RP [Operation La Prossima]Uniti Nella Missione

[Rizzo]

"With this weapon, do we have an idea on which actors have info on it? What threats would we should prepare for?"

“At this point, no one will have a clue what this suit can do. It’s my intention that we keep it that way, and the teleporter is still capable of standard operation so we should only use the ‘soft’ settings when needed.”

…It may be worth probing contacts in the Shuristan Grand Library for any information that could help us understand the root of the problem...

…if you can bag her alive, Ven Volontany and her gene mother. Not just because I dislike her.

In Taii Koun's case, it's a good bet that the changes in brain structure caused a glitch and desynchronizing event in her ST.

There's also Spark Pine. I think Candon knew her, but her autism made ST impossible. Not sure how. Could be something to look at. I'll chase down and compile the briefings to chase these leads on Barone's order. Who else has something they know. Even a rough possibility. I can't chase data without knowing what I'm looking for. However. if any of you go after Rose. Keep in mind she's married with four kids. I hate my sister, but the only one allowed to kill her is me."

“All good leads, Thorn, but a lot of them. Command is going to be looking into them quietly first, recon in a way. And don’t worry about Rose’s safety, I’m not quite as liberal with killing as Tor- I mean I- eh, never mind” Initzio interrupted himself with visible discomfort. Though the regulars might have seen it as him avoiding a tangent the two Operatives in the room could tell the signs of the Conditioning Package at work. Even then, they would not see the pure truth that Dr. Shinobu could, the ST error he’d witnessed being clear in the most obvious way to the man that’d rebuilt Barone’s ST data from the ground up.

Barone would only miss that brief beat as he continued, "let's get on with it. Pull it guys!"

On queue a pair of techs grabbed the corners of the tarp and pulled the heavy sheet off of of their ship, a roughed up civilian Taka-class shuttle. The angular and slightly boxy white-painted hull was covered with spot painted areas. Grease stains marked mechanical areas with lines of various blacks and reds, the paint of the engine cowlings over the thrust nozzles betrayed the practice of pushing the thrusters past their safe limits often. Even the rubber pads of the landing gear were dirty and unevenly worn, indicating the harsh abuse of this modern ship's previous ownership.

"We got this Taka free of charge when we liberated her from a gunrunner who felt civilians should own viral dispersal missiles, kinda like a fuel-air bomb for plague doctors. I'll be sure to thank him when we I find the circle of Hell we forgot about him in. We had Yugumo install the 1b refit but ordered as much of the original paint be left the same for obvious reasons. It's a damn chameleon," he explained leading the group around to the open cargo ramp on the rear of the ship, "this variant was originally for cargo so we had our engineers rig up 3 small crew quarters on the port side. Not gonna lie, she's a tight fit for but a good rear is always worth a second look." His subtle innuendo could be interpreted only one way as the view of 6 power armor racks came into view along with a host of fabricators and weapons lockers.

"This shoe box is ready to host a squad of six PA and can keep up with repairs if we're smart with them. That being said, a proper lady is discreet enough to sufficiently cover her assets," he continued the innuendo as he stepped onto the ramp. Typing into the keypad a set of lights in the ceiling glowed to life and the image of shipping crates covered the questionable equipment. Barone banged on the 'metal' doors to prove it was solid, the report of steel dong-ing as his fist thumped its surface. Unlatching the door he swung in open to reveal 'perfectly innocent cargo'. He reached inside a palletized stack of boxes and produced one of the boxes. Tearing it open and further retrieving a can of purified water he tossed one to Valla. "Want a drink?" he asked, keying the pad again causing the entire illusion and can of water to disappear, "too bad, it's hard light. I won't claim to understand how the trick works, but it's the best i can ever recall seeing in a shuttle. It cannot project past the engines or past 10 meters straight out the back but it can use it's projectors to help load cargo, so that's handy.." By this point he was leaning against wall of they cargo bay, a coy grin on his face.

