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A minute later the hover truck backed up to the loading dock with a comfortably smooth stop. Lliara hopped down from the perch along the cab she'd claimed. As she neared the rear of their transport, the doors began to peel open to admit its stowaways into the facility.
The Mirialan paused to survey the area from one side to the other for a moment. Place was as devoid as they'd been led to believe. Could be some ignorant guard about to round a corner, though. "Best get moving. Time's wasting." With that dropped, she strode over to the double doors and hit the button to toggle them open with a hiss.
"If you run into trouble, give your position. I'll take care of the dirty work." Lliara smirked at those that'd accompanied her. All they had to do was escort the payload into the truck, and they'd shoot off into the night before trouble showed up. A simple plan. Question was whether it would work out that simply. Even if those on-site were meant to be pushovers, Lliara never put her trust in what should-be.
Well, that was new. And looks like that was the signal she'd been waiting for. With the scene set and the pieces in place, there was only one thing to do now: get the job done.
With their hover-truck in position in the loading bay, it seemed like a pretty simple gig, yeah?
Crouching in the darkness, Cherry had her eyes on a single guard by a door. He seemed to be enjoying a cup of steaming caf, completely unaware of what was to come. She supposed that only key members of the Fioran force would be clued in, that made sense. Now, just where were all these supposed 'friendlies' waiting?
There were already others inside the facility -- or getting close. So, it looked like she was going to be a distraction -- draw out the security forces and let the others load up. Her hand hovered over her blaster, set to stun, of course. And she motioned to her spider droids to go. The two droids skittered forward, keeping to the shadows on the ground and opened fire on the door.
Cherry aimed a single stun bolt at the guard and squeezed the trigger.
He went down, back hitting against the wall behind him and spilling his caf... poor sod.
The droids continued to concentrate on the hinges, soon they'd have the door free -- another access point for any Darkwire kids to use. She knew it wouldn't take long for word to reach the Family that there was a girl with bright pink hair shooting up the place.
Das smirked slyly, stepping through the open gate after Zephyyr.
"You're full of surprises."
"You know you love it," she half whispered, trying to match his volume. As the pair made their way deeper into the facility, Das pecked on her datapad. She'd prepared it with a handful of different security countermeasures, most of them hand-me-down programs her dad started before he went missing. There was a certain catharsis in making his work her own and putting it to good use.
"Hey," she said at a low time, tapping Zephyyr's elbow to get his attention. "Thank you. For coming with me, I mean." She doubted he'd say no when she offered to bring him along for such a monumental Darkwire gig, but still, it meant a lot to the turquoise-haired teen that she wasn't creeping through the Fiora Defense tunnels alone. It was much more fun to be with Zeph. Anything seemed to be more fun with him around.
She gave him a soft smile, though the low lighting might have obscured it. She didn't care. Soon, the two came upon a junction in the tunnels. Das looked to her datapad again, studying the glowing interface before pointing to the left.
"Security's gonna be that way," she said matter-of-factly. "Once we're inside, I can use this," she said with a gesture of the datapad, "to hack into their camera system and drop their connection. It won't take the guards long to notice their eyes have been poked out, but it should buy us enough time to hit the warehouse and leave before too much trouble comes down on us."
She flashed him a confident smile, clearly pleased with how simple the operation sounded, but her grin turned to confusion and a furrowed brow as a familiar voice livened up the otherwise quiet Darkwire comms.
<<"Students, you now have your Hall Pass. The Electric Eyes are now running circles. They'll find Fal Gore's head before they see you coming. Have fun, Professor Diamonds will be watching.">>
Das' lips parted, her mouth open in disbelief. She locked eyes with Zephyyr, trying to keep her angry facade, but she couldn't hold it together. The teen giggled as softly as she could manage.
"That brat beat me to the cams!" she explained as she slid the datapad into her bag. She sighed, shaking her head as she walked past Zephyyr and back the junction.
"Warehouse it is," she whispered over her shoulder with a smile.
"..." Normal | <"Team Comms"> | <<Marcella's Comm>>
“Thank-you, Kardek.” What he heard in almost immediate response was: “Attention team. Multiple signatures are beginning to approach the facility.” And right on queue, the camera feed throughout the facilities were shut off - though the guards that were typical here likely wouldn’t notice that before him. “Copy that, mobilizing.” Modulated voice responded in kind, steps moving as soon as the words even began to utter from the comm whilst he upholstered his sidearm. Gaze skimmed over its finish and settings - through his HUD, conveniently for his display, as he double-checked to make sure it was on the right settings, ammo counters displaying the right colors for ammo types. "Ready to protect stuff?" Quipped Jai'galaar Gred
to the armored figure, in which he spared a glance over, merely responding: “Pretend to protect stuff, you mean, while limiting collateral.” Comms were obviously shut off for that - didn’t need a security team overhearing that bit of information, “The answer to that, is yes.”
