Tsunami's Aftermath (IC)

[vengefulpickle]

Yesterday:

The 'Net around Vancouver lit up with the news. "Aesculpian cures VTV victims!" There were the requisite shots of the 7 survivors coming out of a Coquitlam Quarantine hospital, hugging their relatives, meeting the Mayor. The wavering populace, starting to distrust Aesculpian's claims of having the virus under control, was reassured, pacified.

But it was all bull****. You knew it, anyone with an gram of common sense knew it. If Aes' had a cure, they wouldn't be parading it around the streets, they'd be blackmailing the city, the populace, anyone with money to spare and loved ones at stake, trying to eke out as many creds as they could get their dirty little hands on.

**** it, and **** them. Tomorrow, you'll dig, and who knows what you'll pull up.


Aesculpian has finished their Cost milestone. "The populace believes Aesculpian has a cure"

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

He watched the new feed scroll across the 'trid screen with a muted sense of unease. The smoke of his Szczepanski coiled from the cigarette held loosely in his hand, he absently brought it to his lips, and inhaled deeply. An addictive brand of cigarettes, the mix of marijuana and tobacco encouraged the smoker to hold the carcinogens in his lungs until the thc's hit the blood stream, he felt that hot spot on the back of his throat, exhaled.

He heard rustling beside him, looked down, the light from the trideo screen cast the graceful curve of her naked back in hues of amber and orange. She murmured, nestled further into the sheets of the spacious cubicle he had rented, for the night, Soon Yue, chinese, thai, he couldn't remember, just another survivor, doing what she had to do for meager credits. He slid out of bed so as not to disturb the young woman, and began to get dressed. Slacks, button down long sleeve, vest, slim notched lapel jacket, and atop that his Mortimer's. A fashion house, native to the UK, their designs woven with kevlar microfiber, and flexible ballistic gel inserts, the Mortimer's, a voluminous long coat, was both trendy, and able to conceal his MX Vigil in it's shoulder rig.

Once he slid on his shades, he accessed his AR, the three dimensional displays, all customized to his personal avatar popped into his field of vision, overlaid atop the reality of his current situation. He accessed his account, transferred funds to his companion, and walked out into the humid night.

He walked, when he couldn't sleep he always walked, his legs operating on some primal instinct, perhaps trying to carry him away from his past. Aes' had developed a cure, he knew it was pure drek, he'd seen the bodies, hell, he'd been the one who put them in the ground when the lab boys got their med-tech wrong. Herschel had shown his the VTV before, at a cellular level, it was a nightmare beast, coldly, brutally efficient, he could only imagine what would happen if Aes' was able to develop a true retro-virus. Take it apart at a molecular level, make it target specific DNA markers, a controlled outbreak. 'Reshaping the Future for a Better Tomorrow' Prophetic, and terrifying.

His AR was still active as he walked, various business wireless transmitting their slogans to his personal area network, which his comm link translated into a visual overlay and projected to the display link implanted in his mirror shade. He was in the redlight district of Surrey, within a klick of the Quarantine zone, refugees and vagrants clogged the streets, he pushed passed vendors, of both flesh and pharmaceuticals, as he walked. With a wave of his hand, he cleared the AR clutter from his field of vision, called up his contact list, and selected Daedalus, he figured if anyone could crack Aes' stream find out their timeline it would be D.

Once the cell had that info, they could rely on Herschel to interpret their data logs, then Smiley could get them in, and if he could see the big picture, Vitaly was sure that he could find someway to hurt the bastards.

[gremlin-pult]

Smiley

"Where's Grant?" The smiling assassin asked, his voice chipper and upbeat. Screaming was his only answer, and with a theatrical sigh, he punched the man in front of him on the nose, turning the scream into gurgling sobs.
"Come on, it's just a little stab wound. I didn't even cut the artery. See, I thought we had a connection here, but I guess I could have misread it. Never been good at dating either, as you might have guessed." He continued, as if having a normal conversation. "Anyway, let me get that for ya." With a flick of his hand he pulled out the sword buried in the other man's leg, a spurt of blood following it.
"Ohh..." He said, holding a hand up to his mouth in surprise. "Oh sorry man, seems I got the artery after all. This has never happened before, I swear. It's just, what with this being our first meeting, and you do have the prettiest eyes, so..."
Smiley was interrupted by the tv in the other end of the room switching from commercials to the news. A report came up with the words "Aesculpian cures VTV victims!" stamped across the screen in big bold letters.

"Oh wow, look at that! Can you believe it. Man, Vitaly's gonna be so pissed about this, whether it's a hoax or not..." He leaned in close to the whimpering man. "Between you and me, He's got, like, a serious hateboner for those guys. He gets extra hardassed whenever they're brought up. I mean I get it, we all have our hobbies but sheesh, get a room, right?"

"Aaanyway, I really gotta bounce, man. With this stuff going on, it's only a matter of time before the band's called together. This was nice, though. We should do it again sometime." He said with a wide grin, getting to his feet. "Sorry about the roughhousing, but in my defense I really thought you worked for Pacific. No harm no foul, right? Hope your niece does well in her piano recital." With a friendly wave, he walked out the door and quickly disappeared into the city streets, leaving the man to bleed out from his wound.

[rooster707]

Daedalus sat in the café, looking out at the street and grimacing as he sipped what passed for coffee in that part of town. Suddenly he stopped, put the cup down, as a blue light began to flash in the corner of his eye. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes and, with a flick of his wrist, dropped into the net. The café's node was tiny, probably the best they could afford, just a crude imitation of the meatspace building he was sitting in. The view out the window was a bit nicer, though. He snapped his fingers, causing the place's newsfeed - also cheap and low-quality, unsurprisingly - to spring into existence in front of him. He half-knew what he was going to see - he could already sense the others seeing the same thing, feel their reactions to it. So they said they had cured the virus? Bull****.

