Asia Ascendant Asia Ascendant

Asia Ascendant Asia Ascendant An Unofficial Sourcebook for Trinity Written By Bruce Baugh James Maliszewski John Snead Developed By Bruce Baugh Special Thanks To Victor Brueggeman and Chris Nasipak for particularly meticulous scrutiny and nitpicking help at a time when it was most welcome Table of Contents Fiction The Shape of Things To John Snead Come Introduction Welcome To The Center Of Bruce Baugh The World Chapter 1 The Ministry Of Psionic James Maliszewski Affairs Chapter 2 Telepathy Bruce Baugh Chapter 3 Asia John Snead Chapter 4 Roleplaying James Maliszewski John Snead Chapter 5 Dramatis Personae James Maliszewski John Snead Appendix Nihonjin Technology John Snead Please report any problems with the HTML and other formatting to Bruce Baugh. Converting Word documents to HTML is occasionally awkward. Thanks! Trinity, Hidden Agendas, Trinity Technology Manual, Luna Rising, America Offline, Shattered Europe, Stellar Frontier, Darkness Revealed, Descent into Darkness, Passage Through Shadow, Ascent into Asia Ascendant Light, Trinity Field Report, Extrasolar Colonies, Alien Races, Alien Encounter, Invasion, Deception, Terra Verde, and Trinity Universe are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This book uses science fiction for settings, characters and themes. All science fiction, geopolitical scenarios and psi-related elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised. Fiction: The Shape Of Things To Come The Shape of Things to Come By John Snead [ Previous (Table of Contents) | Home | Next (Introduction) ] Field Anomalies Special Report on Ministry Field Activities, July-December 2122 Prepared by Field Operations Leader Pei Ying Chih for Pan Afu, Sub-minister of the Ministry of Psionic Affairs The field department has recorded a substantially increased number of anomalous activities in the second half of 2122. In addition to the unusual telepathic interference currently being studied by the noetic research division, there has been an 8% rise in aberrant activity; more importantly, the nature of some of the aberrant encounters has changed. Aberrants that are both far less and far more human than the norm have been reported. Our research also indicates that these phenomena are increasing in frequency and I believe we must work to understand them as rapidly as possible. At this time we have no answers as to the nature of these new phenomena, but something new and unusual is occurring and I believe that all of these unusual phenomena are related and should be investigated together. However, it is important to remember that not all of these anomalies are harmful or negative. We now have a documented case of an active protopsion as well as contact with another individual that currently remains inexplicable, but who may possess an entirely new variety of psionic power. Perhaps by understanding these various new phenomena we can make significant breakthroughs in the study and use of psionics. The following are a list of some of the most unusual cases related to these anomalies that we have so far encountered. Southeast Asia • Shan State: SE Asian field teams report an 11% increase in prohibited activity in Southeast Asia since August. The rate of aberrant eruptions has risen significantly, and technological White Codes are more Fiction: The Shape Of Things To Come common. Recently there have been several extremely disturbing incidents in Burma's Shan State. In October, our department initiated a raid on a secret Samphan-Tzu clinic after intelligence indicated they were performing experiments with aberrant tissue. The initial plan was for a standard infiltration- and-destroy mission using telepathic impersonators. This failed utterly when their chief of security immediately saw through our agents' telepathic disguises. She also proved to be completely resistant to mental attack, as well as extraordinarily physically capable. Agent Rebecca Wu was severely injured during the subsequent fight. To avoid death or capture, the remaining agents initiated a controlled retreat followed by an emergency pick-up. The operation was a complete failure, and when they returned the next day with a larger, heavily armed strike team the clinic was deserted. Fortunately, the leaders of the Samphan-Tzu Triad seem to have understood the reason for the raid. All taint-related research materials were still there, along with the body of what our clairsentient indicates was the researcher who was performing this work. The clairsentient also indicated that there was no taint or quantum signature associated with the security head, nor was she a psion. Analysis of hair and skin samples recovered from a sweep of the compound confirms that she is not an aberrant, but indicates that she possesses an unusual genetic structure. We may be seeing the first of a new breed of genetically engineered supermen, or may have stumbled onto something else entirely. Efforts continue to track