Weston -- Logs

A few days have passed since the group arrived in Latvia and joined the mission. They have had some time to work on their supplies lists for the unknown group they are working for and have been asked to gather in the meeting room, for a final planning session before they are inserted. It seems there has been a last-minute addition to the team, a man that none of the group has met before has joined them in the meeting room. Finally, another man, wearing a uniform nearly identical to the one that Anikita was wearing is in the room with you as well.

Aleksei is a young male. He doesn't look like he could possibly be over 17 years old. His hair is on the long side, nearly to his shoulders, with a ragged cut. He's willowy-thin and slightly under six feet tall. He is wearing combat fatigues, displaying the Latvian flag on the shoulders and a red flag, adorned with the same letters that were seen on Anikita's uniform. There are no other markings on the uniform.

Dr_Chong looks each person in the room up and down.

Saburo walks in behind the uniformed man.

Geneviev sits in the same chair she was in last time and regards the new newcomer quietly.

Bethpage watches the newcomer from her seat at the table, with little expression.

Aleksei turns the projector on and puts the map of Australia back on the wall.

Dr_Chong sits quietly, waiting patiently, with a slight smile on his face.

Kavanaugh enters, looking rather chipper. The cat is anything but. "Good morning, good morning, good morning," he says, settling into a chair. The cat opens one eye, then slinks off his shoulder onto the table to nap on a more stable base.

Saburo looks the boy over then stops to light a marlboro. He sits down on the far side of the table from Anikita's boy soldier.

Dr_Chong nods towards Kavanaugh's greeting.

Saburo drags on his cigarette, staring at the map.

Aleksei looks around at the group, then begins to speak. Unlike Anikita's wandering accent, the boy's accent is quite firmly grounded. He's definitely Eastern European, with an accent that is most likely local. It is heavier than Anikita's accent as well, making him slightly more difficult to understand. "Good morning. Please, meet Doctor Chong. He will be joining your group and we believe he will make a good addition to the group. He comes highly recommended. Any questions before I begin?"

Kavanaugh raises a hand. "Yes. What'd you threaten him with to get him to join?" He asks the question with absolutely no rancor or anything beyond cheerful curiosity.

Aleksei smiles. "Doctor Chong joined for humanitarian reasons, Father Kavanaugh."

Dr_Chong says, "I decided to join of my own free will for it seemed the right thing to do."

Saburo says, "Hmmm. Pity no one gave me that choice."

Saburo flicks ashes from the end of his marlboro onto the meeting table.

Kavanaugh lowers his hand. "Oh, right, sorry, sorry. Glad for that, certainly. Don't mind me, it's just my idiom."

Aleksei ignores Saburo's comment. "My name is Aleksei Kazekov. I am a member of the Latvian Red Army. Anikita sends his apologies that he was unable to be here today, he had other business to attend to. I'll be going over some things today and will be joining you when you are inserted into Australia."

Kavanaugh says, "Oh... you mean, you're coming with us all the way to the sighting? Oh, good! Won't seem nearly as lonely, glad you're aboard!"

Dr_Chong smiles.

Bethpage looks curiously at Aleksei. "You're coming with us? What is your specialty-- what do you do in the Army?"

Aleksei shakes his head, "I'm only going as far as the helicopter ride into the insertion point that we've chosen. I've got responsibilities to finish this revolution I helped start."

Geneviev lifts a brow and reaches across the table to give Yarnchaser a scritch behind his ear.

Saburo says, "Where is the insertion point, exactly?"

Dr_Chong looks to the map.

The cat opens up the other eye, and with the scritching immmediately sprawls out to about three times it's previous size. Kavanaugh glances over, grins quietly, then looks back up to the map. "You're not going to be with us all the way? Oh. Pity. Understandable, of course, simply have to finish what you start, yes."

Aleksei types at the computer a moment, bringing the map up closer to the Sydney-area. The insertion point has been marked on the map.

Aleksei says, "We're going to be putting you down in the bay here, approximately half-way between Sydney and Gosford."

Kavanaugh squints a little, peering at the map very closely. He tilts his head to one side, then the other, and makes a thoughtful noise, sitting back.

Then he grins, and murmurs simply, "'Wollongong.' Heh."

Saburo says, "Isn't your boss coming with us on the helicopter ride?"

Aleksei shakes his head, "Anikita has been called away on other business and will not be joining us on the insertion."

Saburo says, "Lucky."

Dr_Chong studies the map intently memorizing every detail.

Geneviev says, "We're being dropped in the bay?"

Aleksei brings another map. "This will put you close to the area where the sighting was. This is also quite close to the original contact point for the disease, as you can see here."

Aleksei says, "No, not in the water, just beyond the sandbar of the bay. We'll be landing you on solid ground."

Dr_Chong studies that map intently as well.

Bethpage says softly, "Aleksei, if your responsibilities lie here with the revolution, why are you coming even so far with us? Are this revolution and our mission linked?"

Saburo says, "Awfully close to the original vector point. "

Bethpage studies the map, and Aleksei.

Aleksei says, "Because we are putting you so close to the original contact point, and because the Vector of the disease is unknown, we recommend that you wear the CBR Filters that we will supply you with, until you can determine that there are no further contaminants in the air."

Geneviev says, "So they verified the only vector for the disease was airborne?"

Dr_Chong says, "Are you certain CBR Filters will be adequate?"

Saburo says, "That is a very good question"

Bethpage just listens.

Aleksei nods, "Yes, the disease was most certainly airborne, and as it did not harm the animal population, the likelyhood is that the contaminant died with it's last human host." He shrugs at the question about the CBR filters, "To be perfectly honest, we don't know. They didn't work for the CDC in Australia, but we hope that if the disease is still present, it will be weakened by a lack of hosts and the filters will work."

Bethpage winces.

Kavanaugh grimaces. "That's a mighty big 'hope,' m'son."

Dr_Chong frowns slightly.

Saburo says, "That is not what I was hoping to hear."

Aleksei says, "The filters have been modified, to take into account the size of the virus itself, as we know it. We hope that will be enough, but we cannot guarantee that it is."

Saburo says, "Where was the CDC in Australia?"

Geneviev says, "It was airborne, but what else? It was only at least airborne."

