[IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Deadline

[mrdent12]

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 0
CND: Obsessed
Form: Solid

She can receive visitors anytime. Iona may be around, so it will need to be distracted if you desire privacy. hat can easily be arranged. It likes to hide in its lab. As for the how reliable Valkyrie is, she is traumatized. Wherever she was, there was constant fighting and something going on she could not understand. Plus, she fell far and only survived because of the battle suit. If not for Iona's Dr. Sokolov programmed medical skills, Valkyrie would be dead. Her recollection may improve over time., replies Diego over the link. Iona would surely be interested in snooping on what would be discussed with Valkyrie if she knew the visitor. Sokolov would see to it if nothing else.

[Sakuro]

"I will not be able to visit Ward 3 for a couple days. When circumstances are more settled I will inform you and see about that visit."

... the wind continued to howl, serving as the dominant and most vocal of the other four. After a prolonged quiet a loud shrieks of grinding metal and crack-booming energy thundered in the cyber-neural network, forming the semblance of words.

"My target is approaching. I need to go."

After that last statement Diego felt a disconnect from that particular Ascendant. Shorterly after their depature from the group communing, the modem-shriek returned. Brooding, almost absentminded.

"I should be getting back to work as well. Thank you for keeping us informed Diego."

The presence slipped away, almost slithering in serpentine fluidness from the network. It was only after these two were gone that the absence of the first voice, the warbling, vibrating one, that Diego noted it's absence. After the others had departed the wind howled anew.

"Before we part, there is something you should be aware of. Earlier this week Las Vegas fell to the Macro-Virus ... but it had help. A matter of hours before the city was overrun there are recordings of the populace falling to anarchy. Madness similar to what you described in Ward 3 when you encountered the Imperator-tech Artifact that you felt a connection to."

[mrdent12]

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 0
CND: Obsessed
Form: Solid

I will make every effort to accommodate whatever works for your circumstances. That information will be helpful in convincing Iona to be more helpful. A flaw Sokolov put into it gave it a semblance of human feeling. If it thinks that me getting the heart will save lives similar to you getting the eye it may not ask for giving territory to it's creator., says Diego ending the link.

Diego had alot to chew on. He now had more ammunition to push for Iona to call Romper. Going in cold though would be stupid. After seeing to any reports of Praetor Null's people in Ward 13 and how they faired from Tilly, assuming she wasn't briefing Valkyrie, he would need to do some scouting.

Holding Diegos posting here momentarily until I see if he will be brought into the extended interlude as that will impact his next moves.

[mrdent12]

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 3
CND: Obsessed
Form: Solid

Before pulling in any favours, Diego hoped to get a sense of what he needed. Chipping technology wasn't exclusive to Imperator. Diego knew of a few attempts off handily in his former life in the standard whispers of do they or don't they exist. If there was info to be had about the possible technology used though it would be in the archives Costas. Given his status, he would have some privilege there. Going through the base would require decorum and all that, but given what might follow he would be on his best behaviour.

I require some information that may exist on the chipping technology being employed by Stronghold, if I may check information in your archives. My hope is to prevent it from going into effect in some manner. Before coming up with a plan though, I need informaiton. , sends out Diego to Costas.

[Supernaturalist]

Iona
HP: 2
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0

After her conversation with Diego, she realizes much more clearly that time is short for dealing with Stronghold’s new control strategy. As she walks back to her laboratory, Iona ponders how she will approach Romper on this matter. 48 hours isn’t much time to spend with him, and she hates to make any possible visit all about business. Still, urgency requires that she speak to him about Stronghold’s plans; and it’s best to be honest about her desire to discuss the issue.

Once in the privacy of her lab, she takes out a “burner phone” and dials his contact number. Initially, there is no answer, and she is forced to leave a message. “Hi, I was wondering if you want to meet for coffee. I’m off work for a couple of days; and I haven’t spoken to you in a while. Rendezvous?”

[Sakuro]

Monday, April 22, 2019 - Deadline


Diego

Diego does not recieve an immediate response from Sylvia. It takes a couple minutes before he feels her in that place within his mind. Her howling-wind and thunder storm voice. Her initial response is ..

"Do you need directions?"

If he needed to be reminded how to find Costa's base, she provided Diego with directions before offering a curt ...

"Make certain you are not followed."

Sylvia's base was an oddity between Wards. Somewhere near the Under City but not part of it. An facility that was in the process of being constructed, but when Diego had visited, it was clearly unfinished, having an aged look to the work that was already done. When he arrived today, he could see that a great deal of restoration had been done. But it's design was eclectic. Some of it has post-modern design or integrated equipment while the majority looked very much like a contemporary military base.

