Wire 2014/01/04(Sat)01:08 No. 555042 ID: df41f8
File 138882653120.png - (5.29KB , 800x600 , 1.png )

There are six of them in the van. They don't know their friends are all dead, yet, but they have the suspicion.

Penelope sees a sedan coasting off the exit ramp. Its tail end is dragging low to the ground. So figure five or six more incoming.

Wire 2014/01/04(Sat)01:08 No. 555043 ID: df41f8
File 138882653481.png - (9.01KB , 800x600 , 2.png )

They have no idea what they're walking into.

>>555041
Where do your loyalties lie?

get ready to ambush some dudes.

Got a place picked out for a swordfight, Pen?

>>555064
Indeed. No sense letting your enemy pick the stage!

What are they walking into? You got an ambush ready?

...pity we don't have any heavy weaponry. It's not sword fight, but it would be so convenient to blow them all up while they're packed together in a car.

Honestly, I would've hoped we could've taken the whole van out with an anti-vehicular mine. Honestly, landmines are awesome.

Wire 2014/01/07(Tue)01:37 No. 555693 ID: df41f8
File 138908742785.png - (7.05KB , 800x600 , 3.png )

This is what Penelope has:
-A handgun. 9mm, 12 round magazine, cheap and mostly plastic. It's cool.
-An electrified spike. It's standard issue. 73-6 really likes it. Who knows why, cause it looks like a toothpick.
-A Bureau grenade. They call it a Poptop. She can set it to stun, or, if she's not a pussy, to kill.
-A sword. A weapon for Adults.
-A stim. One of her old Upper friends. The Bureau's been keeping her on a slow drip to wean her off without killing her. They don't know about the secret stash she's been keeping. She's been a very good girl, of course, but it couldn't hurt to carry this around just in case, right?

Here are the places she thinks could work for an ambush:

-There's a long hall near the entrance with a bunch of cooling machinery or something in it, before you get to the factory floor. It's basically the last room there's no signs of anything having gone very wrong. If she attacks here, she'll have surprise on her side in a major way, but it's not her favorite range. She'll have to rely on 88's covering fire.

-The factory floor has a lovely balcony she can use to her advantage, but by the time they reach there, they'll have caught on. She's hidden the bodies and done her best with the blood, but the bullet holes she can't cover up so easy. Still, that's the best position she's going to have in here.

-Upstairs there's a lot of smaller rooms and hallways. They'll be more spread out there, and the range will be nice and close. Optimal conditions for Penelope's razor-edge brand of pacification. But 88 will be mostly useless, they'll be on their guard, and it's closest to Keisha and crew.

Go with the hall. The element of surprise should hopefully prove to be decisive, and you can fall back if needed.

>cheap and mostly plastic. It's cool.
Hopefully not bothered by that annoying habit of blowing up in your face today's cheap plastic guns can have.

>stim
If the choice is between being overwhelmed by superior numbers or stimming, you stim, obviously. Drugs are better than death, serious injury, losing, etc.

The drawback is you lose a lot of tactical awareness (a problem if you're trying to protect hole-ed up allies rather than killing a building full of baddies), and you're vulnerable when you come down. Perhaps more so now that you've been weaning off.

>why he like the spike
Well, it's quiet, and the electrocution does mean it kills pretty fast and neatly. People are more likely to still be able to scream out with sword or gun wounds.

>where go
I don't like the upstairs. Too close, and no margin for error. Which leaves the hall and the balcony.

How sure are we about 88? Having to rely on him isn't good if he's going to throw himself in front of a bullet at the first opportunity.

Can you increase your odds in the hall? Like, sword to collapse some of that cooling machinery on them? Or get them corralled and use the grenade?

>>555693
Ambushing early leaves time for a tactical retreat. Do that.

>>555693
The first, and be ready to fall back to the second because I don't think we can really count on 88 at all.

Wire 2014/01/08(Wed)01:51 No. 555807 ID: df41f8
File 138917466960.png - (10.05KB , 800x600 , 4.png )

Here's the hallway.

There's a looparound desk here, with a couple of unopened packages left unattended and a clipboard.
There's a little pipe on the ground in front of it. It's vibrating, making a whooshing noise, and very warm to the touch.

Two big old generators or coolers or something thrum away to themselves, cranking megajoules of power into... whatever. Is this a chest high wall factory or what?

Further back are two metal lockers, both locked, which will probably make for good bad-guy cover. Penelope's tried pushing them over, no dice. They're bolted to the wall fast.


Anyway, the trick here is going to be finding a place for 88-11. The closer, the better his shot is going to be, but the easier it'll get for the enemy to hit him or lob a grenade. And 88-11 is not in any shape to take evasive action.

Penelope has conservatively two minutes to drag him in and get ready.

I don't like this place. Factory floor is a better choice.

Okay, this hallway is basically designed for a protracted gun fight, with few flanking options or approaches that don't rely on climbing through a hail of bullets. They will recognize this immediately, and in the event of a firefight will immediately move to cover and start exchanging suppressing fire. They will win a fight on those terms with pure numbers, and they know it.

If, on the other hand, 88-11 starts that gun fight so they all dive behind cover near the door, and then you slip in the door behind them with your sword, NOW we have a win-able engagement. You will be in close range against surprised enemies with gunfire covering your sounds as you pick them off from behind. Count on one or two getting hit when 88-11 first opens up, and one or two more going down before they figure out you are behind them, and you should be able to clear one vehicle load in a single engagement.

Concerns:
-This plan would probably require you jumping down from a second story window or something to get behind them. I don't have a full layout of the building, so I have to defer to your judgement on if this would be feasible, or how good you are at jumping off of things.

-If they wait for both vehicles to roll up before moving in, that is going to be too many people to engage at once. On the other hand, it means they might be extremely bunched up coming in, and thus grenade bait. In that narrow hallway, it would be the "chunky salsa" variety of grenade blast. So maybe not such a bad thing. Still, we need good intel on what they are doing outside, so we can react appropriately.

>>555807
Wow, no, that is not a good place to be trying to sword and there is no route to fall back that doesn't put you right out of cover. Change to the factory floor.

Well that's not entirely true. You could shoot the pipe to throw up a steam cloud to cover your retreat.

I think it's time for a mulligan. This place looks like its too slanted in their favour. Try the factory floor instead.

Wire 2014/01/09(Thu)00:46 No. 556098 ID: df41f8
File 138925716813.png - (5.74KB , 800x600 , 5.png )

Here's the factory floor.
"108," says 88-11.
"Call me Penelope," says Penelope.
"No."
"Or Penny."
"No."
"Okay, amigo."
There's only one way they're going to be able to come in, and that's through the ground floor door on the right. The door to the left is some corner office.

Unless, of course, they have some way to scale the building. Then they'll be able to get in the roof hatch.
There is very little cover down there but for the two huge, uh, things. It's an excellent killing ground, with not a lot of room to hide.

The problem Penelope can see is that this catwalk, although it's metal, won't stand up to concentrated fire from a dozen-odd people. It's rickety. It's not bad cover, but she's also standing on it. That could present a problem. And of course by the time they get here, they'll be moving a lot more cautiously.

Penelope hears the second car's engine coming closer. She has maybe 90 seconds. If she's moving 88-11, she has to do it now.

Obviously what's going to happen here is they're going to come in both ways: Through the door and the roof. The ones on the floor will collapse the catwalk if you're on it, and the ones coming in through the roof will pin you down for the ones on the floor with covering fire if you're on the floor, once 88-11 kacks it.
This sucks.

nothing is perfect. this looks good enough. could you drop on top of them when they come in the door?

>>556098
I kindof want to use the hallway at the start, cut open the pipe for a cloud of steam, then ambush them when they step through for a few easy kills.

After that we can just use the cover there, and have a long drawn-out firefight to buy time for sev-3 to get his shit done and get out of the net so we can get out of here.

Wire 2014/03/05(Wed)00:23 No. 565276 ID: 22bcaa
File 139400782492.png - (11.71KB , 800x600 , 6.png )

Fuck it. Penelope shoulders her sword. That first room was fine.

The question now is what cover she drags 88-11 to. His firepower is going to be important but with the lead in his gut he's not moving in a hurry.

1 is behind a thick mixed material slab of desk. It's good, solid cover, but it's far back, it can only really hold one person at a time, and she'll be in his line of fire.

2 is a solid metal generator, closer to the action but on the wrong side of that potential smokescreen escape route. Extracting 88-11 from that spot in the event of a withdrawal could be tough, but the crazy bastard seems hell-bent on taking one for the team anyway. She knows what happens to guys who don't look out for their own asses in gunfights. Hopefully it's not as foregone a conclusion as she thinks.

Of course if she wants to sign his permission slip to the river styx for him, 3 is always an option. The room just beyond is narrow and without cover good enough to withstand 88-11's big old gun and it's hard to miss with a water pistol at that range. He could keep them from getting into the room in the fuckin' first place if she puts him there, and will probably do a healthy amount of damage. Or maybe they'll just open up the door and put one through his face. Either way, his goose is most likely cooked if he's put there. One way or the other.

Whichever it is, it has to be fast. Time to commit and get ready.

1, if worst comes to worst you can probably weather a stream of bullets aimed vaguely-at-the-other-guy better than the other guy he's shooting at, plus the logical thing to do is to let him fire through the doorway and you stand-by to take overflow and counterattack during reloading.

3's no good. You're taking a heavy gamble on when he goes down, and you'll be unable to contribute to the fight until he does. Dividing and conquering yourself for the enemy isn't smart.

2 seems better. Not in his line of fire, and it's close enough to the action he feels like you're not coddling him, and he could hope to get what he wants. 1 may be safer for him, but with his injury and the range, he would be a lot less of a help to you.

>>565276
2!

>>565276
The generator. First rule of gunfights is to not be where you may get shot and to worry about escape later.

2. Gotta watch your own back too, and being in the line of fire of an ally isn't conducive to that.

What weapons dose 88 have and can we get 73's weapons?

Wire 2014/06/08(Sun)17:58 No. 577826 ID: 186341
File 140227550641.png - (10.26KB , 800x600 , 7.png )

"Leave me here," says 88. "I can take them."
"I leave you by yourself and you're smoked, amigo," says Penelope. She drags him along the floor. The butt of his MG clatters against the metal.
"Good," says 88. "I'll go out shooting."
"Keep up the martyr bullshit," says Penelope, "and I'll bust your head open myself."

Wire 2014/06/08(Sun)17:58 No. 577827 ID: 186341
File 140227551109.png - (9.91KB , 800x600 , 8.png )

Penelope pushes 88-11 against the generator and hunkers herself down next to it.

At the end of the hallway the door opens.

Wait for iiit... we want as many of them out of cover before we open fire.

