IC: Distant memories Options

[GunnerJ]

"The only choppers I ever flew were gunboats and assault craft; this is more of a ferry. I think the Marines used it for transport; I never did any of that. Still, it shouldn't be bad, I can handle it. So long as we don't need to do anything too risky, it'll be smooth. If we do... well, buckle up, that beast is huge."

[Mysterio]

Smiling, the decker got up, collected his deck and headed back into the other room. In no time flat he was back in the matrix, heading down to the virtual harbour. Getting the regulations won't be hard, I can just ask for them. They'd want to make sure that protocol is followed...setting up an alarm though...hmmm
Codec walked through the front door into the harbour master's office. There inside was a stereotypical pirate icon, going over some papers. He looked up from his desk
"Aaaarrrr matey, how can I help ya?" he said in a very bad pirate accent. Codec had to chuckle, it was fitting.
"Just tied up down at one of your docks, thinking about heading out soon. Wondered if I needed anything to fill out."
The pirate gave him a weird look. "Matey, you should have had everything you needed when you registered here at me pier."

Uh oh! Think fast!

"Uh...yes I'm sure we had everything, but you know, how it is, with the wife and kids around, things get a little misplaced" hey good stuff!

"Ah yes the wee ones" said the pirate with a chuckle, "I haven't seen any around though, were' bouts are ye docked?" He asked while rummaging through some papers.

Drek

"Uh...just down near the end, in the white boat" What a longshot...hope he buys it

"Oh yes, I remember," said the pirate as he handed over the departure papers and protocol manual.

You do? thought Codec. He took the papers and the manual, thanked the good man for his trouble.
"Arrr be no trouble matey, come back anytime!" With that Codec jacked out for a moment to show the stuff to the others before he went back for phase 2.

[Rakshasa]

The departure papers and protocol manual made interesting, if confusing, reading. Seeoh, perhaps a little more used to form filling and the devil of bureaucracy, owing to her family's hatred of the United Kingdom's love of red tape, examined the documents in a little more detail.

"According to this, the Harbourmaster has the right to search and seize aboard any Ship which ties up at Seattle." Seeoh looked meaningfully at Flip.

"Oh no! I'm willing to bet you any amount of nuyen that the Triads have several of the harbour staff on their payroll; if not the Harbourmaster himself. So they'd see right through any attempt by us to board."

"I wasn't thinking of boarding. More like `putting the bubble in'." Seeing puzzlement on several faces the Irishwoman explained. "OK, so the Triads may have the harbour people in their pocket, but there isn't enough payola to take care of all the local police as well. There's bound to be someone ambitious enough to take a crack at the Triads. So we put out the word that the Ship's full of contraband."

"No!" Flip became agitated. "Better still. We do it our selves. We don't want to open up our prize to all and sundry." He began pacing again, his mind flying.
"If we send out a memo, or better still a general post, into the Harbourmaster's system, that some Public Health and Security Inspectors are intending to visit all the berths on a given date; that should set alarm bells ringing and prompt the Eighty Eight's to take the Lady Jane out ASAP.

Whether or not she's fully loaded.

That's the only way to get her to go at a time of our choosing. Otherwise we could wait weeks, even though a Ship in dock isn't making any money."

Flip looked at the Team expectantly.

[Mysterio]

That's a good idea...
"So then all we'd need to do is set up the date that this would happen and I will get us the rental booking. Someone would just need to pick it up."

[Rakshasa]

"It's only us that control this you know. We have no idea what the Triad's planning. What they move in their Ships, why or when. Which means that we can attack whenever we damned well please. Because we don't need to know. Our brief is to blow the bloody thing up!" Seeoh checked the time. "Why don't we go with Flip's plan, as of from tomorrow? Codec can post the notification of the impending inspection tonight. It'll be seen more or less straight away and be brought to the attention of the Eighty Eight's before morning, of that we can be sure."