"Oh, and Jinja says I may not have a captain's rank for a shuttle," he stated with a grin, "apparently the SAoY 'doesn't count every canoe in its waters as a ship' so I'm still just a Heisho."

 

[HarperMadi]

"Understood, sir," she responded to Barone before following him to see the ship.

"I love her. Reminds me of Eyesore." Thorn cocked a grin as she examined the work done to the shuttle. It certainly looked like a junky Takka. But under the hood was where it counted. She had taken the same approach in Oracle's design, making it look like a derelict communications satellite. Not that the new ships based on her weren't recognizable for that. Junky ships that barely passed inspection drew less attention than expensive livery and a suspicious lack of oil stains. "Dibs on the maintenence crawlspace. I'll put Oracle on follow mode so we have her available when we need her. Unless you want me to go ahead and send her, Seer, Augur, and/or Diviner to our first destination to do their thing and get us the data for a clean entry. They're smarter in a group."

Still, she looked back to Shinobu's Geboku, and her face turned pensive. She finally opened the mission briefing file in her hands, looking for any information or photos that could be helpful. Nothing she recognized. And honestly, there wasn't much. Some basic history of the planet, but not enough to recognize it from the handful of others around the Empire, or even beyond. in her opinion, the world was nothing special, an average den of scum and villainy in every respect. Hell, there wasn't even any useful information on this lead they were supposed to be tracking. No name, or distinguishing marks, nothing she could use to gather more. Figures, she thought. The reason was fairly simple. For an adventure as classified as this one, she supposed they wouldn't get the intel they were actioning until they were en route. These briefings were more for introducing the team than to plan. These operations were on the fly, something she had made her career in making happen with the best of on-site information. But that usually depended on her being on site before her coworkers. They rarely saw her face. But those who did were often years long contracts.

She had no doubt that this would be one of those, and Silas's words stuck with her. Professional courtesy. Dr. Shinobu clearly didn't care for appearances, but he was the foremost expert on ST failures and recovering from them, no matter his censure status. Valla, for her combat prowess was still a skillful operative with history as a combat medic. Silas and Barone were veteran operatives. Dokusei was sneaky, quiet and observant. She would be extremely helpful. The only people she couldn't get a full read on and trust in on some level was the only remaining. The Belmont. She absently wondered if that was synonymous with diversion. Then again, so was she, if they went somewhere she had a warrant.

But she also wasn't stupid. No matter how SAINT detested betrayal, the fact for her was she was here for money, personal hate for the concept of weaponized ST data be damned. These people were on mission. She knew that if she was or became a threat to that mission, they would turn on her without an instant's hesitation, and her retirement would be the punishing afterlife. A betrayal like that would see the destruction of her, her ships, and any trace of her existence. And she wasn't looking forward to figure out which, if any belief, was true, or what she would face for her actions. Whether freed or from before. Those were her choices and regrets to repent for. Barone would wipe her record. But he could not fix her reputation. Retirement wouldn't be lavish. It would be obscurity and anonymity, unhunted and unbothered. There would be no fairy tale ending or fame. She would never be published or enjoy positive reinforcement from the scientific community outside a few select circles. Shaking her head, she looked away and dismissed the thought.

 

[Hollander]

At Barone's 'tight fit, good rear' bit, Shinobu turned away and narrowed his hidden eyes, suppressing a smile; he understood the wordplay, and though he should despise such pedestrian humor, bawdy jokes somehow never failed to get him snickering. When the ship was unveiled, he was able to more easily resume his expression of general disdain. He was as unimpressed with the Taka as he was with... any ship. But such was Shinobu's snobbery; if a topic wasn't 'souls' or Nekovalkyrja brains, he was quick to dismiss it, no matter the level of skill or artistry involved in the thing's design and assembly.

