Project Atlas [Inactive]

[Mitheral]

Xavier smiled faintly. “Sorry about the complaints. It’s just that with what we are expected to do in the real world, you would think the combined efforts of the United Nations could do a little better. The costs if we fail are dramatically higher. I guess that means we need to prove this is all worth what they are spending. On the other hand, the acting in there has been great. I think we should take them all out for dinner later.” Then he glanced at Dolos. “Or maybe dinner at the Mess Hall. Considering that Dr Jameson feeds us, I supposed I could pull a little KP and let her enjoy being on the receiving end. Mrs Thomas taught me how to cook.”


His face hardened into its impassive look as he got more serious. In truth his humor had not been without purpose. Not one word was truly wasted. Some of the team had never seen a mech, much less a dozen. He had picked up on the fact that Byron wasn’t quite willing. But he wasn’t so certain the guy wasn’t guilty. He had considered the note thing over an hour ago - in his time - and rejected the idea. But he wasn’t surprised that others had thought of it. He had considered doing the same for the hostages to give them a little hope.


Notes were unfortunately a bad idea. Hostages might react, do dumb things, get too brave. But it wasn’t his call. A note to Byron was another matter. He was in a position to do something. What … Xavier had no clue. Computers weren’t exactly his thing.


When Mark asked him if he could get inside undetected Xavier wanted to slap the man silly. He hoped the question was rhetorical. But he answered the question anyways. “A note would be easy. Whether Byron can keep from reacting or read it without getting caught is another matter. Consider that when you develop your message. If he is caught, the bad guys know whatever we tell them.”


“By conventional rules this is an unassailable hostage situation - unless Schrodinger can disable the mechs.” This wasn’t exactly true. Xavier knew he could have handled the entire mess already - with a little help from Mark. But again, the point was to train the rest of the team. How would they handle a situation if he was incapacitated or dead? “By the time we could take out the mechs and gain access to the building all positions could change. The hostages could be moved or killed. A normal breech requires secrecy.”


He pointed at the pile of "plastique" charges. Mark had specified an hour ago. And for Xavier if had been a few hours since he had collected the "explosives" for that very reason. “Contingency plans…? The KEY individual to take out is Red. Take HIM out and this operation folds. Without him, even if Byron does everything asked, the data is contained. Byron’s relevance is that he is doing just that. He isn’t doing nothing, he is containing the situation to this location.”

 

[sharlene79]

Janice shrugged. “A little humor doesn’t mean I don’t take things seriously. I was making jokes when they were shooting to kill and tasering me. I was making jokes when militant soldiers tried to steal medical supplies. I say tried because I didn’t let them. Still, point taken. Xavier, I don’t think we are being evaluated here - except to determine where we need work. And I am sure they will make allowances for all this chit chat being a team put together literally yesterday with no training.”


Despite herself she ended by giving a broad, almost chimp like grin. “I do like the cooking idea though. If done right, it might get us a few more volunteers the next time - and give some idea of our appreciation. Keeping up their act for over two hours IS pretty good.”


“Okay then … a plan. Xavier, Cedric I am going to go out on a limb here (another broad grin) and say that you two have a little training in hostage situations. This is training, so I’ll take first crack at this and let you two shoot holes in my ideas. I agree with Xavier about this being unassailable - unless we are REALLY fast and can breach in seconds. That means obliterating all the mechs - unmanned - outside … really fast. Then we have to make our own entry - through the exterior wall of either hostage zone 1 or 2. Cedric - uhm, Pulse would need to go straight through to blast a hole through to Hostage zone 3. I am guessing you can from what you did to that punching bag. If I am wrong then we would need explosives - real explosives.


“Redhead guy looks like a teleporter or speedster. The only one here faster is Snapshot. That should be his primary target. The rest looks like a simple firefight. We should taser or tranq everyone. You know, shoot them all and let God sort them out later. It isn’t our job to decide if they are innocent or not. We just have the option to go less lethal.


“Oh .. and I’ll be okay with flash bangs. That’s what the ear protection and goggles are for.”

 

[Pastaa]

"This is Dryad, over," She said into the microphone. Danny looked down at her gear that she had chosen for the mission. She had decided to go with the accessories that Janice had suggested, and Danny agreed that they were a good choice for the mission. After checking to see that her gear was intact, she walked over to her designated area and stood there.


Dryad listened to Mark's instructions and decided that it would be wise to talk it over some more.