Once Diego has identified himself he is escorted an isolated portion of the base where he meets with Sylvia Costa. The living storm wrapped in the uniform of one of Praetor Null's Black Guard.

"Gonzalez."

.... her windy voice greets Diego as he draws near.

"I have pre-loaded the archive with your search request. Do no go beyond the search parameters."


Iona

Iona heads into the base's lab and found it occupied by half a dozen people vying for lab space to work on various projects. Either personal or assigned to them. She take out her burner phone and after it's annoyingly long startup he notices that it is unable to get a signal. That shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. The base was underground, built off of a Cold War era survival shelter. Once of the lab coated personnel, a middle aged man with a goatee and thick glasses, stares at Iona. Having noticed her attempting to make a phone call.

"Ah ... Ms. Iona, security protocols, such as they are, well ... we aren't supposed to use cellphones in the base. Or near it."

For time and convenience sake, I will assume Iona does relocate to a more appropriate location for making her call.

A safe distance from your secret base of operations Iona makes her call and leaves her message. It isn't that long before she receives a response via text. It is brief. There is a location, a few blocks out side of Ward 3, in Ward 4. There is also a time. Which is in about twenty minutes.

[Supernaturalist]

Iona
HP: 2
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0

Pulling her ragged clothes about her, Iona proceeds to the location given to her in the text, under the concealment of her shoddy street-garb. She is careful not to reveal anything about her form or face, and keeps her head down as she walks with a tired, stumbling gait. She arrive at the location a few minutes ahead of time and pauses as if she is resting. All the while her eyes look out for signs of a contact from within the darkness of her hood.

[mrdent12]

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 3->2
CND: Obsessed
Form: Solid

From previous visits, Diego recalled the path and his various excursions provided enough of a path for him to utilize the unique benefit of his native form to weave between dark corners, cracks, and other such things. Unburned by any physical things, Diego persisted in his native form until getting close enough to the entrance of Costas base to approach by foot in his previous human shape. If it was Chen, Diego wouldn't have afforded the courtesy. He held some respect for Costas and her professionalism still, plus he needed the intel she possessed. There was no need to cause drama.

Going so far as to use his old voice, he made it clear to the security who he was and his business. Being in a proper base without having to make the compromises needed for his current base, was somewhat reassuring. Staying around for too long wasn't on the menu though. Get in, get his information, and get out. He was all to familiar with compartmentalized information. Without writing instruments or a proper means to carry the information with him, all he had was his mind to store the information.

Diego further nodded when given the parameters. While he might want to know more, doing so would come with a price he wasn't willing to pay yet. He had already gone down the rabbit hole of the black heart with Costa and didn't think her one to hold back information. Not after he helped her with the eye of odin.

Pouring over the data, Diego tried to piece together anything he could about possible ties to the new chipping plan and previous Imperator work. Hoping for a blue print of the central facility with a port saying launch a torpedo here and it is destroyed was probably asking too much. Something more subtle to shut it down would probably be better given their previous mode of operation.

Base roll 8..reroll 12
If expertise spy craft is applicable its 25, if insight is needed instead its 19.

[Sakuro]

Iona

The directions Iona received take her to a parklinglot where young people are playing soccer on one side, while cars are filtering in and out of parking spaces on the other. After Iona has been present for about five minutes a dusky skinned boy in jean shorts and a too big blue t-shirt breaks away from the soccer game and approaches her. He eyes her for a moment, then tilts his head to the side in a 'this way' fashion. At which point he wordlessly walks down the sidewalk. After about a block he turns left into a dark and smelly alley.


Diego

Diego enters the archive, a pain well light white room. Once he is inside the the environment changes. It becomes a library with filing cabinets and folders stacked up in orderly piles. Through these visual representations Diego is able to interact with the digital records of the archive. On a table, the only table in the room, there is a file open referencing 'Project Watchman'. It was a program that Dr. Sokolov worked as a means of tracking a population. Though it was only one aspect of a larger city wide interactive augmented reality architecture that Dr. Soklov and Imperator were designing. Watchman never got patch beta testing hardware and software, as Imperator found a superior alternative that he called 'Project Omnisience'.

Diego doesn't understand the details of Watchman, but he does learn that it is a decentralized system with nodes set up over an area, which act as redundancies in the event one of the network nodes is compromised. The 'nodes' are specialized mainframes. Only one is recorded as having been originally constructed. In an interview with Dr. Sokolov after his rescue from Stronghold he revealed that he had helped them further develop Watchman, to the point that it would be out of beta testing and ready for deployment. He also suggested that they could have multiple nodes constructed at this point.

