| Chapter 5: Endgame | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 27 2013, 06:13 AM (156 Views) | |
| Jason Hawk | May 27 2013, 06:13 AM Post #1 |
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Twelve hours later.... Hawk nursed his second cup of black coffee as he poured over a three-dimensional holographic schematic of the Aquinas Base. They had taken off from a secret airfield hours ago and were en route to a private airfield in the Nevada desert. The jet they flew on was an unmarked plane owned by Dysson. Hitomi sucked on a cigarette as she poured over files on her laptop. “About all I can say is that this has a fifty/fifty chance of being the shortest operation in history,” she said. “Let’s see, the whole place is built into the side of a canyon, completely unassailable from the ground. It has the defenses to hold off an entire army from its defensive position. No way to sneak in, given the five-hundred foot sheer cliff it would take to climb to get to it. Sensors, mines, automatic turrets, missiles....am I missing anything?” “We have a way,” said Hawk. “A prototype Dysson stealth helicopter is standing by to take us in. We have a Majestic Twelve code we’ll be broadcasting which should fool their scanners.” “Until we’re spotted visually,” Hitomi retorted. “Then the gig’s up.” “Maybe we can distract them, buy some time,” Jade suggested. She was absently stirring her fifth packet of sugar into her coffee. “That would have to be a pretty spectacular distraction,” Marcus said, joining them, still wrapped in a robe. He poured himself a cup of black coffee and stole a cigarette from Hitomi. “Glad you could join us, Cavanaugh,” said Hawk, noting the casual robe. “I’m glad that one of us can still find time for the creature comforts in life. Before you retort, that’s not me being snarky, Cavanaugh.” “What I don’t enjoy is interrupted sleep,” Marcus huffed. “No wonder Jade’s crazy,” he said, gulping down several mouthfuls of coffee. “Say what you want, I need my beauty rest.” Hitomi sighed and sucked a long drag, “You know, this is getting worse by the moment. Not only does Cord’s plan make Gwen and Stark look like sparkle ponies, we have no idea if, and that’s a big IF, we get through his security that we can secure a resolution that’s any better than giving control of the Aquinas Router to the Illuminati.” “No,” said Hawk. He paused, then said, “Well, there *is* a way, but its nothing I’d seriously propose.” “At this point we need to explore any way possible,” Jade said. “So spit it out. Let’s hear it.” Hawk sighed and shook his head. He pointed to a conduit running underneath the main power core. “Ok, this conduit leads to a control deck located on one of the auxiliary control nodes. I’ve checked and double-checked the schematics and, theoretically, if someone was to access this control deck and set a thermal charge, the resulting blast would cause a chain reaction, overloading the entire control system to the Aquinas Router. It would leave the router and facility intact, but cut off the router from external control and monitoring, leaving only automated maintenance systems intact.” “That sounds perfect,” said Hitomi. “What’s the catch?” “The catch is that the conduit leading to the control deck is flooded with enough radiation to kill the average human. You don’t seriously propose one of us try to get through. It would be suicide.” “So can we find a way in that doesn’t involve one of us physically going in? We’ve encountered enough in the last few days to make me believe that it wouldn’t be out of the question for us to find a way to send ‘something’ in rather than ‘someone’.” Marcus suggested. “Short of commandeering a robot and hacking it to do our bidding,” said Hawk, lighting a cigarette. “I don’t see how. We don’t have the skillset or the equipment for that.” “Then we’re fucked,” Hitomi mused. “And you’re sure that this radiation exceeds levels that someone wearing protective gear could handle?” Jade asked, drinking the coffee-flavoured sugar water she’d concocted. “We have no protective gear and it’s unknown if any could be procured on site,” said Hawk. “I didn’t say it was a viable option. One of us would have to volunteer for a one-way trip.” “Count me out,” Marcus said, pouring himself a second cup of coffee. “I’ll do it,” Jade said. “If there’s no other way.” “Absolutely not!” said Hawk, hotly. “Out of the question. This is *not* up for negotiation!” “I don’t hear a better idea,” Jade replied. “It’s too dangerous,” Marcus said, agreeing with Hawk. “It would be suicide.” “Don’t underestimate Jade,” said Hitomi. “She’s a lot smarter than she looks...of course, she looks like a retard. Jade, are you fucking insane? Did you hear a thing of what Hawk said? You’ll be fried like a microwave burrito!” “What other option do we have?” Jade asked, glaring at Hitomi. “Do you have a better plan?” “No,” said Hitomi, finally. “You don’t get to make that decision,” Hawk hissed. “I haven’t gone through years of battles with you just to see you throw your life away, Jade.” Arianne’s head popped in from the next room. “And besides. I’m shocked that you trust me so little that you’d die rather than give the damned thing to my people.” Hawk glared at her. “You’ve been eavesdropping this entire time?” He sounded quite annoyed. “To be fair, this is her domain, she has the right,” Marcus replied, lighting another cigarette. “And no offence, Arianne, but no one should have control. What would you do with it when you had it?” Arianne grinned. “Pretty much what we already do, except it’ll be much easier and cheaper.” She stepped into the room and went to the coffee machine. “You don’t think we already have surveillance over the world’s data pipes?” Jade looked at Arianne. This came as no surprise, but it wasn’t much comfort. “Arianne, I know you and I believe your intentions are pure, but why should we trust you with that kind of power?” said Hawk. “Consider the alternative. Are you familiar with how the Internet is supposed to work? With the concept of a datagram network?” Hitomi listened to the conversation. “We’re just simple folk of the land,” she said. “Perhaps you could educate us.” “If you’re asking us to pick the lesser of the evils, then I guess you have my support,” Marcus said. “At least its more likely to end with my living to see a few more decades,” he shrugged. “Thanks, Marcus. But we’re having to pick the lesser of three evils, here.” She sipped her coffee cup. “The Internet is supposed to be structured like a web. Each router is