Tank O The Lake

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Briefly taps both myself and Vector on the forehead with two fingers*
We should be good to go.

@Legend

*Naomi nods, counting down under her breath. The minute passes in quiet, apprehensive silence.*

NAOMI: Three, two, one. Move!

*There is a deep, thunderous BOOM, and the lights around the complex flicker and go dark. The guardsmen scatter, seeking cover, manning turrets as gunfire begins to ring out. People are firing from the hills, from firing positions in the very buildings behind the trio. A young woman, probably a teenager, fires long bursts from a machine gun on a nearby rooftop, at least until a burst of return fire cuts her down, and blood stains the walls behind her. Naomi doesn't wait for the fight to quiet; she's already sprinting down towards the fence, dashing from cover to cover below the noses of the soldiers.*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Keeps myself hidden while lurking, and local guards inexplicably seem to err on the side of being unusually but notably lax surveying our area in particular*
Is this region as dangerous as the signs seem to indicate?

@Etcetera

NAOMI: Eh. You'll only get cancer if you stay around more than a few years. Most of these folks get deported to the workhouses before then, so I hear. Funny how so many of the resistance folks I meet have stories like that, huh?

*By the look in her eyes, it isn't very funny. She checks her watch again, then taps something.*

NAOMI: T-minus one minute. Any affairs you gotta set in order, do 'em now.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

Shhhh, I was wanting to see their response! Lol

@Extra

Can't risk scaring em off lmao

Myriad Reality

This roleplay seems cool but I have no idea how my character (once accepted) would be introduced, considering there are nearly 13,000 pages of history. Does he just walk through a door and say hi?

@PalmerEldritch

(The other one's joking, you just gotta put in a character sheet)

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*For a moment's breath, a glassy deepness seems to stretch across the device at my touch, as if glinting against space itself before blinking back to its proper palette*
When will they set off the first one?
*Hoists it over my shoulder with no apparent effort now*

@Legend

NAOMI: When we're at the spot. But they can't hang out there forever, so I'd say...

*She looks at her watch and cringes.*

NAOMI: Haul ass.

*Naomi speeds to a light jog as they pass city limits. Out here, the city seems to just drop off--or, more accurately, the habitation of it does. New, or at least maintained buildings cut abruptly into abandoned storefronts and apartment complexes, wind sighing through broken windows. Eventually, they start to see bright yellow signs posted on boarded-up doors, reading in both Chinese and English:*

WARNING

RADIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION AREA

This building has been CONDEMNED by order of the PEARL RIVER DISTRICT, TECHNOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CHINA, SOL COOPERATIVE. Radioactive contaminants in this building are a PROVEN HAZARD TO HUMAN HEALTH, and unlawful residence in this building is a CLASS IV CRIMINAL INFRACTION, PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF U10,000 AND/OR A PRISON SENTENCE NOT EXCEEDING ONE YEAR.

*Underneath is written a list of health hazards connected to nuclear fallout, as well as instructions on how to report radiologically-contaminated locations or items. Judging by the tarps strung up over the windows, and the way some of the doors have seemingly been broken open, it seems like certain elements of the population have been ignoring the signs for a while.*

*Eventually, the buildings wear down to mere rubble and ruins. What little work was done to keep the other buildings from collapsing over the last century was clearly not bothered with here. Slowly, but surely, the loading dock appears in the distance, glimpses of it poking through the ruins. It's located down a slope; from this height, it's possible to see all of the several dozen guardsmen in exosuits patrolling, as well as the tunnel leading into the ocean, the manned checkpoint, the four guard towers, and the electrified fence. It's also possible to locate the tunnel's maintenance door right below and to the side of its main bulkhead.*

NAOMI: There's the prize. Keep your heads down; they'll take it off if they spot us creeping.

Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller)

Day 2: 18:32:04
Stolen Apartment
Novi Grad,
Novy Jork,
Capital Province,
Republic of Polavia

As the deadline nears, Upswing is busy slipping into a pair of gray slacks, a white button-down, and a navy-blue tie. Business casual, as it were. His pistol is on his back, concealed as he slips on his suit jacket. His knife is hidden surprisingly well in the sole of his right loafer. He looks somewhat ill-fitting in the suit; it’s like putting a bonnet on a gorilla. Nevertheless, with a sigh, he finds a seat and plops down into it once he’s all gussied up.

“Don’ believe I properly introduced meself,” says Upswing, “M’name’s Callum McCarthy, or Cal,” he nods to Felix, “Fer those who don’ know me; my buds and my not-so-buddy buds call me Upswing. Funny story; I’ll tell ‘ye when a’m drunk enough. Served six years DSR Army, four of ‘em SOCOM, bloody borin’ affair, in all honesty. After tha’, did some funny work, technically can’ talk about it. Reactor paid better, anyway. A’m here fer her.”

