trans_9 | Payback [Closed]

John came to the precinct ready for action. They might be fighting an AI, but that didn't mean he was going in there prepared only for that fight. GLaDOS might obtain control over some of the ship's tentacle, or any other number of things. So to be safe he'd brought his full loadout for the most part. It should be more than enough for anything it could throw against them, and if it wasn't they had a much bigger problem than GLaDOS kidnapping people. Once he was at the Precinct John found a table, and busied himself double checking his gear, especially the CODEC. If there was one person he didn't want to lose touch with on this op it was Kusanagi.

The Major herself had preceded him by half an hour, and had completed her own double-check since. Connor got a brief, professional nod when he arrived, but nothing more. Then again, the codec in John's ear wouldn't need her vocal response to receive a transmission; the joys of technology.

It went without saying that he'd gone against this particular kind of enemy almost exclusively in the past. That experience would tell in the upcoming fight, as much as anything else. Fucking GLaDOS.

John returned the nod, and continued his preparations. He was glad she was going on this op. She had her head on right, and wouldn't hold back when it came time to tear GLaDOS apart. Hopefully the others came with the same mindset, and equipment.

Indigo shows up soon after getting the message. She shows up with no gear, just herself, her plantsuit, and a package tucked under her arm. Of course, she doesn't need the kind of gear they're loading themselves down with.

She steps into the room where her sensors detect John and the Major, and gives the pair a friendly wave. She sets the package down on a table and stands with her hands clasped behind her back, waiting for the Captain to show.

Even with her new responsibilities, there was no way Samus is missing this. The Chief of Security isn't in armor yet, though. She stands with her arms crossed, waiting for the team to assemble.

Claire was typically more experienced fighting biological organisms, but this was something she wouldn't have missed out on. GLaDOS had broken rule one of avoiding pissing a Redfield off, and had messed with her family.

She showed up last of the group called to the precinct, but armed all the same. She knew there'd been a reason she'd hung onto the grenade launcher from the zombie outbreaks, in addition to her other more standard fare.

"Good, everyone is on time," Leon spoke as he entered the room. He gave everyone in the room a curt nod, though as he looked around at everyone, he kept his gaze on Claire several seconds longer than he did anyone else. But this was mission time, all business.

"Now, as we all know, GLaDOS, the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, has been a huge problem for as long as the crew has been awake. The question has never been should we do something about it, but could we?

"Up until now, we couldn't. But after months of work, we finally have actionable intelligence to go on."

Leon took out an omnicomm, and after pressing the screen a few times, he placed it on the table. A 3D holographic map of Stacy was projected up from it. On the map, there was one spot in particular that was blinking, which the map slowly zoomed in on.

"This is your target. All the intel we have points to this location as being where GLaDOS' core processor is at. Your primary objective is to take out GLaDOS. Your secondary objective is to recover as many crew members from the mazes as you can.

"Getting there won't be easy, however. If it was, someone would have done so by now." One does not simply walk into Mordor, after all. The map zoomed out a bit, and highlighted a section of the ship. "The area surrounding GLaDOS is completely cut off from the rest of the ship. Every bulkhead is sealed and vent and crawlspace comes to a dead end. But there is a way in..."

Leon motioned towards Indigo, and more specifically towards the package she had with her. "We know GLaDOS has made some of the crew members use portal devices to move around through the mazes. Indigo has modified one so it can connect to any other open portal. While there probably one be one within a few feet of the AI's core, you should be able to find one that's close enough.

"One you go in, though, you'll effectively be on your own. Like I said, that section is sealed off, which includes a communications blackout." Not to mention that the crew would probably forget about them all. "Two of the ships other AI's will be running virtual interference for you, providing a distraction for GLaDOS, but they won't be able to directly intervene on your behalf. They'll be ready to launch their distraction in a hour, which is how much time you have left to prepare.

"Any questions?"

"Expected opposition?" An obvious question that should have already been answered, but it still needed to be asked. John wanted at least a better picture of the thing's defenses. "Also do we have a back up plan in case that portal device fails when we try to leave?"