Saburo says, "How could you know it? Nobody even knows what the virus was..."

Aleksei says, "It was moved quite a bit during the outbreak. It started in Melbourne, but was quickly relocated to Perth, where it was until the outbreak was over."

Saburo says, "Melbourne is where it started, or close to it. Maybe the CDC there was just unprepared.... "

Aleksei says, "That's all we know about the disease. Possible contaminants were transmitted to the CDC in the Independant States for research, but they don't know which, if any of those, it really was. The CBR filters have been modified for the size of all the possible contaminents that were researched."

Saburo says, "We should have asked for space suits and a truck with a big air tank. Kuso!"

Aleksei laughs slightly at that, "I don't envy you, for what you are about to do, but I do admire that you are going to do it."

Bethpage sighs and doesn't look at all happy. "The animals are alive, and our hosts want us to live to gather their information. They must've tried their hardest, y'know? And they have more info than we do, for damn sure."

Kavanaugh deadpans, his smile actually disappearing, "So glad you find blackmail admirable."

Aleksei nods at Kavanaugh. "It gets the job done. In this case, I think it was a necessary evil."

Kavanaugh rumbles softly under his breath, folds his arms, but makes no further comment. He nods, reluctantly, to Bethpage.

Aleksei says, "Any questions on the insertion or the maps?"

Dr_Chong says, "Hmm, perhaps we could bring our own air to use initially until we determine if the DBR filters will be safe?"

Bethpage flicks her eyes to Kav, then Aleksei. "We're doing it, for whatever reason. We might as well do it right. I intend to survive it. Aleksei. Will we need training to use these filters, or just wear them?"

Aleksei nods at Doctor Chong. "We can arrange for you to take a supply of air into the continent intially. That's not a problem at all."

Saburo says, "Good. That will give us time to get into Sydney and find out what's going on."

Bethpage says, "What happens when that air runs out? Can you send us more?"

Aleksei looks at Bethpage, "They're build right into the helmets of the Combat Infantry Armour that you're being supplied with, so no training is necessary."

Saburo says, "Do we have a map of the city? We'll need a communication hub to tap into. Where was the hospital there?"

Bethpage nods thanks to Aleksei for the answer.

Aleksei shakes his head, "I'm afraid not. Once you have been inserted, we cannot assist you further."

Bethpage says, "So. Essentially, unless we can find more canned air in Australia, we will have to use our filters eventually. Thank you."

Aleksei nods at Saburo, "Maps, both hard copies and chip copies are being sent with your supplies and I believe Father Kavanaugh and Doctor Chong will be coordinating your communications and computer access."

Dr_Chong nods.

Saburo says, "Excellent. We'll be able to gather some hard data then."

Kavanaugh nods, bit by bit regaining his humor.

Aleksei says, "Now.. There are a lot of supplies going with you and I know that you were warned that vehicles were not allowed. However, Anikita is not here and he's not going to be the one hauling that heavy equipment across Australia. My suggestion to you is that you find a vehicle that can move unnoticed and take full advantage of you. Anikita is a hardass, but if you get a vehicle that's suitably equiped, spy satellites won't be able to see it anyway."

Bethpage blinks, and fails to kill a grin before it shows, briefly.

Kavanaugh looks distinctly chipper at that, and nods his head -- rather eagerly, actually.

Aleksei shrugs, "But, you didn't hear that from me."

Saburo says, "Spy sattelites would not have seen my Prarie Cat either. It's rigged for silent running."

Saburo glares

Aleksei nods at Saburo, "Likely it would have been perfect, yes. But, I don't have the authority to get it for you."

Kavanaugh says, "Can we get hold of the schedule of recon satellite overflights? So we know when not to dri-- er, be out in the open to be seen?"

Bethpage perks up, "Oh, good thought, priest!"

Aleksei thinks for a moment, but nods, "I believe we can probably get that for you, Father Kavanaugh. I will check and let you know before we insert."

Kavanaugh grins and bows in his seat towards Bethpage, then looks over to Alexsi. "Thanks, m'son. That'll help us and you out a lot."

Bethpage smiles, "Yes, thank you, Aleksei."

Geneviev looks at Bethpage. "I think we can get resupplies on air if we can find their space program's supplies, assuming they didn't deplete them to live longer themselves."

Aleksei nods at Kavanaugh and Page. "I want to see you out of there alive. I would advise you to use whatever methods are necessary for you to do so and Anikita's orders be damned."

Kavanaugh nods, firmly, in agreement with Aleksei. Interesting, he thinks. There's some sort of power conflict going on in their organization? Ah, Lord, sometimes I wish you'd talk back to me the way Yarnchaser does.

Bethpage gives Aleksei a faintly puzzled look. "Are our findings so important to you?"

Aleksei shakes his head at Bethpage. "Not to me. To Anikita's organisation."

Bethpage says, "Oh, yes. I forget the name he said?"

Geneviev's brow furrows slightly. "What is your relationship?"

Aleksei says, "Anikita's organisation? The Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti. Our relationship is simple. I am the liason between the Latvian Red Army and the KGB."

Bethpage deadpans, "Ah, thank you."

Saburo lights another cigarette, keeping his eyes lowered and his face down.

Kavanaugh blinks slowly. The KGB? Good heavens, they were... uh... they were... heck. What in the world did happen to the KGB after the Soviet Union fell?

Aleksei says, "Before I forget, since we don't want you travelling without passports.."

Aleksei tosses each of you a small manila envelope, which contains a passport..

Saburo reaches up and catches the envelope in his free hand, without seeming to look up.

Kavanaugh blinks, catching the envelope and opening it up. "Passports? So we're not going directly from here to Australia? What's the travel plan, then?"

Dr_Chong takes the passport and looks it over with an eye for details.

Bethpage eyes the willowy youth, trying not to be obvious. How old areyou? You look younger than me... I wonder if you really are. KGB...

Pitch_Black doesn't say anything. This leaves a paper trail. Very unprofessional. What do we need ID for on an unsanctioned drop anyway?

Bethpage catches her envelope neatly and opens it, intensely curious.

Aleksei says, "We're going to be sending you in from New Zealand. It will be commercial transit to that point and then a Stealth Helicopter to Sydney."