"I do agree with Janice that we should go with a less lethal approach. If we were to say, blow a hole into the building the mechs would target us. If we were to get a better angle at what was going on then maybe we could plan out who to use based on training and everything.


"Bryon doesn't seem to be that willing to help that much, so perhaps he's not the best option. I think we should get the hostages out first, if we have enough time. I think that's one of our main problems as of now. I'm just throwing ideas out there. Feel free to dissect it and find any issues with it."

 

[Alterius]

Cedric nodded, liking the idea , He chuckled as she mentioned the punching bag. "Shouldn't be too hard to blast a hole in the wall, I believe each of us have the speed and/or agility to get past without being shot down, but without shutting them down, we are asking to get cornered or have more trouble getting out.....unless we can get them to shut down the mechs once we are inside, give orders to stand down. You know, the whole I came, I saw, I conquered thing." Cedric took a moment to think about the possible outcomes of this operation and how they would need to work if they hoped to get out of this succesfully. As he though he loaded the desert eagle he had and turned the safety off almost in a dazed manner as he thought less about what he was doing and more about what he will do. "This is puzzling, I hate puzzles." Cedric holstered his weapon and looked to Danny, "non-lethal is fine, but we may not always have that luxury, better to get used to it now, though I'm not saying we should just go in guns blazing that would get ugly quickly and believe me I'm more into incapacitation, just don't hesitate to do what's neccesary." With that he decided to quiet down and see what other plans of action he could hear hoping he missed something so that he wouldn't go down as he feared.

 

[Erica]

Carter watched the group quietly, his face impassive. It had taken a while to compile the footage, but Ivan had been quick about it, considering. They might have to figure out a short cut for that in the future: in this scenario, they had time to work it out. In the field, circumstances were less likely to be so forgiving. Snapshot’s gifts gave them a distinct advantage in this scenario. Granted, he had expected as much - hence why he’d asked the actors to start two hours ago, for which he was pretty sure he was going to owe them all big-time. Yet still, it was impressive.


Their discussion followed quickly then, all while Ivan was working in the van. Early on they had theorized they needed a method to shut down any automated machines remotely, so even while the group was debating the approach, Professor Schrodinger had been working that puzzle. It was a fairly obvious technique, but the other techs hadn’t been able to get past Byron’s firewalls and encryption, which seemed to change with each attempt to break them. (Live Wire had helped with this aspect of the exercise, so it would be a legitimate challenge.) After updating Ivan about their prior approaches, they had been surprised to see how quickly he had gone to work. He became absorbed in the process almost instantaneously. The techs exchanged glances as Schrodinger occasionally muttered to himself. These Atlas members didn’t have access to the man’s file, but it was clear he had some skills.


He discovered quickly that it was more than a security protocol to prevent others from getting in. There was a tangle of code that presented a whole other dimension of WTF just below the surface. While he was fairly sure he could get in and shut down the mechs, he was worried about what that other code might do. In fact, he was so absorbed in the puzzle and attempting to determine if there were any triggers tied to deactivation of the units that he barely heard the others.


Only belatedly would he realize they wanted to get a message inside the building to Byron. That wouldn’t be hard - the trick would be getting the teenager to read it rather than dismissing it.

 

[Mitheral]

Xavier rubbed his eyes, which were bothering him a little. He was already feeling the effects of prolonged inverse temporal momentum. He forced himself to stop, not wanting to draw attention to himself especially in light of Carter’s concerns the other day. His stomach was giving him no less grief. And he seriously wished he could grab a bottle of aspirin without having a dozen medics swarming over him. It took more than a little self discipline to keep from looking up at the sergeant to see if the man was watching him. Odds were he was anyways. Being paranoid about it wouldn’t help.


As he listened to the others he was a little surprised, though not completely as Janice unfolded her plan. Janice was clearly well above average intelligence. Danny’s input was negligible, though it offered a devil’s advocate view he could appreciate. She was trying, but not being trained she wasn’t wasting a lot of their allowed time with suggestions she didn’t have a good feel for. Training would change that. Cedric, as expected, was a blunt instrument. But neither was he stupid. He saw the folly of a charge without doing something about the mechs first.


Careful not to discourage them, Xavier began with a positive reinforcement nod. “Good. New words to live by whenever possible. You’ve probably heard them before. Whenever possible, they will become a part of every plan.” He paused for effect. “Exit Strategy.” He paused again and looked around at each of them. Then he turned to their map.





