<<This seems to be a bigger operation. The sniper has astral support. I'm calling my spirit away - the last thing I want is to be tied to an assassination attempt.>>
Through is connection to the Kami he called: 'Thank you for your help, you can depart if you wish.'
Full Version: Umbrae Europae [IC] (part 3) - Mist of Nycthemeron
#93
"Rex, I need to get out and to do it now. You could help me with your mojo?"
"Rex, I need to get out and to do it now. You could help me with your mojo?"
<<I'm on it. Try to go get outside to an open part of the structure like one of the viewing platforms. I'll have a spirit drop by and fetch you.>>
Now free of his obligations to the beast kami, Rex could call on the power of an old Kami from the Court of Heavens.
The roiling form of a thunder cloud appeared in the astral and Rex used again his most deferential tone: 'Honored Thunderer, I call on you for help - my friend is stuck up on the high tower, besieged by those who would harm us. Please fetch him and his dog and conceal them from all prying eyes.'
Rex gave the kami also a mental image of Waywalker as well as his most likely location, updating it through the mental link as soon as Waywalker would tell him where he was.
Now free of his obligations to the beast kami, Rex could call on the power of an old Kami from the Court of Heavens.
[ Spoiler ]
The roiling form of a thunder cloud appeared in the astral and Rex used again his most deferential tone: 'Honored Thunderer, I call on you for help - my friend is stuck up on the high tower, besieged by those who would harm us. Please fetch him and his dog and conceal them from all prying eyes.'
Rex gave the kami also a mental image of Waywalker as well as his most likely location, updating it through the mental link as soon as Waywalker would tell him where he was.
#94
Waywalker nodded to the Matrix communication and went to one of the open platforms. "I'll do my best. Hope we can get away soon. Last thing I want is to deal with police."
Waywalker nodded to the Matrix communication and went to one of the open platforms. "I'll do my best. Hope we can get away soon. Last thing I want is to deal with police."
Waywalker rushed toward a nearby platform. It was more challenging than one would expect as the crowd was actively going in the opposite direction. And the sniper, apparently, decided to fire a couple more rounds, dropping - apparently randomly - two others person. Waywalker took no chance and reached a platform as far way as possible from the shots's point of origin (as far as he could guess).
The door leading to the balcon was locked, but the rigger did not let that stop him. Pushing all his weight against the door frame, the simple lock caved in almost immediately. As he stepped on the balcon the first thing he noticed was the very cold draft. The second floor of the Effeil Tower is already towering a bit above the one hundred meters. High enough for it to be cold despite Paris smog and the time being late march.
Waywalker also realized how expose and visible he was. The Effeil Tower had its own set of illumination for the evening - making it shine like a fragging huge Christmas tree and the all the surrounding space - from the Trocadéro to the Champs de Mars, had also their own set of street lights along with some very shiny billboard. A large of number of drone was already hovering towering the monument, along with at least two or three choppers. One of them was dispatched by NeoPD was clearly looking for the sniper's nest, but the other one was clearly rushing toward the restaurant. Waywalker was quickly able to spot the Doc Wagon logo on it.
Given the amount of attention, Waywalker was suddenly not sure that his partner plan to flying him down the building would be the most discreet one...
The door leading to the balcon was locked, but the rigger did not let that stop him. Pushing all his weight against the door frame, the simple lock caved in almost immediately. As he stepped on the balcon the first thing he noticed was the very cold draft. The second floor of the Effeil Tower is already towering a bit above the one hundred meters. High enough for it to be cold despite Paris smog and the time being late march.
Waywalker also realized how expose and visible he was. The Effeil Tower had its own set of illumination for the evening - making it shine like a fragging huge Christmas tree and the all the surrounding space - from the Trocadéro to the Champs de Mars, had also their own set of street lights along with some very shiny billboard. A large of number of drone was already hovering towering the monument, along with at least two or three choppers. One of them was dispatched by NeoPD was clearly looking for the sniper's nest, but the other one was clearly rushing toward the restaurant. Waywalker was quickly able to spot the Doc Wagon logo on it.
Given the amount of attention, Waywalker was suddenly not sure that his partner plan to flying him down the building would be the most discreet one...
[ Spoiler ]
<<Alright, the Kami has seen you. It will envelop you and carry you down along the western pillar. Try to keep your face covered, this won't be a smooth ride.>>
'Damn, this settles it, I need to learn the invisibility spell.'
'Damn, this settles it, I need to learn the invisibility spell.'
It may have been natural to fly or be carried around by invisible spirit for Rex but it was not for Waywalker. He had somehow hoped that the feeling would be akin to be jumped in into a flying drone, but it was not. Inside a drone, Waywalker would be in charge. Here he was just lifted by big, surreal gush of air, that appeared to push him over the balcony and put him in a state of control fall. The rigger was terrified and was doing his best to keep his cool...
[ Spoiler ]
#95
"Holy drek... my partecipation in the next meet will be limited at the Matrix, I swear!" Waywalker was pretty upset by the ride, but then remembered the other option -
facing the police - and regained his cool blood. He set his deck to jam all nearby drones so they wouldn't transmit his image.
