IC: Reclaiming the Void Options

[Buddha72]

"I second that plan!" D'zan's face lights up even more at the thought of him being able to provide the distraction.

[Redjack]

Cafe Diem

Last to arrive, Papa orders a large drink and a pair sandwiches as he sits. "Let's add a little hiding in plain sight for our insertion. For instance, people tend to 'not see' a troll in a grounds keeper uniform. Then, throw in the distraction, some door kicking and make some on the fly decisions for the exit. Start with a blending to get out... fall back to jack a car and boogy." He starts a search for campus activities, then noticing the humming, he reaches down and touches the stone.

[Buddha72]

D'zan flits his way to under the table in the cafe, still feeling the heavy cloak of his glamour keeping other from noticing him but still wanting to keep things as calm as possible. If he behaved long enough they were going to let him loose on the campus to raise a ruckus and sow chaos. He almost giggled out loud at the picture of coeds running and screaming, the terror and panic on their faces.

Shaking himself out of his pleasant imaginings, he begins to hum softly and weave the magic around him into complex patterns. He quickly laced a weave of mana over his own body and tied it to his own self, feeling the magic quicken his heart and lend speed to his limbs. He passed the spell on to a focus, watching it hold the spell steady while he cast again. This time weaving an enchantment to better his aim with the bow he acquired in the Troll Market. Details jumped out at him and he watched as every thing seemed sharper and crisper to his eyes. That weave was placed in the belt and quiver as it sunk into the leather and pulsed in time with his heart. The last weaving was a shell around his body, a thick and sturdy construct that would turn aside blows and bullets alike keeping his flesh untouched and unmarred. H released the final spell into its focus and nodded in satisfaction. His personal magic should keep the glow hidden from most till it was time to act.

He hovered back up to sit at the table's edge, out of the way of arms and people to listen as the plan unfolded.

[BishopMcQ]

Cafe Diem

A holoprojection of the campus spreads across the table, readily visible to your table, but protected from view by the booth walls. Events begin to populate across the campus, with small tags hovering over different buildings with names and times. There is a movie screening tonight at the Kline Theater, two poetry readings in the Brighter Tomorrow student center, and a party at the Phi Beta Chi house.

Next week there are several guest speakers, movie screenings, and concerts scheduled across the campus. Near the end of the month is the 69th Annual Revolutionary Ball.

Papa

The stone's warmth pulses in time to the blood in your veins. There is a sense of distance in the presence, as if its attention was focused elsewhere. It's similar to seeing someone in VR rather than asleep.

[JxJxA]

"It looks like later is better...how about moving around 11PM or 11:15? Give the college kids a chance to eat, drink, and be ripe for inciting a distraction? I think D'zan could probably whip them into a frenzy that would keep campus security away from our target."

[Fenris]

"Sounds good. D'zan, how specific was your sense of where the book is? Do we have an office, a building, or a chunk of the campus to comb through?"

[Buddha72]

"Just a second, let me see if not then I am pretty sure once we're there it will lead me straight to it."

D'zan closes his eyes and reaches into himself looking for that tug that leads to the items. Breathing out he focuses on the book and pushes his awareness out to see what he can find out.

[BishopMcQ]

D'zan

Reaching out, you feel the pull of the item--your liegesense guiding you to your prey. At this distance, it is a dull sense of direction. When you traveled the city earlier and narrowed it down to the campus, you noticed that the closer you got the stronger the sense was. You feel confident that as you get closer, you will be able to point to the building, and once inside, the room itself.

[Buddha72]

Opening his eyes and shaking his head to clear it, D'zan smiles revealing his sharp teeth.

"The closer I get the more definitive the feeling so on campus I can lead you to the building then the room no problem."

[Redjack]

Papa smiles. "And if we need a second distraction, a fire alarm or two will suffice."

In another window, he does a few quick searches of pictures from the campus looking for one including a maintenance worker. He then orders a few jumpsuits in the same style for himself, D'zan and Uetz. He also gets a backpack in the same color to hold his weapon. He pulls down maps of the campus as well as street maps of the nearby area in case they need a speedy escape.

Once the meet is over and he has a chance for some downtime, he spends some time looking for an exploit on the college security network.

[Fenris]

Argent studies the pictures Papa downloaded, face fluttering through a few variations as he stares into the mirror in the bathroom back at the house, practicing until his disguise came quickly and with a minimum of focus.

Transforming the troll was going to be another matter...