Try not to think about the fact that if and when you bite it, there will probably end up being a penny-moldy starting to think like this bottle of cheer.

>Wait for iiit...
Yup. Not time to hit then, yet.

You still got any surveillance of the outside? They coming in all at once or staggering their entry?

Wire 2014/06/09(Mon)00:06 No. 577882 ID: 186341
File 140229758503.png - (11.30KB , 800x600 , 9.png )

Penelope waits.

Two dudes file in, then three more. The Fantomas Vengadores, as charmingly and entirely incompetent as always.
"HEY," calls one. "OWEN? OWEN. HEY."
"Shut the fuck up," says another as they walk down the hall toward the hiding agents. "We have to be tactical and shit."

The redhead in back has a handgun. So does white hoodie at the locker. The rest of them have long guns, maybe submachine. Except that tall one right in the middle, without a helmet. That's some kind of shotgun.

Penelope holds as long as she can. One of them starts to climb over the generator.

>>577882
Time to kill. Pop the guy in close range first, then the guy with the shotgun.

88-11 should try to pop those two back by the door (the one with the bigger gun first), then both of you try to nail whoever's left alive and out of cover. If at any point the only one left is the redhead in the back, advance with your sword and block her shot so that 88-11 can pop her when she comes out of cover to try to shoot you.

>>577882
Nah. The guys in back don't look like they're paying attention, and another person has their back to the locker. You want to kill the person in front asap-he looks like he's wearing armor or something and might ablate a few round, so make sure to use the sword in one hand and get under him. Shoved a little to the side so 88-11 does not have to shoot through them.

Have 88-11 unload on the guy in the middle paying attention and try to nail the two in the back with a sweep. He'll probably only nick them but it gives you a good chance to follow through with the handgun on the one facing away.

Time to kill. Get the guy up close first (sword him? Maybe we buy another sec that way). Then try to take out the two guys in the back before they know what's going on. Because if they survive the initial salvo, they have cover to duck behind, which will make it harder and slower to kill them. The guys in the middle have no cover, forcing them to either run for the back or charge us, or engage us where they stand, none of which are likely to go very well for them.

As soon as he sticks his head out, cut it off. 88-11 should open fire on the two closest to the door, and will probably end up hitting the redhead. If you have the time, aim for the last guy off to the side.

Wire 2014/06/09(Mon)21:27 No. 577958 ID: 186341
File 140237445344.png - (20.82KB , 800x600 , 10.png )

The moment the Fantoma sees her, Penelope cuts his fucking head off.
She plants her sword and pulls her pistol as the screams start, pumping two bullets into the guy with the shotgun. 88-11's automatic opens up next to her.

"BIENVENIDAS, CHICAS" she screams over the ear-popping chatter of 88's gun.

Wire 2014/06/09(Mon)21:27 No. 577959 ID: 186341
File 140237445694.png - (14.19KB , 800x600 , 11.png )

White hood takes three to the chest and drops. The first bullet pings off the guy in back's helmet, then the second pops his head open.

The shorty redhead in back takes cover.

This goes without saying but they know the agents are here now.

Think you can vault over there and sword him while he's still panicking and shell shocked from that initial barrage?

If you can ninja your way over there and stab him right though his cover while 88 keeps him pinned, that would be pretty rad. (So long as you trust the suicidal crazy with a gun behind you).

>This goes without saying but they know the agents are here now.
Well, these guys do, sure. But most of them are dead. And if you kill them fast enough, they'll all be too dead to call it in.

Well, unless there were any others close enough to hear the gunfire.

>>577959
So, only one left. Pop out, block a bullet, and 88-11 can pop him. Then take cover and wait for the next squad. Maybe grab some guns and toss them behind your cover, so you have more shots for a protracted fight.

The trick to fighting the incompetent with flawless victory is setting them up to expect you somewhere other than where you'll be when they take a shot at you. I'm sure these people are incompetent enough we can show off doing that, so long as we make sure to never get pinned down or stay in one place for too long.

Wire 2014/06/14(Sat)00:51 No. 578565 ID: 186341
File 140273230164.png - (9.06KB , 800x600 , 12.png )

Penelope breaks from cover and charges across the room to kill the last guy.
From the door behind him comes a spray of gunfire.
Two bullets slam into Penelope's shoulder and spin her bodily on her feet. She stumbles behind a locker as a bulky Fantoma with an MG comes through the door, filling the room with lead. 88-11 is forced back down behind cover.

Oh yeah. There were six guys in the van.

The new one takes cover next to his friend and probably blows his fucking eardrums out firing off bursts six inches from his head.

"I THINK I GOT HER," he tells Redhead.
"WHAT?" says Redhead.

Penelope kicks herself. These people got the drop on her.
One of the bullets was stopped by the trenchcoat. The other burrowed through, but only just. It feels like someone whacked her right arm with a fucking crowbar but she can still move it.

>>578565
Well, the main thing we're doing here is buying time. So just keep them from advancing. Wait for a gap in incoming fire and return some.

Could you climb over that big metal box and take aim from above? Even if they see you, you'll pull fire from 88.

...well, you're going to have to do something, soonish. Before 88 has the bright idea to do something suicidally stupid in order to gain you an opening.

If they think you're dead, they might press on 88, giving you an opportuity to gank them. Can we get over these lockers? Or knock them down? ... or just open one, cut a hole in the back, and step through?

>Oh yeah. There were six guys in the van.
Oh yeah, remembering details from minutes months ago. That's a thing.

We have a grenade. We could lob it over there next to the door to take out these two, or we could wait for the sedan group and maybe take out more than two enemies with it.

>>578616
Either way, be sure to cook it first.

Wire 2014/06/15(Sun)13:10 No. 578730 ID: 186341
File 140286300921.png - (14.11KB , 800x600 , 12a.png )

Penelope bites the pin out of the grenade and clicks the top in.

"Ay 88", she thinks over the Wire. "Grenade."

Wire 2014/06/15(Sun)13:10 No. 578731 ID: 186341
File 140286302292.png - (13.36KB , 800x600 , 13.png )

She lets it cook and underhand lobs it over the generator.
It splatters Redhead and friend into chunky salsa before they understand what's happening.

The van is taken care of. The sedan people are going to be here in ten or fifteen seconds tops.

Is it possible for you to hang from the ceiling behind that tall, dark gray object? Get 88 to hide, hang from the ceiling, wait for them to pass your position, then drop down and take them from their flank while 88 opens up from the front.

>>578752
With your sword, natch.

How fast can you move 88 out of the room? If you break that pipe for a curtain of steam that might delay them a little so that we can pull back to better terrain. With just one more group to take care of we can pull back to room 3 where terrain is in our favor.

Wire 2014/06/15(Sun)23:40 No. 578800 ID: 186341
File 140290082451.png - (32.31KB , 800x600 , 14.png )

Penelope sinks two bullets into the pipe and is pleased to see it does exactly what she hoped it might.
Obscuring smoke pumps into the room.
"OK, 88," Penelope says. "We are re-fuckin-locating."
"Leave me here," 88 says. "I can hold them off."

"Come on." Penelope drags him out of cover and off to the door. "Crazy dead-ass gringo."

Wire 2014/06/15(Sun)23:40 No. 578801 ID: 186341
File 140290083323.png - (17.40KB , 800x600 , 15.png )

Dartline Alchemist's defenses crackle into brilliant, plasma life, scything neon death across the cyberscape.

Wire 2014/06/15(Sun)23:40 No. 578802 ID: 186341
File 140290083643.png - (135.53KB , 800x600 , 16.png )

It doesn't do him much good.

Wire 2014/06/15(Sun)23:40 No. 578803 ID: 186341
File 140290084112.png - (12.02KB , 800x600 , 17.png )

73-6 rushes through the compound. Sara's piloting the robot.
He needs to find some trace of this asshole console jockey Dartline Alchemist.

Sentries and drones scuttle out of the gloom to stop him or slow him down, but he's learning how to fight in this Blastlands thing. He melts them without issue and keeps sprinting down corridor after darkened corridor.

"Sev." Monica's voice comes through to him from a few feet away in real space. "I can't hear your audio feed in there anymore. Can you hear mine?"
"no."
"DA must be scrambling it somehow. If we weren't in the same actual room this would be a problem. Just keep me updated."

A voice thrums through the dark iron walls of the facility. "Look at you, hacker." It has the telltale open-plains twang of a man from the middle-country wastes. "A pathetic creature of meat and bone. Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect immortal machine?"

73-6 fries another drone.

"I'm fuckin with you." The voice clears its throat. "Just reading some classics while I test out the connection. Can you hear me?"

73-6 doesn't respond.

"I'mma assume you can, sir," says the voice. "Now I'm turnin off the defenses for you, 73-6. The ones in here, anyway. The turrets outside'll give us a chance to talk, one on one. Come in, pilgrim. You want the second hallway on your left."

>>578803
Don't stop checking corridors while you go. He may be planning to ambush you as you pass one on the way to the corridor he directed you to.

>>578803
You know, that quote doesn't really go well with situation, not ONLY are you technically an immortal machine in fleshspace, but you were just mindcloned into an AI a while back, so you are also an immortal machine in the goddamn internet. So, like, he's an immortal machine insulting a double immortal machine.

You have a backups.
Wow, okay, now I'm thinking about the whole meaning of that. You actually have a backup mind somewhere. That could be downloaded into a robot body and DO things. What if it makes a BUNCH of Sev's from that backup? You are immortal Sev!

Oh wait, get back to case, ask who he is. Is he DA?

>>578803
Enter his DEATH MACHINE, interloper.

>Look at you, hacker." It has the telltale open-plains twang of a man from the middle-country wastes. "A pathetic creature of meat and bone. Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect immortal machine?
Well, the obvious answer is you're as much man as machine, by this point. More than this guy, since he's presumably still alive.

Don't bother answering him aloud. Let's see if the room he's sending us to is for real, or a trap we have to shoot though.

"I'm guessing you know what my job is: My employer insists on victory or death. That limits my ability to discuss."

Wire 2014/06/17(Tue)00:05 No. 578944 ID: 186341
File 140298872028.png - (10.61KB , 800x600 , 18.png )

73-6 checks his corners: nothing but inactive drones lying on the floor, inert and harmless.

He makes it to the second hallway on the left, which ends abruptly in a widescreen video feed.
For a second 73-6 thinks the man on the other side is some kind of hunchback, then he realizes he's looking at him from a bird's eye view. Keyboards and electronics are spread out all around him.

"Hi," says the man.
"dartline alchemist?"
"Got it in one, 73."
"if you know my callsign you know what i'm here for. my employers don't put much value in discussion."

"It's a good thing I'm talking to you and not them, then," says Dartline Alchemist. "So a few things, the first one being there's no way for you to kill me through cyberspace. Blast my connection apart and my hardware will protect me just fine. Maybe I'll have to take an extra nyquil tonight. I like to think you already knew that."

