Lush Wasteland: A Post-apocalyptic Cyberpunk World - IC

[techmaster-glitch]

   Out of the corner of his eye, Traxen saw Ariel walk by....and straight on past him, into the door to the shelters. He stood there for a moment, before sighing and shaking his head again. He rolled up the envirosuit a little, then draped it over his mechanical right shoulder, and entered the shelter himself, following behind the others. Not coincidentally, the bulky suit on his shoulder blocked his vision to Ariel.
  As he listened to elberta and Ariel talk, he spoke up. "I'm an excptional technician, at least in this base, and I can manufacture near anything in the workshop that my APC doubles as. For expediency, my APC's got a micro recyling/processing/fabrication unit built in, and it can make small-scale components or frames by itself with raw materials. And while I am focused quite a bit on reseraching and inventing new and cutting-edge things independantly, not having to reinvent the wheel is always nice."

****

  Duitifully, Cybee drove the APC herself back to the garage after the deployed drone docked with it. As she pulled in, she headed towards a wall with a large multifunctional terminal.. She prepared a drone to carry a cable that would jack her into the interface...but before she could do anything, a number of sensors blipped, and she "saw" some feral beast-thing drop out of a vent...right on the APC's roof (with an amount of gore). Traxen was not around to take care of it. Fortunately, Cybee detected a few random passerby as well. Some external speakers built into the APC switched on.
  "Alert! Alert! Feral beast on the loose! Please assist!" The hover-APC then began jerking back and forth, trying to shake the perched thing off.

[Ashen Star]

"Feral beast?  Where?!"  Grrrl snarled, her hand curling on the haunch of rat as the APC started to sway and buck.  Then she blinked.  "Oh.  Right.  Me."  Taking the largest piece of waste rat in her mitt and a second chunk in her jaws she leapt off the machine and rushed into the garage.  Still, no personnel, no security robots, no people yelling 'Damnit Grrrl!'... okay she was most used to that one.  Still, it was kinda eerie.  'Maybe I should look around?' she thought.  Then she looked behind her at the flashing machine and yelled "Margle murmul grmmbl mac!" around the rat in her mouth.  That'll tell it.  Munching on the rat she perused around the garage and then stopped when she spotted a hose.  'Hrm...'

It was a sad truth that most people were prejudiced against the fine patina of carrion, dirt, blood, intestine, and fur that was her current scent.  They simply lacked the nose to appreciate such a bouquet.  It was tragic really; they'd save so much time and water if they'd just learned to embrace the reek than fight it.  "Still, I'm a guest.  What would Miss Manners say?"  Of course the Podh would vary that from 'what manners are you being paid for' to 'do you want to get paid on your manners' to 'screw the conventions of society, do what you want'.  One hand took the spray nozzel and the other held her still warm meal and she gave herself a good hosing.  Some vehicle soap helped get the grime out.

Dripping wet and drying her ears with a shammie she walked back up to the APC, the massive blue wolf beast looked at the machine.  "Hey?  Is there an AI in here?"  She asked as she rapped her knuckles on the hood.  "If so... could you tell folks I come in peace, don't want to eat people, and am housebroken?  Okay?  Okay!"  She looked at herself, "Ugh, still wet."  And the wolf gave herself a brisk shake, showering Cybee with wet wolf.  Chewing errantly on the second haunch of rat she strolled further into the base.  "Well here's hoping that they yell first and shoot second."

[WhiteFox]

   Arial nodded to Traxen. "I've got a catalog you can browse; there's thousands of schematics and bluprints in there." She unclipped a small cylinder that stuck out from the bottom of her earpiece, and offered it to him. It had a standard data port on the end. "I'll need that back once you have the files." She said.
   "I should warn you, though, the really good stuff is pre-diaspora, and it's far outside the production capabilities of Ryas industry. Purity of materials, fabrication precision, exotic compounds that have to be synthesized, that sort of thing." She shrugged.  "A lot of it is just more compact and efficient designs for current hardware, but some of it so advanced you'd need all the unobtanium in Rya to build it, and some magic pixie dust to make it go." She said.
   "By the way... even if I can't build it, I can still repair and refurbish some of that old tech. If I can't fix it, I can at least tell you what it does. I've got a few nice pieces of gear, and it's pretty sweet. Better then anything Rya can build today."
   While talking with Traxen, she over herd Elberta's question. Arial sent a request for an audio connection... with those prosthetics, it was probable that Elberta had a communication rig in there somewhere.
   While she was waiting for Elberta to pick up, she also composed and sent a text message to Naya:

-To: Naya
-Fr: Arial
-Re: access plz?

   can you connect me with a secure pipe to mak intranets? i want to go mining b4 the op.

((OOC: Just so there's no confusion, Arial is doing her conversing, phoning, and writing simultaneously.))

[Inumo]

Naya sat down on a bench, watching Elberta as she placed apparently random dots on the map. "One of this guy's subordinates remembered that the surface was still around at one point. We caught him just before he found the Mess Hall on the surface. Since then, he's only been Maki in name. He's a general in the fortress's army, so we don't need to worry about Knight conditioning. We passed him some nanotech, and he planted some bugs on the camera cables so we could get a good picture of the place. Unfortunately, all of the Knights have RFID tags that hide them from the cameras, so we can't figure out the guards' patrol routes." Soon after responding, her wrist-comm buzzed. Glancing over at Ariel, who was only a few feet away, she responded.

To: Arial
Fr: Naya
Subj: Re: access plz?

Sorry, we don't have a link to the Maki's closed network. Might be able to access it once you're there, though.

[Lisky]

Darkshine's entrance into the little meeting room went relatively unannounced.  He choose an unobtrusive section of the bench, then sat down.  He flipped open a small plate and started playing with the multi-tool that was stashed there.  He put it back, and tapped his ear, activating the small head-set clipped there.  "Hey, Ranger, what's the status on our munitions in the bike? Should i get some additional rounds fabricated? or are we good?"