"Holy drek... my partecipation in the next meet will be limited at the Matrix, I swear!" Waywalker was pretty upset by the ride, but then remembered the other option -
facing the police - and regained his cool blood. He set his deck to jam all nearby drones so they wouldn't transmit his image.
[ Spoiler ]
<<Keep cool, there are adrenaline junkies that would pay premium to get such a ride. Once you reach the park, keep moving west. Just pretend you are on a stroll through the park with your dog. The Kami will follow you in the astral and keep you save.>>
Rex had moved to the front, sitting in the passenger seat. Time to pick Waywalker up and get out of here.
Rex had moved to the front, sitting in the passenger seat. Time to pick Waywalker up and get out of here.
[ Spoiler ]
#96
Waywalker somehow landed.
"Well, now let's go to the van..."
Waywalker somehow landed.
"Well, now let's go to the van..."
[ Spoiler ]
Keeping taps on Waywalker through the Kami, Rex made sure to steer him away from the by now arriving police masses.
<<Keep going on the western path, head a bit south at the kiosk to avoid the crowd there and take a short cut through the grass to get to the parking lot. The foliage should give you cover against drone surveillance.>>
<<Keep going on the western path, head a bit south at the kiosk to avoid the crowd there and take a short cut through the grass to get to the parking lot. The foliage should give you cover against drone surveillance.>>
The general chaos on the "parvis de la Tour Effeil" certainly helped Waywalker getting away from the place. Rex and him had acted quickly enough for him to have landed on the ground before the NeoPD security could be on sight. However, Rex, from the astral, could see that the place was now swarming with spirits, probably summoned and sent by the same security. He was happy his own Kami was down was Waywalker for the time being.
The rigger left the immediate vicinity of the monument rather quickly, and following his partner advises, got "lost" into the nearby district, pretending to be simply walking his dog. The poor creature had certainly registered for jumping off the tower and be carried around by an air spirit. The poor dog was still shacking, and the Italian runner had to even partially carry him out of the touristic zone. However, the improvised escape plan appears to be working fine and a few minutes after the dramatic shooting - one could still hear the police sirens and general commotion over there, Waywalker's own car stopped next to him and the door opened. Rex, still in his dog shape was there inside waiting for him to come in...
The rigger left the immediate vicinity of the monument rather quickly, and following his partner advises, got "lost" into the nearby district, pretending to be simply walking his dog. The poor creature had certainly registered for jumping off the tower and be carried around by an air spirit. The poor dog was still shacking, and the Italian runner had to even partially carry him out of the touristic zone. However, the improvised escape plan appears to be working fine and a few minutes after the dramatic shooting - one could still hear the police sirens and general commotion over there, Waywalker's own car stopped next to him and the door opened. Rex, still in his dog shape was there inside waiting for him to come in...
[ Spoiler ]
<<That was really exciting. I for one could do with something to eat and a good nights sleep, before we go on our shopping trip.
Actually, I think I really need to go and learn the invisibility spell for our next mission. That was entirely to exciting for my taste. Say what you want about our employer, but the meeting in the sewers was quite a bit safer - all things considered.>>
Rex replied.
When they had gotten their food, Rex immediately began to make some calls, inquiring through his contact in Germany who in Paris could provide him with the spell.
Actually, I think I really need to go and learn the invisibility spell for our next mission. That was entirely to exciting for my taste. Say what you want about our employer, but the meeting in the sewers was quite a bit safer - all things considered.>>
Rex replied.
[ Spoiler ]
When they had gotten their food, Rex immediately began to make some calls, inquiring through his contact in Germany who in Paris could provide him with the spell.
#97
"Wow, that was close to the proverbial drek hitting the fan. I second you in the food and relax request, but while you do your mojo stuff I'll have a look at the hangar more closely..."
"Wow, that was close to the proverbial drek hitting the fan. I second you in the food and relax request, but while you do your mojo stuff I'll have a look at the hangar more closely..."
[ Spoiler ]
While his partner was spending the day learning and practice his new spell, Waywalker opted to spend his jumped into his surveillance drones. He spent the day casing the hangar at the end of the airport. Most of what he observed the first time got confirmed. Also, he confirms that there was very few traffic around the hangar during the day and virtually zero during the night.
Sneaking in should not be difficult - except for dealing with the fence around the airport and the maglock key. At least, for the physical part of the intrusion. The matrix part turned out to be a bit more difficult.
Indeed, thanks to the help of Agent, Waywalker also managed to map all of the camera and devices nearby the facility. Taking the short road from the fence to the door will put anybody on the path of one security camera and only one. Which was a good news. However, the bad news was that this camera is tied to the airport's host and impossible to reach (without being seen). So Waywalker will need to hack the host to doctor the camera's feeds. The host's firewall was as secured as one would imagine from such location.
