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The Hexagon Death Squad is a six woman special assassination and mercenary ops group commissioned by the AEGIS government for the purposes of clandestine anti-democratist, anti-subversive, or counterrevolutionary activities outside of normal government control. Because of their position as private contractors their operations escape internal government review and filing processes. This essentially makes Hexagon Death Squad an almost completely independent arm of the government, yet it nevertheless maintains strong ties with the AEGIS government's Section 10 bureau. 
Age: 30 Measurements: 77-65-80 Weight: 60 kg, Height: 176 cm Birthdate: June 14, 1982 Weapon: Straight Blade - "Machete" Rank: Leader Description: Jennifer is a hard woman, cynical and world-weary, and takes dark pleasure in her brutal work. She keeps it to herself, close to her heart, but this comes from the trauma she suffered in her past, before she came to lead Hexagon Death Squad. She has a strong sense of comradeship, and sees the rest of HDS as her younger sisters, and will do everything in her power to keep them from getting hurt. 
Age: 27 Measurements: 65-68-74 Weight: 56 kg, Height: 168 cm Birthdate: May 4, 1985 Weapon: Dual-Wield Katana, Wakizashi Rank: Second in Command Description: Bouncy and energetic, Ally is feisty and hotheaded, always one of the first to leap into battle. She's always one to make jokes and quips, and enjoys playing pranks and practical jokes on the others. Dizzy, free, and uninhibited, Ally brings a ray of freckly sunshine to the team. 
Age: 31 Measurements: 92-76-82 Weight: 80 kg, Height: 192 cm Birthdate: August 21, 1981 Weapon: Spear, Chinese Broadsword Rank: Combat Specialist Description: Strength is her motto. Towering over the battlefield, Ari is the strongest fighter in terms of sheer muscle power. Yet with her power comes the knowledge that she can hurt those around her without intending it. This has led to her having to hold back her strength much of the time, and is why Ari enjoys fights against strong opponents, where she can test her true strength. 
Age: 27 Measurements: 108-88-90 Weight: 72 kg, Height: 163 cm Birthdate: November 12, 1984 Weapon: Cavalry Sabre Rank: Vehicle Specialist Description: Tessaly is the team's emotional core. Caring, loyal, and as kind as a government-hired assassin can be, Tessa always seems to know the right thing to say and when to say it. She spends time in the rearguard, preferring to assist the team as the team's driver and mechanic, but when it comes to fighting on the roads, Tessaly's motor jousting skill is unmatched. 
Age: 25 Measurements: 80-69-77 Weight: 61 kg, Height: 165 cm Birthdate: July 30, 1987 Weapon: Claymore, Zweihander (both specially modified) Rank: Anti-Armour Specialist Description: Coral is HDS's heavy hitter. Her attacks are a bit slower than the others', but pack an extreme punch against armoured vehicles and cars, making her a rather specialized fighter, who excels against machines that make slow and predictable movements, rather than fast-moving human targets. Personalitywise, Coral is introverted and withdrawn, calm and quiet, and spends a lot of time thinking to herself in internal monologues. Sometimes the things she blurts out confuse her friends, and she has a rather strange sense of humour. 
