Using the numerous scanner made available by the Banshee's sensor array, Rex started looking for some kind of entrance, even a hidden one. Sadly he was quickly disappointed. A playground surrounded by trees were all that to be seen around. There was no building that could hide some kind of secret entrance. Around the Spielplatz, the hill side were covered with remains of typical, small suburbs housing. Sadly, the scans provided by Racer clearly show that most of those houses did not have a basement. And even if some, a bit farther away, seemed to have some basement, none appears to be either connecting to a forgotten bunker - neither reusing its infrastructure.
At this point, Waywalker took over the control and started working its "own" magic. Adding filter, compensating for noise, boosting signal, rewiring external sensor to correlate data... It was impressive. Rex knowledge of technologies was sufficient to realize that the rigger was doing some pretty high end stuff. Here and there, Racer's icon - not surprisingly looking like a racing car, jumped in to provide some extra help or suggest some tuning.
Rex, as always shaped as dog, was sitting in the middle of ball of flying AROs and screen being passed around between the decker and their AI ally. The all things looked like a technical, AR version of a famous movie from Horizon, where a mice called Mickey was learning magic... After a little while, numerous new information starting popping into the matrix, and a deep scan of the belly of the hill starts appearing. And, of course, as it often seemed to be the case on this run, this was not good news.
The bunker was still there and clearly in one piece. Its thick walls appears to have not been breached, which means no digging out dirt to get inside it. However, no breach also meant absolutely no chance to scan its inside. To make matter worse, the top part of the bunker, closest to the surface, was still, around 20 meter deep under the surface. Clearly, the all building had been buried rubble - a bit like they did in Berlin after the WW2, as Rex recalled, and there was simply no (human) way to get to the building.
However, the scan also revealed that the hill has been suffering from the tired mountain syndrome for a while[1]. The nearby remains of Metz have been blasted to hell during the first rounds of Rad Wars back in '71 and numerous explosion, both above and below ground, had started to broke the mountain from inside. Thanks to the advanced analysis of Waywalker, the runners could now see that some cracks formed very narrow tunnels that appeared to reach the top of the bunker.
Something as small as a dog or Waywalker's Nestor unit, might be able to crawl up to there. It would be no easy feat and then they would still be the issue of being able to break into the century old bunker...
>>> ENTITY REX, ENTITY WALKER... IS THIS WHAT YOUR KIND REFER AS BEING IN A PICKLE?
[1] It's a thing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_mountain_syndrome
Full Version: Umbrae Europae [IC] (part 3) - Mist of Nycthemeron
<<Indeed. I compliment you on your expanding vocabulary.
Now, this is bad news indeed. We'll have to forge a trail before we can think of breaching the bunker.
And since we lack heavy equipment or explosives, I see little other chance than to call upon one of the strongest Kami from the heavenly court that I know and ask him to burn us a way down and through the bunker.
It seems as if I have to increase the power of my temporary lodge. That will take 4 hours. I suggest we find some place away from here with less harsh conditions while I prepare the summons for the most noble Kami, the Lord of Lightning and Thunder.>>
Now, this is bad news indeed. We'll have to forge a trail before we can think of breaching the bunker.
And since we lack heavy equipment or explosives, I see little other chance than to call upon one of the strongest Kami from the heavenly court that I know and ask him to burn us a way down and through the bunker.
It seems as if I have to increase the power of my temporary lodge. That will take 4 hours. I suggest we find some place away from here with less harsh conditions while I prepare the summons for the most noble Kami, the Lord of Lightning and Thunder.>>
[ Spoiler ]
Silently, the AI acknowledge Rex request and fires up the GMC. Racer is a skilled pilot and thus he favours stability over speed, to ensure the temporary lodge painfully built by the mage is not being knock over. In VR, Waywalker looks at the sensor to ensure nothing is coming their way...
[ Spoiler ]
#123
"See Rex, I have my bit of mojo too!" Waywalker laughed when the complete map appeared on the AR of the vehicle.
"However, I like your solution. Now let me see if someon is coming to bother us..."
"See Rex, I have my bit of mojo too!" Waywalker laughed when the complete map appeared on the AR of the vehicle.
"However, I like your solution. Now let me see if someon is coming to bother us..."
[ Spoiler ]
Once a few kilometers away from their target, the dog shaped mage kept working on extending the power of his temporary lodge. In the meantime, jacked into the sensor of the GMC Banshee, Waywalker kept scanning their surroundings, on a regular basis, to ensure not immediate threat were coming their ways. Obviously, he had to do so not too often, to avoid being picked up by the SOXNet monitoring systems. Most of the scan he did came back with a lot of information. The SOX might be, theoretically, devoid of any life, which is grossly inaccurate, but it was for sure not without a large amount of activity of all sort...
Flying drone, large encrypted data stream sends by corporate facilities, choppers flying all over the place to patrol or to perform delivery - and all of this was not factoring in the traffic on the still somewhat usable highway that the corporate power had more/less maintained. That being said, most of this activity were often quite distant from one an other so it along to be render difficulty to pin point because the high level of radiation.
Despite that, Waywalker kept trying to keep tabs on anything flying or moving in their general direction, and this is why, three hours after they left the playground covering the bunker, he spotted a small convoy getting on the remains of the road 51, around the ruins of Merzig. The convoy was made of 3 distinct vehicles and appeared to be rather... quiet. Waywalker had a hard time pin pointing their location which gave him the distinct impression that those vehicles have been modified with signature masking material.
Also, Waywalker had been monitoring the land traffic for the last hours and it was the first time any kind of vehicle were branching off on such a small road. Given the terrain, and the sad state of the road, they will need at least forty minutes to cross the 16km separating them from Kastel-Staadt. Of course, if Kastel-Staadt were their destination, but Waywalker had the gut feeling this was too much of coincidence...
Flying drone, large encrypted data stream sends by corporate facilities, choppers flying all over the place to patrol or to perform delivery - and all of this was not factoring in the traffic on the still somewhat usable highway that the corporate power had more/less maintained. That being said, most of this activity were often quite distant from one an other so it along to be render difficulty to pin point because the high level of radiation.