supposed to be able to contact multiple neighboring routers and figure out which paths data needs to take to get to where it needs to be. Multiple paths, which is absolutely the whole point. The original idea of the Internet was to survive a nuclear attack. There are many paths from point A to point B, some of them roundabout, so that if any path is down due to damage, you can route around it.” “Now see what Cord’s done with his Aquinas project. He’s made it so that every pipe on the Internet has to go through his infernal machine. He has to, so he can control and censor and eavesdrop on everything; everything has to go through his router, and there must be no side paths. In doing that, though, he’s also weakened the whole thing. What do you think happens, now, if Aquinas gets nuked? Or if Jade blows it up?” “The Internet stops working, that’s what. As do all communication lines on Earth. No phone. No banking. No news. No shipping. No transfers of medical records. No talking to anyone who’s not close enough you can shout at them. Do I have to make a picture as to how bad that would be? Worldwide civilization would collapse. We’d be living in little villages of huts by the time things stabilized, those of us who hadn’t died in the food and medicine riots, anyway.” “You see the Aquinas router as a giant Big Brother tool, and it’s that and that’s bad enough. But where I sit, the worst thing it is is a massive, ginormous, humongous single point of failure for all of modern communications and, by extension, the entirety of human civilization. If the Aquinas goes down now, it’s a bigger Apocalypse than anything Cord could dream of if he tried. And that’s why we need to take it over. Frankly, I’m not sure we’ll want to keep it once we have it. The danger is just too great.” “I think you’ve answered our question,” Marcus said. “Given the options, Arianne is coming out on top. I wasn’t made for roughing it, and that one can’t even go an afternoon without a blowdryer,” he said, pointing a cigarette at Hitomi. “I still think it’s too much power for any one entity to control,” Jade said. “If someone has to control it, I’d rather it be someone I know isn’t actively trying to kill me,” Marcus reasoned. “The damned thing is wrong on so many levels”, Arianne said. “Making it in the first place was grandiosely stupid. I’m frankly not too hot at the idea of having it at all, but now that it exists, someone has to be its caretaker. At least until we can extricate it from the ‘net. If you know anyone more suited, I’m very open to suggestions.” “I hate myself for agreeing with Cavanaugh,” Hawk whispered. “I don’t trust you, Arianne....for the record, that, is.” “Gee, thanks, I’m touched”, Arianne shot back. “Once you’re in control of the Aquinas Router, you’ll still have a team from your Illuminati counterparts in Europe waiting to move in and take control. Will they pull back once you’re in control?” said Hitomi. “Will we have to fight them, too?” “I don’t know”, Arianne said. “I hope not. But the lure of that thing is the kind of thing that may break alliances. Hopefully they’ll see the danger and back off. But...” “I’m with you,” said Hawk. “Don’t make me regret it.” “Hell, I hope I’m not going to regret it”, Arianne said, looking down at her coffee cup. Jade glanced at Hitomi and then looked back at Arianne. “Fine, I’m in,” she said reluctantly. “You have *got* to be kidding,” Hitomi hissed, lighting another cigarette. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing do this.” “We have no other option,” Jade said. “So how do we get the control into your hands?” “We can’t clear the place, at least not yet. What we can do, however, is introduce a chip into the router that will allow us to send commands to it. Well, several chips. I hope to God Cord wasn’t so silly to have only one path and that it’s really a cluster of routers.” She smiled. “Once we do have control of the router, I bet we can use it to do things that will let us take control of the facility, as well.” “He is very intelligent,” Hawk noted. “But he does seem to think one-dimensionally, given the brute force he’s used against us. There is a chance that he’s built this with a single path to the router. He’s megalomaniacal, arrogant and exceedingly confident in the success of his plans. I’d wager he doesn’t expect any serious attempt to prevent his takeover.” “You’d think he’d have learned by now,” Jade said, preparing another sickly sugar concoction. “Besides, it’s rather short-sighted to assume you’re the only one vying for power of this magnitude.” “Then it’s decided. We get in close and hit hard,” Hitomi said. “The only problem, it doesn’t seem like there’s any other way to get in than a frontal assault. I assume we’ll be well-armed?” “Just make me a list. We control numerous arms dealers and your weapons budget will be a drop in the operation’s bucket.” |
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| Jason Hawk | May 30 2013, 05:23 PM Post #2 |
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Deacon Cord’s personal jetcopter landed at Aquinas Base at approximately three PM that afternoon. The entire facility was built into the side of a rugged canyon, accessible from the air by landing pads built at docking ports that jutted out of the side of the rock face. He stepped out of the jetcopter accompanied by an attaché of his most trusted lieutenants. Cord wore a cream colored suit and expensive sunglasses that blocked the rays of the afternoon sun from his eyes. A strong wind blew over the landing pad, sending fine desert dust coursing over the assembled troops. Two rows of black-clad Majestic Twelve troops formed a path for Cord to enter the facility. Greeting the landing party was the base commander. “Mr. Cord, welcome to Aquinas Base. It is an honor and a pleasure to have you here.” “Forgive me if I prefer to dispense with the pleasantries, commander; at least until Operation Ascension is successful. Have the preparations I ordered been made?” “Yes, sir. Helios is in place and nearly fully integrated with our secure network. The Merging Chamber has been prepared and is ready for integration. The fusion generators are online and at sixty percent capacity. We expect them to be at full capacity within six hours and ready to power the merge.” “Excellent. We enter the final phase immediately. Instruct personnel to make final preparations. Put security on highest alert. Any delays, I hold you personally responsible.” “Yes, sir….I understand, sir.” Edited by Jason Hawk, May 30 2013, 05:24 PM.