He knew ranger had heard him.  Ranger literally lived in the suit.  The small headset was linked with the various communications gear built into the suit, ergo, Ranger had heard him.  However, the AI decided to remain quiet for a few moments before finally replying.  "We don't 'need' more bullets, if that's what you're asking.  But they wouldn't hurt either.  If you've got time, i'd suggest getting more anti-personnel... sounds like we'll need them."

The feline watched as the team slowly filed in, he also took note of those already in the room.  Judging from the people he'd seen so far, the reason he'd been hired was clear.  A bunch of cyber-geeks and wannabe cowboys.  As he continued his observations, he had to ask himself, 'has anyone else here actually been shooting where the targets shot back?!'

[Ashen Star]

'...where the targets shot back?'  Her ears flickered as she  moved quadrupedal down the hallway, her digitigrade legs stretching out behind her to maintain a low and silent profile.  Her neon blue tail swished back and forth behind her to scatter her scent.  She'd been wandering this facility for almost half an hour, following a mixture of curiosity, covetousness, and the fact she hadn't found the exit yet.  Still, given the distant booms of thunder reaching through solid rock, being inside wasn't so bad.  Clearly there was something going on here.  It was a damned sight more interesting than hanging out in the Podh tunnels, that was for sure.  She waited back by the door, her nose taking in the scents of the occupants.  Humanish.  Catish.  Note to self, no barking.

There were three Podh philosophies for this type of situation.  A rat would skulk and hide, listening for as much information as possible before moving away and planing the best approach.  A cat would walk in and let sheer confidence be their shield.  Obviously, they were there because they meant to be there and were obviously the best person in the room.  She, however, followed the dog philosophy.  Thus the nearly seven foot tall heap of killing muscle and ripping claws jumped into the meeting room and gushed as fast as she could, "Hey!  What's going on?  Can I help?  I wanna help!  Let me help!  Please!  Please?!  PLEEEEEZZZZZEEEE?!"  She whined as the massive electric blue wolf wagged her tail as hard as she could and let her tongue flap out the side of her muzzle as she panted.

Then she rememebered the bloody hunk of rat clutched in her mit that could very well be from someone rather than something and gave a sheepish smile, trying to hide it behind her back. "Hee... um... pay no attention to my lunch!  Really... no one you know... honest!"

[Meany]

"Did this informant happen to give the name of the base commander?"  Elberta finished tracing the paths of the guard patrols she remembered, and sat up to examine the map from above.  There were several possible ways to infiltrate the base, but one seemed to tickle Elberta's fancy particularly.  But she'd need to know if Gorbachev was still in charge before she shared it with her teammates.  The formr Knight idly reached up, and tweeked one of her ear studs, surrepticiously establishing the audio connection Arial had requested.  "Yes?  What is it?" Years of practice had taught Elberta how to wishper into a reciever to be heard loud and clear.

She didn't move to aknowledge the newcommers, but adjusted her prosthetic eye's camera to snap a solid image of them.  They really didn't concern her; there was a mission to plan, and it had priority.  "Ms.  Heuristal, how long do you imagine it would take you to hack into the base's door control and fire suppression controls once you establish a hard connection?"

[WhiteFox]

To: Naya
Fr: Arial
Subj: Re: access plz?

   not have to be secure/mil/priv; publ mak nets r fin. just haz to be sec on yr side so no trace bak 2 u

To: Arial
Fr: Naya
Subj: Re: access plz?

Sorry, we don't have a link to the Maki's closed network. Might be able to access it once you're there, though.

   Arial nodded briefly to Traxen before she turned to speak with Elberta. "Please... Call me Arial." She said. "The time I'll need to gain access depends on a couple of things. Best case scenario, popping the door by circuit-bending the lock would take a few seconds at most, but I doubt their systems will be shoddy enough to make that possible. I'm not brute-forcing anything, either... I'm fast, but not that fast. It'd take me, like, decades instead of millennia.
   "Personally, I'd like to use a TEMPEST side channel attack:* we plant a bug in advance to do some key-logging. We wont have to recover it ahead of time: the second I reach the door, I can access the readings, analyze the raw data, and deduce an access code. There's a couple of different ways we could place the bug, and I've got a fair number of skills for that sort of thing, but I'll leave it to the mission planners to figure that out.
   "Time will depend on how complicated the access protocols are; if it's a 16-digit keypad code, it'd take me a fraction of a second. If there are keycards or RFID systems, which have a lot more digits, maybe ten to fifteen seconds. If its biometric, like a fingerprint or retinal scan, it could take me anywhere from a few seconds to a minute, depending on the resolution.
   "As a contingency, I'll make a few breecher RPGs." She held up her arm, which had a grouping of five circular holes near the wrist, about an inch and a half across each. "They'll have to be a lot larger then my launcher can handle, though, so somebody with training will have to carry them." She said.
   The newcomers entering the room caught her attention breifly... then her eyebrows jumped when the tall armoured gene-splice walked in. After a quick for telecom equipment, she sent text message:

To: unnamed predator
Fr: Arial (synthetic white female)
Sbj: nize threads!

   been while since i last saw complete suit of reactive-pseudoplastic armour. looks made for u; culd be older then me?
   need n e patching? or sum 1 to recalibrate the sensitivity? misc. port-and-polish?
   call me!

