trans_9 | Gently, but with undeniable will divesting myself of the holds that would hold me. (Pt. 5: Chances)

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Gently, but with undeniable will divesting myself of the holds that would hold me. (Pt. 5: Chances)

The plan was...well, it wasn't simple, but it sort of was.

While the CLF attacked multiple Clone Processing centers to distract the government, the group with the CLF would target one particular one in the region that'd once been New Jersey. The group with the government would offer their services in putting down their own people.

In the center, they'd split up into several groups. One would fight a fake fight, create a massive diversion, and blow up the room where the samples their DNA were being kept in the process. Another group would secure a teleporter pad. That team would teleport out other teams to steal a ship, steal some med tech to teleport to said ship, and steal a medical database. Another team would go to the main command center and hack into the government mainframe to down the sensornet around the planet so they could escape. And Nightwing himself would accompany the clones to upload the harvested memories to the Mother Brains, left unguarded because of the diversionary fighting, and make sure that was all they did.

Meanwhile, there'd be a standing order for all teams to avoid killing other crewmates, and avoid killing guards unless absolutely necessary.

It was a complicated plan. If a single part fouled up, they might find themselves dead, trapped, or worse. But if it worked, it'd work pretty spectacularly and leave them with medtech, a medical database, the clones helped, and possibly a grateful Council depending on how the fight went, because of the ones seemingly aiding the government.

In some worlds, things that were a million-to-one-chance (exactly a million-to-one) by their nature had to work. Let's hope this world is one of them, eh, mission crew?

[ooc: Only comment to threads if it says they are open here. All threads: OPEN. Characters may get injuries up to and including 7 on the Injury Scale (scroll to the bottom). Any higher, and they must ask permission of the plot-runners, just to make sure everyone isn't immobilized without enough people to help move them.]

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The man looked almost comically suspicious; just their luck that this guy had a work ethic. He scrutinized both IDs, frowning, as his hand slowly reached behind him for the weapon holstered at his side --

Zouichi glanced down the hallway to see if anyone was coming, then gave the man a quick, calculated blow with the edge of one hand to the back of his neck. The guard crumpled instantly. He caught the man, then started dragging his prone body backward. "Hurry," he said to Howard in a low voice. "There should be some lockers back here. Let's stuff this jerk in one of them and go."

"Give me a second," Howard says, taking the guy's gun (and his wallet, ring and security pass while he's at it - maybe they won't need those lockpicks after all). "Okay, let's do it."

They may have lost some time, depending on how long this guy's out and how long it'll take him to get some backup. "Alright, let's move. Forget the medical library, database-hackers are probably on that, let's sweep some floors with these stickers."

Howard, did you take that man's wedding ring? Oh, whatever. Zouichi was pretty sure this guy should be out for a couple hours (which, by the way, is super bad for you). He hoisted the man into some poor resident's possessions locker, paused, then put the bag he'd picked up earlier over the man's head.

Much better.

Then he shut the locker and spun the lock. Zouichi nodded to Howard, striding forward with purpose once again. "Let's make our way downstairs. I think there's a ward down there worth a visit."

Also this theme was playing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXjKz4S5tNU).

Howard can't help but childishly snicker at the bag.

"Burn unit and grafting? Sounds like it could be useful, given that the Ohm shoot space fire and skin's a bitch to grow from start." Nobody's yet explained to him how the Ohm can shoot fire in space. Someone really should someday.

Maybe they can take the whole unit, if they use the sticker right.

They passed two maintenance workers on the stairs as they made their way to the burn ward. Boy, there sure was some big, shiny equipment in here. Zouichi started past a hulking piece of important-looking machinery that actually kind of reminded him of home, all chrome and glass and SCIENCE. He stuck a sticker on it, looking around.

Not too many people around; good.