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| Jason Hawk | May 30 2013, 05:54 PM Post #3 |
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It was nearly dusk when they landed at a remote airstrip somewhere in Mojave Desert of southern Nevada. The sun was setting low over the western horizon. To the east, the peaks of the Rocky Mountains soared majestically into the sky. The dry, dusty desert air, hot from the onset of summer greeted them as they stepped out onto the tarmac. A crescent moon could be seen in the sky along with the first few stars of the clear night. Under different circumstances, Hawk could see himself spending a few days alone out here hiking and exploring the desert. "Like getting blasted in the face with a hair dryer," said Hitomi. "At least in Japan we're decent enough *not* to have deserts." "There's a reason deserts are called that," Marcus chimed in. "No living thing should ever be this warm unless it's about to be served on a platter with an apple in its mouth." "You won't have long to complain," Hawk replied. "It can get quite chilly at night, sometimes dip below freezing in the winter months. Besides, Las Vegas is a few hours to the southwest. If we make it through this, I'll take you there." "I'll hold you to that." Jade glared at Hawk and Hitomi, but said nothing. They could make all the fucking plans they wanted. It was clear she wasn't meant to be a part of them. A few hangars were present, marked with the logo of a local airfreight company. It was most likely a front for one of Dysson’s operations. Light aircraft were parked around the airfield, mostly small commercial and personnel craft. A young blonde woman, no older than thirty, with shoulder-length hair tied back into a ponytail, greeted them. She wore a set of khaki coveralls and black boots and a pair of mirrored sunglasses. She extended her hand to the members of the group. “Welcome to Nevada. My name is Kate Lockley. Forgive me if I forgo the grand tour, but I understand time is of the essence.” “You could say that,” said Hawk. “I understand that air transport is being provided.” “You are quite right,” she replied with a sly smile. “Most of what you see here is for recreational and commercial use, not that interesting, but trust me, what I’m going to show you is definitely cool.” She motioned the group to follow her. “Ms. Kelsen lets me play with the fun stuff.” She led them into a hangar where she pulled the tarp off of a black helicopter of a design none of them had ever seen. It was designed with sharp, angular lines and had a decidedly futuristic look. Its blades were folded up, indicated that had recently come out of storage or transport. “Cute,” said Hitomi. “It looks…..futuristic.” “A stealth chopper,” said Hawk. “This one looks a bit like the ones used back in 2011 to take out bin Laden.” Kate gave a good-natured laugh. “Oh those? Antiques. This is the latest Dysson prototype.” There was some measure of pride in her voice as she described the helicopter’s features. “Complete next-generation radar-evasion capabilities, a full load out of anti-personnel mini-missiles, just fire and forget. The flight computer automatically adjusts capabilities based on weight, fuel, damage. A layer of the latest lightweight plas-steel armor….tough at steel, yet light as fiberglass.” “All I need to know is if it can get us there?” “I’ve been given the mission parameters,” said Kate. “I won’t lie, it will be tough. Flying at night, in a canyon….it’ll be tricky, even for the best pilot. Fortunately, you have the best pilot right here.” “Just don’t let Hawk fly it, trust me,” said Hitomi. Marcus snickered. Hawk ignored Hitomi’s quip. “Can you do it?” “Absolutely,” she said with pride. “I flew narrower gaps in Afghanistan back in the Army.” Hitomi shrugged and put a comforting hand on Hawk's shoulder. "Look at it this way, if that MJ12 code we're broadcasting doesn't fool them, we won't have a lot of time for regrets, anyway." "Comforting, Marcus muttered." Edited by Jade Anderson, Jul 8 2013, 04:31 AM.