[BishopMcQ]

Hours pass by as the team work on different activities. Shortly after dinner, there is a knock on the door and light grey coveralls are dropped off. The coveralls are ill-fitting, pieces with adjustable ties to customize them slightly. They don't have the patches like the picture showed, but were the closest Papa could order on such short notice.

Three hours into probing the campus security node, Papa finds a backdoor into the system. It looks like a glitch in one of the security updates missed a subroutine. It should suffice to gain root access into the node.

Shortly after the eleventh chime rings out from the school bell tower, the team sets foot on the campus. AROs float around the school reminding you that UCLA is a public broadcast zone--all individuals on campus will be subject to search and detention if they are not bearing proper identification. The campus is clean, with obvious efforts by the janitorial staff to improve the campus during the downtime between classes. Pools of light spill across walkways, while most of the building entrances are dark. The library, bioresearch, and comp-sci buildings all glow with lights on every floor. The rest have sporadic lights on, as if forgotten by individual faculty.

D'zan feels the pull into the campus, somewhere past the bioresearch building. Astral space flickers and shines with energy.

[JxJxA]

As the sun goes down, Uetz hears his summoned spirit speak to him as he prepares at home for the run.

The sun has crossed the horizon, and I am released from my duties, Nahualli.

Thank you, mighty warrior, Uetz replies, and bows to the departing spirit. He settles down and attempts to call a slightly stronger version of his people's guardians. He casts the net, but this time something is very different.

"How dare you disturb me, Nahualli! If you seek to my service, prove your worth! Pit your will against mine!"

Surprised, Uetz does his best to resist the spirit's attack, but he suddenly feels the very fabric of his body tear apart. Blood drizzles from his eyes and gushes from his nose. He collapses to the ground, reeling from the war of wills.

"I guess," he rasps, "I was not worthy."

Brother! shrieks Quauhtli.

I am all right, sister. I just need rest, and then I will tend my wounds. He cleans himself up in the bathroom and then lays down on his bed, setting his PAN to awake him in an hour. When he arises his mind is less cloudy, but the wounds from the struggle still hurt him. He goes to the bathroom and treats himself as best as he can. Fortunately, most of the wounds are superficial---cellular necrosis around surface capillaries. He manages to patch himself up almost as good as new. At least it was not fire this time, he thinks to himself.

[BishopMcQ]

Campus

The air shimmers around Uetz as mana courses through his body which bore the cuts and burns of the spirit's wrath at being brought forth. A few seconds later, the shaman has his medkit spread out on the ground around him and he begins to patch himself up. When he's finished, he packs the kit away and again begins to summon forth a spirit, his voice resonates off the concrete buildings with power as he chants in a primal tongue.

No spirit comes forth and Uetz suddenly twists to the side as if struck a blow. A warm wind and the smell of the jungle blows through the campus, as he again reaches into the aether to empower is mind. The medkit comes out again and painkillers and bandages flow freely splinting the bruised but luckily not broken ribs. He chuckles to himself, a conversation happening between him and the ancient gods which fuel his power. The barest hint of power seeps out this time, a subtle and insidious flow into the obsidian charm around his neck. The power fades with a released breath and the spark forms again into a strong flame that resonates once in the charm and fades from view.

Astral

The astral space around the spot you are standing, shows obvious strain from the constant use in such a short time. In the distance, an astral form slowly comes into resolution. It is approaching slowly for a creature only limited by thought.

[JxJxA]

I cannot---no, I WILL not watch you come to harm any longer, brother! Suddenly, ethereal emerald scales coalesce over Uetz's form with gold feathers bristling from under each scale. The feathers swirl about him, and both scale and feather slowly separate.

"Feathers astral am I, born of heavens. Scales material are you, born of earth. Together, we are the flying serpent. I am Quauhtli, you are Uetzcayotl. Together, we are Quetzalcoatl," says a female voice, eerily similar to Uetz's own. The feathers swirl about and float into the shape of a golden eagle, although at some angles the feathers seem momentarily shimmer with the same jade green color of the quetzal.

"Sister?!?" remarks Uetz, surprised by the display. He answers in Nahuatl, the same language Quauhtli and he speak to each other.

"Yes, brother. I have flown from Tamanoachan, the home of the gods, bearing gifts of wisdom." As she speaks, waves of mana shimmer and wash over Uetz.

"You are my compassion, brother. Just as I am your courage. Alone we are strong, but together we are unstoppable."

[JxJxA]

"Enough, though, something approaches. I cannot yet tell if it is friend, foe, or fool." Quauhtli's switches her speech to English as she chirps the warning. Her head snaps in the direction of the approaching astral entity, focusing on an otherwise normal point on the material horizon.