As soon as the cameras were off, motion and lifesign pings were showing up. Some mess of motion by the loading entrance, too big to be any one person - these folk weren’t bringing a damn tank or something to this, were they? Because there certainly were not any scheduled drop offs. It was then he received the ping from, Ivory of all people - so she was with Darkwire? Interesting development - he supposed he would need to utilize some facial recognition software to be extra careful who he was shooting. If she hadn’t changed it already, that is. <”Company’s arrived”> He would speak once again through the squad communication. <”Signal’s too far to get an exact location, but there’s a whole mess of motion in the Loading Bay, no scheduled--”> It was then a resounding BOOM of metal against the twin force of blaster cannons sounded out, of which was beating down the damn front doors of the factory he had walked through not much time ago. The guards playing cards around the table were booing and celebrating as a pot was won, only to be drowned out by the resounding noise that filled the complex, one falling out of their seat and scrambling to grab their equipment, and the rest following suit. “What the feth?!” Cried out one soldier as the cards were haphazardly dropped from hands. “Breach! We’ve got a breach! Get moving!” Cried another in response, shoving his helmet on and snatching his own rifle whilst he went on the move.
'What the feth?' Indeed, thought the former bounty hunter as his helmet, which was looking forward on the walkway that would eventually lead him to the Loading Docks, turned sidelong towards the front of the factory, the doors beginning to bend inwards from the payload being delivered unto them. He was not expecting an entrance like this - he figured there was going to be a more stealthy entrance, as it was more convenient for all involved parties. Unless...ah. This was a diversion. Or maybe group one never got the memo. Or just didn’t care. Regardless of which was true, he would have preferred the entrance being made without the property damage, of which he was sent here specifically to mitigate with whatever else he can manage. Whatever was up front would likely prove to be too much a challenge for the meager guards. These members of the APD were slow - too slow for his liking to mobilize properly. Disorganized, panicked, comfortable with their lofty jobs that none believed would ever have a reasonable threat. “Kark, where’d I put my blaster?! Did one of you hide it?” Accused one as he hurriedly searched for his standard issue weapon. “Don’t look at me! Grab your pistol, there’s not enough time!” Barked another irritable member in kind.
It was clear the lot were slow on the uptake. And whatever was up front didn’t seem keen on helping his goal of ‘limiting damage.’ So he would take the liberty of lending a hand. Hopefully Jay and Mairead could handle tending to the other situations.
Hand went to his more, specialized commlink to none other than Ms. Marcella Fiora
herself - she was his employer here, after all. Whether it was in the Star Lounge, or here. She of course, knew his identity - it was not like they would let a random contractor participate in this sensitive an objective. Most of the Capo’s did, more than likely, just not his associates. <<This is G. Multiple entrances - diversion at the front causing explosive property damage, high chance of collateral. Requesting permission to mitigate. Live Feed is optional.>> Brief was the closed connection, for it was secure and end-to-end, to be destroyed after this, or kept for later such missions. Hell, he could give her a play-by-play of these events from his perspective if she really wanted it, but he felt that would be unnecessary.
Once the message was sent, steps stride forward to the railing of the upper floor, head looking over his shoulder to Jay - “I’ll make this one look flashy. 'Less you intend to accompany me, kindly check the entrances for the sneaky ones - wouldn’t want something special lost because this diversion worked too well.” His request and intent were to the point. This fight would look good on news articles if he could properly emulate it, he figured - extended firefights with whatever the hell kind of firepower this lot is packing would be reasonable as an excuse for lost merchandise. As he reached the rails, his hand harshly set itself down upon the cold metal, making a noise which echo’d through the factory to catch the attention of those below. His visor was tilted down, which gave it something of a menacing red glower, as bewildered APD Personnel peered up from their panic. “Alright, folks!” He shouted, the annunciator doing the work for him in carrying his voice, “Helmets on your head, boots on the ground, it’s time to earn your paychecks!” In which he vaulted over the railing, landing with a resounding THUD!Of metallic boots against the factory floor. When he rose, he only strode forward in his armor past the guards - “Rally! For the enemy lay before us, and it is expected,” He said, turning heel as he looked towards the bewildered guards with a menacing tone in his voice (which wasn’t hard, given the already intimidating modulator), “That the property of Fiora Defense Systems will be protected, To. The. Credit. Otherwise, well…” hefting the rugged weapon that was his sidearm up to his shoulder, “I cannot guarantee your safety.”
This, of course, was merely a ruse. He wasn’t actually going to harm them if they turned tail and ran, but it was the insinuation that this well-equipped, never-before-seen individual that (by their assumption) was none other than a CorporateEnforcer of Marcella Fiora herself, would be fully willing to do so if they did. His statements were a mix of bravado and half-truths, but such would matter little to individuals like these at this moment. So the cowardly and unprepared APD bit their lips, swallowed nervously, and had gazes darting to another. But nonetheless, they tightened their hold on their rifles (or whatever weapons they had not misplaced) and complied. Besides, if some (seeming) fanatic wanted to stand in front of them and take the shots, they were just fine with that. That’s precisely what he was betting on - because now, not only would they likely have a worse shot with him at the forefront, but they would likely have a lower chance of being shot, which was his primary concern.