down the new location of this clinic. The recent psionic interference is the most likely partly responsible for our current lack of success. • Greater Siam: The next incident is even more disturbing in its implications. Acting on an alert about strong active taint signatures, a heavily armed strike team entered northern Siam on November 22. Tracking down the source was relatively easy. At first it seemed like a small aberrant cult. There were a dozen people living in a village with one of the most deformed aberrants yet reported. If there hadn't been a very large taint signature, the team leader reported he would have assumed that the creature was an extraterrestrial. Now completely devoid of humanoid form, this creature's body consisted of a large, wide fleshy cone, 1.5 meters high, topped by a trio of thick, flexible stalks. Two of these stalks were complex branching arms, the other ended in an oval head with four large eyes and an array of other complex sensors. While it was not sessile, it could not move rapidly except when using its potent gravitic powers to fly. One of the team members attempted to telepathically subdue the humans, while the others attacked the aberrant. The aberrant was immune to telepathic attack, but was unable to fully deflect conventional attacks. However, at this point one of the apparent humans surrounded himself with a shimmering nimbus of unknown power and began attacking the team. He generated some form of spatial shock wave that rendered most of the team unconscious, then opened a warp and departed along with the other aberrant. The humans fled into the jungle, but the two conscious agents managed to capture one. Memory probes indicated that the two aberrants had arrived almost a week ago, and were intimidating and paying the villagers into helping them search for the entrance to some type of cave. Since neither being appeared to be a typical aberrant, the villagers assumed they were both some type of gods or demons. An Fiction: The Shape Of Things To Come examination of the taint signatures around the village indicate the both creatures were clearly aberrants, but that the human-looking one had an abnormally low taint signature, especially considering its obvious level of power. Investigators are still searching for the cave these aberrants were seeking. • Bangkok: Telepathic patrols in Bangkok have been both aided and hampered by the recent psionic disruptions. A cartel of slavers was disrupted when agent Ling Lung-Ren distinctly heard a young boy mentally calling for help when the slaver were getting ready to fit him with a biotech control collar. The boy was not a latent, and agent Ling had never met him, so there is currently no explanation for this event. However, since agent Ling was only two blocks away from the slave pens, his team was able to rapidly secure the area, capture the slavers and free all of their captives. Because the slavers followed the usual practice of keeping all of the captives lightly sedated until they were fitted with control collars, ordinary area scans have proved insufficient to detect the captives' muted emotions. However, at other times, levels of psionic interference have been sufficiently high to prevent even powerful, highly skilled agents from communicating with one other. Field agent Win Mai Yu was almost killed when her undercover persona was compromised and she was unable to telepathically call for backup. As a result of this incident I recommend that all undercover agents be given shielded implant radios to allow them to discreetly keep in touch with other Ministry agents. Bangkok was also the site of what could easily be the most disturbing event of the last several years. In late November several of our agents uncovered what initially appeared to be relic technology for sale by one of the Siamese organized crime families. The particular device was an interface helmet that used some form of electromagnetic induction to allow the wearer to experience full-sensory Virtual Reality without any form of suit or additional interface equipment. Initial tests indicate that this device can also be used to record a subject's sensory impressions in precise detail. While the device itself is not even classified as a Green Code threat, it is clearly beyond current technology and appears to use principles we have previously only seen in relic aberrant technology. However, when our technicians analyzed this device it is clearly based upon recent technologies that had no analog in the aberrant era. According to the reports I have seen, this is not a technological relic, it is a device that was designed within the past five years, using new applications of existing technology. We have had no other reports of new aberrant inventions being manufactured. If a hyper-intelligent aberrant erupted here or if an old one has returned to Earth, then we must find it and stop it immediately.

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