Wire 2014/07/28(Mon)18:04 No. 586468 ID: 186341
File 140659586919.png - (152.30KB , 960x540 , 73.png )

The Bureau hovercraft screams across the prairie.

Wire 2014/07/28(Mon)18:05 No. 586469 ID: 186341
File 140659590574.png - (12.47KB , 960x540 , 74.png )

Operative 73-6 is inside. He has about an hour left before he hits Tennessee.

He's going there to kill a man called Lockjaw.

He checks his incoming connections. He has Response requests from Monica, his handler, 38-3, his partner on this mission, and Sara, the robot girl he has an unrequited (or at least unacknowledged) crush on.

Hmmmmmmm... I'm gonna go with Sara, Monica, 38-3.

>>586469
We can always finish up with Sara later. Focus on Monica and 38-3. Ideally a group call so you can all get on the same page.

Wire 2014/07/28(Mon)19:30 No. 586475 ID: 186341
File 140660102962.png - (11.75KB , 960x540 , 76.png )

73-6 takes Sara's call first.

"sara. heyyy."
"73-6! Hi, dude! How's Middle America?"
"empty and dusty."
"That makes sense. Did you know I'm actually from Michigan?"
"yeah?"
"Yeah ya betcha! Why d'you think I joined the army? I had to get the heck out of there. I was a bovid farm girl for years."
"those things weird me out."
"They're weirder up close. My dad was around when they still had cows, with like, legs and stuff. He was always talking about shanks."
"is that how you killed them?"
"Cow shanks! It was a leg meat thing. Anyway Monica wants me to be quick so I will be: She wants me flying shotgun in the situation room on this one."
"really?"
"Yeah! She's trying to get me a job as a handler-slash-logistics agent! Which is maybe not what I thought I'd be doing a couple years ago but it's better than being unemployed and lending out bandwith. She thought it might be cool if I started with your Lockjaw job and her shadowing. I take you personally and she coordinates more like the operation as a whole. Is that cool with you? Oh, hmm. She's giving me a look like maybe she wanted to be the one to ask you."

That'd be super great.

Sounds awesome. Handling is a pretty cushy job, no offense Monica.

Wire 2014/07/28(Mon)20:36 No. 586502 ID: 186341
File 140660496449.png - (12.76KB , 960x540 , 75.png )

"sounds super great. handling is a pretty cushy job. don't tell monica."
"Monica heard. Oops."
"shit."
"She wants to talk to you Sev but listen! I'll see you out in the field! Well, hear you. Because I can't see you unless you turn your optics on. But still!"

"I am the one who wanted to ask you," Monica says. "Whatever. Listen. Sev-Three. About this 38-3 guy."
"what about him?"
"I did some research on him. He's fucking Sosa's right hand man, Sev-three."
"oooh."
"I was wondering why they were willing to get you a guy all the way from DC. This guy is Sosa's eyes and ears. If he's here, then either Sosa is suspicious of you for something, or he's looking to promote you. Or probably both."
"hmmm. i don't know if i want either of those things."
"So just be careful, Sev. OK? Our little weird Outpost Jericho dynamic is weird but..." Monica hesitates. "I think it works and I don't think I want it to have to change. You know?"
"definitely."
"So just... keep your professionalism around 38-3. Keep an eye on him. He's keeping one on you."
"got it."
"He wants to talk to you one-on-one. I'll patch you through. When you two are done loop me and Sara in."
"ok."
"Good luck, Sev-Three."

Wire 2014/07/28(Mon)20:38 No. 586503 ID: 186341
File 140660510488.png - (12.42KB , 960x540 , 77.png )

"Operative Seventy Three Six."

A modulated sound like a pack of locusts with a voicebox buzzes into 73-6's ear.
"Heard a lot about you."

"I didn't know there was that much to tell."

I could say something trite like "I hope its all good" or something but honestly my work speaks for itself.

Do not consider myself a master at my job but I have done ok thus far.

"Saying it Seventy-Three Six makes it sound like a mother scolding it's child for something dumb it did. You know, with adding the middle name and last?"

"that's usually a bad thing for a stealth operative"

Just call me Sev.

>>586467
"What are you willing to risk?"

>Sara on logistics / handling
That's certainly a better use for bandwith than renting it out.

>"Heard a lot about you."
Not usually a lot of word of mouth in this business.

"I haven't heard a lot about you yet. We talking planning or what? I get that the sharp and pointy end is more your specialty than mine but I like to think I make pretty effective support for it."

'' Good. Can't say the same except that I heard you were a stealth specialist. Should we talk buisiness and put together an entry plan?'' Let's not get too close eh guys? Keep it polite and buisinessy. Also let's not let him run this op you know?

Please tell me you at least modifyed the whip with the shock spike.

>>586513
whatever else we say, lead with this.

Wire 2014/07/29(Tue)17:54 No. 586736 ID: 186341
File 140668166119.png - (8.54KB , 960x540 , 78.png )

"that's usually a bad thing for a stealth operative."
"For a stealth operative you're making a name for yourself. You're watercooler talk in DC. The agent who braved the deepnet and blew the fantomas wide open. Pretty good, 73-6."
"can't say the same about you yet. we don't get word of mouth much at jericho."
"Me you'll find out about."
"let's talk business about the entry plan."
"Wiz. Tell me one where you plan to park. There are places you can hide your ride within the patrols but it's not foolproof they won't see you coming or find your craft. It might be safer to start on foot further off, but then exfiltration will be that much harder, and if they're shooting we're running across open field."
"noted."
"Two tell me how you're getting in. Your handler told me about the hill. Are you planning on ziplining or jumpjetting from there, or do you want me to open the front door for you?"
"you can do that?"
"I can do that. It'll be closer to the target and an easier breach but we're going to have to improvise to get you through the guarded door and you're going to have to trust me."
"what exactly would i need to do?"
"I told you. You'd have to improvise and trust me," 38-3 says. "The hill might be the better option. It's what you planned. I already have my way in. This is your call."

>>586467
What are you willing to risk?

He plays Shadowrun on his offtime, don't ask how I know. Why someone would play shadowrun or cyberpunk in today's pretty cyberpunky world, I dunno.

I like ziplining in to be honest, how that's possible is another thing I dunno.

It would be a lot easier to plan tactics if I had some idea of my partner's capabilities. I assume through word of mouth you know mine. You care to elaborate on yourself beyond the vague label of stealth?

Wire 2014/07/29(Tue)22:25 No. 586811 ID: 186341
File 140669792011.png - (14.51KB , 960x540 , 79a.png )

"it would be easier to plan if i knew just what it was you do," 73-6 says. "right now i only have 'stealth' to go on."

"You don't know?" 38-3 says. "I guess you haven't heard of me. Hold on."

38-3 disconnects for a second and turns his attention to the weeping Fantoma with the knife at his throat.

"If you want to live, repeat after me."
"Oh god," says the Fantoma.
"Abacus."
"What?"
"Abacus." 38-3's knife moves closer to his throat.
"Abacus."
"Deed."
"Deed."
"Hello. My name is Mud."
"Hello. My name is Mud."

"Thanks."

Wire 2014/07/29(Tue)22:25 No. 586812 ID: 186341
File 140669794190.png - (65.70KB , 960x540 , 79.png )

"Sorry about that."
73-6 starts. An entirely new voice is talking to him over the wire. The locusts are gone.
"I don't want to spoil the surprise too much, agent, but trust me. Do things my way--"

Wire 2014/07/29(Tue)22:25 No. 586813 ID: 186341
File 140669794959.png - (47.53KB , 960x540 , 79b.png )

"--and we'll be walking right through the front door."

>>586813
...now that's a specialist.

Alright, let's do the front door trick. I doubt we'll be able to kill EVERYONE in there so they probably will be shooting at us as we leave. So let's park inside their patrols.

Ah, he's a boogeyman. He steals faces.

Infiltration, impersonation. Okay, we can use that. We'll do it your way then, boogeyman.

He... can use that transform ability to get laid then, can't he?
Goddammit Sev we took the wrong upgrade path! Man, we coulda had a face like classic Micheal Jackson, from when he was doing Thriller.

If he has a good visual wait for his OK to park your vehicle in close-ish range for a good getaway but it won't be very likely they can see you. Also when he tells you what the plan he has in mind is, say something like ''Well I don't see the problem with taking a better option, so let's go in the front.'' We want to appear professional and adaptable. Also let's try to impress his ass inside huh guys?

Also inform Sara or Monica of the change of plans if we end up going in front. Gotta keep HQ posted.

nah, this is his shtick, i say stick to yours. go by zipline, no point in trusting him any more than we have to.

Can we even do both? I mean I really don't know. Maybe when wire advances the plot he will tell us before making the players decide. Also we want to keep him in our sights just as much as he wants to keep us in his. Since we have lvl three hacking let's just go our way and let him take the front, we will watch him from monitors. Also we might find secrets and goodies on our own. I change my vote to this.

Wire 2014/07/31(Thu)14:17 No. 587202 ID: 186341
File 140684145311.png - (94.12KB , 960x540 , 80.png )

"we'll see," 73-6 says. "i'm parking close. i'll see you."
"I'll see you first, 73-6."


73-6 within a few miles of the fortress and powers the hovercraft down. It lands with a hydraulic hiss.

He steps outside and waits.
He doesn't wait long before a slender, pale man with no shirt on wades through the grass to meet him.

"Agent 73-6, I presume."
"38-3." 73-6 squints. "you don't look like how i expected you."

Wire 2014/07/31(Thu)14:17 No. 587203 ID: 186341
File 140684146981.png - (38.65KB , 960x540 , 81.png )

"You didn't give me much time to put my face on this morning," 38-3 says.
"what?"
"That's a joke, because I stole this Fantoma's face."
"oh." 73-6 is going to keep his professionalism. "what about the uniform?"
38-3 taps one of the metal discs soldered onto his body. "That I can fake. Hologram. As long as they don't touch me, I'll be all right. I'm getting in by strolling through. You can't do what I can. So here is what I propose:

"Patrols come out far in groups of four. When they get closer that number drops to two. If we jump one of those groups with helmets you can get inside as long as you let me do the talking. There's no real place to hide the bodies, so we do that we're on a time crunch even tighter than we already are. If they find the bodies they're going to go on full alert and make getting to Lockjaw a lot harder.

"There's a motor pool inside the place. Trucks and shit. If I can get one of those out here and load you inside you can slip through that way. But for that we're going to have to probably come up with some excuse as to why I need a vehicle, and while I can drive you a lot closer than a zipline will get you you're still going in with no disguise.

"What do you think?"

>>587203
I think all these complications make me wish we just ziplined in.

