### CLASSIFICATION: MERIDIAN COMPACT // KASKARA THEATER — CONTRACT EYES ONLY

**SEVERANCE PROTOCOL** is a squad-tactical, soft sci-fi campaign of contract warfare, chrome debt, and covert operations on the **Meridian Reach**.

You are not heroes. You are a bonded fireteam — **KESTREL / WRAITH / HARROW** and others — leased by corps, hunted by ledgers, and deployed where deniability is cheaper than diplomacy. Every mission is a job with a clock, a contract, and consequences that outlive the op.

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#### THE WAR ECONOMY

The **Meridian Compact** holds the port neutral on paper. **Karst-Stahl Dynamics** builds the frames that win wars. The **Vesper Group** issues the swords and the paperwork. You operate out of **Kaskara Free Port** — between **Chrome Row**, **The Ropewalk**, and **Kiln 9** — where every camera has a private owner and every augment logs what you do.

**Chrome Remembers.** Going loud is easy. Going clean requires work: scrub logs, spoof IFFs, and pay your Ledger before it collects.

#### HOW WE FIGHT

**GHOST-RUN — Stealth Infiltration.** Every job runs a Detection Clock (0–6). Move, cut power, crack a lock, drop a sentry — each adds heat. Stay under the clock and you ghost. Fill it and the job goes LOUD. *Gear Score: Ghost.*

**CLASH — Open Combat.** When stealth fails, we fight in Attack / Counter / Overwhelm exchanges. Guard soaks, Focus fuels Blade Mode and finishers, position decides. HF-edges dominate enclosed spaces; projectile rifles dominate range. *Gear Score: Firepower / Overall.*

**GEAR SCORES (0–5).** Every piece is scored: **Ghost / Combat / Tech / Utility** plus **Overall**. Your sheet instantly shows `Ghost Loadout / Firepower / Tech / Overall` and on-target `Advantage / Even / Disadvantage` (Overall vs. Opponent) plus `Stealth Kill Ready: YES/NO` for silent takedowns.

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#### YOUR FIRETEAM

Curvy, heavily-plated **high-tech powered combat armor** — waist-cinched, beveled hard plates, overlapping segments, seam-glow accents — over skin-tight charcoal knit. **Helmet system:** Sealed opaque visor in combat; unfolded/retracted to armored collar with face exposed out of combat.

Pick a frame, pick a doctrine, load your kit. The Lattice is watching. Make the contract worth it.

**Status:** Active Contracts — Kaskara Free Port. New operators report to the Ropewalk.