Comm Channels switched back with a button press, back to the ship-board channel of Kardek Alpha
, his head tilting as he looked towards the doors creaking inwards further. “Kardek - can you tell me what’s the situation at the front? These runts are doing a damn fine job of making scrap of these poor doors.” The other man’s ship sensors had observational superiority over his suit’s sensors. He could tell some vague forms in the motion scanners but…only one in the lifeform? Odd. Thermal readings were still getting larger pings. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what they were, the question was merely what type?
Listening to the other’s response through the commlink, his head tilted back some to the small assembled group of half-wits he’d managed to rally. Most of them, if not all, were from the card game earlier. Pretty sure one of them might be drunk. With a soft sigh only to himself, “You boys take cover.” Once they gained some semblance of coherence, some aiming their standard-issue rifles and sidearms in anticipation. “I want a full recount of everyone by the end of this. No man is to be left to die. And switch settings to non-lethal.” It was a bit of whiplash for the guards to see such intimidation from the Contractor, only to switch to...whatever form of concern this was. The request to switch their weapons to non-lethal, doubly so. Whether it earned a sense of respect or confusion, nonetheless, they wordlessly complied as they darted to whatever cover they could utilize - crates, walls, elevated platforms of the factory floor. This satisfied the armored individual.
With his hidden visage turned forwards, the light and sparks showering down from the now nearly-destroyed doors gave the visor of the helmet a fiery gleam. Steadfast in his stance, as systems worked to assess and prepare for the threat. His own hand-cannon was leveled at the door, safety being flicked off. It felt like old times, being at the spearpoint of a security team once more. Only now this was for a different cause. He wondered if the opposition will give him the chance for some showey spiel, or if they'll just start shooting. Likely the latter.
Ivory had hopped out of the truck immediately, her booted feet landing silently on the hard permacrete surface. She stood to her full height, joining Lliara Daeva
. The woman had taken charge rather quickly, stirring the few others that joined them in the truck to action... but not her. The raven-haired Shadowrunner's demeanor was silent & intense; glancing at the Mirialian with violet eyes which were as cold & emotionless as granite.
While the rest of the small team departed from the truck, the tall Mafiosa kept silent; focused on the task at hand. Most of those present on the ground would have heard stories about her, but only those closest to her had any inkling as-to where her true allegiance lay... Very few of District 7's Shadowrunners were among their number, and-so tonight, Ivory would appear to be just another pair of hands. Over her own personal earpiece, she listened as "Professor Diamonds" took the stage, allowing herself only the briefest glimmer of a smile at the playful communication. If everything was on-track, that meant the security systems for the warehouse would be disabled and Darkwire would be safe.
For the moment.
As the group left the loading dock, Ivory stayed aloof - keeping one eye on the group and the other on their environment. As Lliara & the handful of others entered through the double-doors (now suddenly unlocked), the Mafiosa slowed her pace - allowing the rest of the group to enter the facility without her. She used a blind corner nearby the doors to conceal her movement, pausing to ensure the group moved further in.
Once their line-of-sight was broken, Ivory quickly began to move in the opposite direction. Toward the rear of the building. Away from the action.
She had a different objective, altogether... and that began with rendezvousing with members of her Family.
The night air filled her lungs as Ivory dropped from the loading dock onto the ground. She took a breath, then began to quickly walk along the far end of the building - down the long, dark alleyway fenced off on the opposite side by a high wall. She glanced upward, spying a catwalk which ran along the upper level of the building... though in this area of the compound, there didn't appear to be any means of reaching the metal railing. It was nearly thirty feet up, with much of it cloaked in shadow. Finally satisfied that enough distance had been reached between her & the others, she glanced behind her once last time before turning her eyes skyward again; selecting a point on the catwalk high above.
She reached out through The Force, drawing power up from the ground into her powerful thighs, feeling an intense wave of energy rise from the base of her spine to the very top of her skull. Her entire body began to buzz as-if she were irradiated by an electrical current. Then, she leaped.
Her feet left the ground, and she easily sailed over the protective railing to land - cat-footed - on the catwalk high above.
The breeze 10 meters up almost doubled, tugging at the edges of her long black coat. Moving cautiously further down the building, it only took her a few moments to find what she'd been searching for: An exit hatch from the warehouse's top-most level onto the roof. As expected, the hatch was unlocked. Her people had done their part...
Like a wraith soundlessly stalking through the dark remains of some ancient, alien tomb, the former Jedi Shadow made her own entrance; far away from the fighting that was already sure to be raging elsewhere. She trusted Darkwire enough to make their own way, and so long as they didn't get greedy, she would be free to seek out her own quarry.
Everyone was moving in to their position and patrolling as planned when the breaching charge went off. There was the sound of gunfire, but Mairéad didn't put much mind to it, people were supposed to hear gunfire. The timer had now started and in less than 30 minutes, security that they could not let in on the plan would arrive.
What was that?
Mairéad felt something in the force. She was still learning how to interpret its ebb and flow, so wasn't sure how to read it, but their was a presence, and not where it was meant to be. "Keep an eye on the kids" she said to her allies "I'm going to go and check something out." she upholstered her pistol and walked along the gantry towards the storage rooms at the back. If someone had come in here, it was off script and that was a concern, any slip ups could mean problems for either organisation here, and Marcella Fiora
would not be pleased if someone was helping them to something off the menu. Her shoes made little noise on the gantry as she padded her way past storage rooms, glancing inside each as she went. There was someone out here, her gut was telling her that.
