Dominion Stealing the Seeds of Independence | Darkwire Dominion of Surron

[Cartri Keswoll]

Objective: Stealing the Seeds
Spaceport, Surron​

Out of all the things to steal a bunch of seeds were the most important objective. Why they wanted them was beyond him, but if it had a good pay check behind it he really couldn't ask any questions. None the less, he had still yet to acquire these special seeds just yet. Cartri has only just stepped away from the shuttle that has transported him to the planet, and to say the least it was a more than a bumpy ride. He wanted to be sure that his presence wasn't known on this planet and instead paid off a few members of the cargo ship to fit him in amongst the cargo. His distaste of doing such a thing was enormous, but it seemed to work in getting him to places safely most of the time.

Cartri slowly grabbed a hold of his backpack that rested on his back and held it in his arms, before taking out a small datapad as he weaved in and out of on coming citizens. He threw the bag over his back once more and tapped the communication device a few times to bring up the contract information "So... the trading guild..." he said to himself as he walked over to a wall next to a alley way and studied the contract further. The boy had already examined the mission details, all he needed to do was find the damn building. Lack of blueprints was going to make harder to find a entrance, but as long as he found the establishment things were surely going to run smoothly.

Compared to everyone else the boy didn't really bring any weapons, other than his knowledge of the force and the where with all get out of any sticky situations. It was clear he had to take the stealthy route into the building. An all guns blazing plan was sure to be a mad mans thought, but it didn't seem all that bad if things began to get uncomfortable on the way out.

Eventually, the location that was briefly described in the contract was in plain view ahead of him. The whole thing looked colossal to the teen, who marvelled over the sort of things that were stored inside. He gave one last look at the pad before placing it back into his bag, keeping it secure from any curious eyes that wanted a piece of his business. Instead of going straight to the entrance he trailed around the outskirts of the section, keeping an eye out for any weak spots he could use to get inside. Although, his keen observations seemed to almost carelessly forget about the other people walking around him.

Turning into a quiet side alley not to far from the guild he was lucky not to walk straight into a person clad in full body armour. Thankfully, he had seen her for a few seconds to quickly strafe to the left. As he hurried past Cartri gazed at her masked face curiously before moving away as quick as they saw each other. However, Cartri sensed something unusual, a feeling which he hadn't felt in his lifetime. His pace slowly began to slow down as he tilted his head from the strange sensation, pondering for a few seconds from what he just experienced. However, he seemed to shake it off and continue his normal pace around the outskirts. Not daring to look back at the stranger once again.

Stopping at the entrance of the alley, he leaned up against the wall and gazed over to the buildings surrounding it. There was a good possibility a back entrance could be found at the very top, and it was more likely to be not guarded compared to the others. It would require him to get his hands dirty, but he was willing to put in some graft to achieve his goal.

Xan Deesa Ingrid L'lerim ​

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Tag: Daiya & Noah Gloom
​

Soon, Ruby caught sight of a ship setting down. That'll be them, she supposed and put her head down as she walked in that direction. Dressed like a crew member, she had on a pair of dirty over-alls and a little cap. It was nothing like her usual attire, she missed the leather jacket... and her pockets. And the smokes that she normally kept in those pockets. But she had to blend in, and the others would need to as well.

Stashed in a little bag, were matching uniforms she'd managed to swipe over the last couple of days.

As she approached, she spotted the little blonde calling to her. The young woman approached the duo, and her darkly lined eyes flickered towards their ship a time or two. "Hey," she said, greeting them with a slight lift of her chin. "Alright so, I'm Ruby -- you knew that, though."

She'd never been much of a 'people' person, and in times like this her awkward nature shined.

"Right." Ruby cleared her throat. "I've been watching their progress building this big ship -- like a flagship or something," Ruby said with a nod. "I think we'll make the biggest dent if we can hit that." Obviously. "There's not much security to speak of, once you're in... but I got us covered, I think."

She opened the bag and tossed a pair of overalls and a hat to Noah. He was a bit taller than she'd thought he'd be, so his might be on the short side. And... as for Daiya... "Well, they don't have any kid size work stuff here." Ruby dropped a pair of overalls for Daiya, too. "Just roll 'em up, you'll be fine."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. They'd have to try and keep Daiya out of sight when they were ready to enter... unless it was take your kid sister to work day or something.

 

[Niki Priddy]

Obejctive 2 - Spider Impossible
Tags: Daiya Ripley Kühn Lance of Dreams Ruby Jaxx Noah Gloom Sor-Jan Xantha

The little droids had just entered the duct work into the production area when a soft ping over the intercom alerted Niki to the impending presence of the people she was sabotaging.

"Ms. Priddy, we will be with you shortly after completing some paperwork from a previous appointment. Approximately half an hour should nothing else occur, if that is an acceptable timeframe?" A voice informed her. The guard glanced to her before she replied, wondering what her plan was for dealing with the advancing timeline.

In all actuality, the luck of having someone draw the company head, advisors, or whoever had been truly wonderful.

"That will be acceptable yes, and thank you for alerting me. I look forward to our meeting." She added before focusing more intently on her task. The soft clack of droid legs once more catching some attention. It was brushed off this time as ambient noise as the droids made their way into the production area after using their little legs to cut through a fibrous filter between the areas.