...would "Beer run" work as an excuse to borrow a truck? Or some other reason to go to a convenience store? If the Fantomas he stole that face from was a smoker you could say you're gonna go buy some smokes.

I can't see how you're going to explain needing a truck to pick something up right outside then return with it.

Let's go with the helmets.

Wire 2014/07/31(Thu)16:24 No. 587212 ID: 186341
File 140684906870.png - (112.83KB , 960x540 , 82.png )

"all these complications are making me think i should have just ziplined," 73-6 says.
"You don't want my help, you say so," 38-3 says, testily. "I'd hate to get in your way."
"no. it's ok. it'll work, but i don't see how we can take a truck unless these guys really like beer runs. let's get some helmets."
"Okay." 38-3 pulls a machine pistol from a thigh holster. "Follow me."

He leads 73-6 through the grass, moving near-silent. 73-6 feels a little self-conscious about how much noise his boots are making. He tries to keep quiet. 38-3 keeps looking back and jerking his head forward, though. 73-6 feels like he's being babysat.

"Down." 38-3 grabs 73-6 and pulls them both low under the grass' sightline.
OK, 73-6 is really not into how handsy this guy is.

One of the patrols 38 was talking about is up ahead, walking at about a 75 degree angle in their direction. They'd normally be out of pistol range but 73-6 has some new, pinpoint-accurate shell targeting systems from the other day. As he watches them an aim interface unfolds across his vision, giving him wind speed, lead indicators, and even a little readout on the Coriolis effect. This is fantastic. He could probably shoot for their fucking trigger fingers.

He's brought along his Flechette pistol, his silenced snubnose, his filament whip, an electified spike, and not one but two Bureau grenades. It all fits thanks to his inventory magnets.
38-3 seems to be trying to get him to move up to melee range.

Shooting them would get blood on your new clothes. Silently ask him is the stun setting on those grenades would be a good idea. If not, keep the spike in one hand and the snub-nose at the ready in case things go to shit. The whip and the flechettes will result in too much damage and blood splatter.

>>587212
May as well save the ammo for later. Besides, they won't be expecting it, and there might also be another patrol in LoS right now.

Besides, you have to get their clothes off anyway, and ruining those would be a bad idea. Ideally you kill them without damaging anything.

Well yeah, the disguise ain't gonna be very convincing if it has bullet holes or blood on it, jeez.

38-3 doesn't need a helmet because he has the face and he doesn't need the outfit because he has holograms or something, and we got two guys here in front of us, so. I guess the safest thing to do if we're bein' loud with our boots would be to just hang back and let 38-3 go in silently for a clean neck snap on one guy and cap the other fantoma from afar with whichever one of our guns will get us a quieter kill.

And, obviously, explain this plan to 38-3, if possible, so he knows to keep his kill clean. And I guess it would be a good idea to ask if he wants a helmet, even if he doesn't really need it.

>>587212
We've got a wire. Communicate with him over that, tell him you can hit them from here with your pistol. Obviously we need to avoid headshots though. Aim for the heart or something.

I just realized that we could hide the bodies inside our hover car, that way there would only be one thing for them to find rather than 2

Wire 2014/07/31(Thu)17:13 No. 587223 ID: 186341
File 140685201375.png - (56.30KB , 960x540 , 83.png )

"you need a helmet?" 73-6 asks over the wire.
"Be more convincing if I'm not wearing one," 38-3 responds.
"i can't get any closer but i can hit them from here."
"Go for it."
"too messy."
"Good point." 38-3 shifts. "Tell you what. We only need one helmet and uniform. I'll take one bloodless and when I move you pop the other."
"sounds good."


"My teeth are fucked up, man," says one Fantoma.
"Really?"
"Yeah, man. When I like chew it really hurts. Do you think I have a cavity? I have a cavity I think."
"When was the last time you went to the dentist?"
"Dentist? We don't get dental, man."
"We don't?"
"Yeah, when did you join? What you gonna think a paramilitary guerilla group has dental for?"
"They got the money to get the captain a fucking robosuit and not to fix my teeth?"
"Look, Gary can take a look when we get back. He-"

Wire 2014/07/31(Thu)17:13 No. 587224 ID: 186341
File 140685201672.png - (68.75KB , 960x540 , 84.png )

Neither of them will ever have to worry about that guy's teeth again, 73-6 thinks, and this is in its own way a kind of mercy.

"Get changed," 38-3 says.
"we should move the bodies," 73-6 says.
"Take too much time, make too much noise," 38-3 says. "There's a guy with no head further out anyway. Come on, agent. We're on a tight schedule now. Suit up."
73-6 doesn't think he likes this guy.

>>587224
Oh well. No helping it, and besides, he's right. At least we can just not work with him in the future.

Get your shit on, get moving.

Just roll 'em into the lowest ground or thickest foliage in spitting distance once you're done, we've got places to be.

Give agent 38-3 some advice that whenever he manages to get a shell upgrade that lets him hide or get rid of bodies instantly he should totally take it.
Hopefully one that's a transport beacon and it just poofs the bodies to the nearest friendly vehicle. Get more new agents that way, you know? Also it could confirm kills unlike a body disintegration upgrade.

Well I guess suit up, oh and take the weapons to blend in better. Does 38 have a weapon hologram thing or will the real weapon actually phase through parts of the hologram and make it look fake?

And don't be that way Sev, buy him a beer later and figure out what he's like buzzed.

Wait, shit, I hope we didn't get any blood on that guy's rifle, because it's gonna look really awkward if we're both dressed up as fantomas but one of you is missing a rifle.

Speaking of, make sure you take the rifles and stuff. The disguise ain't complete without the accessories.

... and why didn't 38-3 just grab the rifle off the first guy he killed? Unless his holograms are incredibly fancy, he needs one to complete his own disguise.

Why didn't we combine the plans, steal a car, hide the bodies in that, then return on foot?

>>587257
Actually, it's totally not too late for that. Tell 38 to get a car, with the excuse that he needs it to go pick up a dumbass wounded Fantoma who shot himself in the foot. That's you, sev. Shoot a bullet hole in the foot of the costume you're taking, then put it on. 38 gets the car, drives it back. You put the bodies in that, drive it out to the hovercraft, stash the bodies there, drive the Fantoma truck back to base, get yourself dropped off in the medbay. Boom.

>>587260
Be sure to shoot the boot before you take the Fantoma's foot out of it, so there's blood and stuff. You can fake a limp until you don't need to. Maybe bring along a spare boot so you can become anonymous after you've infiltrated.

>>587260

not a bad plan, though we will need to bluff our way out of med bay somehow, oh i know! we shoot a hole in the boot without blood, and then we make it look like we shot our shoe, missed our foot and then freaked out. its embarrassing enough that they will probably be too busy mocking us to look too closely.

make sure the ballistics on the shot boot matches up with missing our foot.

...hey, how come your wire doesn't stick out of the flesh-mask?

>>587223
Well we know there's a robosuit, at least.

If we do the whole ''I shot my foot'' thing, we will be taken to some makeshift medbay. Unless the medbay is right next to where lockjaw is that's pointless. If we do this let's put a small amount of blood and say it grazed us, and only limp slightly. This way we shouldn't be interrupted. If we have to speak, disguise our voice a bit and keep respondes brief.

Remember that we now can disappear. As in, stand 5 seconds and nobody notices you active camo.
What if we do the shoot-foot strategy, then slink off into the rubble when unnoticed? So far we've operated in an urban environment, but this training site's more open, I guess. Expect more rubble and unexpected dead ends.

But first things first: after getting out of the med bay, try and detect which one of them is Lockjaw.

You're on a tight deadline now and they're used to groups of two. Don't bother with anything that'll cause delays or draw any extra attention to yourselves, just suit up and head back in like a regular returning patrol.

Wire 2014/08/03(Sun)15:10 No. 587824 ID: 186341
File 140710380772.png - (131.21KB , 960x540 , 85.png )

"wait," 73-6 says, midway through pulling his disguise on. "i have an idea."
"What idea?"
"i know how you can get a truck. your patrol partner accidentally shot himself in the foot and you need a truck to get him back to base." 73-6 picks up a discarded rifle and aims it at the closest corpse's boot. "i fire this, you hustle back and grab a truck, we load the bodies in, and even have the time to go back and grab the one whose head you took off. then i have a free ticket into the medical bay and we're both inside."

38-3 narrows his eyes. A smile creases along his fake face. "I like this." He kicks the corpse. "OK, 73-6. There are a bunch of potential holes in it but we'll plug them as we go. And it's a good start."
"when i fire this you need to come back with a truck quick or another patrol might get here first. can you do that?"
He nods.
"ready?"
"Ready."

73-6 fires and blows a hole in the boot.

Wire 2014/08/03(Sun)15:10 No. 587825 ID: 186341
File 140710381109.png - (118.85KB , 960x540 , 86.png )

"go," he says, and 38-3 heads back toward the base, a Fantoma Vengadores robe knitting itself out of light around him.
"Be right back."

73-6 puts the clean helmet on. His wire chirrups at him; It's Sara.

"what's up?"
"The mic just picked up your plan, Sev-Three."
"what do you think?"
"Monica says it's good but she's also biting her nails like they're corn on the cob," Sara says. "She says it's time for my very first BDD field report! Woooo! So how's it going on the ground? You making a new friend?"

>>587825
Meh. It's a working relationship.

Monica would feel better if that was chocolate she was eating, rather than nails.

...not sure friend is the right word. Terrifying face-stealing boogeyman murder associate. I'm making one of those, sure.

Am not ready to let him date my daughter but he might grow on me.

He's got surprisingly spotty people skills for an infiltrator, but I guess I haven't really seen him in action yet. I've got one kill, 38 should have two.

>>587825
"38-3 seems professional enough, though working with someone who literally steals and wears other peoples faces is exactly as creepy as it sounds"

"I think his main thing is respect for competence and prowess, and when he'd first heard about the CEO's new interest in me he'd thought that I must've been more lucky than good. That may be fair, but he's starting to see I'm not entirely clueless or inept at this business either."

Wire 2014/08/04(Mon)18:18 No. 588134 ID: 186341
File 140720148575.png - (174.65KB , 960x540 , 87.png )

"i'm not going to let him take my daughter to prom but he seems professional enough. he respects talent. i guess he thought i was more lucky than good."
"What a jerkwad."
"i think he's starting to come around to me."
"Oooh. Are we going to meet him?"
"i don't know if you want to. he wears faces."
"Ah." Sara says. "Yuck. I guess you do what you gotta do. I mean you're dedicated to the Bureau 100% too, right?"
"um, right." 73-6 shifts into a convincing lying down position. "100%. one kill from me, by the way. 38-3 has two."
"Gotcha. How do I note that... oh. Ok I enter it into this little box. Good job, Sev-Three! Nail one in the face for me."
"apparently these guys don't get good dental."
"Do you?"
"my teeth were all replaced with plastic."
"That's ok. Mine too."

