IC: Infection, Periclitor Veritas Options

[TinkerGnome]

Almost three hours after the meet at the steakhouse broke up, a late model Brumby cruises past the outside of the Yukon apartment building, scoping the place out. The code to the underground parking facility was in his pocket, but he decided to radio ahead first. Callsigns hadn't been agreed on, so he did the best that he could.

Hey, party planner, one of the guests is coming around to visit. Everything frosty?

[grendel]

The voice that breaks in on the other end of the line is distant and cold.

"Base here, you're Two. One is on site already. Surveillance shows everything clear. Proceed."

Grendel switches automatically through his comm panel, network windows shifting in response to his silent commands.

[Shadow]

Shadow smiled at Warpaths sly code signal. He grabbed his comm and turned the volume up.

Guest this is party planner, the drinks are cold and ready, come on in.

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath nodded to himself and turned toward the garage. He radioed back, "Roger, Base. One, is this a private venue or are there other events going on nearby?"

He punched in the code and rolled into the garage itself.

[A Clockwork Lime]

After getting into the Ford with Onna and pulling out onto the street, the two have a pleasant conversation as he drives her to where she needs to go.

Once he dropped her off, Scratch headed back to his pad in Renton to pick up a few things. On the way, he decided to give Atomix a call.

"Hey man, it's Scratch." He spent a few moments just shooting the breeze with his old friend until he 'subtly' brought the conversation back to business. "Looks like I'm going back in the bush soon, and I'm gonna need a few toys. How many bug juice jellybeans and crunchy meatballs* do you think you can have ready for me in the next twenty-four hours or so? How about some spare clips for the Hellfire brothers? I'll need about four for each if you can get to cookin' on those, too."

[Buddha72]

Upon returning to home Onna quickly gathers her things into a rather plain looking duffle bag. She changes into her riding gear, taking time to refer to her notes on exactly how everything goes on. As she dresses, she makes arrangements.

Yuki, please stop by and tell Zha Min Su that I will not be able to work for awhile but I have some money to help fund the new food bank. I will leave it in the usual place so she can collect it. She feels the connection between them flair with understanding as she moves to a spot on the floor and uncovers a concealed hole. She places a 5k of nuyen there and reseals it. When I am done, may I join you? This thing seems more complicated than most jobs. With an inward sigh of relief she replies Yes, please. I need another set of eyes and ears for this one. I have liittle experience working with strangers. I miss the companionship of Kayla and the others. There is something to be said about a team working in this business.

She lugs the bag out through a side door in the wall surrounding the garden of the temple. Parked there is a Blitizen, looking almost brand new. She secures her bag on the back. She grabs the helmet and after several minutes gets the autonav programmed with the address of the meet. She sits back and nervously allows the motorcycle to drive her there.

[Fenris]

The bike is still moving at a good clip when it rounds the corner, decelerating rapidly and coming to a sudden stop in front of the gate, just slow enough not to burn rubber or make any noise. He punches in the given code, popping the clutch to jolt the bike suddenly up to speed as he pulls into the parking garage.

A few moments later he triggers his com, no harm in being cautious.

"Shadows are knocking, are we still welcome?"

[Shadow]

Roger that, the door is open, and the party is just getting started.

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath parked his Brumby and used his datajack connection to send the passenger seat sliding forward. He reclined his own seat and worked into the back. Under the cover of the opaque windows, he rummaged through the gear piled in the back of the vehicle. After about five minutes, he exited the vehicle through the driver's door and headed for the apartment with a military style rucksack and a hardsided synthesizer case.

He climbs up to the address on the card and calls over the comm. "Two to One. Knock knock."

[Blitz]

:: After finishing her mild study, she takes the time to wash each object clean of impressions before having her vehicle stop momentarily in an alleyway. Disposing of the items in a large dumpster used at a restaurant, she resets the autonav to the safehouse location. ::

:: As she approaches comm range, she sets her unit to the decided frequencies and announces her approach. ::

"Approaching base. All clear?"

[Digital Heroin]

After a quick check to make sure his RV is untouched, Immortal switches out of his leather, sliding into his Form Fitting Body Armor. He slings on his Franchi Spas, sluffs on a long coat, and re-holsters his Guardian. No point in showing up to the meet looking like some ganger punk after all.