Another light, orange this time, blinked urgently next to the news window. He ignored it, signing out of the node and emerging back into the real world. You don't need to call me, you know, he thought at Vitaly, reaching out into the other's mind through the implants they both had in their brains. Bit... redundant, don't you think? He dropped the 'coffee' in the trash and walked out onto the street. Anyway. What's the plan?

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

He pushed his thoughts out through the neruo-space that connected him to his cell, more specifically Daedalus, 'Redundancy and contingency are the cornerstones of a successful operation, remember that.'

Then he diffused his concentration as he walked through the early morning, late night streets of Surrey, he saw a noodle shop, ducked underneath the awning, and drops some chits on the counter. 'Aes' recent livestream, a VTV vaccine. Smoke and mirrors, hiding a warehouse full of bodies. We all know it, problem is people WANT to believe it, a convenient lie.'

He wrapped both hands around the small styrofoam bowl, "Xièxiè," he whispered as he lifted the noodles to his face, the steam carrying the ginger and garlic to his senses. The present struggled against the past as the scent of the jiǎo broth competed with his memories of charred and burning bodies. 'We need to pull their data, find the truth and expose these bastards for what they are.'

He slurped at the brother, the warmth flooding his throat, fighting the cool, damp chill of the early morning hours. 'Once we have the data, Herschel can break it down, compare it to the other samples we've collected. Thoughts?' He sat atop the stool, under the noodle shops awning and watched as pools of the dispossessed, the disenfranchised, and the disillusioned gathered around holo-trids spaced sporadically along the street. Where a plastic faced, bio-sculpted anchorman preached Aes' comforting lies.

[rooster707]

Sounds good to me. I'll get right on it. He crossed the street and headed for his apartment building, not far from the café. Also, are those noodles? Damn.

[Eonas]

Delusions of grandeur. Narcissistic personality disorder. Borderline maniac-psychotic tendencies. The curvaceous blonde seated on the expensive velvet armchair crossed her legs, folded her arms, tilted her head at Dr. Herschel. Typical subconscious defensive response, provoked by perceived ill intent: subject believes herself target of manipulation.

Correctly.

Clever girl.

"Miss Stella, I understand your reticence in these matters - one's privacy is, of course, of paramount importance. However, you must understand that I am trying to help you, and there is only so much I can do without your assistance. Your relation to Jann is - forgive the expression - at the very heart of your anxieties. I cannot help you unless you open up."

Stella Lindberg. TV presenter. Actress. Supermodel. Until recently, a happy and productive member of society. Then, the meltdown, the cocaine, the highly-publicized breakup with researcher, Biorise CEO, and bona-fide media heartthrob Jann Ruskey. A real mess. For a man like Herschel, a professional wet dream.

He smiled, leaned back in his chair, adjusted his glasses. Attractive, clean-shaven, impeccably dressed, well-framed by grey velvet, he looked and felt powerful before this beautiful, vulnerable girl. A whiff of ego accompanied his message to the Cell.

"Understood. Of course, performing a sufficiently detailed and accurate data comparison will be a non-trivial task. I do not doubt my own efficacy, but rather the time required to complete the comparison. How long have we got, Vitaly?"

[vengefulpickle]

Today: It All Falls Apart

Whomp! You hear the explosion, feel it, see it, live it, all at the same time. Fiery pieces rain down to the west of you, streaming and flickering through the night sky like morbid, hellish fireworks, while in your head, there is only pain, heat, fire... silence. The smoke from the explosions billows across the neighborhood, blakc and acrid. A silence that you haven't felt in the past three months since your Headspace implants were installed. Legs and Wolf are just ... gone.

Not gone... still here A quiet whisper filters through your consciousness, a strange ghostly chorus of Legs and Wolf togther. We live inside you.

The plan was seemingly simple. After Daedalus had hacked into the Aesculpian subnet, he discovered that they were (wisely, it turns out) doing their research on VTV in one the quarantine hospitals just inside north end of the Coquitlam QZ on an air-gapped network. You had the location of the research, but in order to actually pull the data, one of you will need to be inside the building, hardwired in. The simple logic of physical proximity forced your hand. You had to go over the wall.

The Cell split into teams of two, Herschel and Smiley, Vitaly and Daedalus, Legs and Wolf. The first two teams were supposed to enter the QZ over the wall on foot, and then to rendezvous with Legs, Wolf and their spinner before making the final approach on the hospital. Guess that's not happening, comes the wry, bitter thought through the Headspace.

You are only a few minutes away from the hospital, tucked into an alley. The cool night is quiet around you, almost peaceful, belying the destruction that just rained down from above and the silent, static chaos all around you. The hospital facade is oddly clean and well lit, out of place in the surrounding dilapidated buildings.


You've made one slice of progress towards "Crack Aes' stream and exfiltrate the data".

The echoes of Legs' Rage at being so taken so by surprise by the anti-air capabilities rings through the Headspace, so Rage is at 4 on the stress track (which I'll be adding to the OOC thread soon)
Fear is at 2.
All others are at 1.

What do you do?

[gremlin-pult]

So... Smiley thought, a smile still plastered across his face. the anger he felt was betrayed through his motions, as he caressed the handle of his sword lovingly. ...Can we do the direct approach NOW? I'm feeling like testing whether the health benefits of Aes' employees covers sudden decapitations.

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

"Jebat moi lisiy cherep ..."1, he whispered as he watched the debris from the spinner rain down across a 4-block area. They had a plan, and had extracted some data from Aes' sub-net, but nothing that indicated this level of security. "F$%king hell!" He roared over the commlink, despite the neural network they shared, he had insisted on sub-vocal links, a soldiers habits.