As she entered the last room, filled with boxes, crates and barrels she thought she saw a shadow in the darkness disappear behind a large forklift vehicle. "Whos back there?" she called out. She couldnt exactly blurt out that there was a plan, she had to pick her words carefully. "You aren't supposed to be in here!" she shouted again when there was no response. That was true, plan or not, this was private property. "Come out now with your hands up and I won't shoot you!" Finally she said, with a tone of command in her voice. She was ready to shoot them, they had been told if they go off plan their would be consequences, this alliance with darkwire was not without condition, and if they couldn't be trusted, they would surely be cut loose. "Now!" she demanded of the hidden shadow.
The hissing that signalled the opening of the back of the truck snapped Binary's eyes open as her lips curled up into a small smile at Johnny's unique style of starting them off. It was good to know in a world where everything was smoke and mirrors, up in the air, that some things never changed. You could rely on death, taxes, and Johnny making any heist interesting. She could see the members of the heist team settling around her, stretching and preparing themselves for the upcoming excursion. After all, despite all their planning it was…unlikely that the security team here would just let them waltz in and take whatever they wanted to. As nice as that would be Binary had yet to find someone who was willing to just roll over, and she'd asked so nicely before.
Dark eyes glowed for a moment as she tasted the signals flowing through the air, the data like a painting in light etched into the dark sky. It almost felt like she could reach out with a hand to touch it, to twist and morph them in the air. Only, it would be like dipping your hand into a pond, the ripples of one action would spread uncontrollably, so it was probably better to let someone with a better view make the first move. The glow in Binary's eyes faded as she watched some of the crew stalk away while others began to slide towards the warehouse. Gently she touched the group's network, dropping a message through the levels of secrecy and encryptions they'd built prior to arriving.
"Hey Professor Diamond. One hall pass to the security office please."
The man was…flamboyant, but Binary trusted him to watch her back and clear the way, not a trust she gave out easily. Most of the crowd would be headed to the warehouse, or picking a fight with the guard's that patrolled the area. Only, they're just taken control of the cameras, but if she could link the erstwhile slicer into the security systems directly, he could take control of the entire system, and that would make getting into the warehouse and covering their tracks that much easier.
This was supposed to be a milk run they'd said, but the last time she heard that she'd walked into a laboratory full of dead people and angry gangers. She wasn't going to take anything for granted this time. Besides, her eyes drifted over to where Ivory was stalking away in the shadows, two could play at sneaking their way through the facility.
Jay smirked a bit under his scarf, nodding as he turned to the entrance.
"Don't worry G, I'll keep an eye on those entrances. Teilden, (sweep)!" (Some form of beastmaster training language). After saying this, the Loth-bat would fly down, begining to take long, facing flights around a few of the entrances, just above the doors to stay mostly out of sight. Jay would then pull his pistols as he checked around the back ways in, curiously looking around. Seemed too quiet right now, even with all the fighting, it seemed odd that no one seemed to run around the back. Yeah most of them were kids, but the Enforcer was pretty sure they weren't all dumb kids. Someone had to have not been knocking on the front door.
At the same time, he was more worried about if these Darkwire kids knew or cared about the plan. He'd rather not be shot at with the aim to hurt, cybernetics weren't exactly cheap, and he had too many thing to work through to die quiet yet.... He just continued checking the various paths and entries, hoping to spot someone.
Cherry couldn't tell them, 'destroy the door... but not too much.' It was either destroy the door or don't destroy the door, no in between. As the sparks flew, Cherry spared a quick thought about what was behind the door.
"Chit..."
Would there be a whole security team? Had they been filled in on the plan or would they burst out and shoot her dead right then and there? But, Cherry decided to put her trust in the plan... Things would work out. And if they didn't... well, she wouldn't be around to complain.
As the door finally gave way and fell, the droids stopped firing.
There were little drifts of smoke, but when it cleared, the armored form was revealed.
The imposing form stood heads taller than Cherry, and there was already a hand-cannon pointed out the door. Her own blaster was quickly pulled from the holster on her hip and pointed back at him. Though, even when not on the stun setting... she doubted it'd have much of an effect on his armor. And here she was... without any kind of fancy stuff. Maybe that'd been a bit of a mistake on her part.
The spiders moved in between Cherry and her would-be attacker, they were poised to resume firing at her command.
Cherry started to take a step backwards, just in case she needed to duck for cover soon. And her trigger finger twitched, sending a stun bolt right at the armored guy. She hadn't meant to, so she'd almost yelled 'oops, sorry!' but that wouldn't have been convincing. Not at all.
Location: Denon Access Tunnels, beneath the Fiora Defense Systems Warehouse
Nearby: Das
Enemy Tags: Open
As the pair began to walk down the enclosed tunnel, Zephyrr crept carefully forward - one foot in-front of the other, moving slowly. Stealth, agility, and speed were his allies, and he knew them very well.