   Her conversation with Elberta over the audio line was very different:
   "I noticed how closely you were... scrutinizing the map, Elberta." She said.   "I'm not very confident in Cray right now. I can't say I'm willing to fully trust his ability, or his motives. I was half tempted to walk out on the offer. I intend to do some double-checking and confirmation on the mission data. If you have any suggestions for other precautions that might be worth taking, let me know.
   "I don't like to see a mission go tits-up, whether it's due to incompetence, bad intel, or a double-cross. The latter seems unlikely at this point, but I'll be making contingencies for all of them. We might want to discuss a few; for the team as a whole, if the operation goes out of the pan and into the fission-bottle; as well as for the individuals on the team, who may be... "high risk," shall we say.
   "We might have to dispose of the shaggy blue brat... Who the hell let her in here, anyway? I don't think she was invited."

((OOC: *Sorry for the jargon:
Circuit Bending
Side Channel Attack
TEMPEST

...Aw, who am I kidding. I'm not sorry at all; It sounds all Mission Impossible-ish.

[EDIT] Originally, Arial referred to AshenStar's Grrrl as a "neko-brat," when she is in fact canine, not feline. Pardonez moi, sil vous plait.))

[SquirrelWizard]

Emily entered the briefing room, with her large case in tow. As she walked by the giant blue monstrosity she ruffled the fur on the top of its head as she made for a nearby seat. Leaning her case on the edge of the table, she sat back and calmly took in the room.

Edit: bah misread Ashen's last post. Edited.

[Lisky]

Darkshine's reaction remained flat as, at first he heard someone talking about various types of hacking.  Knowing ranger, he'd be, metaphorically speaking, drooling goodly sized lakes by the time she finished her in-depth prep-talk.  Darkshine's specialty was less in hacking, and more in infiltration.  However, something caught his attention.  The synthetic started talking about explosives, breaching techniques. The feline's ears perked up, and suddenly, she had his undivided attention.

"Breaching grenades are great... but sometimes, simple det-chord and adhesive will work just as well, if not better, and furthermore, can be tailored to your needs.  Just one thing to think about.  Another, what are the walls of the facility made out of?  If say, we start using Fuel-air or thermobaric grenades, would the walls survive the shock-wave?"

Flicking through some additional ideas, Darkshine stopped when he finally felt the text message that'd been sent and received, from the synthetic, while she'd been speaking.  Damn, she's good  Were the first thoughts to creep into his head.  He stood to his full height for a few moments, studying the blue-prints.  "It'd be nice to know how much actual combat expertise we have in this room, and even more importantly, with who we're going to have in the field.  Really... it'd be nice to know what skill sets we'll be working with, and planning with.  That type of thing seems rather vital before actually making a plan... no doesn't it?...  You can call me Darkshine, and if i'm not mistaken... my part of the contract is to make sure this gets done right.  I'm an infiltration and weapons expert."

He sat down and sent a reply back, typing out on a small key-pad he'd laid out across a forearm.

To: Ariel
Fr: Darkshine (Predator)

No need for help, can do repairs on own.
Age: 180
Armor is a Reaper Mk4 Semi-Powered Infiltration suit, unit #002
If U want 2 see more, just ask. 

He tapped the message out, and flashed a big grin, having chosen to ignore the large blue beast for the time being, rather than respond.  Dogs didn't bother Darkshine, and if this large hound decided to attack, or slobber on him... the latter seemingly increasingly more likely.  He'd deal with that road when he got to it.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Cybee immediately stopped bucking the APC when the wolf-thing...spoke. Cybee went still and silent, and began carefully analyzing the seonsor input as she focused on the thing. Eventually, it hopped off the roof and sauntered down a cooridor. Cybeen waited for a moment, then deployed the drone to carry a cable to the terminal in the wall. As the connection was made, Cybee was linked with the base's intercom, and could now detect when and where Traxen jacks in. However, he wasn't online yet...oh well. Using the intercom's link, Cybee sent a message to the base's security center, requesting access to the surveilance feeds of the shelters.
  "Hello security command, I am Cybee, the AI assistant of one Traxen Ridgrey. You should know him and I, we has been here for several months and has been helping with many research projects, but right now, I am separated from him, and cannot remotely keep an eye on him with a drone. Will you link me up to the camera feeds in the shelters so I may see that he is okay? I've hardly been separated from him like this before."
  Cybee actually then thought it might not be so good when Traxen does return. There was still guts and gore left on the roof.
  Traxen was going to go ballistic.

***

  Traxen accepted the data cylnder as Arial passed it to him (though the huge suit on his shoulder still blocked his view to her), listening intently to her explanation. "Thank you very much, miss Heuristal. I quite look forward to browsing and analyzing the contents of this information once I'm back in my APC....oh, right! Cybee! Excuse me for a moment, I must get in touch with her." With that, Traxen moved away from the group, heading for the nearest terminal to plug into.

[Meany]

"While all of this is certainly useful...I was not referring to your ability to open doors, but rather close them."  Elberta highlighted a area of the the building, a large entrance hall.  "Part of Maki military protocol is that all but essential base personnel are required to be at attention in this, the entry hall, any time a member of the royal family comes to call.  The simplest plan is to convince the base staff that one of the Princes is coming to inspect their progress, and then remotely lock the doors to the hall behind them.  All but a skeleton crew made of mostly scientists will be locked inside, allowing us to effectively stroll on in, get the seeds, and get out.
"The walls are stronger than the doors, so they will probably attempt to either bypass the door controls, or cut through them, which is why I inquired into Arial's ability to hack the fire suppression systems; it will slow them down significantly.  The only issues are that they're ability to break through the doors before the cargo has been obtained cannot be overlooked, so we will need to travel fast, and light; also, if the facility's commander is indeed Gorbachev, he might be insane enough to order a couple of the Knights to stay behind.  If so, they will need to be dealt with.  And lastly, the data of our attack on the facility will need to be erased; even if the servers need to be pumped full of holes, there can be no digital proof that anything out of the ordinary occurred."
Elberta turned slightly to focus her artificial eye on the feline.  "This plan has been formulated with the skill set of the known operatives assigned to the mission in mind.  By your tone, I'm guessing there's been some last-minute adjustments?
"In any event, I'm Elberta Tudor.  Professional soldier.  If it has a trigger, I can shoot it with a fair degree of accuracy.  I can, as demonstrated here form some decent assault plans on limited intelligence, and I have the political savvy to negotiate a beneficial deal."