Pitch_Black says, "Then we're going to meet the gear in New Zealand."

Geneviev opens the envelope and looks at the passport. "The Soviet Union exists?"

Aleksei nods, "We'll be sending the gear in through other means, but we cannot send you in the same way."

Bethpage says wistfully, "Always wanted to go to New Zee... no time for bungee jumping, I guess."

Bethpage fingers her passport quietly.

Kavanaugh looks over the passport quirkily, then slips it into a pocket.

Aleksei looks around. "Does anyone have any other questions? Now is the time to ask."

Dr_Chong looks the passport over and can find nothing to indicate a forgery. "These look good."

Kavanaugh shakes his head, letting out his breath. "No questions here...."

Pitch_Black shrugs, and fidgets with the edges of his passport. No more smokes till New Zealand. I don't trust those Russki knockoffs. God, it's going to be a long flight.

Aleksei blinks at Doctor Chong. "Of course they look good. They're issued by the Russian Government. These are not fakes."

Bethpage listens, absorbing. I have a real Russian passport. Weird.

Dr_Chong says, "Can't be to careful dealing with organizations such as yours."

Bethpage says, "What happens next, Aleksei, if we have no more questions?"

Aleksei chuckles slightly at Doctor Chong. "We'd rather you not get arrested on the way there."

Kavanaugh blinks. "Wow. I'm a Russian citizen. Huh, if only the guys in the Demi-Brigade could see me now." He looks to Yarnchaser. "How's your Russian?" The cat makes no reply. "Mine's pretty bad, too...."

Saburo says, "When do we leave for New Zealand?"

Geneviev asks her question again. "Aleksei, when did the Soviet Union return?"

Aleksei says, "What happens next? We get out of Riga. Helicopter to Moscow and then a non-stop flight to Auckland."

Saburo says, "You're taking us to Moscow?"

Bethpage looks at Kavanaugh silently. Religion makes people crazy...

Saburo says, "Will I need a weapons permit?"

Pitch_Black says, "You think the kiwi are gonna card you? If we meet the hardware in Oz and go in on the quiet, what's the point?"

Aleksei looks at Geneviev. "In 2001, when the Russian discovered that the Americans were secretly funding the Chechyn rebels. There was no revolution this time, Dmitri Breslov simply changed the government immediately and without bloodshed."

Bethpage sighs. Back to civillization. Guess I put the wig back on then. My head was getting so comfortable, too.

Pitch_Black says, "Stopping to declare fruit would take the stealth out of stealth helicopter insertion."

Saburo chuckles.

Bethpage stifles a giggle.

Aleksei nods at Saburo. "Yes, we're taking you to Moscow. We leave whenever your are all ready to go."

Bethpage says, "What do we do in Moscow?"

Aleksei shakes his head, "You do not need a weapons permit, I will be with you and will take care of any questions that we have to that effect."

Saburo says, "I just need to grab my briefcase and my cyberdeck from upstairs"

Bethpage nods, "I need to get my wig from upstairs, too, please, or I'll stand out more."

Bethpage says, "Otherwise, I'm ready to go."

Aleksei looks over at Pitch Black. "You're going as civilians to New Zealand, we'll meet up with the helicopter there, quietly."

Geneviev thinks quietly. My employer's must never have planned to use me there.

Pitch_Black says, "Like you said."

Aleksei says, "You wanted to know the point of the passports, I assume?"

Pitch_Black flicks his ponytail off his shoulder. "Nope. Just explaining why I think weapons permits would be a little extraneous."

Saburo says, "I will need to fly under my real passport to take my guns on a commercial flight, Comrade""

Aleksei nods, "Ah. Apologies, Mister Black. I thought that was directed at me."

Pitch_Black shakes his head. "Sorry 'bout that, kid."

Aleksei shakes his head at Saburo, "No, you won't. I'll take care of that."

Saburo mouths what can only be a swear word.

Bethpage pays quiet but interested attention to Aleksei, wondering if he'll react to the 'kid' comment.

Aleksei nods, "No apologies needed, Mister Black."

Pitch_Black nods, and grins just a little.

Saburo stands up from his chair

Aleksei says, "May I assume, then, that you're all within a half-hour of being ready to go, then?"

Saburo says, "Hai"

Pitch_Black says, "Whenever you're ready to go there, Trotsky."

Kavanaugh nods, "Yes."

Dr_Chong nods his head.

Bethpage says, "Yes, Aleksei. Where shall we meet you?"

Geneviev nods quietly.

Saburo walks towards Aleksi, staring at him and studying him with a cold swordiron stare.

Aleksei nods, "I will notify the others, to get the helicopter ready, then. It will take us approximately two hours to be ready to go. Until then, go clear your rooms, get what you need and come back here."

Aleksei turns to face Saburo, but stands his ground.

Kavanaugh stands, and glances at Saburo, wondering if he's going to cold-cock this briefing officer as well.

Pitch_Black sighs. "You gonna beat this one up too, Musashi? Leave him alone. He's just a kid."

Bethpage does not manage to stifle this giggle.

Saburo's blue eyes sparkle, as he fixes and holds the stare for another 30 seconds.

Dr_Chong moves to be near the highest point of potential violence.

Bethpage says softly, "Really. Aleksei did not bring us here, and he's trying to help. There's no need."

Saburo says, "Good point. Still, I want to remember him."

Pitch_Black rolls his eyes, "Okay, y'all can measure 'em for as long as you want. I gotta get my shit from upstairs. You coming, Beth?"

Aleksei says, "Have a seat, Mister Takahashi, I'm not your enemy here."

Geneviev nods. "And it sounds like he's Army, not KGB. If I remember my history correctly, the Army is honorable."

Saburo moves and steps around Aleksi, passing quite close to him.

Pitch_Black leaves without another word.

Aleksei smiles, tightly. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Kavanaugh lets out a breath, reaching over to scoop up Yarnchaser. "Come on, fuzzball. Gotta get our stuff from upstairs. 'Least I won't have to try and send anyone to do the stations yet."

Bethpage snorts softly, and walks out with a quiet "Sorry," to Aleks.

Aleksei leaves the room.

Dr_Chong leaves to get his gear ready for travel and run diagnostics on his Deck.

