NEWS

[5e IC] Storm Force Whisper [2076 Game Thread]

  • 295 Replies
  • 48254 Views

Mercy Merchant

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6422
« Reply #255 on: <05-20-17/1306:56> »
Robyn's avatar grins as it pulls in the data she is looking for. >>Got the location.  I am marking the path on you schematics Al got us.  Coming out now.<<

She glides back out of the host and her body moves again as she turns to look at her companions.  "Ready.  Did everyone get the path?"
"Speech"  *Thought*  <Matrix>

Jack_Spade

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6516
« Reply #256 on: <05-23-17/1608:26> »
The service/emergency tunnels turned out to be both damp and barely lit by red emergency lights. Condensation dripped from every possible surface as the whole area was barely heated. Keeping the illusion under these conditions going required every ounce of concentration Rick could spare as Isaint only knew too well. So it fell to him to open the heavy doors, slowing their progress significantly. After the first two, Isaint felt the need to change his attire. Being invisible didn't make the job any easier to put on a FBA, but long routine allowed him to do so with relatively little trouble. Now, properly armed and armored, he felt more confident - especially with the ultrasound jammer running
Looking at the map he realized that they still were more than half an hour away from the habitat.
<<I wonder how long it will take until they start messing with our matrix enabled gear. Probably best to leave most of it off as long as we don't need it. I've got a few spare micro transceivers if anyone of you needs one>>
talk think matrix

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield
Revenant Kynos Isaint Rex

adamu

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #257 on: <05-23-17/1707:46> »
Al carried precious little that was wifi-active as it was, and took advantage of the pause to double check the manual cut-outs on what he did have. Yup, al good and dead. The exception was his commlink, and he happily turned that off and then pulled the battery just for fun. Didn't need it for anything down here anyway, as long as they had the transceivers....of course, they pretty much needed point-to-point down here - he wasn't going to trust them much past LOS as long as the passages they were in were mostly surrounded by water.

He'd gone back to normal breathing once they were clear of the guards - his internal supply was hardly infinite - but he was poised to go back to it at the first sign of, well, anything.

One thing he would miss the 'link for was the place's schematics, so he risked a half-second of wifi to flash the data to the image link in his eyes. Now he could see it without any signal, and if he kept it in a window he wouldn't have to deal with AR. For fine work he'd have to blow it up to fill his vision, but as long as he didn't mind being blind, that wouldn't be a problem. Yeah, an AR overlay and he'd have the data and be able to see.

But that'd be too easy.


Mercy Merchant

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6422
« Reply #258 on: <05-24-17/0117:20> »
Robyn nods and begins shutting off her PAN items, one after the other.  She calls back her drones and turns them off so they do not give the group's position away.  Pretty soon, all of her devices are wireless dark.  She is not completely useless, but nearly so and feels it.
"Speech"  *Thought*  <Matrix>

Jack_Spade

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6516
« Reply #259 on: <05-24-17/0557:30> »
Isaint had turned all his gadgets wireless off. He missed the telemetry but didn't have time to worry to much about it. Attaching the microfiber cables to connect his guns with his glasses turned out to be too much hassle for a quick draw. At least the laser sights were operational.

But he didn't have much time to dwell on that, as the next heavy door had to be opened, secured, crossed and closed again.
<<For our way back, we'll probably have to entertain the option of stealing a submarine. Are you all up for a little detour to get the lay of the land there, or would you prefer we go straight to our target and don't risk the chance of forewarning anyone that we took a look at their garage?>>
talk think matrix

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield
Revenant Kynos Isaint Rex

Aria

  • *
  • Ace Runner
  • ****
  • Posts: 2249
« Reply #260 on: <05-24-17/0805:00> »
[Tuesday September 15th, 2076; CTec Aquaology, Tonga Trench]

Silk considers Isaint’s question “We would probably need to disable their perimeter defences to get out in one of their subs, I had hoped to return to the surface and get a pickup from there but I guess that is looking increasingly more difficult and the storm isn’t going to help matters as I doubt we have the time to wait for it to blow over.  Damn it, the path was so clear, now I am having trouble concentrating on it with you and Al so close…”

As the team pick their way through the tunnels to the next dome their remaining activated commlinks and decks simultaneously receive a voice message along with some speakers from whatever address system is still  active down here, the eerie sound of the same female voice saying

>>Why are you here? What do you want?

***
#25
Excel Cha Generators <<CG5.26>> & <CG6.xx> v36

Jack_Spade

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6516
« Reply #261 on: <05-24-17/1015:38> »
'Oh, great. Just what we need.'
<<Keep moving>>
Isaint thought for a split second what to say, but if in doubt always say the truth - although not necessarily the whole truth:
"Hi there, creepy speaker voice. We are here for a meeting and don't want to be late. We have no interest in tangling with you body snatching AIs. Keep out of our way and you won't even notice that we were here. Try to fight us... well, we won't go down without taking you with us."

#595
talk think matrix

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield
Revenant Kynos Isaint Rex

Mercy Merchant

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6422
« Reply #262 on: <05-24-17/1035:21> »
Robyn remains silent for these exchanges.  She has nothing much to add at this time.
"Speech"  *Thought*  <Matrix>

Aria

  • *
  • Ace Runner
  • ****
  • Posts: 2249
« Reply #263 on: <05-24-17/1104:55> »
[Tuesday September 15th, 2076; CTec Aquaology, Tonga Trench]
 
The voice(s) responds
 
>>All the inhabitants have temporarily been restricted to their quarters for their own safety, there is nobody left to meet.  If you interfere with my plans I will be forced to detain you.  If you pass beyond my AROs I will consider you to be a threat and deal with you appropriately.
 
