CH1 - The Intelligence Officer

“Your Highness, the Duke of Vexeter has arrived,” the butler announced and pulled back the doors.
A tall man in a buttoned jacket introduced himself into the throne room, stuffing away a handkerchief which he just used to mop away sweat from his brow. His carefully trimmed beard and sparkling eyes gave him the appearance of a wise king, but he had little fame to carry - heir of a small city in the countryside, he abandoned politics and law in favor for scientific research and management, much to his father’s displeasure.
“Your Majesty, forgive me for being the bearer of bad news, but I’m afraid time is of essence. From my most recent observations, ocean levels have risen by up to three feet in Bridington, Hayfog Island, and Masfate. Furthermore, this summer has been more intense than ever - reaching temperatures as high as 41 degrees Celsius.”
“Thank you for this vital information, Postmaster Vikfried. Most concerning indeed,” replied the Queen, her commanding voice resonating throughout the room. But this was no news to her. After she allowed coal mining to be unregulated in order to gain the upper hand against the French in industrial power, the skies have adopted a brown tinge. Sometimes, one couldn’t even see the top of the clocktower in most cities, as the smog blanketed the most industries of cities.
“I appreciate your help for the Empire, and you have been the most dutiful at reporting your studies to me. However, these weather reports will do us no good anymore. Rumors of war against the French have been spreading around, and I need someone to find out more about these speculations. If you want to continue your good service to this nation, I recommend that you observe the telegraph lines instead of your weather stations.”
Of course if the Queen recommended anything, that was the law. So Vikfried bowed his head and thanked her, then promptly left the room.

CH2 - The Foreman
Reclining in her chair, Phoebe closed her eyes, letting the drone of machinery lull her to sleep. Ever since the Great War, production didn’t seem to have slowed down, and her expertise in mechanics were in high demand. With the invention of the U-boat, traditional seafaring has declined significantly as they became easy targets for enemy submarines. Warring nations quickly realized if they too started using underwater transports, they would be considerably safer than if they were on the surface. But methods of warfare have changed as well. With the advent of tanks in the battlefield, machinery assumed a bigger role in combat. Scientists on all sides experimented with various mechanical contraptions, and of course espionage between countries was rampant as each country tried to keep up with another’s technology. Although a ceasefire and demilitarization pact was signed amongst the warring nations as public resentment of the war would have caused revolutions in almost every country, each was secretly building new machinery capable of more destructive force. Shifting in her chair, Phoebe’s thoughts travel back to the day she was “drafted,” forcibly moved on to the recruit truck with only the clothes on her back, while the local jeweler was standing in the balcony of his villa, handing over some watches to the recruiters. War favors the rich, but don’t let that hinder your success. That was what her father said to her before he was sent to the front-lines, and never heard of again.
The alarm clock buzzed and Phoebe woke up, stretched her back and walked to the observation tower. From here, she oversaw the entire operation - the construction of the so called “Driller” - a small efficient tank the size of a grand piano equipped with a drill for destroying walls and moving terrain, with a small gun turret on top. These Drillers could be programmed to cover and advance on almost any terrain, and not a single human life would be lost in combat. But Phoebe was sure that Germany wasn’t the only country with this technology.

CH3 - The Assassin
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. The sound of metal hitting wood echo in the empty gym. The fresh recruits have just been sent to their camps and now the recruitment center was empty. Thunk. Thunk. The gym is completely dark except for the single window near the top of the ceiling, the spotlight illuminating a wooden practice dummy. Thunk. Thunk. Splinter. Janice retrieves her knife from the fallen dummy and cleans the blade with her dress. She twirls it in her hands, guiding it between her fingers and around her thumb.
“Time taken to do a thing properly is always well spent, don’t you think so Mr. Mop?” she whispers to her herself, picking up the janitorial equipment from the ground. Wiping the sweat from herself, she retrieves a dull grey uniform from the closet.
“Hey! What are you doing there soldier, get moving!” A sergeant yells at the lone janitor in the gym. The janitor slowly turns to face the officer, grinning while staring intensely at him, and starts walking to the door. The sergeant recognized this kind of face - one that is twisted by the horrors of war, one that cannot differentiate from reality and fantasy. He keeps face and returns to his post.
As Janice exits the building, she frowns and begins to question her choice of attire. The whiteboard on the field indicates the temperature to be 42 degrees Celsius, and her uniforms instantly becomes soaked in sweat. She hurries aboard the staff truck, on its way to supply a frontline camp.

