Chance at the Majors IC

Siona sat on the passenger seat and watched the street lights go by. The further they drove from the actual city, the more sparse they got.

"Anti air defenses? They must be paranoid. Or did someone tip them off about us maybe?" She asked. "In any case we need to be carful. I don't want to get shot at."

She waited relatively patient for the rest of the ride until SmokenD found some place to park Martha. "Now remember. Do not move the car. If you do and I don't find my body anymore... I'll die." She shuddered at the thought of wandering the astral, waiting for her very self to fade into nothingness.

"If you really really have to move, then go back to your place. I'll search there first. I'll try to be quick." At least time goes faster on the astral plane. With that thought, Siona slumped down on the passenger seat, her head leaning against the side window while she floated next to it, her legs poking downwards through the cars body. "Ok, time to go." She went on towards the factory, looking out for any magical security that might notice her. She whooshed here and whooshed there, but always near the ground. Specter didn't like heights. When she thought she had seen everything of interest, she returned to the car, feeling relieved when she found her body just the way she had left it.


With a small gasp, she sat up and looked around, taking in the expressions of her companions. "I was there. And I could see five people in the building. It has a basement too. There was something weird too, though. A mana barrier. I did not touch it as to not cause alarm. At least not yet. And I have no idea what's unerneath." It worried her, and her face showed that worry. But the four armed elf continued with her description: "One of the people was in what could be a porters house on the northern side, the second in another building in the south, next to the main one. I think he was taking a pi...", she hesitated, "personal matter into his own hands. Then there were two in the main building on ground level and one in the basement." Siona explained. "He might be a troll or something. Looked somewhat bigger."

In Martha:
The first thing Raén notices as she comes back to her body is Smoken D talking with someone on his com. While she can't hear the other end of the conversation, she quickly figures out the gist from D's responses.

Annice wrote:

D! It's been a long time chummer.

Smoken D wrote:

Salutations to you too.

Annice wrote:

Let me guess, ya want to upgrade that little Fly-Spy of yours?

Smoken D wrote:

On the clock so I'll be short.  Have a rush order, tomorrow afternoon latest.  Need a light piece, semi-auto only.  Good ammo capacity, reliable, smarted-up and with a Quick draw holster.  3 clips loaded with Stick'n Shock and 3 loaded standard to go with it,  I also need 2 IngramX 32 round clips of Stick'n Shock as well.

There is stunned silence as Annice takes it all in.

Annice wrote:

Okay D. I can see what I can do for you. Getting the ammo will be a cakewalk, but the piece...

She pauses.

Annice wrote:

I might be able to work some magic, but it'll cost extra. I know I usually give you a quote up front, but I don't have what you are looking for in stock. I'll be in touch in the morning. I'll tell you where to meet then.

Once Smoken D is done with the com-call Raén tells him about what she saw on the compound. About 30 to 40 minutes later Hard Wire comes out of his VR stupor and he and Raén swap stories about what they learned.

About this time the three of them hear a high-pitched engine screaming down the nearby highway. The tone softens and they see headlights approaching their position by the lake.

Soka.  Thanks Annice, I'll be up still.    He disconnects and rubs at his face, suddenly feeling very tired as he checks the time again.  And again he gives silent thanks for his cyber eyes as they don't get watery or gritty like the originals did.    Fragging dreck I'm tired.  This is what I fragging get for waking up at fragging 05:00 to drecking do maintenance on Martha and Lucy.  Now I fragging won't be able to crash till fragging after Annice calls.  Dreck me.    With a small sigh he let's out a cloud of smoke and watches the watches Hardwire until he starts stirring again.

Still smoking, now more to keep himself awake and focused, he listens to both Hardwire and Raén as they report their findings.  Smoking it all the way down and lighting another off the butt before offering any thoughts.  The info so far has already given him some new ideas but not enough for him to jump at any of them yet so he tries to flesh them all out as he thinks.  Tossing those that get to complicated as he goes.

Looking at Raén first as he considers her report.    Thanks.  So, a basement, one unknown section underneath and 5 personnel.  I like those numbers but I don't like the possibility of more in that unknown section.  Oh, I think the anti-air emplacements are part of the original design plan.    He turns to Hardwire next and smiles a little.    Soka, good start.  We have at least some confirmation of Mr. James info.  I agree, we should try and pull up the plans and then we can have Raén see if they match what we saw.  If we are really lucky maybe they will detail what's behind that barrier she found.  Then we need to scan that secure node.  