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| Jason Hawk | Jun 5 2013, 07:45 PM Post #4 |
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Hawk sat between Hitomi and Arianne in the cabin of the helicopter as it flew nearly-silently over the desert. Its black hull blended into the clear night sky. Above, the sky was clear and full of stars. Jade and Marcus sat behind them. Jade stared silently out the window, her mind clearly elsewhere, although her grip on her weapon shifted periodically, making Marcus more than a little nervous. Jade was descending into some place dark, and he was beginning to fear that when that happened, she might inadvertently take them with her. They wore identical suits of nano-fiber armor with white ceramic plating. Nanomachines built into the synthetic fibers reacted instantly to movement, molding and reshaping itself to provide a tight fit, making it ideal for combat. It would automatically stiffen on impact, thought it included further rigid plating to reinforce it further. Arianne explained earlier that this armor was very similar to what Max Krueger wore in New York, but his armor was a knockoff of a far superior Dysson design. The nano-fiber armor was originally designed by Dysson, Arianne explained, but Cord had copied it. Their suits were supposedly superior to Cord's in every way. The chopper had a weapons locker that was supremely well-stocked. Each one of them were armed with a Dysson Weapons Systems Pulse Rifle OS1431. It featured an extended barrel, computerized auto-targeting system and fired hollowpoint titanium shells. A full stock of grenades was provided. Fragmentation, incendiary, concussion and EMP. "You have all the best toys, Arianne," said Hawk. "And yet, for some reason she's letting him play with them," Jade muttered. "But still, it would be simpler to just air strike Cord's base into next month?" "Tempting," replied Arianne coolly. "And viable if it wouldn't take down the world's communication infrastructure in the process." "Technicalities," muttered Hawk, checking securing a magazine in his rifle. "Besides, if that were an option I'd just use the Dysson orbital satellite." Hawk arched an eyebrow and looked at her skeptically. "One of the perks of running your own branch of an evil multinational conglomerate," Arianne quipped. "The Dysson weapons platform is in low earth orbit. It fires a fifty terawatt coherent beam at Earth-based targets...heats up anything it hits to the temperature of the sun's surface." "Nice," said Hawk with a smirk. "Keep that option open for Detroit." Hitomi studied schematics of the Aquinas Base on her iPad. "OK, this is technically doable. Look here," she said motioning to her computer screen. "The facility is well-protected, but its main weakness is power consumption. On level three, Cord will be there, in something called the Merging Chamber. It will fuse his consciousness to Helios and the Aquinas Router. Its power needs are vast. It has three redundant fusion reactors powering it. Any one of those reactors can power the Merging Chamber. So, we need to shut down all three. If we do that, Cord's fucked." "Sounds simple enough," Hawk replied. "Get in, kill anything that moves, shut down the reactors." Hitomi laughed grimly. "I think you overestimate our chances. That place is crawling with MJ12 shock troops. They're backed up by CordTech BattleMechs. We saw those in New York, and this place is swarming with them!" "What do we have to take out armor?" Hawk asked Arianne. "Check it out," Arianne replied with a hint of pride. She made her way to the weapons locker and handed Hawk a stubby-looking rifle with a wide barrel and reinforced shoulder grip. "A Dysson Tech 10.375mm anti-mecha rifle," she explained. "A fully-automatic, select-fire helium-injection propellant rifle firing a medium-to-medium-long range 10.375 Israeli-gauge CF hollowpoint cartridge delivering 1000 foot points of force at 30 meters. Features a super-cooled zinc-lined bore with super-conducting qualities...fusion energy from the ring in the stock projects helium atoms as an Einstein-Bose Condensate, propelling the titanium cartridge with only 1.5% of expected kickback. Oh, the titanium shell will begin to break up at 300 yards, remember that limits your effective range. Fires 10 rounds per second in full auto mode or you can select three round controlled bursts. It also has a snazzy black PVC designer casing and leather strap. No extra charge. I've got one for you and Jade." Arianne smiled as Hawk examined the rifle appreciatively. "You think of everything," he said. "I'm sure they'll be in stores by Christmas." "Have you got an extra one of those or should I just make out my will if one of those battle mechs gets in my way?" asked Hitomi. "We'd never forget you, Hitomi," said Arianne. "I mean, how could we? Take a look at this; it'll renew your will to live, I promise you." Arianne handed Hitomi a black rifle with an extended barrel, scope and a ceramic heat sink on the barrel. "A personnel-based electromagnetic rail gun," said Hitomi. "You must be crazy," said Hitomi, examining the gun with a bit of awe and trepidation. "Not myself, but the R&D guys certainly. The one that Loque's goons used on you in France was, you guessed it, another Cord knockoff of our design. That one had nasty side-effects, like disruption of communication equipment, erasing electronic media and causing infertility and microcancers in the operator." "Nice to know I couldn't fire it," said Hawk. "Yes, because infertility for you would be such a tragedy," quipped Hitomi. "That said, is this one safe?" "For the operator, sure," said Arianne. "For target, not so much. This gun electromagnetically accelerates steel slugs to 12% of the speed of light. Good for taking out mobile armor and taking pot shots at the lunar lander. It'll cut a 1" diameter hole through 20 feet of steel-reinforced concrete at 1.5 miles." Hitomi looked at the weapon in her hand skeptically. "Nice weight, balance..." "Hit a mech with that thing and I guarantee you won't have to fire a second shot." Hitomi hesitated, then nodded. "Okay, but if I develop lumps in six months I'm blaming you, Arianne." "The way you smoke, Hitomi, you're likely to get the lumps anyway," said Hawk. "I'd rather just not die today," said Hitomi. "I've already died once, metaphorically-speaking. The experience was highly-overrated." Hawk shrugged. "You're like our own little personal Gandalf, after he fell off the bridge at Zirakzigil into the lake of fire under Moria. You're Hitomi the White." Hitomi glared. "Don't make me hit you, Hawk." "Just a little levity before certain death. If any one of use can appreciate a joke, I'd think it would be you, Hitomi." "Only if you're the punch line, sweetie," she replied, smiling sweetly. "I haven't forgotten about you, Marcus," said Arianne, producing a bulky black rifle with a heavy backpack attachment and set of matching tinted goggles. "Don't worry, this is designed with the latest ceramic composite plas-steel. It's designed for weight reduction as well as heat dispersion." "When it comes to indiscriminate destruction, no weapon beats the simple flamethrower. A gift to the world passed down by the ancient Greeks, this one has a modern twist courtesy of our R&D guys. I present to you the Dysson Tech RPO-theta, the latest advancement in incendiary weapons technology. It fires a high-pressure stream of ignited synthetic napalm, filling a sixty-foot diameter area with flaming death just under the temperature of the surface of Venus. Suitable for home defense, guerrilla operations, and parties." Marcus took the weapon. It was heavy and unwieldy in his hands. He wasn't at all comfortable with it. "I sometimes wonder if R&D companies all have a size complex," he said to Hitomi, looking at the ridiculously over-sized tool of mass destruction in his hands. That moment, the voice of the pilot, Kate Lockley, intoned in the cabin. "We've reached the edge of the canyon, I'm taking her in. Still broadcasting the signal. We're going in, five by five..." Edited by Jason Hawk, Jul 8 2013, 05:06 AM.