Of course, to mach his job easier, Waywalker could look for a more accessible device, somewhere in the airport. With such a large facility, there must be somewhere cheap device, not monitored actively. However, it may take time to find it and it may put Waywalker quite far away from the hanger.
The matrix surveillance also brought an other bad news. Buried in the dirt, a few meters from the hangar door, was a "pop up" machine gun. If one of the security camera spots somebody not tagged by an RFID tag, the sentry drone may jumped out of its casing and fire at the intruder...
Sneaking in should not be difficult - except for dealing with the fence around the airport and the maglock key. At least, for the physical part of the intrusion. The matrix part turned out to be a bit more difficult.
Indeed, thanks to the help of Agent, Waywalker also managed to map all of the camera and devices nearby the facility. Taking the short road from the fence to the door will put anybody on the path of one security camera and only one. Which was a good news. However, the bad news was that this camera is tied to the airport's host and impossible to reach (without being seen). So Waywalker will need to hack the host to doctor the camera's feeds. The host's firewall was as secured as one would imagine from such location.
[ Spoiler ]
Of course, to mach his job easier, Waywalker could look for a more accessible device, somewhere in the airport. With such a large facility, there must be somewhere cheap device, not monitored actively. However, it may take time to find it and it may put Waywalker quite far away from the hanger.
[ Spoiler ]
The matrix surveillance also brought an other bad news. Buried in the dirt, a few meters from the hangar door, was a "pop up" machine gun. If one of the security camera spots somebody not tagged by an RFID tag, the sentry drone may jumped out of its casing and fire at the intruder...
[ Spoiler ]
After an exhausting two days of learning a spell - while a Kami with little patience over and over corrected him - Rex felt confident enough to turn himself and other invisible.
Learning about Waywalkers intel, he made a few suggestions:
<<I'll take a look at the facility through the astral tonight. The fence is no problem. I can levitate us over it in seconds. Provided there are no spirits or watchers around, I can also float us above ground level to the camera itself, so it can't spot us. With the invisibility spell I can do that in a way that no mundane guard on the ground can spot us. That way you can plug in directly into the camera and do your thing. You even can use this to open the maglock. The pop up gun could be stopped by placing a large weight on top of it. The only thing that could stop us would be a major defense in the astral. I'll tell you more about it after I'm back.>>
With that Rex once again went back into his lodge and left his body to scout the area from the astral side.
Learning about Waywalkers intel, he made a few suggestions:
<<I'll take a look at the facility through the astral tonight. The fence is no problem. I can levitate us over it in seconds. Provided there are no spirits or watchers around, I can also float us above ground level to the camera itself, so it can't spot us. With the invisibility spell I can do that in a way that no mundane guard on the ground can spot us. That way you can plug in directly into the camera and do your thing. You even can use this to open the maglock. The pop up gun could be stopped by placing a large weight on top of it. The only thing that could stop us would be a major defense in the astral. I'll tell you more about it after I'm back.>>
With that Rex once again went back into his lodge and left his body to scout the area from the astral side.
[ Spoiler ]
#98
Waywalker paused for a moment to analyse their situation, while sending the reports of his work to his partner Rex.
"Ok, your mojo can definitely help us... If I can break into the host we should have no problem with the machine gun, as I will control it. Let me take a look at the airport..."
Waywalker paused for a moment to analyse their situation, while sending the reports of his work to his partner Rex.
"Ok, your mojo can definitely help us... If I can break into the host we should have no problem with the machine gun, as I will control it. Let me take a look at the airport..."
[ Spoiler ]
Wawyalker spent hours flying through the airport, inside his tiny drone. Of course, he had to stay way from most security check points and on boarding point, as the security there could spot the Fly Spy. But still, this left a large chunk of the airport to explore.
After a few hours, he did locate a cheap replacement camera, in a remote part of the airport. The room was barely used, so Waywalker would not be surprised there by security, but it was both far away from the hangar, but also far from any exit of the airport. His escape route, if he had to flee the scene, would take him across several corridor and moving staircase before he could safely exit the building. On the bright side, the camera was an under standard, knockoff of the model used by the rest of the airport and was position in such a bad way that it would be easy to jack into it, unnoticed.
As Waywalker was flying back to the exit of the airport, to get the drone back safely to the safe house, he went through a queue of people waiting to pass security check. But suddenly, one of them tripped, pushing several other people to the ground, and a blink of moment, Waywalker finds himself between a falling body and the ground!
After a few hours, he did locate a cheap replacement camera, in a remote part of the airport. The room was barely used, so Waywalker would not be surprised there by security, but it was both far away from the hangar, but also far from any exit of the airport. His escape route, if he had to flee the scene, would take him across several corridor and moving staircase before he could safely exit the building. On the bright side, the camera was an under standard, knockoff of the model used by the rest of the airport and was position in such a bad way that it would be easy to jack into it, unnoticed.
[ Spoiler ]
As Waywalker was flying back to the exit of the airport, to get the drone back safely to the safe house, he went through a queue of people waiting to pass security check. But suddenly, one of them tripped, pushing several other people to the ground, and a blink of moment, Waywalker finds himself between a falling body and the ground!
