| Logs |
2002 January 28
| Cosmic Guardians |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Guardians Logs |
Background RP - Nikki - Part 5
Life and Death: Nikki's StoryPart 5: Ghostly Machinations
Nikki and Ares spend the better portion of an hour going over the loot that they snagged from Trypticon's computers. When Hermes and Hecate emerge from their 'activities' - a good half hour after their earlier appearance - Ares explains to them what Nikki did while she continues decoding the files. The Gibson is far more sophisticated than any of the equipment either Nikki or her brother had, so the decoding is done in fairly short order. Prometheus, Athena, and Cerberus return fifteen minutes after that....and only moment later, Nikki is finally ready to report on what she's found.
"Okay..some of this stuff isn't so important to what we....or you rather...were looking for. But it does bear out our conclusions that the folks behind Mr. France - or should I say, Mr. Frants, according to one of the memos we found - Is the group you know as Majestic 12. They're the ones who stole your prototpype." Nikki says, wriggling slightly in her seat and looking quite pleased with herself, all in all.
Nikki points to the schematics of the patternbuffer. "They've done quite a bit of work with the technology they've stolen, but they aren't yet able to duplicate the tech...which is good, because if we take back the working model they have...and delete their files...they've got nothing to work with. Something you should also be aware of...according to some of the memos, the tech they were using is *not* Falcarian."
The rest of the group seem taken aback. "What'cha mean?" growls Cerberus. "If it's not Falcarian, what is it?"
Nikki shrugs. "You tell me...you're the spooks." She grins.
Athena taps her knee. "We were told the artifact was stolen from a guy in Kansas who retrieved it from somewhere underground...possibly a crashed spacecraft. We always assumed it was Falcarian. Maybe that premise was faulty."
Nikki shrugs. "I don't know, exactly. But the design isn't human either. Plus, this pattern buffer was never meant to be used in a transporter, like Falcar tech is. It's supposed to be a portable device."
Nikki pulls up another window, creasing her brow. "If I'm reading this right, the techs say that it was supposed to store the molecular structure of items relatively small in mass, to be called up later. It's kinda like....well...having a really large pocket? Like, if you were a cartoon character, and you pulled a bazooka out of your pocket. This can do that."
Eyes widen all over the room. "Mother Earth an Father Sky...." Hecate oaths.
Nikki nods. "And uhm...Holy Mary, Mother of God?"'
Ares grunts. "Don' think the gods are gonna help us on this one, ladies and gents. We're going to have to go in and grab this sucker ourselves. I can think of a number of ways this could be used...and none of them good."
Nods all around. "So....where is this thing housed, then? In the Trypticon building?" ventures Prometheus.
Nikki glances at the computer. "Well...it seems to be in the research center...and their public website places that underground on their campus on the outskirts of the city."
Ares glances at the screen. "Any idea where underground? Their grounds cover a lot of area...and what you found on the website only appears to cover what's topside."
Nikki chews her lip. "I didn't go in looking for that kind of information. I suppose I could initiate another hack, but I'll have to rebuild the attack vectors because they were onto the last set." Nikki grins wolfishly. "Heh...and the good news is they probably think the NSA was poking around, not us."
Athena makes a satisfied sound. "You might not have to. While you were playing around, we managed to procure something else." She brings out a large tube and removes something from it, which she lays out on a table. "Structural blueprints of all of Trypticon's facilities."
Nikki gets up from the computer and whistles, lookin at the blueprints. "Where'd ya get those?"
Athena smirks. It's the first time she's had any notable facial expression since Nikki's first seen her. It is not a cruel expression, merely a smug one. "Even in this day and age, companies have to provide building layouts to the city for safety reasons, if they're within close proximity of the city. If they were in the middle of nowhere...that's another story. But thankfully, they followed procedure, probably to keep up their cover. And those blueprints, we can get access to, by hook or crook. Unfortunately, they don't provide handy legends with the location of certain areas, only rooms and floors. Do you think you can figure out where the device would be based on these?"
Nikki chews her lip, looking down at the blueprints. "I think it's on Sub-level 2...and it'd have to be well shielded so no one outside could detect it. Say...here, maybe? She points to an almost vaultlike construction in the center of the level.
Athena looks chagrined. "That's bad. First we'd have to make it through the perimeter, then into one of these buildings, then down two floors...there's sure to be tough resistance trying to get in that way. The Coinci....the group is good, but not that good."
Nikki arches an eyebrow a moment, I wonder what she was about to say...maybe it's related to that stuff Ares told me earlier about this secret group they belong to... Then, as her eyes criscross over the blueprint, she spots something, leaning closer. Tracing her finger along a corridor that seems to extend south from Sub-Level 2. According to the notation, it seems to be some sort of emergency exit. She smiles and looks at Athena. "Would this help?" She taps the page.