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| Jason Hawk | Jun 9 2013, 01:00 AM Post #5 |
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Kate Lockley flew the chopper expertly through the narrow canyon. The night flight, combined with low moonlight and the jagged canyon sides made flying difficult, but she was intimately familiar with the craft. Two years ago, when the craft was in its initial test phase, she’d been tapped as its test pilot. Much of the helicopter’s capabilities were of a direct result of her testing feedback and input. “We’re nearing the target,” she said. “Five miles and closing. Get ready.” “We’ll be there soon,” said Hawk. "Yeah, no shit," Jade said, getting a feel for her weapon. The black-armor-clad Arianne toted the high-tech rifle she’d chosen nervously. “I hate these assaults. But there’s no way we’ll get through the whole thing without detection.” “I prefer it this way,” said Hawk. “Give me a straight up fight versus sneaking around, I say.” "That's where you and I differ," Jade said. "I'd rather take them by surprise, and not give them time to process that they've been attacked before they die." “Straight up fights are always a crapshoot”, Arianne said in agreement. “You can do everything right and still get killed. Sneaking about, too, but it’s much more... reliable, I guess.” "Personally, I'd rather not have to fight at all," Marcus said, truly dreading the idea that he might have to use the weapon he held. "Your life expectancy greatly improves that way." "Oh please, Marcus, don't tell me that part of you isn't dying to use that flame thrower," Hawk retorted. "I know I would be." "Yes, well, some of us don't need big toys to feel like a man," Marcus replied. “We’re getting close to the landing deck,” said Hitomi, reading the digital satellite feed on her tablet. “Wait, we’ve got trouble. I’m picking up two biosignals on the landing deck. Guards, most likely. We’ll need to take them out before they can alert the whole base to our landing.” From the cockpit, Lockley could be heard negotiating on the comlink. “I know it’s an older code, but it should check out. As I said, we’re bringing in technical personnel and equipment to support the operation. Check the logs again, I’m sure you’ll find record of us there.” “We’ve got two sniper rifles on board,” said Hawk. “I’ll take one. Arianne, Chris? Which one of you is the best sniper?” Arianne and Kristoff looked at each other, then Kris raised an eyebrow and picked up one of the sniper rifles. “I suppose it would be me, but it isn’t really saying much.” “With the scopes on those things....” “Yes, dear, I know, they have so many high-tech toys that they practically aim themselves. Which is a load of bunk, of course, else you wouldn’t need us to handle them.” He moved towards Hawk’s side of the helicopter. “I’d appreciate if you let me have the easier shot. I’ve done this sort of thing as the backup person before, but it is still a bit of a stretch for me.” Hawk took the other rifle and held it in his hands. He powered on the scope and opened the side door. Assuming a crouching position he aimed the rifle and focused on the landing deck. Aquinas Base was a huge metallic structure built into the side of the canyon, extending deep into the wall. A series of elevators ran up the side of the structure. The landing deck protruded from the side of the base. He spotted two black-clad guards on patrol. They were approximately thirty yards apart from each other. He took aim at the further guard. The scope automatically adjusted to their movement, wind conditions and visibility. The scope outlined the target in his sights in a red halo. “You take the closer one,” said Hawk. “At ten o’clock. See him?” “I do”, Kristoff said. He brought up his weapon up to take aim at his intended victim; his scope lit up with all sorts of information and statistics, including a ghostly crosshair near his own. His eyebrows shot up. “...telemetry from Hawk’s targeting? Really?” Arianne smirked self-satisfiedly. “Things we do with computers these days...” “I’m ready”, Kris stated. “Fire,” said Hawk, squeezing the trigger. He saw his target go down. Kristoff’s gun fired in the same millisecond. Hit right behind the ear, his own guard fell limp. “Hmm, perfect shot from a moving platform. Didn’t think I had it in me.” "Third target sited," Jade said, shoving Hawk aside with a rough shoulder check. She took aim and pulled the trigger, downing the target. “You rock,” said Hitomi, taking up her own pulse rifle and slinging the rail gun over her back. “That should buy us a few seconds of surprise. Let’s go.” Lockley swung the chopper low over the landing deck. “Good luck. Everyone out!” Hawk and Hitomi slipped out of the chopper, taking kneeling positions and methodically shooting out floodlights and cameras. “The blast doors are wide open,” Hitomi said. “We’ve got a clear way in!” “Kill anyone or anything that moves!” Hawk added. Kristoff and Arianne came out after Hawk and Hitomi, sweeping their own weapons over the area. Arianne fiddled nervously with her gun’s safety. “Let’s not waste any time here. We’re very exposed if anyone inside spots us.” She waved the group inside. "Comforting," Marcus said, trading places with Jade, preferring to let her take up the rear as they moved inside. Hitomi and Hawk worked as a pair, covering each other as they entered the facility. They were met by a security team of five men, who they opened fire on immediately. Catching the men unaware, the pulse rifles did a disturbingly efficient job of cutting them down before they could bring their weapons to bear. Hitomi crouched and pulled out her tablet computer. “Base schematics show the Merging Chamber is that way.” She pointed down the hallway. “But that’s no good. It’s secured by blast doors that are made of reinforced steel, inches thick.” “Of course they are”, Arianne said. She fished a bricklike object from her pack. “Don’t you think we knew that we might have to go through a few impenetrable walls? I came prepared for those.” She sighed. “I’d prefer to go around them but Cord has planned his layout well. There are several blast doors that don’t offer side paths.” Just then, an alarm klaxon rang out. The hallway was bathed in a flashing red light. "Fuck," Jade hissed. Hawk shrugged and quipped, “I guess they’ve realized something’s up.” “Gee, what was their first clue?” Arianne piped in. Deacon Cord’s voice came over the intercom. “Well, well, well. I must commend your efforts. You’ve made it this far, but realize that nothing can stop Operation Ascension now. The merge process has already started. Nothing can prevent that. I will be the one to merge, to know everything...to rule everything.” “Still on that delusional ‘I will merge me with the Internets and make myself unstoppable!’ trip, I see”, said Arianne. “Has no one told you how silly that idea is, or did you simply execute them all for their insolence?” “Ms. Kelsen, how nice of you to show up personally. I don’t see what you can possibly hope to accomplish besides your own destruction. I’ll make you, I’ll make you all a deal. Leave now and I promise you will be made comfortable under the new world order.” Kris quirked an eyebrow. To Arianne’s smirk he said, “Now, now, Deacon, don’t tip your hand off like that. Claiming to be invincible then offering deals? You only show how little confidence you have in your purported unstoppability.” “Ah, Kristoph, it’s a family reunion. How splendid. Look at yourself, Kristoph, you’re nothing more than a little man....a little man still living inside a body of flesh and bone. Lose your body and what are you? Nothing! You vanish and die. I am preparing to transcend. Already, with my nano-augmentations, I am more than human. Death will soon have no meaning. Soon I will be pure light. Pure energy. When the merge is complete, I will become one with the Helios A.I. and the Aquinas Router. I will burn like the brightest star!” “Oh, you’ll burn alright,” said Hawk. “We’ll shut you down, Cord.” “Mathematically unlikely,” Cord responded. “As are your chances of leaving this facility alive, by the way.” “A pathetic piece of code living in soon-to-be-outdated hardware, more like”, Arianne said. She motioned for the others to continue their advanced as they traded barbs with Cord. “Which will go up in smoke the second he comes online.” “Well, I must credit you with persistence...persistence and failure. I’ve kept my most hardened combat veterans in reserve. I’ll let them finish you off. You’ll provide splendid target practice.” With this, Cord’s voice cut off. “I’m reading multiple biosignals converging on this location,” said Hitomi. “We’ve got a hell of a fight in store.” “The control console for the three fusion reactors powering the Merge Chamber is that way,” Hawk pointed down the other end of the hallway. “That’s where we need to be.” “Let’s go then.” She flicked something on her rifle and led the way down the hall. “Hurry. We don’t have much time. I worry that Cord might escape to the greater Web once his crazy merge is complete.” Hitomi and Hawk placed charges on the blast door leading to the control center. They motioned the others to stay back as Hitomi activated the detonator. The blast doors blew open and revealed a massive, multi-level facility within. Computer equipment, vehicles, weapons and fuel filled the warehouse-sized chamber. Stairs and elevators led to the levels above as a series of catwalks crisscrossed overhead, extending into the darkness. The chamber was filled with dozens of black-clad troops bearing the Majestic Twelve insignia. Hawk and Hitomi made their way through the black smoke and took cover, engaging the troops in a heated firefight. “Battle mechs a three o’clock!” yelled Hitomi, readying the rail gun and drawing a bead on one of the tank-like, bipedal mechs. She fired, and the shell pierced the lead mech and the two behind it. Cutting through the mechs’ reinforced armor like butter, the trio of mechs detonated a second later. “And at nine o’clock!” shouted Hawk. He aimed the anti-mecha rifle and cut a deep swath through a group of biped and quadraped battle mechs engaging their position. The anti-mecha shells pierced the thick armor and detonated the mechs in fiery explosions, spreading hot shrapnel through Majestic Twelve troops and other battle mechs. Arianne fired her own weapon. It tak-tak-taked, hurling small balls of metal that arced before falling in the midst of the MJ-12 troops. They detonated at waist-height, sending razor-sharp, superheated shards of burning magnesium tearing through the troopers. Behind her, Kristoff took careful aim and fired, the armor-piercing round ending the stream of commands proffered by a ranking officer. Hitomi methodically fired with the rail gun. Trails of superheated plasma burned the air marking each shell’s path. Each shot destroyed a battle mech. Hawk emptied the anti-mecha rifle and tossed it aside, tossing a pair of incendiary grenades into where Majestic Twelve troops were taking cover. He then came up with the pulse rifle and fired a steady stream of bursts, cutting down troops with shocking efficiency. Arianne ducked behind a doorway and changed the clip on her rifle. Kristoff took aim again and plugged another leader. “This is wasting us time we can’t afford.” “Really?” Arianne shot back. She turned around and fired another burst of grenades into the onrushing forces, emptying her clip again. “And here I thought that the worst we could get was plugged by a stray bullet! Got any bright ideas?” As she spoke, the ceiling sprinklers came on, triggered by the fiery explosions and incendiary grenades. Arianne looked up in disbelief. “You have GOT to be kidding me.” Hawk fired another succession of bursts. As the sprinklers came on, dowsing them all with a shower of water. Hawk ducked back into cover and scowled, then started laughing. “You actually look kind of hot when you’re wet, Arianne,” said Hawk. Hitomi scowled and then smirked, looking at Arianne. “You know, you’re actually right....” Jade shot a death glance at Hawk and then raised her weapon as if she were going to fire on him. At the last moment, she moved it a fraction of an inch to the left and fired on two soldiers that were coming up behind him. That second, Hitomi was hit in the chest by four slugs. Her body was flung back into the wall, where it collapsed on the floor. “Fuck!” yelled Hawk. He fired at the man that shot her, vaporizing him with a plasma rifle burst. “Hitomi!” he cried, rushing to her side. Jade turned in the direction of the gunfire, firing short bursts of defensive fire, allowing Hawk to run to Hitomi. Hitomi’s eyes fluttered open, as she grimaced