Some of them had small bits of fiber clinging to them, one nearly jarring the cannister free from it's back cartridge in some strange twist of events as a pair behind it scrambled to keep the cannister locked in. Small angry beeps and doots were exchanged as the offender made it through. Niki softly tapped her foot as her anxiety mounted while watching the scene.

The rest passed through the small cut and began to move once more.

 

[Rika]

Objective: 1 - Steal Seeds
Tags: Gray Venasir | Airal Thamne
Near/Same Objective: Ingrid L'lerim | Xan Deesa | Cartri Keswoll | Ripley Kühn

"No. I don't know anything about these seeds but... It seems a little silly. Doesn't it?" Jorj scoffed as he sipped at his latte while walking the street towards the port. "What's so special about some seeds? Whatever they grow into must be the tastiest vegetable ever." His ears twitched as he thought about what that would possibly even be. But whatever plant it could be eluded Jorj's imagination.

Not that it really mattered. They were hired to steal some seeds? That's what they'd do.

Looking around, Jorj found himself incredibly distracted. He wished the drink in his hands had booze in it. He kept drinking the latte hoping that the next sip would have that familiar-bitter-medicinal twinge he expected from a strong drink. But no matter how many sips he had, the only change that he noticed was the beverage cooling off. The Leporine man tried to shake off the thoughts by observing their surroundings but he found that he couldn't quite focus on anything for long. So he just kept running through different possibilities for their operation.

Once they got to the spaceport, Gray and Jorj met up with a Togruta woman, another Darkwire agent that he'd yet to meet. That seemed to be how Darkwire worked. Different folks in different places, no consistency, and yet all working towards similar goals.

"I'm good at bluffing," he said, his nose twitching for a moment before he consciously ceased its automatic reaction. "Let's do that."

With Airal standing by in her speeder Jorj put on a swagger and led Gray on through the port until they were nearing the portion designated belonging to the Trade Guild. For the most part, the insectoid-drone-Surronians ignored the two humanoids walking along as if they owned the place. "Hmm. Maybe we should have some kind of disguise. Make getting in and out a little easier. See anything we can use?"

 

[Mir Nehrahn]

Objective: BYOO - ancillary of Objective 1
Tags: Lance of Dreams
Accompanied by: Kur Brile and Stannon

Mir was appreciative to hear his native language spoken by the man-machine. The Ithorian never used a translator device. They were uncomfortable and hurt the scars on his neck to wear. With Kur and Stannon always with him, they had picked up enough Ithorian to make the necessity of a device mostly null. While they probably could have invested in a droid to serve that purpose, having one around just seemed excessive. Still, the convenience of not having to have his companions translate was welcome. Though, whether the Surronians themselves would be as capable of interpreting Mir's dialogue meant that Kur and Stannon weren't completely absolved of their potential chore. He felt fortunate that neither ever seemed to mind.

The four visitors entered the Agricultural Guild's facility and, in taking a look around, he echoed Lance's sentiment. The sprawling hydroponics features seemed to cover every surface of the structure. As the Surronians were capable of flight as well as gripping surfaces with their insectoid appendages, the necessity to make everything accessible via a walkway was superfluous to the design of the architecture. The resulting effect was as if the walls themselves were made of vines. Instead, the structure was constructed out of a complex network of waterpipes that drained natural to gravity with hydroponic emplacements attached directly to the pipes.

<<Welcome to the hive of the Agricultural Guild,>> their guide was saying. <<Here, and in facilities identical to this one across all of Surron, we produce 79.012345679 repeating percent of the planet's food supply and 63.28125 percent of the planet's oxygen. Millenia ago, as our species began to evolve and technology began to transform how the hives operated, the Surronian hive leaders of the time miscalculated the strain that their technological development would place on the planet. In order to ensure that the future of the species and the habitability of Surron, the Agricultural Guild split off from the Architectural Guild. Since then, we have been perfecting our production of food and oxygen.>>

They began to walk through the facility, viewing workers flitting about, tending to the crop. Culling where necessary. Some plants were obviously meant specifically for food, others specifically for food. <<We receive aid from our galactic neighbors to make up the difference,>> the worker guide continued. <<However, the goal is to be entirely self-sufficient, especially as the technology-based guilds continue to de-forest Surron.>> The worker didn't seem upset about the prospect of deforestation. Rather, the drone seemed almost proud. The very thought of it made Mir's spine prickle, but he said nothing.

<<The plant we most recently developed is capable of both high-oxygen production and is highly processable for use in Surronian dietary requirements.>> The group entered a room that was split off from the rest of the facility. Lab equipment covered the tables. The room was otherwise unoccupied, except for a single mossy, flowering plant that was growing in a waist-level planters box. <<We still have the original plant. However, it took months to harvest the seeds necessary for a first test crop. Recovering those seeds is crucial to the survival of our species!>>

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch / Valeria Ragal
Aspect of Desire, Freelancer bountyhunter, agent and spy; secretly the Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire​

Objective: Stealing the Seeds
Location: Spaceport, Surron
Equipment: 2x Sigra vibroblade | 2x Striith vibrosword | Heilagr MK. I Assassin Armour | G1 OmniLink || Empyrean gland | Taozin amulet
Tag: Cartri Keswoll | Open

Ingrid lurked in the shadows and waited. Through the Force, she felt more and more coming to the area. The great question was which side these people wanted to support. This is because the ad was two-way to protect or steal. She found at least two different ones. The red-haired woman was actually even amused by the fact that it is possible that those who come here will work against each other. That is, not only was it possible, she was absolutely sure.