[ Spoiler ]
#99
Waywalker was quick to react at the falling body and avoided it. "Damn! For a moment that Troll didn't cost me six grands..."
He then proceeded to inform Rex of his findings.
"I found a backdoor that could help us with the entrance, but I'm afraid I will need to face the host for the exit if I do not want to get found by the spiders...Did you have any luck?"
Waywalker was quick to react at the falling body and avoided it. "Damn! For a moment that Troll didn't cost me six grands..."
He then proceeded to inform Rex of his findings.
"I found a backdoor that could help us with the entrance, but I'm afraid I will need to face the host for the exit if I do not want to get found by the spiders...Did you have any luck?"
[ Spoiler ]
Waywalker reacted with extremely swiftly and managed to navigate the poor microdrone so a maze of falling body and rushing people, back to the safety of the ceiling of the terminal he was. But, still, he got lucky, and it was time to go home. He also wondered what kind of information his partner would bring back.
In the meantime in the astral space surrounding the hangar, Rex's astral form were flying by. Being on such a remote part of the airport gave a weird taste in the place. Rex could feel the concrete being everywhere, the lack of human being, or life in general, all with with a stench of oil. The astral of the airport itself was very hectic and full of constantly moving shapes and colors of all kind - it was dizzying, but the astral nearby the warehouse was dark, quiet and monochromatic. Shades of black and grey.
Among those dim colors, Rex could see also a moving shape. An astral form that seems to be flying around the opaque structure. Indeed, despite being quite frail on the physical plane, the hangar walls were quite dark, and it was not possible for Rex to see through it, as he had hoped. Maybe his vision was also blocked by some kind of Mana Barrier? So the mage decided to assense the building...
... And he quickly found out two things! One, he was right, the hangar was warded by a mana barrier and two, the spirit is spotted earlier has stopped moving and was clearly looking straight to his astral form! For sure, Rex was made. Hard to say if the spirit would care to report the incident, but given how he could feel it read your aura, he was pretty sure it will be able to recognized his astral signature!
In the meantime in the astral space surrounding the hangar, Rex's astral form were flying by. Being on such a remote part of the airport gave a weird taste in the place. Rex could feel the concrete being everywhere, the lack of human being, or life in general, all with with a stench of oil. The astral of the airport itself was very hectic and full of constantly moving shapes and colors of all kind - it was dizzying, but the astral nearby the warehouse was dark, quiet and monochromatic. Shades of black and grey.
Among those dim colors, Rex could see also a moving shape. An astral form that seems to be flying around the opaque structure. Indeed, despite being quite frail on the physical plane, the hangar walls were quite dark, and it was not possible for Rex to see through it, as he had hoped. Maybe his vision was also blocked by some kind of Mana Barrier? So the mage decided to assense the building...
[ Spoiler ]
... And he quickly found out two things! One, he was right, the hangar was warded by a mana barrier and two, the spirit is spotted earlier has stopped moving and was clearly looking straight to his astral form! For sure, Rex was made. Hard to say if the spirit would care to report the incident, but given how he could feel it read your aura, he was pretty sure it will be able to recognized his astral signature!
[ Spoiler ]
Waywalker reacted with extremely swiftly and managed to navigate the poor microdrone so a maze of falling body and rushing people, back to the safety of the ceiling of the terminal he was. But, still, he got lucky, and it was time to go home. He also wondered what kind of information his partner would bring back.
In the meantime in the astral space surrounding the hangar, Rex's astral form were flying by. Being on such a remote part of the airport gave a weird taste in the place. Rex could feel the concrete being everywhere, the lack of human being, or life in general, all with with a stench of oil. The astral of the airport itself was very hectic and full of constantly moving shapes and colors of all kind - it was dizzying, but the astral nearby the warehouse was dark, quiet and monochromatic. Shades of black and grey.
Among those dim colors, Rex could see also a moving shape. An astral form that seems to be flying around the opaque structure. Indeed, despite being quite frail on the physical plane, the hangar walls were quite dark, and it was not possible for Rex to see through it, as he had hoped. Maybe his vision was also blocked by some kind of Mana Barrier? So the mage decided to assense the building...
... And he quickly found out two things! One, he was right, the hangar was warded by a mana barrier and two, the spirit is spotted earlier has stopped moving and was clearly looking straight to his astral form! For sure, Rex was made. Hard to say if the spirit would care to report the incident, but given how he could feel it read your aura, he was pretty sure it will be able to recognized his astral signature!
In the meantime in the astral space surrounding the hangar, Rex's astral form were flying by. Being on such a remote part of the airport gave a weird taste in the place. Rex could feel the concrete being everywhere, the lack of human being, or life in general, all with with a stench of oil. The astral of the airport itself was very hectic and full of constantly moving shapes and colors of all kind - it was dizzying, but the astral nearby the warehouse was dark, quiet and monochromatic. Shades of black and grey.
