SHADOWS ANGELUS II

JAMADIGNI RENUKA 10 YEARS AFTER

At the end of Shadows Angelus, Jama had been appointed Director of XSWAT. As seen in Perseverance, it's initially a rough ride, as she has to deal with rebuilding Angelus, rebuilding XSWAT, the APD, Omega Sector, and funerals for hundreds of thousands of dead (many of who are never recovered). However, Malachi helps by sneaking Corporal Cadbury into her office one morning and introducing her to Mitch Brogan, who becomes her dedicated chauffeur and lover.

Jama and Mitch have a no-so-secret relationship for around 2 years. During that time, she sees to the rebuilding of XSWAT and often visits Richard Hemelshot in prison, asking his advice on issues facing her. She appoints Malachi and Tyger to the Entity Busters and tells them to "have at it." The stuff in Santa's Workshop is either left there quietly and/or moved to another secure location "just in case." Malachi might stash some of it in Omega, since it's safest there. She also makes sure to visit with Nathan Carpenter and manages to find the time to instruct Elizabeth in the basics of magical theory—in her case, sorcery. Jama also is active in the field, and goes into magical combat against numerous foes.

Although happy together, Jama and Mitch have a bit of a falling out and Mitch ends up on a standard XSWAT squad. They go up against the Yakuza (a growing threat) and Mitch ends up cursed. Jama ends up cutting the spell out of him (literally), after which Mitch proposes and Jama accepts.

Once married, Mitch returns as Jama's dedicated chauffeur. He equips her limo, The Spirit of California and also test drives new spinners and the like. Jama is able to concentrate more on her duties and as the years pass is seen less in the field (although she doesn't fully abandon it). She also steps up recruitment, working with Yiska and IOT, Leo and the Clades, other mages, and so on. She also travels a bit, visiting other elite police units (i.e. AD Police, ESWAT, Section 9, AMP, and so on) to see how they work and operate. She tries to get more funding and bases most of her decisions on what the officers in the field want. One of her tactics is to try and cajole companies into giving her piles of gear for "field tests" since XSWAT sees quite a bit of action on a daily basis due to the nature of Angelus.

After the marriage Jama and Mitch move into a larger place, since Jama's old apartment is a bit small of two of them. Cadbury's house is still used for XSWAT official functions and the like, so they get their own place somewhere that's not too rich (Jama might be fairly well-off as Director, but she's not going to squander it). She watches the changes to Angelus with alarm, and does what she can to keep the budget for XSWAT intact.

During this time she keeps in touch with all of 9th Squad, as I can see them having an annual gathering on the day Gurzorath fell. Carpenter's failing health frightens her and she almost can't bear to see him in his present state. Still, she will not turn away since he stood beside her in her darkest days—and she can do no less. In addition, she reminds him that yes... "The day will come when you will look in someone's eyes and see that special part of your soul reflected in his eyes, just as I did with Elaine. And I pray that in that moment you will feel the joy you so rightfully deserve."

Tyger worries her, but she doesn't confront him, instead leaving that to Malachi. She is glad to see him married, hoping that Marcie will help stabilize things. She'll be even more delighted to learn he's going to be a father—if Ross has that happen. If this does happen, and if she's asked about if/when she'll have children, she'll indicate XSWAT (as a whole) and explain she has 5,000 kids to look after already. (Hence the nickname "Mama Jama").

Malachi and her get along fairly well. He's her father-in-law and she's his CO, so it's a.. unique relationship. However, like her and Carpenter, they are rather close, and Malachi's years on the force make for good advice, since Hemelshot is not longer around.

Hemelshot worries her. She fears his year in jail has maybe twisted him, especially since his new business dealings skirt the edge of the law. But he seems, down deep, to still want the best for Angelus, so she keeps quiet. Besides, he does have knowledge she might not otherwise get as well as contacts that are beyond most of XSWAT. So while he may understand she disapproves of some of his work, she doesn't press it.

Jama communicates fairly regularly with Yiska, especially since esper service in XSWAT is a big deal for them both. Of course, he's fairly busy with all of his work with IOT and Psi sector, so their meetings are mostly business, but they still talk and coordinate efforts for the betterment of both XSWAT and IOT.

In the last six months, things have taken a downturn for the Director. Mitch has moved out of their home and she has taken to spending large amounts of time up in her office, even going to far as to sleep there (I presume she has a small bedroom off of her main office for late nights and emergencies). Apparently she is getting divorced, but no one is talking (other than to state "irreconcilable differences"). Scream sheets and blogs are having a field day with speculation. As for Mitch, he's been dumped from his (cushy) job and placed back in field work. Jama is now looking for a new driver who A) has combat experience, B) can keep their cool under extreme stress or strangeness, and C) knows when to keep quiet.