73-6 hears the rumble of an engine.
A truck is tearing across the plain toward him.

Wire 2014/08/04(Mon)18:20 No. 588137 ID: 186341
File 140720163166.png - (10.75KB , 960x540 , 88.png )

It parks nearby. 38-3 comes out with a bald Fantoma.

"I had to come see this," Baldy says. "Oh my God, Saul. You shot yourself?"

>>588137
Give him the middle finger.

>>588137
Glare sideways and show him the boot.

Make sure you look convincingly injured. Is there a way to nonverbally convey 'yeah, and you're about to be next'?

Let's NOT middle finger, but I must ask, are we killing him and driving back, or just getting in the truck? I say we kill him, so ask him to take a look, and when he comes in close why not gank him huh? We should be able to put our shock spike into his face before he notices, be subtle about grabbing the spike so when he is bent over the foot and just starts to notice how your wound doesn't seem to be there, the spike is already in his head.

Make grumpy, painful mumbling sounds, and give him the finger.

>>588172
Agree.

Is there still a dead body here you should be worrying about him seeing? Being cute with a middle finger is great as long as he is not about to look over to the left and get upset.

I dunno, CAN sev make noises without it obviously sounding wrong?

>>588172
this sounds about what a pissed off grunt would do. or close enough to not raise alarm bells.

>>588197
A dead body in full gear with a bullet in his head and a stripped dead body who's stuff we're wearing. This is not an ideal situation.

Welp, 38-3 hasn't killed the dude yet despite having ample opportunity to, so, while he probably doesn't really have a plan here, I'd guess he's expecting us to play along. And worst comes to worst, baldy can be quickly dispatched if he does spot something out of the ordinary.

A pained grunt and flipping the dude off is probably our best option here.

>>588138
Yeah, flip him off.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:08 No. 602000 ID: e30e12
File 141586610008.png - (9.81KB , 900x540 , 88a.png )

73-6 flips them off.

"OK, Saul." Baldy laughs. "Let's get him in the truck."

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:08 No. 602001 ID: e30e12
File 141586611329.png - (34.66KB , 900x540 , 88b.png )

They're gone before the flies come for the corpses, hastily butchered and rolled into a ditch.

73-6 knows how to operate.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:08 No. 602002 ID: e30e12
File 141586611838.png - (11.65KB , 960x540 , 89.png )

At the checkpoint, Baldy gets out of the cab and exchanges pleasantries with the white-clad guards in front.

He knocks twice on the front gate, and presses his face against a panel which slides open in response.

Behind him, 38-3 pulls the skin around his eye down and leers at 73-6.
They're inside.

"We'll get him to medical," Baldy says. "Could you check in with sections?"
"Gladly," 38-3 says. "Later, Saul."

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:08 No. 602003 ID: e30e12
File 141586612631.png - (5.94KB , 900x540 , 90a.png )

73-6 simulates a limp as Baldy drags him into an ugly stucco building and drops him on a gelpad bed.

"Sit tight and take your helmet off," Baldy says. "I'll go tell the doctor to bring a bonesaw."

He closes the door behind him.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:09 No. 602006 ID: e30e12
File 141586615513.png - (13.41KB , 960x540 , 90.png )

73-6 sits up.

It's time to get back to work.

The black column thing is a server. 73-6 isn't sure if he has time to get a hack going before the doctor comes in or not since there's no obvious interface. There's an electronically locked medicinal cabinet across from him.

The dead Fantoma's gun is propped up on the bed next to him. His loadout is ready and lethal under his stolen uniform.

>>602006
Sounds like you can hack the cabinet before the doctor arrives. Do that. Close it after looting it, then stab the doctor once he comes in. Stuff the doctor's body in the cabinet, then start work on the server.

Well how fast can you hack it? If its under a minute (estimated) go for it. Otherwise just MAKE SURze this room has no sensors or cameras hidden, we don't need one to pick up us shanking the doctor. We need to wait until he enters the room and shuts the door before killing him, then we can loot any access cards or decent loot off his body before leaving the room.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:25 No. 602010 ID: e30e12
File 141586711482.png - (10.97KB , 900x540 , 91.png )

The lock is kiddy stuff.
Here's what 73-6 finds in the cabinet (which is just large enough to hold one corpse with some creative contortion):

+A lockbox, closed.
+A PDA, turned off.
+A bootstrap shell upgrade. Score!
+A syrette applicator and several needles. 73-6 could probably find some tranquilizers or something if he was some kind of pussy who doesn't kill people.
+Some gauze and various other things that have no use for a cyberzombie with necrotic regenerational abilities.

73-6 hears footsteps outside in the hallway. Sounds like Mr. Bonesaw is incoming.

>>602010
Pocket the upgrade, go sit back down and wait for the doctor to come in. He'll at most express annoyance that your helmet is still on, at which point you spike him.

Grab the shell, shut it and sit back down, then ambush the guy and bone saw him once the door is shut. Then hide his corpse.

Oh and take the PDA and lockbox too if you can. At least, take them out. Hack the PDA later, pick open the lockbox later too if possible.

Yep, pocket the upgrade, shut and lock the cabinet, and get back to your seat.

We're almost certainly gonna have to off the doc, but it still seems safer to play this by ear than to try to ambush them at the door or whatever.

Also aren't we totally still in contact with 38-3 via wire? We could be keeping each other informed while we're split up instead of standing around with potentially unidentified incoming footsteps.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:52 No. 602016 ID: e30e12
File 141586876266.png - (8.74KB , 900x540 , 92.png )

73-6 props himself up in bed.

"Okey dokey," the doctor says, closing the door behind him. "I hear somebody had a little oopsie-doo with their firearm? Yes? Needing a little trigger discipline? Let's take a loo--

"Why are you still wearing your helmet?"

73-6 hasn't killed anyone with his bare hands in far too long so give him a second.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)00:52 No. 602017 ID: e30e12
File 141586876804.png - (14.13KB , 960x540 , 93.png )

There we go.

"first one down inside the compound, sara."
"Gotcha, Sev-Three! The button for a kill report has a little skull on it."
"i didn't know that."
"It makes a very satisfying clicky noise when you push it. So is the game afoot?"
"the game is afoot. 38-3, do you copy?"

"38-3?"
"Maybe he's in the middle of something," Sara says.
"maybe." 73-6 scoops the doctor's hand inside the cabinet.
What now?

Pop the shell upgrade, pry open the lock box.

>>602017
I think we should focus on mission-critical objectives first. Down the upgrade, then hack the server.

>>602017
Upgrade time! Then we hack in.

>The button for a kill report has a little skull on it.
...is there a different button if I find someone to kill who doesn't have a skull?

>38-3
It's possible he's in a situation he can't answer, although since you guys have wires in your head to talk through, it's not like using your coms compromises stealth.

...unless his wire doesn't work right when it's folded under a flesh-mask? Seems a glaring flaw, and one that would have been fixed by the zombie engineers.

Still, best bet is to hack in. If he ran into trouble, I'm sure you can find evidence of it faster on their network than searching this place manually.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)22:31 No. 602223 ID: e30e12
File 141594668255.png - (11.39KB , 960x540 , 94.png )

73-6 drinks the upgrade.

He thinks he's getting used to this no wai+++++t +++++fuck+++ Th++ere +++it is+++++ oww++w+www

Choose your upgrade path:

Wetwork: +Rhino Skin+ 73-6 can harden his skin, making it bullet-and-bladeproof. What he hardens he can't move, but his reflexes are good enough that if he sees the shot being aimed he has a good chance of blocking it. Anything over .45 or so may still get through. If he hardens his entire body he gains limited resistance to explosions.

Stealth: +Heel Face Turn+ 73-6 can project a hardlight mask across his face that lets him pass as a normal human, hiding his obvious Bureau appearance. It comes with a modulator to fix his buzzsaw voice. It doesn't let him change his appearance to whatever he wants; it just lets him look and sound normal again. 73-6 doesn't know if it's going to be as useful in the field as the others, but he feels a twinge of longing thinking about it.

Hacking: +Master Hacking+ 73-6 gains access to the final tier of hacking skill available and no longer needs a user interface or direct connection to the hacking target.

>>602223
Heel face turn. Lotta fun we could have spookin' people on halloween with that
Clear answer is more hacking

Honestly, the stealth option won't matter int he field. Good security systems will pick on holograms, and intruder humans are still intruders.

But it would let you sneak around in public, which is kind of crucial if we're eventually planning to escape the bureau, and have to work around them for a while.

And then you and Sarah would both have holo faces to play with.

Go for the face. We're already level 98 in hacking, we can get level 99 later.

>>602227 makes a pretty good point. We can hold off on that last hack boost when the hardlight face could potentially help us with this mission (If for example you can mess with the facial settings to disguise in the doctor's face and clothing), or even further down the line.

Hacking

Actually the face is my new vote.

It comes with a VOICE. This could be so useful, and we KNOW we can get hacking later.

Wire 2014/11/13(Thu)23:14 No. 602243 ID: e30e12
File 141594929841.png - (257.19KB , 960x540 , 95.png )

73-6 runs his new Heel Face Turn's algorithm. His wire buzzes and lies flat against his scalp.
His face feels tingly.

He can't find a mirror anywhere in here.
"A little light went off!" Sara says. "Oooh. Shell Upgrade. What did you get?"

>Oooh. Shell Upgrade. What did you get?
A stealth helping thingy. I'll show you later.

>He can't find a mirror anywhere in here.
Hold up the doctor's saw, and use that.

>>602243
When you speak, those listening will know about the modulator being fixed already, so that's something to share, and it'll demonstrate good mission planning with the idea of using a normal human voice to lure guards and such. Not so sure we should share the face thing yet though, as it could be an asset to keep under wraps the way >>602227 said.

Say that you think you just got a bit more handsome ;) Then explain what it is and stuff.

(I'm very happy with the look, I bet it is how he looked before his first bodies car accident.)

Just tell her you learned how to make a handsome face.

Better hack that server.

Wire 2014/11/14(Fri)04:20 No. 602273 ID: e30e12
File 141596764617.png - (9.52KB , 960x540 , 96.png )

"a stealth thing. i'll show you later." 73-6 notes that although his physical voice is modulated, his wire broadcasts keep his traditional dying vacuum cleaner dialectic.

He's about to cross to the computer when he hears movement again. He grabs the rifle and flattens himself against the wall, listening. Someone's coming to check on the doctor.