He switched to neural communication, to ensure that any tracking devices that Aes' counter intrusion security possessed wouldn't pick up additonal chatter. 'We need to stay focused, Herschel plans still a go,' he knew that the Whitecoat had obtained the nano-paste facial prosthetic that would look like Tytus Sienkiewicz, an Aesculapian Lab Technician that Smiley had 'obtained' for them. 'Physical insertion is still our objective, Smiley, you need to infiltrate the perimeter, find the interface for that god damn anti aircraft, and eliminate the operators. Quietly!'

He turned, looked to D. speaking softly, "We're going to need you to hack the controls for one of their panzers, that's our ride out. Herschel will make the data grab." He watched, from his vantage, he could see the para-military unit exit the bunker in a standard approach vector, moving towards the wreckage. "I'll engage and distract." He hopped the distance down to a low rooftop, landing with his weight on the balls of his feet, as he rolled back to his heels he took a step forward, and rolled into a tight tuck, taking him to the alley. Legs would be proud.

He broadcast over the neural net, 'GO!'

As he dropped to the alley, he targeted the Aes' counter intrusion team and opened with a brief burst aimed at their point man. He quickly ducked behind the cheap ferro-crete retaining wall, and moved west, to intercept.

'Drawing them away from D.'s, location, move, move, MOVE!'

1 Translated from Russian; F**k me in my bald skull.

To avoid taking any further Stress, as we are currently not in Sync, Vitaly will perform a Professional Tactics check as a Headpsace move, risking Baggage. Therefore a Fear skill check, seems appropriate. [roll0]. I will select 1 Baggage, Overestimate the Danger. So rather than directly engaging the Aes' team, he is preparing for a protracted run & gun firefight, to lead them away from his team. Exposing himself, personally, to more danger, while limiting exposure for the others.

[rooster707]

On it. Daedalus sprinted over to the nearest cover he could find and dropped to the ground. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out his tablet and turned it on. Let's see how good the security is on those things... With any luck, he could access the tanks' controls from here - unless they had them on their private network, which could be a problem.

My first roll of the game! Hacking, as a Headspace move: [roll0]

[vengefulpickle]

Vitaly

The night lights up with three quick flashes from the muzzle of your gun, and the point man staggers, then falls. Two of his fellows yell scream in rage, raising their rifles to fire back. "... gonna kill you, ****er!" The bullets ping off the the concrete barrier and off your armor, staggering you a little, but none cause permanent damage. The third soldier crouches down near their fallen comrade, checking for signs of life.

Daedalus
Nearby, you huddles over your tablet. The screen flashes under your hands as you ease yourself past several layers of security in nearby system. Poking into a digital dusty corners leads to an unused remote-start facility for the hovertanks. Unlock, diagnostic, warmup. No functions for remote control, but everything you'd need to get the tanks ready for liftoff at a moments notice. Success! Too late, you notice a blinking warning on the side of your screen. As you quickly sliced your way through the seemingly novice security, you tripped a wire that began to monitor your actions and warn Aes' of the intrusion.


You didn't specify a complication, so I picked Your false pride puts the team at risk.

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

Vitaly smiled grimly, Better than you have tried, he thought as he moved cover to cover. From the combat webbing on his SecureTek armor, he withdrew a LM NC-9, and thumbed the delayed timer. The Lockheed Martin grenade was meant to obscure, disorient and distract, on detonation it emitted a white phospherous pentoxide smoke, capable of filling a small warehouse nearly instantaneously. The exothermic reaction produced an almost blinding flare, overloading thermal imaging, as the thick smoke prevented visual confirmation and was laced with radio absorbent chaff that would limit the effectiveness of point to point radio communication.

The air in the Quarantine Zone was stagnant, so he popped the NC-9 directly on the small response team, and as his flare compensation dealt with the brilliant light that briefly illuminated the conflict he moved to his right. He circled around his opponents, laying down suppression fire from multiple angles, hoping that in the confusion of the flare, and smoke, they would assume they were engaging a two or three man team.

He broadcast through the headspace, 'Enemy engaged, flanking, and drawing them off to your 3 o'clock. Insertion angle should be cleared shortly. Stay sharp, internal security will be prepping to support initial contact.'

Rather than using my Firearms to decimate these bastards, due to my previous baggage, I overestimated the danger. Therefore I am using my Tactics to engage, and distract rather than eliminate them. I can't edit a roll into an IC post, so I rolled in the OOC thread netting a result of 9 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20973116&postcount=62). I will again take the same baggage, Overestimate the Danger, as he continues to lead them off, so that they are no longer blocking the insertion path of our entry team.

[gremlin-pult]

Seeing Vitaly draw away the gurads outside Smiley grinned widely, prepared to do what he does best.

When the entrance was clear, he moved towards it, expertyl keeping out of sight of any cameras around. hustling silently from shadow to shadow, he couldn't help but feel the need to showboat a little. Tempt fate, and all that. When one camera moved it's field of vision towards his position, he calmly started moonwalking in under it, skimming precisely past the area where he knew it could see him. The rush of adrenaline was delicious, as usual. The fear of almost getting caught got his heart pumping like nothing else.
~Oooh, They gon' be hit by, gon' be hit by... A Smooooth Criminal~ He sang joyously in his head, never once forgetting that his team heard everything. No reason not to share the thrill with them...
OH, OH! Thriller! I'm so totally gonna make the guys inside dance the zombie dance to keep their lives! If they beat me, they walk! Danceoff, bitches! He exclaimed inwardly, leaping at the idea. You have to make an efford to keep work fun, after all.