The tall, blue-eyed young man turned his head slighty, flashing the young woman a toothy grin. "I wasn't gonna let you do this by yourself." He replied. The poor lighting in the tunnel obscured her smile, but he still caught it - catching the look she gave him. The two continued, and a few minutes later, they reached a junction in the tunnel. Das gestured to the left-most turn and remarked that Security could be found in that direction - her plan sounded good, so long as the duo didn't run into too much resistance...
The sudden interruption of a voice over their Comms, an unknown speaker Zephyrr had never heard before, informed them that Security for the complex was down for the time-being. Whomever it was on the line seemed to be having fun with his role in the invasion, and Das seemed disappointed for a moment before shifting her demeanor back to humor. Zeph chuckled at her reaction.
Lliara had pulled out a pad and had it resting on her left forearm as the group marched. Her helmet snapped shut and sealed to conceal the displeasure on the Mirialan's face. The rest would probably take it to mean she was preparing for battle. Well, that wasn't wrong either seeing how someone else had rung the dinner bell and begged for the Response Team to race toward the facility. So much for the concern about a silent alarm.
The HUD of her helmet brought a picture rearward into view. Lliara stopped and pivoted back the way she'd come to fix the red line of her helmet on a particular soul among them. One whose fingertips were fiddling with a door control. "Next one I catch going rogue gets all their fingers broken. You want to play games, there's three hundred and fifty-five standard calendar days for that; today's not one of them. Move." Honestly, how Daiya managed to make these people effective as such a rabble was beyond Lliara. It's why she worked alone on her own, personal crusade. Still, group work brought in large credit hauls so there she was stuck with these grunts.
Minus one.
Without further ado, Lliara turned and stabbed a finger down the next hallway. "Beyond that door. Get a move on with the goods." Her gloved fingers danced over the pad's surface. "I have something to take care of to stall our friends." No she didn't. Did have an appointment with a computer terminal, though. Ivory Stroud
might have snuck off, but the Mirialan didn't need to relocate herself -- just her focus. To do that, she would need the group to manage to do the simple task of moving a few boxes on their own. Hopefully not an overly taxing task asked of them.
"And remember, not one bullet left behind or missing. I won't need to break your fingers to make you regret that life-changing mistake." Sticky fingers were cute when Lliara's payout wasn't in jeopardy. Otherwise they'd all find out what certain set of skills the Mirialan possessed she hadn't bothered introducing during the ice breaking session earlier.
As she entered the last room, filled with boxes, crates and barrels she thought she saw a shadow in the darkness disappear behind a large forklift vehicle. "Whos back there?" she called out. She couldnt exactly blurt out that there was a plan, she had to pick her words carefully. "You aren't supposed to be in here!" she shouted again when there was no response. That was true, plan or not, this was private property. "Come out now with your hands up and I won't shoot you!" Finally she said, with a tone of command in her voice. She was ready to shoot them, they had been told if they go off plan their would be consequences, this alliance with darkwire was not without condition, and if they couldn't be trusted, they would surely be cut loose. "Now!" she demanded of the hidden shadow.
As-if she were a wraith materializing from the Void, the shape stepped forward - its hands raised to shoulder-height & open palms visible. The face of the woman would have been immediately recognizable, and any doubt would have evaporated as she quietly spoke:
“I don’t think either of us want to die here, today, Mairead, darling.”
Ivory Stroud looked different than she normally did in the presence of The Family: the all-black clothing would have been similar, but instead of the cultured, classy dress & wide-brimmed black fedora, she instead had taken on the appearance of a Mercenary - a long black coat which reached nearly to her knees, steel-tipped combat boots, a black tank-top which barely concealed the decorative tattoos upon her chest, and her hair was was up in a simple pony-tail to keep it out of her eyes rather than the elegant braids she was often fond of wearing.
Mairéad's arms tensed, ready to fire as the shadow approached, but she was glad to have held her nerve firmly and she grinned as she lowered her weapon.
"Damn, was not expecting to find you back here, I won't ask." she laughed, it wasn't her place after all.
Ivory smirked & lowered her hands, stepping out of the shadows to join The Family’s resident Ice Witch. Ivory glanced behind the woman toward the door Mairead had entered. “Glad to see at least one person is doing their job,” she quipped. “The rest of the Shadowrunners are already in the building.”
“We don’t have much time. So long as Darkwire gets what they came for, this will be a success…” The Donna spoke quickly & in hushed tones, keeping one eye on the door. “Make sure the rest of our team knows to let them pass. Darkwire has put some skilled Operatives on this job, and I don’t want any mistakes. I’ll be rejoining them shortly, but…” Ivory wetted her lips with her tongue. “I’m here for something else entirely.”
Now she was curious; she nodded to Ivory's reminder, and would ensure the mission went smoothly and relay the notes as required.
"Is there anything I can do to help, I am intrigued by your personal mission." she smiled again, another question burned in her mind. So brightly she was sure Ivory would read it, but she was also sure it was a fact she might kill to keep from getting out. So she wouldn't ask.
Ivory smirked in response, considered for a moment… then nodded.