and steadied herself. The nano-armor appeared unharmed where she was shot. “Damn,” muttered Hitomi. “She really wasn’t kidding when she said this stuff absorbed impacts. Remind me to buy your engineers a round of drinks if we get out of this alive.” “Will do”, Arianne replied. She smirked at Hawk. “What, I don’t look good when dry?” "Seriously, can you flirt later?" Marcus said, seriously wondering how Hawk had lived this long when he acted like libido-driven teenager in the heart of battle. “We have to get through! Even with the indestructo-armor we’re losing time we don’t have!” Arianne looked up. looking for ventilation ports. “We might be able to bypass them. Some of us, anyway.” Cord’s voice came over the intercom. “You’re on a fool’s errand. Nothing can prevent my ascension. Surely you can see that this is for the best. The squabbling world governments and their inane bureaucracies are an anachronism. Think about the new way I will provide. One world corporation working for the benefit of mankind. Continent-wide zones of agriculture, research, industry, all coordinated for the betterment of all. Instead of world leaders, a board of directors that will report to me.” “Why fight me?” Cord continued. “I could use people with your talents. Why not join me?” "We've been over this, Cord," Jade shouted. "Why don't you come down and give us a personal invitation." “Is he really thinking that’ll work?” Kristoff asked out loud. “Delusional, I told you”, replied Arianne. She pointed at a port up in the ceiling. “Can someone give me a lift?” Hawk lifted Arianne up as Hitomi continued to lay down withering fire. “They’re pulling back!” she cried. “You have a chance!” Hawk pushed her into the ceiling ventilation access. “Get to the control room and disable the blast doors. We’ll break through and get to you.” “Will do.” Arianne slid into the ventilation tunnel and grinned. “Now that’s more like it. Plus as a bonus, it’s dry.” "I hardly think that will help at this point," Marcus said. “Don’t be long, dear”, Kristoff said between bursts of automatic fire. “I won’t be”, Arianne said. Schematics came through on her heads-up display. “Two turns to get there. Piece of cake.” She quickly went her way along. Cord’s voice came over the intercom. Instead of addressing them directly, he appeared to be responding to one of his underlings. “What do you mean *unstoppable*?” he spat. “They are six individuals, on foot and in unfamiliar territory. You have the weapons, the training and you outnumber them a hundred to one! DO....YOUR...JOBS!!!!!” “Cut your mic for the asides, Deacon”, Arianne whispered to herself. “Ah... right here, and...” She turned on infrared on her goggles. Several figures in red were visible, weapons trained towards the ceiling. “Of course. Waiting for me to come down the vent. As if.” She grinned and pulled out a fancy-looking, big-barreled pistol from her belt. She rested the barrel down on the vent’s ‘floor’, then pressed the trigger. The weapon fired in two times, the first an armor-piercing bullet that opened a neat hole in the vent, and was immediately followed by a grenade that detonated at chest height. Shrapnel flew in all directions, causing the soldiers to recoil. Arianne’s specialized weapon waited one second, then fired the third round in its cycle: another grenade, which filled the room with smoke, blinding the defenders. Arianne grinned and ran the rest of the way to the vent, bursting down from the ceiling and landing in a crouch in the midst of confused defenders. With her infrared vision tuned to the portion of the spectrum that the smoke didn’t blind, Arianne had an advantage to make up for the overwhelming numbers. She switched to a silenced pistol, loaded with armor-piercing, discarding sabot bullets that would easily penetrate MJ12’s body armor. She went from man to man, eliminating quietly, invisible in the smoke, even as the panicked troops started firing at random. One bullet smashed her armored shoulder, jolting her, but not penetrating. She quickly finished her work as the smoke dissipated. “All right, control room... let’s see...” She pushed the button that would activate the blast door. The blast door opened into a circular chamber filled with sophisticated electronic equipment. Monitors displayed station the status of the various power, weapons and security systems throughout the base. In the center of the chamber was an amber holographic display that hovered in the air. It displayed a three-dimensional video transmission of what appeared to be the Merging Chamber. Inside the Merging Chamber, as shown by the video feed, Deacon Cord was clad in a black form-fitting bodysuit with a series of wires attached to both the suit and the back of his head. In turn, the wires were connected to a massive electronic construct that appeared to be pulsing with power. Cables were attached to the mechanism and snaked along the walls, ceiling and floor. From the computer readouts, the machine in the Merging Chamber was drawing massive power from three fusion reactors, which were apparently controlled somewhere in this room. Cord said, “All right! I get the picture. You want a piece of the pie or you’re going to toss the whole pie out the window. Fair enough. You can have anything you want. How about Europe? Australia? Your own continent. Just let me complete my preparations.” Just then, the rest of the group entered the room. Hawk and Hitomi trained their guns on Arianne, but lowered them once they realized it was her. “We’re making headway”, Arianne told them. She stuck a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the Cord-hologram. “He’s getting desperate.” Hitomi once again pulled out her tablet computer and pulled up station schematics. “Over there, on that console,” she said, indicating a control panel with three keypads. “The codes are 0486, 2847 and 9285, left to right. Enter the codes and it will grant access to the master power button for each reactor.” “Well, easy enough”, Arianne said. She rapidly typed in the codes one by one. “There. We’re good to go.” As Arianne keyed in each sequence, a panel slid out of the console revealing a red button covered with a glass cover. It was a simple matter of lifting up the cover and pressing the button to shut down each reactor. One....Two.... “What do you want? Money?” asked Cord, his voice