There are also notes about Praetor Null tasking Peter Ezima with coming up with a plan to counter Watchman in the event that it became a threat. Ascendant Ezima's response is a proposed viral attack Watchman's control node, with a delayed trigger to activate once all of Watchman's nodes are up and running. Such that the entire network can be infected.

Diego rolled exactly the degrees of success he needed on a Spycraft check.

The bit about Peter's work is an indicator of what you would get if you called in a Favor with Null: A super-science virus made by Peter Ezima that would spread throughout and corrupt the tracking system. You would still need to physically plug a flash drive containing the virus into one of the network nodes.

[Supernaturalist]

Iona
HP: 2
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0

Iona is wary for a moment when the boy approaches. But when he gives a signal to follow, she relaxes a bit and looks around to see if anyone else is moving towards her. After a few seconds, allowing the boy get ahead of her, she falls in behind him. Walking with a pace that one might interpret as fatigued, she maintains the same distance from the boy until he turns the corner of the alley. When she gets a few steps from the corner, she moves even slower, listening with her keen hearing for any signs of talking, movement, or signals.

OOC: I'll include a Perception roll here. It might not be necessary, but just in case. Perception Roll in Alley: 1d20+10 29. So, a total of 29. If Iona here's nothing alarming, she'll turn the corner and enter the alley.

[mrdent12]

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 2
CND: Obsessed
Form: Solid

With information in mind, Diego had to plot. If he could find a main frame he would be able to figure out it's security and how best to inject a virus. Simple ways in the past were to masquerade as a techie, do something, and the virus is planted. His former mates did that sometimes. Stronghold was getting paranoid, so it likely would not be so easy. He'd also need to make sure it wasn't a big show like all their ops ending up being. Unless the big show was a distraction.

All of this he thought as he left the base as compliant as he came. No need to rock the boat with Costas if not needed. It might have been too much to hope that Stronghold had a mainframe in Ward 3, but when he arrived back at Ward 3, he found one of his invisible people and started poking around for any activity of setting up relays or main frame like things.

Not sure if a roll is needed to tap his network in Ward 3 for any clues. If so I can add it.
Spycraft 25

[Sakuro]

Iona

Iona stopped shy of rounding the corner. Keeping herself obscured from whatever lay within the alley. She hears footsteps growing distant. The splash of water. Then nothing. When she does round the corner she sees the boy had stopped walking and had turned to look back towards Iona. Evidently waiting for her to catch up. He then turns his back to her and started walking again. Towards a door up a short flight of stairs along the side of one building which lead to a door. He knocks at it, rapping loudly at the metal barrier. A minute later a Latino man in black slacks and a white button down shirt opened the door. Words are exchanged between the two. Iona doesn't understand what they are saying, but it sounds like Spanish.

After they have spoken the man motions for Iona to come inside, while the boy walks back the way he had came. Past Iona.


Diego

In the last couple weeks it has been more difficult to get in contact with the Forgotten Ones. They have been laying low after all the attention that has been drawn to Ward 3. But Diego knows his people. He had watched them before ever approaching any. He picked them out. Trained them up, at least a little.

Diego find Hank in the shadow of the ruined building warming a can of beans over a trash can fire. Hank is an older man, late fifties, with muscular limbs, a thick neck, and a hefty ponch hanging over his pants. After some small talk Diego get's to the point and starts asking about Stronghold and any electronic hardware they might be moving around. He learns some of Stronghold's recent activities in Ward three on the north end. Mostly patrols, guard duty over construction. No electronics beyond setting up surveillance equipment like cameras.

More up to date, as in within the last five minutes, a couple of the mercenaries were spotted chasing down a guy who had knifed someone. If Diego wanted to know where they went, Hanks could point him in the right direction.

[Supernaturalist]

Iona
HP: 2
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0

Iona waits until the boy walks past her and disappears around the corner. Turning to the Latino man at the door, she proceeds to walk past him. Though she outwardly seems calm, she is vigilant. Her senses are on alert for any sign of deception or treachery.

Once inside, she removes the head-covering and nods to the man. "Good afternoon. Thank you for accommodating me." Her gentle voice belies her sense of anxiety.

[mrdent12]

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 2
CND: Obsessed
Form: Solid

Since it seemed they hadn't set up back up main frames in Ward 3, as best his contacts could gather, Diego made his way to the soldiers chasing the knife yielder. If he was smart, he could use it to his advantage. Picking off a random merc was stupid without a cover story well establish. Fate had given him one. A knife user could have been hiding somewhere with some buddies and picked off one of the pursuers.

Out of sight of people, Diego shifted back to his native form and made his way through the shadows to try to get a read on the situation with his own eyes. Perhaps find someone who was falling back from the group.

Stealth 24, Perception 22