Flip nodded. "Which gives them what, six to eight hours to either unload the Lady Jane and stash their wares somewhere else, or to set sail. That's too long. We need to make them jump. Move the Ship without thinking it through." The Orc started pacing again. "Send the notice of inspection at 8 am. But time it for 10-o-clock. Jane would have to sail on the morning tide. It would be the 88's best and quickest option."

"We'll know they're going to sail, if Codec can put that sleeper program in the Harbourmaster's system. If they log a sailing time straight away, we'll know and Ace can be at SeTac to collect the rental at 9…." The Sorceress left the idea hanging.

Flip looked at the Rigger, getting a nod. "You would be back here to pick us up by 9:30 at the latest. Time enough to load up what we'll need and head out over the bay." He turned toward Greasy. "We'll need eyes in the sky to confirm the sailing, and the Lady Jane's heading. Can do?"

[Mysterio]

"uh...I have a question, what if th..th..they don't long in a d..d..departing time?"

[Rakshasa]

The Orc smirked at the little decker. "That's why we need Greasy's drones to be our eyes. There's every likelyhood the Triad won't abide by the Harbour's protocols. So we have to be ready, what and when ever."

[Rakshasa]

As the Team sat around, taking in the nuances of the plan, Seeoh held her own thoughts up for a closer scrutiny.

"It sounds good but there are holes. First the plane. It's a fixed wing, for all its VTOL capability. The downwash from hovering is going to cause us trouble, both in dropping onto the deck and in getting any cargo back aboard the Osprey.

Then there's the actual getting onto the deck. That Ship can sail with a minimum crew of around five, I should expect, but there's probably gonna be twenty or more aboard. And they'll all be shooting at us."

Flip agreed and pondered. "Don't suppose you've got any spells that'd help?"

"Not in this situation. So I might be able to frighten a few with an illusion, but they've gotta be in my line of sight. Same with making them all go blind. Once I've cast the spell, any of them that were out of range will still be shooting. Besides, the practicalities of getting aboard outweigh anything the Triads will be throwing at us. We're bound to fail.

And then there's the possibility of the Water Elementals….."

"I suppose we could just bomb them." Flip shrugged his massive shoulders. "Blow them out of the water and forget the cargo."

"Well, maybe bombing would be a better solution. But not with HE. We use a knock-out gas." Seeoh sat up, surprised she hadn't thought of it earlier.

"And where, exactly, do we get sleep gas from, at this late stage in the proceedings?"

"Don't ask me." Said the Sorceress. "I'm a Sorceress not a Magician." I keep saying that, but no one believes me."

[Silverspur_2020]

Bluebird... who had been sat quietly, chewing the plan over in her mind... "I think it works really well, its just I would rather carry out the raid at night, less people to see us!"

[Mysterio]

"Okay..s...so I need to plant the harbourmaster's files with an alert program. Shouldn't be a problem...uh...and post the rental at the place?..I..Is that it?"

[Rakshasa]

Flip smiled at the decker. "You got it little man. But leave the rental open ended. Till we decide when we're gonna do this thing." He glanced meaningfully at the rest of the Team.

"I see a night attack as a better bet, personally. Like Bluebird suggested." Seeoh nodded at the other woman.

[Silverspur_2020]

Bluebird looks around at the assembled silent group..."So are we on for this then?! are we gonna hit the boat?"

[Rakshasa]

The Farmhouse was quite warm, cosy even, and the Irishwoman found her eyes drooping. The conversation carried on around her and, at some point, she just didn't bother to stay awake.

The lights of Seattle, some eight miles distant, burned brightly in the night sky as Flip, Seeoh and Bluebird boarded the Osprey. It had been decided that, with Greasy out in his van controlling the Team's overview of the situation via his drones, the little decker would serve the run best by staying at the farm and monitoring the traffic through the Harbourmaster's system as well as the local Star bands.

Codec's small alarm programme had picked up on the fact that, owing to an impending Health inspection, also courtesy of the aforementioned decker, the Eighty Eight's had set a sailing time for the midnight tide.

