Stygian Technologies: Field Agents

"Yeah, yeah, I know he's in the middle of mission ops, but ya don't understand. Fell needs me. Pull up Edgar Combs on your thingy. I've got the clearance." Fishwife fumbles around in a pocket and pulls out his cell, tapping the screen for a bit. He shows her the message from Alectus.

"See? ASAP." Edgar stuffs the device back into his pocket after a moment.

He shoots a glare at the guard before rolling his eyes "Oy. Tallboy. The fuck are those?" He points at the tall guard's legs. "You're a goddamn walking target. Sure, ya might always 'ave the high ground, but they're fragile! Ya look more like a fuckin' clown than security. If'n ya can, swap those out for more clandestine types. Then ya might be useful." He grins at the very, very tall security guard.

edited 4th Sep '15 10:28:54 PM by Collinicus

"That's a lot of cameras," Malware said. "There's plenty of guards too, plus a sniper on the fourth floor. But there isn't a single spot here the cameras don't cover. I'm going to need to disable them before we do anything else."

Malware had the spybot circle the compound again, this time looking for a security room, or at the very least a window he could fly through to get inside.

edited 5th Sep '15 11:42:59 AM by Aquatica1000

"Looks like 'stealth' isn't as much an option as we had wished."

Vespa leaned back and thought for a moment.

"Wait up. I've got an idea. If you disable the cameras, they'll know something is up before we can even hit them. You're the tech expert, can you get a capture of about thirty seconds or so from each camera, and loop it to their main systems? That way, they don't know anything is happening, and we don't set off their alarms. Just make sure you don't get anything on tape that wouldn't normally happen. The same sneeze from a guard or a fly on the wall going in endless circles is bound to raise the alarm just as much as shutting off their feed."''

"That's definitely an option," Mal responded as the spybot continued the search. "But I'll need to get to the controls first..."

Outside the compound
Fritz couldn't find a direct way into any security room from the outside - presumably it was deeper within the compound.

Fell's voice came over the comms, "If I know anything about spy drones, they don't need to actually get into the security hub to affect it - hold on a minute."

The raven's rudimentary AI offered an alternative to Malware; if it got close enough to one camera to be able to direct-interface - forcibly, if needed - it may be able to tap into some of the facility's basic security functions.

The black-armored guard tilted his faceless, cycloptic helmet in a silent question. With a faint noise his gazelle-like legs contracted well below normal human length, making him almost two feet shorter. A moment later they returned to the previous height. No expression was revealed behind the single glowing-violet optic, but Edgar got the feeling he was being mocked.

The secretary rolled her eyes at their posturing and pulled up his name, "Combs, Edgar. '...Fishwife.' Okay, yeah, you can head in. He's downstairs."

Edgar would find the door to Fell's "mission control" locked initially, but a plain-looking woman soon opened it for him from the other side.

As he walked in, the door closed and he could see the silhouette of Alectus Fell's huge back, eyes apparently glued to the holographic array of a half-dozen screens before him, several displaying what appeared to be the feed from POV helmet cameras. He was speaking to someone over his comm relay - the two antennae extending from his bionic right ear made that obvious, "If I know anything about spy drones, they don't need to actually get into the security hub to affect it - hold on a minute."

Fell turned, a crooked smile on his scarred face. His emerald-green bionic eyes were new, but the rest of him looked about as fearsome as Edgar remembered. He extended a subdermally-plated arm, "Fish! How's it been?"

edited 5th Sep '15 12:38:40 PM by StygianEmperor

"Hairless as usual." Edgar winks, then grasps the offered hand. "Yourself?" He lets go of the hand.

"Nice peepers. Green suits you. Say, know that tall guard in the lobby? Right asshole, he is," he says with a grin before looking beyond the scarred Alec. His brow furrows as he observes the screens.

"So, Zaivous' place? Was wondering how long he'd last," Fishwife says, frowning. "Probably a few dozen overlapping cams...at least two snipers if'n he's smart...," Fish pauses looking at the bird's feed. He snickers for a second before saying, "Like that'll stop us. Patch me in, Alec. Need to meet the coworkers and assess the situation."

Fishwife - Field Agency
To his remark about the guard, Fell replied, "They're not my guys, they're elite sec forces from HQ, but I feel better knowing they're around. We doubled security after the incident last month. Which I should really brief you on - basically, we think Zaivous did it."

Fell picked up a headset and handed it to Edgar, "How did you know that was his compound, anyway?"

Edgar accepts the headset, removes his hat, and places the device on his chrome dome. "Bit o' guesswork, actually. Don't know too much about the incident, but figured that was the case," he says, placing the knit cap over the headset.

"Not too many blokes have a fuckin' compound large enough to house a sizable force within an hour of R&D," Edgar says, adjusting the hat. "Security is my business, Alec. Threat assessments every few months. Been doing them in my free time as of late. Zaivous was high on list, so I did a drive by of the compound about two months ago." He grins. "I've been bored."

Edgar turns away from Alec. "So," he says into the headset, "this is Fishwife. Sniper, electric eel, and security specialist. Who am I working with?"

edited 6th Sep '15 1:03:04 PM by Collinicus

A calm, collected voice answers.

