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RP Promised Land: Espionage - Chasing Dawnlight

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On the Road

Squeakies sat up at hearing thumping coming from the top of the Truck. From zero to full speed and anything thumped on top of her vehicle meant one thing. Enemy Infiltrator/ Sabatier. She fired up the Truck in auto-response to make sure the dang thing still ran; Shit was about to hit the fan. With a glance at the time. She muttered, "Got visiters." Loud enough to alert Brigid. If this was her tank, her crewman or friendlies would sing out or give the all clear signal. But being in the city, which was totally unfamiliar and not used to being hemmed in.

She put the Truck in gear and eased into traffic. She drove sedately with the flow of traffic. She looked into the reflective glass of the windows of the buildings they pass to see what was on top of the Truck.
 
Dining Car

Ayla grinned a little once she realized the card was on a simple carabiner. A paper clip would've been more of an issue than a carabiner. The real issue now was grabbing it without drawing attention, but they shouldn't be much of a problem. Hopefully.

She decided to make her move and make it quickly. She a kept a hand out she moved towards the front of the line where the guard it has so neglected keycard waited. As soon as she was close of enough to be with hugging distance from his side, her hand was gone from her side. Moving as quick as lightning thank to the cup of coffee from earlier, she had unfastened the keycard and slid out from carabiner before beating a hasty walking pass towards the back of the line with both her hands back in her jacket pocket by the time the the carabiner made a faint 'click' sound as it fastened shut.
 
Dining Car

Nicky noticed Ayla out of the corner of her eye, but paid her no mind, it was better if they didn't act familiar until it was time to move, otherwise they might look suspicious. It looked like it would take some time though to get the couplings undone so she texted the team quickly with a short message.

♥Couplings will need to be hacked or train stopped♥

She took a quick glance around the room, once more and noticed what Ayla was doing, it didn't look like there would be need to send a message about the key card, they would have it soon. So she decided to find someone who looked a little distracted and take a seat by them so she wasn't just standing around looking silly while Ayla worked.
 
Inside man

As was usual Jacob copied the orderlies features as exact as possible and then summarily dumped the body outside the train. Of course Jacob did what he could to ensure the man was left with no communication devices , was dropped on his head and in as covered a place as possible.

He keyed his comm and read Nicky's message. "If the guards keycard does not have the right access I would suggest Mr. Thorn try his hand at correcting the issue. Brigid (did he just use a first name? Gasp!) I will be forwarding you a picture of an ugly yellow liquid. Could you perhaps guess as to its use? I would guess either a sedative or something to awaken the packages."

Jacob moved back into the main area amongst the ID Sol and the Doctor. While not an orderly he has seen one on TV and played along. He focused on the available medications for two reasons. One, to provide Brigid a clear picture of the pus yellow liquid and smell description if he was able and second, to hopefully find a proper sedative that could be over used on the lumbering ID Sol.
 
Funky City, Nepleslia - Stop 2, Cargo Bay

"As long as you have your Company ID you can ride the trains for free."

Cassandra exhaled, obviously relieved to know that both her professional and personal lives had been saved from imminent destruction.
Observation: Cover maintained, despite low probability of success. Fascinating. Proceeding wi-

"They usually explain that in orientation. You'll have to sign in at the shift terminal in back, but go on in."

......and promptly winced, tensing up once more as the shift manager mentioned the presence of a shift terminal.

Brilliant. Class-A brilliant. Observation: Terminal usage will compromise self's cover, thereby resulting in mission failure. Analysis: Alteration of employee database and/or shift terminal necessary. Probability of self performing modifications within acceptable parameters? Extremely low. Analysis: External assisstance possibly required. Continuing infiltration.

With the look of panic from before yet again adorning her features, the operative replied "Wait! Wouldn't they, uh, be really mad if I clocked in so early? I mean, my shift doesn't technically start for another hour, but I still would've been late if I had to walk all the way from my apartment to the next stop in that terrible downpour - thank you very, very, very much for letting me ride by the way - and also I don't even know if I even have an account yet because I haven't received a password or username or anything like that and I really really don't want to accidentally mess things up and lock myself out because then I won't get paid and if I don't get paid I'll get evicted and if I get evicted I'll be alone on the streets and if I'm alone out there by myself...............I don't want to......to get........."