Among those dim colors, Rex could see also a moving shape. An astral form that seems to be flying around the opaque structure. Indeed, despite being quite frail on the physical plane, the hangar walls were quite dark, and it was not possible for Rex to see through it, as he had hoped. Maybe his vision was also blocked by some kind of Mana Barrier? So the mage decided to assense the building...
[ Spoiler ]
... And he quickly found out two things! One, he was right, the hangar was warded by a mana barrier and two, the spirit is spotted earlier has stopped moving and was clearly looking straight to his astral form! For sure, Rex was made. Hard to say if the spirit would care to report the incident, but given how he could feel it read your aura, he was pretty sure it will be able to recognized his astral signature!
[ Spoiler ]
#100
Waywalker waited for Rex to come back from the astral trip looking up in the Matrix what parts he needed for the Banshee of Racer and how much time would the collection of the parts take...
Waywalker waited for Rex to come back from the astral trip looking up in the Matrix what parts he needed for the Banshee of Racer and how much time would the collection of the parts take...
[ Spoiler ]
Rex' returned in a bad mood. He had been over confident and now he had endangered the mission. With the metaphorical tail between his legs he returned to his body to give Waywalker a report:
<<Bad news: The hangar is magically secured with a barrier of some sort. I couldn't assess it accurately because they also have a kami patrolling the place - and I'm afraid it got a good look at me.
Now that's not too bad, because I have a very hefty astral illusion over my aura - but that's the aura of a mundane dog - and those very rarely do fly around in the astral.
So before we do anything else, I'll have to ask a Kami to track down this Kami back to it's master. Then I'll have to knock both the mage and the Kami out just before we can do our break in or we risk alerting everyone.>>
Rex did as he had just said and set up in his lodge to call a capable Kami.
Rex felt that the Kami were not happy with him at the moment. A sharp pain blossomed through his mind as he felt the presence of the Night Thieve make itself known. He knew he wouldn't get any more favors then the bare minimum, but that wasn't important. At such a remote distance he wouldn't have gotten anything else anyway.
'Honored Night Thieve, I ask you humbly to investigate for me who it is that called the Kami to its task that is patrolling this place. This and nothing more I ask of you.'
<<Bad news: The hangar is magically secured with a barrier of some sort. I couldn't assess it accurately because they also have a kami patrolling the place - and I'm afraid it got a good look at me.
Now that's not too bad, because I have a very hefty astral illusion over my aura - but that's the aura of a mundane dog - and those very rarely do fly around in the astral.
So before we do anything else, I'll have to ask a Kami to track down this Kami back to it's master. Then I'll have to knock both the mage and the Kami out just before we can do our break in or we risk alerting everyone.>>
Rex did as he had just said and set up in his lodge to call a capable Kami.
[ Spoiler ]
Rex felt that the Kami were not happy with him at the moment. A sharp pain blossomed through his mind as he felt the presence of the Night Thieve make itself known. He knew he wouldn't get any more favors then the bare minimum, but that wasn't important. At such a remote distance he wouldn't have gotten anything else anyway.
'Honored Night Thieve, I ask you humbly to investigate for me who it is that called the Kami to its task that is patrolling this place. This and nothing more I ask of you.'
[ Spoiler ]
To Rex's surprise, the Kami came back to him rather quickly. Clearly, the spirit was happy to be done with his task so swiftly:
"I have your bindings, you master of the magical art. I found the summoner. Or rather where he hides. A powerful magical ward forbids the entrance to Kami such as I am, but I know the spellcaster is in there. The building is in the center of the large city you are currently in. Nearby the river."
Without a single more word, the Kami left to go back to the astral realm, but not without leaving a good mental imprint of the location he mentioned to Rex. The mage quickly looked up the matrix to learn more about the place: Quai d'Orsay. The (in)famous HQ of the french Police, now rented to Renraku's Neo-PD. Despite the lack of apparent security around the hangar, the corporation in charge of Paris security has decided to spend some magical resource to protect it...
Waywalker's research also came up with bad news. Between the part needed by Racer and the fact that they had no idea which model - or rather submodel, of GMC Banshee was inside the hangar, it was clear to him, that he would need at least half an hour to dismantle the part. And probably more if he was not there physically but using some kind of remote drone.
"I have your bindings, you master of the magical art. I found the summoner. Or rather where he hides. A powerful magical ward forbids the entrance to Kami such as I am, but I know the spellcaster is in there. The building is in the center of the large city you are currently in. Nearby the river."
Without a single more word, the Kami left to go back to the astral realm, but not without leaving a good mental imprint of the location he mentioned to Rex. The mage quickly looked up the matrix to learn more about the place: Quai d'Orsay. The (in)famous HQ of the french Police, now rented to Renraku's Neo-PD. Despite the lack of apparent security around the hangar, the corporation in charge of Paris security has decided to spend some magical resource to protect it...