He wasn't above carefully blowing his way out, but it would help if they knew where they could do that while causing the least amount of damage.

"We know the area surrounding GLaDOS has a number of both puzzles and death traps, though everyone who has been there describes something completely different. As for the AI core itself, that's a complete unknown. No one has ever laid eyes on it, and none of our scans can give us detailed information on it. You'll have to be prepared for damn near anything." Though, really, flying in blind was what half the people in the room did best.

"If you need to force your way out," Leon rotated the map around, and highlighted one of the walls, "you can use this section here. Though it might take more firepower to blast through the bulkheads than what you can carry. To that end, if you don't make it out in four hours we'll launch a full scale rescue operation, and that's where we'll be coming from."

Indigo examines the map, and nods. She's pretty confident that if push comes to shove, she could blow a hole in any wall the ship has to offer. But that's not her main concern. "I'm more concerned about GLaDOS's possible forms of defense. I have limited data on her, is it possible that she could erase our memories of what we plan to do as easily as she erases the memories of people on the ship whenever someone is pulled into her mazes?"

"Doubtful, since that effect seems to be more done by Stacy than by GLaDOS itself." Though, really, even if the plan was erased, it wouldn't take them long to decide to kill GLaDOS anyway.

"Though, if you're worried about it," Leon pulled out a marker and offered it to Indigo, "write down a reminder on your hand."

Ink can't be deleted, after all.

That look, Leon, is possibly the dullest thing this side of a peanut butter knife.

John managed to not roll his eyes at the whole exchange, real inspiring words there Captain. At least he had a secondary escape route that he quickly entered into his omnicomm. Leon might not think he had enough firepower to get through, but that was because he clearly didn't know how to pack for firefight. "Once we're inside I'm sure we can run more cyber interference to make sure it's too busy to have chance to erase our memories."

He had a few viruses that had worked quite well against Skynet, and he was looking forward to seeing how well GLaDOS handled them.

Claire, on the other hand, had to press the backs of her fingers to her mouth on the pretense of an absent movement while she carefully studied the map to keep the smile on her face from showing. After a beat though she frowned, looking away from the map and at John briefly, before looking to Leon.

"That's all well and good for us going in, but you mentioned if we're not back in four hours you're breaking in? What's to say everyone's memories of us won't be erased the second we sneak in?" It's kind of hard to launch a rescue if you don't actually know you're missing someone.

Edited 2010-08-22 04:48 (UTC)

"It's an automatic timer," Motoko cut in evenly, from the back. This was stupid, bordering on tedious. Then again, she would take that attitude; altered memories were the norm, in her field of expertise, "The rescue party doesn't need to know who they're pursuing, or why, just where to go, and that it's important."

She paused to meaningfully sweep her eyes around the gathering, "The longer we stand here, the more likely we'll be taken notice of. We still don't know enough to predict the range of sensors it has access to. Wrap it up."

Once again John found himself in agreement with the Major. Stowing his omnicomm, and then looked over to gave her a nod. "I'm ready to go."

Samus gave a curt nod. No questions from her now. She'd simply get the job done. She'd deal with complications if they came up. It was time for action.

"I have nothing more."

"Anymore questions? No? Good.

"The Major is the lead on this, Samus is second."

He looked at the timestamp on his omnicomm.

"Be back here and ready to roll in fifty-five minutes. Until then, do whatever you need to get ready, just watch what you say. Right now, the element of surprise is on our side, let's keep it that way.

"Dismissed."

If there are any last minute weapons checks, or any goodbyes you want to say, now would be the time.

But do be careful what you say outside the city, the walls do have ears...

When the others started to clear the room, Leon had motioned quietly for Claire to wait for a moment. He was well aware that she could handle herself, so he didn't have much of a problem with her going on this mission. ~~Not that he would've been able to stop her if he had wanted to.~~ But there was one issue that needed to be addressed.

"Are you sure about this?" He finally asked, once they were alone.

She'd actually already intended to stay, but his motion to her just kind of solidified that. She hadn't given Sherry much by way of explanation of what was going on, figuring she could explain it when she got back. And if she didn't get back, then Sherry just wouldn't remember. The latter wasn't exactly a thought she was going to linger on.