"As you'll be departing without me on the... YSS Shoebox... I would offer you a final verbal warning." He shifted in the creaking plastic chair, uncrossing his legs and straightening his back. "If you believe you're going to encounter anyone who may be suffering from Fragmentation, whether they know it or not, I would advise you to seal off any wireless communications that link to your mind. Any cybernetics or telepathic ability could be used as an entry point to... 'infect' you with the condition." Dr. Kenja shifted his gaze to Dokusei Kaori in particular, as the only Nekovalkyrja on the mission. Nekos weren't necessarily more susceptible than Minkans, as far as it was known, but the majority of Fragmentation cases affected these manufactured super-warriors.

"Among all the information being made available to you, you'll find entries written by the foremost expert on ST Data Fragmentation." Shinobu inhaled through his nose pridefully; naturally he didn't need explain that the foremost expert he was referring to was... himself. "It's been rephrased for easier comprehension by a layman." he added, his tone a mixed glass of haughtiness and ego. "If you do become infected, know that you will be taken care of." was his final, very believable, very compassionate, statement.

 

[Nakshatra]

Dokusei did not deign it worth her time to give any energy to the commentary darting between the two more vocal members of the group, instead devoting her time to mentally preparing for the task ahead. While she pondered on possible tasks ahead she kept a passive listening ear to the conversation around her. Katerina's duo of questions regarding the weapon and corresponding threats made her somewhat pleased that his would be the teammate she'd be spending the most time with. Someone at least had their head on straight. Though even with that she never felt satisfied to be told what threats there were and rely on that alone. She also wanted to be prepared for the things that were not being said, those little surprises that were undoubtedly lurking in the shadows.

Eyebrow raising commentary from Thorn about alleged records of cultures, to include those that were telepathic, drew her attention. Dokusei's radiant yellow orbs flicked over watching the tiny woman curiously. It had seemed that a particular group was almost certainly left out of that equation. At the very least the scientist had some doubts that all details about the group were public knowledge, certainly not with a people who had no public records of meeting in cultural exchange. "Hmmm," Dokusei thought as her gaze flicked back to the materials in front of her.

The gray nekovalkyrja looked briefly over to Silas as he spoke in reference to mission success. She agreed with him, to a degree. Trusting in someone one does not wholly know comes with its own set of risks, once she had come to accept. Though she did disagree with the operative on one point. The trust she had was not about the team getting each other through future missions, it was trusting that no matter what happened, the mission would be completed. Silas' last statement did change her thought path that maybe his thinking was more in line with hers than she originally had assumed. His message with that last sentence was crystal clear, at least it was to her. Barone had started speaking to the group again, so Dokusei redirected her attentions towards their team lead.

Barone's little avoidance of a tangent elicited a singular eyebrow raise from the quiet Shoi. Though the interruption was brief as two techs unveiled a ship in front of them. Their ever delightfully spicy leader gave a pleasantly innuendo laden overview of what would be carrying their merry band about. As Dokusei watched him toss a can to Valla inquiring about a drink she was a little suspicious. Why dig into the mission's supplies if there were other beverages nearby? Her questions were swiftly answered when Barone explained that it was not drinkable, it was hard light. However, it was all very underwhelming to her. None of this elicited any reaction other than to satisfy her curiosity on where they would be bunking and what their transport would be.

"YSS Shoebox," commentary from Shinobu elicited the smallest hint of a smirk from the soft spoken scientist. "Well he might be a twit, but at least he's funny." she thought as she noticed his gaze fall upon her. She met his gaze with her own, offering only the slightest nod in silent acknowledgement of his suggestion. Considering his level of expertise on the matter she immediately turned off her telepathic and wireless communications abilities. Though this would certainly limit things to a manual level of communications, it was much more suitable than the alternative of becoming "infected". While Dokusei certainly still saw him as a twit, he had done her the courtesy of this potentially lifesaving warning. Not only had she admired his work, he now had her respect, not that it was worth much to him. Those twin golden lights rolled heavily as he continued about diluting his information down. "I would prefer the original. I have kept an eye on your work for sometime and it is best kept in its purest form." she quipped softly at Shinobu, wrinkling her nose a touch in disgust at being compared to a layman. It was like he had handed her a dummies guide to what she had spent the last four years of her life devoted to studying.