Age: 19 Measurements: 65-60-68 Weight: 38 kg, Height: 151 cm Birthdate: December 3, 1992 Weapon: Rapier, Epee Rank: Computer and Science Specialist Description: Kaycee is the newest member of HDS. Small and waiflike, Kaycee looks younger than she is, leading some to underestimate her. This has grown in her a sense of quiet determination to prove herself, and prove her worth to her team, even though her friends accept her for who she is. Kaycee is still new to the harsh world of killing, and combat, and dislikes it, yet at the same time she feels the need to make herself useful in fights. This has led her to develop techniques that can incapacitate an enemy without killing them, but this brings up troubling questions for her, such as "When is the use of violence justified?" Kaycee still has much to learn. |
{ Other Comics } >> Artificial Time XS >> U.S. national weather service website >> The Weather Underground >> NWS hydrometeorological prediction centre >> intergovernmental panel on climate change >> realclimate >> vol. 1 Chapt.1: The Lone Crossbowman >> vol. 1 Chapt.2: Democraslaughter >> vol. 1 Chapt.3: Freedom Fight |
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Owing to the effects of the nuclear war 28 years before, average surface temperatures in the Hexagon Death Squad world circa 2012 are about 0.7-1 degree C lower than our world in 2008. The effects in question are fourfold: 1) A percentage of dark soot particles, lofted into the stratosphere by nuclear explosions, has remained in the stratosphere in suspension. Such particles are on the order of 1-10 microns in size (10 microns being about the width of a human hair) and have accumulated with an average particle density of about 1E8 particles per cubic metre of atmosphere above 10 km. Dark, sooty particles of this order of size have a strong absorbent effect on incoming solar radiation. Many of these particles however have rained out of the atmosphere in the intervening years, and their effect has decreased since climaxing around late 1963 during which average particle density reached a maximum immediately after the nuclear war. (those months in which the world experienced a literal nuclear winter) 2) The effects of increased albedo due to rapid glaciation caused by the nuclear winter. The world of HDS has 8-10% more glacial coverage than ours does. The high albedo of white ice tends to reflect incoming solar radiation back into space, limiting the amount of radiation that can be absorbed and reradiated in the infrared range (< 300 nm). Earth's albedo in the HDS world is about 1-3% stronger than our own. 3) Strongly decreased economic activity in the decades since 1963. The HDS world as of 2012 has a population of only 3.8 billion, compared to ours at 6.3-.4 billion as of 2008. Furthermore, the gross GDP of A.E.G.I.S.'s world government is only half that of our own at present. This is directly because of famine, war, anarchy and disease immediately after the war, and during the ten long years of the Unification War. Although the A.E.G.I.S. government has made impressive strides in rebuilding infrastructure and increasing productivity, the lasting effect of destroyed factories, infrastructure, and the suppressing effect of reduced economic activity in decreasing personal automobile usage, has resulted in net CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions significantly below ours at present. World CO2 concentrations in the HDS world stand at around 280 ppm by volume, roughly comparable to their concentrations before the Industrial Revolution in the 1850s. Compare this figure to current estimated CO2 concentrations in our world at 384 ppm/v expected to double by midcentury. This results in a much lower greenhouse effect. Ironically, given this last point, CO2 concentrations have been increasing in the HDS world owing to decreased net primary productivity by both land and ocean flora. This has resulted in a marked decrease in CO2 sequestration by planetary biota, and the steady rise in human economic activity contributes to an increase of about 0.5 ppm per annum. 4) The HDS government has relatively relaxed laws concerning emission of aerosol producing gases (such as sulphur dioxide) and particulate matter (such as silicates from construction and black soot). In its drive to rebuild the world economy, AEGIS puts up new coal fired power plants at a rate of around 3 per day for each of the five global regions -- most of which rely on dirty, sulphur and ash-rich lignitious and bituminous coal. This results in a higher average surface concentration of aerosols and particulate matter, which have a strong reflective effect on incoming solar radiation, exacerbating the albedo effect. Taken together, this results in a much cooler climate, more similar to that felt by Europe and parts of Asia during the Little Ice Age, the worldwide temperature depression in the mid 19th century in the aftermath of the Krakatoa explosion (the so-called "Year without a Summer") or during the cold snap of the early 1970's, than to our present, greenhouse-heated world as of 2008. The net effects are the following. The HDS world, in general: - Experiences a higher average number of severe midlatitude storms, blizzards, winter floods, and cold snaps - Experiences a lower average occurrence of droughts, heat waves, tropical storms and summer severe thunderstorms. - Has a higher incidence of cloudy to partly-cloudy days and a lower incidence of sunny days - Has a midlatitude growing season shortened by about 5-7 weeks - Experiences larger negative temperature excursions during the nighttime and has lower average highs during the day - Has a sea level approximately 15cm lower than ours - Has reduced daytime surface light levels by about 15% - Has on the whole, greatly reduced natural ocean fish stocks and crop yields - Experiences wetter, colder winters and drier, cooler summers This explains in a tidy way the reason why most of the settings are slightly dingey and grey -- owing to lower average light levels, cooler and cloudier weather, and drastically reduced economic activity. For the most part, their clothing choices generally reflect the climate of the world in which they live. For the reasons outlined above, San Francisco, at around 36 degrees North latitude, experiences average weather more similar to Seattle or Vancouver of today, and it is even known to snow from time to time in especially cold, wet winters. |
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