[rooster707]

****. Okay, tank's a go, but I just set off some kind of alarm. Oh well. It wasn't like they had slipped in undetected up to now, anyway. Daedalus navigated over to the facility's security system and accessed feeds from the facility's various cameras. Setting the tablet down on the ground, he kept one eye on the rest of his Cell while he pulled more gear out of his backpack. You need something else hacked, I'm right here.

Do I need to make another Hacking move for this? Not sure.

[vengefulpickle]

Vitaly:

The acrid white smoke from your grenade fills the air between you and the rapid response team. You lose sight of them for a moment, until gunfire bursts from the center of the cloud, in multiple directions. You think there might be three shooters left, but it's clear that the team has no idea where you are, and may even think that there's more than one of you fighting them. In the distance, you hear the sharp whine of a spinner getting ready to take off.

Daedalus
With a few more deft keystrokes, and some tense maneuvering into the security wing of the local Aes' 'Net, you pull up camera feeds from several locations in the building. It takes you a moment to get your bearings, but once you figure out which cameras are interesting, you see two things. First, Tytus Sienkiewicz, the technician that Herschel was to be masquerading as, is in the building already. Second, two men were just diving into one of the spinner-tanks in the hangar and prepping for an emergency takeoff.


Yes, it'll be another hacking move since it's a significantly different target that you're hacking into.


Smiley

You sidle up to one of the side entrances of the building. Emergency Exit, Do No Block is stenciled in red across the door at about chest height. There is a simple handle, and a standard near-field reader for authorized users to swipe into the building.

[rooster707]

Got a couple more problems for you, guys. Daedalus relayed the information to the rest of the Cell. Hope one of you has something that can deal with a tank. He unstrapped the combat shotgun from the side of his bag and loaded a clip into it. Vitaly, you need any help with those guys?

[gremlin-pult]

Nah, unless they've started making tanks outta materials easily cut with a sword, I'm afraid I can't help ya buddy. Smiley thought, as he studied the reader-lock on the door. On another note, Vitaly, could you be a doll and bring one a those guys you're playing with around to me? I need one of them to open the door, it's got one of those reader thingies. I guess, I could just stab my sword into it, but in my experience that usually only has about a fitty-fitty chance of shortcircuiting and thus opening a door...

[Eonas]

Herschel checked his watch irritably, doing his best to keep up with Smiley while remaining out of the firefight. "Perhaps sometime you gentlemen will implicate me in a mission that does not go horribly awry within the first thirty minutes. What's the status on my alter-ego?"

He sizes up the door. An educated man, when presented with an obstacle, does not stick his sword into it. Only a philistine - he glances at Smiley - would as a problem-solving technique resolve to something as phallic as penetration. Probably a philistine with a deep-rooted Oedipal complex. "That would explain a lot, actually." he accidentally says out loud.

Rolling Engineering. Can I somehow rewire or short-circuit the door? [roll0]

Off to a great start.

[gremlin-pult]

Oh Doc, you know me so well... Smiley thought at his colleague, his smile widening. Yes, *sob sob* Yes, it's true! I never got enough love from my mom, and I did horribly in school! And they all laughed at my small schlong when I worked for Pacific. That's the real reason I hate them so much! He projected so strongly that one could easily picture the large dramatic arm movements that he imagined following each word. Please Doc, say something more. Put my broken soul together and heal me with your amazing Freudian techniques!
He moved over to hug Herschel as he thought.

[Eonas]

Herschel shook off Smiley. "Another time, Smiley. Save the buffoonery for another time." He knelt before the door, examining it closely. A German make it would seem - he didn't know the manufacturer but it was probably a slightly older model. There ought to be a wire to pull somewhere behind the latch...

A swathe of bullets hit the door, grazing his arm, drawing blood. He almost yelped in surprise, glancing at the small but unmistakable crimson patch on his labcoat, sweat beginning to trickle down his brow. His hand trembled as he reached for the door. Focus, Herschel, you're better than this damn it...

A girl, right months pregnant, lay on his operating room table. He felt her pulse, her trusting eyes, the energy of the boy within her, her arm trembling as the needle slid into it. She hated needles, it was right there on her file. Penfluridol, hell of a drug. And this much? He wouldn't even sell this much to a client on the black market.

Tangle of wires, confusion, fingers anxiously fiddling with a set of rules in incomprehensible in the panic and brain-fog, shower of air-snarling bullets. Blood seeping from aperture in flesh...

The girl convulsing and gargling blood, fingers white, pulse sky-high. Classic fight or flight response, classic prescription drug overdose. Herschel's seen it all before, but never like this. The girl emit a silent scream of agony, bloodshot eyes pleading to Herschel for help, fetus clinging onto life inside her -

Click. The door ground open as Herschel pulled a wire. He stared at it, stunned by his luck.

Herschel, slouched in a chair and staring into vacant space, hardly noticed as they carried the corpse on the table out. Never again, he breathed, never again.

He slipped through the door.

[vengefulpickle]

Herschel

What kind of hold did they have on you to make you do such a dangerous operation? And who wanted the girl dead?

Vitaly, Daedalus

The spinner lifts off, the downdrafts whipping the air into a frenzy around you, Daedalus. Before it's much more than head height, it starts vectoring towards the embattled rapid response team. It circles, and the smoke begins the dissipate. In a few seconds, Vitaly's position is going to be exposed.

What are you going to do?