She activated the camouflage system of her armour to get closer. She deliberately chose places where the area was more shady to help the technology work as well. And if she later arrives in a place where there are only bright conditions, she could still use the Force to hide. A good portion of the corridors and outer areas were capable of sneaking completely silently so that anyone’s presence would be noticeable. After all, she’s always been good at this and worked as a bounty hunter like an assassin.

The Red Witch was not famous for working with great prominence; no, she’s about to be completely quiet and with maximum efficiency. Going through the shadows, she heard several conversations, though she did not deal with them now. She was just watching to see if she had been discovered or not. At the moment, that was all that mattered to her, she didn't have to hurry so much, after all, if someone else gets the seeds, they could be taken away from that person as well. So for her, this option was also perfect.

During the stealth, she noticed that others were moving where she was going, so she continued to try to move cautiously. Ingrid tried to study those who were likely to be her opponents and rivals. She always loved being prepared, and it was perfect to be able to see rivals before the action. Meanwhile, she was completely close within the spaceport to the place where the seeds were kept. A corridor or two and a door, that's all there was left. Oh! And the rivals.

​

 

[Zenric Salyn]

Objective: 1 - Steal Seeds
Tags: Gray Venasir | Airal Thamne | Ingrid L'lerim | Xan Deesa | Cartri Keswoll | Ripley Kühn | Rika
Theme: Rock It For Me

Darkwire? Nah. Rumors. Zenric certainly didn't buy into rumors and myths. An underground organization trying to topple Corpo? They'd either have done it by now, or been purged by the greedy folks in charge. What he did believe in was that, even alone, he could still stick it to em and play his part to expose the companies dark secrets. He was none the wiser that Darkwire actually existed as more than some propaganda tool to outplay their competitors. What he did know was Corpo had stolen some seeds and was holding the Agriculture Guild hostage with it.

That wouldn't do at all.

Cue him arriving at the location where the seeds were currently locked away. Except, like the others who all came there, he didn't opt for stealth. The opposite, in fact. He was blasting tunes under his helmet and dancing to it out in the open, wandering right up to the pair of guards right outside the hanger. They were probably saying something, by how angry the two brutishly large humans mouths moved, but his music was far too loud for him to hear them. Not that he was going to listen anyway.

Soon as the first got close enough he moved into action. Zenric caught the hand that had been extended to stop him, wrenching it around and up before flipping the man to his back. Soon as he landed he was met by a metal fist to the chin, sending him to dream land. The other, caught off guard, was just pulling out a blaster. Similarly he brought that 'giant' down too, snatching the wrist of his gun arm and punching up to shatter the man's elbow. As he dropped and held onto his now broken arm he was met with a knee, and sent to sleep.

The helmet pulled back as a pair of brown eyes scanned them both, just making sure they were still breathing. They were. Good. The helmet went back and Zenric went back to his half dance, wandering into the hanger to go get the seeds himself.

 

[Xan Deesa]

Objective: Stealing the Seeds
Location: Spaceport, Surron
Equipment: In bio
Tag: Cartri Keswoll | Ingrid L'lerim | Zenric Salyn | Dunno who else

In the shadows, the hooded figure of Xan Deesa watched as people moved around. She was high up on one of the surrounding buildings as she studied the people that came and went. She never liked rushing into a place guns blazing. It went against everything she was taught. Disguise, manipulation and quiet infiltration was what she was made to do. Her bright hair, loud outfit and pretty much all her noticeable features were hidden under a dark hoodie. The only thing standing out was the demonic mouth projected onto her face mask and her bright golden eyes.

After several minutes she rose from her crouched position and took a catwalk down, jumping, swinging and dropping down the levels until her feet touched the ground with an elegant and quiet landing. She had spotted someone on this job that she didn't fully expect to see. However there were several other factors as well. An unknown man was taking the loud approach into the place not too far from where she was now and her roommate was close to her as well. A toothy smirk spread along her mask as she thought about how she could surprise him. She quietly neared his position as he stood in an alley and inspected the area around him. She was glad to see that he paid attention when she taught him about that. When she closed in from behind she pulled her hoodie down a bit to keep a low profile and made sure her steps were barely audible at all. Finally she was behind him and her face leaned over his shoulder. "Boo." she muttered into his ear with a demonic grin and bright eyes, immediately recoiling with a snicker in case he tried to take a swing at her. "Fancy seeing you here, kiddo." she quipped as she gave him a light bump against the shoulder.

"Stealing seeds for a fat paycheck... definitely the weirdest job I've had in a long while. Anyways, what have you got for us so far?" she asked, looking him over. "I hope you did your homework well, by the way. You're gonna be taking point on this job." she continued. The mess back on Denon wasn't a good chance for her to see how his training had paid off. Hopefully this job would prove to be a much better opportunity...