"I've learned," Elberta breathed into the communicator.  "That people rarely can be trusted implicitly.  For the sake of caution, neither of us should be assuming the other isn't a conspirator with Cray.  But if you take a chance and trust me, I would be willing to do the same with you.  Look at our personnel files.  The files themselves are more than likely restricted with some sort of security programs installed, but there should be a log somewhere of who's been looking at them, and whether they've been altered or copied.  Setting a few booby traps while you're in the system couldn't hurt, with preconditions like trying to delete certain personnel files, or by remote activation.
"Fleeing Rya altogether might also be considered, as a last resort.  I'm afraid that's all I can think up on the spot.  As for the canine...if it comes to that, I will deal with her.  Personally."

(OOC:  Blargh post is blargh.)

[WhiteFox]

   Arial chewed her lip for a moment. "I'd... huh. This could get messy." She said.
   "First, if we want to convince the base that there is an a impending inspection, gain control of the doors and fire supression system, and erase any digital evidence that we were ever there at all, the most efficient way to do so would be to hijack the network for the entire base. I don't mean just the security systems; I mean everything."
   "Hacking our way in wont be the hard part; they probably have a pretty solid block of ICE, but you're talking to Satan's own hacker. It's not my strongest suit, but I'm faster then any meta-human, and more adaptive and creative then any AI I know of. If there are half as many assistant-AI's on the team as I think there are, I can co-ordinate an attack that will make their heads spinning. The hard part will be making sure we have access to 100% of the system, no exceptions. The probability we'll be able to do that, even in the best of conditions, is infintessimal."
   "Second, this is a loud plan. The definition of a black-op, as opposed to covert, is that at no point is the enemy aware that an operation occurred at all. The Mooks... er, Maki, are definitely going to know that something happened, no matter how much data we alter, because they'll be missing seeds. The bigger the op was, however, the harder they'll look into it.
   "Instead of erasing all the evidence, I suggest we leave very little evidence, and manipulate the data to pin the operation on a different faction.
   "I'm... hesitant about a few things in this plan. Having a skelleton crew in place and all the base personel in one location makes for a fair bit of risk. It's fine if everything goes according to plan, but things could go very badly if it doesn't. Besides, Cray wanted this to be quiet." Ariel glanced over to Naya. "Is this mission plan within operational parameters, Naya?"



   There was a very soft chuckle over the private com-line. "'If' I were making contingencies for the possibility that you are a compromised element, the first precaution I would take would be to not inform you that such contingencies were being made."
   "I will warn you, though, that I have yet to formally accept this contract. When Cray walked out, I was tempted to tell Naya right then and there that he could shove it. If I'm not confident in the success of the mission, I am going to cut and run, no discussion. I'm a professional, so I wont be ratting anyone out or taking any payment with me that I haven't earned."
   "As for Cray, I'd rather not resort to active sabotage. Again, unprofessional. I'll definitly want to take a look at the personel files, though. Closely."

To: Naya
Fr: Ariel
Subj: background check

   i'd like to look at what info. you hav on the team members, and what resources you have available for us to use. i can has user access for your intranets?

To: Darkshine
Fr: Arial
Subj: a/s/l

Age: 140+
Specs: MkII A.M.And.A (Infotech variant)
Loadout:
My body-type is designed for precision flight, high-volume data processing, and extreme radiation/impact/thermal/whatev tolerances.

The Mark I frame came in two models: a civillian variant for scientific research involving hazardous conditions, and a military variant for battlefield reconnaisance and telecommunication support.

It turned out that a mix of both scientific and military capabilities was well suited for infromation warfare; gathering and interpreting military intelligence. The Mark II came out in a third model, optimized for covert operations and intelligence analysis.

I'm a MkII Science model, but all three variants have a couple of standard features, like crypto' gear and the basic PDWs, and I have the training to use them. I was also trained to be self-sufficient, so I can build/repair all the equipment I need to do a job, and keep myself supplied and running.

I have extensive training in scientific fields, some of which you can't get anymore. I've gotten a lot practice with my military hardware and intelligence gathering techniques since I started doing contract work, too. These days I sell my services, usually information brokering, trade/repair of black market technology, and covert package transportation.

I look forward to working with you!

[Inumo]

((Ack! Sorry it took me so long to post. The post fairy has not been kind...))

Naya had wandered over to a tree root growing out of the wall, apparently only half paying attention to what was going on. She'd heard enough questions to set off her internal ticker for when to answer.
"Elberta, the informant apparently picked up some of the paranoia of the guy he's working for... He won't tell us his employer's name. Sorry. At least Darkshine's on your team, eh?"
As she said this, she pulled opened up her messaging program on her keypad again.

To:Ariel
Fr:Naya
Subj: Your Messages

Wow, two messages without waiting for a response? Pushy... I suppose I should clarify by what I mean by "we don't have a link." We actually do, in a sense... One of our hackers got lucky recently with the 250-sec ((See note1)) link, and they used a rather easy decryption. Only problem is, we're afraid that if we try to hack again, we'll take down his link and possibly wipe all of our systems if we don't close off fast enough. The organo-comp's in the comm-req zone. Talk to Li, he'll direct you to the right one. They've got some stuff on that network, but the guy we're heisting has a link with 15k-sec, along with some pretty dang good encryption. Nothing hard, if we could figure out what the encrypted data was, but we can't get a solid message, only kill commands. The guy seems to have a crap-ton of back-ups, though; every time we kill his string and wipe his server, it's replaced with speed I've only seen Aeth tech beat.