[rooster707]

Wh- Herschel? Was that you? Daedalus shook his head, still disoriented from the... memory...? he'd just experienced. He snapped back to reality as the spinner flew past overhead. Tank's headed for your position, Vitaly. I've got my Predator standing by, but I can't do anything with that AA still online. Although, speaking of drones... He opened a case and took out a small device - an AO MK-3 camera drone. He'd designed it himself, back when he worked for them, and added some extra modifications to it, afterwards. Daedalus activated the drone, synced it with his Headspace implant, and lobbed it into the air in the wake of the spinner. A window opened in the corner of his vision, showing the feed from the drone as it flew above the battle. He maneuvered it to a decent angle, then flipped it over to thermoptics, showing the combatants through the smoke from Vitaly's grenade. Turning back to his tablet, he accessed Vitaly's AR glasses and began throwing up markers on his HUD. Vitaly, I'm marking some targets for you. Smiley, hurry up, would you?

Doing Drones as a professional move, increasing Grief by 1. Eh, someone's gotta do it.

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

Still taking cover behind a low retaining wall, he was disoriented as he found himself in a surgical theatre, a woman's body being carried, pleading eyes. He could taste the bile rising in the back of his throat, before Daedalus' voice snapped him back to the present. Here and now.

"Affirmative," he whispered into his comm. Despite the hardened plates and ceramic inserts of the SecureTek armor, he wore it like a second skin, and slipped into the acrid smoke, the drone's thermo-feed up on AR display. The spinner was moving into position to support the perimeter team, and there was very little he could do about it, unless ...

A wicked thought came to his mind, or perhaps he simply lifted it from that psychopath's mind, Smiley. Either way, it was effective. Amidst the noise of the spinner's downdraft, and the acrid vision obscuring smoke, he was able to position himself behind the rearmost member of the perimeter team, and he noted that Aes' was nothing if not reliable. The standard security loadout and combat webbing remained the same, he cradled his Vigil 11mm Autopistol and with careful precision, place a three round burst through the back of the Aes' Sec's knee, blowing out his kneecap.

Before he hit the ground a strong pair of hands caught him, and stripped him of the signal flare. Aes' was renowned for it's medical response, and prided itself on providing the best care for it's corporate military. As the flare and the red smoke billowed upwards, Vitaly hoped that Standard Ops would still hold, the spinner would lower itself for evac pick up, the remaining two perimeter security would move their wounded agent on board, while the spinner provided covering fire from it's nose mounted 105mm chaingun.

If he could avoid the withering return fire from the spinner, it should be vulnerable to a well placed High Velocity Frag when it made it's attempted med-evac. $h!t! As he shouldered his XPF-17 AR, he noted that in the rush to drop the flare he'd abandoned his sidearm at the LZ. He silently cursed himself and drew his frag grenade, more determined than ever to take the spinner and perimeter security down. Hard.

Headspace Move to use Smiley's Stealth, with Vitaly's +1 Fear [roll0]. I succeed in the stealth check but choose Leave behind Resource, namely my side arm. Hoping that fulfill's the condition. I will wait to engage the spinner until I see if my ploy worked.

[gremlin-pult]

Roger Roger Smiley thought, moving in through the now open door. While his attitude was still as flippant as usual, he did move with a bit more seriousness than usual. The memory the Doc had let slip had rattled him more than he liked to admit. Children getting hurt... It left a bad taste in his mouth just thinking about it. As he snuck into the base, he silently drew his sword, ready to slice and dice anyone who got in his way.


Ok, so since our fear track is at 3 I'll make my sneak as a headspace move this time.

[roll0]

[vengefulpickle]

Vitaly

The light from the signal flare lights up the inside of the dissipating smoke. The two standing security operatives, looking increasingly nervous as their allies are picked off one by one, confer quickly. One breaks off the haul the original leader of the quartet closer to the evac zone, while the other checks and rechecks for any sign of their hidden assailant. The spinner circles above, biding its time until the evac is ready. The angry buzz of its rotors set your teeth on edge as you wait to for it to move close enough for you to pull off your plan.

Seconds later, both injured operatives are together. Kneecap is leaning on Leader, helping to cover as many angles as they can while the spinner drops precipitously beside them. The whine of the chaingun as it readies itself to fire cuts through the air. The back hatch pops open and one of the pilots rushes out to help grab the shoulders of the two injured men and haul them bodily into the spinner.


Smiley

You waltz through the open door, and close it with flair. Behind you, a flash of sparks is followed by a heavy thunk as failsafes on the door lock it shut. No one's going in or out of that door until some proper repair technicians make a visit.

The interior of the lab is a stark white. All of the inner corners are subtly rounded, likely to make it easier to clean and disinfect them. The air smells slightly antiseptic.

Smiley, you move quickly through the biolab. There is very little in the way of signage to direct you where you want to go, but the intel that Daedalus had been able to recover before the op proved accurate, and all of the halls were where the layout you had memorized predicted. You hadn't expected to need to get to the security office, though... This was supposed to be a simple in-and-out. Left, right, second left... The security center should be just down the next set of stairs.

In your hurry, you step around the corner without checking it, and walk directly into the back of one of the two guards who are covering that staircase and the security center below. He spins, and you freeze, caught between just running him through and backing off to try a stealthier approach. He quickly backpedals, drawing a large pistol and toggling his comms. "Unknown intruder near Sec!"

Herschel
Smiley comes through the door behind you, and then takes off into the interior of the building. While he's on his way to Security Central, what are you doing?


Smiley, you left behind an ally when the door closed and cut you and Herschel off from easy support by the rest of the team. You also hesitated when it mattered most, which let the guard sound the alarm.

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

He circled around the spinner, using the low retaining wall and the vestiges of the smoke and flare to cover him from visual recognition and the devastating power of the nose mounted chain gun.

He thumbed the switch on the X-4 High Velocity frag, he had three seconds, his aim was precise, he exposed himself to the withering fire of the chain gun for only the briefest moment. The 105mm rounds chewed the retaining wall to dust as it tracked to his location. He felt chips of ferro-concrete stitch along his side, propelled with the impact of those lethal rounds.