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Objective: Stealing the Seeds
Location: Spaceport, Surron

It must of been a few minutes before he decided to lean himself off the wall, getting ready to wonder back into the busy space port street that looked crowed at first glance. Suddenly, someone snuck up behind him and whispered a frightening boo into his ear, making almost jump out of his skin "AHHH!" he yelled as he rotated his body around to swing at the imposter. The figure quickly recoiled back and snickered at his embarrassment, one that was all to familiar to him now. Stood before him was his mentor Xan, acting as her usual glorified self like always "Xan! you were lucky I didn't kill you with that strike" he joked with a small chuckle of his own, before slowly putting two hands on his knees to recover from being half scared to death "Yea... I was hoping to get some peace and quiet from your unmerciful dictatorship" Cartri said in a sarcastic tone as she lightly gave him a bump on the shoulder.

His eyes followed her as she stood beside him, looking ahead into the far distance of the spaceport. Xan wasn't wrong about the unusual circumstances of the mission, these seeds must of been pretty special for them to get a contract put on them. Who knew, maybe they were magic and granted them anything they desired, but that was obviously his imagination running wild. He shot a quick gaze to his mentor after she mentioned he was on point, almost in a nervous yet excited expression crossing his facial expression "Well, while you were busy taking in the local atmosphere I managed to spot a few things. The front isn't heavily guarded, which makes me think there's minimal personnel guarding the guild all together. Secondly, if we use the rooftops to get onto the roof of the area it's held we will most likely be able to slip in unnoticed" mentioned the boy as he pointed up to the roof of the guild area "Once we get in, who knows what we are up against" shrugged Cartri as he began to walk forwards to another alley not to far from where they were

When they reached the ladder Cartri turned back to Xan "The plan is to navigate over the roofs to the guild, enter through a rooftop entrance and then... think as we go along when we get in" he said as he put one hand on the ladder and turned back "Try to keep up, if your old bones can anyway" smirked the boy after the cheeky comment, quickly scaling himself onto the high builds of the spaceport. They both made haste over the rooftops, using their athletic abilities to clamber over different obstacles to their ultimate destination. Eventually, they had managed to dangerously leap over to to the guild area, where it was said the seeds were being stored.

He carefully snuck around the clear roof of the establishment and soon noticed a secure door that led down into the building, locked and sealed tight from the inside "It appears I was right about one thing, but that door looks pretty sturdy" he grunted while getting closer and placing an ear against the door, listening closely for anything inside. Sure enough, a guard was sitting guard on the other side eating his lunch that his wife had made him earlier that morning "There's someone behind this..." he whispered to Xan, motioning her to get closer as a though popped into his head "I don't have a clue what he's doing back there, but i've got an idea to lure him out" grinned the boy as he walked over to a rusty looking bucket that was leaned against a wall "Keep close by, I'm going to make some noise"

Cartri grabbed a hold of the bucket and walked over to a ventilation generator next to the door and repeatedly began to hit it like a madman, creating constant banging noises that would be sure to catch the attention of anyone close by. The security guard was about to take a bite out of his tasty looking jelly sandwich, but on the first sound of the racket he jump to attention and dropped one on the clear white floor "What in the..." he grunted as he quickly got his key card and swiped downwards, opening the door to the cold outdoor breeze. His eyes glued onto the kid causing a ruckus almost instantly, an angry look spread across his face as he reached for his feeble looking blaster "Hey kid! what do you think you're doing!" his voice questioned in a testing tone, slowly getting closer as Cartri turned around and slowly raised his hands up "I-I was fixing your generator..." faked Cartri as he shot a glance to Xan in order to execute the plan "With a damn bucket? that's it yo-"

Xan Deesa Ingrid L'lerim​

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Objective 2​

This was going to be a delicate operation.

It was imperative that everything be in the right place. They needed the right equipment. The right support. The right look. There was no margin for error. Everything had to be perfect.

The young Anzat had changed into pajama pants and a comfortable t-shirt. Plopping down behind the desk, the boy surveyed the workstation. Dual screen monitors with multiple holographic display elements. He had a two liter bottle of Fizzyglug Extreme Bumfruit and Awesome Sour Jawbreakers. Both of which were essential if he was going to be here for a bit.

Flexing his hands, the tween made the obligatory crack sound, before applying his hands to the keyboard.

The rapid stucco of keystrokes could be heard hammered out, as the youth began typing away. One of the available Holo-Net connections available to the ship was through the Surron spaceport. Which shared infrastructure with Surron StarTech. There were multiple networks, which meant he'd need to hop onto one of the Surron intranets in order to start exploring for what he was looking for.

On the monitor to his left, the boy had a running scan of the socket ports compiling a search of available avenues for an insertion. To his right, he had a quantum computer running calculations for a codebreaker on the network security passwords.

These were both merely the first shots in a cyber war, however. All the boy was doing at this stage was defining the parameters of the virtual battlefield. While one hand continued tapping out commands, the boy casually reached over to grab a Fizzyglug. Cracking open the can of soda, the boy watched as the socket port scan continued to scroll down the page.