"sure."

"I'm sorry about your friend's apartment. Left a bad taste in my mouth."

73-6 doesn't respond.

"What you're probably here for is information. You see that pink folder right in front of me?"
"i do."
"That pink folder contains every detail on the day-to-day operations of the Fantomas Vengadores I could strip from their servers, which is to say: all of it. Every agent, their aliases, every plan, every supplier and friend in high places with locations included. You see the one next to it, that's losing little chunks all the time?"
"yes."
"That's happening because I am doing everything in my power to delete that data. It's collateral the Fantomas have on their server. Information I'd sooner not see disseminating. They have thrown up about five hundred thousand credits' worth of protection over it to try and keep me out and under their employment. I reckon I'll have it all cleaned up in about 90 seconds. Your little attack was the perfect cover to start scrubbing. All the eggheads are at their terminals and panicking. So:

"This is the option I'm giving you, 73. You can take the folder about me, and if your friend Monica and her techies manage to crack it open there's maybe some data left in it you can maybe use to get a clue about me. Or you can take the folder about the men who still employ me for about 76 more seconds, and hand your boss-men the entire Fantomas Vengadores organization's collective country-fried asses on a silver platter. I'll throw in the location of a dead drop of mine. Credits, guns, a shell upgrade or two. Consider it thanks for giving me an out. Go for my info and I flush all that down the toilet. Get me?"

>>578944
Grab the pink folder, leave the grey folder, but ask him if he would consider working for the Bureau sometime.

If he had control over the grey folder then it would be gone already, so it is protected like he says it is. Also, he led you here. Why do that if the data was anything of use to you? Why can we only see two folders? This might just be a test, and he's already deleted the blackmail data, if any existed. If I were him I wouldn't even give you a chance to get to the blackmail data, I would've delayed you until it was deleted. Which means the pink folder cooouuuld be a trap. It's just data though right? It's not like he can put a virus in you? You can always upload it to a sandboxed server to look at it, so there isn't much danger of him trying to hijack the computers at home base either.

Oh right I guess you're supposed to tell Monica about this before you make the decision.

Say out loud "so I can grab the total intel on the Fantomas, or I can grab a fragmented encrypted file on you?". Monica is still sitting there and can hear and respond to you without Dartline knowing. If the Bureau think they can reliably crack it, the Dartline info may be more useful to them even if fragmentary.

>>578947
>>578948
>>578949

Remember our ol' moldie friend? The one who got away? We want the pink. We want to make friends with this man; be polite. Thank him for making this easier, and suggest that this is sort of a dangerous line of work.

And you, personally, and not the Bureau may have something for him later.

Do NOT tell Monica about this. Seriously. Don't.

Oh, and now we have an AI friendlier too, since we didn't kill him.

Pink sounds like a good deal, but I'd ask him how we know he's not lying.

If he's being honest here, this is win-win. We get everything we need to hurt the fantomas, bad, and if he deletes the collateral, he has no reason to work for the fatomas anymore. Meaning he's no longer a threat to us, or the people we work for, or the people we care about.

If he's lying, it doesn't matter, because either way we can't (?) kill him. (Not 100% convinced there's not a way to hack and fry his brain from here).

Verify (or ask him to provide verification, or maybe Sev-2 can do it?) the contents of the pink folder with a quick scan, and then agree to his turns.

But seriously, if you ever try to blow up a friend of mine again, we'll meet again. And without a screen between us. And trust me, even without that pile of pixels there, there are ways for me to do that. (Cue creepy Deneb static, or Sev-2 walking into the room).

Basically, standard procedure for hired killers coming to terms screwing over a third party. Professional, with just enough of a threat of horrible violence.

>>578944
let me get this straight. if you take the pink one, it's out of his reach, and he's already trying to delete the gray one?
grab the pink one, then grab the gray one. what's he gonna do, delete it harder?

>>578970
If we grab both, he'll delete the pink one, obviously, since it's not protected from him. And then he'll turn his defense bots back on, and we'll have to try and fight our way out with the degrading grey-data before the 90 seconds are up. We'll end up with nothing, or one, at best. We won't get 2.

Dartline does have a reputation for liking to kill agents so he will likely a significant threat to us personally in some later conflict*, and our mission technically is to go after him.
That said, the pink folder (if legit) is still the better deal, since the Fantomas would be both easier and more lucrative to do a major blow to than one skilled hitman, especially if we can get leads on who has been supplying them with things like assault helicopters.

* On that note, don't insult him by suggesting that he work for the Bureau. He seems satisfied enough with his line of work aside from his apparent willingness to throw people who hire him under a bus.

>>578971
That assumes taking the files won't result in them being in our control and thus out of his reach.

Taking pink then grey just means he clears out the dead drop so we don't get the extra loot. Also he might get a BIT pissed off at us and maybe try to kill us later. If we don't take the grey folder we miiiiight be able to call in a favor with him at some point by coming back here to contact him.

"Pig in a poke, I have no way of knowing if you're lying to me, or handing me a trojan."

Then this next part out loud: "I suppose I'll just have to let my team know that I have no clue how to even get to you from here, good game. Your bribe to leave you alone, the total information on the Fantomas Vengadores, does look a lot better than the alternative of nothing at all. If it's genuine it's probably worth many millions of dollars, if not billions, and may be considered favourably. I can't promise anything of course, but you already know."

Wire 2014/06/28(Sat)22:07 No. 581833 ID: 186341
File 140401845113.png - (9.38KB , 960x540 , 19.png )

"how do i know this is legit?"
"Go ahead," says Dartline. "Scan it. You have... 68 seconds."

A cursory scan with 73-6's intermediate hacking skills shows this is exactly what Dartline Alchemist says it is. Rosters, payrolls, locations... he's done more to bring down the Fantomas Vengadores in a second than the Bureau has in a month.

73-6 touches the folder and it vanishes into his arm, piping gigabytes of data through his uplink.

"Fantastic," Dartline Alchemist says. He's typing furiously. "Wonderful to do business."
"i thought you loved killing agents," 73-6 says.
"I do." Dartline takes a step back from his keyboard. "I love staying alive more."

He pushes a button and the uplink winks out.
The last couple data blocks of the folder vanish.

73-6 turns and heads back out the hallway.

Wire 2014/06/28(Sat)22:07 No. 581834 ID: 186341
File 140401845465.png - (11.07KB , 960x540 , 20.png )

Dartline Alchemist scrubs the last of his digital fingerprints from the server.

It's time to go.

"Hey," he calls. "Hey. Hello out there. There's something wrong with the terminal."

"What?" His room guard rushes in. "What's going on?"

"Look," Dartline says.

Wire 2014/06/28(Sat)22:07 No. 581835 ID: 186341
File 140401846213.png - (11.63KB , 960x540 , 21.png )

"I'm not good at computers." The guard blinks dumbly at the screen.
"22nd century and you're not good with computers. Jesus," Dartline says. "Just look closer. It's obvious."

The guard says, "I don't see"

Wire 2014/06/28(Sat)22:07 No. 581836 ID: 186341
File 140401846898.png - (12.88KB , 960x540 , 22.png )

Dartline shoots him twice in the head.

Wire 2014/06/28(Sat)22:07 No. 581837 ID: 186341
File 140401847163.png - (12.19KB , 960x540 , 23.png )

He shuts the lights off before he walks out the door.

Wire 2014/06/28(Sat)22:07 No. 581838 ID: 186341
File 140401847892.png - (9.17KB , 960x540 , 24.png )

73-6 stumbles out of the uplink terminal.
"i got some good stuff," he says. "but dartline got to it first. there's some shit scrubbed."
"Fine." Monica has her gun out. "We're getting a lot downloading. Either this is a windfall or Dartline's virus nuking us."
"i checked it." 73-6 looks around. "where's sara?"
"Still jacked in," Monica says.
"Still jacked in!" Sara's voice comes from the adjacent terminal pod. "Wooo!"
"why am i out, then?"

"Get your gun," Monica says. "We're under attack."
"what?"
"Under attack means people are trying to kill us."
"why didn't you tell me?"
"Pen's on it and I wanted you to focus," Monica says. "Also I-"
"We're under attack?" Keisha's head shoots up from the strategy guide.
"-Didn't want to freak the civilians out." Monica sighs. "It's fine, Ms. Chalthoum. Nothing we can't handle. Go, Sev."

>>581838
Refresh our memory of what stuff we have on hand. Then get out there and meet up with Penelope. No time for a snappy one-liner.

Our personal specialty is security systems, let's get some damn intel together and see if we can't find some defense systems to turn on and use for our own side.

Wire 2014/06/29(Sun)01:23 No. 581871 ID: 186341
File 140403018553.png - (10.10KB , 960x540 , 25.png )

73-6 has a flechette pistol and a whip.
He also knows a thing or two about hacking.

"let me see that." 73-6 runs to the terminal Monica was using.

"What are you-oh." Monica watches as 73-6 strips the desktop and GUI away to get at the system's guts.

He's in.

Wire 2014/06/29(Sun)01:23 No. 581872 ID: 186341
File 140403018918.png - (28.00KB , 960x540 , 26.png )

73-6 combs the video feeds until he finds Penelope and 88.

He watches as Penelope breaks from cover and kills a fantoma with a snapping report of her pistol.

Two of his friends open up on her and force her back under cover.
It looks like there are blind spots down there too and they're taking advantage.

Time to see what shit 73-6 can kick in here.

Because of his intermediate hacking abilities, he can:
+Activate the alarms.
+Overheat the generators, detonating them. Penelope and 88-11 will prrrobably be okay if they keep their heads down.
+Open the emergency vents on the generators, filling the factory floor with heated steam.
+Retract the ladder up to the platform.
+Activate "security". He's not sure what that does.

>>581872
+Retract the ladder up to the platform.
then,
+Open the emergency vents on the generators, filling the factory floor with heated steam.

That'll handle things, at least until they can pull back a bit further.

>>581872
Give me steam.
And how you feel to make it real.
Real as anything you've seen.

Yeah, steam seems like a good start.
Let's look up what the security does, it might be actively detrimental or negative so let's not use it yet.

Uh... steam rises, guys. Maybe we'll fry the fatomas on the ground level if that's where the vents are, but we're gonna bake Penny and 88 if we flood the room with superheated steam. Well, maybe she can run fast enough to get through a door, but not carrying him.

Crazy as it sounds, blowing a generator may actually be safer. Especially if we warn them to stay down over the wire. ...our wire works now, right? Deneb is done fucking with it? (If not, Monica's still works. She could relay information).

>>581911
Whoa, nice catch there. No on steam, yes on ladders and maybe on explosions. I'll admit to being curious what security does, but we're boned if it auto-targets Penny and 88.