“”Okay, Janice. Good thoughts, but I think Mark planned on more than the three of us tackling this.” He allowed a smile. “I am going to gamble that Ivan will be able to handle the exterior - unmanned - mechs. The manned mechs inside are going to be the problem. The entry point is well chosen. It has to be fast. We’ll need flankers in case the mechs positions have changed and they are placed in the halls. Cedric, you must NOT engage those unless absolutely necessary. Concentrate on the breaches. Trust the rest of us to deal with mechs. Danny, do you think your vines can take out one mech, maybe two? The way they are scattered I think that is all you’ll have to deal with. You won’t be doing the job alone, so even restraint will help. Uhm … if you are VERY sure, don’t crush them. I am sure those funding all this will appreciate that.


“Now then, once we have the hostages, we retreat. You know all that fake C4 I brought? I figured on 50 mechs. So I am going to turn over half of the C4 to our exit strategy. Divide it into two 25 pound lots and you’ll have the equivalent of satchel charges. I have them set with remote detonators. Exit Strategy.


"On the way out, Cedric, you and Danny can combine powers - restrain and pound. Janice, concentrate on crowd control with the hostages. I want to leave Mark free to think, bark orders, and adjust tactics as needed. I will try to help Janice, or deal with emergencies on Mark’s call.


“Red is mine and Mark’s. I’ll bring him right to Mark. The only other serious problem will be any other metas. And for that I am going to have to use Mark for one short scouting run.”


Xavier swallowed hard as his stomach tried to rebel on him. “Anyone see something I missed? I wish we had one or two more to provide covering fire outside the building. Oh wait, Dolos." This was far from a perfect plan.

 

[Alterius]

Cedric nodded, feeling that his objectives were simple enough. He adjusted his gloves getting nervous about his part. Frankly he knew he was only invited to this group for miscle not intelligence he was a simple guy with a profession most would laugh at, he didn't expect to be a leading voice in this group, nor did he think he would succeed at that role. His job was just to put the hurt on their targets, thats it. Cedric was resigned to this feeling that as long as he did his part well enough he could avoid getting his teammates killed. As he reminded himself of this his nervousness became determination and he once again looked forward to showing everyone what he was fully capable of, the punching bag was a joke compared to what he planned to do. "restrain and pound? I can handle that." He thought to himself clenching his fists and making his knuckles pop.


Cedric looked to Xavier, "So blowing the walls is my job while you all take care of the mechs, I'm not to engage the mechs until we are ready to exit. But what about in between? When I blow the walls to the hostages, anyone that could be guarding them would attack after the initial surprise. With everyone else besides Dolos fighting mechs, wouldn't it be wise to have him with me?"

 

[sharlene79]

“Oh!” Janice started to raise her hand. “I know. If Ivan handles the mechs outside, we should be able to make it to the building unimpeded. Cedric knocks a hole in the wall and WE clear the hallway before he enters, covering him while he enters and makes the next hole. He holds up there until we clear area three. Uhm, wait, what about Dr Jameson and Byron? xavier, you said you’d handle Red. Can you manage extracting them?


“Man, as soon as we make those two breaches those manned mech are going to start swarming. Maybe we could slow them down. Hey, how fast can you make vines Danny? And would they be strong enough to slow the mechs down while we retreat with the hostages? Xavier, I am guessing you meant to have the satchel charges placed outside for us to retreat through and blow them if the mechs pursue? Oh … and would it do any good to shut down the power to the building once we have the hostages?”

 

[Pastaa]

"It sounds like a good idea. I'm sure that I can take down one and restrain a few. Based on their size, the likelihood of me crushing the mechs is unlikely, but it might leave a dent in them. It won't do that much harm... I hope. I agree with Cedric: Dolos can be with him. I think it would be wise, especially since we have everyone else with the mechs and if there are people guarding where Cedric is breaching."





Danny pondered Janice's question for a moment before answering. "I think I could generate them within a few seconds, if I'm pushing myself. Vines thick enough to restrain them could take up to thirty seconds. But yeah, if I'm not alone for all of the time then I should be fine."


"So what if once you guys get the hostages out, there are more people that have come in as like... backup. Who would protect the hostages and who would go for the other people. They could be metahumans for all you know."