Cassandra's eyes began tearing up as her voice cracked and stuttered, probably due to the transit worker recalling an extremely traumatic event that had occurred in her past. "......to get r-r-r-raped again........"


Winter's mental state, of course, was completely unaffected despite her outward appearance - though the operative admittedly was rather.........puzzled at just how involved she was getting. Note [Self]: Possible correlation between emotional control and thinking about Sister. Investigate further post-mission.
 
A man without time for sensitivity:

The loading supervisor has a moment where he seems angry. Then frustrated, then a little sad. Then his expression settles on 'Ugh, I do not have time for this'. He pulls a small metal whistle from his pocket, puts it to his lips and gives to piercing bursts on the thing. Apparently it's used to cut over the loud sounds of the loading crew, the only woman on staff totters over. She's impressively tall, with perfectly straight glossy black hair and wears a hard hat, a black tank top under a high visibility vest, and cargo pants. Most of her clothing is plastered to her thanks to the rain, but is carefully chosen to not have that cause problems. The very image of a woman who lifts heavy stuff for a living.

"Look, just go in. Esinne here will sign you on as a guest, and make sure you're not bothered. If the damn transit authority turns up and decides to cause a fuss I'll handle them." He indicates the rearmost car, and the woman on crew begins to escort Winter that way.

Successfully boarding, cover not blown... But an escort now who hovers around Winter, seemingly concerned.

Might be a Last Stop:

A few things started to happen at once in the dining car. First it seemed relaxed, as the guard ordered his coffee didn't even notice as light fingers removed it from his person. He just happily waited for his possibly spiked coffee, and cardboard-ish muffins as the others moved around in the crowd... But of course, the door to the cargo cars of the train were still locked. The keycard was the one he used to get through there in the first place. As he filed towards the rear of the train again with his spoils of a breakfast drugged-and-awful, there was a loud shout of anguish.

"What the fuck?!" The guard pronounced, looking at his lanyard in disbelief... And then he took up his radio, practically growling into it in a hushed tone. He took a turn, and opened the side door to the train, hopping down and out into the rain to walk across the loading bay to get back to secured cargo.

The inside man could hear what was being said loud and clear.

"We got trouble in the caf." The guards' radios crackled, the ID-SOL Captain holding up massive kielbasa-esque fingers to his earpiece with a look of purest hyper-testosterone fuelled rage on his features. "Someone's lifted the keycard off me. It was secured as you handed it to me, Sir. Unlikely it got dropped, I'll reboard on the side doors with the coffee."

Of course, the Captain didn't care about coffee and muffins. What followed was a loud rant that sounded more like a literal volcanic eruption that filled the Secured Carriage. What Jacob could understand of it was a few snippets among the incoherency of it all: He had shouted for someone to halt the train, as well as angrily shouted at the doctor to get the cargo ready for extraction. When the deaf doctor didn't hear it, he angrily signed it to him. Adding an extra single finger-digit to the mix afterwards.

The secured cargo carriage became a flurry of activity, as the guards opened the door for the man with coffee, then shut it and began to secure the entire compartment. Closing metal shutters over the windows, and pointing guns at every door. The doctor and other orderly began to set to work, sliding the three largest containers in Secure Cargo one-by-one outwards like a drawer and opening them up. What was inside was... Definitely what they were looking for. Or at least one of them was.

Three women, each one in bright orange jumpsuits that would look at home in a high security prison, although they incorporated restraints to keep their arms by their sides. The look topped off by black bags over the heads of each one, and a device clipped to their waist. The thing was a little block-like device, with clear tubes leading up from the top to under their head-bags. Small pressure gauges and numbers Jacob didn't recognize were shifting over the outer surface of the thing. At a guess it looked like something that was continually dosing them with some drug or other.