Saburo smirks, then beams a smile and walks out, humming to himself.

Geneviev watches the rest of the exchange and then stands up, heading out to go get the rest of her rations.

Saburo goes upstairs to his room. He gets his cyberdeck, and his briefcase. He changes one of the chips in his chipslots with one of the many chips stored in his briefcase. He packs the cyberdeck up carefully.

Geneviev is waiting in the briefing room when the first of the party comes back.

Dr_Chong returns to the room with a large backpack and other gear and sits down still fiddling with his Deck.

Saburo takes a fresh pack of cigarettes out of his briefcase, and stuffs it in a pocket of his longcoat.

Saburo comes back 10 minutes later, and sets a large probably armored briefcase down on the table.

Bethpage dons her glam gear again once upstairs, gaining waist-length hair and myriad shiny accessories. When she returns to the conference room, her silver back-protrusions are hidden by the long hair and its sparklies again. She lacks only her makeup.

Kavanaugh is relatively quick; it only takes him a few minutes to go upstairs, grab his own deck and what few possessions he had on his person and the water from the footlocker, and come back downstairs.

He is preceeded into the briefing room by a small, red object, which sails through the door and hits the table, bouncing a couple of times, emitting a tiny, plastic *squeek!* with each bounce. This is immediately followed by a fluffy blur that pounces ferociously on the object, bats it about a few times -- *squeek*squeek*squeek* -- then whaps it clear accross the room. Yarnchaser explodes off the table after the object again.

Pitch_Black looks around his spartan little cell. He reflects briefly on the fact that he doesn't seem to own anything, shrugs, and slips the Jericho under his arm. "Wonder if I can stash this in someone else's bags." He shrugs, opens his wallet. Five hundred New Yen, an expired video rental card, and a tiny, antique five-yen coin on a piece of string. He pauses, ties the string around his neck, and slips it under his shirt before stuffing his wallet back in his pocket. He balances his shades across his nose, makes a passing attempt at straightening his tie, and pads quietly back downstairs, hands in pockets, whistling tunelessly.

Saburo leans back out of the way of the streaking cat

Dr_Chong nods to Kavanaugh. "Good to see another theologian on this endeavor."

Kavanaugh walks in cheerfully, finally, hands tucked into his pockets as Yarnchaser altenatively stalks and bats at the squeekytoy. He blinks a bit at Chong's comment, then smiles widely. "Really? I didn't know you were, m'so-- er, sir. What faith do you practise?" He settles into a chair.

Dr_Chong says, "I practice Buddhism."

Saburo says, "Kavanaugh, do you have your deck handy?"

Dr_Chong says, "More of a life than a practice though."

Kavanaugh nods, smiling still, and for the moment completely unconcerned that Yarnchaser uses his head, briefly, as a vantage point to look for the squeekytoy, or what that does to his (lack of a) hairstyle. "I've read some of the Bhuddist tenets. It's fascinating, I've a lot of respect for it." He blinks, and looks over to the businessman. "Ah, I do, m'son. That and a Bible are always on my person."

Saburo says, "I need to check my head gear. Can I plug in?"

Bethpage leans back in a chair and jingles faintly as her glam chainmail sways. She watches.

Geneviev watches Yarnchaser's antics amusedly, ignoring the conversation for the moment.

Saburo says, "Can you do diagnotics, Father? My interface jack can transfer data from my biomonitor."

Pitch_Black leans in the doorway, rolling up his sleeves before folding his arms across his chest.

Kavanaugh blinks at the odd request, but nods, reaching into one of the pouches on his belt and drawing out a long, coiled cyberjack cable that leads back into the pouch. "Oh, sure, m'son. I know electronics, and do that just fine, I think."

Saburo says, "Excellent."

Saburo sits down, and holds out his hand for the cyberjack.

Kavanaugh hands the jack to Saburo. "Oh, careful, m'son. I think I left my sermon for next Sunday open in the workspace. Just ignore it."

Saburo says, "No worries, Father."

Saburo plugs the cord into a data jack on the back of his neck. His biomonitor hooks up to Kavanaugh's cyberdeck, and gives it access.

Saburo says, "Can you check my eyes, please?"

Saburo says, "I was seeing a glitch. Maybe my retinas are damaged."

Dr_Chong moves to where he can watch Saburo and Kavanaugh.

Geneviev glances over at them. He can't check his own?

Kavanaugh nods, digging out another cord from yet another pouch. "No problem, m'son, jus' give me a minute. Jack's here in one of these... oh, I was looking for that, great! ...What the... how the hell did that get in there? Oh, well. Here we go!" He uncoils another cyberjack, and reaches up to behind his neck where his muss of hair covers the small jackport. "No problem, m'son. Shan't be long."

Bethpage sits and fidgets, flicking her long hair out of her face for the twelfth time. She suddenly leans forward, looking exasperated. Two arm-length silvery tentacles appear from behind her shoulders, and then whip out of sight. Her hair is now held back neatly in a tail wrapped with finger-thick metal. She fidgets a little less.

Saburo smiles and waits patiently. He makes room for Doctor Chong.

Pitch_Black yawns widely, covering his mouth behind his hand, and tilts his head, cricking his neck.

Bethpage fidgets out of her chair and over to the doorway, to mirror Pitch's position. She watches for Aleksei.

Geneviev lifts a brow at Bethpage. "That's a nice feature."

Saburo says, "How do they look, Father?"

Pitch_Black murmurs to Bethpage, "So how'd you sleep?"

Saburo leans in closer. He lowers his voice, and whispers, "Save that. In case you need it later"

Kavanaugh makes a wound, and unplugs himself from his jack. "Looks just fine to me, m'son. I've seen flaky firmware for cyber before, glitches and devilbunnies and boojums, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your eyes. You sure it was a glitch?"

Bethpage looks back at Gene and grins slightly. "Built-in ponytail holder comes in handy, yeah. Thanks. You got any, um, features?"

Saburo says, "Maybe it was just a flashback reaction from when I was hit over the head"

Bethpage shrugs to Pitch Black, "Ok. Not the worst night of my life by any means. You?"

Pitch_Black smiles thinly. "Slept like the dead, just like always."

Bethpage tilts her head, not sure how to take that.