He nods to Rowan. “Well, more accurate-like, makin’ sure tha’ goofy gas ‘ye’re connected to stays well an’ happily in the heads of the people who made it. An’ as long as tha’s ‘ye folks’ goal too, I thin’ we’ve a good arrangement on our han’s.”

He looks around and slaps his knees as he stands. “And as fer the civvie charade...”

Something shifts in his look as his posture straightens and his body almost seems to fill in the suit. Where he was once languid, he now stands with pomp and professionalism. A face that once exuded cynicism and sardonics now seems jovial, lighthearted, almost servile, its half-sneer now a seemingly-genuine smile. If one didn’t know who he had just been, they would be forgiven for thinking this new man a twin brother or other close relative. Even having seen it, it’s hard not to wonder...

He reaches for his coat pocket and retrieves a pair of black-rimmed metal glasses, putting them on to complete the look. When he speaks again, all traces of his heavy accent are gone; in its place is the smooth, posh tones of a highborn Briton as he extends a hand to shake. “My name is Victor James Pettigrew; I’m your friendly advisor at Bank of the DSR, Novy Jork. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. May I interest you in any of our investment plans, or would you like to play it safer and entrust your money to our hedge fund?”

When the joke goes over in silence, Upswing laughs, high, genuine, probably. “Relax, darlings; I’m only enjoying myself. Felix, you poor, ironically-named sot, I am at your beck and call.”

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Hands the device to Katherine*
And we leave the way we entered?

@Etcetera

NAOMI: Yessir. Easy as.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Holds out my hand to Vector*
Is there anywhere specific we need to plant it? I can't imagine we just drop it wherever looks best.

@Legend

NAOMI: The analysis cluster will be as good a place as any to put it down; it's got a direct hookup to the computer network. It'll fry the alarms, fry any cameras the first bomb didn't hit, keep them disoriented enough to let you sneak out. Once you're topside, run for it; our buddies in the resistance will collect us and bring us back to Lucy's dropoff.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

You make it sound like they have insiders. If they have people who can go and grab this on their own, why ask us to?

@Legend

NAOMI: Not insiders. Just buddies in the countryside and a couple hacktivists we got the data off of. The Cooperative is very good at detecting spies in its government apparatus, I'm afraid. Hundred and twenty years of psychoanalysis and profiling research does that. Dead drops are easier, though.

*Naomi dips into a nearby alleyway and emerges carrying a big, navy blue military rucksack. She tosses it to Vector.*

NAOMI: That's the bomb. It's simple enough to set up; you'll figure it out. I might have to... run interference if it comes to that, keep them after me and not you, so I'll need you to take it just in case. Don't let it get damaged or none of us make it out of that place alive.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Flashes a quiet smile and shuffles through my jacket pockets, while saying absolutely nothing*
...

@Etcetera

*Naomi collects the ID cards and hands them over. The officer goes through them, occasionally looking up at the three, then hands them back with a nod.*

MIA OFFICER: Your Chinese is good, Ms. Lovelace, but you must work on your accent. Enjoy your stay in Hong Kong, ma'am.

NAOMI: Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.

*They hurry off towards the metro and board; Naomi looks a little shaky after what just happened, and it's too crowded in here to dare talk about the job. It's only when they get out and towards the deserted city limits that she starts talking again.*

NAOMI: We're going to be hitting the onshore loading dock in order to get to the place. The blacksite itself is an underwater complex; it's only got one entrance we could hope to use, a maintenance tunnel setup that runs under the seabed. The doors automatically lock if they detect unidentified persons around them, and we wouldn't even get close enough to trigger that if the place is guarded as heavily as it normally is, so Mr. Lucy's gotten in touch with some buddies in the local resistance, and they've made arrangements. Once we're in position, they're going to make a distraction, and part of that'll be detonating a low-power EMP bomb near the complex. It won't take out the power entirely, but it'll knock out anything sensitive, communications, surveillance systems, all that. It'll stop the doors from locking, too, since they'll go into a failsafe mode without their linked cameras. Once we're in, we'll make a beeline for their data analysis cluster and grab Drive 24C; it's a black storage drive, shaped like a book, about yea big, probably stored in a cryofreeze briefcase sorta thing.

*She holds out her hands about twenty centimeters apart.*

NAOMI: The second the drive is disconnected from the main network, every alarm in the complex will go off, so we'll set another EMP inside the complex, blow it, and go out the way we came once the lights are out. We'll have to run like hell, but we can make it.

*She chuckles sardonically.*

NAOMI: I'm gonna take the biggest fuckin' nap of my life after this.