Port 86912-Cresh was open.

With a flick of his free hand, the boy cast the quantum computer analysis off into the holo-ether. In its place, on the right side monitor, he opened up a new connection to port 86912-Cresh.

What kind of operating system were the Surrons using? Did it use XBL protocol or HME-2? If the latter, had they updated to build 4701 to patch the security vulnerability?

A few more keystrokes and the boy gently probed without trying to trip the pyrowall security. A few carefully sequenced code injects to try and force a return with system data. None of the usual XBL exploits seemed to trigger a response. An HME-2 set-up?

Setting the can of soda down, the boy reached over and popped a jawbreaker into his mouth.

He was going to be here awhile.

 

[Ripley Kühn]

OBJECTIVE 1: STEAL THE SEEDS
APPROACHING: Cartri Keswoll | Xan Deesa
IN VICINITY: Ingrid L'lerim
___________________________________

The sound of feet on metal filled the area as Ripley made her way down the loading ramp and into the port. Her dark blue eyes went back and forth, scanning the area. She didn't see anyone, but she heard them. As a shifter, keen ears had always been there to aid her. However, everyone was far enough off that all the young zeltron was getting was the sound of voices. She bit her lip, carefully considering. If no one was meeting her, she'd be riding solo on this operation, which had its pros and cons. No one to watch her back, no one to help if she got caught. High risk, higher reward. Her eyes flickered to the left once more. In the distance, she saw a corridor turning off from where she had landed, with little noise. Perhaps there was some kind of backdoor she could use into the facilities. It would surely have security measures, but if she could break manage a break from a prison, she wasn't too worried.

However, something told her not to do it. Not because there was trouble, but because she was needed else where. Towards the voices. She let out a sigh, slightly frustrated. Ripley had always been free-spirited, but she was making an attempt to be more aware of the force and how it guided her. At times it made her want to beat her head against the wall, or scream into the sky, but neither were particularly productive. She reached down to grasp her saber- while she might not have need of it, it was a comfort to her. It reminded her of why she should listen. Her feet moved after a few more moments, following the sounds.

It was only minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. She weaved in and out of corridors, through doors, hiding in shadows whilst waiting for the insects to pass - which made her shiver, as she didn't particularly care for bugs, sentient or not. Eventually she found a ladder, which seemed counter productive, but the wind whispered it was right. After she scaled, she found herself on a rooftop, and in the distance she saw others. Now it was a matter or catching up and figuring out why she was lead here. She took off, leaping and bounding across the heights, determined.

 

[Noah Gloom]

Objective 2: Ground the Ship
Tags: Daiya l Ruby Jaxx
Equipment: Calor Clypeus, PMG-23, Hyaenem Dropship, Green Lightsaber
​

Noah gave Daiya a look at the comment about the woman's name and snorted. "Okay then Sapphire what's the plan from here then?" He looked over as a woman approached "Looks like here comes our contact. As for armour perhaps I shall do what you've suggested although." He says as he pulls out the wristed mounted/grounded shield Calor Clypeus he looks to her. "This bad boy should keep me safe in case things go sideways." He says added it to his metallic arm carefully making it look like simply another part of the arm.

He caught the overall as they were thrown at him. "Pleasure Ruby, Noah and Dayia. I have no doubts you've heard at least something about us and if not then we can explain in the hike there." He nods "Interesting so the big ship could be a flagship? Low security levels for a flagship. This sounds almost like a trap in of itself." As he steps onto the ship to get changed somewhere out of the way. "Overalls and a metal arm, I am sure I won't drag any attention. As for Dayia here, well she's my apprentice and your my work partner. We are independent mechanics, it'll get us through the door without them needing to check any bags since we would be bringing our own equipment."

He walked back out of the ship in the overalls which were a bit tight but nothing crazy and still easily moveable besides he had left on his medical fatigues under it all. "As for our way out." He pulled out more medical fatigues throwing them back at the newcomer Ruby. "We are medics and Dayia here will be our patient. By the time those bombs go off they won't check anyone in medical fatigues. Believe me I have known a lot of criminals especially con artist and most of these are their kind of tricks. Blend in like they should expect you to be there and no one will question it." He nodded at them both with a bag over his shoulder holding his Plasma gun and lightsabre. "Ready when you ladies are."

 

[Niki Priddy]

Objective 2 - Spider Impossible

The little droids kept moving as another ping chimed in the room.

"Apologies, but it will be just a bit more time. It seems some unforeseen circumstances have required intimate attention. I will alert you when we have finished solving the issues."

"Thank you for informing us. Would it be possible to get a tour of the facility after we set up our display?" Niki replied as the droids began to move off towards separate goals. There was a long pause as she watched the screen change to display for all of the different signals that the jitterbugs sent back. Her eyes wandered up from the screen as she watched the intercom system as though that would make the answer come faster.

"That is reasonable given the unexpected wait time. We do apologize again. Please alert us when you are ready for the walkthrough."