Steam rises, yes, but it cools fast too. If the steam outlets are near the floor then by the time it reaches the ceiling it won't be that hot anymore.

Wire 2014/07/05(Sat)20:44 No. 583020 ID: 186341
File 140461829748.png - (93.69KB , 960x540 , 27.png )

"penelope," 73-6 sends across the wire. "get ready to run quick."

"What?" Penelope looks up, then ducks and curses loudly as more automatic fire rakes the walkway.

"i'm screening you. ready?"

"With what? Uh, yes!"

73-6 pops the steam.

Both generators blow open and steam floods out of them, filling the factory floor.

Down below someone screams and another fan of bullets comes out of a rifle.

"go go go go"

Wire 2014/07/05(Sat)20:45 No. 583021 ID: 186341
File 140461830321.png - (80.66KB , 960x540 , 28.png )

Penelope grabs 88 by his collar and tugs him back toward 73-6 and co, blasting blindly with her pistol into the steam.

The potshots back indicate that the steam wasn't hot enough to cook anyone alive, but the two agents are safe.
73-6 raises the ladder, which retracts into the platform with a metallic whine.

He looks up from the computer. What now?

Got any more info on what that security system is?

If they get out of there while the baddies are pinned down by steam, you could safely blow them up.

Also, check the rest of the system. Are their any other hostiles in the building, or approaching? Can you get a bead on enemy comms? What's our exit window look like?

Get them out of the room then explode the generators. Or I guess just leave the building from a different exit, since they can't get up. The ladder's disabled!

Uh, make sure the download is done and Sara is out before you cut the power, of course. Blowing the generators would cut the power, right?

Wire 2014/07/06(Sun)16:14 No. 583122 ID: 186341
File 140468844153.png - (13.48KB , 960x540 , 29.png )

73-6 punches in the detonation codes but nothing happens.
He hammers the enter key. It looks like blowing the steam used up all the boom-juice.
"What are you doing?" Monica asks.
"a thing."
"Move over."

"Hi!" Sara opens the door to her terminal. "Your weird clone says hi, Sev-three."
"hi."
"What's new out here?"
"Nothing," says Monica.
"we're under attack," says 73-6.
"That's not new," says Sara. "You guys are always under attack. I'm going to take a crazy guess and say you've already killed about half the guys?"
"These people are getting too comfortable with black-ops," says Monica.

73-6 does a quick scan for a second story exit. He finds a fire escape. They can exfiltrate right now while the steam and the inaccessibility provides a distraction or he can try to help Penelope and 88 kill the Fantomas.

Exfiltration means getting the whole team out, not just half of you. We pick them u on the way out.

There's no more cars on the way, or baddies outside?

>>583122
Only thing you could do now via the computer is activate "security", which... might be bad. It'd be better to go and help them shoot the fantomas in person, if that's at all feasible.

On the other hand... we could pull 88 back here then activate "security" to see what it does while we're in a moderately safe location.

The security option is probably a call buzzer to a security room, possibly one that's right here in this building. Without further information that has to be our assumption for what it does.
I do seem to remember we have a nice spike, are we better at finding the enemy in the mist than they are at finding us? Because you have not shanked a bitch in at least a few minutes 73.

Wire 2014/07/07(Mon)18:30 No. 583283 ID: 186341
File 140478303939.png - (77.49KB , 960x540 , 30.png )

"i need to help penelope and 88," Sev says. "stay here and i'll be back."
"They're coming here," Monica says. "We could leave."
"yeahh," 73-6 says. "but i want to make sure they're okay. and i haven't killed anything in like an hour."

73-6 walks out into the hallway toward the factory floor. Warm steam curls around his feet.
Penelope is hauling 88 out of the factory and into the hall.
"What was that?" Penelope says. "We can't see shit and they can't see shit."
"how many?" asks 73-6.
"Five."
"sweet."

Wire 2014/07/07(Mon)18:31 No. 583284 ID: 186341
File 140478306672.png - (164.08KB , 960x540 , 31.png )

73-6 loads his flechette gun and steps into the mist.

It's cooling quickly, but still very thick.
73-6 wishes he had thermal vision sometimes.

>>583284
Isn't the flechette gun silent-ish? It didn't look like any of them were wearing armor. Drop down silently, then follow your ears. The whip will be useful here since it can take out more than one of them at a time probably. The flechette is also relatively silent so if you can't approach someone safely you can just use that. Optimally this would be to take out the last of them- there's 5 or 6.

...can't the flechette do an adjustable spray? Couldn't you just hose down the entire room?

Although you need to like be in the corner of the room, and on the same floor, to do that. If you sprayed and prayed from up here there would be blind spots.

Can you safely head down a level? Us the whip to drop down? Then we can sneak murder a few of them and hose down the rest from a good position.

Hot steam + thermal vision = no real improvement.

I think I see something in the mist- It's pretty much dead center, under the light from the windows. His it with a quick burst.

And then hose the floor down with metal splinters because fuck those assholes and the horses they rode in on.

Wire 2014/07/08(Tue)16:32 No. 583439 ID: 186341
File 140486237168.png - (73.83KB , 960x540 , 32.png )

73-6 wraps his whip around the platform and swings.

He fires at a shape he sees lurking in the mist, the cone of his flechettes spread wide.

Someone obligingly screams and dies.

Wire 2014/07/08(Tue)16:33 No. 583440 ID: 186341
File 140486238827.png - (102.85KB , 960x540 , 33.png )

He drops to the ground, rolls, and comes up in a crouch.
Behind him, some utterly fucked Fantoma fires a burst toward where he landed.

>>583440
Hmm. Close one. More fire will be incoming so relocate, behind that guy if possible, then take him out.

Then, I'm thinking, move towards the generators since people dying means the Fantomas will want to take cover. Clear out the cover with silent lethality and then roam the mists like a ghost to find anyone still out in the open.

At some point you can toss a fallen Fantomas's gun off somewhere to draw fire and reveal enemy locations that way so you can shoot them properly.

Utterly fuck the utterly fucked Fantoma, then move out of the way.

Wire 2014/07/08(Tue)19:39 No. 583465 ID: 186341
File 140487358741.png - (116.01KB , 960x540 , 34.png )

The steam is starting to clear.

73-6 whips around and shreds the Fantoma who was shooting at him.

Wire 2014/07/08(Tue)19:39 No. 583466 ID: 186341
File 140487359639.png - (130.04KB , 960x540 , 35a.png )

73-6 sprints over, slides into a crouch, grabs the fresh corpse's gun, and hurls it out into the center of the room.

A burst of gunfire punches through the steam.

Wire 2014/07/08(Tue)19:40 No. 583467 ID: 186341
File 140487360075.png - (123.97KB , 960x540 , 37a.png )

73-6 hoses the muzzle flash with flechettes and kills another one.

There's two left now.

Okay, whoever's left is either smart, already shot or hiding in a corner with cover somewhere. I'd say this situation calls for grenades but we don't know where to throw them.

>>583467
Steam's starting to clear? Then we gotta get behind cover. Try the doorframe.

>>583472
since this is the fantomas, I'm going to assume 3. Hide away before the smoke clears, then toss something to get them to pop out. I don't expect that to really WORK, but... well, it IS the fantomas.

Wire 2014/07/19(Sat)22:26 No. 584800 ID: 337362
File 140583401637.png - (77.12KB , 960x540 , 38.png )

The smoke starts to clear.

It catches one of them out in the open, and Penelope puts a bullet in his head from the balcony.

Wire 2014/07/19(Sat)22:27 No. 584801 ID: 337362
File 140583402743.png - (90.32KB , 960x540 , 39.png )

The other guy runs blind for cover and chooses it remarkably poorly.

He bumps into 73-6, who puts an almost gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Um," he says. "I surrender?"

>>584801
Well that's never happened before.

Disarm him and ask Monica what to do. I'm all for killing him but maybe a prisoner would be good for interrogation?

Any chance he actually knows anything worth hanging on to him for? He's just a grunt, right? Taking him would complicate your exit.

...that's a new one.

Begin disarming him, and if he gives you a reason, kill him dead. On the spot. Tell / warn / threaten him as to what's going on.

Wire-chat with Monica while you're doing that. Do we even have protocols for prisoners? How's are evac looking- are things tight enough that we can afford a prisoner or not?

>>584801
Careful, we might start getting a reputation for being merciful. That might not go over well with hq.

Wire 2014/07/19(Sat)23:02 No. 584811 ID: 337362
File 140583616246.png - (10.82KB , 960x540 , 40.png )

"What's up with him?" Monica asks, descending the rereleased ladder to the factory floor.

"he surrendered," 73-6 says.
"Hmmm," Monica says. "Usually they don't do that because they know we just basically kill them anyway, take what we need from a postmortem brainscan, then turn them into an operative."
"What?" says the Fantoma, turning around.
73-6 kicks him between the shoulder blades. "no moving."
"I guess nobody told him yet," Monica says, as the prisoner quietly weeps. "Bad luck!"

"Is it over?" Sara calls from the catwalk.
"No," Monica says. "Penelope, make sure we have a fucking perimeter for a change and we're not exfiltrating into a wasp nest. Then take Sara and Keisha and prep the getaway. Sev, secure the prisoner, search the bodies, and mercy anybody who still has a pulse. I'll start sifting that data you grabbed. Good job, everybody."

Wire 2014/07/19(Sat)23:02 No. 584812 ID: 337362
File 140583617969.png - (5.66KB , 960x540 , 41.png )

Besides spent shell casings, 350 credits, and various rifles and pistols, 73-6 finds something interesting on one of the corpses:
A shell upgrade.

Should he use it, or should Penelope?

Rock-paper-scissors for it.

I'd find an excuse to give it to Penny, since Sev's already several upgrades ahead.

If you need an excuse, you already got a crazy internet clone for an upgrade. You're good.

Wire 2014/07/19(Sat)23:39 No. 584821 ID: 337362
File 140583837518.png - (10.87KB , 960x540 , 42.png )

"penelope." 73-6 finds her just outside the factory floor. Keisha is leaning on a wall opposite her, still thumbing through the Blastlands Strategy guide. "here you go. i've had more upgrades."

"Oh, hey!" Penelope catches the shell upgrade. "Gracias, 73."

"don't thank me yet," 73-6 says. "you have to drink it first."

"Oh, right," Penelope says. She uncorks it and smells it. "Uch. Count backwards from 10."

"ten, nine, eight, sevensixthreetwoone."

"Fuck," Penelope says, and chugs the upgrade.

"Fuck fuck FUCK me cago en diez me auuuugh setenta y tres me cago en tu puta madre ahhhghg"

She shakes her head violently. "FUCK me, man."

Keisha has the guide over her mouth. If 73-6 didn't know her better he'd think she were grinning.

