A Letter of Apology from W.M. Dietrich

Overview

From the Story Arc "The Red and the Black" given by Gaussian.
This Souvenir is restricted to the level range of 45-50.

Souvenir's Text

A Letter of Apology from W.M. Dietrich

You were pretty stunned when you received this letter from Captain Wilhelmina Marlena Dietrich of Longbow. In it she expressed, in her crisp and slightly condescending manner, her sincerest apologies for the unfortunate series of events that led to her attempt to shut Vanguard down. Those same events also nearly led to the end of the world during an adventure you remember as:

The Red and the Black

It all began with a request for help from Gaussian. Unlike many cloak-and-dagger types you've encountered in your super-powered career, Gaussian came straight to the point: he wasn't just Vanguard's premier tactician, he was also the commander of Vanguard's secret covert operations division, known as the Sword. He was concerned that a faction of the Sword may have gone renegade and wanted your help to investigate the situation. You found a Rikti Diplomat that had been kidnapped and stopped his execution by the Sword soldiers on the scene. Gaussian covered up the situation to the Rikti, but you and he both knew the truth: this wasn't an isolated squad. This was a conspiracy and needed to be rooted out.

Your investigation continued into the Renegade Swords, but by the time you arrived, the situation was already out of control. Lt. Sefu Tendaji of Longbow was on the scene looking for a missing diplomat. Though he helped you fight past the renegades, when you found the diplomat already assassinated, you knew that despite Sefu's good attitude towards Vanguard things were about to get much worse between your organizations. You had little time to worry, though, as documents you confiscated on the scene pointed to the Renegade Swords' next target: Lady Grey herself!

Lady Grey was willing to help lay a trap for the Renegades, using herself as bait. Together, you were able to smash their attack, crushing much of the Renegade Swords' combat forces. You were on the verge of victory over them, when something went terribly wrong.

At first, things seemed like they were going to be fine. The remaining Renegades were in a panic and had left one of their main intelligence officers exposed. You swept in to capture him only to be confronted by Longbow forces! Ms. Liberty and Longbow's leadership had blamed the extreme actions of the Renegade Swords on Vanguard as a whole and were now demanding that the Vanguard stand down or be put down. In this mess, you found that the Renegade Sword officer you were looking for had swallowed a poison capsule rather than be captured, and you even found yourself facing Lt. Sefu Tendaji as a foe! You prevailed in battle, but before he used his medical teleport, Lt. Tendaji told you about a secret Longbow spy-base that might have the information you were hoping to get from the Renegade officer.

Armed with Sefu's tip, you infiltrated the Longbow base. You found the files, and they revealed that the Renegades were planning something completely insane: to destroy the dimensional conduit between our world and the Rikti world, separating the two realities forever. It may have sounded like a good idea to the desperate, but as both Gaussian and the Longbow report pointed out, the interdimensional backlash of such a rash and destructive action could cause both dimensions to collapse, annihilating both universes!

The final battle with the Renegade Sword's leadership was hectic as it became a three-way melee when Longbow joined the fight. In the end you defeated the last of the Renegade Swords, captured their portal technicians, destroyed their disrupter device, and even sent Captain W.M. Dietrich packing. The world was safe, even if you'd had to save it from itself.

Once Longbow had proof that the Renegade Swords really were acting on their own, Captain Dietrich took it to Ms. Liberty herself. She may not like Vanguard much, but she's honest and admits when she's wrong. Gaussian thanked you for all your help, but here had to part ways with you. Though the situation had been handled, it had happened on his watch. He took responsibility and would accept the heat for it as he tried to get the Swords back into shape after all of this. However, before you left, he told you that the Dark Watcher wanted to see you. The Watcher isn't known for making requests lightly, so this should be interesting.

See Also

• Souvenirs