The intercom shut off as she watched the sabotage droids move across the overlaid blueprints on the controller screen. The guards outside the room had poked their head inside and Niki gave them a thumbs up as the door closed behind them. She waited for the little droids to be within a few meters of their chosen objectives before tapping the intercom system again.

"We are ready for the walkthrough." Niki spoke, collapsing the controller into a PDA size before placing it in a pocket.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch / Valeria Ragal
Aspect of Desire, Freelancer bountyhunter, agent and spy; secretly the Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire​

Objective: Stealing the Seeds
Location: Spaceport, Surron
Equipment: 2x Sigra vibroblade | 2x Striith vibrosword | Heilagr MK. I Assassin Armour | G1 OmniLink || Empyrean gland | Taozin amulet
Tag: Cartri Keswoll | Xan Deesa | Open

As she heard waiting voices away from the hallway as the two of them first talked. They were too far away so she couldn’t take out the words, just that they were probably a man and a woman. The red-haired woman didn’t know what they could do, but the conversation was even followed by a clatter. In fact, it even came in handy for her, if two or more of them make a lot of noise and get the attention of security, they can tie them up until she gets inside. This was, of course, the most optimistic option.

If the woman wanted to be pessimistic, then it’s bad because everyone is attracted to the voice and all the guards will take more security measures. Especially if those two people step down and don’t stay there in that place. No matter how she was not curious you were about what the two of them were doing there, she’ll have to check it out. However, she also had to go to a place where there was only light and nowhere to hide. As good as her armour and the technology in it were, there would be little. If the distance to the terrain were greater, it would not be a problem, but under such conditions it would.

Then the usual method remained, allowing her to walk right next to the duo. Until now, her presence in the Force had been hidden, so she didn't have to bother with it. She reached into the Force and, using the Force Cloak, disappeared from everything and everyone. Now neither technology nor the senses of living beings could see or perceive her. After that, Ingrid came out of her hiding place and walked slowly in the direction of the sounds. She had to avoid a man or two so as not to collide with each other, but she soon got there.

Then she stopped about ten to fifteen metres from the couple and leaned against the wall. She wasn't specifically watching them, the ground more, but she was keeping an eye out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want them to possibly feel like someone was watching them.

​

 

[Lance of Dreams]

​

<<Welcome to the hive of the Agricultural Guild,>> their guide was saying. <<Here, and in facilities identical to this one across all of Surron, we produce 79.012345679 repeating percent of the planet's food supply and 63.28125 percent of the planet's oxygen. Millenia ago, as our species began to evolve and technology began to transform how the hives operated, the Surronian hive leaders of the time miscalculated the strain that their technological development would place on the planet. In order to ensure that the future of the species and the habitability of Surron, the Agricultural Guild split off from the Architectural Guild. Since then, we have been perfecting our production of food and oxygen.>>

<<We receive aid from our galactic neighbors to make up the difference,>> the worker guide continued. <<However, the goal is to be entirely self-sufficient, especially as the technology-based guilds continue to de-forest Surron.>>

<<The plant we most recently developed is capable of both high-oxygen production and is highly processable for use in Surronian dietary requirements.>> The group entered a room that was split off from the rest of the facility. Lab equipment covered the tables. The room was otherwise unoccupied, except for a single mossy, flowering plant that was growing in a waist-level planters box. <<We still have the original plant. However, it took months to harvest the seeds necessary for a first test crop. Recovering those seeds is crucial to the survival of our species!>>

Lance of Dreams listened intently to the worker drone, his focus immediately leaving the architectural marvel the hydroponics farm was and instead began to observe the worker drone. He wondered with curiosity where its words were coming from, what directed its thoughts. The Surronians were known for their multiple hive minds, but how it manifested was a mystery of sorts. There were some examples of hive minds across the galaxy, such as the Killik, Taurill, or Bilar, most utilizing pheromonal-based group behavior but also relying on less concretely understood methods such as empathic links to share memories, and long distance telepathy for communicating with individual nodes. In the case of the Surronians, his olfactory registers did detect great quantities of pheromonal transfers throughout the complex as he walked.

Unless there was an unseen, mechanically undetectable mental connection between the drones, it appeared the only method being observed here of "hive minded" behavior was purely a chemical one. Since the drones were capable of speech and response, it became clear that these were no the typical mindless thralls some may come to expect when hearing about a hive mind. No, these were clearly individuals, carefully directed by a widespread network of pheromonal signals manifesting their behavior. Or at least, they had a limited capacity for independent thought, and the group of scientists were seeing it exhausted before them.

The cyborg's eyes analyzed the exterior features of the plant, trying to match them with a database catalogue he had downloaded prior to entry into the complex.

"Curious, your plant does not match any of my databases. Though I admit, I am not an expert in specific botany. However, you may be interested in some of my more genetic research. If it is seeds you require, traditional harvests may not be necessary, though I will defer my expertise to the wise Mir Nehrahn on his analysis." The scientist raised a hand towards the Surronian.