He arrives to the meet two busses and a half hour on foot later. Three cigarillo's down, he lights up another one and makes his presence known to the others.

[grendel]

"Four, Base, nothing on surveillance, you're clear to proceed."

[A Clockwork Lime]

Ol' Scratch
Somewhere in Seattle · Thursday, August 21st, 2063 · 8:07pm

After hanging up with the dwarf, Scratch clicked his phone closed and tucked it into his jacket. He slipped the card Shadow had given him from his sleeve and read over it, punching the address into the autonav as best he could. It balked and bitched at his inferior programming skills a few times, but he eventually got it to accept the address. A little more bantering and dashboard slapping had the onboard computer shifting the Ford back to its broken-down paintjob as the sedan made its way through the evening traffic.

Twenty minutes later, the autonav was blurping at him that he was getting close. He switched to manual drive and turned into an old parking garage about four blocks from the address. Scratch then proceeded to tuck his Hellblazer inside its holster under his coat and got out of the car, locking it up on the third floor near the stairwell. With a pop, the trunk flipped open revealing a huge hunter's arsenal of ammo and other gadgets. Scratch plucked out a busted old transciever, clipped it to his belt, and wired the cord through his sleeve. He then connected the external transducer and jacked it into his wrist port. That initial squeelch of white noise always made him wince.

He then slammed the trunk closed and proceeded to make his way to the safehouse. Almost subconsciously, he kept to the shadows and more often than not, it almost seemed like they were reaching out to protect him from the one or two street lamps that were still remarkably in working order. The security systems and drones never saw him coming.

Every now and then he could hear a faint bit of chatter on the frequency they had agreed on, but he never piped up. It was always one of his favorite tests with a new team -- if they could spot him before he got to the door, he knew he was working with the cream of the crop.

Needless to say, he was a little disappointed when he knocked on the front door before there were any signs of their reaction to his approach.

"Knock, knock, knock," he muttered through the transducer. "The Eighth Wonder of the World is rapping at your chamber door."

[Buddha72]

After several tries she finally arrives at the meet point. Onna allows the bike to park itself and begins to unstrap the duffel. Taking a moment she fumbles with her micro-transceiver. "Seven here and I am coming in." She lugs the bag through the parking garage towards the unit.

[grendel]

"Seven, Base, area clear, proceed."

[Shadow]

"Base, one. Looks like everyones here why don't you come in and join the party."

[grendel]

"One, Base, concur, on the way."

With the arrival of the last team member, Grendel shifts his network protocols to his remote, checking all interlocks green across the board. He disliked having to conduct business face to face, but it was reassuring when a team first assembled to be able to read the individuals you would be working with. Not that his body language betrayed much, but he would compromise in the name of team dynamic. He moved quickly across the street and into the parking garage of the structure, watching the surveillance cameras from the corner of his eye. He would not give them anything more to go on than a tall, dark (meta)human shape. Once inside the fire stairs, he paused long enough to verify that he was alone before ascending to the apartment's floor. Stepping out of the stairwell, he brought his comm interface live again. In response to his call, the apartment door opens and he steps inside, closing it quietly behind himself.

[TinkerGnome]

Inside the apartment, Warpath's vision went fuzzy white for an instant before he cut off his ultrasonic vision. "White noise," he mumbled as the vision modes switched and compensated for the lack of one system. His orientation map, which had been carefully plotting his progress from the Brumby suddenly stopped, leaving him hanging a meter off the map in his head.

He took a look around the apartment and nodded to Shadow. "Nice place you've got here," he said as he floped down in a chair, drawing the synthesizer case across his knees as he did so and letting the rucksack rest beside the chair. He stretched and yawned, his vat-grown muscles rippling under his clothing as he did so.

As the last of the team arrived, he gave a half grin and asked the question that had been on his mind since the meet. "So... how do you kill these bug things? I only know what I've picked up in shadowtalk, an' that's probably all someone talkin' drek. I've never had to deal with the blighters before, personally."

[Blitz]

:: She seems mildly confused at Grendel's response and continues to listen to the radio chatter a bit before she realizes she was designated as Seven. ::

"Oh right. Seven here. On my way in."