 

[Azseth]

Dolos' face was somewhat stern and indicated he was focused on the task at hand. That was Dolos. He was snide, sarcastic, and carefree the vast majority of the time, even in the face of situations that are not ideal.


But. When it came to business, there was nothing else. In light of that fact, he was not pleased, but he tried not to worry about that now. He would spend days, weeks, even months organizing things and planning his jobs and this whole "thing" was thrown together, and that frustrated him. He was not a fool however, having realized that this was exactly the point. Just like police dealing him when he was pulling jobs, they were reacting, they did not have the luxury of waiting and planning how to handle the situation. It would come down to the ability to react and adapt versus the care and planning put in by the other side.


He was also frustrated with Dryad and the fact that she essentially ignored Marksman's orders, which were to compile a message, and then seemed to immmediately get side tracked with another task before the completion of another was started. He did note that this was training and she was most likely not in an environment like this before. He'd rather have this issue come out now than in a real world situation. He would address it with Marksman later.


He took a breath and centered himself as he listened. After all slowed down and most of the plan was decided on, he spoke mic'd up and spoke. "Schrodie, need you to help us out. We need you to send a message inside, direct to Byron's monitor. Send message as follows." He thought for several more seconds and then began speaking again, a bit slower and and more phonetically. "Shithead. Read me. You want out. We want in. Nice and easy. What can you tell us? The less problems, the better fro you and her. Sincerely. Neo."


He could tell that Byron was focused at the moment, but also a modern tech head of sorts, so he needed something that first caught his attention, something other than "WARNING" or "NEW MESSAGE" and then something that made him feel comfortable. Not some police offer to get assistance, nothing formal like that. It was nothing but an educated guess, but he felt comfortable in it.


He moved immediately to grab his assault rifle and snapped the charger handle back so that a round slid into the chamber. To answer the questions as to what he'd do, he spoke up on his own behalf. "I'll cover from out here and move in secondary if necessary. Radio me if you need support inside, but I'll watch things out here and I can help with hostages in the event they're freed and need to be guided. Unless the boss tells me otherwise."


Nothing about Dolos would indicate he was the same Dolos the others had met in the conference rooms over in the recent past; he was driven, almost callous, to the point that he seemed rude. It was just that here was such a stark difference between him now and earlier, and they did not know that about him. Again. All business. When he was training bushido, he was always told "cry in the dojo. Laugh on the battlefield." When it came down to work, business, or the mission, nothing was more true. He could live with them hating Dolos for how he worked and the way he went about things. So long as he lived, and they lived.

 

[eheu]

Just while he was indulged deep in his work - fingers dancing over the keyboard at a pace the distinct taps the keys usually made were almost merged into one continuous crackling sound and it looked like the text on the screen was having trouble keeping up - Mark’s voice rang over the headset Ivan was still wearing.


Priority one is disabling the mechs. Is it possible you can send the kid a message to his computer? Be ready to send a message in six minutes or less.


”Wait wait - do you want me to work on the message first, or - six minutes or less, how am I gonna-”


He even skipped the part about properly entering the conversation by stating his identity - a formal introduction followed immediately with a chain of complaints would have sounded rather absurd anyway.


Then there was an idea. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to multitasking at home - it almost surprised him that he didn’t think of this earlier. It was that there was not usually a time limit when he was coding at home.


”...alright folks. Ignore that rant. I got this.”


He gestured at one of the techs to request him to clear a passway for him to leave his seat. the tech moved aside and Ivan rose to walk to a nearby monitor. Then Ivan - the other Ivan - remained seated, head buried in his work


”Schrodinger speaking,” he did remember the formal introduction this time, ”Feel free to get that message ready.”


This felt as good as usual. One copy was almost effortless to maintain. And without all the time-space shenanigans confusing him, having a spare brain to use was as refreshing as ever.


”Got any spare terminals around here?”.


* * * *


As the rest of the team worked to produce their approach the hostage situation, Ivan was working on a strategy from an entirely different angle.


It turns out, much as explained in the briefing, the mechs were operated via external software - in this case, a series of machines that were embedded deep within the building, repurposed by the hostage takers to be a hub for the mech network. This was less vulnerable to the crude attacks and human errors a remote controlled mech suit would have been easily taken down by, yet the fact that all the mechs were networked in a large bundle also meant he might just as well get lucky if the operator on the other side didn’t take care of signal management properly.