Pitch_Black grins a little. "Forget it. Doesn't matter, anyway, nothing else to do between Moscow and Oz but sleep anyway."

Kavanaugh re-coils the cables, and nods slowly and thougtfully. "Yeah, maybe...." He blinks, opens his mouth... then closes it, nods, and tucks everything back in their proper place. He blinks, and glances over to the cat, who's by now grown bored with the squeekytoy and is sitting on the windowsil. "Eh? Oh, yeah, I'm sure they'll have something to eat for you in Moscow. They're not barbarians there."

Pitch_Black says, "Just don't drink the water."

Bethpage says solemnly, "There might be a good in-flight movie. Ilsa of the KGB. Something."

Saburo whispers to Kavanaugh again, before he moves away, "Our escort."

Geneviev smiles at Bethpage. "Nothing like that, no."

Pitch_Black mmms. "Ilsa. Masterpiece of German cinema, or proof that Teutonic people are just fucked up."

Bethpage snorts.

Saburo says, "Thank you Father." He smiles, and looks to Doctor Chong. "So, Doctor, what would bring a good buddhist to volunteer for a suicide mission for the KGB?"

Kavanaugh nods to Saburo, blinking a bit confusedly, then gives a short series of 'ow!'s as Yarnchaser promptly uses him as a stepladder to get to his shoulder. With his claws.

Dr_Chong says, "All in the name of humanity. The events of Australia must never come to pass again."

Pitch_Black glances up. "Yo," he says, to someone as yet outside the door.

Saburo says, "You're aware of the Pact?"

Saburo glances towards the door.

Bethpage turns to look where Pitch addressed, behind her.

Aleksei steps between Pitch Black and Bethpage and comes into the room. "Is everyone ready?"

Dr_Chong says, "Yes, why do you ask?"

Pitch_Black says, "'bout time. Let's do this."

Bethpage answers Aleksei, "Yes. Lead on."

Saburo says, "Just curious. "

Dr_Chong nods his head in Aleksei's direction.

Saburo picks his briefcase up off the table.

Kavanaugh nods, standing, and settling the cat into a more comfortable position. "I think we are."

Aleksei nods. "There's been a slight change of plans. We'll be meeting the Aeroflot plane in Nizhni Novgorod, not in Moscow."

Bethpage says, "Why?"

Aleksei shrugs a little. "Not quite sure."

Pitch_Black shrugs, "Whatever. Let's just get going." He grins over his shoulder at Saburo, "The answer oughta be obvious, y'know. Ask a Buddhist how he feels about dress codes." With that, he steps out into the hallway.

Geneviev shrugs and stands up. "Does it really matter?"

Bethpage sighs. "We can bug you just as well on the plane. Yeah, let's go."

Saburo hmmms, and touches his chin thoughtfully

Kavanaugh blinks, and frowns. "Who suggested the change?" He grimaces and looks to the cat. "Okay, maybe it won't be Moscow, still, no need to kvetch at me in that tone of voice."

Aleksei steps back into the hallway. He leads you back into the stairwell and up to the roof. The door to the roof is now unlocked. On the roof is a big black helicopter, rotors already going and ready for flight. He ducks down and goes to the side of the chopper, opening the door for all of you to board.

Saburo politely lets the Doctor and the Priest leave before him.

Dr_Chong boards the helicopter.

Bethpage slips into the chopper when it's easiest, in no one's way.

Pitch_Black follows, long hair and wrinkled coat blowing out behind him.

This helicopter is definitely a military model. The seats are not particularly comfortable and there are no windows to the outside. It doesn't appear, however, to be a stealth helicopter, as it is bulky and loud.

Saburo climbs into the helicoptor and takes a seat beside Doctor Chong. He straps himself in, and rests his briefcase on his lap.

Kavanaugh pauses at the doorway to the roof, looking up at the heliecopter, before he moves fully out of the doorway. "One of my flock has a phobia of black helicopters. He says the Septlateralist Commission uses them to place mind-control lasers in the bodies of cows in the middle of crop circles...."

Dr_Chong stows his gear where he can and buckles in.

Saburo offers his hand to the Doctor

Geneviev climbs in and finds a seat close to the door. She looks oddly at Kavanaugh. "Mind-control lasers? I think that's highly unlikely."

Aleksei boards the helicopter last, slamming the door shut. He slips on a headphone/mic set, then goes towards the back and opens a metal box, handing each of you a set as well. They plug into spots on the arm of each seat.

Pitch_Black plugs himself in and settles back quietly.

Bethpage takes her set politely and plugs in immediately.

Geneviev slips the headphones on and adjusts her mic. "Test."

Kavanaugh makes a small sound, reaching up to scratch the mildly agitated cat (that is, Yarnchaser's tail is twitching while he sleeps.) "Well, yeah," he says, plugging it in. "He's a good person, though, just a bit scatter-minded. Too much time in the sprawls."

Saburo puts the headphones on, and plugs them in.

Dr_Chong puts his headphones on and jacks them in.

Bethpage wraps her arms around herself to maximize her personal space, and looks distinctly unhappy at the close quarters.

Pitch_Black appears to be asleep already. Hard to tell with the shades on though.

Aleksei settles himself down into a seat, then says, over the headphones, "Gatova, yekhat'na.." Another voice, presumably one of the pilots, whose back you can see says, "Da, yekhat." and the helicopter rises into the air, turns and begins flying forward..

The journey to Nizhni Novgorod is not a particularly long one, though it does tend to be quite rough. A few hours pass and the group finds itself on the tarmac at the Nizhni Novgorod International Airport, with the helicopter flying off.

Geneviev idly muses, "Feels like I'm still buzzing from the rotors."

An Aeroflot plane is on the runway, very close to where the helicopter landed and the passengers are already boarding, up a flight of stairs from the tarmac itself. A stewardess stands at the top of the steps, taking tickets.

Pitch_Black yawns widely and stretches, batting an unruly long forelock out of his eyes.

Bethpage immediately moves three feet away from the closest person in the group when she can, scowling.

Kavanaugh looks around, and spots the Aeroflot plane. "Guess that's our ride. Aleksei?"

Saburo does up his longcoat, which hides his pistols fairly well, but he still obviously has a sword sheated over his shoulder.