At 33-34 Jama is still young, in good shape, and has retained her face and figure. She wears the dress uniform at all times, although she'll ditch the jacket in her office. Her replacement ribs sometimes bother her on cold mornings but she can deal with that. However, the stress of running XSWAT is starting to tell, most around her eyes. Those who have seen her recently state the divorce is aging her.

That said, here is everything else:

JAMADIGNI RENUKA'S XSWAT MODIFICATIONS

1) Once things are settled (so to speak) Jama will make repairing the wall around Omega Sector priority number one. Entities are still loose in Omega and the place is still dangerous.

2) As part of the wall repair, she'd like to see the Wall moved in and parts of Omega regained. Granted, there's not much one can do with the territory (being that close to Omega can't be good for anyone), there's the sense of accomplishment in that we're pushing the Entities back. Also, in recovering lost ground, there's the chance of finding human remains, IDing then via DNA, and putting the remains to rest properly.

3) If possible, reduce the number of people manning the wall. The risk of Entity breakup is much less and hopefully automated systems can keep the remaining (mostly mindless) Entities contained.

4) Put the improved body armors into widespread use. Protecting her officers is tops on Jama's list, so she wants to make sure everyone has the new DEF 3 skinsuits and the DEF 5 jackets. She'll also look into rigid plating for the forearms similar to the ones worn over the boots. This will keep arms from being bitten off (one hopes), and provides otherwise unarmed defense versus clubs and blades.

5) If the budget won't allow for more powerful weapons, then she'll see about upgrading the ones XSWAT already has. A short list of ideas:

5a) Larger batteries (i.e. more shots)
5b) Improved accuracy (i.e. laser and/or optical sights)
5c) Pulsed output (i.e. Autofire 3)
5d) Surged output (i.e. Boostable Charges)
5e) Improved Masers will be issued to either COs or specialists (i.e. marksmen or snipers)

6) The Hemelshot Utility Belt. The idea of a color-coded belt with color-coded smoke worked well for 9th Squad. APD already wears a form of "Sam Brown" belt, and XSWAT should do the same. Now, I presume XSWAT always wore something like this, but she wants to standardize and/or expand on it. So you get your side arm, 2 spare magazines, binders (handcuffs), smoke, flashlight, first-aid kit, PDA and stylus with built-in communicator. The PDA might be unneeded, since I think the Databand is worn, but it would double as a communicator and a notepad, so it would prove to be useful in case the databand isn't working (think Blackberry).

7) In keeping with the color-coded gear, Jama is also going to borrow a page from Japanese sentai shows. She found that the 9th Squad complemented each other very well, and wants to encourage that sort of diversity. So, she wants to promote "balance" among the squads. A squad will be at very minimum 4 people, with 5 to 6 being preferred. She also wants each squad to be diverse, meaning they are a mix of origins and abilities (e.g. Clade, cyborg, esper, mage, and so on).

7a) Jama will setup a "cabinet" of people drawn from diverse backgrounds. This means there will be a Clade, an esper, a mage, and so on. The cabinet will help work on PR issues as well as exploring what is needed by different groups. For example, the Clade will help her in making things better for XSWAT's Clades as well as Angleus Clades in general. The esper will be the XSWAT liaison with IOT. The mage will help Jama with magical issues in Angelus
7b) Keeping what that theme, Jama will step up recruitment of Clades from Rho Sector. Now I'm not sure if there's a glass ceiling for Clades in APD (or even if Clades are in the APD), but she'll point out that there's no such thing in XSWAT.
7c) Do the same with IOT. Even if the espers only work with XSWAT for short 4-year stints, that's 4 years of one-the-job training on their powers.
7d) Actively recruit mages. She might do this personally and will concentrate on those who specialize in "combat" magic, although anyone with magical talents will be accepted. She'll also try and find the time to teach 8-hour one-day courses on Entities and certain occult issues.

8) Open up XSWAT's occult training classes to the APD.

9) Start a "ride-along" program. Have XSWAT officers in sets of 2 ride along with a pair of APD officers for roughly 1-3 days. XSWAT officers can expect to be part of a ride-along about every 6 months. The reverse is also true, where those APD who really want to, can ride along with XSWAT for a day or so. She might even consider going the COPS route and allow the media to do the same. The idea is to open up XSWAT and make them seem less mysterious. However, this may serve to make XSWAT seem even more insane, as APD and the media get a first hand taste of what XSWAT does on an apparent regular basis.


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