***
#26
 
 
Excel Cha Generators <<CG5.26>> & <CG6.xx> v36

adamu

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #264 on: <05-24-17/1332:57> »
Al moved along with the group, taking up the rear guard position.

This could be a good thing, he thought. As long as they didn't have to go through anywhere She-HAL didn't want them, maybe they could snatch their mother-killer from where he was restricted to his quarters and be gone without a hitch.

And leave all the other men, women, and children down here to be infested with soul-killing techno-bugs.

For the moment he held his peace and kept his eyes open, gathering all the data he could.

And mostly wondering whether it was best to stay behind and take this thing on himself, or drag his coworkers along with him.

He also flicked his 'link back on, called up the schematics of the place, and tried to see whether he could access all of She-HAL's AROs on the map instead of having to locate them in real-space.
« Last Edit: <05-24-17/1334:52> by adamu »

adamu

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #265 on: <05-24-17/1814:23> »
Sadly, the downside of being invisitble was that he couldn't see his commlink's screen, though he noticed that when he concentrated the mists cleared a bit. Not good enough. He risked another split second of connectivity to flash the data to his image link, and there it all was. He shut all his wireless down again, double-checking it was good and dead.

The news was not good. The place was a damned maze, of course, but there was no way (using conventional access, anyway) to reach their target's quarters without passing one of She-HAL's do-not-disturb signs.

Well, if that meant they had to tangle with her...so much the simpler, really, since there was no way he could leave all these poor saps down here with her anyway.

He spent a few minutes looking for any alternative ways to bypass the AROs, then gave a low whistle. Once he was pretty sure he had his transparent companions' attention, he spoke. "Pulled down the locations of all the AROs. Looks like She-HAL done marked her territory real good, but we can reach our meetin' without crossin' any of her no-fly zones. Jist stay on course, we won't have ta lock horns with her."

Under cover of Rick's illusion, however, he unspooled his link's fiberoptic cable from its housing and, concentrating on piercing the Satanic veil blocking his vision, he found each of his companions and one by one put a steadying hand on their shoulder as they walked and transferred the data showing their predicament to their own 'links.

Mercy Merchant

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6422
« Reply #266 on: <05-25-17/0120:39> »
Robyn feels the pressure of Al's hand on her shoulder and reaches up to touch it, finding the direct cable link in his hand.  She takes it and slots it into her neck and receives his data.  She nods her thanks and........and nothing.  Now is not the time.  She disconnects the cable and lets him go to the next person as she reviews the data he had given her.
"Speech"  *Thought*  <Matrix>

Aria

  • *
  • Ace Runner
  • ****
  • Posts: 2249
« Reply #267 on: <05-25-17/1010:05> »
[Tuesday September 15th, 2076; CTec Aquaology, Tonga Trench]
 
After what feels like hours, but what amounts to about fifty minutes, of ferreting about in crawl spaces, maintenance tunnels and at one point a roasting hot air filtration unit, the team finally make their way to a grating outside the quarters that Alyce identified as belonging to Monarch…all without crossing any of the pesky AROs thanks to Al’s careful navigation.
 
With the assistance of one of Alyce’s microdrones you rapidly reach the conclusion that whatever quarters your target has been detained in they are not his own!  The place is empty, with nowhere inside to hide, there isn’t any sign of struggle or evidence of any particular hurried depature…just no Monarch!
 
***
#27
 
 
Excel Cha Generators <<CG5.26>> & <CG6.xx> v36

Jack_Spade

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6516
« Reply #268 on: <05-26-17/1713:58> »
Relying on Al's excellent navigation, Isaint had concentrated on getting there without triggering a response.
Seeing the empty living quarters he sighed. Using the matrix independent micro transceiver he called the team:
<<Seems like we aren't going to get out of this without confronting the wider conspiracy.
I see the following options:
1.) Giving up. Yes I know, it sounds cruel, but we are actually faced with a whole city that may or may not be infected with CFD. As soon one of the Big Ten gets wind of this - including Evo - chances are they are going to just poke a hole into the acquacology and let the pressure of the deep take care of the problem. Boston told us quite drastically what we should expect.
2.) Negotiate. It stands to reason that whoever has control of the city also could give us Monarch - or at the very least the answers we are looking for. We could do this by getting to safety in a sub and threaten them with destruction - either through our hand or the Big Ten. Morally reprehensible, but possibly the safest option for us.
Alternatively we could inquire what it is they want down here and try to find something to bargain - information for example.
3.) Go to war. This is the hardest and most dangerous option: We use our skills and resources to fight our way to monarch. We will be forced to kill as our opponents will shrug off anything less than absolutely lethal. The odds for this are overwhelmingly against us and we may end as just another husk for the collective.

So, what do you think? Any more options? Any preferences? I think I know pretty exactly what my patron want's me to do...>>
talk think matrix

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield
Revenant Kynos Isaint Rex

Mercy Merchant

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6422
« Reply #269 on: <05-26-17/2345:05> »
Robyn looks at Silk. "It is your mission.  What do you think?"
"Speech"  *Thought*  <Matrix>