He was under the conception that bad guys usually didn’t have decent tech support above the level of shortwave radio and homemade explosives. Yet this code that managed the operation of the mechs was something far above that - far above being mere far above that, in fact. It was of a monstrous size and complexity, layer after perplexing layer of barriers and twisted pathways that seemed almost overdone - with the sole purpose of fending off any attackers before they could even get halfway to the front gate. Yet still it was done in a surprising degree of elegance. There was someone behind this - someone really good. It was almost better than the military could do, Ivan would like to say, but he dared not do that, the people outside the simulation room recording each thing they say.


This would be hard, nevertheless. Harder than he imagined. Yet Ivan was okay with that, because one would not call something hard when it is outright impossible.


* * * *


Meanwhile, on the other computer Ivan - also Ivan - was deeply tangled in the paths and wiring of logic the spanned the enormous structure that was the code that maintained the operation of the systems in the building. He found it easier than he expected it to be - perhaps partly because the code was obviously done by the same person and he was already familiar with his style from the previous work on the mechs. Yet already calling it easy would not be giving nearly enough credit - for the design of this system was even more intertwined and delicate - so much so that it did make the code on the mechs look like the work of a home-grown half-engineer that wired cheap plastic explosives.


The techs on the van had made a significant amount of progress already, he had to give this credit. They pretty much brought out everything the could to get past everything but what seemed to be the last line of defense, so fortified it was very much the programming equivalent of a underground nuke shelter.


However, as he had learnt throughout his career of messing up machines, a system that dealt well with one set of attacks were bound to be vulnerable to another type of offense. There was no perfect security - there had to be a hole here or elsewhere. The problem was just to find it.


* * * *


Meanwhile, progress on the mechs. Ivan was almost going to complain about the encryption between the mechs being way overkill. They were. But he did not for his mic was on the whole time and he probably didn’t want to broadcast creative swearing over the entire network.


Scrolling through the sea of text, gathering and analyzing each and every piece of data he could gain access to, Ivan pieced together a rough picture of how everything was supposed to be working. And, as always, accompanying that, a rough picture of a course of action to make everything stop working.


* * * *


By the sixth minute of his continuous work, Ivan - the other Ivan - was already down to one last step to breaking into the building completely. There was good progress on the mechs, which encouraged him greatly. He was almost overly optimistic about breaking the last wall in the communication system.


That was also when the order came through his headset.


"Schrodie, need you to help us out. We need you to send a message inside, direct to Byron's monitor. Send message as follows."


It wasn’t Mark’s voice as it was last time, but something else - without specification of identity, he could only guess it would be the voice of Dolos when stripped of the distortion radio communication provided. The tone of the following message further confirmed that conjecture.


Schrodie. He also kinda liked that version of his codename.


”Just in time.” Ivan replied, smiling. ”Just a minute...”


He keyed in the last few lines of commands, followed by an exaggerated, majestically gestured tap on the return key. And then...


The screen was obviously not doing what Ivan expected.


”...oh snap oh snap snap snap snap snap.”


Ivan exclaimed nervously as he comprehended what was happening, pushing himself and the chair away from the screen he had always been so absorbed in as if the code was going to come through it and bit his head off. He also nearly knocked over a couple of techs behind him while doing so. He did not foresee the other layer of detection and response mechanisms - under what he thought was long beyond the last line of defense. There was barbed wire placed in grounds far past the front lines, on paths and obscure workarounds no-one would have suspected; and Ivan was already too deeply tangled within to do anything when he suddenly realized the mistake. And now he had exposed his actions and there was nowhere he could retreat back to hide in time. He sighed and waited for whoever - or whatever - was on the other side of the connection to detect him, cut his access off, and force them to start over from scrap.


But it didn’t.


There was a stale silence as Ivan froze there in confusion, his exaggerated facial expression remaining; and half of the tech team behind him did the same, looking at him, puzzled, while nothing at all happened on the set of monitors.


”...huh.”


Odd. So very odd.He would want to convince himself that it was simply that the person on the other side neglected the signs, or was mistaken, or was otherwise unaware. Yet he couldn’t - one wouldn’t code something of such ingeniousness and intricacy to put there and not watch. He was surely aware, yet he didn’t take action, for whatever reason. He was watching.


He was watching. He could see what Ivan was doing.


Ivan almost laughed out loud when he thought of this - it would have been a somewhat awkward, twisted laugh if he did, but this seemed too obvious an alternative.


