Contract #5: Marcus Bell: Enemy of the State!

[GM Nick]

Levitate (4) (Tyros)

[Spellcasting (6) + MAG (6 ) + Power Focus (2) = 5]
4 6 6 3 6 3 6 3 3 5 1 3 2 4

Levitate (4) (Tyros)

[Spellcasting (6) + MAG (6 ) + Power Focus (2) = 4]
1 1 6 2 2 2 5 5 1 5 4 2 1 3

After a few minutes, enough boulders have been moved that the Roadmaster can sneak by.

Resist Drain (4) (Tyros)

[WIL (4) + LOG (6) + Focused Concentration (2) + Centering (4) = 4]
1 5 2 2 3 6 3 4 3 4 3 6 1 6 4 3

Resist Drain (4) (Tyros)

[WIL (4) + LOG (6) + Focused Concentration (2) + Centering (4) = 4]
3 6 3 1 4 4 3 6 1 1 4 5 4 1 6 4

[Drew Buddy]

Doc looks over the unconscious men, and makes a quick internal calculation as to their weight, using it to measure out individual doses of Laés and Slab.

"Now remember kids, don't mix your medications," he says, administering the cocktail to the driver and guards.

"This should keep them out for several hours, and rob them of any memory of the drive or our encounter. We should stash them in the rover while we go about our business; We don't want some loading dock worker discovering them while we're in the facility."

Adams collects the commlinks from all three men. "Best not to leave these with them in the unlikely event that they wake up. Besides, there might be some kind of passkey encoded on them for getting past the guards."

[Stephen]

Kneeling, Val peers through the mist of his own breath at the unconscious form of the Roadmaster driver. His implanted commlink could create somewhat of a snag, but Val's got a remedy for that. He cracks through its firewall and analyzes the currently dormant persona of the driver, obtaining his Access ID. He does the same for the other two commlinks in Doc's possession.

"I agree. We should anticipate the possibility that they'll scan our PANs upon entry. Doc, I assume that you'll be driving us into the compound. In that case, you should probably have the driver's Access ID. I'll spoof one of the guard's commlinks to mimic it, and you should carry that one. Max can carry the other guard's commlink, and I'll spoof my own to mirror the final guard's, whose commlink I'll disable. Tyros and Sinjin can do their tandem disappearing act, and everyone should have their own PANs in hidden mode. That should help ensure the guards see what they expect to see. Not perfect, but it's the best I can do under the circumstances."

[GM Nick]

Spoof Test (Val)

[Hacking (6) + Spoof (6) = 4]
2 5 1 1 1 1 4 5 3 4 5 6
[Hacking (6) + Spoof (6) = 2]
4 2 4 1 6 2 2 1 2 6 1 3

Val quickly assigns the access ID's of the guards commlinks with his and Doc's.

[John]

Max looks up as Doc withdraws the syringe from his prisoner's neck with surprise and alarm in his eyes, and blurts,

"The frag, man?! We needed them conscious! Who's gonna drive the truck back out of the facility after we're safely inside?! God dammit. This whole thing is going to drek!"

Max stands up and runs a hand through his hair anxiously. Snapping back around to the team, Max says,

"We need to get moving right away. He said they have orders to fire on the truck if it's late, and this diversion has put them a couple of minutes behind schedule. I should drive in case we need to talk our way through anything."

[Drew Buddy]

Adams holds his hand up, palm facing outward.

"Easy there, nothing is fragged. Every vehicle has a pilot program. With no stops along the way, this thing should be able to drive itself out. The truck will leave just fine, and we don't have to deal with the unpredictable liability of this driver and these guards."

[John]

Max stops his wig-out and takes a breath, looking slightly embarrassed, and says,

"Alright, that's good news. Nonetheless, we need to get going ASAP. Doc-- maybe you should drive in case things get hairy, and I'll ride shotgun for if we need to answer any questions."

[Drew Buddy]

(( A brief fast forward here, unless anyone wants to narrate stashing the bodies ))

Adams double checks that the unconscious bodies are secure in the back of the Rover, and shuts the hatch. With a few mental commands, he instructs the vehicle's pilot to keep the doors shut and locked until further command by one of the team, and to signal him if the sensors pick up any movement inside or outside the vehicle.

Trudging back up the hill, he pauses at the driver's door of the Roadmaster,

"Everyone ready? We've got to haul ass if we're going to make it in time."

[John]

Max jumps into the shotgun seat and gives Doc a thumbs up, clearly eager to get going.