growing desperate. “You can have ApostleCorp, the whole damn company! Power? I’ll give you each a seat on my board of directors! I’m serious! Just forget about that last reactor!” “Oh, come on, Cord, why would I want any of that?” Arianne said with a laugh. “Hearing you squeal like a pig, like this, is entirely too satisfying to give up.” She slammed her fist on the last button. As the last reactor shut down, the entire facility shook. The video feed from the Merging Chamber began to flicker as the machinery within started to feedback upon itself. Electrical discharge cascaded across the computer equipment in the room. Cord screamed. “No! Please! I’ll give you anything! The Illuminati has been afraid of me from the beginning! Of what I could accomplish! Please! Don’t do this! I....” With this, the Merging Chamber was bathed in a bright glow and suddenly the video feed cut out. The low rumble of an explosion could be heard deep in the complex. Arianne looked over the monitors. “Well, that solves that”, she muttered. “Now we just need to take control of the thing, hopefully it won’t blow up on its own...” “Cord’s dead,” said Hawk, realizing the utter ridiculousness of the statement given the circumstances. It had just been so long that he’d been their adversary that it seemed strange to now have him gone. “You could say that,” said Hitomi. “He’s ash at best, atomized at worst. At any rate, he’s no longer our problem.” “A little anticlimactic, really”, Kristoff offered. “Not that I complain, anticlimactic is nice,good, and safe.” "There's no closure," Jade said quietly. "I wanted to make something other than his ego suffer before he died." “Can you take control of the Aquinas Router?” said Hawk. “Working on it. I’m linking the control backend with the Illuminati network, and then we should be able to take it over.” She glanced at the others. “First order of business, I think, will be to offload some of the network paths off of it.” A video transmission came online over on overhead video panel. It was Marianne Clarasseu, Arianne’s counterpart in Europe. The redheaded woman smiled. “We detected a massive power discharge within the Aquinas Base. It appears you’ve been successful in shutting down Cord’s operation. For that you have my sincere congratulations. I have a team standing by to take control of the Aquinas Router for the Illuminati. Your role in this is over. Stand down and let my team take control.” “Thanks, Marianne, but that won’t be necessary. I have my own team moving in as we speak now that we have control of the facility.” “We won’t be Illuminati stooges,” hissed Hitomi. “I believe what we’re trying to say, Ms. Clarasseu,” said Hawk. “Is ‘Go to hell’.” Marianne’s face darkened. “Do you have any idea the kind of power you’re dealing with? The Aquinas Router must be in the proper hands! That kind of power can only be controlled by the Illuminati. Think about what you’re doing.” “What am I, Marianne... chopped liver?” She smiled sweetly up at the video screen. “As you know, I’m quite aware of what power we’re dealing with and I’m absolutely putting it in the proper hands. They just so happen not to be yours.” “You are a child!” Marianne hissed. “Do not think that just because your mother was a senior member of the Council that you automatically inherit her station! Arianne....all of you....you are going directly against the will of the Illuminati high council. Think about this....do you really want to make enemies of us?” “I’m a child?” Arianne laughed. “Listen to yourself and your petulant bullying. Enough of this.” She glared at the screen. “You should think about who you’re so casually calling an enemy, Marianne. You know what our resources in America are. Now think about what happens when we add the Aquinas router to that. You’re the one picking a fight you can’t win.” “Very well,” said Marianne coolly. “Do not think that this decision is without consequence. We will be watching.” With this, the transmission cut out. Hawk put a hand on Arianne’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better there are plenty of folks who don’t like me, either.” "Yeah, but most of them don't hate the rest of us by default," Marcus said. “There are plenty of people who don’t like me either, Hawk, even though most of them don’t know that it’s me that they hate.” She turned her head from her work to regard him. “I can deal with Marianne. She had to try this, but she’s a smart woman. I think she understands the situation and I think she’ll realize this is all for the best. Although she may never admit it.” “Europeans”, Kristoff said in his slight German accent. “Very prideful.” Marcus rolled his eyes. “Not that you’d know anything about that,” said Hitomi, playfully, putting her arm around Kristoff. “That said, somehow I don’t think that’s the last we’ll hear from her. Say what you will, she’s not without power or influence. I think we’ve just made a powerful enemy.” “That’s okay. This is worth making enemies over”, Arianne replied. “All right. We’ve got preliminary connections and I’ve shut down enough defenses to have the team start to move in. We’re left with mop-up.” Hawk took Arianne by the arm and drew her close. “Arianne, there’s an artificial intelligence entity called Helios that is located within this facility’s network. It made an offer to us in New York to take control of the Aquinas Network. I don’t believe its aims are antagonistic, but it appeared to want to bring about its own new world order. It appears to have its own consciousness. Even though its an artificial entity, it was made from the consciousness of a living girl. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’d rather not destroy it. It’s a living entity...of a sorts. It was created by humans...I just think we have a responsibility to treat it ethically.” Arianne nodded. “If we find it... I’ll see what I can do. Hawk, we can’t just let it, her, take over the net, either. We’ll need to find someplace else to put her in.” Hawk nodded. In the end, there were always more questions, responsibilities. But for now, the fight was over. There would be some other conflict on the horizon, but for now, the battle was won. “Hawk?” said Hitomi. “Yes?” “You said something about Las Vegas....” Edited by Jason Hawk, Jul 8 2013, 05:40 AM.
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7:27 PM Jul 11