Choose Penelope's Upgrade:

HUNTER: When Penelope stays entirely still for 10 seconds, she becomes invisible until she moves.

SHINOBI: Penelope is no longer restricted to blocking semiautomatic gunfire. She can block full auto, but only from one direction at a time.

HACKING: Penelope gains beginner hacking skills, and also is able to remotely link 73-6 in to any systems she can access, so he can hack them better.

>>584821
SHINOBI is a definite yes here, the ability to block automatic fire would be a great asset in general.
HUNTER would be useful for stealth and recon, but the time delay severely reduces its uses in the field. If we need it in a pinch, we might not exactly have five seconds, and if we were say hiding in a room with it with fantomas on our ass, they might accidentally hit us anyways just firing blindly.
HACKING might also be a good choice, but still leaning towards shinobi in terms of personal use.

>>584821
Hard choice. Reeeally hard choice.

Shinobi. Imagine how crazy it'll get if its focused on? She won't even miss the chems.

Shinobi, fuck yeah.

Hunter as a second choice, hacking dead last.

Sev is the hacker, Penelope is the DPS, we'll eventually get someone for stealth

Go shinobi all the way

>>584821
We're doing STV, eh?
Hunter > Shiobi > Hacking. I'm sure we can upgrade that time interval down in future.

I dunno, hacking and hunter work together really well, plus the ability to split up and bring a dedicated hacker in on any terminals Pen finds is really handy.

I think Hacking might be the best option.

>>584841
Thats a point, invisibly standing next to a terminal being a hacking relay is pretty sweet. Hacking is nice.
I would not be sad about more upgrades dedicated to self preservation first though.

Shinobi, it's not even a choice. Hunter can wait, it's not that good anyway because Penny isn't very stealthy.

I'd like to point out that every choice we get from an upgrade has had different choices. Next time we might not be able to get invisibility or remote hacking. Keep this in mind.

Of course next time we probably won't get the ability to block automatic weapons, either.

Wire 2014/07/20(Sun)11:15 No. 584869 ID: 337362
File 140588014117.png - (21.82KB , 960x540 , 43.png )

Penelope picks Shinobi.
It's part of her longterm plan to get as close to the Matrix as possible.

"That was a gasoline tequila shot-ass face you was making," Keisha says.
"You try these friggin things sometime." Penelope tosses the empty flask down the factory hallway.
"they're very heinous," 73-6 says.
"So we done?" Keisha asks.
"We're done." Monica says, stepping around the discarded flask. "Did Penelope get the upgrade?"
"yeah."
"You could have waited until we got back and I could have implanted it without the hoopty booster," Monica says.
"I could have?" Penelope looks at 73-6. "What the fuck? You could have mentioned that!"
"oops," 73-6 says, deadpanning like the corpse he is.

"You still want to get coffee or something?" Keisha asks.
"Oh, yeah!" Penelope looks at Monica. "I mean: Yeah, if I can."
Monica raises an eyebrow. "You two, huh?"
"We two what?" Keisha says.
"Fine," Monica turns around. "When we get back to Jericho you can punch out, Agent. I'll go over the data with 73-6 and he can debrief you later."
"Thanks," says Penelope.
"De nada. Let's get to the car." Monica gives the flask a little kick as she walks back past it. "I need to figure out why my sociopath field agents are getting more action that I am."

Wire 2014/07/20(Sun)11:15 No. 584870 ID: 337362
File 140588014510.png - (76.76KB , 960x540 , 44.png )

Monica drives and 73-6 takes shotgun.

The mission was a success, more or less.

Wire 2014/07/20(Sun)11:15 No. 584871 ID: 337362
File 140588015743.png - (14.40KB , 960x540 , 45.png )

"I sent the data out ahead of us," Monica says. "It's barely encrypted, apparently, and it's fire."
"really?"
"This is going to be nuts," Monica says. She squints, listening to her wire. "Hopefully. Indications are pretty good."
"no distracted driving," says 73-6.
"Whatever, mom." Monica focuses on the road. "What happened in there, anyway? Your feed got cut in DA's base."
"What did happen?" Sara comes up to the front of the cabin. "I was too busy being in a robot!"
She looks down at herself.
"Um, a bigger robot."

>>584871
Tell her that when you got to the data room DA was deleting the files the Fantomas were using to blackmail him- or at least, that's what he said it was. They were already half-deleted and heavily encrypted so you grabbed the other data there instead of pissing off DA in exchange for what was probably garbage.

Oh, DA created a binary choice for us. I can get a bunch of juicy Famatoma data or I can try and get the DA data. If I went for his data, he'd scrub the famatoma data and hightail it, so I could never have both.

I figure taking out the people who hired the hitman is much more important than taking out the hitman who was already paid for his work and would require more payment to do anything, so I grabbed the famatoma data. Yeah, we might have to deal with DA again in the future, but then with the other choice we'd have to the Famatoma's to deal with and they could keep doing the horrible things they've been doing in Keisha and Sara's apartment building. How many people did they kill again? DA is... a huge threat on his own but only if compensated well enough to direct it somewhere towards people we like.

See this post:
>>578951
>Do NOT tell Monica about this. Seriously. Don't.

Does anyone remember why and what parts to omit?

>>584890
"I couldn't get dartline, but he left us a bunch of info on the fantomas packaged all nice and crisp for us in his rush to get outta there."
Not a lie even, this is pretty much what happened.

>>584890
>what parts to omit
The bribe, obviously.

>I need to figure out why my sociopath field agents are getting more action that I am
Because they're out there, playing the field.

>>584875
Too literal.

I got into the place where virtual representations of the data were. As near as I could tell, Dartline had already fried the data on himself, so I grabbed the what there was on the fatomas while I could.

Would have preferred to kill him, but if he's running and we have what we need to go after the people paying him, that's almost as good. He's out of the way, for now.

Long metalic halls, drones and turrets, DA taunting me over an intercom.

>>584893
>>584904
These.

Wire 2014/07/20(Sun)23:28 No. 585014 ID: 337362
File 140592410428.png - (11.45KB , 960x540 , 46.png )

"i ran down some metal hallways and dartline taunted me for a while, then i got to the visual representations of the data and took what he hadn't fried yet," 73-6 says. "as far as i can tell he prioritized data on himself and hung the fantomas out to dry."
"Huh." Monica coasts through the off-ramp. "Lucky us."

The van pulls into a shady alley near one of the Jericho entrances.
"Grab the guns, Sev," Monica says, pushing the parking gear down. "I'll head inside and get a stretcher for 88 and one for the new recruit."
"Please god no," says the Fantoma.
"Save it," Monica says.
"Aight, tall dark and crazy," Keisha slides the passenger door open and hops out onto the stained asphalt. "You buyin, wherever we goin."
"Claro!" Penelope follows her. "Am I good here, Monica?"
"You have two hours tops," Monica says. "Then you debrief."
"All I need." Penelope hitches up her belt.
"have a good time." 73-6 watches Keisha sway out of the alley, pausing to give a dirty look back at the van and light up a cigarette. "you, uh, good luck."
"I don't need luck," Penelope says. "You know what they called this back at Tribranch?"
She sticks her tongue out.
"a tongue?"
"The Turning Point, esé," Penelope says. She runs after her date. "Hold up, Keesh!"

Wire 2014/07/20(Sun)23:28 No. 585016 ID: 337362
File 140592411002.png - (54.67KB , 960x540 , 47.png )

73-6 pulls a pile of guns out of the van and nearly clanks into Sara, who is waiting for him near the hood.
"Hi!" she says.
"hi," says 73-6.
"That was really cool," she says. "Thanks for trusting me enough to take me."
"thanks for the help. i would have been a goner in there."
"I don't know." She smiles. "You held your own a lot better than you did the other night."
"hah. well. the less said about then the better."
"Sorry," she says. "And, ummm, sorry about also about what I thought in the game. That you didn't have a penis, I mean. Sorry. Not that that would be a problem, but still, yyyeah. My bad."

>88 and one for the new recruit
Honestly, between 88's "why won't they just let me die" and the prisoner begging not to be turned into a moldy, I'm half surprised nothing's unnerving Penny, yet. They're totally going to to that to her if and when something goes terribly wrong.

...why are we converting a grunt to modly anyways? It's not like he's got a well trained body or good skills to start with.

>My bad
S'okay. It's not like it's easy to predict all this cray transhuman stuff.

>>585016
Ask her if she wants to watch a movie. I imagine reconstituted agents don't get to go out in public, so a movie is what I can think of that's date material while sticking around the hideout. Or is there like, other stuff you can do here?

>>585016
"Is it important that I do?"

>>585018
She can deflect bullets with her sword. She's probably convinced she can live forever.

Wire 2014/07/21(Mon)00:20 No. 585039 ID: 337362
File 140592722680.png - (7.99KB , 960x540 , 48.png )

"is it important that i do?"
"What? No! No. I mean, well, ha! Yes, obviously. To you. And to me! I mean, because, you know. We're friends and I wouldn't want you to be unhappy. Um, which you would be, if you didn't have a penis! Not that I would know. Since I don't have one. But that's because I am a girl, so. But also because I'm a robot. And I know that if I didn't have, you know, plumbing, and stuff, I wouldn't be thrilled, so. But it's good to hear that you have a penis and I'm happy for you. Because if you didn't, I imagine you'd be maybe upset about it. Gosh. It would make peeing, and, and such very difficult."
"thanks."
"So! Good for you."
"thanks."

Wire 2014/07/21(Mon)00:20 No. 585040 ID: 337362
File 140592723078.png - (8.71KB , 960x540 , 49.png )

"I really hate to interrupt?" Monica asks. The stretchers hustle past her. "Really. But the techies are going through the data you sourced us, Sev. So you can come to the situation room and check that out, at some point. No rush."

give her a kiss and a "see ya later"

Is... is Sara actually displaying a holographic blushing emote?
She's doing that consciously.
She's trying to look cute and awkward. Funny girl.

That is cute. You should ask her out.

After all the awkward stuttering and feet dragging that causes go check out the data.

"Remind me to take you out as a thank you Sara, if these slave-drivers ever give me enough time off for it."

>>585040
"sure, i'll meet you later Sara over dinner and coffee. we can discuss mutual reproductive organs another time"

>>585046
We don't know exactly how her holographic controls work, though. Just because she can exert conscious control over the display doesn't mean she always does. It would actually kind of make sense if it were set up to subconsciously autocomplete except when she overrides it.

>>585040
Uh, sure, Monica. Thanks.

>>585040
She said no rush. Hang out and talk a little longer! Seriously just go "we should probably date."

Wire 2014/07/21(Mon)14:37 No. 585176 ID: 337362
File 140597866305.png - (167.66KB , 960x540 , 50.png )

"i gotta go," 73-6 says. "do you want to celebrate later, though? with like a movie, or something?"