”Okay folks. It’s working, just...” he was a bit nervous saying this, as it wasn’t entirely the truth. But he considered it good enough. He took a glance at his other self, still working diligently on the other task. ”...not exactly how I intended it to.”


The command system still looked a little muddy in his mind, and he was not entirely sure who to take orders from and who to not. ”Read me, shithead”? He would say that it was good humour, but not exactly what he imagined a negotiation plead sounded like. Would probably be better to make sure.


”Um...what exactly was the message again now?”


Were they sure they were going to bring Keanu into this?


* * * *


At nearly the same time, Ivan - the other Ivan - was also nearly done with the mechs. The techs said that the encryption ‘seemed the change everytime they thought they cracked it’, and it turned out that it indeed changed every time it was met with an attack.


An attack that it can detect, at least.


There wasn’t always a way for a signal to go undetected entirely. That was the case with the mechs. Yet that didn’t mean the detection can’t be delayed, or the mechanisms can’t be fooled to think that they had detected something else than what really was there. And that was what Ivan did - a couple of heuristics, some clever wrapping, about a dozen weird, unnecessary, confusing routes before his codes did what they were actually intended to be doing. Not a clean approach, certainly not perfect - but it looked like it was working.


”Folks, update on the mechs. The mechs inside aren’t on the network. There’s nothing I can do about them for now - they’re also probably manned. The ones outside…” He said, ”I think I could hold them down for a while. I’m almost sure, but there’s no guarantee nothing will go wrong. I’ll be constantly monitoring things, but I suggest that if you’ve got anything you want to do, try to do it fast.”





He just hoped this was going to work out.

 

[Erica]

Inside the building, “Byron” sat at the computer, performing the coding equivalent of doodling. It had been hours. (Really nearing two hours, but who was counting?) The thrill of acting out the earlier sequences had worn off at least 45 minutes ago. It was tempting to make something happen, but they were in the improvisation window of the exercise. Sure, they had checkpoints where scripted action would take place if the new team didn’t get to them, but the first one was still twenty minutes away.


Twenty agonizing minutes.


Code a little and then back it out. (That process was becoming a challenge in creativity and elegance now; could he back it out without any FOR loops? With only one? Could he make the IF statements make a pattern that looked like a bunny?) Monitor the data transfer process and make a show of ensuring it stayed in an infinite loop. Glance at his “mother”; dismiss a notification; resist the temptation to crack a joke.


Lather, Rinse. Repeat. And try not to yawn.


Then a new warning popped up. He nearly dismissed it out of habit, but his fingers paused for a few extra seconds. A few seconds that hopefully would go unnoticed. Someone had attempted to breach the defenses but not in the repetitive method that had been set up for their time-loop wait for the cavalry to arrive. This was different. He dismissed the message, resisting the urge to look back at “Flicker”, and went about his merry dance along the keyboards. Only this time, he wasn’t shuffling files around. He was hunting out the methods they had used. Anyone who knew what to look for would have seen the change in the code and his technique. Even “Marcia” glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, sensing some subtle change in his technique even though the language on the screens might as well have been in Swahili.


They must have a programmer on the team. Granted, the really complicated code with the mechs had been LiveWire’s work, but he wasn’t a slouch. He found the intruder’s trail quickly; he’d gotten father than expected. And he paused. Kick them out? Reach out? What would Byron do?


Read me, Shithead?


He coughed to cover up the snort-laugh the message inspired. His “mother” patted his shoulder sympathetically while Flicker eyed them suspiciously. He took a sip of water. Once it seemed Flicker had bought the act, he turned back to the screen. He didn’t have the chance to respond before they continued:


You want out. We want in. Nice and easy. What can you tell us? The less problems, the better for you and her. Sincerely. Neo.


They had managed to do the unexpected. They had established a method for two-way communication without actually getting inside the building. Granted, they had tripped his security protocols to do it, so… one demerit for technique. But it would be effective. Maybe. He shifted his weight, leaning to “check” on the other screen while positioning his body to block the screen with the message. Then, feeling his heart beating in his chest and fighting the smirk on his lips, he replied, unaware of the intel Snapshot had already gathered.


Don’t destroy the mechs outside. They’ll only replicate. Inside techs are manned. 6 total. Teleporter has me and my mom in the lab, along with ~10 others. Don't know where everyone else is being held. I’m trying to stall but don’t have long. They’re starting to flip.