We don't know much about the people we're sending on this op's experience, only their field of interest. This is their first op, Cray figured this'd be pretty easy. Traxen's an Aeth fugitive for accidentally making his own AI; he's one of the techies, seems to know what he's talking about. Elberta's an ex-Knight, "failed" experiment from Mak; seems to be doing pretty fine as GMHs go, though. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff you see coming out of Pohd... Arial's one of our smuggler contacts; she's been able to ship some pretty nice tech that we've been able to integrate with the tree-network. Darkshine's a merc, and apparently as good and honorable as a merc can get. Pretty asinine, though. Emily's one of our inventors, working on the paint round project. All I can think of off the top of my head... answer your questions?

P.S. Op sounds fine from what I heard.

Hitting the send button, she turned to face Darkshine. "Glad we could agree on a price for you. The walls are floor-to-ceiling, supposedly two or three feet thick, carved out when the place was first built. I dunno much about explosives; you're the team expert, I believe.

After answering everyone's questions ((I think...)), she finally turned around to see the blue werewolf-esque creature. "So, that's who was doing the begging... For a moment there, I thought it was Sparky, the rascal... How'd you get in here, anyways? Our border security's pretty tight, and it's not like it's easy to stumble into one of our groves.... Either way, have to ask as protocol, are you or were you monitored at all when you got in, however you managed it?"



A security tech, sitting in the darkened room, perked up at Cybee's communications. "Cybee, this is Security. Request received and granted; patching you in now." He tapped a few keys on his keyboard. "You should be getting signal now. Let me know if there's anything else you need." Leaning back, he shut his eyes once more and resumed his nap.

((Note1: The current form of encryption is a system that, if you don't pick up the signal in the right spot, can wipe out the entire signal, as well as the entire server of data if the security programmers so wish. The #-sec is in reference to the number of kill commands. For example, in a 250-sec link, out of every 250 packages sent, only one of them is actually a piece of data, encrypted or otherwise.))

[Lisky]

At the mention of the wall's thickness, a very wicked grin grew across the feline's face.  "What I have in mind should be fine then.  I'll be sending some plans to your people for fabrication.  An aerosol disperser, and a spark plug, you combine them with the appropriate mixture, and you've got the finest room and hallway clearing device humanity has made to date.  Just gotta be sure the team is clear."

"how quiet or loud do you want this done?  I mean, if we have to come out guns blazing, should I make an effort to destroy as much of the facility as possible?  Is there any reason, should it prove tactically possible, not to make an attempt to seize the facility for later use?  And lastly, how much leeway are we going to be given with salvage.  Say, I need to take down someone in a head to toe power armor, is taking that armor back with us and using it for salvage a legitimate possibility.  These are a few things I'd like covered now... because, well... salvage is, at the very least lucrative, and often times leads to discoveries of enemy technologies."

He'd stayed standing, moving a bit further back once he'd said his piece,  heading for the back of the room.  He'd observe for now... see what the others had to say.   While waiting he ticked out another reply,

To:Arial
From: Darkshine
Sub: Re: A/S/L

The feeling is quite mutual.  Hopefully we can find some additional competent support.  All i say are the local riff-raff, an armchair commander, and a couple of wannabe cowboys. 

Unrelated note, getting you some thermobaric in my own order.  Sending specs for future reference as well.  Enjoy.

[Inumo]

Naya gave Darkshine a funny look as he stepped back to listen. "This is a heist, a theft of seeds, not a full-on assault. The goal is to take the seeds and bring them here, maybe taking any research accompanying the seeds at the same time. How quite or loud doesn't matter, just don't get caught leaving and don't completely wreck the place. We're the Factionless, not Cla, for goodness' sake!"
She paused, taking a deep breath. "Salvage... Talk with the comm-req department head. He knows more about what we can take from Mak without being too much of a system shock to them to have them start looking in abnormal locations."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Cybee thanked the security guard as he funneled the shelter camera feeds to Cybee. In a moment, she could see within most of the shelters. Using a scan that took a mere fraction of a secon, she picked out Traxen from a group in one of the shelters as he made his way towards a wall intercomm. While "waiting" for him to plug in, she quickly profiled the others in the group he was just with...

*****

   Traxen reached the wall terminal, pulling a small device out of it. He plugged the device into the intercomm, and then pulled a headset out of another pocket, and fiddled with the settings on it. As it settled over his ears--
   "There you are, Traxen. Took you long enough."
   "Yeah, sorry about that, got hung up for a moment. Besides, I'm only human. I'm not as fast as you."
   "Well, everything's good now. Looking at you and the group you're with. These Factionless have always been diverse, but this is quite the collection you've got here."
   "Yeah. And our job is to make sure they all stay alive...well, it is time to see how those armed bots I've been making stack up."
    "They should perform to expectations. They have all been created for and have met high standards..."
   "We'll see."
   Traxen then wandered back to the group, which seemed to have gotten bigger since he walked away. The large envriosuit, of course, was still over his shoulder...
   The group seemed to be discussing tactics and equipment. Traxen chimed in. "In terms of small equipment and munitions, I can produce just about anything you guys could care to name in an hour or two, and I've got some stuff already stored up a few of you might want to look at. I can also handle salvage processing in the field, reverse-engineering and schematics-constructing on the spot, as well as getting any tech operational for immediate use. My APC is a mobile workshop, after all. Just don't bring me nanotech or bio-engineered things. In the meantime, I'll also be handling fire-support, recon, and information coordination between everyone. I've got a bunch of drones and bots, and in addtion to being a workshop, the APC is also a mobile command center."
   At Naya's clarification of what the operation was abotu to everyone else, Traxen nodded. "Yeah, I'd rather not trash their base either if we can help it. We're not there to actually sabotage, just to get a sample of what they won't share, it seems. Other than that, I'm good with however this op is run. I'm just support and coordination."

