in_the_cracks | A Talk Among Shadows [for likeashadow ]

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A Talk Among Shadows [for likeashadow ]

The building Telrim leads the way into is bare and functional, one high long room with a rough concrete floor. From inside, the walls look rather sturdier and shored up, and from them comes a faint electric hum. For Telrim, installing better security is just part of moving in.

And yet, as she steps in and the lights switch on, the warehouse is revealed to be empty. There's a table against one wall, a couple of chairs, an wooden crate of assorted things... but that's it. Telrim - and the handful of Yeerks who work with her - don't use this place as a storehouse. It's a staging ground.

The door slides shut behind them, and the Controller goes to pull out the table. "Like a seat?" she asks over her shoulder. "There should be a couple of cushions in the box."

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"So yeh've got means fer us to teleport once we've get there." Annah notices the pattern, but as she cares little for the specifics of what goes on in a Prime, simply files away the observation for the time being.

"So if they're proper museums, probably guards, traps, and alarms. Magic, tech, or both? Do yeh have the layout of'em in that sparkle-box of yers?" Annah points at the datapad.

Telrim merely nods to the first question. "Guards and alarms, yes. Tech only; no magic, no traps. At least, no dangerous traps," she amends. If you call those traps.

Another couple of pokes, and a small bar appears above each dot, shading from dull orange to bright white the higher it is.

"This represents the amount of information I have on each site," Telrim says, pointing one out. "I have rough layouts for all of them. Unfortunately, I've only been able to get proper blueprints for about a third of them so far. It's not necessary, but it does save a lot of time."

"So, we go ta the white spots first, get the easy part done with.

"Not sayin' I expect it, but if we hafta take on the guards--human, I'm guessin'--how much bashin' you alright with? Box'em or leave'em breathing? I don't care, but I don't like leavin' a mess neither unless I'm cornered."

"Do what you have to." Telrim's entirely unconcerned about the guards' welfare: her host has more qualms. "But where possible I'd prefer to leave them alive. It'll make them far slower to take notice of us."

It's also good practice to leave them useful.

"And most will be reluctant to draw weapons on someone who hasn't actually attacked. They are only human. Are you familiar with handguns, in Sigil?"

Edited 2013-09-12 08:08 (UTC)

"Aye. An' if it goes as it should they won't notice at all. But I've learned not to assume things go ta plan."

She nods. "Pistols, flintlocks. Loud things they are, but put a big hole in yeh if they work right. That's what they have, then?"

"Right. I understand their versions are stronger than the old flintlocks - probably faster to reload, as well. They may have stun-guns instead, in which case they'll try to zap you at short range. Nothing heavier. I... doubt they'll be very accurate with either." No soldiers, these - not even by human standards.

She adds, "I won't be so limited, of course. If things go that badly at any point, we shouldn't have trouble extracting ourselves and moving on."

"Aye, I won't take no chances."

"So the best thing is ta get in away from their sight--an' make sure however we get in is big enough we can squeeze out with yer collection. Roof, sewer, probably best, bring canvas t'protect the pieces. Roof access means it'd be a good idea ta have a breaker's harness or somethin' like if yeh've got it. And what [i]have[/i] yeh got with yeh, anyways?"

"Weapons or general equipment?" She knows there's no point shying around things, it's just habit to focus on what outsiders need to know. "We don't have a harness at the moment but I could probably lay hands on one. Our teleport mechanism's portable, so getting inside and being alone with the pieces will be enough - no need to worry about a large entrance. I imagine anything technological you might ask for, I can supply."

She hesitates for just an instant, overcoming the instinct to withhold. "I'll be carrying a few tools to help with the security systems... and stunning-to-lethal weaponry."

"I travel light but I think I've got what I need. Mebbe could use some kinda smokebombs or smokesticks if we run inta savvier guards than usual, to buy time but not hurt anything. Escape plan, jest in case something goes wrong."

She shrugged. "Otherwise I'm ready if yeh are, best look at the first building."

"I can certainly find some of those." Telrim approves - not least because she doesn't often get to play with those. She's looking forward more and more to this little outing.

She contemplates the map for a minute, mentally running through the dozens of targets she's scouted, mapped, taken notes on...

A tap on one red dot and the display shifts to a rough building schematic alongside a small list of files. At her touch the schematic expands to fill the projection, splitting out into three separate floors. Telrim starts pointing out the alarmed windows, the entrances, the likely locations of security guard and circuit breakers...

Edited 2013-09-16 22:38 (UTC)

Annah's eyes dart back and forth across the map, trying to take in as much of the information as she can. "The alarms, they loud ones, or ones that have a way of signalling to the guards silently?"

She pointed at the map. "And where's yer piece yeh want ta move? Is it alarmed? Automaton eye, pressure plate?"

"Priority goes to this painting here." She highlights a spot on the first floor, bringing up a small tab with a couple of notes on the target, including estimated dimensions. "It should be in that position; if we can't find it, there'll be plenty of alternatives to pick from. Expect noisy alarms if they're triggered; I didn't find any alarms on the actual pieces in this place, although it's possible they've upgraded since. It will only require a quick scan to check."

"Alright. These're public galleries, right? So if yeh wanted ta double check the location, we could just go in during peak -- the day -- and look." She looks down at herself, in her outfit of oddly-sewn together leather, hide, and metal plates. "Probably I'd need different clothes though." She had noticed most Primes tended to dress more conservatively than your average Hiver guttersnipe.

