Estleback Corporation

[MasterNoda]

Greetings,

The last couple of weeks have been intense ones for the Estleback Corporation. Fulcrum, an international menace that seeks to pull the strings from the shadows, has chosen to ramp up their attacks on Estleback to an international level - what has been happening to us in EvoCity as of late is following a global trend. This has evolved into a war, but not just a war against us. This is against every single organization and individual in EvoCity and the world. The Estleback Corporation is prepared to do it’s bit to safeguard against the imminent threat that is Fulcrum. While we are currently unsure what the aim of this war is, whatever the endgame is: it is likely one of destruction, despair, and death.

It is because of the ongoing war effort, that we as an organization have not had as much time as we would have liked to brief EvoCity on our recent activities. Despite this, below are some announcements in regards to what we have been doing over the last period of time.

The Internal Schism

What started as a routine Open Hours operation quickly spiralled into a fight for survival after an encounter with the ever-present, homogenous ‘Agent’, a Fulcrum operative with the responsibility of disrupting our work on the field. It was on the night of October 20th that our operatives were threatened with an attack designed to cripple the corporation in EvoCity. This information was obtained by our pro-active operatives during a short trip to a local fast-food establishment. Unbeknownst to us, the encounter gave an unknown person the chance tamper with one of our vehicles, disabling our ability to start the engine. This allowed for a supposed ‘Good Samaritan’ to ‘fix’ our vehicle for us. This ‘fix’ put some of our operatives in a dangerous situation as the brakes of the vehicle no longer functioned. After careering through the streets of EvoCity, unable to properly slow or stop the vehicle without the brakes, another Estleback vehicle was successfully deployed to block the vehicle’s path, bringing it to a rest. It was at this point that The Agent ominously arrived, causing alarm amongst our personnel.

Following this, our personnel was unintentionally split up into two, with former Director and Advisor Burwin and FO Greenwood believing that they had just narrowly missed the plot to attack Estleback. Hiding out in one of the Lake Cabins, backup was requested and arrived, however miscommunication led to gunfire being exchanged as both sides believed the other to be the potential attackers. With confusion buzzing around the cabin, Estleback personnel attempted to find their bearings, however another appearance by The Agent immediately raised tensions again. The Agent used this appearance to manipulate a comment made by one of our operatives to claim that "They have converted themselves, I think my work here is done... Thank you, Estleback, you really have destroyed yourselves".

An attempt to reassert direction failed as paranoia set in among the operatives, with speculation as to who was 'converted' and what it meant. Burwin and Greenwood took off due to a misunderstanding, but left the rest of Estleback suspicious. After a period of searching for them, the rest of Estleback caught up with the seemingly rogue Burwin and Greenwood at the Villas. After a confrontation there, Burwin hopped over a wall to escape from the situation but was closely chased by Deputy Director James Fegan . Burwin managed to clamber into a departing metro train just in time, leaving Fegan and the rest of Estleback behind as the train departed back towards the city. Moments later Deputy Director James Fegan was fatally wounded by a sniper. He died at the scene.

The remaining Estleback members conducted an immediate sweep of the surrounding area, eventually finding a note from Mr Hitt, another member of the Fulcrum cabal and the one responsible for Fegan's demise. From here, our members relocated to the Outlands Bar to discuss strategy and prepared for combat with those who had gone rogue. Under the temporary direction of CFO Jeremy Curtis and Advisor Alfred Pittings, the corporation had a stroke of luck when travelling through the city as they discovered the rogue's hideaway at the Slums. Whilst attempting to question those who had gone rouge, The Agent appeared as if on cue to threaten those present with an RPG. The rogues used this distraction to quickly escape into the night, followed by The Agent - leaving more questions than answers for the Estleback Corporation.

Coronavirus Taskforce

On November 1st, despite recent events having shaken Estleback operatives, we pushed on ahead with a government contract to control, treat, and research a mysterious illness that was occurring in the Villas area of the city. Under the management of new Deputy Director Matthew Jones, great speed and efficiency were ensured. We tested, evaluated, and contained those present within the Villas area, maintaining a strict quarantine with outsiders and ensuring those receiving treatment were treated with dignity.

One anomaly was the disappearance of FO White midway through this operation, who vanished in the middle of his duties. We would not discover why until later. Overall though, this was a successful mission that benefitted the citizens of the city as it helped safeguard them against what turned out to be a variant of Coronavirus, although what variant specifically is still unknown and local scientists fear it to be a new strain.

The SNOW Job

The following day, November 2nd, saw the Estleback Corporation undertake the prison transportation of Philip Marlowe, the leader of Fulcrum in EvoCity. The plan was to safely transport him from his holding cell in Nexus Jail to the new high-security wing of Alcatraz. All was going as planned until the rouge members of the Estleback Corporation, now calling themselves the Special Navy Operations Wing (or SNOW for short), ambushed our convoy and forced Marlowe from our supervision and into their quadcopter. One of the SNOW members was overheard expressing fears of this being part of a Fulcrum plot to safeguard Marlowe, but before that confusion could be cleared up, the SNOW team took off with Marlowe in tow to an abandoned base.

Upon our arrival at the base after following the Quadcopter, preparations to raid the base had to be ditched as unexpected sniping from afar threatened the safety of our operatives. This was believed to be a follow-up attack by Mr Hitt, the Fulcrum sniper.

Operation Unity

On November 7th, after some rigorous planning, the organization moved ahead with an operation to locate and recapture Marlowe using a tracking device that we placed on him during his stay in the holding cells. As expected, his whereabouts also doubled as the whereabouts for SNOW. A brief standoff ensued, with Director Grayson leading the Estleback squad and Ex-Director and Advisor Burwin leading the SNOW goons. While communications were being attempted, a gunfight between us broke out after Steve Burwin was shot at. After a minute or so of warring amongst ourselves, ceasefire orders were given as we realised that we were not alone in this confrontation.

Two individuals stood from a distance: Mr Hitt and the 'Good Samaritan'. Realising that we were being played for fools, Estleback and SNOW teamed up to give chase. Unfortunately we lost visual on Mr Hitt, but we did temporarily capture the 'Good Samaritan', who revealed himself to be a Fulcrum operative and that all events since the Internal Schism had occurred due to our own paranoia and uncertainties, which was exploited by one of The Agents who used the 'conversion' idea to turn us against ourselves. After embracing that truth for a moment, we pushed further; enquiring about the Fulcrum war effort, Mr Hitt, and why Fegan was assassinated. The 'Good Samaritan' dropped to the ground, having taken a cyanide pill prior to being caught by us. Are they any limits for Fulcrum operatives hoping to keep secrets? It seems not.

Fully reunited at the end, we returned to the SNOW base to officially recapture Philip Marlowe. Upon arrival, we discovered that Mr Marlowe had vanished once again. Despite that setback, at least we could trust one another again after a period of wild mistrust.

Fulcrum, we’re closing in on you.

Spoiler: Declassified Media