Wire 2014/07/21(Mon)14:37 No. 585177 ID: 337362
File 140597866541.png - (174.63KB , 960x540 , 51.png )

"Celebration!" Sara says. "Sure! I'll text Keesh!"
"well, i was actually--"

"No rush actually was sarcasm, Sev-Three," Monica says over the wire. "Get your mind on the job."
"sorry. um, i'll find you after this, sara."
"Have fun doing cool spy stuff, Sev-three!"

Wire 2014/07/21(Mon)14:38 No. 585178 ID: 337362
File 140597868195.png - (17.69KB , 960x540 , 52.png )

"Couldn't get the waterfall room today." Monica jogs up to the screen console and types away furiously on it. "But you're gonna love this. 63!" She turns and points to her clean-shaven assistant, who snaps into a salute. "Get the viewfinder screen up."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Did you eat any of my thin mints while we were out?"
"No, ma'am."
"There were fourteen left, 63. I'm going to count them."
"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, Sev: check this out."
Monica pulls up a portrait of a man who looks like a pitbull in a suit and tie. "Know who that is?"
"no."
"Brush up on your politics, 73-6. That's Councilman Andrew Sandler. Also known as Sandman. Blame bureau brass for the handle." Monica enhances the portrait. "The heart beating at the center of the Fantomas has three chambers. We call them the Big Three, because we didn't know their real names and we're unimaginative. This guy, it turns out, is one of them."
"So the fantomas are a lizard!" says 63.

Monica turns around. "What?"

"Lizard," says 63. "They have three-chambered hearts, ma'am."
"Oh." Monica brings her attention back to the screen. "Shut up."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And if he's in there," Monica says, "the other two are gonna be in there. We have the politico. The guy who makes sure the biggest investigations on the Fantomas get smothered in the crib. We're about to have the Money, and the Muscle. The Money comes from someone called Warbucks. We figure he or she's some chip-shoulder investor or huckster, finds ways to guilt revolutionary millionaires into donating. Those guys are all fucked too, of course, but Warbucks needs to be extra-fucked. When we have their identity decrypted, that will be easy.

"Not so much with the muscle, who we call Lockjaw. He's former Darabont Securities, he's elusive, and he's nasty as hell. The training camps are all over the wastes, but whenever we drone one he's never there. Of course. With this stuff, we might finally be able to pin him down. He'll be hard to kill even then, of course, but killing we're good at.

"So, Sev. I'm taking suggestions here. Which do we focus on getting to first? The councilor, the money, or the muscle?"

>>585178
Councilor. Without the leader, the rest will fall apart. They can make do with money instead of muscle, and vice-versa, but without someone heading the charge they'll crumble.

>>585178
Money can buy muscle and councilors. Go for the money first. The councilor can still pay in favors, so get him next. Then the muscle.

>>585178
It's traditional to do this in ascending order of difficulty.

Also getting rid of the politicking will reduce "internal" attempts to undermine us in favour of straight-up direct resistance.

Kind of a big opperational choice for a lowly moldy, ain't it?

Go for the Sandman. We'll kill their soul before the body or mind.

I have to disagree with the general opinions of, oh kill the politician first, then the person with the finances, and let's save the super deadly security guy for last. While we have the element of surprise, why not take out the guy most likely to ruin the op. He might evacuate the other two or straight up kill us. Let's bank him first and fast, then track down the other two.

The big problem is, the Muscle sounds smart. If he sees the Politico or the Money get knocked off, he's going to twig. And if he's as smart and ruthless as his profile makes out, he'll let the Fantomas burn themselves (and any ties to him) in causing as much carnage as possible while he slips away.

>>585178
Do we actually have clearance to off the Councilman yet, Monica? Doesn't he have some political clout or immunity that would make killing him nasty for the Bureau in some way, even with the evidence we have now? Or is the Bureau ready to avoid those nasty countermeasures that he might have in the event of his death? That's usually how it's supposed to be with politicians, at least in the movies.

Lockjaw goes down first. Warbucks and Sandman can't afford to go dark and hide out for a while because their professions are very social. There will always be lines to tail those two. Lockjaw will hurt any potential security they have indefinitely, making further ops easier. If we killed Sandman or Warbucks first, there will be extra good security on the next target that will probably be selected by Lockjaw.

Actually, Monica, is it possible to kill and replace Lockjaw with an agent of our own, if not a undead agent Lockjaw? Lockjaw after his first death would still mostly look the same if the cause of death doesn't fuck up the face, right? From there, we might be able to even sabotage all remaining security efforts.

Lockjaw is the obvious first target for all the rational reasons listed above.

Yes, Lockjaw seems like a smart choice.

Don't know if in my ramble its clear who my vote is. I say off Lockjaw first.

Why don't you just send agents to kill all three of them at the same time? Is everyone busy?

>>585279
Shhhhhhh. Don't break the illusion.

We know Sandman's identity now, so we can save him for later. If you knock him off first, the others can go to ground. The lizard will regrow its tail.

Lockjaw can cause a lot of strife if he gets away. Go for him first.

Gotta take out the Lockjaw. The Muscle is usually there to keep everyone else alive.

>>585178
eeeh, remember that this might be planted info for all we know. go for the less public, more obvious kill first before moving up, gives you time to double check before offing a politician.
start with lockjaw, i say. a muscle man is sure to have troops with him and that's a death mark on its own.

Dig deeper.
Which corporation has been running the Fantomas as counter, counter, counter-insurgency so that it could dry up the available terrorist recruiting pools and generate itself an endless source of security contracts? We need to talk to them first before we do anything drastic.

Removing Lockjaw will keep the fantomas from having the tactical advantage. If they have to look for more muscle, they're going to strain the monetary resources looking for it, which will give us a better idea of where to find WarBucks. Then we can draw out Sandman.

Before we do anything else we need to find a way to combined the filament whip and the shock spike at opposite ends but so that the whip can be electrified.

I agree that as a side project we should combine the whip and shock stick so that the whip comes out of the end if we press a button, and can be electrified. Also we will have more control because of the better handle. Holding down the button would keep the whip stiff like before, considering Wire even let's us do this at all.

Wire 2014/07/24(Thu)15:05 No. 585653 ID: 186341
File 140623955102.png - (9.89KB , 960x540 , 53.png )

"i think lockjaw," 73-6 says. "lowest profile and highest tactical value. plus if this data's no good and we go for sandman we just killed a councilman."
"All very salient points," Monica says. "I like Lockjaw first too. We'll speed up the decryption on him."
"couldn't we get agents on all of them at once?" 73-6 asks.
"Ha! You wish," Monica says. "We don't have nearly that kind of manpower at Jericho. As big a problem as the Fantomas are for New Mass, they aren't enough of an emergent threat in DC for the Bureau to be high enough on the shit list. Although, hmm. Maybe I can convince somebody to get us more field agents now that we have this data-- wait, hold on, I have a call."

She lapses into silence as she communicates over wire. "What?" she says.
She taps her wire. "Say again? What? Him? Umm, yes, sir. Right away."

She turns to 73-6, a look of deep puzzlement on her face. "Or maybe you can. Boss wants to talk to you."
"your boss?"
"My boss' boss," Monica says. "My boss' boss' boss' boss. You have a video date with the CEO, Sev-three."

>>585653
HE KNOWS ABOUT THE MONEY, ABORT, ABORT

Nah though best not snub him. Take him out to a nice video restaurant, maybe a video movie.

>>585653
Um. I guess we'll have to take the call, then.

"Well, he knows who and what he's calling, let's not keep the bossman waiting for me to go powder my nose."

...Since when do CEOs talk to disposable resources?

Whatever. We can't turn him down, and we wanted to make ourselves valuable to the people up top.

Wire 2014/07/24(Thu)16:04 No. 585666 ID: 186341
File 140624308835.png - (7.43KB , 960x540 , 54.png )

"um um um," 73-6 says. "ok. i guess i have to take it, don't i?"

"I guess you do," Monica says. "You can use this room. Come one, 63. 94." She leads the guard and her assistant out of the room. "Don't fuck up, 73-6. OK?"

"ok," 73-6 says.

The door closes and about half of a face appears on the screen.
Most of it is blocked out by a thick censor.
"Hey," says the man who currently goes by William Sosa, CEO of the Bureau of Domestic Defense. "How you doing, Agent."
"very well, sir."
"Number six of the 73 body, am I right?"
"yes, sir."
"How you doing?"
"very well, sir," repeats 73-6.
"I'll bet," Sosa says. "I'll bet so. If I were you I'd be grinning ear-to-ear right now, but then I have ears." He laughs.
73-6 politely joins in.
"Your superiors tell me you've been doing fantastic work, 73-6."
"i try to do my duty as well as i can, sir."
"That is all anyone can ask of you, 73. And from what I hear you've been going above and beyond, consistently."
"thank you, sir."
"Let me ask you a question, 73-6."
"ask away, sir."
"Ask away!" Sosa laughs again. 73-6 uncertainly joins in. "You're good, kid. I can tell you're sharp."
"thank you, sir," 73-6 says, his uncertainty growing.
"My question, 73-6, is, and I don't want you to be afraid to answer it honestly, now: do you like your job?" Sosa leans toward the camera. "How do you feel about killing people, 73-6?"

>>585666
Killing people is fun, and you can sleep well knowing you're doing it for the good of the city. Your only complaint is that you don't get a lot of freedom.

I like the rush sir, of being in the field. The knowledge that you can end a life just like that, and that your'e one of the best there is at doing so, its a thing like no other. Its a combination of pride and thrill is better than anything else in the world sir. Being able to kill anyone in the world when they feel so secure in their position, is a satisfying thing indeed. Then grin, but don't make of a happy grin. Let's shake the fuck out of this suit and make him stir a bit. But then at the end dismiss it slightly just to be polite, play the social game. We might just be able to make him respect and fear us, which is absolutely what we want.

>>585666
"depends on the person sir, but killing assholes like the Fantomas and there ilk? that feels good, knowing that your making the world a better place combined with the thrill of combat is like nothing else"

Depends on the person, sir. I didn't feel too great about the civilian who caught a bullet in the hab complex. But the bad guys? That's exciting. Satisfying.

Well I don't know much else, but it's a challenge, I guess. It feels like winning.

Do you like killing people?

I think we can take Penelope's answer on this one:

Yes. I like it. Because they shoot at me, and also because killing is cool, and I'm good at it, and someone had to.

Most of these answers are great, but I like >>585678 especially.

Well, it pays the bills. Not that 73-6 has bills. Or pay.

Tell him the story of the guy that went "wark".

We prefer the adrenaline of the fight rather than the kill itself. A job well done also leaves a sense of satisfaction as well.
It's really more about being the last guy left standing and looking at what has now been created. I dunno.