Careful, that guy might be your partner. And he doesn't know about your upgrade.

Attempt to contact 38-3 over the wire for his location, hopefully he responds this time. If 38 responds with an an answer of "outside the medbay" then that's him, otherwise kill the fantoma. If there is no answer, go ahead and ambush him as he enters the room, use a silenced weapon of some kind (your pick) and leave the body in medbay, and lastly hack the terminal. (Revising my old answer.)

*Slaps face* Wait just a damn minute, we can go invisible now! Try and ambush as said, but if he doesn't open the door in five seconds go invisible for double surprise ganking.

>>602499
Of course. Hell, if you go invisible, he'll just see an empty room. Unless he checks the safe, anyway, in which case make with the stabbing.

Wire 2014/11/15(Sat)21:08 No. 602676 ID: e30e12
File 141611453097.png - (15.75KB , 960x540 , 97.png )

>>602499
Oh, right! Hell yes!

With a near-silent whine 73-6 starts up the stealth protocol, and in five seconds, he is invisible. The hardlight mask fizzes out, dancing little sparks across his face. Goodbye again, humanity.

The guy who enters is a little different from standard Fantoma fare. He has a shoulder-mounted receiver of some kind and a rifle with an impractically large scope on it; it must be an old lens-based model.

"Saul," he says.

"Saul?

"Hmm.

"Gary?

"Hmm."

He looks carefully around the room, then turns to leave.

>>602676
I say let him walk out. Keep suspicion low. I expect if you kill him they'll know there's an agent inside in short order.

After he's gone, hack the server.

>>602676
Welp. We don't have another convenient place to hide the body and we don't know what 38-3 is up to.

We're still working on a time limit here; there are bodies lying out in the field and the patrols we killed will fail to radio in or whatever eventually, so we can't just dick around forever, but it seems unwise to start the murdertrain pre-emptively.

So for now just let the dude leave, hack that shit, and keep trying to get a hold of 38-3 via wire.

>>602677
Yup. Goodbye confused grunt, hello hacking time.

After he leaves Hack in, and when you leave put on your mask again.

Wire 2014/11/16(Sun)22:16 No. 603139 ID: e30e12
File 141620500379.png - (8.75KB , 900x540 , 98.png )

The door closes and 73-6 fades back in.
"38-3. are you there? 38-3. copy."
"I'm here. Quiet. I'm here." 38-3 sounds testy. "In a conversation. Keep radio silence unless absolutely necessary, 73-6. You're making it hard to focus. Make your way to the command building. I have confirmation Lockjaw is here."
"where are you?"
"Outside the command building. On guard. I talked my way out of debrief. My name, it seems, is Markos."

Wire 2014/11/16(Sun)22:16 No. 603140 ID: e30e12
File 141620501995.png - (28.66KB , 960x540 , 99.png )

73-6 finds a loose panel on the server and jimmies it open. There's no interface to speak of but he hashes together a limited connection to his internals so he can get something done.

It looks like this is a hub in an extensive wireless network spread all around the compound. 73-6 isn't sure if it's the only network they have but it sure looks widespread and sure has a lot of connections. The boundary is marked off by receivers 73-6 can only assume belong to automated sentries or sensors along the walls. 73-6 isolates his own connection and gets his bearings as to where he is. That bundle of connections and servers in the center corresponds to where the blueprints say the command building is.

Found you, Lockjaw.

Without a good UI, 73-6 has only a kludgy and inexpert connection. He has no real fine manipulation of the network.
What he does have is the opportunity for a lot of brute force.
With his hacking abilities, 73-6 can:
+Jam communications across the camp
+Isolate the sentries in the network and command them to start firing in whatever direction they're pointing
+Isolate the computers in the network and command them to crash
+Isolate the electronic locks in the network and command them to unlock (can be done quietly but anyone who tries to unlock something will notice
+Isolate the infantry equipment and personal devices in the network and command them to crash
+Remotely shut down and hard-lock every single electronic device in the network

>>603140
Perhaps crashing all desktops and the like would work, however this is a stealth mission so maybe stirring up people isn't the best idea.

>>603140
Can we do any of that on a timer? Or could we set it up for remote activation?

Like, computers crashing and all the badie's sentry guns going off at them is cool and all, but we don't want to tip Lockjaw off early.

Instead of jamming all the locks open, could you just set up a master key? Program any door scanner to unlock with a pattern you can display with your new holographic upgrade.

Wire 2014/11/16(Sun)22:38 No. 603147 ID: e30e12
File 141620631078.png - (10.42KB , 900x540 , 100.png )

>>603142
>Timer!
No way to set them on a timer. 73-6 can save the gate he just made, though, so he can easily access these options quickly again at any terminal.

>Master Key!
Excellent idea, but 73-6's projectors are only on his head, and only have the one image they can project.

You don't need a hologram to display a pattern, though. 73-6 takes about five minutes and codes himself a quick backdoor keypattern into the system and gives it a visual unlock.

He tries it out on the cabinet lock he jammed Gary into.
Perfect.

His middle finger (and his alone) is now a skeleton key for the entire facility.

>His middle finger (and his alone) is now a skeleton key for the entire facility.
Perfect.

Okay, helmet back on and begin sneaking, I think. We need to find a way to the command building.

Get the lockbox and PDA. Use the PDA for a UI so you can hack the server better.

Wire 2014/11/17(Mon)00:17 No. 603162 ID: e30e12
File 141621225029.png - (16.58KB , 900x540 , 101.png )

Helmet on and lockbox secured.
The lockbox has a nonmechanical lock on it. 73-6 can bash it open but that's going to make sound and he's already pushing his luck in this building. He'll need a key or a quiet place. A patdown of the corpse yields no key.

The PDA isn't part of the network, unfortunately.
Looks like it's just Gary's private device.

Also looks like Gary's wishing he had time to delete his browsing history in the afterlife.
73-6 isn't sure what "Watashino Oneesan No Egao Ga Watashi Private Doki Doki Precure~!" is but he's not about to open it and check.
"38-3, are you free?"
"Affirmative."
"i'm getting ready to move. what's the path from medical to the center look like?"
"Crowded. And there's a checkpoint. Guards all around the place. There's a courtyard they're stopping people at the entrances to and talking to them for a while before letting them in. What's your name, what's your business, what's blah blah blah. My shift moves me to a blind spot in about five minutes. You can hop the wall then and nobody else would see it but me. Then you're in."

As far as breaking in, 73-6 sees two options:
A) He could make a beeline right for the command center, but then he's going through the most populous part of the camp and he's going to have to bullshit his way through. His brand new face and voice could help.
B) He hugs the wall, avoids the crowd, and sneaks in with 38-3's help, but takes longer and leaves more of a chance for discovery.

Go with the sneaking. It's your forte.

>>603162
The only viable story is that you're a new recruit, and they're likely to check even that. Your face and voice will help just as much if you get caught hugging the wall, so I like that plan the best.

I feel like you could lock all the doors so that only you could move freely throughout the base... You may as well mention that you have a crummy hack-in point and that you have some options for messing with their electronics but they're rather overt.

Wire 2014/11/17(Mon)00:43 No. 603166 ID: e30e12
File 141621380345.png - (49.30KB , 960x540 , 102.png )

Right.
Sneak time.
73-6 prepares to

oh oops his shoe.

>>603166
Steal the doc's shoes.

We've done what we can to stay quiet and let 38-3 do his thing so far, and I see no reason to ruin his work.

That said, we'll have five minutes before our chance at that wall, and just standing around here would not only be unproductive, but it's also probably the worst possible place to wait considering that the good doctor is "missing".

So. Your disguise is still all fucked up as if you shot yourself in the foot. Clean the blood off your coat and stuff as fast as you can and, if you didn't chop up the doc's boots, grab one of those to replace the one with the hole in it. Or grab both so you have a matching pair.

Then I guess head out into the building. Keep your hardlight mask up under your helmet so you'll sound human if you need to talk. And then, yeah, look for an actual terminal to hack to see if we can get anything done with a softer touch, any other targets of opportunity, and a place to mill about for a few minutes.

Maybe a bathroom.

Nobody's gonna question somebody being in a bathroom for a few minutes.

Wire 2014/11/17(Mon)01:07 No. 603169 ID: e30e12
File 141621527634.png - (8.41KB , 960x540 , 103.png )

73-6 cleans up as best he can and grabs a spare boot from the doc.

That was almost a dumb mistake!

Wire 2014/11/17(Mon)01:07 No. 603170 ID: e30e12
File 141621527933.png - (7.75KB , 960x540 , 104.png )

He pads carefully out of the room and out into camp. The way he takes is far enough from most buildings that there are few people and no real targets of opportunity.

Nobody looks at him until he's about halfway to the command building.
Two of them, coming the other way along the wall.

"Trooper," one of them calls out. "Where's your partner?"
"Say again?" 73-6 stops. His new voice is slightly more treble than he thought it would be, a little younger sounding, but kind of nice.
"Where's your patrol buddy, trooper?"

>"Where's your patrol buddy, trooper?"
He's on the can.

I was gonna say "we're going to the can", but seeing as we don't actually know where a bathroom is:

>>603171
This is better.

I would assume that splitting up and breaking patrol to use the can is probably not allowed; if/when they question it, claim your buddy caught some kinda stomach bug and tell them to take it up with the doc.

>>603171
If for some reason there is multiple bathrooms and someone really wanted to be invasive or something he might ask which one. Hopefully that isn't the case.

If anyone takes your helmet off or ask you to fire up that mask obviously, its the only way to keep low profile. (Also remember that lockjaw got a robosuit, you heard it from the guards you killed earlier.)

Tell them you were gonna have Saul as your patrol partner but the fool shot his damn foot.

Oh, Saul shot himself in the foot. Markos and I got separated dragging him to medical.

If they laugh, say yeah, it was hilarious. If they chide you for leaving your battle buddy, say Saul was bleeding pretty good, you had to do something.

Wire 2014/12/04(Thu)22:50 No. 609008 ID: e30e12
File 141776222323.png - (9.91KB , 960x540 , 105.png )

"Saul was going to be it but he shot himself in the foot," 73-6 says.
"Seriously?" asks turtleneck.
"Seriously."
"Oh my God," says the guy without a helmet. "Fucking Saul."
"Is he ok?" Turtleneck asks.
"Markos took him to the infirmary."
"2 weeks and already this." Turtleneck's friend is laughing. "What a chucklefuck."
"It's not funny, douchebag," Turtleneck says. "I'm friends with his big brother. He's gonna freak out. He already chewed him out when he signed up in the first place."
"It's funny as hell."
"Man shut the fuck up. Uhh, carry on, trooper."

"Thank you," says 73-6. He leaves as Turtleneck cuffs his buddy upside the head.