Despite that, Waywalker kept trying to keep tabs on anything flying or moving in their general direction, and this is why, three hours after they left the playground covering the bunker, he spotted a small convoy getting on the remains of the road 51, around the ruins of Merzig. The convoy was made of 3 distinct vehicles and appeared to be rather... quiet. Waywalker had a hard time pin pointing their location which gave him the distinct impression that those vehicles have been modified with signature masking material.
Also, Waywalker had been monitoring the land traffic for the last hours and it was the first time any kind of vehicle were branching off on such a small road. Given the terrain, and the sad state of the road, they will need at least forty minutes to cross the 16km separating them from Kastel-Staadt. Of course, if Kastel-Staadt were their destination, but Waywalker had the gut feeling this was too much of coincidence...
[ Spoiler ]
Rex kept working concentrated on building the lodge. When Waywalker mentioned the incoming convoy he just sneezed frustrated:
<<Damn it. How did they figure this out. We didn't leave any clues behind, did we? In any case I still need an hour to finish this lodge. Can you... I don't know... knock down some trees across the road so they are delayed?>>
<<Damn it. How did they figure this out. We didn't leave any clues behind, did we? In any case I still need an hour to finish this lodge. Can you... I don't know... knock down some trees across the road so they are delayed?>>
[ Spoiler ]
#124
"We have some time to focus: how did they know how to find the book? There were those guys in the Archive in our first days in Paris, but how could they have the information we retrieved in the Mist?
However, I am quite sure we did cover our tracks pretty well. I could try, with some kind of Matrix, to mess with their vehicles, but I fear SOXnet would find me..."
"We have some time to focus: how did they know how to find the book? There were those guys in the Archive in our first days in Paris, but how could they have the information we retrieved in the Mist?
However, I am quite sure we did cover our tracks pretty well. I could try, with some kind of Matrix, to mess with their vehicles, but I fear SOXnet would find me..."
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
#125
"Ok, let's mess with them..."
"Ok, let's mess with them..."
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Waywalker jumped into the matrix and starts coordinating an attack with Agent. The noise was clearly an issue but he managed to compensate for as much as it before firing, with all the power of his deck, into the discreet icon of the lead vehicle. Just a few milliseconds after his second wave, the decker saw the icon of the vehicle disappear almost immediately from the matrix. He smiled, jacked out and shutdown his cyberdeck to ensure their opponent can not pinpoint where the attack came from.
>>> ENTITY WAYWALKER. I'VE SHUTDOWN ALL WIRELESS SIGNALS EMITTED BY THIS SHELL. WE CAN ONLY COMMUNICATE THROUGH DNI CONNECTION. WHICH MEAN I CAN'T REACH ENTITY REX. BUT ENTITY REX IS .... OCCUPIED.
Waywalker could not refrain to smile again at the last statement. He could feel how much the AI was puzzled by Rex's preparation. The AI also felt a bit giddy. Apparently, Racer was not only a speed junky, but an adrenaline one... Well, as much as "adrenaline" would apply to a digital lifeform. In any case, it sounded pretty excited by the game of cloak and mirror they had just started with their opponent.
The rigger switched then to the sensor control of the Banshee. With the wireless features being off, the array was a bit less efficient and bit less easy to navigate but at least Waywalker could stay in VR as his RCC was directly wired into the VTOL. He did a quick sweep, as discreetly as possible, to ensure their opponent would not be able to pick up on their signal.
He got the confirmation almost immediately that the lead vehicle has indeed stopped. For a minute, the two red spot behind it also stopped, but then manoeuvred around the now disabled vehicle. Given the reading of the local terrain, the remaining vehicle must have some serious off road capabilities. Still they movement were clearly impaired. After his first strike, they must have disabled, like them, any wireless feature, which means driving the vehicle manually (or jumped in) and the terrain was not easy.
After a few instants, Racer started communicating again with Waywalker, but the rigger was not surprise by his statement. He had arrived to the same conclusion as the digital lifeform.
>>> ENTITY WAYWALKER. THE UNKNOWN APPROACHING HAVE NOT DECLINE THEIR SPEED ENOUGH. AT THEIR CURRENT RATE THEY ARE STILL GOING TO ARRIVED AT THE SITE BEFORE ENTITY REX HAS FINISHED HIS PREPARATION. ALTERNATE COURSE OF ACTIONS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...
Rex kept working on his lodge - using his magic fingers spell to make the work easier - listening only with half an ear to Waywalker and Racer.
When the ship went wifi dark, Rex looked up irritated but had the presence of mind to shut down his own connection as well.
Taking a short break he made a direct connection to the ship through one of its ports:
<<Am I seeing this right, one of the cars is down, but the rest are moving on? Shit.
I could try to summon the Kami with the lower level lodge - I just hope he won't take exception to being called to a place with less offerings. Right. I'll do the summon right now. Racer get your turbines warmed up, we are doing this now and to hell with the consequences.>>
Rex went back to the symbols and small items he had placed strategically in the required positions for optimal Feng Shui and began to cast his will across the void of astral space until he found the High Court of the Heavens. To his surprise, the most noble Kami, the Lord of Lightning and Thunder wasn't hard to persuade to follow his call. It seemed his offerings where sufficient...
Until the Kami made his presence known in the astral. Burning pain lanced across Rex' mind and he coughed up blood.
<<Damn, it worked, but I'm not doing that again without all the required offerings next time.>>
The Lord of Lightning and Thunder waited patiently until Rex had explained what he required of him. As he didn't want to lose the Lord's favor he refrained from sending him on ahead and instead opted to send him to forge the trail only when they were about a km away from the bunker.
When the ship went wifi dark, Rex looked up irritated but had the presence of mind to shut down his own connection as well.
Taking a short break he made a direct connection to the ship through one of its ports:
<<Am I seeing this right, one of the cars is down, but the rest are moving on? Shit.