[Lisky]

The speckled feline replied in a flat, near emotionless, tone, "I ask the question because in many cases, it does pay to cripple your enemy, even if you don't really want to stomach the repercussions.  Chances are, this isn't one of those cases... however, if it is... with the entire force cooped up in a small, and under our control, area... we could effective neutralize the base in a single precision assault.  A few thermobaric explosives dropped through the doorways, then seal the doors, and anything you haven't toasted in the room via fireball, has been effectively crushed with the over-pressure blast-waves.  Crude, brutal, effective.  You can always contact me over the soon to be specified coded radio frequencies to alter mission perameters, should you choose to do so"

He shrugged "i shall prepare my gear for a stealth op, if you'd grant me access to your fabrication facilities, i'll get prepped immediately with what i'll need for my end of the mission."

He pulled a thumbnail sized data-drive from under one of the small plates covering the abdomen of the suit,  "I've got the schematics for what i'll need to fabricate, the materials i can provide for myself should they prove unavailable."

He sent another text to Arial

To: Arial
From: DS
Sub: Things That Go Boom, and other toys.

I've got a wide range of technological schematics for Shadowhand operatives.  You seem competent enough to handle yourself, and given what you've said, probably have the ability to obtain the rarer materials involved in their fabrication.   Should you request copies, just seem me in private for a data exchange.

[SquirrelWizard]

Emily listened to the various plans flying about. After she had heard enough to get a general idea of what lay ahead of them, she cleared her throat loudly.

"How old is our intel? Fine, we have the base schematics so we'll know where we are. But that doesn't tell us anything about their guards, security systems, or schedules."

Emily turned to Ariel, "Spoofing an inspection might get us past their outer defenses, but at the same time, it could tick them off to an impending raid. In most military outfits I've seen, they typically redouble their security measures if they know an inspection is coming, which will make it harder to get in and out."

She then cast a wary glance over at Darkshine, "Which brings us to our second option of using force to break in. Since we do not know the composition of the forces there, it may not be feasible for a frontal assault. Worse, it could result in the destruction or damaging of the cargo. Even if we can take the base by force, we still have to take into consideration the reinforcement factor. Do we know how long it would take the nearest base to send reinforcements? That time represents the window from when we start firing till we run the risk of being overwhelmed."

Emily returned to addressing the group as a whole, "My suggestion is to look at their schedules and find a weak point and exploit it. It is a research base, anywhere there is a group of people together, you have to move resources in, and take trash out. Once we find our entry point, we should move in as quietly as possible, secure the cargo and try and extract it. If shots have to be fired, we should try to do it on the way out to maximize our window of opportunity."

[Tezkat]

Marcus floated into the shelter on his hoverboard. He hopped down to the ground. As he landed, his tail wrapped around the board, whipped it around, and tucked it under his arm.

His new suit continued to translate his surroundings into a constellation of tiny currents across his body. Even in the relatively weak artificial light of the shelter, he could close his eyes and simply feel all of the people moving around him as if it were daylight. That was soooo cool. He'd have to show Dad.

It turned out that his father wasn't in the infirmary. Marcus tried the comm room next. No luck. Hmm. Maybe one of the private rooms in back. Or perhaps he'd already returned to the lab. A quick message would--

His catlike ears suddenly perked up and flicked towards the group around the projection table. Naya had mentioned his name. He mentally cued the last minute of his audio feed and played it back at double speed, adding a quick filtering heuristic to isolate the conversation. His eyebrows raised. Something about an assault on Mak? Oh, right... the mission Mom had mentioned. And they hadn't asked for his help. How rude...

Marcus wandered over to the projection table, surprised to see a number of new faces. Having lived here for a decade, he figured he knew everyone in the Factionless, but these guys definitely weren't from around here. A pair of large theriomorphs--one heavily armed and armoured, the other nearly naked--stood next to Naya. The other was just as unusual. She (it?) looked like a cyborg--or maybe even an AI like Cybee; the strange energy signature made it difficult to tell.

"Hi, Naya. Are these our new recruits?" He liked Naya. Having been on the receiving end of so much of it herself, she never told him not to poke his nose into "adult" business.

He waved to the newcomers. "Hi there. My name's Marcus, but everyone around here calls me Sparky. Pleased to meetcha."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Traxen nodded to Darkshine. "As soon as we're done here, I can show you the workshop built into my APC." He then looked to Emily as she explained her plan. "I Like that idea. Gather more information before going in, make it as quiet as possible. Minimize risk. I can even help with the info-gathering, I've got plenty of spydrones."
   A "new" person then showed up, a person that looked like a kid with feline features. "Oh, hey there Marcus! Nice to see you on this--" Traxen suddenly winced. "Sorry, Cybee wants to say hi, one moment." He adjusted something on his headset, then tapped a few minute buttons on his own cybernetic arm. An electronic feminine voice suddenly emitted from Traxen.
   "Hiya, Sparky! Haven't seen you since last week, how have you been? Ooooh, that looks like a new suit! What does it do?"

[Inumo]

Naya nodded at Sparky. "Yep, these are the new guys. Cray's got their first op lined up. How's your mum, anyways? Been a while since I've had the chance to talk with her." She paused for a moment. "Say, how old are you now anyways? I can't remember when your last birthday was. Might be able to talk Cray into letting you in on this one; you handle your hoverboard well enough. Has your dad taken you to the range recently?"