"Do you even know what that does?" Howard totally doesn't

"So apparently if you stick one of these every fourteen feet, walls, floor and ceiling, you can take a whole room and everything in." Howard checks one of the rooms - holy moo-cows, this room is huge - and is relieved to find it not only bereft of people, but chock-full of technology. Even the hospital beds here seem to be high-tech, although they don't really need those.

"That looks like the regen machine we were briefed on. Sticky that. Wow, I think this machine is to separate dividing cells from dead cells for culturing." He actually has been paying attention to his medic training, and despite having very little science background he's taken a knack to it. The downside is that, with as little information as they have, not only about the CLF but about Stacy's capabilities, it's hard to know what they need.

He does some mental math. "This whole room looks like it's full of stuff we either don't have or don't know how to use back on the ship. Let's sticker it up. It looks like it'll take...maybe eighteen stickers? Nineteen?"

That's a lot of their stickers, but leaves them enough to still have some leeway in what else they take.

"Not for sure. I can only make educated guesses given the materials its made of, its shape, projected wiring connections and power source..." Well, that wasn't really important. Zouichi got to work stickering all the pertinent machinery; by the time he ran out of equipment, he was left with three.

Hmm. Better make it good.

"You about done?"

"I thought that was all Fuyu's job." Reaching the top of some of these machines is hard. And standing on top of the hospital beds is precarious because they roll. "Yeah, I've got five left. Figure we can hit up a medical storage closet and take some stuff in our pockets, too. Or stack stuff in a box if we run low on stickers."

Do these stickers have smilie faces on them? Really? Oh screw you CLF.

Howard's about to point out that they look like the sort of stickers you'd buy for seventy-five cents from a vending machine when security finds them.

He shook his head. "I'm capable of some fairly sophisticated analysis. But she's got access to a larger database than me, and she's more experienced at running support."

"They're over there!" yelled an angry security officer, in extremely cliched fashion complete with pointing. Zouichi paused for an instant, identifying each officer in turn and their relation to the exit. Tricky, but neither side wanted to hurt the oh-so-delicate medical equipment.

Maybe one of the passes they used tripped the alarm. Maybe someone noticed something and said something. Maybe that one jerk they stuffed in the locker didn't have such a great sense of humor. In any case, the guard personnel -- clones, mostly, from the looks of them -- were now firing the same sort of energy weapon Howard had stolen off that one guy.

Zouichi slid his gravity gun out of its holster, snapping off several shots in succession, taking out the lights and several supports in the corridor outside. The ceiling above the corridor simply caved in on itself in response, showering the guards outside with a rain of plaster, wood, tile, and a wheeled gurney that rattled its way down the impromptu new ramp before braining an unfortunate man in the back of the head. He fell to the ground with a heavy thud, faintly mumbling about putting the lime in the Coke (or something like that; Zouichi wasn't really paying attention).

"Let's get out of here," Zouichi said, even as he heard guards in the distance sounding the alarm. He tried calling out on the comm, but either the collapse was interfering with the signal, security was interfering with the signal, or the thing was on the fritz.

Whatever. As he strode out into the hallway, he unhooked a small black implement from his belt, pressing a button to reveal a telescoping combat baton.

Which he used to viciously take someone out at the knees.

Bring the noise.

Zouichi may want to bring the noise, but Howard's more of a 'hit the floor' sort of person. No ruckus necessary!

So Howard's plan seems to largely be cower under a hospital bed while Zou fights security guards. Except that, well, there are a lot of them, and while he figures Zouichi may be fine at quickly dispatching a few guards a few guards, the commotion from the collapse will bring in more. Zouichi's more than capable of defending himself from mall-cops with stun guns, but if this place gets overrun, Howard's not exactly equipped with the skills to help much, and they'll lose precious time.

Obviously running is a suitable tactical maneuver, right?

Howard gets up behind the hospital bed and starts pushing it into the hallway, tossing his backpack and med kit onto it. "Heads up, Zou! Let's move!"

Are they going to go surfing on a hospital bed like little kids in a shopping cart? Yes. Yes they are.