Aleksei nods at Kavanaugh, "Yes, it is indeed.."

Bethpage looks grumpily to Aleksei for direction as well. "We boarding already?"

Saburo picks up his briefcase, and starts walking towards the boarding ladder. "These better be first class," he comments

Geneviev says to Bethpage, "Maybe the seats will be comfortable this time."

Bethpage mutters at Gene, "They're still filled with people."

Aleksei nods, "Come on.. " He goes up the stair first and stops at the top to talk to the stewardess in hushed Russian. He reaches into his front pocket and grabs a leather ID folder, which he opens and shows her. She smiles and motions you all onto the plane, directly into first class.

Saburo takes an aisle seat. He takes his katana off, and rests it against his seat, away from the aisle, so someone would have to reach across him to make a grab for it.

Kavanaugh frowns, and glances to the cat. "Okay, 'chaser. In you go." Apparently, of Kavanaugh's entire vocabulary, these are some of the only words he'll outwardly acknowledge. It peers at Kavanaugh, gives an accusatory, "Riou!" and slips beneath his jacket, not entirely hiding itself, but not being blatantly obvious. And at least there's not tail sticking out from under his jacket.

The Stewardess simply waves all of you on. She doesn't ask for tickets. She doesn't check your passports, she doesn't ask about your weapons. She just smiles.

Pitch_Black gives the stewardess an apologetic smile as he boards the ramp, as if to say, "Yes, I know that guy brought a fucking sword on a commercial flight, and yes, that's a cat under there. No, I don't know them."

Pitch_Black doesn't actually say it, though. That would lack class.

Geneviev stands at the bottom of the ramp and waits for the others to board, looking around at the surrounding tarmac.

Bethpage manages a strained smile back and finds a window seat next to Pitch or Gene, whichever is free first.

The other passengers seem a little edgy about your group, however, they pointedly don't look at you or do anything that might get them arrested by whichever of you is actually the one they should worry about.

Pitch_Black sits down next to a window, folding his arms behind his head.

Dr_Chong whispers to the other members of his group when he can, "I think Aeroflot is owned by the KGB."

Aleksei takes a seat behind you all, where he can see you.

Kavanaugh finds whatever seat is available, settling into it with surprise. "First class? Not bad at all. We're moving up in the world, Yarnchaser." "Miyaaa!" "Oh, right, sorry, you can come out of there." The cat pokes its head out of the neckline of the fatigue jacket, and looks, for the moment, perfectly happy to just sit there for now. "Oh, well, suit yourself."

Saburo says, "Will they be serving tea?"

Geneviev looks the plane over thorougly and then walks up the stairs and into the plane, turning into First Class and looking for a seat.

Saburo looks disappointed at the lack of cell phones or data jacks in the seats, even in first class..

Kavanaugh blinks to Dr. Chong, then nods slowly. "I guess that explains how we got aboard so easilly," he murmurs.

Dr_Chong nods at Kavanaugh.

Geneviev considers sitting with Father Kavanaugh, but guesses that he'll want that extra seat for Yarnchaser. She moves towards Bethpage. "Is this seat free?"

Saburo doesn't sleep-at all- during the flight. He spends the time reading, or plugged into his cyberdeck.

Dr_Chong sets up his deck and begins to review files on Australia and its recent history.

Pitch_Black, conversely, sleeps almost through the entire flight.

Bethpage looks sourly up at Gene. "Yeah. Free as the other free ones."

Kavanaugh manages to sleep for most of the flight, waking up a couple of times to pull out a little book -- a real one, with synthetic paper pages, albeit pocket-sized -- and read from it, or to engage -- but not initiate, conversations. He's seen how touchy freelancers can be about their privacy.

After an inflight safety demonstration and the requisite eternity on the runway in queue, the plane finally takes off. The flight is long and uneventful and finally lands safely in Auckland. When the group leaves the plane, rather than going through customs they are met by a man in a business suit, who takes them through into the airport proper, skipping the customs process altogether.

Saburo follows the man. He's wearing a pair of sunglasses now.

Pitch_Black stretches again as he debarks the plane, grinning crookedly as he passes by the line for customs. "Hey, Page," he grins, "Any fruit to declare?"

Dr_Chong studies the man in the suit.

Bethpage follows the suited guide with a set face, with a very short laugh for Pitch Black.

Kavanaugh follows along with the group, looking a bit portly. Probably because of the cat, whose tail annoyingly now and then sticks up to tickle him under his beard. "Stop that, fuzzball, you're doing that on purpose, I know it," he murmurs under his breath.

The man in the suit, an older gentleman, shakes Aleksei's hand and leaves the group with a little smile. "Have a nice trip." he says, before he disappears into the mob of people here at the airport.

Dr_Chong looks to Aleksei to see what the plan is.

Bethpage eyes the exchange. Dear Aunt Em. Hate Kansas. Hate you. Taking the dog...

Pitch_Black brushes back his hair vacantly, following along mostly silently, with a lopsided grin on his lips. He stuffs his hands in his pockets as the group comes to a halt. "What's the scam, tovarisch?"

Saburo says in Russian to Aleksi, "If you need someone to translate for you, I speak english"

Aleksei grins, "The ambassador is arranging a van, to take us to our rendevous point with the helicopter. It should be here shortly to get us."

Aleksei laughs at Saburo's comment. "I am usually alright with accents Mister Takahashi. I'll ask if there's something I don't understand."

Kavanaugh blinks. Ambassador?

Saburo just nods politely.

Bethpage growls inwardly. Another crowded seat. Another helicopter. Being a Very Important Person who gets to skip Customs isn't nearly as much fun as it should be, dammit.

Dr_Chong watches anyone else around the group without seeming to.

Pitch_Black rocks back on his heels absently, looking out the windows. "Shitty weather," he muses.

Aleksei nods at Kavanaugh's blink, "That was Gaspadin.. Mister.. Stebarshin, the Russian Ambassador to New Zealand."

Kavanaugh looks suitably impressed.

Geneviev looks out the window. "Weather's weather."

Bethpage blinks. Damn. Wow.

Saburo does his best to remember the name.

Aleksei motions you all outside, where a white van is waiting. "And, that is our ride."