7 years ago:

Tywin held a moments breath as he waited for the team to check-in, his 5 man crew of other people with... unusual adaptions had proven quite effective at military exercises.  Together, they had taken on... Snap!!! Tywin spun on his heel, an arrow notched in his bow and pointed at the sound when a guard rounded the corner, walking on a fallen stick.  Before Tywin could loose his arrow, before the guard had finished his next step he was already falling to the ground, flat on his face.  It was only with his enhanced hearing did Tywin detect a very feint cough, like one that comes from a suppressed sniper rifle.  "Angel is on your shoulder Papa Lion, checking in and saving your hide, again."

Tywin looked around him for a moment, but not at ground level, up in the night sky where Angel liked to levitate and snipe from, always having the perfect advantage.  He spotted her a good distance away, and gave her a friendly salute.  She was a magician, but uncommon amongst them in that she had a knack for focuses and blending spells to create rather unique situations, like ramping up her own sight to be able to see five hundred meters without a scope while levitating... and see the fact that Tywin had accidentally drew a lethal ex-explosive arrow.  Lethal rounds were considered instant disqualification if used on living targets during these exercises.  She not only saved his ass, but the teams and that guards as well.

"Are you two done taking out the guards before i have a chance to disable the alarm.  Oh, Rat here Boss, I just need..  oh dear.  Mice aren't SUPPOSED TO FLY Angel, so please don't drop me, please don't drop me, please don't drop me..."  Tywin rolled his eyes as he padded his way over to the wall of the nearest building, hiding in it's shadow as he seen his very slight compatriot float over the wall and was lowered to the ground, he could swear he had heard Angel giggle.  Rat was the teams tech expert, great at coding on the fly.  He also had another gift, though this was of a consequence from him being a meta-sapient, one that could become a rodent at will.  He also had a fear of heights, even relative heights, like anytime he wasn't touching the ground.

"Don't worry little one, the alarm is already off. Hiya Boss, Squirrel here. I Dig the new uniforms they gave beta company." Squirrel rounded the opposite corner that Tywin had posted up at, gave him a friendly nod and checked into her mic, giving the all clear. She had a natural knack for pulling people to her point of view, it helped that she had an unnatural cuteness to her that made most people melt into her toys. However, as with her nutty namesake she liked to hide shiny things, a nuisance that their CO had to contend with daily. Like the time she had stolen every spoon for a 5 mile radius, over night. No one knew how she did it, but that they had woken up in the barracks with her sitting and smiling, rocking back and forth on a large nest of kitchen utensils. She was also amazingly good at hiding blades on her person, she was never without at least a dozen sharp pointy objects of mayhem within her reach.

The last member of their team wasn't do to check in for a few more minutes so Tywin decided to proceed onward with the mission.

Present night;

Tywin awakened from his reminiscence in time to see KC leave her hotel give a nod to him and make way to his motorcycle. They both mounted up and hit the rode, probably a mild conversation ensuing as he drove them to the agreed upon meeting with D and the rest of the team.

With the first look at the matrix the target has in place HardWire was happy, until he noticed the lights heading their way. "Guys we might not want to have a talk with who ever is inside that vehicle. They might not have an ID on use yet but if that car is linked to our target then might have us red flagged before the real run starts. Lets skate out of here and see if that car keeps a tail on us if it does we best find a way to lose them." HardWire grabs a chew bar out of his pocket and starts to munch down on it as he waits for the team to make a stealthy get away.

He eyes the lights coming down the road and curses softly, stubbing his smoke out in the ashtray and starting Martha up.  Son of a slitch.  These fragging slots are really paranoid.  Or we tripped something....  Frag this bunny drop, we are out of here.  Not interested in letting the coming slots get any closer a look at them he smoothly pulls out of the parking lot, making sure not to spray any gravel and swings away from the compound and the coming vehicle.  
Once on the road he cracks open Martha's throttle wide open.  Taking a rather twisting route down side roads, hoping to keep as much scenery as possible between him and the mystery vehicle, making for the highway and the anonymity of the heavier traffic passing down it.    Fraggit.  We were supposed to meet up with KC and Tywin back there.  
He quickly calls KC, grumbling to himself as he waits for her to answer.  KC, change of plans.  Did our check and gained a tail.  Where are you two?

Martha:
Smoken D steers Martha onto the road headed toward the highway. He quickly notices that the approaching vehicle only has a single main head-lamp. When the two vehicles pass each other on the lake road, everyone notices it is a motorcycle. With the cloud cover, it's hard to tell, but it might have had two passengers.