She stepped closer, pulling the sleeve on her left arm back to reveal a small metal bracelet; a heavily-modified Hermes Holo-pad. As she raised her wrist, a dim purple screen flickered into life in the air before them both. As she tapped through a few screens, Ivory explained:
“You may have seen CorpSec in the air, using powerful AVs to transport staff & equipment across Denon… they’re manufactured by Starlight Industries, and the design specifications are nearly impossible to acquire. These things are humongous, heavily armed, capable of landing almost anywhere, and able to transport an entire squad into a hotzone. They’ve been on back-order for three months due to high demand…”
On the holographic display, Ivory finally clicked on a screen-shot, showing a powerful, bulky, Military-style aerial vehicle in-motion, flying low over the Denon skyline.
“It just so happens that one week ago, an order was filled for two to be delivered to District 3. Starlight Industries contracted out to Moonveil for secure storage facilities. Those two AVs are sitting in this very warehouse, awaiting final delivery.”
In the dim light of the storage room, both their faces were softly illuminated by the light of the holographic display. Ivory looked at Mairead, making eye-contact… and smiled.
“Dedata has given me a program that will take a snapshot of the firmware & specifications. All I need to do is plug it in, and we’ll have a perfect copy of of one of CorpSec’s greatest assets… and one of Starlight’s most valuable secret projects.”
"And I suppose the reputational damage to Marcella and her company would be too great to just fly it out of here?" she laughed. "I am of course, as always, at your service."
Ivory grinned, impressed with how quickly Mai had picked up on that detail. She nodded.
The holo-screen disappeared as Ivory covered up her wrist again. “Access to the secure area is tightly controlled; it requires two individuals to unlock the vault doors on the first floor. The first needs to be at the vault doors themselves. The second…” At this, Ivory produced a slim keycard, colored pink, seemingly from nowhere. The sleight-of-hand trick was done with a flourish; a little bit of fun on Ivory’s part.
“...needs to be in the main Command Center, where Security is at its highest. They should be distracted, with everything happening now.” Ivory passed Mairead the keycard.
“Destroy the card when we’re finished, and ditch it in a gutter. It’s single-use only.”
Kardek's eyes furrowed at the display, observing the incoming Darkwire signatures. He sighed with an edge of annoyance, not approving of the plan himself. It felt very messy, and there were so many things that could go wrong. Add in the fact that there were live munitions in play and that the security forces were not privy to the fact that this was all for show… it would be a miracle if someone didn't end up dead.
Then the front door went boom. Kardek couldn't help but chuckle softly in disbelief that Marcella Fiora
had actually signed off on this. "This is gonna be a kriffin mess…" He muttered to Alpha without taking his eyes off the display. The IG-88 droid seemed to share a level of concern for his friends down there as well, offering a nervous whirr as he watched the dots on the screen draw closer to direct contact.
Kardek activated his coms, "No kidding. You've got signatures directly outside the doors, some are not sentient. There are also multiple signatures approaching through the tunnels beneath you." Kardek looked behind him at his tactical flight suit that was draped over the back of one of the cockpit chairs, the urge to go down and offer additional support steadily growing. But he shook it off for the moment, turning back and continuing to observe. He didn't want to leave his team without eyes.
Alpha turned quickly and made a higher pitched noise. Kardek nodded, "Attention team. Be advised, the security systems have been sliced. It it likely that they have complete access to the security feeds."
"..." Normal | <"Team Comms"> | <<Marcella's Comm>>
It was when the doors collapsed inward, blown off their hinges, that he saw his newfound adversary. Kardek’s report was right - what was behind was a woman, and a pair of military-grade droids. How’d she get her hands on that, he wondered? Not really the thing to be bringing to a stealthy heist, but to each their own, he supposed. He heard of some runt far more destructive runt that had a fascination with explosives. He could’ve gotten them instead, so it was important to look at the silver lining of the situation.
“You seem a tad lost, miss.” His hidden visage peered at her form, at her scrambling to pull her pistol from her hip. It caused him to tense, ready to depress on the trigger. The pair of rather large droids were made careful note of, deeming them to be the primary concern in an engagement. They seemingly were holding fire, for the moment, so that would be enough for him to say whatever piece he had to say. “I would ask if y’took a wrong turn somewhere, but I believe the doors laying to the sides answer that question.” He may have noticed her hands being a tad shaky. Perhaps she wasn’t used to this. Or some poor girl these so-called ‘allies’ had roped off the street. “It would be wise for you to-” And then she twitched, concentrated gaze catching the movement and shifting in response.
The stun bolt flew outwards, and fueled by instinct and reflex, the arm that aimed his weapon shifted as if holding a ‘shield,’ allowing it to crash against a shimmering energy field that formed along the side of his forearm. Casting the dissipating energy from the stun aside with a soft huff, his aim snapped back - now settled on droids that stood in the way of the girl as she retreated. Gaze studied her further - the demeanor didn’t seem hostile, and she wasn’t firing multiple bolts. And the droids still haven’t fired. She seemed nervous. Perhaps it was a mistake. But mistakes didn’t change the fact the guards witnessed all of this - hell, it was a surprise they hadn’t fired yet. Perhaps they were just too stupefied or drunk.