Athena and the others follow her finger. "Holy shit." growls Cerberus. "Out of the mouth of babes." Nikki glances at Cerberus, thinking to take offense, but realizes he's likely significantly older than she is.
Ares grins toothily, placing a hand on Nikki's shoulder. ....or at least looking like it, his hand hoving just over where her shoulder would be. "The young can yet teach the old," he says, sounding like a proud parent. "Any questions, ladies and gents? or shall be make like heroes and storm the castle gates?"
Nikki glances at Ares and and smiles a little; wistfully perhaps. "Yes...let's go. Should we bring Gorgon? We might need him to break security sommewhere."
Athena frowns. "Hold on a second young lady. You're not going anywhere. You're going to stay here with Prometheus."
Nikki frowns. "What?! And miss an opportunity to get back at those bastards?!"
Athena looks stern. "That's exactly why you're not going, Nikki. The rest of us are trained for this. You're a loose cannon, and you could endanger the whole mission." Prometheus doesn't look happy about this proclamation, but doesn't seem willing to gainsay Athena. Cerberus and Hermes are unreadable on the subject, and Hecate actually looks relieved. But Ares gives Nikki a looks that seems to say, "How would you surmount this obstacle?"
Nikki looks at Athena defiantly. "Can you walk through walls?"
Athena seems slightly taken aback by Nikki's demeanor. "Well, no but..." Ares's eyes glitter.
Nikki nods and points to the blueprint. "I bet that's a pretty thick vault, but it probably opens right up from the inside...probably even has those silly panic bars."
Athena sits back, her hand going to the bridge of her nose. "Nikki...you may have a point, but you've only been a ghost for twenty-four hours. Who knows what defenses might be in there that you're not prepared for. Your unique abilities are an asset, but not enough to convince me you need to go."
Nikki chews her lip. "Yeah? Well...what about their security systems? Do any of you know them as well as me? And computers?"
Athena blinks. "What do you mean? Can't you do that from here? I mean, you did it once before."
Nikki shakes her head. "Not for a few days, at least. They think the NSA was poking around their computers so they shut off all their external connections."
Athena, and then looks at Ares. "Can we..." she starts, but Ares is shaking his head, trying to hide his satisfaction. "Not a chance, jefe. Even if we use a distraction to pull the guards out of place, MJ12 will likely have a lot of security that isn't based on manpower. And if their computers arent keyed and open so we can go in and trash thier data, stealing the prototype might not be enough to keep MJ12 from retro-engineering the pattern buffer." Nikki doesn't bother hiding her own satisfaction at Ares's words, folding her arms against her stomach as she watches Athena's reaction.
Athena, for her part looks supremely dissatisfied. She gives Ares a very direct look then, "Ares, I know you like Nikki, but..." she tries again, but Ares shakes his head again, interrupting her. "She's got skills we can't match, 'Thena. Hermes is good, but he's not a hacker. Without her, our chances of success are fifty, maybe sixty percent. This is a government installation, not a militia bunker."
Athena glares. "Fine, but she's your headache, Ares. You have responsibility for her." Ares seems to have no problem with his and smiles. "You make that sound like a punishment, jefe." he drawls.
Nikki grins at Ares, having warmed considerably to the warmonger since she first met him. She glances at Prometheus and the watch. Prometheus also looks quite pleased, although for seemingly different reasons. He takes the watch from where it was left on the desk and hands it to Ares, who takes it. "Take good care of that, Ares." he murmurs. Athena, for her part, seems to dismiss her anger. "Okay, team. Here's how it's gonna go. Prometheus, you're going to be our distraction. She points to the west fence. "Go nova here: lots of light, lots of property damage. But make sure to retreat if they start bringing in heavy weapons. Who knows what kind of advanced tech MJ12 has. Hermes, you're with me in the van: I'll be coordinating from there. Cerb, Ares, and Cate will take out the guards nearby the access panel into this shaft, and escort little miss Hacker down to Sub-Level 2. If I call an abort, you walk away, all of you, no matter what you're doing. Understood?"
Nikki nods, sobering up a bit. She's never done a physical attack, even though she's practiced a number of times with her brother. All the others respond affirmatively to Athena's directives. "Good." says Athena. "Ares, pick out weapons for yourself and your team. The rest of you, make whatever preperations you have to. MJ12 is already on guard, so we're going to hit them now, before their defences can be upgraded further. We make for the Trypticon compound in one hour."
Nikki points to Gorgon. "We better bring him. We're going to need him, I think." Athena seems about to argue, but then sighs. "Fine. But you'd better tell it to either behave or turn down it's speaker volume." she says, stalking away. Ares stage-voices, "For some reason, the Gorgon seems to irritate the hell out of our fearless leader..." he says innocently....
Nikki grins and nods, walking over to Gorgon and telling him that everyone'll be killed if he isn't very careful about talking...in fact...that he should only put his messages up in a corner of his screen.
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