And nice try. Neo wouldn't have tripped the alarm.


His smirk finally won out as he hit return and hid the window. Not only was the exercise finally moving, it looked like they had a sense of humor. It took a moment to contain himself and once again don the demeanor of a captive worried for his mom.

 

[Pattycakes]

If there was one thing Mark had to give credit for, most of them were willing to follow through with orders. Most of them did a good job sticking to their specified assignments. Although, he did notice Dyrad getting involved in working with Xavier and Janice. While it wasn't a glaring problem, he would have preferred she maintained focus on her assigned task. It left Dolos in his own segment, working on the task.


Dolos did follow through with the message, keeping his focus, telling Ivan want to say. Although, Mark had wanted Dolos to give him the message for review. By the time he caught the message, Ivan had already transmitted it. “Dolos, emphasis on get me a message to send to the kid.” He wasn't rude or confrontational about the statement, just making it clear that that was not what Mark had intended on Dolos doing. Now, he could only hope the message didn't completely screw everything up.


“Snapshot, give me a brief rundown your entry plan.” Emphasis on brief, Mark thought. He had no time to listen to the discussion, he only needed to vaguely know the plan. There wasn't time for a full summary.


When Ivan informed Mark the message had been responded to, Mark read over the contents. The descriptions of the intel matched. This was good. It meant Byron was willing to work with them.


“Ivan, hold to respond to last message. Snapshot, I need that plan of action now. Ivan, be prepared to try for a shutdown on these mechs on my mark. Everyone else, make any final arrangements between yourselves. I want everyone to have a partner, no lone-wolves. Stick on your partner's rear. You do not leave your partner behind.”

 

[Mitheral]

Xavier frowned, then blurred. An instant later he held a hand sketched schematic with scribbled notes showing breach points, a legend of who was who, movements and tactical notes. “Plan is only half formed. I need a second recon and a quick discussion with you.”


He stretched out a hand. “If you’ll take my hand, I will SHOW you the plan - It will take half a second. You’ll just need to leave your weapons behind. Or I can expend real time here briefing you and explaining that plan. Lady Jane came up with the basic ideas by the way.”


Xavier snatched his hand back Xavier and grabbed two 22 oz and two 4 oz cans of Boost O2, giving them a quick functionality test, and a wax pen. He stuffed a 4 oz can into one of Mark’s loose pockets. “Evac can 3 minutes” - and felt the power drain out of him. "No neutralizing please." The tone was calm, with only a hint of annoyance.


He tossed the 22 oz can to Mark without so much as a pause in his speaking as though he was some trainer going through the drill. "10 minutes. When that is used up, start on the evac and we leave - no exceptions.”


Finally he fished a coin out. For the first time Mark could see it wasn’t actually a coin, but a gambling token. Instead of his usual smirk Xavier’s face was serious. He looked at the others. “If this hits the ground, something happened. What? You thought I was just showing off.” He smiled faintly. “Maybe a little.” Xavier showed off his DVR and clicked it to record. “For the Sergeant’s records." His arm dipped down then up in preparation to flip the coin and offered his hand. "No neutralizing this time...."

 

[Erica]

Carter watched the team iron out their pecking order and communication styles. As expected, Mark spent some time asserting his position as team leader and op commander. While he did so professionally, Carter watched the others’ responses. With so many civilians in the mix, it was worth noting who bristled easily at correction.


Meanwhile, Xavier continued to be… well, Xavier. He had a plan, and was ready to explain it - on his own terms. As he discussed bringing Marksman along for a tour, Carter watched the exchange curiously. Had they figured out a way around Mark neutralizing Snapshot’s abilities? Mark remained relatively calm as Xavier asked him not to neutralize his abilities - even as he caught the can tossed at him.


The coin toss bit was interesting. Xavier prided himself on being clever. Perhaps he was. But the coin remained poised to be flipped. Mark didn’t take Xavier’s hand. Instead, he shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. If I take your hand, you won’t be slowing time.” He reached for the schematic instead. “Explain - briefly - using this.”

 

[Mitheral]

Xavier stared for a moment at his own extended hand, then looked at Mark and snatched the schematic back. “You can’t control your power.” It was a simple observation. If there was any annoyance - and there probably was - Xavier did a fair job of hiding it. It was just a case of accepting the bad news and moving on. There was no point in whining.





“Need to make a quick change.” He edited the schematic, swapping Dolos and Mark in positions. Then he handed the schematic back.