I could try to summon the Kami with the lower level lodge - I just hope he won't take exception to being called to a place with less offerings. Right. I'll do the summon right now. Racer get your turbines warmed up, we are doing this now and to hell with the consequences.>>
[ Spoiler ]
Rex went back to the symbols and small items he had placed strategically in the required positions for optimal Feng Shui and began to cast his will across the void of astral space until he found the High Court of the Heavens. To his surprise, the most noble Kami, the Lord of Lightning and Thunder wasn't hard to persuade to follow his call. It seemed his offerings where sufficient...
Until the Kami made his presence known in the astral. Burning pain lanced across Rex' mind and he coughed up blood.
<<Damn, it worked, but I'm not doing that again without all the required offerings next time.>>
The Lord of Lightning and Thunder waited patiently until Rex had explained what he required of him. As he didn't want to lose the Lord's favor he refrained from sending him on ahead and instead opted to send him to forge the trail only when they were about a km away from the bunker.
[ Spoiler ]
Rex had barely finished his sentence that Racer was already firing up his engine. But the AI also reached out to Waywalker for help:
>>> ENTITY WAYWLAKER. BEST IF OUR OPPONENT DO NOT SPOT US. CAN YOU HELP ENSURE WE AVOID DETECTION?
[ Spoiler ]
#126
"Of course Racer. You are the master of the speed, but I am one of disguise..."
"Of course Racer. You are the master of the speed, but I am one of disguise..."
[ Spoiler ]
Helped by Waywalker, Racer flew as close as possible to the ground and did some brief detour, to boost its cover using pocket of heavy radiation and other climatic happenstance. Inside the Banshee, both runners silent, holding their breath to see if their opponent would be able to spot them. They had no idea what kind of firepower they had, but if they could spot them and achieve a target lock they might be able to take them with a pair of missiles...
... but their fear turned out to be baseless. Only ten minutes after they left, the Banshee were once again landing nearby the playground. Rex called upon his Kami right away and the powerful spirit appeared, just a couple of meters away from their vehicle. Immediately the manifested being starting crying and twisting. Not so surprisingly the surrounding radiation, and the consequent magical background count, was painfully to the spirit. Nevertheless, like a brave solider, the Kami started foraging into the ground right away. As Rex as hoped, he went through the dirt and rubble on top of the bunker in a matter of minutes - leaving behind it a small hole, big enough for a small drone to pass.
Suddenly a tiny quake could be felt inside the Banshee. The spirit had just it the bunker protection and was now trying to claw itself way in. Rex was sweating. He could feel both the hard work and the pain the Kami was suffering from them. He had rarely demanded something as difficult and as painful to a spirit...
>>> ENTITY REX. ENTITY WAYWALKER. THE UNKNOWN VEHICLES ARE APPROACHING. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL IN 5 MINUTES. THEIR TARGET IS CONFIRMED : THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY TO OUR LOCATION. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION?
[ Spoiler ]
... but their fear turned out to be baseless. Only ten minutes after they left, the Banshee were once again landing nearby the playground. Rex called upon his Kami right away and the powerful spirit appeared, just a couple of meters away from their vehicle. Immediately the manifested being starting crying and twisting. Not so surprisingly the surrounding radiation, and the consequent magical background count, was painfully to the spirit. Nevertheless, like a brave solider, the Kami started foraging into the ground right away. As Rex as hoped, he went through the dirt and rubble on top of the bunker in a matter of minutes - leaving behind it a small hole, big enough for a small drone to pass.
Suddenly a tiny quake could be felt inside the Banshee. The spirit had just it the bunker protection and was now trying to claw itself way in. Rex was sweating. He could feel both the hard work and the pain the Kami was suffering from them. He had rarely demanded something as difficult and as painful to a spirit...
>>> ENTITY REX. ENTITY WAYWALKER. THE UNKNOWN VEHICLES ARE APPROACHING. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL IN 5 MINUTES. THEIR TARGET IS CONFIRMED : THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY TO OUR LOCATION. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION?
<<Shit. Too soon. The spirit needs at least 6 more minutes to work.
I can make us invisible but the lightning from the hole is hardly subtle.
Well, there is one other thing that I am loath to do, but might be the only workable way to go about that: I can fry their cars while they are still a good bit away. We'd have to open the aft door of the T-Bird and hover in a way that allows me to see them without leaving the lodge - otherwise my power focus will short out and I won't have the necessary power to knock the cars out with one shot. I'll have to drop the invisibility and we might strand those people in a high radiation zone. I'm not sure that the book is worth that.
Or we could let them do the dirty work, hide until they come back out and then send the Lord of Lightning and Thunder to steel the book from them.
What do you think, Waywalker?>>
Rex replied.
I can make us invisible but the lightning from the hole is hardly subtle.
Well, there is one other thing that I am loath to do, but might be the only workable way to go about that: I can fry their cars while they are still a good bit away. We'd have to open the aft door of the T-Bird and hover in a way that allows me to see them without leaving the lodge - otherwise my power focus will short out and I won't have the necessary power to knock the cars out with one shot. I'll have to drop the invisibility and we might strand those people in a high radiation zone. I'm not sure that the book is worth that.
Or we could let them do the dirty work, hide until they come back out and then send the Lord of Lightning and Thunder to steel the book from them.
What do you think, Waywalker?>>
Rex replied.
#127
"Between my two rotodrones and your mojo we should buy us the time to get the book. The ambush idea is neat, but if they went up this far I doubt we can take them by surprise and snatch the book from their hands without retribution - and I fear a heavy one.
My plan would be to keep them busy enough to buy the time we need and then run like hell. What do you think?"
"Between my two rotodrones and your mojo we should buy us the time to get the book. The ambush idea is neat, but if they went up this far I doubt we can take them by surprise and snatch the book from their hands without retribution - and I fear a heavy one.
My plan would be to keep them busy enough to buy the time we need and then run like hell. What do you think?"
<<I can't really leave the lodge while I'm here - my focus would short out, I'd have to concentrate on my transformation and I'd be pretty weakened - whatever I do it has to be done from inside Racer. So yeah, let's keep them busy - I can still tell the Kami to go look for the book and bring it to us once it has opened up the bunker.