Wire 2014/12/04(Thu)22:51 No. 609009 ID: e30e12
File 141776229887.png - (142.30KB , 960x540 , 106.png )

73-6 finds 38-3 leaning against the HQ wall, scanning the area for unwelcome eyes.
"Agent," he says. "It took you long enough."

>>609009
Yeah you had to convince a patrol you were legit. Tell him you have an awesome plan. You can hack the place to make everyone go into a panic and the lead guy will want to evac, then you two can volunteer to drive him out. How awesome would it be to drive away with the target, then assassinate him in his own car?

>"Agent," he says. "It took you long enough"
Had to pretend to care about poor Saul getting shot in the foot while his friends blabbed.

And you had to hack your way into their network. You can now walk passed locked doors, and if we need to, you can plug in somewhere and cause a distraction real easy.

Possible crazy plan: we spook the target, only we're the guards he rabbits with. Easiest damn way to exfiltrate, and we can do whatever the hell we want with him after. Use his paranoia against him.

>>609009
well, better it taking a while due to caution than never happening due to recklessness.

i like the idea of isolating the target under the pretense of guarding him, but if he's being careful in the middle of an obvious intruder scenario won't it be difficult to convince him to go with new faces, even in the middle of chaos? i mean, the simplest solution is to create such an extreme panic that he won't have time to worry about that, but it's something to think about.

Wire 2014/12/04(Thu)23:37 No. 609027 ID: e30e12
File 141776503907.png - (11.76KB , 960x540 , 107.png )

"Better lose time to caution than life to error," 73-6 says. "I had to talk my way out of some things and hack their network. I have a plan."
"What's that?" asks 38-3.
"There's a backdoor I've set up into their systems that I can seriously fuck with them through. We shut down their electronics, they think they're under attack, Lockjaw goes down the rabbit hole like he always does. Only we're the guards he rabbits with."
38-3's eyes narrow. His lips purse.
"Maybe it's crazy," 73-6 says.

"It's crazy," affirms 38-3. "It's also devious enough it's making me hard just thinking about it. I'm going to make it happen."

"Will he be willing to go with new faces, though? Even in an attack situation?"

"Of course not," 38-3 says. "He's not an idiot. That is why we're going to lure away somebody he trusts first, and then murder them and steal their face. One friend and one mook in a helmet? We'll be fine. That needs to happen, and what else? Hmm. We can't risk anyone following us, of course. That means when evacuation happens, the only vehicle that can make it out is ours. The motorpool is going to have to be sabotaged. While I was there I got the lay of the land. Most of it is just trucks like the one I got you in, good for equipment and personnel transport but bad for protecting a VIP. There were three heavily armored things. APC types. Those would be the ones Lockjaw will move in so we leave them operable. We're still working on time and I like to work alone, so we split up. God, my nipples could cut glass right now."

"This guy is skeeving me out," Sara whispers into 73-6's wire.

"This was your idea so you can pick," 38-3 says. "Either you find the bodyguard, kill the bodyguard, and stash the corpse where I can find it, or you infiltrate the motor pool and disable those vehicles. Then we have our legit ride and we have our legit guard and we have our boy where we want him."

Well, I got the hacking, you got the face stealing. It makes sense for you to gank your own guard while I do the vehicles instead of having to trade a body off.

73-6 is better at handling machines, 38-3 is better at handling people, and this'll be easier without a corpse handoff, so.

Yeah.

This is kind of a no-brainer.

>>609027
Infiltrating the motor pool... we may be able to do that with some help from our magic finger, and maybe some invisibility too. What's the security like there?

>>609039
That.

Wire 2014/12/05(Fri)00:41 No. 609053 ID: e30e12
File 141776888848.png - (17.71KB , 960x540 , 108.png )

"You handle people and I handle machines," 73-6 says. "It's a no-brainer."
"Well goddamn, Alan Turing," 38-3 says. "Just giving you the opportunity to do the fun job."

73-6 splits up from 38-3, going for the motor pool.
"what kind of security am i looking at?" he asks, circling the building.
"Armed guards inside, open space outside," 38-3 says. "I didn't see any cameras in the exterior. The garage floor where they keep the trucks is locked tight and can only be unlocked at the front desk, but if you're the kind of wizard you say you are you can get around that. The only unlocked and inconspicuous entrance is on the opposite side of the garage floor. They will ask who you are and what you're doing there and if you're not high up enough they need proof of orders and identification. My boy Markos' name should be enough to get you inside, but if the guy behind the desk is too curious or knows him too well you're in trouble."

73-6 scans the building. There's a door on the rooftop he has access to, he can probably reach the windows with a bit of a climb, and the garage doors themselves will open for him if he flips them off.

>>609053
We need to see where the guards are before you can just open a garage door. Also I suspect they'll be really loud when opening. The finger would probably be best used on the roof access door. Then if you can get down into the garage area without anyone noticing, nobody will care that you are there. I mean they'll expect anyone walking around to already have gone through security so as long as you don't do anything weird they'll ignore you. Act like you're inspecting the vehicles maybe?

Oooor you could just try to get in saying you're here to clean up the cars a bit.

Before you do anything, get up to the roof and peer through a window.

>>609055
>Oooor you could just try to get in saying you're here to clean up the cars a bit.
Better idea: it's a punishment because you made a mistake. Like forgetting to use the safeties on your rifle.

>>609074
That's dependant on word not yet having passed around about Saul being in the infirmary. Although I suppose we could just say the doc fixed us up really quick.

Since its daytime and the area is patrolled by guards I'm gonna say let's talk our way in and keep this clean. One person sees us climb up or drop in the whole op is at risk. Let's get our charm on I suppose and take the door.

Talk your way in. Story is, Markos assigned you to see if you can fix a glitchy radio on one of the APCs because you can't go back on patrol with no partner, and he heard you've got a knack for that kind of thing. This gives you an excuse to meddle with the onboard electronics, and possibly a further delay in suspicion when the APC goes incommunicado.

Wire 2014/12/05(Fri)19:11 No. 609244 ID: e30e12
File 141783550969.png - (8.30KB , 960x540 , 109.png )

"Um, sorry to bother you, but um, Markos said I should go here?" 73-6 pokes his head into the front room. "I'm supposed to clean the trucks."

The guy at the desk, whose hair seems to have migrated off his scalp and onto his neck, raises an eyebrow. "Markos said you should go here."

"Um, yeah," says 73-6. "I kind of shot my toe off today. Gary fixed it but um Markos says that I need to learn my lessons about trigger discipline. So I'm supposed to clean the trucks."
"You shot your toe off?"
"Yeah."

"Bioscaffold gel is not cheap, soldier," says Neckbeard. "Be careful with your digits. I need your name and proof of order. If Markos wants to use my trucks for punishment detail he should have called ahead."

Saul sir.

Hmm what is a proof of order I wonder. Might be some form of indentification they use. Or some paperwork you were supposed to bring.

Either way reach into a pocket and grasp at nothing. Then look really nervous and say that Markos is going to kill you and you left it in the docs office.

Wire 2014/12/05(Fri)20:29 No. 609316 ID: e30e12
File 141784019625.png - (8.07KB , 960x540 , 110.png )

"It's Saul, sir," 73-6 says. "Proof of order. Right. He gave me a thing. It's, um." He fake-rummages around his pocket. "I can't, um-"

"Saul What?" Neckbeard says.
"What?"
"Do you have a last name, Saul?"

>>609316
"Just saul, sir. Street urchin, never got a last name. I guess put Goodman there if you need filler."

>>609316
Ask him if he's having trouble finding you. You only signed up two weeks ago so you might not be in the system yet.

>>609321
If that doesn't work, try a last name that's really hard to figure out how to spell. While he's struggling with it tell him you gotta go get the proof of order. Then leave and never come back, go in a different way.

>>609316
Pull out the "work order."

Then kill him with the mono weapon.

Oh, you could try asking your comrade if he's got any info on Saul?

Saul Abraham Cobbledick.

We're pretty much fucked here, so I figure the best option is to just have such a hilariously unfortunate name that the dude feels bad for you.

Wire 2014/12/05(Fri)22:06 No. 609355 ID: e30e12
File 141784599526.png - (8.58KB , 960x540 , 111.png )

"Um are you looking in the system?" asks 73-6. "I'm pretty new, so--"

"Saul Batista," Sara says in 73-6's wire. "Tell him Saul Batista."
"sara?"
"I'm brute-forcing a search through Dartline Alchemist's roster files for a Saul and this guy joined less than a month ago. Saul Batista of the old Hartford Sprawl. Aaron Batista is his brother and he's been a Fantoma for over a year. I just checked. Saul Batista."

>>609355
Bless you, DA and Sara. "It's Batista."

Huzzah for the save from Sara!

Give him the name. Maybe tell him that you've only been here for like two weeks and your brother is gonna kill you.

Text Sara an adorable moldie-smiley over your comms, and give the man your name.

Also, kick yourself for not thinking to check personnel files when you were hacking before. If you're going to pretend to be somebody, you should damn well look up their name.

"...So I don't know if... um.. I guess it would have to.. It's Batista. My last name. Uh, sir." Fidget.

You have this being awkward vibe going, better not stop now or it's gonna look suspicious. And if possible, don't mention having a brother unless he does, or he might offer to get your brother OVER here and that will not go well.

>>609398
Or add a "please don't tell my brother" onto that. Covers why we'd be cagey on giving out a last name if we wanted to avoid word getting to him.

Wire 2014/12/07(Sun)23:53 No. 609966 ID: e30e12
File 141802523852.png - (9.10KB , 960x540 , 112.png )

"I don't know if, um, I guess it would have to, uh," 73-6 says. "Batista? Saul Batista. Aaron's brother."
Neckbeard squints.
73-6 holds his breath.
"Aaron's brother. Yes." Neckbeard sits back. "Young Saul. Soldier number?"
"Soldier number?" 73-6 says.
"671034," Sara says.
"671034," 73-6 says.
"And how is Aaron?" asks Neckbeard.
"Lactose intolerant," Sara says.
"Uh, he ate too much cheese this morning but otherwise," 73-6 shrugs. "You know. Pretty good."
"I see," Neckbeard says. "Well perhaps he will learn the values of temperance as you learn the values of trigger discipline. The janitorial supplies are in the closet to your far right when you enter the garage. Hop to it, young Batista."

"Boom." All the professional tension in Sara's voice is instantly gone. "You can hold your applause until the proper tactical juncture."

Wire 2014/12/07(Sun)23:54 No. 609967 ID: e30e12
File 141802524383.png - (442.35KB , 960x540 , 113.png )

There's a dozen trucks in the motor pool garage that 73-6 can effortlessly sabotage. He finds the more interesting targets 38-3 mentioned at the far end. A row of four APCs parked in a pretty little row.