What was a little more unpleasant to look at them was their exposed arms from the short sleeved jumpsuits. Two of them had their exposed flesh marred in multiple places with what looked like golf-ball sized tumors, or growths maybe? Each one with three marks from a syringe of some sort, so it seemed that they were implanted somehow or other. The third however was markedly different. By the number of fingers, she seemed to be an older model of Nekovalkyrja. Rather than the tumors, her abdomen was grossly distended in a manner which would suggest pregnancy if it weren't for the lop-sided look to it. At a guess it seemed like they'd sewn something inside her...

Throughout the entire train, the PA system came to life:

"All passengers are advised that the morning service has experienced an unexpected delay due to mechanical faults." It said in a clearly synthesized voice. "Service will be resumed once this issue has been cleared. We appreciate your Patience at this time."

Cyborg Back-Up:

Due to the Associates' short term notification of this mission, armed backup was not going to happen in its usual form. In this case, a handful of other operatives had been chosen. Three cybernetic Operatives arrive on the scene just in time for it to go to hell. From the reports they had received, they were looking at a situation in which the primary infiltration team was on board a train. The entire group's communicators crackled to life with Newhouse's voice once again, she spoke softly to make sure that this intrusion wasn't to call attention to the Operators:

"It sounds like you're having problems. There's three more you can call upon for backup, but they're heavies. Whatever happens, we don't want this to devolve into a firefight and war in the streets so call them in wisely."

The train was halted at station, which left the entire conveyance surrounded by a dozen armed security operatives. But the public announcement system was saying this was all according to mechanical fault... Which chances were, it wasn't the case. There was still opportunity for stealth and blending in, as the Security forces that were being circumvented were trying to maintain a facade of normalty.

But as a storm rages overhead, the whole scene seems tense. Like it could explode at any moment, like lightning from the clouds.

Pus & Cyborg Problems:

As Squeakies pulled the truck out, there was another thunk. Sounding like someone was gaining balance as they were suddenly truck-surfing in traffic. Clearly something was up, though. Outside there was no sign of anything standing on the roof visually, but as the get-away vehicle moved through the city there was always the telltale sounds of weight shifting above, and occasionally another step being taken. Something was up there...

A few glances in darkened windows didn't quite cut it to see what was up there, but after a while Squeakies could spot something... Indistinct. Rain wasn't moving like it should, telltale splashes of water hitting something standing on top of the truck but unseen. Someone was on top, using some sort of active camouflage, and as they drive further away: They were being watched, more tellingly the figure was creeping closer to where the two were sitting, but keeping low and slinking forward only slowly.

Brigid, on the other hand would learn next to nothing from the liquid described by Jacob. The smell and look of it suggests something inert, and maybe non-chemical as it has no distinct odor other than slightly sweet, but slightly metallic. Chances are it was some sort of nanite concoction. The flasks themselves being unmarked meant they had little or no extra information to go on.

Of course, Brigid and Jacob had other business to worry about right now.
 
Ninja Attack

The thunking noise started getting closer. Brigid looked in the side mirror but couldn't see anything. She knew someone - or something - was on the roof even if she couldn't see it. What she didn't know was how exactly to take care of the party crasher without alerting any authorities. Her seduction skills were utterly useless. Maybe if she could get close enough she could use her secret weapon. Most likely if the thing on the roof got that close she would be dead already.

"Squeakies, do you have any good ideas for taking care of our visitor? Maybe you can shake em off. Know any place nearby with a low overpass?" She asked hopefully as she picked up her sidearm. "I could shoot them but that might draw attention that we don't want right now. Guess I should remember my knife next time."

About that time she noticed Jacob's voice in her ear.

"Brigid (did he just use a first name? Gasp!) I will be forwarding you a picture of an ugly yellow liquid. Could you perhaps guess as to its use? I would guess either a sedative or something to awaken the packages."

"Little busy right now, hon. I'll take a look when the party's over." She replied quietly. Her eyes moved toward the roof. "I think the shooting is about to start."
 
On The Road : Moving / Ninja Attack

Squeakies slammed on the brakes to cause the Truck to jerk to a halt, then threw it in reverse and floored it for second. She step on the brakes again hard and shift into first forward gear as she stomped on the accelerator pedal, causing the Truck to lurch about and suddenly move forward again with the flow of traffic after causing a few 'heart attack' moments to those following her on the street as she got the truck going forwards again. She swung the truck in a tight turn to the right onto a new street. The turn was tight enough to tilt the truck dangerously without it tipping over on its side. hopefully with the rain slick top of the truck, whomever was on top would have a nice trip to the pavement and into traffic that followed.
 