So yeah, let's do that. I'll turn Racer invisible, so we can do this ambush style.>>
So yeah, let's do that. I'll turn Racer invisible, so we can do this ambush style.>>
[ Spoiler ]
Rex felt the huge t-bird moving. There was nothing he could do right now about the noise. He'd just have to hope that the trucks didn't hear them if they stayed far enough away.
<<This will be precision work. I'll try to take out the rear car's motor. You should probably use your drone to target the wheels on the lead vehicle. We don't want to strand them here completely. I'll let you get into position. On my command, open up fire. I'll turn your drone invisible too first. We probably should also slip into our protective gear if we open up the door in flight.>>
<<This will be precision work. I'll try to take out the rear car's motor. You should probably use your drone to target the wheels on the lead vehicle. We don't want to strand them here completely. I'll let you get into position. On my command, open up fire. I'll turn your drone invisible too first. We probably should also slip into our protective gear if we open up the door in flight.>>
[ Spoiler ]
#128
"Roger."
Waywalker managed to get the cable into the Rotodrone to control it better before flying it. Then he waited fr Rex's signal to shoot.
"Roger."
Waywalker managed to get the cable into the Rotodrone to control it better before flying it. Then he waited fr Rex's signal to shoot.
[ Spoiler ]
Racer moved the GMC Banshee quietly in position - all the AI had to do was to hoover the large vehicle just a few hundreds meter from their current position to put the trucks within visual range of both Rex and the drone. Waywalker's drone was in position before Rex was ready to cast its attack - it was quite dark outside and the dog shaped mage needed to see his target with his own eyes, not through a sensor array or low-light camera feeds. Anyway, the two runners did not have to wait for too long, the two remaining vehicles soon appeared, causing both runners to halt for a minute.
They had expected regular vehicles, like a pair of Roadmaster, equipped with radiation coating. They had not expected the two remaining vehicle to be military grade deployment All Terrain Vehicles (ATV).
The two large monster were six-wheeled combat vehicle, that Waywalker knew to be popular with mercenary groups around the world. Those Ruhrmetall Wolf II were using the standard configurations for troop transport, which probably better than the light tank option, but still meant the runners were going to face some serious resistance. Especially as Waywalker could see the vehicle armor had been biffed up.
Just as the lightning bolt zapped out of the GMC Banshee open bay door, Waywalker gave the order to his drone to fire. The head monster vehicle was just hit by Rex's spell when the drone fired a called shot straight to one of its giant wheel...
They had expected regular vehicles, like a pair of Roadmaster, equipped with radiation coating. They had not expected the two remaining vehicle to be military grade deployment All Terrain Vehicles (ATV).
The two large monster were six-wheeled combat vehicle, that Waywalker knew to be popular with mercenary groups around the world. Those Ruhrmetall Wolf II were using the standard configurations for troop transport, which probably better than the light tank option, but still meant the runners were going to face some serious resistance. Especially as Waywalker could see the vehicle armor had been biffed up.
[ Spoiler ]
Just as the lightning bolt zapped out of the GMC Banshee open bay door, Waywalker gave the order to his drone to fire. The head monster vehicle was just hit by Rex's spell when the drone fired a called shot straight to one of its giant wheel...
[ Spoiler ]
#192
With dawning horror, Rex realized that he had picked a fight with a real tank. Still, there was nothing he could do now but win that fight...
<<Ready for evasive action>>
[ Spoiler ]
With dawning horror, Rex realized that he had picked a fight with a real tank. Still, there was nothing he could do now but win that fight...
<<Ready for evasive action>>
#128
"Whoever they are, they'll meet some good old bullets."
"Whoever they are, they'll meet some good old bullets."
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Just after taking out one of the gigantic wheel, Waywalker's next shot pieced the armor and hit, badly, the main engine. The ATV was still moving forward, full speed, but smoke started coming out of it and the vehicle clearly had trouble staying on the road. But before the rigger control it could do anything about it, Rex's second lightning bolt stroke!
[ Spoiler ]
However, the autopilot recognizes the attack for what it is and immediately perform a narrow angle turn to the left. The vehicle stops suddenly, blocking the road, and now exposing his flank to the runners.
[ Spoiler ]
.As the lead vehicle comes to a full stop, the second one stop behind it, using it as a partial cover, and pops a turret holding a missile launcher.
>>> ENTITY WAYWALKER! LOCK TARGETING IN PROCESS!!!
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Rex cursed under his breath while he prepared another strike. He could feel the agony that the Kami was feeling, but also that it was close to breaching the vault. Once it was through, it needed only a very narrow gap to get in, search for the book and get out again. They just needed to delay those guys long enough.
He took the next shot...
#129
"Let them find out how inertia is such a bitch..." said Waywalker as the shot passed the armor and went straight into the engine. However, they still had some ace in the hole to play...
"Let them find out how inertia is such a bitch..." said Waywalker as the shot passed the armor and went straight into the engine. However, they still had some ace in the hole to play...
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Between Rex second spell and Waywalker shot the leading vehicle is now utterly disabled, and blocks the road to the second one. The vehicle, still functional and now largely covered by the first one is still attempting to lock his missile guidance system, without any luck. The troops inside the first ATV are leaving it, deploying themselves in the surrounding ruins to march toward the bunker.
Fortunately for the runners, they now have to cross a large piece of lands before getting there.The second vehicle does not appears to want to leave its covered position, but even though, with the large vehicle blocking the road,
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Seeing the objective of this raid accomplished, Rex called Racer:
<<Let's get back to the bunker. No need for a bloodbath on either side - especially considering how expensive it is to repair you.>>
With the strike team stuck, several kilometers away from their position, the runners and Racer opted to retreat immediately, behind the safety of the hills and the most radiate part surrounding the bunker. From there, especially once Racer stopped moving, it became virtually impossible for the strike team to target them using their missile. Keeping an eye on the second vehicle however, using their passive sensor, the runners quickly saw that the ATV was trying to maneuvers his way to get to the site. They preemptive strike has certainly bought them time, but the group were still coming.
Before breaking their line of sight with the attackers, they also had witness a large group of soldiers, all in full body armor, being deployed from the disabled vehicle. If they could not get to the bunker before their opponents arrive, this all situation will turn into a blood path.