Pitch_Black raises an eyebrow past the upper edges of his bulky shades, following. "Ambassador? Thought this was a black run?"

It is dark here, sometime in the early hours of the morning..

Bethpage asks Aleksei as she obeys, "Had you met the Ambassador before?"

Dr_Chong proceeds to the van without getting in anyone's way.

Saburo doesn't take his shades off when he steps outside. He gets into the van.

Aleksei nods at Pitch Black, with a little shrug thrown in. "Mister Stebarshin works, as all ambassadors do, for the First Chief Directorate.."

Pitch_Black slides his shades a little higher on his nose. "Whatever. I'll take your word for it." Man, I like this less and less. Something's really not right here. All this changing of venue. They're trying to misdirect us.

Aleksei is walking to the van when he answer's Bethpage's question, "No, I have not. I know him by name alone."

Bethpage suppresses a shiver at the dark. Hate mornings. She boards the van, nodding to Aleksei. "Wondered. Thanks."

The van takes the group to a lonely hanger outside the city, where the stealth helicopter waits for them, engine already running. This helicopter is everything that the other one was not. It is sleek and utterly silent, even when the group is boarding it is difficult to hear the rotation engines.

Saburo says, "Where do we change, Aleksi?"

Geneviev follows, getting as good a look at the New Zealand countryside as can be had.

Kavanaugh murmurs quietly, "We're taking this from here to NZ?"

Aleksei opens the door to let you in. "The suits are stowed in the helicopter. You can change onboard.'

Pitch_Black takes off his sunglasses as he steps closer, scrutinizing the helicopter with his impossibly-hued eyes. "Mm. Nice. The rest of the gear here as well?"

Dr_Chong gets on board and begins to inspect the suits.

Bethpage sighs, "Just show me where."

Saburo boards the chopper, sitting down near the back.

Kavanaugh facepalms, as the cat gives him another rebuking "Riou!" "Right, right, sorry, lost track there. Jet-lag." The cat blerts! accusingly at him. He recovers, though, and goes to inspect his own gear.

Aleksei says, "A few of the airtanks are onboard, the rest of your equipment is already in Australia, waiting for you."

Pitch_Black says, "Works for me."

Bethpage says, "I've never worn one of these suits before, Aleksei. How do we talk to each other in them? Will they muffle our voices?"

Geneviev climbs on board after a few moments and surveys the interior.

The seats inside this helicopter are actually comfortable. Not as comfortable as the plane, but definitely a lot more comfortable than the last helicopter you were in..

Saburo says, "They should have radios built in to the helmets."

Bethpage nods to Saburo, "Thanks."

Pitch_Black hops onboard and looks around for his gear. May as well change now. No point in ruining the only decent suit I own.

Aleksei says, "There are earpiece communicators with your suits. The onboards have been disabled, so you'll have to use those. They're quieter and on an encrypted channel."

Saburo takes his suit jacket off, and hangs it over the back of a chair. He takes his shoulder holsters off as well, dropping his Baretta and his Glock onto the seat.

Saburo finds his requested backpack, before changing into his suit. He puts his briefcase into the bottom of the pack, plugging the extra long lead wire into the jack on his briefcase, and running it out the mouth of the back pack. He folds his suit jacket up, and puts it in the backpack as well.

Bethpage sheds her glitzy gear and wig again, stands a moment in her plain black catsuit, and puts the suit on over her clothing. Seems straightforward enough-- step in, zip up... here goes. She does so.

Dr_Chong removes his trenchcoat and carefully checking it over puts the suit on.

Geneviev unfolds the suit and without a single glance around, shimmies out of her jeans and turtleneck and pulls the suit on, zipping it up.

Saburo takes his shirt off, and folds it up to put it into the pack. His chest, back and arms are covered in tattoos. Dragons, and tigers circle his arms, a large stylized samurai in the traditional japanese art style is the centerpiece of his chest. On the back smaller samurai slay monsters.

Saburo takes his suit pants and dress shoes off, and packs them into the bottom of his backpack as well.

Geneviev glances at Saburo's artwork. "Does that tell a story, Saburo-san?"

Saburo says, "Yes, I guess it does tell a story..."

Pitch_Black says, "Sure it does. Long story, right?"

Saburo says, "No, I just don't really remember it that well."

Saburo says, "So maybe it is a long story. "

Dr_Chong checks over Geneview's suit and seals.

Bethpage looks startled, then quite cheerful as her suit settles, shrugging her shoulders to test the fit. A real smile flashes for a moment before she dons the helmet.

Pitch_Black smirks, removing his shirt. "Sure you do. Long story, longer than Tokyo. A real epic." He shrugs. "None of my business, though, right?"

Geneviev nods to the doctor. "Thank you."

Saburo finds the monocrys pants and vest he requested, and puts them on.

Dr_Chong checks over everyone else's suit as they put it on.

Saburo looks at Pitch Black. "It was set in Kawasaki. Heart of the Tokyo sprawl."

Kavanaugh takes a glance over to Saburo, does a bit of a doubletake... then raises his eyebrows a bit and makes no further comment. He lifts up Yarnchaser gingerly. "Okay, fuzzball," he says gently. "According to reports, the disease doesn't affect animals, so you'll be fine. You'll be perfectly good in the pack that Alexsei's people put together for you." Pause. "Yes, just like in Detroit." Pause. "Hey, it saved your tail, didn't it?" Pause The cat's tail flicks a bit. "Okay, I promise, I won't jump on my back on top of any grenades. Now, in you go." With surprising gentleness, he slips the cat into the fairly large, square upper pocket of the pack, which has apparently been reinforced with something like kevlar or monocrys.

Aleksei grabs the last suit out of the case, strips off his fatigues and quickly gets into it. He leaves the gloves off, for now, stuffing them into his helmet.

Dr_Chong says, "The suits all seem to be fine."

Pitch_Black elects to just shed the rest of his suit. Other than his pale complexion and skinny, wiry build, he seems fairly nondescript. He pulls on the baggy black BDU and pulls the hood over his head to keep it out of the way while he goes about strapping on the web rig. Sniper config, he thinks to himself. Someone did their homework. He grins a litle at Saburo. "Mmhmm. Like I said." He folds back the hood and drops his tarnished little coin in one of the pockets.