"Prepare yourself for the battle, Ikniuh. I shall hope for the best, but I will expect the worst."

[JxJxA]

As Uetz begins casting, Quauhtli's eyes narrow as her stare pierces the veil between the physical and astral.

"The figure is like you, Ikniuh: a mortal graced with the Astral's favor. It is a powerful presence whose magic surpasses your own, untouched by the taint of the motherless flesh or breathless steel. I cannot yet tell if it means you and your allies harm, but it's aura bears the the color of a wizard's chosen weapons. I can say this: it's mood is sour, if not foul. Be prepared to do battle." The last sentence is directed towards the group, and the Eagle hops to the forefront of the group. She looks over each member, judging their mettle with her unblinking, unrelenting gaze.

"You," she says to D'zan after a moment, "you have the bearing of a warrior, or at least your sympathies have grown dull to pain and suffering. Make ready."

"I am glad to have you stand with us, Hueltiuh," Uetz says to his Twin.

"As am I," replies the Eagle with what almost looks like a grin---if birds had lips or if beaks could smile. "Let us resolve to make our reunion last more than this moment."

[Redjack]

As the team approaches campus and the ARO's provide their warnings, they also scream silently in Papa's head: You forgot identification. Despite the oversight, the troll smiled; He was prepared for just such an incident. His stealth load active alongside several other appropriate programs, he penetrates the security node. Once inside, he goes to work scanning the system for staff that resemble the disguised team members who are not elsewhere on campus. Once he locates three, he issues campus identification and updates the schedule to show them on shift. He then slips in a backdoor, edits the logs and logs out.

//Authentication Failure//

He then uploads the identification to his teammates comlinks....

[BishopMcQ]

In the Security Node

Papa quickly moves through the security node. The system sculpture is a modified version of the Unified Matrix Standard iconography which Horizon has been pushing, for public usage to simplify computer access. Next to every UCLA logo is the emblazoned sun for Horizon. The security files for ID badges come up and after quickly scanning them to be sure they match, he begins to look for the work schedule.

There's a flash across his vision, //Authentication Failure//. The schedule gets updated to show the workers as "on-campus" just before the connection terminates.

[Buddha72]

D'zan feels the quickening of his blood at the thought of possible conflict. He feels the enchantments woven into his body and through his senses, keeping him prepared for whatever may unfold. He reached through his connection to Leo and feels the pulse of warmth and unity as they weave a bet over the group of protective mana.

"Well well well what do we have here..."

[Redjack]

Papa grimaces. Any spider worth his salt will unravel those logs pretty quickly.... What the hell happened?

<<@Team [Papa] Listen: These IDs have a very short life span. My paranoia is acting up making me want to make some last minute changes. We can move fast or I can trace those student IDs from earlier today and re-spoof us..?>>

He then deploys both his fly spies at a range of 50m circling the team to provide Papa something a a surveillance grid to the team.

[JxJxA]

As Papa Smurf's message scrawls across Uetz's PAN, he fires off a quick reply.

<<@ Team [Uetz]: Looks like we are going to be moving sooner rather than later. We have something on the astral incoming. Get ready for a fight.>>

[Buddha72]

Spying the approaching figure and feeling confident in his ability to be undetected and get the drop on this entity, D'zan reaches out through his connection to Leo to draw on his power to augment his own. He feels the resistance at the same time he hears the thought.

We're not killing here, just stun or disrupt?

While phrased as a question he knows the power will only come with his agreement to make this non-lethal.

I'll just weave an enchantment to render he or she unconscious but I'm going to give it a little more kick than usual since it's another Awakened being.

With his promise the well of power opens to him and flows through him. He reaches out for the threads of ambient mana and weaves it into a single focused stream which he releases towards the entity attempting to connect to several vital points in its aura and disrupt it. He feels his body pulse and burn from the flows of magic - he is drawing past his ability to safely channel. As he releases the enchantment he mutters under his breath.

"A simple spell for you, a gift from me. To sleep's black embrace I cosign thee."

[BishopMcQ]

On campus

A visible bending of the air around the pixie streaks across the grounds toward the approaching astral form. D'zan can feel the effort of his will peeled back as it strikes against the other's mind. With the added strength of Leo though, the form stood no chance.

A scream echoes across the astral as the form dissipates.

[Buddha72]

D'zan looks over the astral and begins to erase the echoes of his spell from the ambient mana, quickly unbinding it to make it harder to read later. With an unfocused stare he speaks.

'We should go somewhere else soon and get this party started. Who is going where and let's get going."