The moment he started to debate pulling the trigger, and where he would’ve started the ‘play-fight,’ as it were, he received a comm signal. He gave a slight tilt of his head as the reminder to ‘Let them Pass,’ was received. “Hrrnn.” He gave a heavy exhale mixed with an annoyed groan, audibly distorted by the features of his helmet. What a mess to clean up. He will ensure to tell Marcella this firmly on the Donna’s hands, if additional damages resulted from this. “Security. Leave us, and sweep the perimeter. I will handle this one alone.” Tone was deliberate. Outwardly, it’d appear the individual had been downright pissed at the stun bolt that did little to affect him through the armor. The guards glanced to the other, as if questioning whether to follow this - “Did I stutter?” A cold, monotone voice queried, and the incompetents took that as their signal to leave.
Once they had done so, his helmet turned front and center to the woman and her droids. Hopefully he didn’t scare her enough that she ordered them to fire - because if she did, he just called off any backup he had access to. Not to mention he’d have quite a few more complications with ‘Letting her Pass’ - he would follow his orders best he can, but he was not going to let someone take him out without a fight. “You’re very lucky you bumped into someone who knows, and with better trigger discipline, miss. This is your one and only opportunity, unless you’d wish to pointlessly fight, or call it quits. Call off your droids, tell them to idle somewhere, and submit to ‘detainment.’” Exaggerated emphasis was placed on the final word, in an attempt to hint towards something despite the modulation of his voice making it somewhat hard to tell. “You have my word no harm will come to you, and perhaps we may find where you were supposed to turn. Make your choice. I’ve little time to waste, and I’m certain you’ve places to be.”
Whether or not she chose to believe his word was another thing entirely. He had an intimidating frame, and he wouldn't blame her if she wasn't inclined to believe someone who looked like they crushed skulls for fun, either. And apparently the intent wasn’t to make a show. Oh, well. He had other places to maintain, sensitive places he needed to tend to in swift manner. Couldn’t have Darkwire getting their hands on anything sensitive. He couldn't really 'walk the other way' from this situation without the Security knowing something was up, so this was his best attempt to compromise.
Mairéad grinned at the playful flourish and then nodded at Ivory Stroud
to continue. Reaching up to her comm, ship hit the button to communicate to her allies <<Hey all, I have something I need to check out in another area, cover me alright.>> she couldn't give any more information right now, they would have to trust her. Mairéad gestured to her Donna and led the way down the corridor, her pistol raised and her coat flapping in the breeze as she quickly walked.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, she had spent very little time alone with the Donna, and never in a active mission. Realistically this should be a piece of cake, the area was mostly cleared of staff and the few that were left to sell the story had legged it when the first gunshots were fired. She thought she saw the flashing of a torch as a guard made his patrol but it was her eyes playing tricks on her. A floodlight outside blew in the storm that had blown in and flickered through the mostly shuttered windows.
"Map says its this way, shouldnt be too long. It really is a shame we cant just lift them, but i think Marcella Fiora
might dump me on an asteroid somewhere if that happened on my watch." she laughed as she gently pushed the final door open to a large room. There was a guard sat at the security terminal on an internal phone, probably trying to find our why his systems were running faulty.
Mairéad held out her fingers and slowly channelled the force, Ivory would feel a chill in the air, but the guard would feel an Icy breeze swirling in the air. She coupled this with a force trick suggestion in his mind window...window....window...cigarette she was weak at mental manipulation, but the cold air would support the weak suggestion.
"Hey chap, gonna let you keep working on my system. I think one of the early shift has left a window open or something. Going to sort that and grab a smoke." he pressed a button on the control, picked up his stun baton and stood. Moments later he walked out the door.
"We don't have long, let's get in their pronto" she looked at the Donna.
The teens worked deeper into the facility, traversing the tunnel as quietly as they could afford without wasting more time than they had to. With the other Darkwire teams already inside and Johnny Diamonds
kicking the security feeds offline, the clock was ticking. They'd have less than thirty minutes to grab what cargo they could and get it back to the speeder outside. Das consulted her datapad, her pale face illuminated by the glow of the screen.
"Look," she whispered to Zephyrr, waving him closer. She pointed to a large room splitting off from the access tunnel. "That's it. That's the warehouse."
She gave him a wide grin as she swiped her finger across the interface, rolling the holomap of the factory to a surprisingly thorough manifest. It was an itemized inventory of supplies stored in the Fiora warehouse, enough cases of high-quality firearms and ammunition to incite a small-scale ground war. She was thrilled at the idea of nabbing a few MagPistols, maybe even a scattergun, with ammo to compliment them of course. The shadowrunner skimmed on, eyeing the data carefully. She clicked her tongue when she finally came upon the real prize: s case full of light blasters. The only case full of light blasters.
Das flashed Zephyrr a compelling look, coyly inquiring, "Think you can carry a crate?"
Following closely behind Mairead, Ivory left the store-room behind. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her coat, keeping her shoulders tight & chin down - trying to make herself as discreet as possible. She didn't say much as the two headed deeper into the warehouse, simply paying attention to their surroundings with all of her senses. When Mairead chose to move quietly, Ivory did so too - avoiding the patrolling guards expertly.