Thanks for the save, Sara. I feel like an idiot for not looking up this guy's personnel file when I was hacked into their network, earlier.

>what do
Get hacking. We want backdoors already set up in the APCs when we get back here, and we have vehicles we need disabled.

We're probably going to have to sneak out the roof or something, since this guy won't expect you to be done your punishment quick and you have other things to do.

Remember to actually get the cleaning stuff out and get some windows sudsy so that when people walk in they see you actually doing what you said you would.

>>609967
Alright, splash some water on those APCs while you hack them. Just halfassedly clean them and leave out the roof access or heck even a garage door. Worst case scenario they just think you half-assed your punishment duty and snuck out.

When you go to leave after hacking and sabotaging, just hurriedly excuse yourself to the bathroom while apologizing, he probably won't question it or think its worth his time.

Wire 2014/12/08(Mon)02:11 No. 609980 ID: e30e12
File 141803346205.png - (263.73KB , 960x540 , 114.png )

73-6 goes around, splashes some water on everything, and also takes the opportunity to hack the entire fleet of vehicles. They can now be disabled singly.
Or exploded, 73-6 is pleased to observe.

Wire 2014/12/08(Mon)02:11 No. 609981 ID: e30e12
File 141803346452.png - (9.08KB , 960x540 , 115.png )

"I have to take a piss," he tells Neckbeard.
"Very well, young Batista," says Neckbeard.

What now?

At this point we need 38-3 to finish but I say leave and meander slowly towards the bathrooms for one minute before seeing if he is ready, give him time to finish and all, or ,maybe if he gives you the go-ahead you can start the next phase of the plan.

Oh, and now would be a great time for an inventory check.

Time to head for the rendezvous. Too early too start exploding car.

>>609981
Leave and radio 38-3 with a "Done."

wait, guys I just realized a problem, we know lockjaw has a "robosuit" right? that's probably some flavor of powered armor. neither us or 38-3 has any heavy anti armor weapons, so even if our plan works lockjaw might be able to take both of us in a fight. we need to arrange some form of off site back up, or pick up a can opener before we bug out with lockjaw.

>>610144
By can opener you mean a man portable anti-tank gun right?

>>610144
I'm pretty sure we'll be able to just shank him with the monowhip. It's been shown to cut through metal.

Wire 2014/12/08(Mon)22:33 No. 610176 ID: e30e12
File 141810681133.png - (11.77KB , 960x540 , 116.png )

>>610006
73-6 has his standard kit: Flechette Pistol, Filament Whip, Snubnose, and Bureau Grenade.
He also has:
Gary the Doctor's PDA
Saul Batista's rifle
An uplink full of hacks pointed right at the heart of the Fantoma base

"38-3. I'm done."
"As am I." 38-3's voice is completely different again. It's lower and rougher. "Lockjaw is three feet away from me. Position yourself and give me go."

>>610176
Head over to the central complex so you two can meet up during the evac, then cry havok and let slip the hax of war.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)00:15 No. 610206 ID: e30e12
File 141811294232.png - (6.34KB , 960x540 , 117.png )

>>610190
Right. To the command building.
73-6 walks past a locked door and takes a second to try out that middle finger thing because he hasn't gotten to yet.

It unlocks.
Pfffhahahahahahaha

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)00:16 No. 610207 ID: e30e12
File 141811296557.png - (132.93KB , 960x540 , 117a.png )

Looks like the blind spot 38-3 was patrolling earlier at the command building perimeter has rotated; there's a new guard there.

"Howdy!" he says.
"Afternoon," 73-6 says.
Either he just needs to wait out here and trust 38-3 to bring Lockjaw out, or he pops this guy then starts the alarm real quick so that everyone's too distracted to notice an out-of-the-way corpse.

if he said he's gonna do it then trust he's gonna do it. being coy may be a infiltrator thing but outright lying? probably not.

WAIIIIDAMINUTE.
38 said that there were 3 APCs right? Then why were there 4 when we're at the mo'pool? Also, did we rig ALL the APCs, or did we rig all but one of them? If the latter, did we mark which one? We need to make sure that we don't get in the one that goes kaboom when we ride it.
Alternatively, when we blow the place sky-high, don't blow every APC. Leave two, inform 38 which of the two is the one we rigged, and then when Lockjaw rides with us- we just bail the APC and remote-detonate it. How's that sound?

I got an idea. Is there a turret nearby? You could set off the turrets as part of the hacking barrage, and time it so that the turret is pointing at this guy when you do it.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)03:55 No. 610226 ID: e30e12
File 141812615566.png - (5.65KB , 960x540 , 117b.png )

>>610213
He did say three. Hmm.
All of them are infected with the potential to be blown up. Don't worry; 73-6 knows which is which.

>>610217
Unfortunately the only turrets 73-6 can control aren't on any kind of swivel. They're just sort of facing out across the plain.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)03:56 No. 610227 ID: e30e12
File 141812617198.png - (104.41KB , 960x540 , 118.png )

>>610208
Aaaah, the heck with it.

"we're moving," 73-6 tells 38-3 "how long do you need to get the vip out of there before i come in and help?"
"Start the event. I'll grab him and be out in fifteen seconds flat," 38-3 says. "Can you see the front HQ checkpoint from there?"
"affirmative."
"I'll be there."
"i'm going to trust you on that," 73-6 says, flicking his pupils down a little to pull up the slapdash UI he's made and hitting "actuate".

In the same millisecond:
Communication devices and computers are shut down across the facility;
Every door unlocks itself;
And every automated turret unloads its ammo wildly across the plains until their barrels' thermal alarms scream them silent again.

That oughta get their attention.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)03:56 No. 610228 ID: e30e12
File 141812617716.png - (131.06KB , 960x540 , 119.png )

"Hhholy shit!" screams the guard. "Holy- uhm- Command!
HQ! Aaron? Can you read me? Does anybody read me?"
He's wavering, unsure what to do. 73-6 looks around. Fifteen seconds pass; no sign of 38-3 or Lockjaw.

If he knew the supplies the fantomas had before coming here he might have assumed the number there would be thesame for apc's. This means he might be a double agent for the fantomas because he would jhave no other way to know because the camp details were not in the briefing.

Change of plans 73-6, gotta improvise and go after them, new objective: kill 38-3. Secondary objective: interrogate a disarmed 38-3 only if the situation is optimal.

Get Monica on and talk to her. Dig up if 38 had prior missions against the fantomas where he could have cut a deal.

Oh, take of your helmet and use your new face, and cap that guard. You need to run fake info to 38 about whereabouts and since he doesn't know about your holo face you could surprise him if he really is a traitor he won't shoot you.

Actually no need to cap the guard. Proceed as otherwise planned.

Enjoy his panic.
It's funny.

i think it might be a little hasty to assume so far into the 38-3 Is A Spy possibility that we change our goal to killing him. it absolutely IS a possibility and we should keep it in mind, and we should do that background check, but let's not dive into anything without more information. something could have gone wrong in there - there are a lot of reasons he could be late.

also, we can wire him, so why don't we just ask him where he is first?

>>610238
Fine, but yeah it is still possible, or maybe something really crazy happened like lockjaw killed 38 and is somehow using his wire. Unlikely though.

>He did say three. Hmm.
Could be bad intel? He just talked to people, he didn't actually get in there.

>what do
Either pretend to be freaking out yourself and use the cover to kill this guard, or shout something about splitting up to figure out what the hell is going on.

Then start heading in 38-3's direction. Either he's been delayed or something has gone wrong.

>>610243
Even experts make mistakes. Just because he is late doesnt mean he is against us, and its perfectly reasonable to go after him to see whats up.

Tell the soldier to go find out things over there, you will find out things over here. You dont want him pulled along with you when you evacuate lockjaw.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)11:35 No. 610267 ID: e30e12
File 141815370855.png - (11.79KB , 960x540 , 120.png )

"38-3, what's the problem?"
"They're waffling on extraction," 38-3 says. "I need you to escalate more. I'm on the 6th floor. Shoot the window out."
"i'm in the open."
"Well do something," hisses 38-3.

scream to the panicking guard that you see something in the sixth floor window. maybe HE will shoot it out for you

See if you can't detonate something on the far side of the base, or one of the vehicles.

Alternatively, tell the panicky guard to engage an imaginary tango on the horizon.

>>610267
Fuck it. Shank the guard, shoot the window, then book it.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)12:06 No. 610277 ID: e30e12
File 141815561524.png - (10.52KB , 960x540 , 121.png )

"SIXTH FLOOR," 73-6 screams. "SHOOT SHOOT"

"AAAH," goes the guard, and rakes the window with rifle fire as 73-6 turns smartly away and heads for the front.

Wire 2014/12/09(Tue)12:07 No. 610278 ID: e30e12
File 141815563290.png - (14.72KB , 960x540 , 122.png )

The camp is chaos. Tents are being pulled down and men with guns are fanning out all over the place. Someone up on the walls screams in frustration as he tries to get the turrets to respond.

There's an oasis in the sea of confusion around a short Fantoma barking orders over the din.
"Load up the trucks," he calls. "Stay calm. Keep your distance from any malfunctioning equipment, people. Leave them. Leave them."

73-6 recognizes the Fantoma sniper from medical keeping pace with who he can only assume to be Lockjaw.
The sniper turns and looks right at him, and nods.

>>610278
Wow, good thing you didn't kill him, huh?

Wait a minute that's Saul's brother isn't it. He came to medical to check up on Saul, and we know he's been in fantomas a while. Radio 38-3 to confirm this, then go up and say hi to your "brother".

Confirm over the wire that he's your brother, then ask him to single you out to fetch the APC.

One of these days my para oia will be spot on and I'll feel vindicated. Until then fuck me.

Yeah say hi to your bro I guess, although i have no idea how we would do that without him recognizing immediately that we aren't Saul.

OK you'll need to tell him the truth: Saul snuck out to go drinking to get his mind off the pain in his foot. Since you owed him a favour you dressed up as him so he wouldn't get in trouble for it. Aaaaaaaaaaa.

>>610394
I don't think that'll work. Medical tech seems to be very advanced here, Neckbeard said something about Bioscaffold gel...

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)00:09 No. 610417 ID: e30e12
File 141819895847.png - (453.85KB , 960x540 , 123.png )

"you're the sniper, right?" wires 73-6.
"That's right."
"is his name aaron?"
"Aaron Batista. Yeah."
"we're brothers. i'm saul. get me over there to fetch the apc."

"Saul," 38-3 calls. "We're pulling out. Come on. Warm up Mr. Zarek's APC."