He cleared the remains of the low wall, and made sure the X-4 cleared the heads of Pilot, Leader, and Kneecap, it detonated in a low *whump!* and he knew that it had thrown a concussive blast sufficient to disable the spinners control panels, as well as turn any remaining security within the cabin into bloody casualties.

He moved in close on the three remaining outside the spinner, it was close quarters he reached for his Vigil, and F&^K! He'd lost it in the smoke, when he kneecapped the perimeter security. He swung his XPF-17, but it wasn't as fast in close quarters, and he was too slow while engaging the remaining three, he only hoped the concussive blast of the grenade, coupled with the loss of the spinner had stunned them enough to give him the opening he needed.

Using Demolitions as a Professional move, increasing our Grief track by one. I tried to play up the loss of the pistol as a detriment, not sure if the grenade (Harm 4) is enough to disable to spinner, but it should do a number on any pilot still inside.

[gremlin-pult]

"Unknown?" Smiley said in mock consternation."Why, we can't have that can we? That'd make this playdate so awkward."
With a quick, practiced motion he whipped his sword above his head, brandishing it with a flourish.
"Hi. I'm Smiley. Nice to meet'cha." He said in a chipper voice, and in a flash of movement he was leaping towards the guard, his sword lashing out like an ornery snake.


Gonna go with a Martial arts check, made as a headspace move. Gotta roll well this time, yeah?

[roll0]


The guard barely had time to blink, much less answer the swordsman's introduction, before he felt the sudden pain of having a monofilament blade pushed into your mouth and out through the neck. It took a second or two of gurgling before his brain caught up to the fact that the sword had neatly severed his brainstem, and had been pulled back out of the mouth.
"I didn't quite catch that... Gargle-something-Gargle? Geoffrey. Hmm, nah you don't look like a Geoffrey, and your accent sounded more french, actually. Ah well, doesn't matter pal. Boss keeps telling me I shouldn't socialize on the job anyway. Gotta bounce." Smiley said with a chuckle, whipping the blood of his blade with a flick of the wrist as the body of the guard collapsed in a raggedy heap.
As he walked past the body, he looked over his shoulder.
"Call me." He whispered.

[vengefulpickle]

Vitaly

The X-4 sails over the injured and whole security guards alike, gliding in a beautiful deadly arc through the door of the spinner into the darkened interior. Their faces have just enough time to register shock, and then fear (even from your distance), before they are all shoved forward by the shockwave forced from inside. The pilot, leaning back to drag leader inside, is thrown off his feet, tripping over the heavily wounded soldier, and he rolls forward, disoriented. The last remaining member of the original four-man crew is more fortunate. He has the forethought to brace himself against Kneecap before the blast hits, and as you advance, going for your Vigil, he drops Kneecap and shoulders his rifle. At this range, he can't miss. The sound of the burst is deafening (or would be, without the protection your armor gives you). The bullets, though, find little purchase. None of the them penetrate, but the impact rocks you back on your heels. Across the distance to the spinner, your hear a muffled curse as the last standing guard dives behind the spinner for cover, fumbling with something attached to his jacket.


Smiley, I haven't forgotten about you, I just ran out of steam tonight. I'll hopefully have a post up tomorrow morning.

[vengefulpickle]

Smiley

As you pull your sword from the guard's throat, movement catches your eye. The other guard's eyes are wide as he watches the sword point slide out. His PSS Biter is already nestled in his shoulder, the matte black finish contrasting with the red piping on his uniform. "You... you killed him!" His voice cracks. He starts to backpedal, and pulls the trigger. The noise is thunderous in the small corridor, and the flash is nearly blinding. The spray of bullets peppers you and the wall behind you. They tear through your clothes and your skin, but your subdermal plating shrugs it off. ****, it stings, though.

The guard's mouth drops. That should have put you down, right proper. He starts to back away more quickly, back towards the security center and more reinforcements.

[vengefulpickle]

Daedalus

Alarms start to light up your tablet. The combination of Vitaly on the outside and Smiley on the inside is stirring the hornets nest. If you hurry, you might be shut some of it down before it spreads and Aesculpian starts to bring down the hammer for real.

Herschel, I think we're still waiting to hear from you.

[rooster707]

Vitaly, I'm jacking in. Try not to let me get shot, okay? Daedalus' fingers danced across the tablet again. For a moment, he experienced the familiar sensation of existing in two bodies at once; then the system shut off his physical body's senses and he found himself standing 'inside' Aes' servers. He glanced down at his body, taking a moment to re-acclimate himself to his secondary avatar, a glowing, vaguely humanoid mass of energy. This was the body that he used whenever he was doing something illegal on the net, that is to say, most of the time. It was armed to the teeth with a staggering array of black market gear designed to help him hack systems like this, along with enough defensive software to keep even a huge corp like Aesculpian from tracing the hacks back to him - in theory, at least. Daedalus looked back up and took in his surroundings, simultaneously preparing his first few offensive programs to strike at the alarm system.

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

Vitaly cursed as the force of the slugs, staggered him momentarily, impeding his forward progress. The shooter then wisely slipped behind the now grounded Spinner for cover, abandoning his kneecapped squaddie. Quickly Vitaly recovered his Vigil, then brought his arm across Kneecap's throat, dragging him to his feet, using his body as a shield he too rounded the cover afforded by the spinner, bringing himself into the last Corp Sec's line of fire.

He growled as he stepped around the spinner, "Drop your gun *******, there's no reason to die for bull**** and lies. No reason the rookie here has to either. The next three seconds are on you." Even as he did so he broadcast across the neural net, Think you're safe for now D., I have the Perimeter Security's attention for the time being.

