths agape at the sight of the birds. Leggy made a strangled sound as her shoulders shook.

Could it be?

Joker raised a numb hand to his earpiece. “Joker to Echo-6, c-come in.”

“This is Echo-6 to Joker Actual I read you five by five. What’s going on your end, over?”

“Captain, there are toucans. I see toucans in here!”

There was silence on the end. “Say again, Joker? Toucans?” the voice held a note of incredulity.

“Sir, I don’t see just Toucans, I’m seeing here a family with chicks up in the canopy!”

Leggy was on her knees, sobs and laughter mixed in as she saw a family of toucans that were staring at them.

This was an omen of righteous fortune.

To any soldiers of Tropico, to see a toucan in the middle of the mission meant that they were under the eyes and protection of their sacred birds, which was a blessing in of itself by boosting morale.

But to see a family of toucans? In the jungles so far away from Tropico?

They were an endangered species thanks to the spite of Generalissimo Santana, may his soul rot in the ninth circle of hell forevermore that wounded the psyche of Tropico.

The Hand of God must have moved in this case.

This mission just jumped in importance from being necessary to a divine mandate. To the scout team, there was a mission of great importance about Complex One that had such a sacred flock appear before them.

The male toucan tilted his head left and right, then up and down. Somewhat satisfied, it lifted his head and let out a ‘waark’ and then flew in a circle around the team’s position.

Joker contacted Captain Echo. “Sir, you wouldn’t believe this, but one toucan split off from its family and just flew above our heads. It’s asking to follow wherever it goes, sir.”

“Negative, Joker. Hold your position. We are hoofing it to your location.”

Joker bit back a reply. He remembered that the Captain was an Australian and did not know the significance of the toucan doing such things.

If it were emus however…

He shook his head, dispelling uncharitable thoughts. Screw it, he had to follow the toucan and take his lumps later.

At the corner of his eye, he saw Dangler lead Leggy, who was wiping her eyes to stand up. He looked at them, certain that they heard Captain Echo.

Both of them trusted Joker to do the right thing. The toucan, somewhat impatient with its chatter, flew away from them.

Strengthened by the tacit support of his team, Joker contacted the captain. “Sir, the toucan is flying away. We have to follow it. Just follow our markers.”

“Joker, hold your position! Joker!-”

The team set on a dead run, following the toucan. The jungle opened paths for them, and while they felt the wind whip across their faces, neither vines nor gnarled roots impeded their progress as they followed the toucan.

No predators bothered them, which in their minds meant that even nature was speeding them up all along. Everything seemed a blur, the team moved like wraiths, silent, and not even a rustle of disturbed leaves pierced the silence.

The only thing that Joker and his two cohorts noticed once they broke through the treeline as they held the complex in their eyes… The photos were just underselling the gargantuan size of it.

Did everything have to be so depressing grey though? Joker tried, and failed, to reconcile 5.5 million square kilometers in his view with the vista of futuristic steel and brutalist concrete architecture before him.

With unfortunate timing his radio squawked loudly, he had to rip off the earpiece lest he suffer tinnitus from his screaming commander. “JOKER YOU WANKING SOD OF LEPROUS BARBER WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I’LL FEED YA OVER A NICE AND SLOW BARBIE PISS!”

Oh fuck. He had to take it like a man and bend over, while Leggy and Dangler gave him commiserating looks. “Well sir, we’ve arrived near the entrance of Complex One sir. And the toucan is still there, flying.”


“This is Staff Sergeant Belle speaking.” Oof, that southern belle voice just spelled trouble. “The Captain is apoplectic with anger with your antics, corporal. You’ve somehow crossed 5 kilometers in 30 minutes, while a damn record for the books won’t save your hide from an inquiry.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was so screwed.

“Corporal, just… just follow that toucan and come back alive. We are coming for you. Over and out.”


The line went dead. Looking at the flying toucan, and at his probably soon to be ex-squad mates, he signaled them to follow him into the maw of the complex.

With the toucan in their sights, the rangers with practiced ease noted the surroundings, and noticed that it was devoid of life.

There were no litters of waste, no well-worn tracks on the paths, nor even a peep of noise.

Just because the area was empty and free didn’t mean danger wasn’t lurking somewhere else.