[GM Nick]

Devil's Canyon begins to narrow as Doc navigates the remainder of the distance to the Legion compound. The frozen granite formations squeeze closer and closer together, creating a gap of no more than 10 meters at the top of the canyon in some places. The Roadmaster rumbles through, it's super-diesel engine throwing up a chorus of echoes that fill the small space.

An archway becomes visible ahead, at a point where the canyon walls actually do intersect.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams slows the Roadmaster down from its breakneck speed, driving the gigantic vehicle less like a rally car, and more like a bored trucker.

"Gotta drive casual, or they'll know something's up," he mutters as the archway comes into view.

[John]

Max bangs on the roof to signal to the team in the rear that they are at the archway, and sits anxiously.

[Stephen]

Val wipes a hand down his face, sweating impossibly in the cold. Once upon a time, his visage might have displayed the true degree of his nervousness. Not now. He's got his game face on, fighting against the forces deep down which threaten to mar his outward calm. He grips his rifle tightly, sitting on a packing crate in the cargo container which jars his body with every bump in the road.

This is where everything could go to drek, and quickly. He'll try to take care of his end, as that's all he can do.

< I'll hide my commlink while I turn the other guard's on, and leave it in the truck. Doc and Max, leave yours on the seats when you get out. Maybe if you try to fog up your passenger windows, they won't notice the lack of a driver when the pilot takes the truck out. >

[Elliott]

Tyros sits against the truck wall, his invisible form cross legged, claymore resting across his thighs. He tests the blade with his thumb and feels the keen edge bite into his callus, almost drawing blood. Good, the sword is ready, and he can almost feel the tingling of power just under the last few layers of skin on his finger. The pulsing song is sweet with the promise of power.

His shoulders relax as the the tension of waiting gives way and the moment of action arrives. Some might get worn down by this line of work with its constant, grinding danger, but the big troll only feels truly alive when death is his dance partner. Bring on the music.

[GM Nick]

The grating tones of the Roadmaster reverberate severely as the large truck slips through an opening just wide enough underneath the archway. Just beyond, the canyon bottom opens up to accommodate a large expanse of snowy rock. As the archway signals the intersecting of the canyon walls, they split thereafter and run in different directions. In the distance, only a silhouette through the shifting patterns of blizzard, is a large rectangular building. A cluster of antennae protrude from the top.

In the more immediate vicinity, a set of tire-shaped gouges in the mud and ice lead into a small cave in one side of the canyon. The cave mouth appears to be a solid kilometer from the ghostly compound in the distance.

Max cranes his neck, scanning the top of the archway for any sign of the Legion forward guard. It's impossible to discern anything through the frigid miasma in any form of vision, so the elf leans back uneasily.

[John]

Max continues to stare out the window in distressed wonder, and mumbles out the suggestion,

"We should probably head into the cave. I don't think they're gonna let us just cruise right up to the front door."

Max takes a moment's pause, then follows up under his breath,

"Into the lion's den..."

[Drew Buddy]

Adams follows the tracks toward the cave, the truck bouncing over the ruts formed by past travelers.

"Now Max, if I didn't know better, I'd almost think you were nervous," he chides.

[John]

Max glances at him briefly, and says,

"You'd be an idiot not to be, amigo."

[GM Nick]

The cave is fairly shallow, just deep enough that the Roadmaster is out of view of the outside world. A string of utility lamps hangs from the earthen ceiling, casting a sallow glow over the permafrost ground. A menagerie of empty and discarded crates litter the periphery.

[John]

Max opens the passenger side latch and the door swings open with a cold, rusty creak that echoes shallowly in the cave. He jumps out of the cave and the soles of his boots slap against the ground. The wind outside howls, and snow drifts peter out as they spread into the relative cover of the chamber. Max's eyes pass over the empty crates and walls surrounding them. Nothing-- no way out other than the way they came in-- fraggin' perfect. Max looks about his teammates as they pile out of the roadmaster, and a moment of 'now what?' hangs in the air.

Max creeps forward toward the mouth of the cave. The snow that wisps in from the outside dances as it falls to the frozen, earthy floor. The howling of the wind is relentless. As he draws near to the frozen world outside, the blinding white of the snowy landscape outside resolves and he can again see the high rock walls of the canyon and the ghostly facility in the distance. Crouched there, Max peers out and tries to survey any sentries, security devices, or defensive traps that might be set.

[GM Nick]

Max switches to IR vision with a mental command--a sense that is only marginally better in the inclement weather. There are no heat signatures readily visible, though the landscape is a bluish-black shadow, filled with minute movements. The poor visibility will work to their advantage, the elf decides, as much as it hinders their own. A sudden gust assails him, the chill managing even to penetrate the archno-weave and polymer fabrics.