As the GMC Banshee parks above the bunker, hoovering softly above the vertical pit dug by Rex's spirit, the runners could see that their spirit was making good on his work. Despite his screams of pain - local background was not nice on the Kami, the bunker rooftop was slowly being carved off. Just a few more minutes and the spirit will breach it. Nervously waiting the runners were still wondering how on Earth their opponents got hold so quickly of the target's location - especially given the length they had to go to find it!
But their stream of thought was suddenly interrupted by a loud "bang", followed right away by a blast wave shacking the all GMC Banshee, fortunately without damaging it. However, Rex could not refrain a bark of pain, as the Kami he invoked was blast out of existence. Apparently, someone had put some booby trap in the ceiling of the bunker or maybe simply the Kami triggered unknowingly an old mine? Whatever was the cause, the explosion disrupted the manifested spirit and finished piercing the ceiling of the bunker.
From the safety of the radiation protected interior of the VTOL, the two runners and the AI were observing, through an AR feeds, the large hole revealing the interior of the bunker. With the dust blasted up by the explosion and the radiation, it was difficult to see clearly inside the building, but one could see a large desk, destroyed by the explosion, and a small room, looking like a (WW2-era) office...
Before breaking their line of sight with the attackers, they also had witness a large group of soldiers, all in full body armor, being deployed from the disabled vehicle. If they could not get to the bunker before their opponents arrive, this all situation will turn into a blood path.
As the GMC Banshee parks above the bunker, hoovering softly above the vertical pit dug by Rex's spirit, the runners could see that their spirit was making good on his work. Despite his screams of pain - local background was not nice on the Kami, the bunker rooftop was slowly being carved off. Just a few more minutes and the spirit will breach it. Nervously waiting the runners were still wondering how on Earth their opponents got hold so quickly of the target's location - especially given the length they had to go to find it!
But their stream of thought was suddenly interrupted by a loud "bang", followed right away by a blast wave shacking the all GMC Banshee, fortunately without damaging it. However, Rex could not refrain a bark of pain, as the Kami he invoked was blast out of existence. Apparently, someone had put some booby trap in the ceiling of the bunker or maybe simply the Kami triggered unknowingly an old mine? Whatever was the cause, the explosion disrupted the manifested spirit and finished piercing the ceiling of the bunker.
[ Spoiler ]
From the safety of the radiation protected interior of the VTOL, the two runners and the AI were observing, through an AR feeds, the large hole revealing the interior of the bunker. With the dust blasted up by the explosion and the radiation, it was difficult to see clearly inside the building, but one could see a large desk, destroyed by the explosion, and a small room, looking like a (WW2-era) office...
<<Seems like we'll have to send in the drone anyway. If that fails as well, I'll go myself - although I really, really don't want to.>>
Rex replies at the sudden disruption of the Kami. He'll have hell to pay to get the heavenly court friendly again after this...
Rex replies at the sudden disruption of the Kami. He'll have hell to pay to get the heavenly court friendly again after this...
[ Spoiler ]
#130
"Clearly luck is not on our side today. I'll send in the drone and I'll be jumped in, so I cannot monitor our opposition. Rex, could you mojo something to stop or delay them?"
"Clearly luck is not on our side today. I'll send in the drone and I'll be jumped in, so I cannot monitor our opposition. Rex, could you mojo something to stop or delay them?"
[ Spoiler ]
<<Alright, just make sure the cable doesn't get caught on something. I'll turn the ship invisible again and use levitation to keep those guys busy.
Let's get cracking.>>
Let's get cracking.>>
Waywalker jumps into the little drone and the drone suddenly comes to live and run toward the loading bay, in the back of the VTOL, where Bernie had built sort of an improvised airlock. Racer opens the doors as quickly as possible and Waywalker maneuvers the drone outside. The minute the little device is standing on the ramp outside the airlock, hoovering two meters above the hole created by Rex's spirit, the connection to it start being flaky due to the noise created by the radiation.
Waywalker instruct the little drone to open an external data port on the body of the VTOL a plug in the long, old fashion network cable the runners have bought for this very purpose. Once wired in, the little drone jump off the platform and lands on the uneven ground. The surroundings of the hole have become a mess as Rex's kami had to propelled all around the dirt he had to remove to get to the bunker.
The little drone moves toward the hole and starts looking for a good place to start climbing down. Waywalker hopes it will not fall, as the floor of the bunker is several meter down...
Waywalker instruct the little drone to open an external data port on the body of the VTOL a plug in the long, old fashion network cable the runners have bought for this very purpose. Once wired in, the little drone jump off the platform and lands on the uneven ground. The surroundings of the hole have become a mess as Rex's kami had to propelled all around the dirt he had to remove to get to the bunker.
The little drone moves toward the hole and starts looking for a good place to start climbing down. Waywalker hopes it will not fall, as the floor of the bunker is several meter down...
[ Spoiler ]
#131
"Let's go!"
"Let's go!"
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
The little drone finds a good grip and descend, rather quickly, the vertical tunnel leading to the breached bunker ceiling. Once there, the small drone, looking like a kid playing on wasteland theme playground, goes to his knees, hangs from the rooftop before letting his body falls to the ground.
Stand back up again, Waywalker looks to his immediate surroundings. He sits in what looks like a Gestapo or Nazi offices coming straight out of an old movie. Just behind him there is a desk, made of wood, leading against a wall - one of its foot broke, so the weight shifted toward the wall. Next to it, also made of wood, a series of bookcase. Most of its shelves is pure paperwork, but Waywalker noticed right away that their appears to be in pretty good shape. The isolation of the bunker has clearly protected its content.
Just in front of him, just a meter away, stands an ajar door, half broken, revealing a dark corridor, clearly leading to the other part of the bunker.
>>> ENTITY WAYWALKER, ENTITY REX... UNIDENTIFIED ENTITIES ARE INCOMING
[ Spoiler ]
#132
Waywalker started to look for the book in the shelves when Racer's message was delivered to him. "Let me see - I'll leave the drone behind a second..."