She smiled a little at Leon's question, setting her gear down for a moment and moving to slide her hands through his.

"I'm sure." Nevermind she was probably technically the least experienced fighter going, that wasn't really even something she was bothered by. "It's gotta get done, right?" And GLaDOS had royally pissed her off.

"Yeah, it does," he agreed, pulling her closer. "But," he started, then trailed off for a moment.

"I don't want to forget you." That was the part of the mission he was least looking forward to.

Claire smiled a little sadly at him, leaning in against his chest and repositioning her hands around his waist.

"You won't forget me," she replied calmly, closing her eyes. "You're just not going to remember our past year together," which despite the casual tone of her voice, was kind of a terrifying thought to her.

Had they really been here that long? With Leon's schedule, days and weeks tended to pile up fast, but, yeah, it had probably been a year already.

"That's still too much," especially considering how much their relationship had grown and changed in that time. He wrapped his arms around her, and leaned his head against hers a bit.

"It's been a good year for us."

"Mm," she hummed, tightening her hold on him a little. "Well, it'll only be a few hours. And if I don't come back, at least it'll be really easy for you to get over me."

He shook his head a little, letting out a very short, humorless chuckle. "Don't be so sure." Even if his brain did reset their relationship to pre-ship feelings, he would still love her.

"You'll come back, though," he told her, and he was sure about that. "And if you don't in a few hours, then I'll come in and get you."

"That would be embarrassing," Claire wrinkled her nose, before leaning back and sliding one arm away from him to fish in the pocket of her pants, pulling out her brother's lighter, the one she was rarely without.

"How about you hold onto this, for me?"

Leon looked at the lighter, then back at Claire. He smiled, and couldn't help laughing a bit. A little reminder...

"Yeah," he said, taking the lighter, "I can do that."

"Thanks." She smiled at him, before the look faded away and she bit her lip for a second, studying his face.

"I don't want you to forget me, either."

His smile faded into a more somber look.

"I'll still be here. And I'll at least remember that asking someone else out on a date will earn me a serious asskicking."

Claire smirked a little, tilting her head to the side.

"I wasn't even worried about that. But now that you mention it..." she squinted her eyes at him briefly, before a slight smile appeared on her face again. "Where's that marker? I should write a warning on your forehead just to be safe. You'll be a single dad while I'm gone, that kind of commitment can be pretty tempting to a lady."

He smirked back at her and kissed her.

"I don't think that'll go well with my hair."

"That's kind of the point," she replied, reaching to mess his hair up, laughing a little. "I'm all used to this relationship thing now, I don't want to have to be fighting girls off right after getting back from killing an AI." Not that she was even entirely sure how that was going to work, yet, but. She was mostly in it for the exploding of things.

He laughed a bit, and reached up to fix his hair.

"You won't have to worry about that anyway. It's not like there's a girl on this ship that can compare to you. And I'll be too busy being a working single dad to even look for one who can."

She looked oddly pleased by that, nodding her head, and smoothing her hands over his shoulders.

"I think this is the first time I've been happy your job keeps you so busy." She wasn't really paranoid about him finding someone else in the time she was gone from his mind, but it was still kind of nice to know she didn't have to worry.

And at the given time and place, the team has reassembled.

Countdown to Mission Start in 6... 5... 4...

Leon looked down at his Omnicomm as he recieved the message. The AI's Cortana and Andromeda had begun distracting GLaDOS and Stacy.

Leon nodded at Indigo.

"You're up."

Indigo nods. "Please step back." She takes out her package, and unwraps it to reveal a portal gun, much like what GLaDOS passed out in her mazes. Taking a second, she fires, leaving a hole in the wall for the team to step through.

"I'll go first to make sure that the area is safe." Like she had in Spacewalk. Waiting just a second, she steps through the portal, gun held loosely at her side, and hand held up, ready to eliminate a threat if there's one immediately present.

The room is familiar to anyone who's been spirited away by GLaDOS already, with sterile white walls that all seem the same.

There's already somebody in here.