[gremlin-pult]

"This is my favorite outfit, you know..." Smiley said, looking at the newly made holes in his clothing. His brow furrowed slightly, as he took in the damage. Hmm, could be worse. The t-shirt's a goner, but the pants and jacket kinda looks more badass like this... I like it :smallbiggrin:He looked at the guard backing away, his smile returning. "Anyway, you're doing it all wrong, man. Ya gotta be precise in your shots, and try to keep clothes intact. Never know when you might need them for a disguise, or simply because the guy you'r shooting's got shoes or pants that're more fab than your own... Speaking of which, I like your shirt." He said, and with a quick, fluid motion he whipped up his silenced PSS Stingray, and fired a shot toward the guards head.


Just to be clear, yes, the smiley is on purpose. I figure that if the others can hear his thoughts, they can kinda see what he imagines if he thinks on it real hard. If not, well then that's just the general feeling he's giving of.

Anyway, I'll make a check with Vitaly's Firearms skill as a headspace move. Sadly my ego is at -2, so let's hope it turns out impressive, yes?
[roll0]

[vengefulpickle]

Daedalus

You spring into digital life. The cold glow of your avatar illuminates the stark whites and greys of the Aesculpian intranet. You begin to jog down the corridor as it slowly unwraps itself from emptiness in the distance. As your skills start to take more firm hold on the presentation of the 'net, the walls become both more detailed, and transparent, letting you read more into the underlying workings of the system. You see the wires underneath that you know in a few short nanoseconds are going to sound the alarm out towards the res of Aes' infrastructure and support, and have all of you swimming in the ****.

Out come the knives. You reach and slice through the walls, parting like paper to your digital scalpels, and neatly sever the wires. As your focus is in there, you notice something else, wires out of place, data that doesn't match the rest of the design. Has someone else hacked Aesculpian too?


Vitaly

The kneecapped guard grunts as you haul him to his feet. He forces words through your choke-hold, his voice trembling. "Who the **** are you? You don't need to do this!"

As you round the corner, the last guard is sighting down his weapon. You notice a discarded clip on the ground beside him. "Don't do it, Darell. I'm not getting paid enough to die for these bastards, and neither are you!" The kneecapped guard is making your case for you, it seems.

Darell keeps his gun up, but you can see calculations behind the fear in his eyes. "How do I know you won't just kill both of us? What's going to stop you?"


Smiley

You swing your Stingray up, sighting towards the guard. Vitaly makes it look so easy. As you squeeze the trigger, the guard flinches out of the way, and your first shot grazes his ear, throwing a mist of bright blood. Amazingly, he keeps his cool enough to get one more message out over the comm link. "They've got armor!"

Your second shot connects, right between the eyes. Vitaly would be proud! The guard falls back, tumbling down the stairs towards the security center. As you follow him down, the door opens and guards begin the boil out, locked and loaded.

You hadn't picked any specific complications yourself, so I went with a combination of Your false pride puts the team at risk and You become jealous of another. Going for the trick headshot gave the space for the guards to alert and likely upgrade their firepower, and then you followed down into a bit of a hornets nest without thinking about it.

[rooster707]

Daedalus

You spring into digital life. The cold glow of your avatar illuminates the stark whites and greys of the Aesculpian intranet. You begin to jog down the corridor as it slowly unwraps itself from emptiness in the distance. As your skills start to take more firm hold on the presentation of the 'net, the walls become both more detailed, and transparent, letting you read more into the underlying workings of the system. You see the wires underneath that you know in a few short nanoseconds are going to sound the alarm out towards the res of Aes' infrastructure and support, and have all of you swimming in the ****.

Out come the knives. You reach and slice through the walls, parting like paper to your digital scalpels, and neatly sever the wires. As your focus is in there, you notice something else, wires out of place, data that doesn't match the rest of the design. Has someone else hacked Aesculpian too?

Hmm... interesting. Daedalus knelt and ran a hand along the wires. Found something out of place. Investigating. He stood and set off down the corridor, following the data back to its source.

[gremlin-pult]

"Two shots..." Smiley muttered, glaring at his pistol. "You're supposed to hit on the first one, Lucy! This is why I spend more time with Mary than you. She doesn't get finicky when we're working. You're getting a time-out, missy!" He grumbled, putting the pistol away and readying his sword once more.
"Alright Mary my dear, oh light of my life. Whaddya say we go introduce ourselves? I know they're just gonna love your sharp wit." Smiley exclaimed with a cackle, before dashing ahead and toward the guards.

"~Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Don't be shy, she's not so scary~" He sang as he ran straight at them, sword held down by his side and an extra manic grin on his face.

[Zen Gypsy]

Vitaly Vory Zakone (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20908132&postcount=3)

"Because I'm not Aes', I'm not some f^&king murdering faceless corporation that grinds innocent lives to god damn paste, to grease the wheels of it's public relations division. I used to BE one of you @$$holes, thinking I was doing good work, fighting the good fight, pushing back the virus. It's all bull$h!t and you know it."

He paused, leveled the gun at the two men, scouwled, the smell of char, of burning bodies still in his nostrils, "November 17th, '74. Unit #AES4576-A. Files are classified, but dig, ask around the barracks. There are still rumors, soldiers talk. Now get out, before I change my god damn mind."

[vengefulpickle]

Daedalus

As you trace the intrusion back to its source, the wires spread like a river delta, spreading further and further apart. Whoever did this breached the site in myriad tiny ways, all off which, taken together, gave the a clean line to tap into the data they wanted. The effort seems familiar...

Whose style of hack does this look like to you?


Smiley

You fly down the stairs, taking two at a time, nimbly leaping towards the guards. The unleash a veritable hail of bullets, the small corridor echoing and then going eerily as the noise compensators in your cloak kick in.