Phase I - Ivan plays mechwarrior and cyberwarrior; Extraction team makes approach. Cedric create breach at position Bravo (outside hostage zone 2)


Partners: Dryad with me left flank; Lady Jane with Dolos right flank. Cedric on his own. Both teams watch his back. Mark pulls sniper position to provide cover fire during extraction.


Phase II: Breach, Dryad and myself first and to left - yes Dryad on point and first in. Dryad is first in … with me in physical contact. She will restrain everything that can move. Dolos and Lady Jane next on right flank.


Neutralize enemy forces.


Phase III: I extract Byron and Dr Jameson, and haul Red out to Mark to be neutralized. Mark, I am going to literally drop him on you. So be ready; it will happen a second or so after breech.


I will also extract Byron and Dr Jameson during this time, but place them separate.


Phase IV: Breach of hostage zone 1 and 3. Extract hostages. Wash Rinse, Repeat of Phase II.


Phase V: Lady Jane and Dolos escort hostages. Dryad, Cedric and myself pull rear guard. Hold at door to hostage zone 2 for mech responses - neutralize.


Mission complete - unless there are metahuman surprises among the mechs. Dryad and I will handle any metahumans. I’ll find a way - which is code for I already have.”

 

[Erica]

Mark's back stiffened only slightly at the way that Xavier phrased his realization. He had excellent control; that control focused on ensuring he was aware of who he was touching. Until now, it hadn't presented a problem. Until now, he had been hunting down dangerous and rogue metas, working with other Atlas soldiers without any abilities. When he realized when Snapshot had been thinking, he was large enough to admit that it would be simpler to have Snapshot bring him in and simply neutralize the threats within a matter of seconds - or maybe no time at all. But that wouldn't exactly be teamwork, would it? Luckily, the younger man didn't sulk about it. Much.


Mark took a step closer to take the schematic, looking it over as Xavier outlined the plan. He listened intently, working through the logical progression of events. Snapshot was used to the benefits of his abilities. Perhaps it would all go smoothly, in precision order as outlined. But the truth was every battle plan only survived until the first time the shit hit the fan. They then would need to adapt. That meant he couldn't be outside the building. Especially if some of the intel proved incorrect. So as soon as Xavier declared that Mark should take up a sniper position outside, he folded his arms over his chest, holding the schematic out with one hand. That wasn't happening. But he listened to the rest of the plan nodding once for confirmation at the end.


"It's not bad, but I can't command from outside, and if there are metahuman surprises I need to be there to assist." Looking at the schematic again, he took the pencil and made changes as he talked. "I'll go with Dolos. Lady Jane will provide cover outside." He looked at Janice. "It'll be about neutralizing and avoiding immediate threats. If necessary, carry them to safety. Remember you have a line of local law enforcement here to provide assistance. Drop off the hostages if necessary and keep moving. If you are facing a threat, chances are it will follow you, not them." He paused a beat, suspecting she might not appreciate being used for target practice. "If that happens, Ivan should see it, but call for help. We will adjust as needed."


His gaze took in the rest of the team, wondering how they would do following it. Did they even understand it? Another reason for him to be inside, where the largest threat should be - if Ivan could neutralize the mechs outside, that was. "Stick with your partner, stick to the plan. If improvisation is necessary, update me ASAP. Anyone have any questions before we proceed?"


If there were no immediate questions, he would press the button on his comm to open a channel. "Schrodinger. Are you ready to disrupt the mechs outside?"


Ivan's voice came sounded after a brief burst of static, "Um... Yeah. I think so. Just remember. Fast is better, right?"

 

[Alterius]

Cedric, stood there feeling his nervous energy well up. "Well, if we have everything ready, namely plans and partners I think we should get in there, we have people to save." He adjusted his glovesand let out a weak pulse aimed at the ground. "Everything seems to be in order with me." He wanted to ease the others, knowing their whole entry plan depended on his ability and he didn't like letting people down.


(Sooo, we gonna let this die???")


Sent from my Z768G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pastaa]

Danny stood there, listening to the plan. She had no input for now, but as far as she could tell it was a good plan. Danny adjusted her suit and made sure everything was in place before she spoke.


"I think I'm all good. I don't have any questions." She strode over to the left flank was and took a last chug of water before throwing the bottle over to the side.


"Let's go kick some butt," Dryad smiled.

 

[Erica]

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