Saburo puts the tight black monocrys sleeveless vest on, and straps his shoulder holsters on over it. He takes the holsters and guns themselves off the straps, first though, and starts getting into his combat infantry suit.

Aleksei motions Bethpage towards him. "Come.. Bring your helmet."

Geneviev nods and folds her discarded clothes up quickly and sits down.

Bethpage moves immediately toward Aleksei, obeying.

Saburo says, "It was a long time ago..."

Aleksei takes Bethpage's helmet.. and motions to the seat nearest to him. "Take a seat.. Listen up.. I'm going to show you all how to put these on."

"Yeah," Pitch says, "Past lives. I know all about that."

Bethpage nods, and watches Aleksei as she sits. Thank goodness. I have no clue...

Saburo dons his suit, a piece at a time, sealing it with what can only be the ease of practice. He's been in one of these before. He straps his pistols and other weapons on, then puts his gloves on, leaving only his helmet off.

Kavanaugh finishes his preparations, apparently satisfied with the chipware and the lead running to his cyberjack through the suit's hermetic hub. He checks the weapons that came with his pack, sets them appropriately, and then settles into a seat, letting out a breath and closing his eyes. "Lord, grant us Your protection in this endeavour, no matter how mad it may seem," he murmurs under his breath. "Let us all venture forth and return safely, no matter what our motivations may be." Quieter: "And keep David safe until we return." With an exhale, he says simply, "Amen!" and gathers up his helmet and gloves, turning his attention to Aleksei.

Dr_Chong nods his head towards Kavanaugh and says, "Amen, Father."

Aleksei grabs one of the air tanks and hooks the hose to the back of the helmet. "These tanks will hang on your backpacks or on the belts on your suits, whichever you prefer. Hook them up before you put the helmet on." He slips the helmet onto Bethpage's head and demonstrates how to seal the thing. "Two buttons on the helmet.. one on each side. Left button turns your CBR filters on. Right button turns your CBR Filters off, switching you to the canned air instead."

Pitch_Black rolls his clothes up into a tube and drops his tired old handgun into the rucksack, before picking up his helmet under one arm.

Bethpage shivers as her head is enclosed, but remains still and attentive.

Aleksei unseals the helmet and slips it off of Bethpage. "I would suggest that you practice, just to make sure that you know how to do it out in the field. It's easy, but the first time may take you a couple of tries."

Kavanaugh listens intently to Aleksei, though he nods quietly as if recognizing the procedure.

Saburo plugs the lead from his briefcase into the helmet's jack, then plugs his old cyberdeck lead into the jack on the inside of his helmet. The other end, he attaches to the cyberjack at his left temple. He hooks an air tank to his helmet as well.

Bethpage practices donning her helmet and pushing buttons, carefully.

Aleksei says, "The earpiece communicators are in one of your front pockets. Those are already set to the right channel and the instructions are on a chip that is with the other equipment.."

Dr_Chong tries on his helmet and tests the controls.

Dr_Chong removes the helmet, finds the ear piece, and puts it on.

Pitch_Black picks up a tank and slides it into the appropriate strap on his web rig, letting the tube dangle for now. He slips the communicator on.

Geneviev turns to Kavanaugh. "Did you get all the records of the spread of the virus?"

Saburo plugs smartlink leads into the two submachine guns in fastdraw holsters. He plugs them to the helmet's external HUD hookups, and verifies that they are working, before unplugging them from the helmet again.

Saburo puts the earpiece on his right ear.

Bethpage takes the helmet off after a few tries and carefully puts on her communicator before placing the helmet back on her head with more assurance. Practice helped.

Pitch_Black says, "We'll check the circuit before we hit the ground. Just to be safe."

Bethpage sits back to wait.

Geneviev practices once as she waits for Kavanaugh's answer.

Dr_Chong sits back in his seat and begins to meditate about things to come. He seems almost asleep, but is most likely fully aware of what's going on around him.

Pitch_Black sits back down, looking at his reflection in the helmet faceplate. Here we go... goodbye Kowloon. Forever, maybe.

Kavanaugh lets out a breath, and does a final check of his equipment. He nods to Geneveiv. "That I did." He sets the earpiece in, adjusts the cyberjack connection, puts on his gloves. "I've got chips slotted in, and I'll make it available to the group."

Kavanaugh takes in a few breaths, then pulls on the helmet, sealing it up, reciting softly to himself, "'Legionnaire: au combat, tu agis sans passion et sans haine, tu respects les ennemis vaincus, tu nabandonnes jamais, ni tes morts, ni tes blesses, ni ter armes....'"

Saburo finally puts his helmet on and seals it, testing the filter, and the air tank, before settling on the filter for the rest of the flight.

Geneviev nods. "What were the symptoms? Was there any direct attack on the brain?"

Kavanaugh hrms over the radio. "Let's see... started like a flu or a cold, and then... nothing. The body just shut down, right in the middle of talking, even." He pauses. "That's not a lot to go on."

Geneviev frowns. "Sounds like direct brain attack to me."

Saburo says, "We might be able to find out more in Sydney. If the good doctors can access the local medical databases, we might be able to get what little the Autralians learned before they died."

Geneviev says, "We've got no way to know if this thing is still alive. Animals aren't going to be affected to be able to tell that. We may have to leave the helmets on 24/7."

Saburo says, "Yes.. and testing the CBR filters might come down to roulette."

Pitch_Black shrugs a bit. "Whatever happens... happens. We'll just have to make sure it doesn't come to that."

Saburo says, "We can't know until get to Sydney. Perhaps Doctor Chong and Father Kavanaugh can find equipment capable of testing the air there."

Kavanaugh says, "At least until we see whatever it is that the sighting is. Hopefully we got accurate overflight information for the satellites, and our trip cross-country shouldn't take too long, a few days' march at most.""

The group settles in and the black stealth helicopter lifts off, turning towards Australia and whatever it is that awaits the group there.

[Previous Log] [Index] [Next Log]

Last modified: 2001-Jun-12 14:29:39

All material on this site is
Copyright © 2001-2024 Reality Fault
unless specifically indicated on each document.
All Rights Reserved.
Administrated by Reality Fault Webmaster