A man dressed in a podsuit is jumping several platforms, carrying a portal gun. Each platform, which is moving back and forth, tries to dump him when he lands on it so he's forced to keep making increasingly less well aimed leaps. He finally reaches a stable landing as an opening appears in the wall, he raises the portal gun reflexively but stops.

He recognizes this person, but how-?

"Indigo? What are you doing here?"

The man is huge, near seven feet tall with a scarred face. There's something oddly familiar about him, a sense of de ja vu...

Indigo looks pointedly at the portal gun, then cocks an eyebrow, looking up at the man who... apparently knows her. More of GLaDOS' mind trickery, no doubt. She will enjoy this mission more than she probably should. "I am on a mission. Please hold."

With that, she leans through the portal and gestures to the other group. "Watch your step, there is a platform here. Otherwise, there is no danger."

She floats back, giving more room to the others, and frowns at the Chief. Who was he? Even if GLaDOS was pulling her tricks, surely that sense of familiarity would be enough for her to identify him.

Motoko took point easily, which was convenient to her purposes because it allowed her a first look at the room. The visual sweep was swift and professional, multiple sensory-arrays filtering the thermal and electromagnetic to confirm Indigo's judgment.

Chief was a professional man, and even in an attitude of surprise, he still held to that subtle soldier's stance that spoke to long habit. The Major couldn't place his face, but something in her ghost whispered...

Intuition was no champion over survival, and so the Major automatically lifting her own weapon in answer to having the portal gun pointed at her, stepping aside as she did so to allow the rest to pour through. She lowered it, after a moment, and the memory reasserted itself abruptly, slotting into place like it had never left. Long seconds ticked by while she ran the requisite virus scan, and marked the incident redundantly.

"We've got a hostage, already," She told the rest as they filed into the room, then addressed chief directly, slipping the strap to her assault rifle over her head and tossed it to him one-handed, knowing he'd catch the weight easily, "Rearguard, or fall back, take your pick."

John was next through the door, and he swept his section of the room just as he'd been trained to do. It didn't matter that someone gave the all clear you always checked because anybody could miss something. He'd seen it enough times himself to have that particular lesson seared into him. Once he had finished he dropped his weapon to a low ready, and looked around the room trying to make sense of it. Even for an AI this seemed insane.

With one last glance behind her at Leon, Claire was the next one to step through the portal and into the room beyond. Like John, her gun came up as she swept the area despite an all clear being called, before she lowered it. She would've studied the room a little closer if the big guy standing there in the plant suit weren't distracting.

It took her a second to remember who he was, but once the memory clicked into place she smiled a little, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, guess we know the memory thing wears off, even in here."

Samus brings up the rear. She's not too out of place in this bunch, opting for an out of armor mission and traditional firearms. She has been in the mazes too much for her to look too closely now. She knows it wouldn't do much good. The puzzles are never the same.

Her eyes snap at the first "hostage." She knows she should recognize him. It clicks, and she nods.

"No time for reunions," she doesn't offer much of a greeting. No offense, Chief. Sure she's probably glad to know of your existence once again, but there's a job to do. Did you really expect anything different? "Everyone ready to go?"

Just then a voice rings out, a slightly broken voice that the team knows all too well.

||Unauthorized personnel are not to en_ter the test chamber while ^tests are in progress.||

There's a soft but audible mechanical whirr as something out of sight moves. It can't be good.

||Proceed_ing in ^removal of unauthorized personnel!||

Several wall panels draw back and three cubbies are revealed on the opposite wall, bearing shiny white turrets with glowing red "eyes".

GLaDOS knows you're here, guys.

Edited 2010-08-27 03:40 (UTC)

"Move!"

The Chief has been doing this for a while now. Even as he dodges he throws a portal under one of the turrets and another on the ceiling near the start of the chamber, leaving it to crash to the floor.

Indigo twists in the air, reflexively covering herself with a glowing shield. She leaves the others open as she lets fly with several energy bolts. They operate differently, and she doesn't want to restrict their movements.

Payback [Closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Mission Briefing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

You Have One Hour

Re: You Have One Hour

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

It's Go Time

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject