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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 12:15 am
Albany finished the device in her lap and then put it way. She stretched out and then looked around. Most everyone was preoccupied or busy. She winced slightly as she looked at D. He looked miserable. He misses, York... she thought to herself. Heck, I know I do. she sighed and then moved over towards Missouri. "So..." she said unsure what to say to the older female agent. "Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?" she rambled off completely at a loss.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:57 am
Monty peered at the flamethrowers, picking them up and checking their condition. "Yes," she said finally, allowing herself a small smile. "These ought to do nicely. Maybe even explode on impact..." She put them down carefully and turned back to the first Mongoose. "Hopefully I can get it to go faster," she murmured. "They aren't all that complicated..."
K felt nervous, restless. To some degree she knew it came from Miss's eagerness to go, but she also knew that it came from herself. She wanted something to do, anything. She was glad when Albany came along. "Yes, what will we do with the decoy AI?" she asked swiftly, more as something to say than for any other reason.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:22 pm
Albany shrugged. "Leave it more than likely. I don't really think it would be safe to try and take two out...And please don't argue with me about this...But our ability to move quickly and quietly is paramount to anything we may want or feel the need to do." she picked up the end of her braid and fiddled with it then stopped herself. She sighed and looked around. "I'm so, ready to go..." she said. "But running in would only get us all killed or captured...and I'd much rather not find out what that's like." she looked around again. "I hope Montana finishes soon."
D absently flipped through radio channels. All and all pretty boring. He remembered the days when there was always someone to listen to. Not that he missed it...he hoped with all his being that this would be his last mission. Finish it, go home, make up with York and spend the rest of his natural life with his partner and watch his girls find mates and raise families of their own. It was probably a foolish hope...but one worth having.
He got up and moved over towards the crowd. "All quite here...nothing more than the usual radio chatter." he said sitting down and wrapping his tail around himself.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:34 pm
Miss listened to the others talk and started absently petting her sniper riffle that she had named Lola. She was feeling sorry for the AI they were going to leave behind. They might not know them but with the thoughts of Upsilion at the top of her head, Miss couldn't shake the feeling that is was wrong to leave anyone in the hands of people who would abuse them.
Shaking her head to free herself of any more depressing thoughts and let her battled trained section of her mind take over, "Just do what you think is best, Albany. This will be a tricky enough as it is."
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:29 pm
Monty slammed the hood down. "Done!" she proclaimed triumphantly. The rocket launchers were duct-taped to the fronts so that in the crash, they would bear the full brunt of impact. Inside every person was a tiny pyromaniac who lived for operations like this. Wiping off greasy hands on a rag, she padded over to the others. "All rigged up and ready to run," she reported. "We await your signal, Albany." As she checked on her now-blackened armor, she remarked, "Radios on? That's careless. I remember a time in which Omega had them all so scared that anyone near a Freelancer usually shut off their radios. Too dangerous." Monty smiled. "I used to do that, too."
"Do you regret that we may not be able to locate Upsilon?" K whispered to Miss. "After all, if we are going to grab another AI, maybe we should grab yours?" As she said it, she knew it was an irrational thought. She knew that it would only be harder, leaving behind an AI that Miss was attached to. But she wanted to know how her partner thought. The secret romantic inside her just took control of her mouth and blurted it out, however quietly. Poor Miss, she thought sadly.
Pi nodded, then frowned, having heard K's comment. "We can't carry more than one AI. Getting one out is hard enough, and we started this mission to recover Eps. Unfortunately, to recover another would only endanger the mission."
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:51 pm
Albany gave Pi a half smile. "Yeah...thanks for understanding..." she took a deep breath. "We'll never make it without radios. Half of what I have to do relies on someone hearing me when I'm ready." she went over to her bag and pulled out the device from earlier. "This is a very complicated piece of equipment. I built it myself, in fact. This attunes how ever many radios I want to a specific frequency. It can't be hacked so we'll be secure. It only works for 45 minutes though...then it explodes." She looked around. "Once I turn this on I'll be calling you all in precisely 7 minutes. At that time Montana enters the building and we're committed. Once we're at the storage facility, I'll be calling you Missouri. Trip the mongooses and make your move to secure us a warthog." She looked around at all the faces around her. "Lets do this." she put her helmet back on and yanked the card offering it to D.
D nodded and touched his hard disappearing. Once he was reinserted he nodded to his partner. "Ready."
Albany went over and grabbed up the equipment she needed once inside. She then opened one device and pulled out a swipe card stored inside. She shoved it in her belt and then moved towards her radio transmitter. She flipped programmed it to only detect the three radios of the team and then flipped it on. "Talk to you all in 6 minutes and 50 seconds and counting. Good luck." she then darted off, her tan armor disappearing into the surroundings.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:16 pm
Miss gave K a small sad smile before whispering back, "Part of me wants to get him back no matter what, but there are so many factors that we don't know that makes it impossible. Upsilon might not even be in there and we have so little time to even get Epsilon out that there wouldn't be any time to search." Looking toward the worried looking Pi, "Besides I came here to help Pi find Epsilon and that needs to be my first objective, and maybe once this mission is over with, I can try to find out what happened to him."
Returning her attention back to the others, Miss nodded at Albany. "Not a problem, just make sure to come back safe."
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:36 pm
Monty hurriedly suited up, allowing Pi to hop into her helmet. It took deep breaths and hard thoughts to block her already excited thoughts from Pi's. If her partner was not inside her body, Pi's heart rate would have been high enough to allow her to run for a long time. Adrenaline pumped into Monty's veins. I don't think I've ever felt this excited, she decided. Never. And I hope never to be this anxious again. I'm frightened. Almost instinctively she reached out to Pi.
"Don't worry, Monty, I'm here for you," Pi responded. She tried to comfort her partner as best she could, keeping her spiking emotions to the side. "I have the utmost confidence in D's planning skills; with D on her side, Albany can't go wrong. Besides, she's just like her dad--she'll pull through all right. Her sense timing is probably instinctive."
"I hope you're right...for all our sakes."
K leaped back into Miss before replying. "You're right. We have a job to do, and we can't afford any side trips. Let's get ready to rumble!"
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:11 pm
Albany sprinted across the terrain towards Command. The sound of her breathing sounded loud in her own ears.
Cover! D called to her. He had the guards in this part of the building's patrol circuit memorized. 45 seconds and counting.
Albany hit the dirt and rolled behind a scraggly looking shrub. Time check? she asked practically holding her breath.
It has been precisely 2 minutes and 15 seconds. You're doing fine...breath, Albany. he reassured her.
Albany nodded and took shallow breaths. Locksmiths like so many others couldn't work with shaky paws. She closed her eyes and began counting letting the seconds drop off. 37...38...39...40...41..42...43...44...45...
Go! D called to her unnecessarily. She was just like York. Her sense of timing right on the money. He felt her scramble up and run to the wall in front of her. Quick now.
I know. she sent to him. She pulled her rifle off her back and rigged the grappling hook to the silencer. She stepped back a few feet and aimed. Oh, please let me hit, please let me hit, please let me hit... she prayed silently.
To low...up another 15 degrees and you'll have it. he sent to her automatically. He'd spent so long sending compensations to York that it was second nature. That's good. Fire. he said guiding her.
Albany fired and wanted to cheer as the hook hit the roof, but she restrained herself and instead immediately went to scrambling up. Thanks, D. she thought and then ran to the grate in front of her leading into the ventilation system. She yanked the screwdriver from her belt and quickly opened the grate and very carefully dropped in pulling it back over. Schematics. We're in.
D nodded and instantly projected the planned route inside Albany's helmet. Move only 4 minutes left until contact.
Albany nodded and scurried along the shaft following the map in her helmet. Once she hit the control room she undid the grate and looked in. Two techs watched the screens. Albany took a deep breath and didn't give it a second thought...she dropped down holding herself to the edge of the grate with her paws and swung herself connecting with one's head and driving him into the other. She yanked the AI card and ran to her tasks. "Go, D." she called watching him separate and run to the computer systems after grabbing a device off her belt. She ran over and dragged the techs out of the way and quickly injected them with enough drugs to keep them out and tied them. She then ran to the door and attached a force field generator. It wasn't the greatest but it would slow most anyone down. Once she was done she looked at D. "Ready."
D grabbed the scrambler from Albany's belt. He jammed it into the computer terminal and turned it on. It was designed to cover him for a few minutes while he hacked and wrote Montana into the system. His paws flew over the keys as he worked. He finished about the same time as Albany. "Make the call." he said.
Albany nodded and flipped on her radio. "Montana...make your approach. D and I will meet you in 10 minutes in front of the storage facility." she flipped off and offered his card back to him. "Lets move." she reinserted him once he was back in the card and pulled herself back into the vents and headed towards the storage facility.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:24 pm
"Show time, Pi. Are you ready?"
"I was ready five years ago. Let's move!"
Throwing a swift prayer to anyone in the greater universe with the time to answer prayers from someone like her, Monty ran to the gate. There was no sign of a guard or any other security. Sloppy, she couldn't help but think. Very, very sloppy.
"Either that, or Albany and D aren't sloppy, and dealt with the guards," Pi pointed out. "It's best to count our blessings instead of jinx ourselves. Don't think about what could go wrong, only think about what you're supposed to do. We're fine, so long as we keep to the schedule and the plan."
Monty couldn't help but smile at her partner's thought. Pi might not have been as logical as Delta, but she was comforting and confident. So many questions raced through Monty's mind that it was all she could do to put a lid on them. The mission first. Always the mission first.
Getting in was easy, now that Monty was in the system. All that was left was, as discreetly as possible, to get to the storage facility. Walking was hard with the amount of energy in her bloodstream.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:51 pm
Albany replaced the grate over her entry to the security room. In about 25 minutes the scrambler would blow as well. It was sloppy of her to leave equipment behind but in this case they needed all the distractions they could get. And what better one than blowing a hole in the securities main computer terminal. She took several deep breaths and calmed herself. So far so good but that didn't mean it was time to get over confident. Map. she sent to D having turned it off when she'd gone in the security room. She waited and then watched as it filled her visor again. Lets go. she thought as she began crawling through the vents again.
D had to admire Albany's abilities. She was quick, agile, and could get into places that York would never be able too. Although he was finding her to be a little cold. He wondered if that was just her way of handling the stress and the pressure. York hummed and Albany just distanced herself completely. Well everyone was different. He watched as they closed in on the vent closest to the storage facility. So much to do and so little time to accomplish it. This was going to get interesting.
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Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:51 pm
Miss paced back and forth as she waited for the signal to crash the Mongooses. There wasn't much else for her to do and it was frustrating, and anytime she let herself think, her thoughts kept coming back to Upsilon and wondering where he was, which didn't help her frustration at all.
Sighing, Miss plopped down and leaned against the tire of one of the Mongooses. "I really hate waiting"
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:36 pm
Albany reached the grate closest to the facility. She flipped through her settings and settled on a heat setting. She didn't see Montana so she settled and waited flipping her optics back to normal. She tapped idly on the armor plate on her arm and then swore silently. <******** it, I can hide down there as well as up here. she thought silently shifting and unhooking the grate. She slide down and looked around. Not a soul about. She slipped down towards the door and melted into the shadows near it. Come on, Montana...where are you...
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:41 pm
"I hate waiting too," K replied. The waiting was getting on her nerves, but she didn't dare pop out and try napping or something like that. She might be needed at any second. She found her thoughts inexorably turning to Upsilon. Is that me...or is it Miss?
Monty breathed a sigh of relief when no one stopped her across the compound. She reached the door without incident. "All right, I'm suspicious now."
"Yeah, me too. Let's hope our luck lasts."
As silently as she could, Monty slipped into the shadows near the door, nearly colliding with Albany. "Why, fancy meeting you here!" she said quietly with a grin.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:59 pm
Albany smirked. "Small world I suppose." she slid towards the door and pulled out her randomizer and began hooking to the door. "Okay, this thing will pop the door open, it will then keep it open and unsealed for three minutes, and three minutes only. After the door closes again its gonna blow three minutes later and hopefully delay anyone getting in here for a bit." she finished attaching it and pressed the buttons to activate it. "Give it a minute." she said monitoring it and pressing a button. She took a deep breath and pressed another button and gave a satisfied noise as the door opened. "We're in. Ladies, D, We have three minutes starting now."
She stepped into the room and gasped. The walls were lined with storage units behind holographic labels. "Holy...s**t..." she yanked D's card. "Help them. I got work to do." she ran to the center of the room and pulled another device from her belt and began setting it up. Once done she ran to the wall and began moving AI's changing them around hoping it would add some confusion. She ran down and shifted two more before selecting the one that would come with her. She took the unit and hooked it her belt. She then flicked on her radio. "Missouri. Set the geese loose. Meet you out front." she said clicking off again.Ara As the storage unit first began to shake, Eta thought she had truly gone insane. It had been so long since anything had happened. She'd spent these last few...months? Years? Either way, she had spent her time staring at nothing, locked within the confines of her own mind. Then common sense took over, and her rational mind began working. '...they're...they're going to delete me! They've found some inexpensive way to do it...and they're..!' "Don't delete me! Let me go--I'll never bother anyone or anything!!!" She yelled, fangs bared as her voice suddenly lost the rough edge, and she fairly whimpered: "...just...let me go... I don't want to be deleted..." Just as swiftly, her demeanour changed. With a loud shriek that would have been ear-splitting for anyone who heard it, she started to thrash against her 'cage' once again. There were no tears - no, those had dried long ago - but only a desperate need to escape. Eta screeched unintelligible words in her panicked state, her escape futile. She was locked in. Trapped permanently. And they would delete her. Eta's eyes rolled up, and she collapsed into the safety of her subconscious after who knew how long of battering her body against the confines of her prison.
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