The guards must have heard that last warning, though. The bullets tear through your cloak and your flesh.

Smiley, you take 2 Harm. Running straight into gunfire smells like Ego to me, so that's where the first point is going on the Stress Track. Your choice on which track takes the other point.


Vitaly

You toss the kneecapped guard to Darrell, who starts to drag them both away, away from the compound into the darkened streets of the QZ. You suspect you might be hearing from them again sometime soon.

You've cleared the exterior. Smiley's gotten himself into some **** inside, what's your next move?


Herschel

Hershcel, the plan was hinging on you. You got inside and were going to don a disguise as an Aes' technician until you could locate the crucial data. But, maybe you have another agenda, as well...

What have you been up to since Smiley left you at the rear door?

[Eonas]

Herschel ducked down a series of mazelike corridors, towards what he believed was the lab complex. He'd deal with the memory of the girl later, with himself and his teammates - an embarrassing psychological display, one usually made by men of lesser fiber.

But first, to retrieve the data.

Two guards stood before what he could only assume was a heavily locked steel door. One of them standing tall and confident, the other slouching the slightest amount, fiddling with his holster - nervous twitch perhaps, repressed insecurity in the presence of a more alpha colleague. Even in what was probably a system-wide alarm, the human psyche manifests itself. But this latter snapped to full height immediately upon Herschel's approach, unholstering his gun. "Stop! Stop and identify yourself!"

"Doctor Armand Durand. I-I've forgotten my reports inside, I'm afraid." Herschel stammered apologetically, flashing an ID card in front of the guards' faces.

"Should your forgery prove to be inadequate, Daedalus, I will personally hunt down and torment all of your nearest of kin in whatever afterlife these guards send me to."

So what's the sitch, should I be rolling anything here?

[vengefulpickle]

The guard reaches out to take the card, gun still unholstered, but not aimed at you. "You shouldn't be out here. We've got an active situation underway, and we're in lockdown." He looks over the ID, checks it and your face one more time, and then hands it back. "Come on. Let's get you to your precious reports, and then you can lock yourself in until everything is clear out here."

He turns and unlocks the door behind them. "I'll be back after I get Dr. Durand here safely situated. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

Herschel, you're through the checkpoint, but with an unfortunately fearful guard trailing you. What's your next play?

No need for a roll there. A Psychology move could probably free you up from the guards interference, if you can figure out how to play on his fears a bit. You'd need to decide whether to take it as a Professional move and take the hit to Rage (which would lead to Feedback, and potentially many Emotional Complications), or roll for it and take the rick of immediate complications yourself.

[gremlin-pult]

Smiley

You fly down the stairs, taking two at a time, nimbly leaping towards the guards. The unleash a veritable hail of bullets, the small corridor echoing and then going eerily as the noise compensators in your cloak kick in.

The guards must have heard that last warning, though. The bullets tear through your cloak and your flesh.

Smiley, you take 2 Harm. Running straight into gunfire smells like Ego to me, so that's where the first point is going on the Stress Track. Your choice on which track takes the other point.


"Eheehehee, finally things are getting interesting!" Smiley exclaimed as he ran at the guard. what little harm he took from their bullets just served to get his blood pumping even more. This was what he lived for!
As he reached the guards, he started a deadly ballet of pirrouettes and somersaults inbetween them, each twist of his body and kick of his leg accompanied by a deadly stroke of his sword. Through all of it he cackled incessantly, gleefully pulling the guards into his murderous dance.


Alrighty, I'm gonna go with the second point of stress going into the Need track, since being shot at fills Smiley with a burning need to cut people. And I'm gonna go right ahead and add a second stress to the Need track as he uses his martial arts as a professional move.

[rooster707]

Daedalus

As you trace the intrusion back to its source, the wires spread like a river delta, spreading further and further apart. Whoever did this breached the site in myriad tiny ways, all off which, taken together, gave the a clean line to tap into the data they wanted. The effort seems familiar...

Whose style of hack does this look like to you?

Daedalus grunted. Impressive. There were plenty of people who used "chain reaction" hacks like this, but he could only think of one person that could pull it off this smoothly. He knew them by reputation only - they went by "Dominoes" on the net, and this was their trademark style. Set up the dominoes, then knock them down, that sort of thing. A stupid gimmick, but it worked, apparently. He glanced around, trying to make sense of all the pieces. What were they looking for...?

[vengefulpickle]

Smiley

Your dance is beautiful, and deadly. Blood spins out in arcs along the walls as Mary cleanly slices through hands, legs, necks, hips. You feel almost no resistance, the molecular blade passing through armor, flesh and bone, slowing only as it separates limb from limb. Your pained laughter rises in an eerie counterpoint to the screams and gunfire erupting from the guards around you.

Moments later, you slow, breathing heavily. Crimson drips from down the walls, and a few stray splashes of gore line the ceiling. One guard kneels in front of you, cringing back against the wall. Isabelle Geirssdóttir, reads the name on the patch on the breast of her armored suit. Her HK Striker hangs loosely from her left hand, as she holds her right up to you, and to the sword blade that rests against her neck.

"Wait, please! Don't! I can help you!"

Daedalus

You trace back down the line, the strands pulsing golden as your neural-ware starts refining and responding to you tracing the path. Dominoes meandered through a lot of the facilities code and systems, searching for something, someone, but it's difficult to determine who.

Finally, you find a leak, and imperfection is his searches, and you're able to get a name. Jesse Maddocs. Is she personnel in the facility? Family? Something else? You can't pull enough from the leak to know for sure.

Your attention lifts from the intricate strands of code the Dominoes left behind, and in the peripheral of your virtual vision, you notice something black, dense, bearing down on you. Aes' ware has noticed you, and it's not happy about it.