Waywalker started to look for the book in the shelves when Racer's message was delivered to him. "Let me see - I'll leave the drone behind a second..."
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Rex, wearing his protective radiation suit like Waywalker asked Racer to open the airlock completely, so he could have an unobstructed view on the general area.
With the whole ship invisible, he felt confident to once again summon a minor Kami to assist him. The heavenly messenger appeared without a fuss and took over the business of keeping them unseen, so Rex concentrated on creating invisible fists and started to pummel and punch the soldiers getting into view.
'Reshi, start to levitate as many soldiers upwards as you can and let them drop at about 10m that should stop their advance a bit and discourage them getting nearer. Take care not to drop them on hard ground. I don't want them to die.'
[ Spoiler ]
Waywalker and Rex, in AR, could see an impressive tactical overlay of their surroundings, coming from Racer's sensor array. Thanks to the rigger's skill, the display now feature a rather clear reading of three large drones coming their way. All were rather typical quad-drone, but far more larger than the one regularly used by Shadowrunner and security alike. Waywalker could immediately recognized the design from Mitsuhama. He was familiar with it because a similar version was often used by G.O.D (see the Malakim, p.143). Those ones were slightly different as all the jamming devices had been replaced by large laser.
The swarms of drone was pretty fast, and accelerating. They were already only 4 kilometers away from their position and will be soon in firing range (1 km). Waywalker knew enough about laser to know they targeting capabilities will be hindered by the highly radioactive environment and the darkness, but they will remains potentially extreme dangerous to Racer's Banshee.
In the meantime, Waywalker had finished observing the numerous books on the shelf of the small office he was in. Those papers, all in German, were clearly administrative documentation, not secret, occult books from the XVIII could be found there. Carefully he started moving the drone toward the ajar door, crawl behind it and get himself in the dark corridor.
Obviously, the drone could go by with its usual thermographic sensor for navigating the light-less maze he was in. However, to be able to spot the book, Waywalker had to activate the lamp torch feature of the drone's eyes. The corridor was littered was piece of the ceiling that had fallen over the years, along with some bones left from people who were trapped and died in this bunker. On the wall, Waywalker could spot some writing, also in German, probably giving some indications of where to go...
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Rex didn't hesitate: With his magic hands, he gripped one of the flying drones and shoved it violently into the one next to it, making their rotors connect and tearing themselves into pieces.
[ Spoiler ]
#133
"Rex, if you take care of those pesky drones I'll search this bunker for our book."
"Rex, if you take care of those pesky drones I'll search this bunker for our book."
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Using magical fingers, Rex's managed to smash the drones together and push'em into oblivion. A victory, but only a short one. He knew that the troops on the ground were getting closer and closer. It was, but a matter of time, before their own position would get overrun.
In the meantime, in the bunker, Waywalker's little drone kept exploring the facility. Translating some of the instructions on the walls, he found out a room was labeled "archive and library" and decide to go there first. Sadly, the room was at the bottom of the bunker and the little drone had a lot of stairs to climb down. Waywalker was doing that as fast as possible, but, in VR, he could the sensor of Racer picking on numerous lifeforms getting close. If he could not retrieve the book soon, the all situation will turns into a blood path...
Fortunately, Waywalker's gambit paid off. At the bottom of the bunker, he found a secure door, luckily, broken apart by years leading to an impressive library. Wawyalker was pretty sure some document and books here must be worth a large amount of nuyens but he had nor the time, nor the knowledge to investigate it. He started searching as quickly as possible for the lost book of Eliphas Levy.
[ Spoiler ]
[ Spoiler ]
Rex' elation went as fast as it had come. They were just too many.
<<Racer, can you identify the comm of the leader of the group? I need to speak with him or her before this ends in a catastrophe>>
Once a connection is established, Rex hailed his opponent, relying on the fact that so far most of their misadventures had originated on the French side of things:
<<To the commander of expedition corps: Halt your advance immediately and state your business. You are interfering with a S-K retrieval operation. This is your last warning. So far we have been nice about your incursion. If you get any closer our automated defense system will use lethal force against your personell.>>
#134
"Bingo! I'm pretty sure it's here. I just need to find it..."
"Rex, if your plan does not work I can delay them with suppressive fire - I don't think they're so willing to take a bullet - or at least I hope..."
"Bingo! I'm pretty sure it's here. I just need to find it..."
"Rex, if your plan does not work I can delay them with suppressive fire - I don't think they're so willing to take a bullet - or at least I hope..."
[ Spoiler ]
After his bluff, Rex kept looking at the numerous information coming from Racer's advanced sensor array. The AI was silent. Rex could feel the tension slowly rising. Sadly, at least at first, his gambit did not seem to pay off. The numerous troops on the ground were still moving forward. The mage was half expecting also for an other round of the drone to be send his way, so he kept flexing his invisible fingers, expecting action to rise up soon.
But suddenly, a communication feeds reached his commlink. A deep, strong voice, with a stint of a french accent, told him:
"Ah, ah... Well played, whoever you are. If I did not know any better, I may have fallen into this trap. Sadly for you, we did get our paperwork straight before coming in and we have a nice, shiny stamp from Saeder Krupp, like the other, on our 'permis d'entrée'. Of course, maybe S-K forgot about guys, but I'm pretty sure you can then immediately broadcast your SINs and permit, right?"
The man, who clearly sound like a military person, or maybe just a merc - did not even let Rex reply before continuing:
"Let's be real. You are pinned down. We can't see you yet on our sensor, but the minute you try to move away, this is going to change. And then we'll take out from the sky before you can even fasten your seat belt! Now, we have nothing against you. As they say, it's just business. So stand down, let us access the bunker and retrieve the book and we will let you go."
Rex was against amazed, how can they know so much about their reason to be here? Waywalker and him have been very careful to not spread any Intel. And the timing of it was also suspicious. It seems like whoever was their opposition, they learned about the secret location of the bunker almost at the same time as they did.