"Forgive me, but I have a poor knowledge of your people. It makes it difficult to calculate the importance of this plant to your survival. How much of your thoughts are derived from your Queen?" The Surronian did not seem to recoil from the metal-man's touch, but neither did it react to his otherwise invasive gesture. To any other species, Lance of Dreams may come off as socially inept, even dangerous, with the aggressive approach he took to understanding the insectoid. His mind worked much faster than most, however, and his every action was with calculated purpose. He knew they would take no offense to his gesture, as it was unlikely they would understand it to begin with. Tactile senses were an important facet in most subterranean insectoids and became more analogous to vision, or hearing an individual. Being able to place a hand on the Surronian allowed him to collect data through his finger tips in a way he couldn't normally.

 

[Zenric Salyn]

Objective: 1 - Steal Seeds
Tags: Gray Venasir | Airal Thamne | Ingrid L'lerim | Xan Deesa | Cartri Keswoll | Ripley Kühn | Rika
Theme: Dramophone

Change of song, change of mood. Man, it always impressed Zenric just how much music could affect someone's mood and change how the day was going. Grant it, his day was going as expected. The sensors in his helmet lit up as more of the guards started making their way into the room he'd invaded. He never lost his grove, in fact, he went more into his dance. Vibro bladed shuriken's emerged from his fists as he quickly tossed them at each approaching individual, fully invested into the electro swing in his ears.

The music served two purposes. The first? Awesome beats, obviously. But as the last guard fell and he wandered towards a desk one of the guards had slumped over. He shoved the corpse aside and, after a quick couple of taps, input his playlist. Jamming coms, that was the other purpose. The playlist was a virus, quickly spreading to infect all coms in the vicinity to blast this electroswing. Stopping communication out, and hopefully overwhelming a couple eardrums.

He turned off the playlist in his helm as the speakers within the hanger started playing his music. "Now for those seeds.." He went right back into his grove, humming to the song as he made his way into the main hanger.

 

[Daiya]

Objective 2: Scuttling the Ships
Equipment: Phase I Powderpunk Armor, Sneakthief Gloves, Raven Knife, 434 Blaster Pistol, DL-13 Holdout Blaster, Glitter Grenades, Holojournal
Nearby: Noah Gloom Ruby Jaxx
Tags: Sor-Jan Xantha Niki Priddy

[Post Soundtrack: "Last One Standing" by WAR*HALL]​

Daiya grinned at the man's willingness to play along. He wasn't like most stodgy adults, always living in their world of practicality and seriousness. Noah's willingness to roll with the punches —and, she hoped, with the blaster bolts— made him decidedly cooler than most adults she knew.

He also wasn't too gigantic, which was a major plus.

"Good, between your shield, your body, and my armor, that should keep me safe," the girl said sweetly, but her voice held a glimmer of playfulness, dark as it was. Her gaze caught his cybernetic arm, not for the first time, and wondered if Noah had already had that experience before. He didn't exactly seem like the type to view his body as just a vessel, like so many cyborgs did on her homeworld. She tossed her head, and that thought, away as Ruby finished approaching.

Daiya couldn't help snickering at the woman's name again, but when Noah introduced their real names, she fought back the joke. Play time was over. The girl nodded along instead at the discussion over their target, the largest ship under construction. Ruby's plan made sense, hit it and the effect was the same as hitting a dozen smaller ones. If that approach worked for factories and gang lieutenants, it should work for shipyards, too.

She caught the pair of overalls, and eyed the woman for her advice, protesting, "It's not like Noah's any bigger!"

It was true, though. The doctor was only a hair taller than the girl anyway. She was pretty certain that wasn't going to matter to the bug people anyway. Maybe Noah was right, and it was a trap. "Well, if it's a trap, then they've got a surprise coming their way," she said proudly, grinning as she did. "Us."

Noah retreated to the privacy of the ship to change, but Daiya stayed outside. Another benefit to wearing her armor underneath her clothes, the girl didn't suffer one bit of immodesty as she stripped off her outer layer and donned the overalls.

"Have I seen you before? I swear you look familiar." She squinted at the woman as she dressed. The overalls weren't as bad as Ruby had suggested, a little rolling up of the cuffs took care of the pants and sleeves. Picking up her satchel that contained her weapon, and holojournal, Daiya fastened it around her waist to cinch the material like a belt. The girl snapped her fingers as she straightened up again, "I know, you came into the Blue Flame that one time, right?"

Noah was back now, giving them the rest of the plan. It sounded reasonable to her, so the girl gave it a decisive nod. "Sounds good, let's go." Daiya said, hoisting the duffel bag of explosives she had carried out of the ship, and started off in the direction of the ships she had seen from above. Her free hand rested on her satchel, if she couldn't keep her weapons out, the girl was at least going to be ready to pull them. She looked over her shoulder at her co-conspirators. "You coming? These ships aren't going to blow themselves up!"

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Well, this was certainly more of a voyage into the annals of holo-mail communication processing than he'd originally intended.

After several hours, he'd finally pinged an e-mail server that was configured to the default admin password. That got him access inside of StarTech's intranet, but then he was bouncing all over the place trying to get a handle on the data exchange methodology or encryption protocols.

He finally lucked into a back-up that was neither encrypted properly nor password protected -- very shoddy work by the cyber security crowd -- and that led him to a cloud-based back-up of Jux'ao's holo-mail inbox. Jux'ao, for those who did not know him, was a middle management orderly inside the finance department.