Ace had picked up the VTOL at exactly 10 PM and had hurried back to the farm for the others. As the Osprey lifted off, in a flurry of dust and ancient corn stalks, excitement mounted and adrenaline began to flow like waterfalls in the blood of the runners.

Each of the fighters checked their weapons and the pack of grenades, with their timers, for the umpteenth time, whilst the Sorceress composed herself, ready to fight with her magic should the opportunity arise.

The radio rattled to Greasy's deep voice as he confirmed the sailing of the Lady Jane. Her heading was as expected, straight as a die through the deepwater channel out of the harbour, heading for the open sea. As arranged, Ace flew the Osprey some six miles out, where the continental shelf started its tumble to the seabed three miles down. When Lady Jane took her final voyage there would be little or no chance of ever recovering her, and the clues which might lead to her assassins.

With only starshine to see by, it was some time before Ace spotted the long white wake of the Lady Jane heading toward her doom. He alerted the Team and triggered the tailgate, ready for their exit.

The plan, such as it was, required the three active runners to absail out of the cargo hold, over the lip of the gate and down onto the deck of the Lady Jane. The fact that a bloody great VTOL was directly overhead would, naturally, be noticed by the crew and they would, undoubtedly, start shooting, both at the runners and the Osprey.

That was when, if all went to plan, they would begin shooting at the giant water elemental which, thanks to Seeoh, would appear at the bowsprit of the Lady Jane. The Phantasm would become an imperative threat, outweighing the real threat from above.

Well, that was the plan!!!!

The Sorceress concentrated her powers and ……………

Seeoh awoke with a start, looking around the familiar room of the Farmhouse. But she needn't have worried, only moments had passed and no one had noticed that she had been having her own brand of nightmare.

[Mysterio]

Codec went back into the other room and anxiously jacked backed into the familiar "reality" around him.
He started to head down the pier towards the harbourmaster's office. He reached inside his jacket for the alarm program that he was hoping to use. Ah here it is! he thinks gleefully and pulls out...a few sheets of carbon paper, or what at least looks like carbon paper. This should do just fine

As he nears the harbour master's office, Codec cautiously looks around before switching on his cloaking program. Once invisible, he waits for someone to go in or come out in order for him to slip inside.

After what seems like an eternity, a four-armed hairy huge icon finally walks in. Hurrying in behind the beastly icon, Codec looks around at the office. All the same drek sittin' around here as before

Codec patiently waits while the icon and the pirate harbourmaster talk about whatever. Codec really wasn't in the mood to care. he just needed the office to be empty before he could start up the program he had in mind. A few minutes pass and that feel like forever to Codec. He continues to wait when he notices the beastly icon flicker.

"Argh! Stupid kids, meesing around with my deck! I'll be back." and the beast jacks out. The pirate chuckles to himself and then wanders into the back room.

Now's my chance
Codec quickly goes over to the desk and pulls out his copier program. He begins to place the "carbon paper" face down on the harbourmaster's desk, sheet by sheet, until the entire desk is covered. Then, all at once, the carbon paper turns the colour of the desktop.

There, now when he fills out anything on this desktop, that should copy it back to my deck

[Mysterio]

With the copier program in place, Codec just needed to get out of the office without setting off any IC
It could be some time before anyone comes through the door...I don't really want to draw any attention to myself or else they'll know something isn't right in here.
He ponders for a moment and looks around. Hmmm, the window doesn't look too bad and with that he heads over to the nearby window in the office. It wasn't exactly the biggest window (or the cleanest for that matter) but in the Matrix, sometimes size doesn't matter.
Carefully, codec begins to pick the lock on the window...

[GunnerJ]

"We'll know they're going to sail, if Codec can put that sleeper program in the Harbourmaster's system. If they log a sailing time straight away, we'll know and Ace can be at SeTac to collect the rental at 9…"

Ace nodded. Back in the 'Force he had never sat in on meetings like this. The uppers would plan everything out and he'd get his orders and fly out with the other pilots in his squad. They picked the time, the targets, and the requirements. Ace had never had to worry about that.