Tywin's Bike:
As Tywin and KC approach the lake, they see a car pull onto the road headed straight at them. And it is moving fast! It's past them in a few seconds headed for the highway. Shortly after that, KC gets Smoken D's message.

As they pass the bike he has to do a double take, his face suddenly feeling way too warm.  By the time his mouth catches up with his thoughts the bike is disappearing behind them.  Embarrassed he speaks aloud despite his subvocal mic  Oh Frag me, you're our fragging tail.  
Immediately he slows down to a more sedate speed.  I'll swing around, meet back at the park.  Matching his actions to his words he loops around and heads back.  His cheeks still burning he lights another smoke and looks out at the street, not willing to face the others just yet.  And yet another blow to my ego.  He mutters and then speaks up for the others.  We just ran from our backup folks.  Please, let's not mention this to anyone else.  

Lake Tye Park:

The team reunite around 2:20 AM. Hard Wire and Raén tell Tywin and KC what they found out while the two were taking care of KC's business.

Cat Lake Tye Park:
Catalina Deftly jumped off of Tywins dirt shredder, and grabbed at her bag on her back, and then moved for Martha and the case that she always had near... "D" she smiled as she passed "Trunk please", Her walk was smooth and accented by her playful attitude at the same time, the bag dangled in her fist which appeared to those trained for such observations loose, care free even... The bag was secure though, matching her in rythem, swaying back, and forth until she dropped it by Martha... And moved to open the trunk... the whole 32 to 38 seconds prior to that had been no harm in tent, she was not even aware of her actions, and unaware of her flirtations... Catalina was akin to kitten with a bug under its paw... "Sooo" she started, and finished with "Where were you guys going so fast?" asking that question and then starting to unbutton her outfit she took it all off rather quickly efficiently not much of a show there but The form fitting armor left little the imagination unless she was horribly scarred under it all but to the onlooker that was hardly the case... Lastly she attached her arm guards and weapons checking, loading, and cocking the colt it was holstered behind her lower back, then she did the same with the Ingram SmartGun Holstering it in a strap across her upper back, She moved to open the trunk, and asked ever so nicely again possibly even interrupting his answer to the other question... "Uh? D... Trunk please...?"

Tired and embarrassed as he is he still can't help but watch the show as KC strips down to her form-fitting armor and smokes another cigarette.  Several ticks after her second request he finally registers what she's saying and the trunk swings open.  Hiding his blush behind a cloud of smoke he shrugs and glances at the others in Martha.
Thought you were a response from the facility and figured it was time to fade.  He answers in a slightly distracted tone as he watches KC.  So, what are you planning now?

Present...

Tywin took his time searching out where D had parked out at.  Keeping an eye on the road, and an eye out for the sedan, he was about to send out a message when he felt a tap on the shoulder and followed the finger pointing out towards Martha and proceeded to follow the wandering sedan.  Tywin's mind traveled for a bit the obvious reason; D was leaving, which brought with it a whole set of interesting possibilities, very few of which were good.  The reasons ceased to matter when he heard his radio squelch with D's voice and Martha spun back around toward the meeting space, where all the vehicles stopped and the recombined team had a chance to discuss what would be accomplished this night.  What did the pride do while papa lion was away?

A few minutes later...

Tywin had taken off his helmet without putting his hoodie up, and giving the team their first real chance to see Tywin's more feline features.  Like any orc he did have a few elongated teeth, but his tusks were angled down, like the fangs of a great plains cat.  His facial hair and his main had all been trimmed down and kept somewhat close to not only avoid helmet/hoodie head, but also that it gave him the distinct features of a jungle cat, a perfect stalker and stealth master.  Both were traits that he would need in great amounts over the next couple of nights.

Staying silent while Wire and Raen explained what they had found, Tywin pulled up his list that he had created earlier in D's apartment, feeling that the information should be logged.

goal:
total demolition

conditions:
limit casualties
full destruction
10 minutes maximum once alarm is tripped
retrieve valuable tech/data/items (optional)

strategy:
assault and/or stealth

tools:
Drone/tech - D. (leader)
infiltration/combat - Tywin
tech/magic - Hardwire
Long range combat -  Cat
magic - Raen
spirits

needs:
current intel;drones, security,shift change, etc.
demolitions expert
explosives

knowns:
at least 5 guards
basement
current locations of the guards
mana barrier
SAM turrets (possible explosive)


While the team finished up what they had found, Tywin had detached his two quivers and laid his bow out on the seat of his bike, quiver side up.  Unloading all of his arrows into the hold of his bike, he choose to go with a different selection of arrows this time around then his usual set up, considering he had to reload from saving Wire's proverbial butt earlier in the day.  In his bow he loaded in 8 of the regular arrows that had microwire attached to them.  He did keep his back mounted quiver with a slightly different assortment of party favors; 4 stick and shocks, 2 hammer heads, 2 barbed arrows that also had microwire attachments.  Finally, his hip quiver he swapped all 8 of the normal arrows for all explosive heads.  The mission called for non-lethal attacks, but you never knew what could happen.  He had an idea he'd need more of his microwire arrows then usual, so he had taken the liberty of swapping out some of his usual arrow heads with the regular types.

"The plan, Mr. D.  Stays the same as it was, you guys scouted first, now i want a slightly more hands on point of view.  As much of a dry run as we can get anyway.  If I can find it, i'd like to be able to set up a camera feed or two through their system, I want to know full security details, drone coverage if they have any, etc.  I also want to know what's in those tanks on the north end of the compound."  Tywin explained his plan as he pulled his quivers back on and slung back his bow, tightening the straps to the wrist holsters for his throwing knives.  He continued packing in or on his gear, his plan continuing to unfold.  "Ms. Kitty, i'm going to need you to do one of two things.  Either stick with the Pride and protect them, or join me in a late night prowl of this place.  I can get over the wall by myself without help, i can bring a rope up with me, unless one of our more magical friends can provide you with a lifting spell.  Your Choice."

After going through and checking the remainder of his equipment, tightening straps down and giving a final crack of his neck, Tywin took hold of his Hood and scarf.  "Any questions?"  He pulled them over his face, leaving his most Iconic and possibly frightening signature, his golden eyes that shown in the dim light of the head lights of the vehicles.

Killer Cat:
Catalina listened to Tywin's plan of action. If they had more time she would have been more enthused about the dry run, but that was under the idea that they could come back in a few days after the alert status had died down... But since they did not she decided to play devils advocate, point out the only flaw she could think of, and let D decide... He was the leader after all... "Well im game, But one thing... if this goes south, the facility will be on alert when we make the real run. We do have a time limit in play..." She let that marinate, on the off chance someone agreed, then She said "I'll play but im coming prepared. D your call we gamble for recon or we sit tight with what we got, and plan our run for later Up to you Smokes..." The nick name slipped and she did not mean it but he did smoke an awful lot... She Cocked took out and cocked the pistol putting it back in the same instance to assure him of her readiness to follow his order... What ever the order was...

Of note and little concern probably was the fact that she had not assembled her rifle but had left it in Martha after checking it for its safety it was a gift from Angelo... And she would not need it over the wall everyone would be to close for that... She was going in short range... if she was going at all...

HardWire hears the plan as it stands so far. "So you want me to slice into there system I can do that I can't say for sure that no bells and whistles won't start sounding, that is always a chance no mater how icy you are." HardWire waits to get the final go ahead after the team talks over the plan. "I'm fine with slicing into the mark or slicing into the Cities blue prints of the place. Choice is yours." Once the go ahead to slice into one of the two hacks HardWire will get hacking.

Siona watched KillerCat change with nothing more than mild interest. Instinctively checking her female threat level. It was bearable. She noticed SmokenD's looks. But he hasn't seen me change... yet. She thought without worry.

Then Tyvin spoke up with his plan, and KC replied with her concerns. "So you want to go in there and see if they notice you? Then come back and then go in again, this time for real? We hardly have 40 hours left for this. And if you rise their suspicion we can forget the whole run."
She tried to sound more professional than she was. With all of her two weeks of runner experience. Just one job. Nevertheless, she could think. And of course, as one of the fair folk, she was by definition better than some lion man.

"We need the blueprints. And then the security system hacked. And then we need to start this run." She hesitated for a moment. "I would like to know what is behind that barrier before we go in. But if I go and look it might alert them. And after all, we don't need to steal anything, just to kill the building."