:: Leading the Elite down into the garage, she grimaces as she realizes her car well doubles the obvious values of the cars within. True, many of those cars could be well maintained and modified under their ratty shells, but that just made her jet black executive ride all the more tasty. All she can do is pray that the SOTA alarm Buzzard had installed would do the trick. ::

:: Taking a moment to stare at her image in the mirror, she realizes her current look was far too out of place in this area and with a though, her hair tangles itself into a matty nest of dull brown coarse and broken hair. Her makeup fades away and is replaced by a rather ruddy unhealthy complexion and her lips crack making her look dehydrated. A moment later, the well tailored business suit shifts into a dark blue synthetic shirt and a faded urban brawl jacket over a pair of loosefitting jeans and a pair of dirt stained athletic shoes. The look makes her appear frumpy, flat broke and unattractive. ::

:: She enters the lobby carying nothing, her gear easily stashed into the many deep pockets her disguise possessed, as she pauses a moment to astrally study the lobby area. Satisfied that it was absent of threats, she moves to the stairs and mounts them. ::

:: Reaching the room, she knocks on the door and smiles to whoever answers, her teeth looking yellowed and unpleasant. ::

[Shadow]

After Grendel comes in Shadow walks back into the room. He hops up on the counter and folds his legs.

"Alright, so were all here. So let's start by summing up the operation. A party or parties unknown who appear to work for the Draco foundation would like us to raid an Ares Macrotech building to retrieve pictures and, if possible data, from their security network detailing the presence of bug spirits and their uses for them in their research, as well as attempting to engage and destroy the bug spirits." Shadow pauses and looks around to see if everyone agrees with the assessment of the mission.

"Well this ain't going to be pretty. Suggestions?"

[A Clockwork Lime]

"Kill all power to the facility, ram the gates with a semi, and storm in with a big can of Raid. There's our baseline. Let's improve from there."

[Blitz]

:: As she runs a hand through her ratty hair, her skin regains it's healthy complexion, her hair is once again clean, though a much more casual style than at the restaurant, and her clothing shifts into a well fitted pair of blue jeans and a soft white blouse. ::

"Well, while I admire your boldness, I think it lacks a certain finesse. I have a feeling the building would be prepared for that eventuality. Most buildings with moderate to high security also develop landscaping and access roads that intentionally make any ram attempt fruitless. There usually isn't enough room available to get up enough speed to break through the walls and cause any remarkable damage. More than anything, that type of tactic is common with the eco-terrorist groups. Therefore common enough to make the effort to prevent it from occuring."

"I do agree that a direct assualt is probably our best bet. With the bugs running around inside, I sure as hell don't want to try a stealth mission. What we probably need is a bit of recon on the facility. See if we can track down blueprints or something similar over the 'trix and get eyes on the building to see what kind of approach the facility has."

"Has anyone ever actually fought the buggers? All I know about them is that there supposed to be lethal and scary."

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath laughs. "Now that's a plan a man could sink his teeth into." He gives a grin. "I guess the first step is for us to confirm that there are bugs on site, and if so how many. I've no clue how to do that, but magic, drones, or the Matrix sound like good choices. If there are bugs in the house, then that just leaves us with the question of how to deal with them."

He leans back in his chair which creaks softly as he does so. "I say we don't deal with any more of the bastards than we have to. Get in, get the data, get out. Stealth in, big bang on the other side as a distraction, stealth out. All that is supposing that Ms. Draco's playing us straight, which is something I'll file under "wishful thinking that don't fraggin' happen in the real fraggin' world" for now."

"Anything on that facility map?" he asks. "I'd like a copy, if nothin' else."

[grendel]

"Reconnaissance should be the first order of business. I can put eyes on target, but as Warpath has suggested, it would behoove us to include a magical recon as well. As for how best to go in, how long does our matrix support think it will take to locate and recover the information required? That time delay will dictate whether or not we must overcome the initial security measures by stealth or if we can utilize point direct firepower."

[A Clockwork Lime]

"I might be able to get my hands on some blueprints of the facility. Especially stuff like utility connections, maintenance shafts, sewage exits, and that kinda drek."