Secure cargo

Jacob became a flurry of one handed subtle texting to the team (as he knew them);

Guards noticed card. Locking down. unload prob. Pack 2 fem. 1 fem elf. Am Nurse. Update actions.

He carried on his faux duties, watching and waiting for an opportunity. If they were ever left alone he knew he could easily kill the doctor and other orderly. He could definitely make a valiant effort of getting the cargo off especially if the fellows in the cabin were busy with their backs to them.

His one current concern was that it seemed their non-confrontation options were quickly diminishing which left him more and more vulnerable.
 
Dining Car

Nicky noticed the text from a member and nodded to herself. Soon she would get to have some fun and play some games with the opposition, she just had to get to her things. However the guard returned quicker than she expected and his reaction told her all she needed to know. As the loud speaker went on to inform them about the 'delay' she went out the dining car and to the next car before trying to get off the train. Once off she would head towards the normal cargo car to try and find Ernie.
 
Dining Car

Seeing as how high alert everything got in the span of a few minutes, Ayla herself to get a little nervous. Security was already panicked and now they stopped in the middle of a station. The amount of people working for Newhouse on the train seemed to be increasing, leaving more possibility of someone getting pinched and ratting out everyone else. On top of that, she didn't have her gun in case things went south which they seemed to be doing right now.

Seeing as Nicky had already left, the thief decided to try and rectify the gun issue at least. Using the small amount of chaos the keycard she pilfered, she slipped through into the neighboring cargo car, looking for a place to hide, then for the gunlocker she "relinquished" her little pistol to.
 
Ninja Run! Ninja Jump! Ninja Balance! Ninja Flop!:

Squeakies and Brigid would find that on the sudden motions to unbalance their stowaway, that they almost immediately ceased all attempt at subtlety. Reflections in windows showed a tall figure clad in a tight active-camouflage suit, reinforced here and there with metallic plates. As the truck jerked here and there, Brigid finds herself very narrowly clipped by a sword driven through the roof of the cabin. A mono-edged blade driven downwards, all too close to her face...

And then Squeakies slammed on the brakes. The blade launched forward as the thing on top clung too hard to it, but forgot that it was too sharp to stay wedged in a truck's cladding. Outside there is a crash, as the heavy cyborg smashes into a hapless early morning commuter's car. A deep gouge is cut from the windshield, and the roof. Raindrops start to fall in on Brigid, as a trickle of blood oozes into her right eye. A fine cut from the blade having sliced open her eyebrow.

Dashing scar opportunities, anyway.

Squeakies notes the cyberninja apparently painfully standing up and getting their footing on a frantically swerving car behind them, plucking their sword up again. The way it's managing to keep its footing and track the truck makes it look rather obviously that if she doesn't move soon, this thing would be jumping right back on top, and this time they won't be sneaking about.

Secure Cargo:

"We have ten minutes until the armored car arrives." The ID-SOL captain barks at the others, watching as they keep an eye on every point of entrance on the secure Cargo carriage. "We don't deviate from plan B. Squad Alpha boards with the cargo, and escort them by road. Squad Gamma is to escort support staff out to the Quais from the second vehicle."

Apparently the group inside the train car was too numerous to fit into the armored car. Whether or not they'd succeeded in infiltrating, they'd at least earned points in terms of divide and conquer. The guards would be much less numerous, at least as far as Jacob could tell. Alpha squad seemed to consist solely of the ID-SOL and three others. No longer dozens, with more outside. Once on the road, the Operatives would outnumber them.

Jacob's report was answered in text from Newhouse:

Target is woman with 'Wrek Shit' tattoos on her fingers. She reported, pointing out an identifier. Jacob could tell it was the taller of the two human women. And then he received an extra notice, reading simply: Leftovers are disposable.

Guns. Lots of Guns:

Ayla would easily manage to slip in to the cargo section of the train. Most of security was focused on the secured car, while the passengers were groaning and making their way out of the train to wait on the station where there was different food options. The internals were filtering out, leaving only a few sparing passengers content to keep their favorite seats. There was at least room to move now.