Waywalker's research also came up with bad news. Between the part needed by Racer and the fact that they had no idea which model - or rather submodel, of GMC Banshee was inside the hangar, it was clear to him, that he would need at least half an hour to dismantle the part. And probably more if he was not there physically but using some kind of remote drone.
[ Spoiler ]
<<More bad news. The spirit is controlled by a corp mage from Renraku's Neo-PD. How much time will you need inside the hangar? I'll have to try and get the mage when he goes home, as I don't fancy attacking him or her while they are inside a heavily protected police department. Maybe you could do some matrix search on who they have on payroll in there, protecting the airport. That would go a long way to pick the right one. Knocking him out while he sleeps in his bed will be likely a lot easier.>>
Rex informed his partner.
Rex informed his partner.
#101
"Bad news indeed. I'll need an hour or so, and I think I'll need to enter myself with our Evo drone. I should not be obvious if I break into the hangar or not? Will the mojo thing alert the police? I could look it up, but I think it's in a nasty host..."
If I send in only drones, they should be invisible in the astral, correct?
"Bad news indeed. I'll need an hour or so, and I think I'll need to enter myself with our Evo drone. I should not be obvious if I break into the hangar or not? Will the mojo thing alert the police? I could look it up, but I think it's in a nasty host..."
If I send in only drones, they should be invisible in the astral, correct?
<<Yeah, I usually have a very hard time to distinguish them from the gray of the rest of the unliving world. The Kami probably won't be able to notice them all to well while he isn't manifested.
Yes, that could work. Especially if I distract the Kami at the right time.>>
Rex replied.
Yes, that could work. Especially if I distract the Kami at the right time.>>
Rex replied.
[ Spoiler ]
#102
"Well, good to know. I only need to buy another Nestor to do my part inside the hangar and we're good to go, right?"
"Well, good to know. I only need to buy another Nestor to do my part inside the hangar and we're good to go, right?"
[ Spoiler ]
<<Sure. But just to be sure we are on the same page:
I'll have a Kami cause some trouble in the astral to lure away the guardian Kami from the hangar. I'll turn you and your tools invisible and levitate you over the fence to the camera. You hack their systems and open the door. I drop your drones in front of the door so they can go in and get the parts we need. Once they are finished, we do the same thing again, only in reverse: My Kami distracts the guardian again while I levitate the invisible cargo + drones back to us.
Any additions?>>
Rex asked.
I'll have a Kami cause some trouble in the astral to lure away the guardian Kami from the hangar. I'll turn you and your tools invisible and levitate you over the fence to the camera. You hack their systems and open the door. I drop your drones in front of the door so they can go in and get the parts we need. Once they are finished, we do the same thing again, only in reverse: My Kami distracts the guardian again while I levitate the invisible cargo + drones back to us.
Any additions?>>
Rex asked.
When Rex message arrived on Waywalker's commlink, the rigger was already busy buying the Nestor. It turns out to be very easy this time. Being in the capital city of France did helped a bit in terms of logistic. He found a large tech shop, nearby by Montparnasse Tower, in the south of Paris, that had Nestor unit available. He could even pick one with a darker shade to make it less conspicuous as possible. One more click on ARO and he just had to slot a credistick and sent his car to pick up the drone...
[ Spoiler ]
#103
Waywalker was doing the last details of his purchase while Rex was sending messages. He looked at them in AR and then sent a response with the thought:
"Are you sure you want to levitate all the parts? Maybe we could simply cut the fence and go through it with my drones."
Waywalker was doing the last details of his purchase while Rex was sending messages. He looked at them in AR and then sent a response with the thought:
"Are you sure you want to levitate all the parts? Maybe we could simply cut the fence and go through it with my drones."
[ Spoiler ]
<<600kg are no problem at all. Cutting the fence would force you to silence another alarm. Floating it invisible out, is likely the best way to avoid other cameras as well.>>
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
After learning that the fence didn't have an alert:
<<Well in that case you are right. It might be better to just quickly float your drones over the fence to get in and have them cut their way out when they leave. One distraction for the guardian Kami will be a lot less suspicious to handle than two. That way we minimize the drawbacks of both methods.>>
<<Well in that case you are right. It might be better to just quickly float your drones over the fence to get in and have them cut their way out when they leave. One distraction for the guardian Kami will be a lot less suspicious to handle than two. That way we minimize the drawbacks of both methods.>>
[ Spoiler ]
Rex outlined his part of the plan as such:
<<We are waiting for late night, to minimize normal traffic around the place. I'll take position outside the fence on the roof of the car, so I have a clear line of sight to the hangar door.
You get your drones in position and make sure they hold on to each other.
I'll call on a Kami of the Beast court, to once again collect as many devil rats as he can. They are dual natured and pose a threat to the Guardian Kami. I'll ask him to have the rats cause a ruckus on the other side of the buildings while I watch the astral from my hiding place. Once the guardian moves to the other side, I quickly use magic fingers to carry a long cable to the camera and enable you to have a direct connection to the system, while you still sit in the van. Once you have the cameras under control, I levitate your drones over the fence. They are supposed to move as quickly as possible to the door, which you open for them through your direct hack. Once I have the cable in position, I'll drop the spell, and wipe my astral signature - hopefully before the guardian Kami returns. Inside the building, your drones will do their job, while I keep an eye on the astral.
