01-16-2022, 10:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-17-2022, 04:04 AM by Akari Miyakawa.)
Confirmations sounded off in her earpiece.
Hatch…deployed.
Suggs…deployed.
Freeman…deployed.
Jorge…deployed.
Akari blipped the target’s communication channel twice and was rewarded with contact confirming her team’s movements had not been detected. Finding the proper sync channel had taken far, far too long. Who/what the fuck was “X”? Surely not a partner given the kid’s history. Another drone? “Fry ‘em,” she ordered, and five overlapping starburst EMPs sent gods only knew how many pet microdrones to the afterlife. Jorge’s voice came through shortly thereafter.
“Deadzone confirmed, Cap.”
Pale eyes regarded the obsidian egg on the HUD. “Blow it.”
The clearing once again bore witness to a beam of otherworldly light. The creepy giant oval absorbed it all disconcertingly like a black hole. It would not have surprised her in the slightest if some tentacled monstrosity emerged to do battle for the fate of the cosmos. “We really need better sci-fi vid feeds in the transpo,” she mumbled.
“Again, Cap?” Jorge came back.
“Disregard.” The egg was folding itself neatly away around a cloud of…fluff? Akari squinted at her own drone’s grainy image on the helmet HUD. I swear to god if all we find is a fucking teddy bear… It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time this one had slipped away. The team was closing in but had started farther out than she liked. The target’s security net necessitated distance until the drones had been eliminated. “Weapons hot.” Acknowledgements echoed in her ear. The egg disassembled further and regurgitated a boneless form like a newborn baby blob. She could almost feel the team tense over the shared surveillance feed. Jorge said what she was thinking.
“Careful, could be a ruse.”
Hatch won the footrace. “Contact. Holding.” His quiet voice was joined shortly thereafter by Jorge’s breathless confirmation of the same. Later she’d poke fun. He came on the line signaling an advance and gave instructions to Hatch. The two men were joined by Suggs, the tech nerd. Then all hell broke loose. Coms were all an overlap.
"The fuck is the black thing? Wait, is that her exosuit?"
"She’s not wearing her suit?!" Jorge bellowed.
"Vitals, now!"
"She wasn’t insulated against…"
"FUCK! MEDIC!" "I am literally standing right behind you so move. No vitals."
"How many volts was that?"
"FUCK." "Scan got nothing." "Prepping defib. Set. Charge is good. Clear."
"Clear." "Got her. DID YOU JUST SHOOT HER!?"
"Yeah, with the stuff, she might wake up." "Look at this screen, fucktard, she’s out."
"Jesus."
"She woke up last time." "This is totally different, man."
"She shot me last time."
"I would have shot your ass too."
Akari cut through the cacophony. “SITREP.”
Jorge’s tone belied his annoyance. “Target contained, Cap. I fucked up planning, sir, and did not account for…”
She cut him off knowing he felt guilty as hell. “Put her in the haptic and clear the scene. I’m nearly there with transpo.”
The best laid plans…
Jorge had a Werther’s Original addiction problem and was furiously sucking one of the candies into oblivion when she arrived. She’d wager 100 grand that the man had had at least five prior to that one too. Her own eyes confirmed what he was telling her around the clicking of the sweet in his mouth. Their target was subdued in the haptic suit, Suggs and Freeman were monitoring and Hatch was attempting to corral the debris. Akari bent over and picked up one of the white things. “What are these?”
Suggs replied excitedly, looking up over his flex screens and wires. “I think they’re integrated power storage units from her suit. See how some of them are stacked? I bet that’s how she found the power to get a signal out. You know, wire in series? Must have taken her hours.”
Akari shook her head and gave Jorge a look. “...when our children surpass us.” He snorted back. “That was a long time ago for me.” The two shared another look that was a memory from the past. “You ready?”
“Yeah Cap, soon as Doc and Suggs give the green light.”
“Alright, go get hooked up. Hatch, dig in. You’re rear guard in case ‘X’ is an issue.”
Hatch laughed. “Find X. Boss, I should tell you I suck at maths.”
“You suck at cleaning too.”
“I’ve got like, a thousand of these things in my bag already!”
“Gotta catch ‘em all.”
Akari made her way over to the eUTV where the crew was playing ‘If this scene were a meme.’
“Nah. Steampunk caterpillar.”
Doc Freeman provided his update. “She’s good across the board med-wise and we’re ready to plug in.”
Suggs confirmed. “Power meter says two hours.”
“Why are there less wires than in training? Right? Tell me I’m not crazy.”
“You’re right. Jorge hurt her so now I don’t have to.”
“Hey!”
“It’s true, shock like that means we don't have to use haptic to inflict pain…just squeeze a little. Nervous system is chaos right now, honestly it’s better this way.”
Jorge’s response was laced with regret as he echoed something the techie had said earlier. “Apparently it will make her less likely to ground in the program and figure it out.”
Suggs nodded and offered a practical, “it’ll save power too, Cap.”
“I’ll take it. Link up and let’s get moving.”
She saw Jorge check the restraining straps holding their prisoner to the litter basket before settling his bulk on the jump seat next to her. Doc fit a weird helmet over the kid’s head while Suggs hooked up actual hard wires to the VR goggles Jorge had put on then connected those to the weird helmet and the final Y end to a bulky, old-style laptop. The big man put a hand on the prisoner’s shoulder where she lay and gave a thumbs up to Suggs.
Akari made her way around to the cab and detached a briefcase from stow clips. “Hatch, here’s your bike. Wait 60 mikes and then get your ass to the LZ. We’ll send the drone back for XFIL. Check in early and often.”
“You got it, Cap.”
“Alright, we’re moving.”
Hatch watched the vehicle depart and turned back to his hidey hole. Waiting.