Finding herself in a cramped compartment, loaded with ship parts, Ayla easily locates the gun-lockers. The racks not even locked inside the secured car, she can slide them out to find herself looking at an arsenal of hundreds of civilian-available weapons. It was amazing what some of these people were toting on their way to work. From simple semi-automatics, to cute little holdout weapons fitted to spring-loaded wrist holster, and the odd full-sized shotgun for some people who took their personal defense all too seriously...

Opportunities to either loot, or arm a small army were clearly apparent here.

Ernie Blomkinder - Robot Foreman:

Nicky finds her way easily to the loading bay, where the crew is stuck waiting on the go-ahead to either load or unload depending on what sort of technical issues were found. Some murmurings were heard indicating that if there was sufficient problems with the train, they'd just send along another engine to pull the whole thing. But that would require them to move some of the goods off so it could get up to speed.

Ernie himself is sitting up on the catwalk overlooking the cargo sections of the train, fiddling with a control panel and overlooking the hulking loader-bot as it danced a little jig at his command. And as his lady love appears, he stops and returns it to the idle position.

"A-ah! Hello! Did... Did you come to get your bag?" He asks nervously.
 
Secure Cargo

A further coded message; Cargo will be in vehicle with total 4 guard. Caution ID Sol.

With that sent Jacob carried on doing his best to basically copy the actions of the doctor and ordlerly. He examined every possible drug for a familiar sedative so he could have a fallback in case of emergencies. He also palmed two syringes, one for the hopeful sedative and one for a a concotion of whatever he could get his hands on.
 
On the Road

Squeakies floored the trucks accelerator pedal and used the space she had created to put distance between those that decided to take a free ride on their newly acquired truck. She glanced at her partner Brigid to see if she was okay. "Got a cut on your forehead," she announced, shifting up into a higher gear than first, giving the truck better speed gain. Now if traffic allowed she had a good run for her exit onto the expressway and be free of these Cyborg Ninjas that was giving chase.

"You can shoot now. Our cover been blown somehow or you pissed someone off before I met you. You better let me know now, Brigid. Or I'm walking!" Squeakies growled as she plowed her way onto the expressway, slowing just enough to merge with the flow of traffic on the expressway.

Well actually driving away. All she had to do was stay on the expressway and quit trying to be in place with rest of the team on the train. Where the roads intersect with the train's route through the city.
 
Loading Bay

Nicky has a worried expression on her face when she comes over, grabbing Ernie's arm and hugging it. "Yes my bag would be wonderful. This sudden delay is making me nervous..it's those men in the sealed car isn't it? They're trying to rob us aren't they?" Though it looked like fear, her body was trembling in excitement, she was fast approaching her desired outcome where she gets to shoot her way through the problems. "Can't you kick them off the train or something, or maybe stand outside till whatever is fixed?"
 
Guns, Guns, Guns

Ayla looked in awe at the amount of guns she got to choose from. It was almost like being in a candy store for high-caliber personal defense.

The first thing she dug for was her own little Zen Arms .45 pistol, searching it out from the rest and slipping the silencer onto it before sliding it into her holster on her side. Next she went for a couple of the little holdout pistols because they were just too damn cute to pass up on. She made a mental note to get herself a couple of wrist holsters later so she stored them in her shoes for right now. Last on the shopping list was some sort shotgun of some sort in case things decided go really done south.

As she searched, she sent out a text to group: Found deal on guns @ Sixth Street, txt me if U want 1.
 
Ninja Pancake

Brigid swore as she set down her pistol and dug around for her medical kit. She opened it and pulled out two gauze pads, a bottle of disinfectant, and a silk tape roll. First, she opened the bottle and squirted some disinfectant on a gauze pad, wiping the cut on her eyebrow with it. Then she pulled out a short length of tape and extended her fangs to bite it off. She quickly taped the remaining gauze strip to her eyebrow. "Well it probably looks like crap but it'll do for now." She said with an annoyed sigh as she packed her medkit up.