Zouichi leapt easily onto the gurney in a single movement, firing his pistol with one hand while re-securing the baton with the other. As one of the guards ran up in pursuit, he snatched the taser off the man's belt, jamming its electrodes into his torso.

"Hey, Howard," he said, eyeing their pursuit. "You trust me, right?"

"Is now really the time for asking this?" Howard yells, jumping up onto the gurney. Oh, crap, they're heading for stairs. Also heading for more guards. Howard's not sure which collision's scarier. "Yes! Yes, I trust you!"

Just remember that he's got a fragile, non-enhanced body with very breakable bones, Zou.

Zouichi holstered his sidearm, reaching back instead for the silvery metal case at his back. He opened it as he brought it forward, snapping the barrel into place to reveal the long, slender form of the Toha Heavy Industries 4000XL coil rifle. The weight felt comforting in his hands. Familiar. He switched the weapon's shell fire to diffuse blast (low yield, of course!), leveled it, aimed. It took a few seconds all in all. Maybe less.

He pulled the trigger.

Immediately, a bright burst of energy fire bloomed into being from the rifle's barrel, blasting a contingent of guards backwards down the hallway and causing the long windows that stretched along the corridor to shatter, sending glass shards flying backward from the force of the blast.

The gurney, in turn, shot forward, taking both Howard and Zouichi along as it barreled into the guards attempting to come up behind them from the stairs. Then they really were surfing, riding the rolling hospital bed down the steps and into the hall of the floor below.

Just then, a set of doors at the end of the hallway opened. A lone medical technician, who had apparently rode the elevator up completely oblivious to the security breach, looked up from his medical text and squeaked.

A moment later, the gurney struck him. Zouichi grabbed at Howard to shield him from the impact of hitting the far well of the elevator.

For a moment, all was quiet as the elevator descended. Then a cheery tune began playing over the speakers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD3v1B_aXw0).

The technician moaned faintly.

Oh, so maybe Zouichi did need to bring that coil gun.

Even having been caught, the force of coming to a sudden stop knocks the wind out of Howard. He leans against the doors of the elevator before checking first that the elevator buttons won't be opening the doors anytime soon, then rushing over and checking the technician for injuries. Priorities, people.

"I think he's just got a mild concussion," he says, blinking a flashlight into the poor dude's eye before checking his nametag. "Hey, um. Why exactly do we need instruction manuals when we have one of these?"

You just fired a coil gun in a hospital, Zou. You have no moral high ground.

Zouichi raised an eyebrow, leaning the rifle's barrel against one shoulder. It was probably about thirty or forty pounds.

"You want to kidnap this guy? You serious?"

Hey. That floor was almost empty. And that rifle fire resulted in 0.0 (fatal) injuries, thank you very much.

"I'm just putting the idea out there!" he says, putting his hands up defensively. "I mean, Stacy steals people all the time! And maybe Ernesto here likes Galilee as much as we do!"

I mean, Ernesto is a clone. They do seem to get a raw deal.

Zouichi frowned, considering. "Even if he did want to come with us, we can't exactly put a sticker on him and take him along for the ride -- I'm pretty sure they're for transporting inorganic material."

He wasn't sure if they'd be able to boost him out with the rest of the team, either.

"I think what we should be worrying about is the guys waiting for us when this elevator ride ends," said Zouichi. He looked thoughtfully upwards. "...you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Howard looks up too, then at Zouichi, squinting. "When'd you get so diabolical?"

Howard looks down at Ernesto and sighs a bit. He'd have liked having someone around who actually knew what they were looking at. Also having a meat shield. He sticks some aspirin in Ernesto's hand and takes Ernesto's ID and pass. "Sorry, dude."

Zouichi shrugged, bashing in the glass panel of the control panel with the back of one fist and pulling the emergency stop lever. The lift came to a halt as the red warning lights in the ceiling began to silently flash. "Necessity is the mother of diabolical plans? I usually don't have to operate under no-kill orders."