Not that he couldn't plan; it was just that his planning had always been spontaneous. He saw defensive drones coming up from a ground target, he told one of this squad to decoy and bait them while the rest pulled off and waited to pounce. If they got in a dogfight, he told them when to regroup and when to run, and when to rip around back and kick ass. Tactics was his game, not strategy, and certainly not logistics.

Codec was handling logistics right now, jacking in and getting them a chopper, getting info, setting traps, who the hell knows. Funny how all everyone else could do was sit around, drink coffee, and revise their schemes over and over while Codec handled all the hard stuff. It was all on him, and thinking about the stuttering little boy Codec always seemed to be didn't inspire any confidence in Ace. Maybe in there, he's a superhero; maybe in the Matrix he's powerful and knows what's up. Just like how I feel when I'm in the machine. I think I understand him, we're alike in that; this real world isn't where we belong.

Didn't mean he trusted him at all; Codec had seen Ace's file, whether he knew what it was or not. And Bluebird he trusted even less, fluctuating between mild skepticism and complete assurance of her being out for him. The sorceress he wasn't sure of either; how had she known where he lived when he took such precautions? Could he even trust the group that owned the building he lived in? It had been so much cheaper than it should have been; maybe the discount was for information gathered.

Someone had tipped his old bosses off to his activities. It could be anyone. Anyone in this room. The farmhouse didn't seem to large and airy anymore, it seemed to press him in and every word someone said had two or three or twelve meanings. He could smell old horse dung and sweat from the floors, or maybe that was his own sweat. At times like this, he could use a drink, but he didn't even trust himself enough to take one...

Calm down. Just stop. They had ample oportunity to hand you over before, during the fighting, but they saved you. If they're on the 'Force's side, than this is a damn expensive ruse, for no point.

When he had regained his composure, he heard that now the plan was to make a night attack. Fine. The "special" eyes the UCAS Air Force had given him to replace his own could see well enough in the dark if it came to that, and a vehichle's sensors didn't really need light anyway. Soon enough, they'd all be in a place where Ace would be as important as Codec was now, where his skill was all that kept them alive. Ace just hoped there was a good reason why ghosts from his past were all of a sudden coming back to haunt him.

He saw a shape like a metalic teardrop sailing against a night sky, and shuddered.

[Silverspur_2020]

Codec spends some time tinkering with the window... and eventually he noiselessly opens it up and creeps outside. Smiling to himself Codec revels in one of those moments deckers have when they have pulled off a perfect run!

[Mysterio]

Jacking out, Codec walks back into the kitchen area
"uh..o...okay, I have set u..u..up a program to tell us wh..wh..when anyone fills out any info th..th..there."

[Rakshasa]

The diminutive Decker returned to the main room. "Uh..o...okay, I have set u..u..up a program to tell us wh..wh..when anyone fills out any info th..th..there." His stuttering admission to being successful, yet again, eliciting appreciative smiles from his fellow runners.

Flip stretched his broad shoulders expansively as he sat in a chair far too small for his frame. "Well, bout time to get this show on the road I reckon!" Confirming that the rental had been set up and that Codec had remembered to plant the relevant email warning of the impending Health and Safety Inspection, it was only a matter of time before Codec's alarm program told the Team that the Lady Jane would, indeed, sail on the midnight tide. The Orc turned to the Rigger. "Go get our wings Ace. We'll saddle up and come running when you set down over in the forty acre."

With some three hours to go till high tide, it was a case of checking and rechecking equipment laced with yet more ersatz coffee.

[Silverspur_2020]

Looking over at Ace... Bluebird says "fancy someone to come along for the ride? I already know my eqipment is fine, spent all of last night cleaning and oiling it all...."

[Silverspur_2020]

meanwhile down at the docks security get the message...


"CAPTAIN.... CAPTAIN" a worried bosun shouts as he boards the ship and searches each deck....