(( Akari et. al. continue in Lost Boy ))
Hatch…deployed.
Suggs…deployed.
Freeman…deployed.
Jorge…deployed.
Akari blipped the target’s communication channel twice and was rewarded with contact confirming her team’s movements had not been detected. Finding the proper sync channel had taken far, far too long. Who/what the fuck was “X”? Surely not a partner given the kid’s history. Another drone? “Fry ‘em,” she ordered, and five overlapping starburst EMPs sent gods only knew how many pet microdrones to the afterlife. Jorge’s voice came through shortly thereafter.
“Deadzone confirmed, Cap.”
Pale eyes regarded the obsidian egg on the HUD. “Blow it.”
The clearing once again bore witness to a beam of otherworldly light. The creepy giant oval absorbed it all disconcertingly like a black hole. It would not have surprised her in the slightest if some tentacled monstrosity emerged to do battle for the fate of the cosmos. “We really need better sci-fi vid feeds in the transpo,” she mumbled.
“Again, Cap?” Jorge came back.
“Disregard.” The egg was folding itself neatly away around a cloud of…fluff? Akari squinted at her own drone’s grainy image on the helmet HUD. I swear to god if all we find is a fucking teddy bear… It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time this one had slipped away. The team was closing in but had started farther out than she liked. The target’s security net necessitated distance until the drones had been eliminated. “Weapons hot.” Acknowledgements echoed in her ear. The egg disassembled further and regurgitated a boneless form like a newborn baby blob. She could almost feel the team tense over the shared surveillance feed. Jorge said what she was thinking.
“Careful, could be a ruse.”
Hatch won the footrace. “Contact. Holding.” His quiet voice was joined shortly thereafter by Jorge’s breathless confirmation of the same. Later she’d poke fun. He came on the line signaling an advance and gave instructions to Hatch. The two men were joined by Suggs, the tech nerd. Then all hell broke loose. Coms were all an overlap.
"The fuck is the black thing? Wait, is that her exosuit?"
"She’s not wearing her suit?!" Jorge bellowed.
"Vitals, now!"
"She wasn’t insulated against…"
"FUCK! MEDIC!" "I am literally standing right behind you so move. No vitals."
"How many volts was that?"
"FUCK." "Scan got nothing." "Prepping defib. Set. Charge is good. Clear."
"Clear." "Got her. DID YOU JUST SHOOT HER!?"
"Yeah, with the stuff, she might wake up." "Look at this screen, fucktard, she’s out."
"Jesus."
"She woke up last time." "This is totally different, man."
"She shot me last time."
"I would have shot your ass too."
Akari cut through the cacophony. “SITREP.”
Jorge’s tone belied his annoyance. “Target contained, Cap. I fucked up planning, sir, and did not account for…”
She cut him off knowing he felt guilty as hell. “Put her in the haptic and clear the scene. I’m nearly there with transpo.”
The best laid plans…
Jorge had a Werther’s Original addiction problem and was furiously sucking one of the candies into oblivion when she arrived. She’d wager 100 grand that the man had had at least five prior to that one too. Her own eyes confirmed what he was telling her around the clicking of the sweet in his mouth. Their target was subdued in the haptic suit, Suggs and Freeman were monitoring and Hatch was attempting to corral the debris. Akari bent over and picked up one of the white things. “What are these?”
Suggs replied excitedly, looking up over his flex screens and wires. “I think they’re integrated power storage units from her suit. See how some of them are stacked? I bet that’s how she found the power to get a signal out. You know, wire in series? Must have taken her hours.”
Akari shook her head and gave Jorge a look. “...when our children surpass us.” He snorted back. “That was a long time ago for me.” The two shared another look that was a memory from the past. “You ready?”
“Yeah Cap, soon as Doc and Suggs give the green light.”
“Alright, go get hooked up. Hatch, dig in. You’re rear guard in case ‘X’ is an issue.”
Hatch laughed. “Find X. Boss, I should tell you I suck at maths.”
“You suck at cleaning too.”
“I’ve got like, a thousand of these things in my bag already!”
“Gotta catch ‘em all.”
Akari made her way over to the eUTV where the crew was playing ‘If this scene were a meme.’
“Nah. Steampunk caterpillar.”
Doc Freeman provided his update. “She’s good across the board med-wise and we’re ready to plug in.”
Suggs confirmed. “Power meter says two hours.”
“Why are there less wires than in training? Right? Tell me I’m not crazy.”
“You’re right. Jorge hurt her so now I don’t have to.”
“Hey!”
“It’s true, shock like that means we don't have to use haptic to inflict pain…just squeeze a little. Nervous system is chaos right now, honestly it’s better this way.”
Jorge’s response was laced with regret as he echoed something the techie had said earlier. “Apparently it will make her less likely to ground in the program and figure it out.”
Suggs nodded and offered a practical, “it’ll save power too, Cap.”
“I’ll take it. Link up and let’s get moving.”
She saw Jorge check the restraining straps holding their prisoner to the litter basket before settling his bulk on the jump seat next to her. Doc fit a weird helmet over the kid’s head while Suggs hooked up actual hard wires to the VR goggles Jorge had put on then connected those to the weird helmet and the final Y end to a bulky, old-style laptop. The big man put a hand on the prisoner’s shoulder where she lay and gave a thumbs up to Suggs.
Akari made her way around to the cab and detached a briefcase from stow clips. “Hatch, here’s your bike. Wait 60 mikes and then get your ass to the LZ. We’ll send the drone back for XFIL. Check in early and often.”
“You got it, Cap.”
“Alright, we’re moving.”
Hatch watched the vehicle depart and turned back to his hidey hole. Waiting.
(( Akari et. al. continue in Lost Boy ))