He was also having a rather illicit affair with Ky'lun from Human Resources.

There were pictures.

No, you did NOT want to see them.

From Jux'ao's holo-mail back-up, Sor-Jan was able to get access to the cloud data itself. The question was, could he remote access Jux'ao's terminal from here?

Even if the answer was yes, Jux'ao was likely to notice the warnings on his screen when it happened.

The boy tapped his fingers on the desktop, as he started working his way through a third jawbreaker. If only there was something going on at the station. Something that would serve as a distraction. Get people up from their desks for a few minutes. That would give him the ability to strike.

But how in the hell was he going to pull that off?

 

[Mir Nehrahn]

Objective: BYOO - ancillary of Objective 1
Tags: Lance of Dreams
Accompanied by: Kur Brile and Stannon

Mir was completely absorbed in observing the plant. Specimens lay about in petri dishes and under prepared slides to be viewed with microscopic precision. He took full advantage of the tools at his disposal while the rest of the people in the room focused on the conversation at hand.

<<We have individual thoughts, if that is what you want to call them,>> the Surronian drone responded without defense to the question posed by Lance. <<We leave our Queen with exacted directives to follow in order to benefit the hive as well as Surronians as a whole. And then, we independently respond to whatever stimuli we encounter over the course of our time away from our Queen. When our original task or tasks have been completed, we return and report our goals, findings, and anything else we may have learned through our experiences. This information is then shared through the Queen to the rest of the hive.>>

The Duros, Kur, hummed a tone at that, as he mulled the thought. Unlike Mir, the Duros was not stubborn about using technology when it was convenient and had come equipped with an earpiece-translator. "So... the Queen is like a databank? Storing and passing information on?"

The Surronian paused and seemed to consider the question for a moment. <<That is an apt analogy, in a way. However, she can only physically communicate this information with extant drones. However, everything she learns is passed on genetically to each subsequent generation. Surronians have a perfect genetic memory. So our knowledge is perfectly cumulative.>>

"I don't think I want to know any of the things my parents knew..." Stannon said without filtering his thoughts before they reached his mouth. He meeped immediately and returned to hiding behind Kur's pantleg.

<<Of course,>> Mir spoke-sung. <<Perfect genetic memory...>> He trailed off without vocalizing his hypothesis.

"What?"

Finally Mir pulled himself away from the samples. <<Only a person with many lifetimes of information could conceive of such an idea. To take a plant in its current form and cross it with an ancient and distant variety. Strengthening specific inherent characteristics while also potentially introducing new ones. To achieve that, you would have to have stored the ancient variety for... centuries. Millenia. Only beings of significant longevity would have such patience. But. Hmm, what about...>> and as quickly as he had come out of his reverie, the Ithorian reabsorbed himself with his work.

 

[Niki Priddy]

OBJECTIVE 2 - Spider Impossible

The droids skittered through the vents to their final destination as a guard not affiliated with the insects came to meet the two outside guards. Some back and forth about the legality of something, or the permissions someone had to be here were gone through as the guard waved from outside the room towards Niki to come along. The woman stepped up to the door, her personal escort shortly behind her as the guard handed them all hardhats and safety glasses.

"Required to walk through the production parts of the plant. New rule for all non-company personnel." They shrugged as Niki looked over the safety equipment and nodded to her companions. "The room will be locked until you return. Please follow me when you are finished." After the group had sorted themselves out, they followed behind the guard through the hallways leading to a clearly marked 'Employee's Only' door before they swiped a clearance card and received an affirming beep.

The droids were nearly in place as they were led through another set of hallways and towards a 'Production Employees and Engineers Only' door. There was a soft buzz to the controller as the droids informed the woman controlling them. They were lead through the next set of doors as she double checked her hardhat and glasses as she was the last to pass through the doors.

The tour began, beginning in the section for blank parts being processed both in house and from outside sources. They boasted a number of in house production numbers, all of which failed to amaze or surprise Niki in the slightest as she examined the pre-production products.

It wasn't cutting edge, but it wasn't ancient tech at least. Her pink eyes wandered over the area, surprised to see a number of guards as the droids pinged once more over the controller, their impatience to burn something surprising given their limited droid brain. Then again, most of them had been the alpha series, and had yet to have their systems wiped.

She slipped her hands into her pockets, face falling to a touch of boredom as her thumb pressed against the action button.

The ignition systems caught, the gas payload being belched into delicate wiring systems as the droid whirled in a quick circle over the internal systems of several machines. One of which was an overhead crane, hauling something that came crashing down overtop of another machine. Absolute chaos erupted as the droids skittered back along the routes they had taken to get there.

Guards and workers alike were alarmed, and very much aware that something was wrong in this part of the plant as Niki's group was ushered out of the area with the now haywire machines. The laser cutter was doing it's best to attack the workers, a brake press attempting to take the arm of another, while a repulsorlift tried to run everyone down.

There was a terrific amount of trouble to keep a smile from forming as Niki was ushered back to her room and left there while the guard sorted out what had happened. She was terrifically thankful for the distraction after spotting the grate wiggling. A little help from her escorts had the droids back down, and safely inside the crates before the displays were put away.