[John]

Max slinks out of his position carefully and heads back to the roadmaster to report in to the team.

"Looks like nothing outside. Visibility is close to zero. However, that should work to our advantage as much as it does theirs. In the meantime, we should probably unload all this drek as would be done if this were a real drop. Gotta maintain appearances. After that, I think we stay low and creep up there."

Max lights up a smoke, assuming that it will be his last for a while.

[Elliott]

Tyros clambers out of the truck, and tromps to the mouth of he cave. Switching to astral vision he surveys the landscape and the building, snow and light not inhibitors when viewing here world through a lense of mana.

[GM Nick]

No auras are visible on the outside or at the base of the facility.

[John]

Max hefts a crate out of the back of the truck and begins the pile beside the vehicle. The team makes short work of the task, and within mere minutes the truck is empty of its goods. Almost at the end of his cigarettes, Max locates the crate containing the smokes and saves two packs for himself. With that task completed, the elf joins Tyros at the mouth of the cave and pats the big invisible lummox on the shoulder, asking somewhat playfully,

"Feel like going for a little stroll?"

Max eases his way out of the cave, remaining extremely aware of his surroundings, and makes cautiously in the direction of the facility.

[GM Nick]

Max wades through the snow, keeping his head low against the flurry. The details of the Legion compound begin to manifest as the team draws closer. A sprawl of support pillars line the base, carbon-black against the endless white. It's more bunker than building. A ramp comprised of a plasteel grid rises from the snow and leads to an airlock-style door, the access panel adjacent to which is frosted over.

Some sort of ancillary structure looms to the East of the compound, rendered nearly invisible in the blizzard.

[John]

Max signals to the team, pauses, and loads a fresh mag of armor piercing rounds into Marlowe. Signaling to move on again, the elf thinks to himself, 'Must be fraggin' slipping in my old age...' As he eyes the two structures, his curiosity is piqued by the lesser of the two; infiltrations always seem to go best when performed from the point further from the heart. Max comms out to the team,

<Alright, I'm thinking we check that other structure over there first.> Max points to the secondary building looming faintly in the distance. <Start small, work big. We can split into teams here, or stick together.>

[Drew Buddy]

Adams comms back,

< Agreed, that smaller structure looks like our best way in from here. That ramp is too exposed for my taste. >

He links up to the truck's pilot program, the spoofed ID procured by Val letting him stroll past the vehicle's security.

< Unless anyone left their keys inside, the truck is going on its merry way. >

He plots in the course back to the Rover's hiding spot into the vehicle's dog-brain.

[John]

With Doc's agreement, Max begins to move in the direction of the smaller building, keeping a keen eye out for anything alarming.

[Elliott]

<"How are we getting out of here without a vehicle?">

[John]

Max continues moving, and says,

<We're just going to have to figure that out. Hanging onto that roadmaster isn't an option anyway since they're expecting it to drive back out immediately.>

[GM Nick]

The team skirts the perimeter of the building, attempting to stomp off the bone-chilling cold that seeps into the Phalanx battle-suits. The structure on it's fringes resembles a mini-hangar that's been partially snowed in. A heavily reinforced security door adorns the front, bearing a companion biometric palm-scanner. The silhouette of a security camera directly above the door freezes the team mid-approach.

[Elliott]

<"We really need more of those image repeating camera covers. Val, can you take care of the camera and door?">

[Stephen]

"On it, 'mano."

Val reluctantly hunkers down in the snow, shivering as the cold continues its slow creep from his skin to his bones. Running his Stealth, Armor, and Biofeedback Filter utilities, he drops into VR and begins prodding for an exploitable flaw in the camera node's firewall.

[GM Nick]

Detect Node Test (4) (Val)

[Electronic Warfare (6) + Scan (5) = 4]
3 4 2 6 1 4 3 6 6 6 2

Val detects the node controlling the security camera and sets about compromising it.

Hack On The Fly Test (Val)

[Hacking (6) + Exploit (6) + Codeslinger (2) = 4]
5 1 1 4 2 1 6 6 2 3 5 1 4 3

Successfully registering a security account, Val prepares to restart the camera. But not before locating and disabling the biometric scanner...

Detect Node Test (4) (Val)

[Electronic Warfare (6) + Scan (5) = 3]
1 5 4 6 3 5 4 2 2 4 3

<Frag! I can't pick up the scanner's node. Someone's going to have to get in there and bypass it manually. I can restart the camera and buy you a few moments to move up against the doorway. You shouldn't be visible if you're flat against it.>