"'Fishwife', huh? Nice to have a little backup. You can call me Vespa. Everyone else does already. You have an eta on our location?"

Another surprise. Wonder what this guy will be like. Long as he gets the job done, I guess I can't complain.

"...Right," Mal said, a sheepish grin on his face. "How could I have forgotten that?"

Idiot, Malware thought to himself. You've been masquerading as a human for a few months, and already you're forgetting basic spybot knowledge? Did something corrupt your memory while you slept?

Malware proceeded to maneuver Fritz towards one of the cameras. Already, he was planning what to do — once Fritz managed to get in, he'd proceed to connect to the security system and set up a loop. Of course, he'd also need to figure out what to disconnect from while he tried to set it up — while he was currently leaning towards loosing connection to the Star Specs, since no one would notice that right away, he was not keen on not seeing what was going on if something attacked the car—

His thoughts were interrupted by someone speaking through the headset. Someone who wasn't Fell.

"Malware" he said quickly.

edited 5th Sep '15 4:12:44 PM by Aquatica1000

"Uh, you can call me Mr. Chun," he said into the commlink, "Powered armor technician, but what do you mean by 'electric eel'?"

Outside the compound
With an affirmative caw, Fritz landed upon the roof directly above one of the cameras. The robotic raven plunged a talon into the shingles, activating a minute drill that probed for a hard line for a few seconds. Once one was found, the drone dropped an override relay for Malware, and returned to the air.

He was patched in. From here, Malware could see the view from what seemed to be every camera in the place. The video loops were easy to construct, and again no alarms were triggered when the new feeds were introduced into the system, effectively blinding the cameras. From what he could see, the inside had seemingly just as many guards as the outside, though the internal cameras were nowhere near as comprehensive. Nobody that looked like Zaivous currently appeared in any of their fields of view, at least.

There were also a few other security systems the android could see in the network, though they weren't directly operable from the relay. Their names included LOCK, ALARM, and POP-UP. Presumably, Malware or Fritz would need to get into an actual security hub to be able to access them.

edited 5th Sep '15 4:46:51 PM by StygianEmperor

"There's more cameras from the inside," Mal said, attempting to set up loops for that set of cameras if he can. "And Zavious seems to be keeping away from them. In addition, he's got something set up, but I'll need to access the actual security hub just to figure out what it is."

Malware, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what to do about this. Was Fritz going to be more of use outside or indoors? And if the bot needed to stay outside, he was going to be in a pickle. Either he'd need to disconnect from Fritz in order to use the Star Specs — and therefore not know whether the bot spot something while he and the others headed over — or he'd have to enter the compound blind. Neither option were pleasing to him.

edited 5th Sep '15 4:58:24 PM by Aquatica1000

The internal cameras went down just as easily as those outside. Fell siezed Malware's interruption in the introductions, "So, I take it you have control of the cameras, Kid? Can we safely approach now?"

"Probably," Mal said. "Fritz is going to need to come in as well, though, so we can disable security if we need to."

edited 5th Sep '15 5:36:39 PM by Aquatica1000

Not-Suspicious Van
"Just call me Forlorn, Fishwish," Forlorn replied.

"With the cameras down, that still leaves the sniper. Plus patrols, if there are any. Your bird have any idea if the sniper's looking our way?"

"I have eyes on the grounds via satellite, so I can see big-picture, but I can't get enough detail to see through the windows. Kid, you'll have to coordinate closely with Forlorn and... uh, 'S.M.,' as they approach," Fell said awkwardly. "Okay, next mission the rest of you guys are getting code-names."

According to Fritz's sensors, the sniper was currently looking through a window facing away, but they soon began to move. It seemed anyone on the ground would not have a long time to approach before the sniper looked in their direction. Malware noticed as the raven circled the "tower," however, that the roofline would actually present a significant blindspot for them on the north side of the compound.

edited 5th Sep '15 7:43:17 PM by StygianEmperor

"The sniper would likely strike us down if he sees us," Malware responded. "But due to the compound's layout, he won't spot us as quickly if we approach the compound from the North. Let's take advantage of that little issue."

Not-Suspicious Van
"That settles it then, we come in from the North," Forlorn said, scratching his chin. "If they've been here long, they're probably aware of this blind spot, though," he added. "If they're confident in their cameras, then that's probably it. But if they're paranoid... You've got access to their cameras. Paranoid types, hate cyborgs and all that, probably have ways of detecting metal. Can you spot anything out of the ordinary just under the ground on that side? Just want to rule out the possibility of landmines."

"Alright," Mal said, having Fritz head north to find anything suspicious.

Fritz's optics were unable to detect any mines on the north side of the structure.

edited 5th Sep '15 8:21:02 PM by StygianEmperor

She gulps, not answering Fishwife's question just yet-focusing her attention on Malware, Fell and Forlorn's conversation and her robots.

"...Fritz doesn't spot anything," Mal relayed.

Not-Suspicious Van
"Well then, what are you all waiting for? Let's move," Forlorn said.

Totally Inconspicuous Van

"Rock and Roll. Forlorn, you seem like a good point man, want to take the lead? I think I can keep an eye on him."

She motions towards Mal as she speaks.

edited 6th Sep '15 11:19:29 AM by ImmortalFaust