"Map says its this way, shouldnt be too long. It really is a shame we cant just lift them, but i think Marcella Fiora
might dump me on an asteroid somewhere if that happened on my watch." she laughed as she gently pushed the final door open to a large room.
"You and me both." The Donna muttered under her breath, envisioning the look on Marcella's face were she to find out Ivory had stolen one of the massive armored vehicles. She suppressed a chuckle as the door swung open, and ahead of them, seated at a desk, she could see a Moonveil security officer fiddling with one of the input pads on the desk.
Mairead raised a hand and concentrated; Ivory could feel the temperature drop as tiny diamonds began to form in the air between the woman's fingers - water vapor crystallizing under the woman's subtle use of her abilities. In awe, Ivory watched the man rise - hanging up the phone after a parting word to whomever he'd been speaking with on the other line. A moment later, he was gone... and they were free to enter.
Ivory stepped past and entered the room first, crossing the room quickly to reach the table - now unoccupied.
She slid into the air and immediately began looking over the terminals & control panels. The redoubts were all reading various errors and only a few cameras were still clearly operational; at least they appeared so, but Ivory suspected their Netrunner support was simply looping footage.
Finally, she found what she was looking for: an input for some kind of keycard, set into the base of one of the terminals. "There." She said, glancing to see if Mairead had followed her in.
"Alright. It'll take me a few minutes to get downstairs. The code has to be input here first - which disables the vault lock. Then, someone standing at the vault uses their own card to open the door. The window is 60 seconds - meaning I need you here while I'm down there."
Again, she produced the pink keycard - seemingly from nowhere - and handed it to Mairead.
With a look, Ivory then stood from the desk, pushing the chair aside. She gave the woman a look. "If he comes back before I call you on Comms... Improvise."
With a grin, Ivory reached out, patting Mairead on the arm. If there were no further questions, she would head immediately for the door they entered at speed.
"Oh, and Mai, darling. Don't forget to destroy the card when we're done."
Lliara planted a hand atop her hip as the doors began to split open. The sealed helm faced the interior of the factory as the floor revealed itself to the bandits that had come along for the ride. The Mirialan tried not to sigh aloud at just how much help these people needed to raid a simple factory when the deck was stacked in their favor. All the ones with the ambition and organized planning were off doing better things no doubt. Like Ivory Stroud
.
As the black-suited woman strolled into the chamber, she called out politely, "You're not here with sticky fingers, I hope." Who they were, why they were there... probably took some underground passage to get there.
A sharp sweep of one hand directed those with her to go get the cargo sled. There wasn't enough time for them to stand around listening to the banter, and Lliara certainly had better things to do than grab the cart herself.
"At least list off how much you're taking. You wouldn't want me to return light and then finger you, only for you to come up short." After all, Das
, Johnny Diamonds
and Zephyrr
would make excellent scapegoats. And seeing how they weren't with the rest of the party coming in the front surely anything missing was entirely their doing. Lliara was too meticulous for those with her palming something. Besides, anyone she caught would learn about her reputation the hard way.
Zephyrr watched as Das skimmed across the holomap, then moved to an itemized listing of products. The light of the screen highlighted his face; the reflection giving his face a strange skull-like appearance due to his high cheekbones & defined jaw. He paid close attention to the inventory, both awed & intimidated by the massive - likely highly classified - list. "Damn..." he muttered under his breath.
Realization dawned on Zeph's face as he made eye-contact with his companion. He grinned, staring into her eyes... resisting the temptation to lean in & kiss her. He didn't even hesitate before giving her an answer.
"No, no questions, have fun in there." Mairéad said with a smile as she made herself comfortable in the security seat. She could see the guard on the monitor, he clearly hadn't found the fictitious window but was leaned up, smoking what looked like a Fiora brand.
Improvise? What did that mean? This wasn't part of the initial brief and she didn't think Marcella Fiora
would be too thrilled if an innocent employee was found frozen solid. She grinned, probably couldnt pin that one anyone else either. Chit he was done and moving, she couldnt have more than 45 seconds. As Ivory Stroud
pinged her she slid the card in and carried out the unlock, at least that part was done. She had to deal with the security guard, that might be a problem, she could incapacitate him without killing him, she was a mandalorian after all, but was even that too much evidence of off the books activity.
She had an idea, looking at the camera as the man walked past she tried something, she hit a button on the screen and it turned red, locking the door in the corridor. He wrestled with it and scanned his key card, the moment it went green on her screen she hit it again, relocking it. He tried twice more before talking in his radio and running away from the door. It would look like a malfunction provided the pair left no trace they were here.
By this time Ivory had had a little over two minutes in the vault, Mai hoped she had left the door open so comm could get through. "We might have incoming, looking at the cam I'd say we need to be gone in 90 seconds, or I can't promise there won't be a need for combat." she winced at the idea of letting things get that way, Ivory was good though, Mairéad had faith in her boss.
She held the keycard in her hand, curious from the repeated insistence that it be destoryed, what might happen if she didn't. She would never find out as the material cooled and cooled, becoming icy and brittle in her hand until she closed her fist, shattering it.
Ivory Stroud
| Cherry |
Zephyrr
|
Das
|
Binary
|
Johnny Diamonds
Marcella Fiora