The team ghosted through the area, crouching and crawling through corners and alleyways presented, and climbing up and swinging from building to building using their grappling guns. The toucan was leading them to a specific location, and they were loath to abandon the bird and leave it out of their view.

Time passed by in silence, punctuated only by one ranger taking turns in giving status reports to Staff Sergeant Belle.

Even then they had to take breaks, which the toucan obliged them as they gulped in water and caught their breath.

Close to evening, the toucan led them to the center of the complex. An enormous dome in appearance, it was at odds with the rest of the buildings, which were angular slabs in aesthetics. The administrative center, no doubt.

Once the team was at the entrance of the admin dome, the toucan screeched, satisfaction present in its cry as it flew away back to its family.

Joker contacted the team. “Joker to Belle, reporting in. The toucan led us into a dome the size of a stadium in the center of Complex One before flying off. This is a probable admin area and point of interest. We will enter the premises and search for intelligence, over.”

“Belle here noted on the entering. Keep us updated on your search over and out.”

Joker was about to signal the team to prepare a breach and sneak inside when the door opened, revealing a humanoid robot.

Both sides stared at each other in incomprehension, the ranger team looking at an android 1.76 meters tall, colored in metallic silver and had unblinking eyes reminiscent of a pair of car lights.

It raised its awkward arms in a gesture of surrender. To compound the team’s surprise, a feminine voice came out of its vocabulator. “Please don’t shoot me. I am just a humble administrative droid here.”

Joker and his compatriots lowered their rifles. A talking robot, here? And an administrative one to boot? Joker took the lead for this shindig, subtly signaling his comrades.

“No harm, no foul ma’am. We are the Tropican Rangers and we came here to… visit the area, so to speak. I’m Joker and these are my companions Leggy and Dangler. May I know who I am speaking to?”

The robot lowered her hands. “Where are my manners? Oh, but I am TC-34, protocol and administrative droid of Automated Factory Complex Number One. Please come in.”

That statement made Joker think hard. Number one meant that there were more complexes like this, scattered around the planet. It made the hairs on his shoulders raise up, a shiver in his spine.

Who made these things, and why?

Dangler and Leggy seemed spooked by the implications, too.

The group went inside the building, and the rangers saw a pleasant lobby that wouldn’t be out of place with any Tropican office building, though it felt utilitarian as the color scheme around was light grey and black except for the chairs which were plastic and colored white.

“Ahem, uh TC-34 right? If you would I’d like to call you Tracey. TC-34 is too impersonal, and you deserve more for being the hard-working lady you have been.”

TC-34, or Tracey now, paused for some seconds. “Oh… thank you? I don’t know what to say, no one has ever done that before for me.”

Joker reared back, surprise on his face. “Then they are fools, for not appreciating you and your hard work.”

Leggy whispered to Dangler. “Is he flirting with the robot?”

Dangler whispered back. “Probably?”

Joker continued his questioning of Tracey. “So what does this factory make? I’m sure that whether or not automated, there must be a great need of materials to supply the demand.”

“Oh, depending on what the factory overseer wants, almost anything from kitchen utensils to construction materials to star-fighters. Any larger space-faring vessels like frigates or corvettes should stay in orbital yards, I’m afraid.”

She raised a hand. “Our factory lines are flexible, as long as they have the schematics whether old or new and sufficient resources then they can build anything within reason. The factory is part of a planet-spanning network emplaced around nearby strategic resources, as accompanying automated mines, and we have included refineries in the planetary colonization package for this planet.”

The three rangers looked at each other in astonishment. This seemed too good to be true.

Joker continued his line of inquiry. “Who has created these complexes, and why?”

Tracey, unaware of the group’s turmoil said, “The Galactic Empire built these complexes, because aside from having this planet being habitable to all species of the highest degree, in a system rich in resources already, this planet has shown extraordinary amounts of Phrik, Cortosis, Lommite, Zersium, Aurodium, and Nova Crystals!”

Those names meant nothing for the rangers, but they deemed it important with the provided information so far.

Tracey lowered her head, shame coloring her voice. “Apologies, Mr. Joker. I’m trying to access the records and they say DATA EXPUNGED or DATA CORRUPTED on the why.”

“No problem Tracey, you’ve been a helpful soul so far.” Joker raised a line to Captain Echo and the rest of the squad. “Joker to Belle, status update. You won’t believe what we found here…”

To be continued...