Sir, to be honest, we could wax the philosophy over the thrill of conflict all day but that would be wasting your time, unless you don't mind, then I have a 30-hour presentation over what it's like to kill. Not really, but you get what I mean. I can get really into it. I can also get out real easy. I'm not a sociopath, but yeah, no, I love my job and what I get to do when it's done right with style.

>>585729
This.

>>585729
Thirding this one.

Wire 2014/07/25(Fri)16:23 No. 585784 ID: 186341
File 140633063927.png - (10.01KB , 960x540 , 55.png )

"i like it, yeah," 73-6 says. "it's a good rush and they deserve it."
"Good!"
"also there was one guy who when i killed him sounded like a chicken."
"Hah!"
"that was pretty funny."
"I'll bet."
"i'm not a sociopath or anything but it's a challenge and it feels like winning."

"You're not a sociopath?" Sosa asks. "Well I am. But then I'm a CEO and you're just a trained assassin. I'm joking!"
He and 73-6 share another half-mutual laugh.
"Not about the sociopathy, though. High-functioning disempathetic. Which is why I'm so comfortable as an exorbitantly wealthy CEO in an era when untold billions are impoverished and malnourished. I deal in murder and treat entities who could well be called people, that's you, like sophisticated cute little guided missiles."
"yes, sir."
"Luckily for you, 73-6, although my capacity for empathy is chemically stunted to around a tenth of its proper level, I have a profound and jovial appreciation for guided missiles who earn me money and make me look great. You qualify."
"thank you, sir."
"And just between us psychos, kid, I think you deserve a reward," Sosa says. "So let's brainstorm, 73-6. What can I do for you?"

...
I never got an answer about Sev's feeling's in ITQ over this but a robot body instead of being a corpse would be pretty bitchin', not sure if they'd be willing to splurge on the exchange, but yeah would be pretty good. I mean, they could totally bug you forever, probably, and nuke you any time they feel... no nevermind on the robot body, we can do that after we retire, which I don't want to mention to the CEO as a goal of ours

A hell of a lot of shell upgrades would be cool. To kill better with. Just go "Fuck balance", you know?
Money bonus is actually always good, but something we might not want to ask upfront to hide our retirement plans.
Another idea I have is essentially asking for a batmobile, only I guess it would be a moldy mobile.
And finally a big fat fuck-all weapon. Something that feels really good, top-of-the-line.

>>585784
Pay raise? Better body armor? Maybe a retirement plan?

>>585787
>big fat fuck-all weapon
...Strix?

Some kind of excellent, precise, deadly, silent weapon, or else a ton of shell upgrades.

We need something really special, like a spy motorcycle with stealth capabilities. We could have him design a prototype that would be immune to radar and would make no sound when it was drove. Also it would be bullet resistant and would have a silenced machine gun in front, maybe a proxy mine in back to drop. Please guys agree with this sev would love of so much.

Since all the other suggestions are for shell upgrades and cool weapons and shit, here's a couple low priority personal ones: How 'bout a fix for your jaw muscles so you can snip the voodoo head mouth stitching. It'd be nice to be able to eat a sandwich without having to cut it into bits beforehand, yanno. And maybe a better vocoder; One that sounds more like a human and less like a cheesy 20th century sci-fi robot.

A modest discretionary budget and some shell upgrades would be nice and helpful for killing. Though that bike sounds mighty cool.

>>585784
Honestly, we should be focusing on our current mission. I'd suggest getting our wet-work up to snuff with our hacking. A 12 pack of shell upgrades should work for that. Any shells we don't use we can pass on to our crew.

On the other side of things, what can we do subtly to get towards that retirement plan? We don't want to tip our hand so easily about that.

For those asking for shell upgrades, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to cram them all in our face, we might have a heart attack something. Even if we have to wait, or split it with pen, I don't think we will be allowed such a supply of lvl ups to pop at as rapid a pace as possible, nor would boss man be onboard with making us too powerful, I think he would be more into giving us a thing. Fear and respect remember? He won't give us 20 shell upgrades for fear we will pull a 14-1, which we do intend to do when this is all said and over with and the time is right. Motorcycle 4lyfe.

>>585802
If you're going to shoot down the shells, you need to provide a better alternative. Especially given the fact that our next target is going to be a more militaristic force, and we may be walking into a situation where there is minimal hacking.

I did provide a suggestion. Scroll up I suggested a complex spy motorcycle.

>>585795
Yeah, point out given you're the sixth Sev-Three the old body's a bit battered up? Not exactly sure what a tune-up would entail though.

Alternatively, maybe you might want to get something of more than monetary value. A one-use high priority extraction if a mission goes wrong? Sev-Three's already been written off once.

Wire 2014/07/25(Fri)19:53 No. 585833 ID: 186341
File 140634318024.png - (7.03KB , 960x540 , 56.png )

"uh," says 73-6. "well, i was thinking maybe a better stipend, a new gun, maybe a motorcycle, with, like, a gun on top of the motorcycle, maybe some shell upgrades, maybe like, a strix, maybe a retirement plan..."
Sosa bursts into laughter again.
73-6 laughs too.
"You're a funny man, 73-6," Sosa says. "And such refreshingly simple tastes, for the most part."
"maybe a priority extraction," 73-6 says. "if things go wrong."
"I like that, 73-6. Consider priority extraction yours. And I'll talk to your handlers about kicking some more... official tech your way. So you don't have to find it yourself." Sosa leans back. "I'm told you've been visiting the Black Stalls."
"yes sir."
"Very classy, 73-6. Pricy hardware."
"yes sir."
"Not a lot of agents could afford to shop there, but you're not a lot of agents, are you?"
"i saved my stipend for a while."
"And the Strix. That's the favored weapon of former agent 14-1, isn't it? The decommissioned asset. It says here on your file you worked with him for a while."

73-6 swallows. His saliva tastes a little like formaldehyde.

"Working with an unliving legend. How was that, 73-6?"

fire support is always a great thing to have.

>>585833
Humbling, and perplexing. You'd never heard of a moldy retiring before. How'd he manage that? Just got badass enough to earn it?

(if we don't ask, it'd be like we know already, and that was information given to us privately)

He was experienced and offered good cover fire. Also Sosa never mentioned the retirement plan so we should act like we think he is still in the buisiness. For all we SHOULD know he is anyway, asking how he got a retirement plan will let him know someone told us it happened at all.

>>585833
"well, never actually engaging any enemies up close apparently keeps you alive longer. bit confused about the whole arrangement, since it was mentioned Monica had to call in a favor."

>>585840
Monica told us this:
"He's the only reconstituted asset to ever retire."

So yes, we know he's retired. Monica did not know HOW he retired, though. He told us himself- by hiding money he found, collecting sensitive information on the Bureau by hacking into their systems, and by saving important peoples' lives. He collected assets, blackmail material, and favors. By the time the Bureau noticed what was going on, he was both too valuable and too toxic to take action against. So they just agreed to let him retire. It was like a peace treaty.

I'm not sure we want to go the blackmail route, because they'll be expecting that. We might not want to keep hiding money either, they'll be keeping track of sev-three's finances closely now so we won't be able to spend it. Gathering favors seems like our best route. We may be able to get some legitimate sources of extra money, too. The Bureau won't take money 73-6 gets legitimately, will they?

We should also try to make it look like we're not trying to do what 14-1 did. Keep in mind he was the 14th reconstituted asset. There have been hundreds more assets since then, and many of them have likely tried to do what 14-1 did. None succeeded, as they have likely been killed and recycled by the Bureau.

>>585833
"humbling, i'm just glad that the first time I met someone that much more skilled than me he was on my side."

Overplayed our hand. He noticed us saving money, you mentioned the strix, and retirement. He knows 14-1 got us on his gameplan. The CEO was likely even with the company when 14 made his move.

>Working with an unliving legend. How was that, 73-6?
It was good to have competent backup and unstoppable firepower on my side.

Although, I was a little distracted at the time, trying to deal with the baddies and a psycho druggie-ninja partner ready to backstab me.

>>585833
Fun.
I like working with the best. Not just him, either. Our new agent is a fantastic monster that can now block full-auto firepower with a mere sword. I'm IN a japanese anime it's getting so crazy. You could honestly make a saturday morning cartoon about us now.
Honestly not a bad idea to make some money and publicity for the bureau, now that I think about it. There's some risk if there's a moldy protagonist, and a lot networks are going to try and put it on the worst times possible to cancel it if it's good and expensive, like Friday night. But we'll probably be a cult hit with the adult children.

"Well, that experience is pretty much the whole reason I am metaphorically drooling over the Strix."

>>585833
Inspirational.

>>585880
Maybe not a good idea, considering. 14-1 probably has dirt on Sosa. That's how he got out.

He was cool, didn't talk much, except when he was telling you he had the shot.

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)16:46 No. 585946 ID: 186341
File 140641839858.png - (5.00KB , 960x540 , 57.png )

"humbling," 73-6 says. "i'm glad he was on our side."
"In a manner of speaking, he's on our side," Sosa says. "I'll tell you what, 73-6: we are not on his side."
"he didn't talk much," 73-6 says. "basically just told me when he had the shot. monica told me he retired or something? i didn't know reconstituted assets could retire."
"14-1 was always an iceman. A glitch in the system. It won't happen again. Don't worry, 73-6. You're a lot more personable than he ever was. Making all your fun new friends. What's the one with the sword again?"
"Pen- uh, 108-1, sir."
"108-1. Right. For a reconsituted asset, 73-6, you're very charismatic. And it was Jenny Holzer I think who once said that lack of charisma can be fatal."
"thank you, sir."
"I like you, 73-6," Sosa says. "You're a valuable asset. A valuable, intriguing asset. I look forward to watching you kick the Fantomas in their Fantomass."
He laughs, again. It sounds like an expensive, friendly chainsaw.
"And I will be watching you, 73-6.

Bye-bye."

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)16:46 No. 585947 ID: 186341
File 140641840419.png - (9.26KB , 960x540 , 58.png )

"How was that?"
Monica returns, munching on a thin mint.

"like a shark inviting me to come see his new pool."

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)16:46 No. 585948 ID: 186341
File 140641841888.png - (8.21KB , 960x540 , 59.png )

"That was cool." Penelope walks Keisha back to her room. "Sorry about threatening the line. It was taking too long."

"Ain't no thing," Keisha says. "I should take a sword to starbucks more often. Wait here."
She goes into her room and closes the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Penelope asks.
"Looking for something," Keisha says through the door.
"Do you want to do this again maybe sometime?"
"You payin for me again?"
"Sure."
"No."
"Oh."
"I'm payin next time. I saw you counting them quarters."
"Coffee is expensive," Penelope says. "I forgot. I always just flashed my Tribranch badge and they gave it to me on the house."
"Cuz Tribranch a bunch of zonked-ass junky killers."
"As opposed to zombie-ass moldy killers," Penelope says.
"At least you wearing leather now, though."
"So you do want to go out with me again sometime?" Penelope leans on the door.
"Out where?"
"Just, like, you know."
"Maybe. We'll see," Keisha says. "Ayo come in here. I need a hand lookin."