While listening to Tywin's plan he kills his cigarette then climbs out of the car to stretch his legs and back.  With the worst of the kinks out he leans onto Martha's roof and watches Twyin and KC go over their gear.  The recent adrenaline rush and subsequent embarrassment have successfully cleared the fog of fatigue from his mind and he mentally ticks over Tywin's list of wants from this recon.  
Not having any real experience breaking into or infiltrating facilities he is unsure of how to best proceed.  He does however have plenty of experience working on the inside of corporate facilities.  Plus the fact that his father had liked talking about security and his work all made him comfortable with his knowledge of corporate security.  Which made him more leary of the recon than confident.
KC's response catches him unconsciously slipping another smoke out of his pack and he furtively slips it and the pack back into a pocket, instead he rubs his his thumbs and middle fingers together.  My call?  Dreck on a stick.  I think I'm beginning to see the fragging downside to being in charge.  If I screw it they get burned, not just me....  K, let's think this out right.  With a shrug he stands and starts pacing, trying to figure out odds with too little information.
Soka, soka.  HardWire, slice the blue prints first off.  Tywin, I'm not convinced on that.  I think all the info you want can be gleaned via the matrix.  I also think if the slice is done right even if it's detected it won't set the place at the same level of alert as a physical penetration would.  Ducking down to look at  Raén.  How many of the people were magically awake, or active or whatever?  Popping back up he continues with his train of thought.  As present we do not know what type of sensors and security they have.  We do know they have anti-air, I refuse to accept that they don't have equal ground coverage.  All of which will be run on a security network by at least one spider, If we can slice that we don't need to splice camera feeds.
He again pulls out his pack of smokes and then puts them away and leans back up against Martha.  If you truly feel you can do this without tripping anything, solid.  Just convince me because I agree with Raén on this, with our timeline being so tight the risk of souring it is looking pretty high for small gain.

Killer Cat Lake Side:

Catalina could not believe her ears "He agrees with her is it me or did i bring up the concerns first, he must think she's prettier then me..." This line of thought did not last long before she spoke up... "Scrap it then... I'm good either way, but its a good solid call pack it in Guys and ghouls... Umm? Where we going back to your place D? you know for hacking and planning?"

HardWire agrees that the blueprints would be a good first bit of intel the group could use. "Alright you crazy cats I'm going to see if I can hack us some blue prints, so I'll be out of the area for sometime." HardWire starts hotsiming and heads for the Seattle City planning commission. "This is where those Blueprints should be."

Hacking the planing commission:

The SilverDragon hammers his way into the Seattle Metroplex, Monroe City Planning Department. The node's interface appears as stylized miniature model of the Monroe city limits, inside the 'plex borders, and the surrounding region.

It quickly flies across the cityscape and lands at a miniature model of the the DocWagon facility. Touching the model activates it, bringing up the buildings originally filed schismatics.

Having found what it wanted, the SliverDragon Logs off.

Time Lapse: 1 Combat Turn. Current Time: 2:35 am

HardWire quickly comes back to the meat world. "That was an arctic slice. I have some prints for you all to take a look at." With that HardWire sends the blueprints to everyones comm link. With the file sent to everyone he decides to offer a small idea to the group. "Since I'm the Trix slicer and need to keep the heat off our comm's I was thinking I have an overwatch agent that helps to keep my comm from intrusions I'd be willing to copy you all the agent for extra protection." With in gift of an agent out there HardWire starts to look over the blueprints.

Killer Cat Lake:

"Ok so yeah my COM pretty inept compared to say yours there not sure there is much you can do with it... But here... Just don't ruin it, and don't go rummaging through my contacts k?" KC threw her COM to the new team data Jockey who had been doing his JOB admirably so he could continue... Then it hit her like a ton of plastcrete off a corp highrise anything linking her to section 9 might be at risk! "What are you thinking girl..." She thought then said "You know on second thought that might not be a good idea..."

HardWire sees tha KC is a bit shaking on giving over her comm link. "It's not much just a file I email to you that has an agent that runs 3 programs first it checks to see if any unauthorized users are on your comm then if there is it attacks them. That's it that way you get to make a list of who can be on your comm others will be attacked. Anyone that wants it I'll message you the file then run the execution of the agent." HardWire goes back to looking over the blueprints as he waits to see if anyone whats the overwatch agent. Main thing they will have to run the agent and input into the agent the authorized users.

"My comlink? Yes certainly." Siona said sarcastically. Who knows what [i]other[/] programs he'll put on it. But she looked over the blueprints. "I've seen someone here, here and here. And the manaward was about here. Where the big E is, on ground level." She explained, pointing at the stairs, the small building on the upper left and the lower left each. "And there were some walking among the tanks in the main building on ground level and underground. So it's at least five people. Oh and the building isn't empty like this. There are tanks and crates and the like."

The Team:
Hard Wire and Raén quickly cobble together a hasty map based on her memory and the blue print he had found.