Her partner's reaction alarmed her and made her slightly angry as well. She turned to Squeakies and took a deep breath to calm herself before answering. "I have no idea what is going on here. I've never seen anything like those guys. I haven't pissed anyone off enough to warrant this kind of treatment in a long time. No way this is him."

Brigid picked her pistol back up and leaned her head out the window, looking back to see if anyone was still following. "Right now I can't see anyone, but who knows what that camouflage shit." She informed Squeakies, pulling her head back in. "You can bet they won't just give up. At least now I will be ready for them."
 
On the Road with Ninjas and Crazies

Squeakies nodded taking Brigid's word for now as she focused on the road, traffic and her upcoming turn off. With no word coming from the others on the train, Squeakies decided to by-pass this road/train crossing for the next one. She sped past the turn off to hit that spot but took the next exit onto a major artery road through the city.

"Just giving the others more time..." Squeakies muttered as she drove with purpose.
 
Dumont Finishes Term Papers, Updates:

As the two in the cab of the getaway truck start to converse over the problems inherent with the attack of the Cyber-Ninja, they peel away without any real overt problems. The attack seems to abate, as Brigid patches herself up. Things seem quiet, aside from the now unfortunate leak in the roof on a rainy morning...

That is until Squeakies manages to spot a vehicle about three cars behind them swerve into oncoming traffic as something unseen shifts its momentum, leaving two heavy metallic footprints on the hood. Whatever or whoever that is, their pursuit continues unevenly. Leaping from one vehicle to the next.

Outside, above the two in the getaway vehicle, the first cracks of dawn start to light up the murky sky. The sun's rays barely filtering through the thick intermingling brownish layer of pollution and storm clouds above.

Gunbarn Bargain Bin:

Ayla finds, to her convenience; many of the smaller wrist-pistols are still mounted into their spring-loaded arm sheathes. Apparently it was easier to just remove them entirely, than to get into an argument with station authorities. As the commotion outside is primarily tied to the rearmost carriage, she remains undisturbed for now.

Meanwhile, in Loading:

Ernie turned a complete beet red in coloration as Nicky held his arm. All things considered, for him this had been a great day... But this? This was his chance to be truly manly now he thought about it. This was his chance to show off for his new lady love! He excused himself briefly to go and retrieve Nicky's bags, dashing off and pushing his way past the rest of the loading crew to get aboard.

A moment or two passes, in which a heavy armored car pulls in to the loading bay. In the secure carriage, the doctor and only authentic orderly are ordered in angry sign-language to load up the 'merchandise'. The Doctor makes sure to snatch a secure case which Jacob identifies as carrying the small yellowish vials, and escorts the test subject who seems to be some sort of Nekovalkyrja. The other Orderly begins to escort the target, leaving Jacob to escort the other woman who had been identified as 'expendable'

Led by the ID-SOL captain, three guards load up, along with the medical staff and test subjects. Ernie returns soon after, handing Nicky her bag, and holding a look of half-terrified conviction on his features.

"You know what? I'll do it! These guys kick around everyone who has to work, so I'm just going to kick them right back!" He says boldly, turning towards the control panel of the loaderbot.

From his position in the armored car: Jacob manages to spot the last guard intended to board the armored car get neatly decapitated by a loading claw. From her position on the loading bay catwalk, Nicky spots the hulking android intended to lift ship hulls neatly swing one arm through a group of assembled Private Security officers. The sound of gunfire soon follows, as they fire back with submachine guns and shotguns to the giant metal machine. Bullets clattering everywhere, but not quite stopping the machine just yet.

General panic starts to set in on the train station as gunfire is never a good thing while folks are unarmed.

And yet, while they were severely reduced in number: Now is the best opportunity to pursue directly. Because if they don't manage to secure the package from the road, there will be no payment for this mission at all.
 
Traffic, Traffic and Ninjas

Squeakies suddenly swore as she sped up a little. "We have company coming again..." Catching the swerving of car, then another one closer swerved like the one that drew her attention. She looked ahead and frown. The deities must really hate her as traffic was beginning to thicken up a head. 4 more miles to go before they needed to make their next turn. This was the last chance to catch the train within the city. Then the 'elevated' became the subway.
 
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