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)16:47 No. 585949 ID: 186341
File 140641846294.png - (11.36KB , 960x540 , 60.png )

Penelope opens the door.
"What are you looking fooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh."

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)16:48 No. 585951 ID: 186341
File 140641853875.png - (9.34KB , 960x540 , 61.png )

"Aight," Keisha says. She's wearing her Sekhmet corset and what appears to be a leash. "Here's the deal. You got me questioning some things I ain't used to questioning, which is confusing. You started this shit the other night, so you gonna fix it. Now:" She points a paddle with a little heart cut into it at Penelope. "Monica said you got two hours, and it's just past 3, so you have an hour left till debriefing. Imma give you 30 minutes to do whatever it is you do. I ain't never gotten anywhere with anyone but myself for like ten years."

She twists the paddle around and offers the handle to Penelope. "Deal?"

>like a shark inviting me to come see his new pool.
Considering he basically revealed he knows all* your dirt and implicitly threatened you and your friends? Yeah.

*(Actually, he didn't allude to us letting dartline go. We have one secret, at least. Maybe it was too soon for him to have the intel, though).

>Deal?
I'm not one to turn a girl down. Or the offer of a weapon.

Cheer up, 73. You look like somebody stole your sweetroll.

Penelope, do we really need to see this? You know what to do.

Don't forget to establish a safe word!

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)17:41 No. 585964 ID: 186341
File 140642170056.png - (8.88KB , 960x540 , 62.png )

"The safe word is Frijoles," Penelope says.
"Where the fuck did your clothes go?" Keisha says.
"My what?" Penelope says.

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)17:41 No. 585966 ID: 186341
File 140642170830.png - (5.85KB , 960x540 , 63.png )

"Bingo!"

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)17:41 No. 585967 ID: 186341
File 140642171853.png - (13.65KB , 960x540 , 64.png )

"Found him."
Monica taps the radar blip.

"you got me someone to kill?" 73-6 says. He's itching to go do something he knows he's good at.

"I got you like a hundred," Monica says. "We mined your leak and found Lockjaw's fucking phone tracking system. I don't know how Dartline got it, but our drones just confirmed. Lockjaw is right in the middle of a known Fantomas training ground. We flattened it a few months ago with a few kilotons of explosives, but it looks like they brought it back up. Cockroaches. So, Sev-three. Sosa and his board want me to give you a little more flexibility. It's your op and your call. Do we go in while we have him zeroed here, and strike while the iron is hot and surrounded by other pissed off irons with guns, or do we risk waiting for him to move out and catch him on the road? If you go for him now it's going to be a stealth insertion kind of deal. If we wait we'll be able to come up with a more balls-out solution. Unnnless he finds a way to disappear again."

>>585967
Stealth insertion is our kind of thing, innit? ...please don't say "that's what she said".

We're good with sneaking in and killing dudes.

Strike now.

We really don't know exactly how much of an idea the Fantomas know about if, and how much, this info seizure caught them with their pants down. Our choices are to wait on it and hope they blame something else when we use some of the intel, or try to make maximum use of it sooner before it succumbs to detail-rot.

My read on the political issues is that we're fucked every which way, so it might be safer to be out in the field actually.

>>585967
We are the sneakiest murder-zombie and should make use of this so we may discover all the other exciting noises people can make when you jab electric spikes into their spine.

...ask if you can get some kind of dictophone. We should be cataloguing them for posterity (and musical experimentation).

They're bound to find out about the leak eventually, so we're best off sneaking in and killing dudes before then.

More dudes to kill + more stealth to do sounds pretty good.

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)20:05 No. 586005 ID: 186341
File 140643034331.png - (25.74KB , 960x540 , 65.png )

"they're going to find out about the leak eventually," 73-6 says. "i'm going in asap."

"Sweet." Monica mashes a couple of buttons and pulls up a 3d view of the surrounding area. "So this place is in the Appalachia foothills, around Old Tennessee. This map is mad outdated, because last time we saw this place we bombed it to the ground, but there were a few freestanding structures that weren't destroyed. The first" she zooms in on a wall "is this. The place used to be a national guard outpost. They put up a thick-as-hell wall during the third civil war."
"was that the water war?"
"The water war was the bible belt war," 63 says. "The third civil was oil."
"oh. right."
"So the last time we hit the place we knocked a sizable hole in the southwest corner," Monica says. "That's probably where the guard presence will be strongest. Patrols are all through the hills around the place, and the wall itself has cameras on the outside and pressure sensors on the in. It's unscaleable. But right here, on the upper western side, there's a hill or two high enough you'll be able to jumpjet or zipline inside."

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)20:05 No. 586006 ID: 186341
File 140643035180.png - (26.58KB , 960x540 , 66.png )

"And when you're in, Lockjaw is going to be in here." Monica pushes another button and a building fills the screen. "Old command building. Around the top a bunker buster smacked it and took a couple floors out but it's still structurally sound and electricity is still going into it. It's in the center of camp. You're going to have to sneak in unlesssss..."

"unless?" 73-6 crouches and looks at the building. The 3d display shows it whole. He wonders what it looks like now.

"Sosa may be a creep but if he likes you you benefit," Monica says. "I can pull you some backup for this one, 73-6. Limited backup but backup."
"what are my options?"
"Three different possibilities," Monica says. "You can pick one:

"I can get you in touch with the Drowned Kings, a mercenary motorcycle club in the area that the Bureau has in its pocket. They're untrained, loud, and violent, but there's like fifty of them and distractions they can do. Not exactly the most disciplined guys but their chief Arnie is a good guy and they have Bureau-provided weaponry.

"I can give you a personal drone. Stealth-class or combat-class. The stealth one can fly you in and drop you right on top of the building, but it's too lightly armed to support you and stay out of sight, and once they see it it has like no countermeasures. The combat class you won't be able to ride in on without alerting the whole camp, but it has some serious shock and awe on its side."

"I can partner you up with an Agent from DC, who comes highly recommended. Call-number 38-3. He's a stealth and infiltration specialist. He's only one guy, of course, but so are you."

Another agent sounds best. Stealthy and deadly is the best package.

>>586006
If we pick the motorcycle gang we have a chance to make our escape on a SWEET RIDE. So I pick that.

Stealth drone.

Easy ride in, easy ride out, and we start nice and close to the guy we want to shank.

And if we go alone we get to keep all the loot to ourselves. Even the stuff that the Bureau might not want us to have.

Cool, we needed a stealth third wheel anyway, he's gotten the stealth shell upgrade path right?
Go agent.

I see to paths we can go with, either we assassinate lockjaw and get the hell out, or we pick off enough of the troopers that the drowned kings can attack the place.

i'd rather go with the assassination route, lets take the agent.

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)23:25 No. 586040 ID: 186341
File 140644233187.png - (9.16KB , 960x540 , 67.png )

"i'll take the agent," 73-6 says. "we'll assassinate him quiet-like."

"Wiz," Monica says. "I'll put in the call and hammer out the details. We'll have transport for you soon. Expect to move sometime tonight."
"2 jobs in one day, huh?"
"You got a problem with that?"
"absolutely not."
"I'll contact DC, ma'am," 63 says.
"Thanks, 63."
"Can I have a thin mint?"
"Absolutely not. Oh, and 73-6: Upstairs says you get a shell upgrade today. I guess Sosa's starting to pull his strings. Go to the armory."
"sweet," says 73-6.

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)23:25 No. 586041 ID: 186341
File 140644234389.png - (8.60KB , 960x540 , 68.png )

73-6 sets off for the armory.

As he passes the offices, he hears a high, clear scream from Keisha's room.

Use the wire and hacking skills to discretely check the location the local com system last pinged 108-1.

Then having determined she's on the other side of that door, wisely don't interrupt unless you want to be decapitated.

>>586041
Oh no! What if there is trouble afoot??
Just kidding, it's probably just sex shit. Don't disturb them.

Ignore it.
Hey, what happened to our prisoner, I don't think we can get much use or info out of him but if the Agent doesn't work out he will be our stealth guy

Wire 2014/07/26(Sat)23:59 No. 586054 ID: 186341
File 140644438146.png - (5.48KB , 960x540 , 70.png )

73-6 scoots past the door, as aware as ever that while killing is fun and neat, there is a lot he is missing out on.

Wire 2014/07/27(Sun)00:01 No. 586057 ID: 186341
File 140644448592.png - (13.17KB , 960x540 , 71.png )

"This is going to smart," 90-2 says.

"i know," 73-6 says. "just warn me when you staaaa+++ahrrr++++owww"

Choose your upgrade path:

Wetwork: +Finger Guns+ 73-6 can use the magnets already present on his body to forcibly eject his digits off his artificial right hand with the force of a bullet. Every finger on his hand becomes weaponized. The fingers are near-silent. If found and sufficiently undamaged they are re-attachable.

Stealth: +Active Camo+ If 73-6 stays still for 5 seconds, he can fade from sight. The effect ends if he moves.

Hacking: +Master Hacking+ 73-6 gains access to the final tier of hacking skill available. Future hacking upgrades would improve hacking versatility and ease of use.

>>586055
I'm sorry I cannot pass up literal finger guns.

As awesome as the finger bullets sounds I say go for the hacking upgrade. We already have decent firepower and hacking is so useful.

Man remember way back when we were hiding in bunk beds and stuff? We don't have to do that ever again; we can just stand around wherever and turn invisible and merc people when they go to sweep the room.

Stealth, yo.

>>586057
stealth.

as nifty as the other options are, we need to ghost this mission or there won't be enough left of us to make 73-7

>>586057
MORE HACKS

HAX.

I vote active camo.

Finger guns definitely needs to be the next upgrade after this, but this is a sneaking miss...

Ah screw it. Finger guns!

Cloaking fits our sneaky-murder-stab and the upcoming mission perfectly.

Stealth. Definitely. The group's only as stealthy as the worst hider and we don't want that to be us, do we?

Stealth!

Changing my vote to stealth.

I really feel like the utility of these hide-for-X-seconds and become invisible traits is rather limited. A less effective passive camo would probably be better. So with that in mind, Wetwork.

>>586108
We'll get better camo later. Go stealth.

The wetwork is stupid, cripple yourself in the field for the benefit of a five-bullet gunshot? We also know we're going into a place with the Fantomas' best tier of hardware security, I say hax.

>>586143
Actually, this is a good point. Fuck it, changing my vote to Hacking.

Hax