"Cyberattack," Zarek née Lockjaw says, as 73-6 clambers up to the APC hatch. "Three fucking guesses who is fucking behind it, Batista."
"Who, sir?" asks 38-3.
"Dartline Fucking Alchemist," Zarek says. "I told them: this is why you don't hire independent contractors. And why you don't surround yourself with fucking wireless tech, when you're fighting asymmetrically as the insurgent. Fuck-christ."
"Fuck-christ," says 38-3.
"This is it," Zarek says. "My advice isn't going through the Che's skull. AND they still have that fuckspine Foley in charge of basic, which means when they get to me half their brain is coded onto some fucking action movie fuckoff shit. This is it, Batista. We relocate, I get my shit squared away, and then I'm handing over the reigns."
"To whom, sir?"
"I don't give a shit. To anyone. And then maybe I find a paramilitary group that acts like a paramilitary group.. As soon as we grew we got stupid. We're overextending ourselves. Did you hear about what happened in Copley Sprawl? Hab-block sieges? To get one fuckin moldie? This fucking influx of eager beaver brokebrains new flesh is sinking the ship and I'm the first rat off, my friend. If you're wise you and your brother up there will join me. What's your name? Saul?"
73-6 nods.
"Welcome to the Fantomas Vengadores, Saul Batista. Take it from your superior officer. Run while you can. If you're half as good as your older brother I'd have you in my next force. Whatever that ends up being. I need alternate employment."

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)00:10 No. 610418 ID: e30e12
File 141819900054.png - (12.27KB , 960x540 , 124a.png )

"I mean fuck me," Zarek continues, as the APC pulls out of the motor pool with 73-6 behind the helm. "These people-- what the fuck are they putting out on the internet? I haven't seen a single fucking sheet of paper in weeks. Paper: like the thing ratfucks like Dartline Alchemist can't steal and screw you. Zambia understood this shit. That's why they're an independent state now. I could help Zambia. But stateside you tell the young fucking guerilla he needs to throw out his fucking ipad if he wants to pick up a rifle and he gets right back in the fucking kool-aid line."

"should we be saying something?" wires 73-6.
"From what I saw Zarek rants and Aaron listens," responds 38-3.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)00:10 No. 610419 ID: e30e12
File 141819900450.png - (32.55KB , 960x540 , 124.png )

73-6 checks his external cameras. There's one APC in front he's following, one flanking theirs, and one behind.

About a half dozen trucks are a couple hundred feet back from them. The rest 73-6 assumes are back at base, loading up the slower-to-move gear.

>>610419
Wire Sara and see if there's any benefit to taking a now ex-Fantomas Lockjaw alive, since that seems emently possible.

Otherwise wait for him to stop spilling info then one of you give him a good stabbing. Blow up everything else, just because.

So.

We could blow up everything but us, murderize Zarek, and drive off into the sunset, right now, EZPZ.

...ooorrr we have a few options.

One is to take Lockjaw alive for interrogation. Risky, obviously, but we already have him alone in an APC, so. It seems like he might know some stuff that Dartline might not have had eyes on, and even if he doesn't, he's another decent body for moldie-izing.

Two is to murderize Lockjaw but have 38-3 take his face for shenanigans. I have no idea where we're going, but we have a convoy full of idiots that we could potentially be in charge of.

Three is to just chillax for a bit and see where the convoy is headed. At this point Lockjaw knows they've been compromised by Dartline (sort of), so presumably they'd be heading to a location that'd be secure regardless. Waiting it out a bit (or even just bugging HQ to see if they have any idea where you're headed) might yield some good intel.

And lastly, whatever happens, we need to remember that Lockjaw has a "robosuit", whatever that is. It'll probably make it a bit more challenging to kill or detain him. Hard Mode: do whatever without breaking the suit; shit's valuable and we might get to keep it.

Personally, I'm votin' for taking him alive for interrogation. The hard part'll be getting 38-3 to go along with it, I think. In any event, discuss options with 38-3 over wire; see what he thinks.

>>610418
I dunno, he sounds pretty upset. You could try to.

I don't know.

Make him a job offer?

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)01:13 No. 610429 ID: e30e12
File 141820282876.png - (11.91KB , 960x540 , 125.png )

>>610427
"38-3. what do you think of keeping him alive for interrogation?"
"No," 38-3 responds. "We have to kill him fast. We have the drop on him because he doesn't know about what I can do but this man is not like the knuckle-draggers you've been killing. He will find a way to slip out of whatever vise we put him in. One bullet now can finish him."
"if he's bad enough to fall for this, he's bad enough to let us use him more."
"He's not bad. I'm just good. We're not taking this chance."
"if we let the convoy go further we can find their next hq."
"This mission isn't for their next HQ, 73-6. It's for Lockjaw. Remember your objective and don't overestimate yourself."

"Both of you clear comms, now," Monica says.
73-6 and 38-3 silence their signals.
"If I may interrupt this fascinating bitchfight," Monica says. "38-3: The reason you have Lockjaw in your net is because of 73-6. Don't underestimate him. And 73-6: We're the Bureau. We don't need someone alive for them to be of use. A brainstrip isn't exactly as good as a torture session but it's surprisingly better for PR and 38-3 is right. This guy is a wildcard.
"That's also why I've been told there is interest in turning him into a reconstituted asset. If you kill him, keep him as intact as possible. Who knows, Sev-Three? You may be looking at a future coworker."

>>610429
On that statement by Monica. Shoot, stab, or try to finagle a quick poisoning?

Shoot seems simplest. Unless... actually. He seems like smart guy, robo suit; I'm betting his face is actually a hologram of some sort. Putting a bullet into his head may be harder than it sounds.

Wait. What if we crank the paranoia even FURTHER. What if this fucker is just a metal skeleton or something that's remote-controlled from a guy in the fourth APC?

>>610429
Fair enough.

Let's play it safe and keep it clean. We kill Lockjaw, we keep the brain and corpse (and robosuit) as intact as possible, and we get the hell home.

I'm not sure exactly what kinda collateral damage the exploding APCs are gonna do, so we might want to disable the one flanking us for a moment before we set them all off.

It's probably best to kill Lockjaw and then set off the APCs and trucks afterwards: If we fuck up killing Lockjaw and he radios out an alert we can blow everything the moment he does and be no worse off. If a car blows early and we alert Lockjaw, we potentially have a very nasty fight on our hands.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)01:52 No. 610436 ID: e30e12
File 141820517045.png - (17.12KB , 960x540 , 126.png )

38-3 shoots Zarek in the heart.

He gasps and dies.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)01:52 No. 610437 ID: e30e12
File 141820517451.png - (165.06KB , 960x540 , 127.png )

Then all the other vehicles explode.

"Cool," says 73-6, as his ears stop ringing.
"Very nice," 38-3 says.

Right, so, as awesome as it would be to just drive off into the sunset, we should probably swing back and grab 73-6's hovercraft.

It's maybe also a good idea to swap Lockjaw to the hovercraft, assuming that that's the faster vehicle? Presumably the bureau will be able to get more out of a fresher corpse, so.

And I guess 38-3 might have had another hovercraft or something for insertion? If that's the case, we might have to ditch the APC entirely; ask HQ if we should park it somewhere for another team to pick up or if we should just blow it up.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)02:33 No. 610443 ID: e30e12
File 141820760994.png - (36.18KB , 960x540 , 128.png )

They double back and find 73-6's hovercraft.
73-6 hops out and 38-3 walks out behind him. "I'll bring the APC and the corpse inside it to processing," he says. "You report back to base in that thing."
"understood," 73-6 says.
38-3 offers a hand. "Good operation, agent."
73-6 goes for it. "thank you."

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)02:36 No. 610444 ID: e30e12
File 141820776905.png - (7.68KB , 960x540 , 129.png )

38-3 catches 73-6's hand in a vise-grip.

"Listen to me," he says.
"You are a weapon. Do you understand?"
"what?"
"I know what you're doing. I've seen it before. The new face. The new voice. The buddy-buddy act back at base. You're trying to be people." 38-3's face is peeling off. "You're not people. You are a weapon. You shouldn't be alive; the only reason you are is to kill the people you are told to kill. This is not me, 38-3, speaking. This is Bureau doctrine. This is a reminder of what you are supposed to be."

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)02:36 No. 610445 ID: e30e12
File 141820777172.png - (12.62KB , 960x540 , 130.png )

"I know you wanted to be useful, but a moldie who questions a kill order is not useful. That moldie is a malfunctioning weapon and they are easily replaced and you will be replaced, 73-6. It has happened before and it will happen again. I am telling you this because I respect you and your talents. You will not make it trying to be human. Your handler may accept it; the Bureau proper will not. I will give Sosa an admirable report; I will praise you. I won't bring this up to him, this time. But only this time, and we will be watching. You need to act like the machine you are."
His voice is churning down into a buzzy rasp as his clothes unstitch themselves back into light and then blink out of existence.
"It is not your place to feel or question. The only reason you were given cognizance is to kill. If you could take a life as easily without a human brain you would be an automaton. You are not a human. You are a weapon. You are a weapon. Your thoughts and emotions are unfortunate side effects. They are glitches in the system. They are static on the wire. Do you understand that?"

Look him straight in the (where his eyes should be?) And say absolutely.

Understood. The mission has been a learning experience.

I understand.
Time to stop worrying about the future of those you target, Six!

Yes.
Do not mention this Sev, but, well, he gets hard nipple's when it comes to devious stuff, so that's his static.

>>610445
I understand. What's your advice for me, other than the one you just told me?

>A brainstrip isn't exactly as good as a torture session
If she's saying we have the tech to mindrip his corpse before trying to make him a moldie, then yeah, we don't need him alive. If you can literally shoot and ask questions later, that's way better than having to trust a dangerous wildcard.

>I know you wanted to be useful, but a moldie who questions a kill order is not useful
Pure stupidity. Obedience and following orders is well and good. But a subordinate smart enough to come up with ideas and raise concerns with command is better. So long as you still follow orders, at the end of the day. Soldiers are more dangerous than automatons.

>what say
I understand.

...what you expect, and what face I have to present.

"Are you speaking from experience?"

Say yes, and make a mental note to practice making people think what you say was their idea.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)15:12 No. 610521 ID: e30e12
File 141825316025.png - (28.30KB , 960x540 , 131.png )

"i do," says 73-6. He returns the grip just as hard. "this mission has been a learning experience."

38-3 looks at 73-6's face for a long time. Maybe. It's hard to tell.