CH4 - The Smuggler
“That’ll be fifty-five dollars for the fare and three for the pillows” Eliclax tells a group of disheveled men as they clamber out of the bottom of a truck. One of them quickly pays him and the rest scurry towards the edge of town, away from Eliclax’s sight. Eliclax sighs, pockets the money, then starts up his truck again and heads to town. He had to turn on his headlights, even though it was only three in the afternoon because the smog was so thick. Making his way to the harbor, he hopes that he could get at least eight customers this time - more and more people wanted to move inlands, but as the influx rate grew drastically, the government put up quotas for admittance to regulate the migration rate. Eliclax notices that he has to stop his truck earlier than when he came here two weeks ago - the water level was now above the pier, and a makeshift wooden structure was built on top to keep the harbor elevated. Putting on his facemask, he shuts off the engine and makes his way over to the motel.
“What would a fine gentleman like you want in this part of town?” The manager asks as Eliclax removes his mask. “Anyone who could already skipped town, and I’m going out of business.”
“Where there’s need, there’s money,” Eliclax replies, “Something cold to drink please”
The manager leaves to retrieve lemonade while Eliclax looks about him. A couple is sitting by the window, staring at each other’s cups (or where they staring at each other’s hands?), and a group of four is playing cards by the coffee machine. Walking over to the players, he jingles his keys and sits besides them
“Looking to go anywhere?”
“As if we could! We’re basically stuck in the cancer hole that is this town, and the government is keeping us in.”
“Yeah, can’t walk a mile down the road before a cop stops you, blabbering about ‘our safety’ and ‘the danger’ of the countryside. As if a deer would maul me.”
Chuckling, Eliclax leans in and says “I know of more roads than you never knew of”
“What are you spouting here old fool, are you drunk or something?”
“Nope, if you really want to get away from this place, then I’m the right man for the job - I can easily get you to greener fields, if you got the cash,” Eliclax replies, pointing at their wallets.
“So you are a smuggler?”
“I suppose you could say so, I know my ways around machinery and backways better than a taxicab driver knows London”
Suddenly the man at the table rises and reveals a badge from underneath his jacket and proclaims, “In that case, I put you under arrest in the name of the Queen, criminal scum. Put your hands above your head, and come with me. You’re under arrest for alleged human trafficking and exploitation.”
“Well, I suppose an old man like me has no choice then?”
“Only the Queen can save you from the slammers now, and believe me, they’re going to be hotter than a Swedish sauna if the temperatures keep rising."

Each chapter will feature a specialist (and a player cameo for the specialist: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1439) and advance further into the future. Chapters are probably gonna be released every other day. Have fun reading!
EDIT: definitely not every other day

I prefer this to the Assassin Navigator and General story because this is backstory rather than just story.

Chapter 2 update

Chapter 3 update.
sorry if necro, but i got inspired by silverberg's post in the Question comments to update chapter, featuring janitorialduties as assassin.
I also didn't want to make a new post.

DAAAANG Nice work Panda! This post got lost in a few others so I didn't see it. Some top notch stuff right there!

I always love reading this! So glad you added more!

These are amazing. Can't wait for when the individual stories finally meet up (they will, won't they??)

These are quite good so far. Yah this thread goes a loooooooong way back so it nice to see some updates on it.

Chapter 4 update, thank you nojo34 for reminding me to upload (I had the chapter 90% done).
Eliclax was TW's choice of name, Roadkiehl's Edward Rhodes should be next, you guys can vote for what specialist he represents. (link for lore names is here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1439&p=9533&hilit=lore+name#p9533)
Gonna work on the next chapter now.