Depending on what the spirits orders are, I can have the rats either just start damaging stuff outside - or if that doesn't work, have them attack the barrier at the hangar. That for sure will get a reaction.
You finish your business in side, and send the drones out with their haul - totally mundane while the camera is still in a loop. You have them cut the fence to move out, we move in with the car, load everything in and are away, hopefully before any alarms are raised.>>
<<We are waiting for late night, to minimize normal traffic around the place. I'll take position outside the fence on the roof of the car, so I have a clear line of sight to the hangar door.
You get your drones in position and make sure they hold on to each other.
I'll call on a Kami of the Beast court, to once again collect as many devil rats as he can. They are dual natured and pose a threat to the Guardian Kami. I'll ask him to have the rats cause a ruckus on the other side of the buildings while I watch the astral from my hiding place. Once the guardian moves to the other side, I quickly use magic fingers to carry a long cable to the camera and enable you to have a direct connection to the system, while you still sit in the van. Once you have the cameras under control, I levitate your drones over the fence. They are supposed to move as quickly as possible to the door, which you open for them through your direct hack. Once I have the cable in position, I'll drop the spell, and wipe my astral signature - hopefully before the guardian Kami returns. Inside the building, your drones will do their job, while I keep an eye on the astral.
Depending on what the spirits orders are, I can have the rats either just start damaging stuff outside - or if that doesn't work, have them attack the barrier at the hangar. That for sure will get a reaction.
You finish your business in side, and send the drones out with their haul - totally mundane while the camera is still in a loop. You have them cut the fence to move out, we move in with the car, load everything in and are away, hopefully before any alarms are raised.>>
[ Spoiler ]
#104
Waywalker agreed with the plan and noted his role:
"I'll forge a direct connection through the cable and silence the camera and the machine gun, while opening the lock. I'll jump in the Nestor once we're inside to get the parts we need with the help of the Evo proletarian.
Once we have it, the drones will go through the fence and in the van.
Good luck."
Waywalker agreed with the plan and noted his role:
"I'll forge a direct connection through the cable and silence the camera and the machine gun, while opening the lock. I'll jump in the Nestor once we're inside to get the parts we need with the help of the Evo proletarian.
Once we have it, the drones will go through the fence and in the van.
Good luck."
[ Spoiler ]
Life of a Shadowrunner often consists on seeing one's best, carefully laid out plan, go to shit in a matter of seconds. And this is why it was especially nice for Rex and Waywalker to see this one starts so smoothly. First, the distraction worked liked a charm - well, it was technically a charm, but still. The minute the large pack of devil rats gathered, by Rex's Kami order, behind the building, its guardian spirit focused all of it attention to them...
... Then, the thin, band new optical cable purchased along with the Nestor unit, started flying through the fence and rush toward the camera picked by the runners. As soon as the cable was jacked in, Waywalker started working his magic, from the van....
... the lock opened without any difficulties, but Waywalker was hitting a snag with the security drone. Its firewall were top notch, and even from within the host, it device was still pretty resilient...
[ Spoiler ]
... Then, the thin, band new optical cable purchased along with the Nestor unit, started flying through the fence and rush toward the camera picked by the runners. As soon as the cable was jacked in, Waywalker started working his magic, from the van....
[ Spoiler ]
... the lock opened without any difficulties, but Waywalker was hitting a snag with the security drone. Its firewall were top notch, and even from within the host, it device was still pretty resilient...
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
... but Waywalker is not a beginner decker. In a fraction of seconds, he fires up a series of small scripts designed to mess up with the intrusion detection software of the drone's firmware - and voilà! He is in. He got is second MARKs on the device, but at the same time, the Host spawns a IC. Looking like a weird, spherical french policeman with no legs - just a flashlight flying next to it, the IC starts searching for illegal user or icon. Sadly for Waywalker, there is literally no others icon in the (matrix) vicinity, so his icon will certainly stands out if spot.
[ Spoiler ]
The security drone has been reformatted and reboot is an invalid state, disconnected from the matrix and unable to receive commands. But now the host is on alert, but Waywalker needs to press on, he still has a camera to disable...
[ Spoiler ]
#105
"The drone turret and the Maglock si gone for good, but the drek is piling up dangerously close to the edge of the fan..."
Waywalker doubled his efforts to silence the camera as quickly as possible.
"The drone turret and the Maglock si gone for good, but the drek is piling up dangerously close to the edge of the fan..."
Waywalker doubled his efforts to silence the camera as quickly as possible.
[ Spoiler ]
... Waywalker assertion was right - despite him making excellent progress toward hacking all the defense and surveillance of the hangar, the host noticing more and more that something was not right.
As the decker was almost done dealing with the camera, a new icon appears in the vicinty. Its designed, far less, crude than the "fat cop", and the quickness of his reaction, left no doubt in Waywalker mind: a security spider just arrived.