"What's up Seth? - this had better be friggin good to be runnin about like this"

"Captain, I just had word from security that there is an inspection of the port soon, I spoke to the harbor masters office but they say these outsiders arent going to be bought... rumour has it the people comming are notorius for comming down hard on anything that isnt right...."

Thinking for a secound the Captain takes a deep breath as he thinks about the tide, "How much of the cargo do we have on board Bosun?"

"About half of it sir, the problem is the containers its being hauled in... we have to keep them sterile, which means loading is slower" the Bosun replied breathlessly...

"Fair enough, call the rest of the crew off shore leave and get back here on the double, I want the rest of that cargo loaded and ready for sailing on the next tide... then bring in the fishing vessel to take our place as normal...."

"Aye sir" and with that the Bosun disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

[GunnerJ]

"Go get our wings Ace. We'll saddle up and come running when you set down over in the forty acre."

Ace almost didn't hear the Ork, lost in thought as he was, but after a second of staring at him, comprhension came. "Ah, I thought that planning would never end. No problem, I'll be back in a flash."

Looking over at Ace, Bluebird said, "Fancy someone to come along for the ride? I already know my equipment is fine, spent all of last night cleaning and oiling it all...."

Now this was interesting. Is she offering to guard me? I'm just picking up a rental. But I do need someone to drive the van back... what am I saying? I can't let he drive the 'Master!

Then again, he hadn't expected anyone to attack him as happened earlier today. A gunner would have been handy then, and she and the rest did show up pretty quickly... and anyway, the chopper might be big enough to store the Roadmaster in it, if it was the cargo version...

"That's good to hear. Let's go then." After checking in with Codec as to what information would be necessary to get his wings, they headed out.

It wasn't until they got to the Roadmaster that he realized the enormity of what was going to happen. He reached for the Van's jack-in cables... and stopped. Tonight I'm going to fly. The Osprey wasn't a hell-screaming sky-render like the fighters he used to fly, but neither was it tethered by gravity like the Roadmaster. I will be in the air again, I will feel the wind whip over my wings like they were my own arms, and my heartbeat will fill the sky with the sound of fury. It made him giddy to think about it. He decided not to jack in. If they'd need fancy driving, he'd do it, but he wanted to wait. It had been so long, and he felt like a blue-balled sailor come home from an ocean crossing, but he'd wait until he got back to his true love to spend his energies.

"What's that stupid grin you've got there for, Ace?" Bluebird asked. "You look like you're on your way to get some, and I can tell you right now, I am not up for joining the mile high club, so don't get any ideas."

Ace laughed. "Don't worry about it. Just... you wouldn't understand." He saw her give him a disbelieving look, but he ignored her and drove on.

[Silverspur_2020]

She could see the excitement in his face.. and while he drove along in a happy silence, she simply checked her pistol and the three clips of spare ammo she had bought along for the ride.

[Mysterio]

Codec watched as Ace and Bluebird left. I hope this all goes accordingly....

[Rakshasa]

In this latitude twilight lasts about thirty minutes at this time of year. Standing on the cliff top, waiting for the plane, the rest of the runners had a few moments to savour the dying sun as it dipped below the horizon, setting the wave tops of the Pacific to flaming red.

The drone of the Osprey approaching alerted them and adrenaline began to flow. Ace banked and brought the cargo plane in for a perfect three point landing on the forty acre, screaming venturi spreading dust high all around Flip, Seeoh, Codec and Greasy. No need for a runway, which was a blessing. Trying to flatten the forty acre would have taken a year, and the Team were Runners, not farmers.

It took a few minutes for the Rigger to off-load his van before they could all settle in and buckle up. Greasy's drones, ready and fully loaded, went into the cargo bay last. Came the time, they would exit first, guns ready for artillery support when the operation started.

The long lengths of inch thick nylon ropes with which the Team would absail down to the Lady Jane were attached to the dogs either side of the cargo hatch whilst the decker used the Osprey's power grid to fire his deck in order to keep watch on the Harbourmaster's system.

The VTOL lifted into the darkening sky for the short hop to the six mile rendezvous with the Lady Jane and destiny.