[Meany]

"Yep, definitely Gorbachev."
Elberta listened to the group dissect her half formed plan.  "I suppose I should be arguing that this isn't a plan, just the beginnings of one.  However, I agree with all your points.  A successful, quiet burglary requires days of planning, observing the target, mapping out patterns and defenses.  Our intel is far too old, we must procure a new supply.  I turn the board over to the more subtle minds."

"I could argue that he deserves it for playing mind games with the paranoid;  I could, but I won't.  Very well, but it is also unprofessional to let a colleague fail without telling him why he failed.  I don't know about you, but I tend to tell such things to people in a manner most unpleasant.  Ah, but I'm acting familiar with you, when I really shouldn't.  I'm afraid I'll have to cut our conversation off now, to avoid potential listening-in."

"Mr. Ridgray, I believe you asked before for a sample of our communications devices.  I'd like to offer one of mine."  Elberta moved over to the cybrog, unattaching one her ear studs, the inactive one, and flipping it to a channel different from the one her other was using.  "If you could somehow get it to relay video data as well as audio, that would be magnificent."  For an explanation, if it was needed she'd tap her false eye.

Elberta barely turned when Marcus introduced himself.  She was...not good with children.  She was too much of a realist to let them cling to their false perceptions of the world, and was prone to treating them too much like rational adults, because that was with whom she socialized most often.  She did however, whip her head around when the woman proposed the boy joining the mission.  That woman can't be serious...  But for now she held her tongue.  Verbal bitchslapping in public was a sure-fire way to make enemies, which she couldn't afford at the moment.

[Lisky]

Darkshine let the others talk about.  He didn't really need to defend himself over a simple misunderstanding.  They clearly hadn't a clue who he was, despite him introducing himself as an infiltration and weapons expert.  The first piece was a surefire sign of stealthiness, speed, and enough brains to be observant at all times.  Save for, so far, 1 exception, it looked like another mission full of amateurs. 

He pondered his options for a few seconds, when someone mentioned the use -their- production facilities. The technophile, someone who'd probably be scrambling over the others to get his hands on the numerous bytes of data in the minuscule drive, spoke up.  Cocking his head to the side, Darkshine replied with a flat "No, no you will not.  Unless the situation changes, i use my employer's equipment, and only my employer's equipment.  You should know  how contracting works by this point in your life.  We -might- be working together today... even the rest of this week, perhaps a month or more.  However,  at some point, should i have used -your- facilities, and we find ourselves contracted by opposing factions, then... you see, there's this little problem of you knowing how to build -my- gear.  At the very least, you'd have the opportunity to use my own weapons against me.  So, you can show me your workshop at some other time.  A time when i'm not building proprietary technologies."

The feline's earpiece chimed, "you know, you could have handled that better.  If you're worried about him keeping the data, you could always wipe his drives afterward.  I mean... it's not like i couldn't do that."

rather than speaking back to Ranger, Darkshine typed out a quick message on his datapad

Will talk later, have things to do...

Darkshine turned to the group, "You do realize that a snatch and grab mission like this doesn't require nearly the kid-gloves you seem to be treating it with.  It's not like we're taking down a high-ranking general, or snagging a government leader.  I mean, if we've got recon drones, a simple infiltration with suppressed, silenced or silent weapons should suffice.  Take the security office first, use their own security systems to do our recon for us.  The team in the office leads the infiltration team in, grab the seeds, get out, burn the computers we hacked.  In, out, and all evidence of the mission is either burned on the computer, or whatever type of ammunition was put through the personell who were unlucky enough to get in our way."

[WhiteFox]

   Arial pondered the situation for a moment. "There's three ways I might take this. First, smash and grab, as Darkshine suggests. Come in hard and fast, go directly for the package, and get out before the Mooks know what hit them. I'm capable of this sort of work, but it's not my style. I prefer to go in quiet. If people want to do things loud, tho, I can keep up."
   "Second option: Covert.Pack a pistol with a silencer, sneak in, crawl through ducts, hack a few doors, and don't trip any alarms. That's what I"m best at, and I imagine Darkshine could keep up with me no problem. It requires top notch coordination and teamwork, though, so not everyone on the team may be suited for it."
   "Third... The definition of a black-op is one that the target remains completely unaware of." Arial said. "It's one thing to not get caught stealing, or for the enemy to not know who did the stealing. It's another thing entirely for the enemy to not realize anything was stolen at all... until they check their inventory. I don't think that's going to be an option, unless people here are trained for such things."
   "As for putting the base on alert... I'm for it, actually. If they're on alert, they're all at their stations. This makes their locations predictable, which makes them easier to plan for. That's where being sneaky comes in; however tight their security is, there's nothing that can't be foiled somehow. If the base is relaxed, there are unpredictable factors. Maybe someone is having an affair in a supply closet, or some one is having a smoke break in an inconvenient spot. That sort of thing leads to mistakes... I don't like mistakes."
   Arial was caught by surprise when Sparky came in the room. "Why, hello, there!" She said, smiling broadly. "I'm Arial. Nice board; I've got some hardware like that too. What's your Turing, kid?"
   This was a polite, informal way of asking how "smart" an AI was, and if they were sentient (which mean that they could learn), sapient (which meant they couldn't learn, but they could reason using what they had been programmed to understand), or if they were just very well spoken interactive computer programs.

To: Darshine
Fr: Arial
Subj: noobs

i'll b happy as long as the cmndr. stays in his armchair the support crew stays out of my line of fire and i get paid on completion.

tyvm for the thermobarics!

She'd have to come up with something to give him in return. It was only polite, after all.

[Tezkat]

"My Turing?" Marcus cocked his head towards Arial. One of his ears flopped down. "System error. Input invalid. Does not compute."

He froze up, staring at her motionless with a flat, confused expression on his face. After a few seconds, his tail began to twitch. Then he burst out laughing.