The guy on the line had just finished his line that some commotion, behind, could be heard. Rex heard a second voice, a rather strange one. High pitched, but sounding a bit like an old man too. He could not hear what the man was saying, but Rex feels he was not completely happy with the offer the merc just did. So he added, reluctantly it seemed:
"...well, yeah, and of course, you'll have to tell us for whom you are working. But we won't harm you and you'll be free to go."
And then added, with a smirk Rex's imagined:
"And don't worry, the people we work for are not the kind to betray their trust. If you stand down, you will be unharmed and freed."
In any other time and place, Rex would have expected this line to be delivered with a cruel irony. But no, the soldier was very frank and honest about it - at least, it sounded like this to Rex.
In the meantime, down below him, the little drone piloted by Waywalker was making great strides inside the large room he just arrived. This archive room was mess. First of all, there was an incredible numbers of shelves, crates and papers of all kind all over the place. It was probably well sorted and organized back then, but, with the decades passing by, shelves had fallen, carton crates had broke down, turning this room into a maze.
If Waywalker was no librarian, he was for sure a talented rigger and hacker. So, after scanning the all room without finding the book, he changed strategy. Using the scan he did and the few sensor array available to him in this little body, he start running recognition patterns on everything he could identify as writing. Of course, this will take some time, but it will be faster than manually tossing everything over in the room...
While the search program was running, he heard the reply from their opponent over the shared channel. Down there, due to noise and the thick wall, the line was crackling, but Waywalker could still heard the discussion clearly enough. The high pitched voice behind the soldier sounded somehow ... familiar? But before the rigger could focused on that, his recognition's pattern software reported a hit.
Waywalker plan has worked. He found the book, properly set on a shelves. Of course, one of the (barely) still standing's one. And of course, the book was on top of it, a good 2m away from the ground...
But suddenly, a communication feeds reached his commlink. A deep, strong voice, with a stint of a french accent, told him:
"Ah, ah... Well played, whoever you are. If I did not know any better, I may have fallen into this trap. Sadly for you, we did get our paperwork straight before coming in and we have a nice, shiny stamp from Saeder Krupp, like the other, on our 'permis d'entrée'. Of course, maybe S-K forgot about guys, but I'm pretty sure you can then immediately broadcast your SINs and permit, right?"
The man, who clearly sound like a military person, or maybe just a merc - did not even let Rex reply before continuing:
"Let's be real. You are pinned down. We can't see you yet on our sensor, but the minute you try to move away, this is going to change. And then we'll take out from the sky before you can even fasten your seat belt! Now, we have nothing against you. As they say, it's just business. So stand down, let us access the bunker and retrieve the book and we will let you go."
Rex was against amazed, how can they know so much about their reason to be here? Waywalker and him have been very careful to not spread any Intel. And the timing of it was also suspicious. It seems like whoever was their opposition, they learned about the secret location of the bunker almost at the same time as they did.
The guy on the line had just finished his line that some commotion, behind, could be heard. Rex heard a second voice, a rather strange one. High pitched, but sounding a bit like an old man too. He could not hear what the man was saying, but Rex feels he was not completely happy with the offer the merc just did. So he added, reluctantly it seemed:
"...well, yeah, and of course, you'll have to tell us for whom you are working. But we won't harm you and you'll be free to go."
And then added, with a smirk Rex's imagined:
"And don't worry, the people we work for are not the kind to betray their trust. If you stand down, you will be unharmed and freed."
In any other time and place, Rex would have expected this line to be delivered with a cruel irony. But no, the soldier was very frank and honest about it - at least, it sounded like this to Rex.
In the meantime, down below him, the little drone piloted by Waywalker was making great strides inside the large room he just arrived. This archive room was mess. First of all, there was an incredible numbers of shelves, crates and papers of all kind all over the place. It was probably well sorted and organized back then, but, with the decades passing by, shelves had fallen, carton crates had broke down, turning this room into a maze.
[ Spoiler ]
If Waywalker was no librarian, he was for sure a talented rigger and hacker. So, after scanning the all room without finding the book, he changed strategy. Using the scan he did and the few sensor array available to him in this little body, he start running recognition patterns on everything he could identify as writing. Of course, this will take some time, but it will be faster than manually tossing everything over in the room...
While the search program was running, he heard the reply from their opponent over the shared channel. Down there, due to noise and the thick wall, the line was crackling, but Waywalker could still heard the discussion clearly enough. The high pitched voice behind the soldier sounded somehow ... familiar? But before the rigger could focused on that, his recognition's pattern software reported a hit.
Waywalker plan has worked. He found the book, properly set on a shelves. Of course, one of the (barely) still standing's one. And of course, the book was on top of it, a good 2m away from the ground...
<<Well played, whoever you are. Since we are all honest right now, let me tell you this: We may be just hired guns, but we do have a reputation to defend. The drone we sent down has a pretty impressive array of self defense options - including a pretty potent incendiary device. If you force us to evacuate - and believe me, we have still a few very potent tricks to do that unhindered - we'll burn the whole thing to cinders. Better to destroy such a dangerous book than to let it fall into "godforsaken" hands.>>
Rex hoped to hell that this last bluff would have some effect. There was a good chance that those guys were all working for the Silvester order and wanted the book destroyed anyways - but Rex doubted that. Powerful people liked to get their hands on more power - no matter how grubby their hands would get.
Appearing to be a bit of zealot himself might just sway the tide a little bit.
In his head, Rex cursed up a storm - especially on the fact that somehow they had been bugged or betrayed from day one.
Rex hoped to hell that this last bluff would have some effect. There was a good chance that those guys were all working for the Silvester order and wanted the book destroyed anyways - but Rex doubted that. Powerful people liked to get their hands on more power - no matter how grubby their hands would get.
Appearing to be a bit of zealot himself might just sway the tide a little bit.
In his head, Rex cursed up a storm - especially on the fact that somehow they had been bugged or betrayed from day one.
#135
"The other voice reminds me of someone... but it can't be him - he should be the only other being on this planet who knew where this damn book was! Let me focus my memory..."
While focusing his upper brain on the task, his lower brain was climbing the pile of books and crashed shelves to get their objective.
"Good call Rex. Keep wasting their time. However, my proposal for a plan is simple: we grab the book and run like the Devil himself is on our heels. What do you think?"