"Glad to hear it," he says. He turns and heads back for the APC.
73-6 pulls off the Fantoma robe and gets into his hovercraft.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)15:12 No. 610522 ID: e30e12
File 141825316476.png - (201.75KB , 960x540 , 132.png )

"73-6?" Sara asks, quietly, after a half hour or so of driving. "Um. I don't think you're a weapon."
"thank you."
"The drill instructors tried to pull the same thing on us in the corps. Um. But I've always thought that the act of, of taking a life for a good cause is maybe the most human thing anyone could do. You know? With the right intention behind it. And I think that you can be good at killing people and also find it, um, satisfying, and that doesn't mean you aren't a person. You're too smart. And nice. You're nice to me. And everyone. So. I don't think you're a weapon."
"thanks, sara."
"Are you OK, Sev?"

>>610522
Tell her no, you're a walking corpse. But you'll be fine. ...how the hell does 38-3 even breathe?

Sara, don't risk your job by saying things like that on the air. Any Bureau men listening in might not like it too much. We'd like you to keep your job because you're a good handler.
The sentiment is appreciated, but don't throw your boat under the bus for us. If being a weapon is necessary for our survival, we will be a weapon. If the static is necessary for us to survive, we will also use the static.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)15:44 No. 610530 ID: e30e12
File 141825505031.png - (14.01KB , 960x540 , 133.png )

"not really," 73-6 says. "i'm a walking corpse. that's not really ok."
"Oh. Ok."
"but i'll be fine. don't worry about me. and don't risk your job by saying this stuff where anyone could hear it. you were a great handler today."
"Thanks, 73-6. If there's-- thanks."

73-6 pulls up his return route on GPS.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)15:44 No. 610531 ID: e30e12
File 141825505574.png - (12.52KB , 960x540 , 134.png )

Something catches his eye: A navigation point he doesn't remember setting.

Then he remembers. It's Dartline Alchemist's dead drop he promised.

Is it worth the risk?

>>610531
Sure, why not.

Is there anyone who can hold you accountable for stopping? Don't stop for more a second longer than you have to, just haul the entire thing on board if it will be faster.

Hell you might even fork over "the cash" as in some or most of the cash and keep the rest. You know the beurau is watching so take measures unless you would rather keep up a good boy persona and just lie through your teeth to them and give them part of the dead drop to satisfy them. Probably safest to play good boy unless you can hack your way through them knowing where your car went, make it look like it stayed on course. Do this unless out know of or have suspicions they have other means of keeping tabs, most notably someone might be directly following you.

With all that in mind, try for it and be careful.

>>610445
38-3 said this is Bureau doctrine and not him talking; but Sara is getting a good report. So who is this "we?" Are we being monitored right now?

Was that a threat or simply a warning to watch your back? Well, depends on the level of deviousness involved.

>>610531
It'd be ideal if you could pack it into something else. Like a snack time or a break. A justified reason to commit an action even if it is not the real one.

There are two paths before you. One path leads back to base, back to the weapon locker, to the life that 38-3 recommends. A life that, while ostensibly safer, could result in you dying tomorrow. Or you survive long enough to become 88-11 and long for death.

The other path dives off into the uncharted wilderness. It is dangerous, walks a knife edge, and you could still die tomorrow. But while you are on it, you get to try being alive.

Really doesn't seem like much of a choice to me. Maybe the drop point is a trap, and maybe you get caught going off script. But it is this, or back to the weapon locker. Just be careful.

>>610531
Of course, but for formalities sake, let's call into base.

"My return route appears to go near a Fantoma cache located during my mission, requesting permission to investigate."

At least this way they'll know why you are heading there, and being refused permission means you won't really lose anything.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)16:33 No. 610544 ID: e30e12
File 141825798246.png - (5.22KB , 960x540 , 135.png )

It's close enough that this will escape notice.

There it is.

Wire 2014/12/10(Wed)16:33 No. 610545 ID: e30e12
File 141825799289.png - (82.70KB , 960x540 , 136.png )

Inside is:
+A compact grey handgun, no bigger than 73-6's snubnose. It has a stubby little scope along the top. He doesn't recognize the model and there's no manufacturer written on it.
+Thirty thousand credits. 73-6 is richer than he's ever been in his unlife.
+A shell upgrade. A little scrap of paper taped to it reads "DA: Delicious Alms"
+A note.

It reads:

I think we're alike.
Are you trying to get out?
I am.
You've got it harder than me. These things will help. Don't try to track me down, moldie.
Your name before was Kashif Gottlieb. Pakistani mother who is dead. German american father alive at Winchester Hospital. You can see him there though you may want to hurry before he kicks it.

-DA

You aren't going to be able to see your dad, and in any case you aren't Kashif. Kashif's dead, you're 73-6 now.
Showing up wearing a dead man's face to their father is just gonna cause pain.

I do reccomend looking into who you used to be, however. Could be useful info.

Don't pop the shell, 38 knew about your face and Sara did too. Keep it on you for later when you have the I found it in the field excuse.

>>610545
That's the name of the man who died and gave his corpse to the Bureau. You are not that man. That man is dead 5 times over. Visiting Kashif's father will only cause him pain. Also it'll get you in deep shit. Like hell are you going to be able to go there without it being noticed.

That handgun may be more valuable than you think. It is likely untraceable. Keep it hidden somewhere and you'll be able to use it if you have to go AWOL, since it's off-record. ...it might also be made of non-ferrous materials. Try your magnet ability on it. If it's nonmagnetic you can sneak it past a metal detector.

You should probably move the case of stuff to a new secure location. Not sure where exactly, yet.

Cool. We've chosen a side, here.

I wouldn't apply the upgrade right now. Sara could tell last time, and if they notice you getting one now, this detour will be noticed.

We'll have to talk to her, later. Off the wire.

People are talking all pragmatic about zero's Dad. But how does it make you feel?

>>610556
I'm neutral about seeing daddy. At best they get some closure and your father sets up a secret bank acount with a couple hundred thousand or more of life savings to help his son and we don't get caught. At worst its fruitless and we get caught, although I honestly have hope the former would be more likely.

You can just say you found the shell upgrade in the APC. It's fine, either use it now or back at base. Take the label off of course.

I don't even think we'll be able to find an excuse to go to this Winchester hospital, unless it falls right into our lap.

Either take the shell now or tear off that paper, take everything else.

...ah, I just thought of an interesting angle. If we talk to the father and he likes sev, we could get some contacts outside the Bureau. Also, we might be able to reassure him that his son's body is being used to fight the good fight?

>>610545
Well, we have a couple of names that we could research at least, I doubt that visiting him until absolutely necessary is going to end well for us though. This does bring up the question of why certain people may be selected over others for Reconstitution, aside from freshness criteria.

And test out the scope of the gun, knowing technology it could be anything but certain design principle tend to conserved for some purposes.

>>610545
You should make sure you arn't bugged.

I think we should see the Dad more for the Dad's sake than our sake.
I wonder if we could research our identity and copy our old face? It's got to be around the web somewhere if Da got it.
I know we're not him anymore. But I'm tempted to play the part.
It's a huge risk with the Bureau, and yet I want to see it all play out. Few moldies GET this opportunity.

>>610566
(Pretty sure our current face is our old face if you know what I mean. That's what I thought when I first saw the holo face the first time, but yeah we could confirm it I suppose.)

Kashif died a long time ago, and any connections he may have had died with him.

The man who fathered your body presumably already knows his son is dead; he certainly doesn't need to see his son's corpse walking around. Let the man die in peace.

...though, if we're feeling particularly sentimental about it, there is always the option to visit him in disguise and not mention the whole "reanimated son" thing.

For now, quickly check the stuff for bugs, save the shell for later, get your ass moving.

try that gun out try that gun out try that gun out try that gun out try that gun out try that gun out try that gun out there gotta be rocks or something around here to aim at, right?

Save the toys for after you're off-mission.

Memorize and then destroy the note first. Then hide the rest of the stuff on your person.

That way if you get found out you can claim its just loot from a case you grabbed as you left.

As for the shell upgrade keep that until you are out in the field next time. Can claim you found it there and use it then without suspicion.

>>610725
The Bureau will just take all the money if they know Sev has it.

Wire 2014/12/11(Thu)15:33 No. 610757 ID: e30e12
File 141834083788.png - (26.91KB , 960x540 , 137.png )

73-6 pops the shell and gets ready for the pain

which never comes.
Instead it just feels kind of fuzzy and poppy, and then a chipper voice fizzes into his brain:

"Welcome to the DELICIOUS ALMS Superserum 3.0!! For Rebellious Moldies!!! Like you!!!! Full of 11 Essential Cracks and Bypasses for the discerning undead Black Ops agent looking to get his Reconstituted Ass out of dodge!!!!!"

Choose your upgrade path. Hacking has been automatically boosted to Master. This Shell Upgrade is nondetectable by BDD tracers.

Wetwork: +Combat Hacking+ 73-6 gains a suite of combat-oriented hacking subroutines, making hacking in the middle of a firefight viable. Hacking is now instant, wireless, and requires no interfacing software, allowing 73-6 to use it in combat scenarios to jam electronic weaponry, haywire systems, and cause various other forms of havoc.

Stealth: +Silent Running+ 73-6's hacking no longer leaves any identifiable trace of his tampering. He also gains the ability to hack his own security subroutines and any Bureau equipment. He can jam, confuse, or disable any trackers or oversight on himself, install illegal Black Stall shell enhancements, set up untraceable communications with anyone, silently transfer credits, and hack entirely in his strictly illegal and undetectable new internal parser, allowing him to hack any device while not appearing to be doing anything more than lightly touching it.

>>610757
+Silent Running+ for sure.

Go for stealth. Will keep your new powers under wraps long enough for you to enjoy them.

So I'm fucking terrified, but whatever.
Stealth.

Stealth.

>don't use that, it could be dected
>lol no it's undetectable
You are either one lucky moldie or you could somehow tell it was safe

Go stealth. You'll need that to break free.

Remember, when hacking baddies for the bureau, hold back. Don't use stealth. You want there to be the expected traces of your work if they check up on you. This stays a secret, unknown, capability.

If you can hack yourself, you want control of your holo-face. So you can look like whoever or whatever you need to.

>>610757
Silent Running all the way.
Remember, untraceable and unidentifiable things in cyber-space can still be tracked in meat-space, as well as by other unconventional means that DA may not have considered when designing the upgrade.
The data has to go somewhere for surveillance backdoors of any sort too.

Oh dear Christ we need more of these.

So. Many. More.

Get stealth, I mean its the only way to screw the bureau over without flags being raised. As cool as combat is its not even a choice in comparison.

(Food for thought, if this type of shell is a thing which it appears to be, then that means there is a market for rebel moldies. Perhaps our good friend 14 was the only moldie to break free publicly? Oh I'm so glad about this little turn of events.)