"Sorry. I'm a biological. My 'ware ain't self-aware." He scratched his head. "Not yet, at least. Mom does love upgrading me..."

He turned back to Traxen. "Can you really tell, Cybee?" He looked down at his chest and ran a hand over the smooth black material. "I suppose it is a little thicker. And the absorption efficiency is way higher! It should even soak small arms laser fire now. Just in time, I suppose." He chuckled and glanced up at Naya.

"Been practicing at the range with Krost. Last month we rigged a rifle smartgun to interface with my bolt targeting. Still a bit harder to shoot the drones than zap them, though, especially when they're moving fast..."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Traxen accepted the earpiece comm that Elberta offered him in his fleshy left arm. "Thank you, Miss Tudor." At her asking about video and tapping her own cybernetic eye, he replied with "Indeed, I can modify your eyepiece to recieve data as well, but that will take some more delicate tools out of my APC..."
  Traxen set the bulky envirosuit he was shouldering down (and making sure to face away from Arial), then held his right cybernetic arm up to the earpiece, and bits of the arm seemed to "unfold" and tiny, spindly little tools on multi-jointed "arms" began picking at the small device as Traxen focused his cybernetic eye intently on it. After maybe seven seconds, he was done, but sometime between that, the device looked like it was totally disassembled before being put back together. Elberta might wonder if that was completely necessary...
  "Not quite as good as what I can make, but serviceable. "Traxen said as he handed it back. "As soon as the storm lets up, you are encrypted into my APC's data-coordination flow. I also increased the earpiece's effective pickup range by approximately twelve percent, and you should experience slightly clearer audio quality..." he added with a hint of pride, also returning the envirosuit to his shoulder.
  To Marcus, Cybee's voice continued to emit from the arm. "Really? Wow, I guess we don't have to worry too much if you're in the line of fire of our bots, ha ha! Too bad your suits only work because they use your own body's conductive ability, the energy absorption would be so useful to us..."
  In the meantime, Traxen turned his head slowly towards Darkshine's rather definitive statements. "I think you are mistaken about something, 'Darkshine'. I'm not contracted, I kind of live here now. And I honestly don't know what you're doing here if you are so paranoid. I didn't even ask for anything from you, I was in fact offering to show you something of mine, though we probably will all be stopping by it anyway...but whatever. At the very least, I do need to see whatever youre using as a comm device so I can insert the encryptions for my data channels, unless you are to borrow one of mine which I'm not even sure I want to do now. And if you're out of the loop, well...Naya, how are we supposed to work with someone out of the loop?" Traxen asked rhetorically.
  Traxen let the comment hang, then continued. "Anyway. I think we can all agree that we simply have insufficient information to make a definative plan at this time. Why don't we just head out now, observe the base for as long as we need, and finalize our plan on-site? Which reminds me, how -are- we all getting to this base? I know some of us have our own vehicles, but what about the others? I don't think anyone's got anything as big as mine, are they going to have to hitch a ride with me, or is there something else for them to use?"

[SquirrelWizard]

Emily watched Marcus. She had seen her fair share of children fighting in conflict. Nearly all of them were forced into the position; either at gunpoint, or under gunpoint. She was leery of the proposition of lugging him along, "Am I right to assume we are taking him with us on this venture? If so, why? He looks no older than 14. The last thing we need to worry about is babysitting a fidgety tyke. Even if he has his particular realm of expertise, wouldn't shoving him into a fire fight be the worst thing considering his age? It cant be good for his mental state."

[Tezkat]

Marcus's ears folded back against his head.

"Babysitting?!? I'm not some helpless child. I'm almost sixteen! When Alexander the Great was my age, he was already leading entire armies to victory. Hell, I bet I'm stronger and faster than most of the people here. So what if I have a bit less experience? It's not like I'll ever get any of that sitting on my ass up here."

He crossed his arms and leaned back against the comp display next to Naya. Emily was slightly taller than he was, and standing next to her--much less the towering feline--only emphasized his smaller build. Naya at least made him look older and bigger by comparison.

Letting out a sigh, Marcus turned back to Traxan--or more specifically, his arm.

"I dunno, Cybee. I mean, sure the nanogel connectors were customized for me, but the photonics should work for anyone. Maybe ask Mom for the specs?"

Traxen never displayed much interest in his parents' nanotech or genetic engineering projects, but perhaps Cybee had  branched out. At any rate, the AI might be able to keep his mom busy while he left on this mission...

[Inumo]

"Emily, whether or not Sparky comes with is up to Cray," Naya said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Sixteen is about the age most people go on their first op at anyways. Let me call Cray, see what he decides." She tapped out a number on her wrist-comm.

"Cray? Naya here. I was wondering if Sparky was-- How did you know I wasn't going to ask if Sparky was with you? Oh come on, am I really that predictable? ...Well that's not exactly a nice way to put it. Look, can he come or not? Why not? Cray, we've got more untested people going on this op than ever before. Is one more really going to make that much of a difference? It's a seed theft, Cray, not an assault on Cla! ...Cray, the kid's probably played more stealth games than you and I combined. It can't be-- Have you seen how immersive some of these games are nowadays? One of Jali's kids was playing out in a field one day, near scared the pants off of me when he came up and tagged me. Why-- Cray, the game was on his visor, it was one of his objectives to tag me. Are you really that out of the--? Fine, fine. So can Sparky come with or not? St-- Fine. Just, fine. Bye."

Naya sighed as she turned to Marcus. "Sorry, boyo, Cray gave the no-go. Seems like stealing reverse-bio-engineered seeds from Mak is 'too dangerous' for you." She sighed again."I'm going to strangle that man some day..."

((Tezkat, hopefully this is makes the op sound cool enough that Sparky will want to sneak in. If not, let me know, I'll try to edit it up and make it sound cooler (probably with your help).))