[ Spoiler ]
As the decker was almost done dealing with the camera, a new icon appears in the vicinty. Its designed, far less, crude than the "fat cop", and the quickness of his reaction, left no doubt in Waywalker mind: a security spider just arrived.
[ Spoiler ]
- at least, most of them
#106
"I'll be out in a matter of seconds if I manage to shut the camera down, before thing get hot..."
Waywalker slinged some code to confuse the spider and to buy more time.
"I'll be out in a matter of seconds if I manage to shut the camera down, before thing get hot..."
Waywalker slinged some code to confuse the spider and to buy more time.
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Keeping a low profile outside the fence on top of the car, Rex had left his body to wipe away his astral prints - something that now was far more necessary after he had tangled with the mercenary group and shown the scope of his abilities. When he was done, he made sure that the Kami controlling the rats would also make a safe departure. The belligerent nature of the devil rats would hopefully keep them focused on the guardian Kami.
He didn't know how many services the Kami owned to the police mage, but now it was likely one less. Maybe he could refine this technique and have the Kami attacked by one rat after the other until his services were gone and he could depart. He'd have to test this - it depended a lot on how the Kami was employed and what his orders were.
Once he was back in his body, he sent Haywire a message:
<<All clear on the astral front. Good luck with your robot heist.>>
[ Spoiler ]
Waywalker invisible icon sent its last command to the device a microsecond before the spider finally spot it. Sadly for security decker, it was too late, Waywalker was already on his way out of the system. The decker has been careful and steahlty, it will take some times for the airport security to assess what has been and which part of their infrastructure has been tampered with... Hopefully, enough time for the runner to get away with the loot.
#107
" I think I was unnoticed. Now is time for a little garage work..."
" I think I was unnoticed. Now is time for a little garage work..."
The drone was softly landed in front of the now open, sliding doors of the hanger by Rex's powerful mojo. Waywalker having jacked out of his deck and switch to a AR control of its RCC was now piloting the drone the building. Rain was pouring outside and the rigger could not resist a shiver, even if he was not jumped into the drone. He was so used to be jumped into vehicle that he could almost feel the rain battering on the smooth metal body of the drone.
The Nestor unit, looking a bit like a clumsy kid, pushed the sliding door on the side and moved inside the hangar. Strangely enough the huge building appeared to be deserted. Only their target, the GMC Banshee was there. The minute the drone came in a bunch of ARO - only accessible to people inside the building, got relayed by the drone to Waywalker.
>>> DO NOT ENTER THIS FACILITY WITH PROPER AUTHORIZATION FROM THE POLICE - ONLY ACCREDITED OFFICIAL FROM THE FRENCH POLICE ALONG WITH SELECTED PERSONAL FROM NEO-PD ARE ALLOWED ON THE PREMISE. THIS IS AN ACTIVE CRIME SCENE - UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WILL LED TO CHARGES OF BREAKING AND ENTERING ALONG WITH TAMPERING OF EVIDENCE IN AN ACTIVE INVESTIGATION.
The minute the ARO reached his interface, Waywalker saw a matrix message behind send to a commlink - most likely the one of detective in charge of the scene!
The Nestor unit, looking a bit like a clumsy kid, pushed the sliding door on the side and moved inside the hangar. Strangely enough the huge building appeared to be deserted. Only their target, the GMC Banshee was there. The minute the drone came in a bunch of ARO - only accessible to people inside the building, got relayed by the drone to Waywalker.
>>> DO NOT ENTER THIS FACILITY WITH PROPER AUTHORIZATION FROM THE POLICE - ONLY ACCREDITED OFFICIAL FROM THE FRENCH POLICE ALONG WITH SELECTED PERSONAL FROM NEO-PD ARE ALLOWED ON THE PREMISE. THIS IS AN ACTIVE CRIME SCENE - UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WILL LED TO CHARGES OF BREAKING AND ENTERING ALONG WITH TAMPERING OF EVIDENCE IN AN ACTIVE INVESTIGATION.
The minute the ARO reached his interface, Waywalker saw a matrix message behind send to a commlink - most likely the one of detective in charge of the scene!
[ Spoiler ]
#108
Waywalker reacted almost immediately, feeling the adrenaline rush even in the cold and metallic body of the drone.
He slinged code to the commlink to take the text out of it.
"Shit goes haywire when you least expect it..."
Waywalker reacted almost immediately, feeling the adrenaline rush even in the cold and metallic body of the drone.
He slinged code to the commlink to take the text out of it.
"Shit goes haywire when you least expect it..."
[ Spoiler ]
Rex had just returned to his body when he saw on Waywalker's feed that there was some trouble with a snooping spider and some sensors.
He sent a quick message to his friend:
<<I think it's time to start a delaying action, should they send out someone to check this out.>>
He sent a quick message to his friend:
<<I think it's time to start a delaying action, should they send out someone to check this out.>>
[ Spoiler ]
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012