He climbed back on the gurney and reached up to the ceiling, running gloved fingers carefully over the lines of the emergency exit hatch before tugging experimentally at the handle. Thoroughly secured, of course. He tried the security pass. When that didn't work, he simply yanked the hatch open by force, snapping the deadbolt.

They'd stopped while the top of the elevator was close to the doors of one of the higher-level hospital floors; good. Zouichi climbed the maintenance ladder, examined the doors for a moment, then pried them open in one smooth motion. No one waiting there. Yet, anyway.

"Can you prop that guy up on the gurney? We can get out here."

"I'm pretty sure everyone in this hospital is glad you're under a no-kill order. Except us."

Howard props the guy up - not especially easy, since Ernesto has at least seventy pounds on him and isn't helping with the whole Being Unconscious crap seriously could you get more lazy Ernesto - and follows Zouichi. "Security system's probably going off somewhere. Do you remember where the security cams are?"

Zouichi closed his eyes for a second. "Thirty-ninth floor, east wing. There's a security room there near some personnel lockers. It's a few floors above us."

He hopped back down to let Howard up first, choosing instead to drop a small device behind the unconscious Ernesto. Then he carefully lowered the hatch back into place and took out a small tool he'd borrowed from the ship, microwelding the edges to prevent any pursuit. Trap set.

"What'd you leave back there?" Not that he's all that concerned about what happens to Ernesto - well, unless the guards are going to shoot on sight. Then he's slightly, barely concerned. "Is there a storage closet we can stuff our pockets full of serums and pills with here? I promise I won't resell them on the ship."

And actually, you can trust him on that, Zou. He's mostly kept to his word about keeping on the straight and narrow.

On the ship, not when they're kidnapping and framing medical technicians, obviously.

Zouichi considered Howard's questions briefly. "There are supply stockrooms on the floor below us as well as two floors above. But we need to get off this floor quickly -- it's going to be the first place they look."

He advanced on the door leading to one of the back stairwells, turning the handle cautiously with one hand, then opening the door and moving onto the landing in one quick motion. He kept his sidearm at the ready, checking each point for armed opposition. Nothing yet, though he could hear footsteps and yelling, remarkably close now.

"Let's go up and try to give them the slip."

As for what they left with that medical technician...

Back in the elevator, the red emergency lights finally stopped flashing as the security team brought the lift back into service, lowering it to the next floor. There was a team of armed guards on standby, poised to incapacitate this rogue Dr. Tenma (and his supposed accomplice, Johan) instantly.

As the doors slowly opened, Ernesto the medical technician cracked open his eyes. What had happened? He'd been reading, and there had been a hospital bed rushing towards him, and...

Abruptly, the grenade behind Ernesto went off, flooding the elevator and hallway with clouds of billowing smoke. Confused, angry shouting filled the hall as some of the guards tried to escape or locate windows to open while still others stumbled forward to attempt to apprehend the criminal.

" I am all for giving them the slip." Howard follows Zouichi up, hiding in Zouichi's shadow, as usual. The footsteps get closer, closer, and in focusing on them he almost misses the person who comes from the door directly at his back, returning to the stairwell from a cigarette break. even before Zouichi's lightning fast reflexes can come into play, Howard reflexively slams the door, panicking.

THUMP. THUD.

The employee falls to the floor. Somehow, Howard hit him hard enough to knock him out.

The yelling outside stops. Howard can perfectly picture the security guards looking towards the stairwell, alerted by the noise.

He looks at Zouichi. "Wanna do something really stupid?"

Zouichi raised an eyebrow, looking at the prone guard. Poor guy. "You mean like this entire mission? Sure, I'm up for stupid."

TACTICAL LOCKER-STUFFING ACTION

WHAT IS THIS A MIDDLE-SCHOOL GYM CLASS

SNEAKING MISSION IS GO

HOLD BACK THE INEVITABLE BADLY-TIMED SNEEZE

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Weekend at Bernie's Time!

Re: Weekend at Bernie's Time!