"The other voice reminds me of someone... but it can't be him - he should be the only other being on this planet who knew where this damn book was! Let me focus my memory..."
While focusing his upper brain on the task, his lower brain was climbing the pile of books and crashed shelves to get their objective.
"Good call Rex. Keep wasting their time. However, my proposal for a plan is simple: we grab the book and run like the Devil himself is on our heels. What do you think?"
[ Spoiler ]
Rex switched channels to talk to his friend: <<Pretty much my thinking. Let's just hope they are buying it. One way or the other we'll have to leave here in a minute or so.>>
Listening again and quickly to the recording of the communication exchange, Waywalker's intuition is soon confirmed. The mysterious Fae he met when he left the physical world is indeed the strange high-pitched voice in the background. The rigger is baffled by the sudden reappearance of this strange entity and certainly wonder the fuck this all means, but he has to focus to the task at hands: climbing a very, unstable and fragile piece of furniture to get to the book. The worst that could happen would be to make it fall off, which, normally would be a minor inconvenience. However, here and now, it would mean losing some precious time searching for the book in the resulting mess, plus risking to damage it.
Jumped into the tiny robot body, the rigger puts his first foot on the first shelf. The wood book case starts shacking and squeak right away. Waywalker pauses and climb one level up the "ladder". The all piece of furniture is now shacking and squeaking loudly. In a brief instant Wawyalker realize the all thing is simply going to collapse. Trading safety and caution for quickness, he used the powerful legs of the tiny drone to jump and miraculously grab the book before the all book case crashed on the floor, while pushing him to the ground.
A big cloud of dust then fill the room obscuring everything. A few seconds passes before the Nestor, triumphal goes out of it, protecting the old book with small, metallic arm. The little unit is bit battered and might need a new coat of paint before going to a social event, but is mostly unscathed.
In the meantime, up into the VTOL, Rex is waiting for his opponent to reply to his threat. The comm stays silent for almost a minute, but Racer sensor array does report that the troops have halted their progress. Apparently, them threatening to destroy the book is not something their adversary were expecting. And clearly they need to discuss and decide on a new strategy. Rex looks at Waywalker position on his AR overlay and he is happy to see that the drone already on its way back. He just need a couple more minutes to make it back to the entrance.
>>> ENTITY REX, ENTITY WAYWALKER. MY PROGRAMMING NOW ENCOMPASSES A LARGE QUANTITY OF DATA ON THE LANDS YOU CALLED THE SOX. I HAVE IDENTIFIED SEVERAL HIDEOUTS WERE CAN LOSE THEY TRACK ONCE WE... <<ACCESSING NEWLY INDEX IDIOM DATABASE>... BOLT OUT OF HERE. I CAN TAKE US THERE, BUT I REQUIRE ASSISTANCE IN DEFEATING ANY TARGET LOCKS... ENTITY WAYWALKER, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO PROVIDE ME ASSISTANCE?
Before either Rex or Waywlaker could reply to the AI, the comm comes back to life and the high pitched voice of the Professor suddenly resonates through it:
"Allo? Allo? Is this contraption working? What, sir? If you may... ? Oh, of course, I have to hold it this way... How quaint! Such a colorful item, indeed... Pardon me? Oh right... People who walks in the Shadows are you able to hear me? Does your party still includes the little wood fellow I had the chance to encounter? He was delightful and I would to discuss our current predicament with him? But no matter what, please do not take any .... brazen action. We can certainly... How did you put it, soldier? Oh right. We can certainly work something out here. No need to jump to rather self destructing line of behavior, isn't it? So what about finding a mutually beneficial agreement?"
Jumped into the tiny robot body, the rigger puts his first foot on the first shelf. The wood book case starts shacking and squeak right away. Waywalker pauses and climb one level up the "ladder". The all piece of furniture is now shacking and squeaking loudly. In a brief instant Wawyalker realize the all thing is simply going to collapse. Trading safety and caution for quickness, he used the powerful legs of the tiny drone to jump and miraculously grab the book before the all book case crashed on the floor, while pushing him to the ground.
A big cloud of dust then fill the room obscuring everything. A few seconds passes before the Nestor, triumphal goes out of it, protecting the old book with small, metallic arm. The little unit is bit battered and might need a new coat of paint before going to a social event, but is mostly unscathed.
In the meantime, up into the VTOL, Rex is waiting for his opponent to reply to his threat. The comm stays silent for almost a minute, but Racer sensor array does report that the troops have halted their progress. Apparently, them threatening to destroy the book is not something their adversary were expecting. And clearly they need to discuss and decide on a new strategy. Rex looks at Waywalker position on his AR overlay and he is happy to see that the drone already on its way back. He just need a couple more minutes to make it back to the entrance.
>>> ENTITY REX, ENTITY WAYWALKER. MY PROGRAMMING NOW ENCOMPASSES A LARGE QUANTITY OF DATA ON THE LANDS YOU CALLED THE SOX. I HAVE IDENTIFIED SEVERAL HIDEOUTS WERE CAN LOSE THEY TRACK ONCE WE... <<ACCESSING NEWLY INDEX IDIOM DATABASE>... BOLT OUT OF HERE. I CAN TAKE US THERE, BUT I REQUIRE ASSISTANCE IN DEFEATING ANY TARGET LOCKS... ENTITY WAYWALKER, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO PROVIDE ME ASSISTANCE?
Before either Rex or Waywlaker could reply to the AI, the comm comes back to life and the high pitched voice of the Professor suddenly resonates through it:
"Allo? Allo? Is this contraption working? What, sir? If you may... ? Oh, of course, I have to hold it this way... How quaint! Such a colorful item, indeed... Pardon me? Oh right... People who walks in the Shadows are you able to hear me? Does your party still includes the little wood fellow I had the chance to encounter? He was delightful and I would to discuss our current predicament with him? But no matter what, please do not take any .... brazen action. We can certainly... How did you put it, soldier? Oh right. We can certainly work something out here. No need to jump to rather self destructing line of behavior, isn't it? So what about finding a mutually beneficial agreement?"
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