"Otherwise, I'd say let's go on this ride."

Telrim chuckles. "You'd certainly stand out. The world where I'm from only has standard humans - they might have fits if they met you."

She flicks the display back to the main map. "Entertaining as that would be, there isn't time. Don't you want to hear about the other possible targets?" She looks up at Annah, head tilted curiously, eyes studying. She's intrigued. "Or do you think you can take each one as it comes?"

"I could tuck me tail in under somethin'," Annah grumbles. She might even have pouted a moment but that quickly transforms back into her usual sneer. Then an amusing thought strikes her and she smiles. "'Course if they're tha' Clueless, could be a laugh to see the conies flail about."

As to the method of procedure. "I'm interested, but I'd rather do one at a time." She sighs, realizing reluctantly this is no time for bravado. "I ain't been to this world before, I don't know the turf save fer what yeh show me. I'd rather get one layout firmly drawn in me head afore I hafta tackle the next. I don't know what yer timetable is, but if we're teleportin' back to a safepoint between rides, I reckon we can check the rig fer the next target then." She shifts weight from one hip to the other.

"On th'other hand, if there's somethin' in yer brain-box yeh feel the burnin' urge to shed now, then spill it."

Edited 2013-09-20 13:58 (UTC)

"Something to try later." Telrim's smirk says she's not at all averse to having some fun at the humans' expense. They might have a little opportunity on this job, in fact, but they'll have to save the real games for another time.

She listens to Annah and gives a short, pleased nod. It will be much more interesting to watch her companion adapt as they go - and more instructive. "No, I think that's all of the essentials. We can take a few minutes to regroup between targets, as you say."

She nods at the display. "You're good to go, I take it? I'll need... perhaps an hour to collect all our equipment."

((( ooc: First my DSL died. By the time I got it fixed, I forgot to check this. Do you want to keep going? I'd be happy to I just am sorry I broke up the momentum)))

Annah nods. "Then I'll be back here in an hour." That would give her time to make sure she had what she wanted to bring with her as well. Maybe grab a few clot charms, just in case...

Edited 2013-09-30 17:08 (UTC)

(ooc: No worries! I figured RL had come up! :) Excuse my slowness in replying, but I'd love to keep going.))

"Excellent." She doesn't offer to leave the door unlocked. Telrim switches off the datapad and tucks it under her arm, leading the way to show her new ally out. "I look forward to seeing what you can do."

"Aye," is all Annah says, following Telrim out.

Annah had left herself a few caches of supplies throughout the area should she need them, and she went off to one of those places now, disappearing into the streets, amazingly fading into the shadows despite her ostentatious appearance. She made sure she had some additional tools, some healing charms and the like, all somehow stashed in this or that protective plate or boot.

She returns on time--and wraps once on the door. Should there be no answer, she will indeed let herself in (or try).

((ooc: Sure, I will probably be a bit slow too, but this is fine. Question--doing the thiefy bits, do you want to "run" the storyline (determining layout, success/failure, guard activities) or are we both just to throw stuff in as we go along? I am fine with either, but want to be clear--sometimes folks prefer to "game master" and others prefer an all hands on deck approach))

Telrim might just have dawdled intentionally. Blunt and cold as they can be, it's always tests and tricks and head games with Yeerks. It's just that part of the game is not letting that on.

In this case, she's a little more than five minutes late, a rather military-looking rucksack slung over one shoulder. Since the door security really is as simple as a passcode, she won't be surprised to find Annah inside. Or angry in the least. She'll look rather amused, in fact.

((ooc: Good point. :) I'm happy for us both to throw stuff in. I don't have a fixed plan in mind, and GMing solo can be pretty tiring.))

Annah turns to Telrim, and seeing the woman smile, Annah figures she had done as expected. This is both pleasing and disconcerting. It reminded her of the look on Pharod's face, when she'd learned a new trick he'd taught her (often not realizing she was being taught until the lesson was finished). Sign of a working partnership, also sign she was being tested.

"Yeh know, there's somethin' about yeh that reminds me of ol' Stuttercrutch. Cannae quite mark it." While she addressed Telrim, she almost seemed to be more remarking to herself. "Yeh run a lot of these 'missions'?" Annah stretches, tail lengthening itself along with her arms. She eyes the rucksack, trying to guess at its contents.

"I hope that's a good thing." She gives Annah a curious look as she sets the rucksack on the table. The Controller's changed into some very nondescript dark grey clothes. Yeerk issue. What they lack in style they make up in durability.

"And no, not really. I don't usually need to, and it's hard to find competent help where I'm from." Or rather, to get them to spare time for her unimportant side-projects. Telrim unpacks some of the equipment as she replies, setting a box and a breather mask on the table. She taps the box. "Smoke bombs, as requested. How's your night vision?"

Annah shrugged. "No' good nor bad, jes' I expect yer canny enough. So don't let me down, jig?"

She picks up the mask, examining it, and then the box, and looks up to answer the question. "Better than yers I'd reckon. No lights, I still see, just without color."

((ooc: technically, she is from the era of D&D when her kind had "infravision" but "darkvision" is a lot easier to roleplay so I tend to err on the side of ease.))

"Of course not," she says, lightly but assured. She has a vested interest in their success, after all - and it's nothing compared to her host's.

"...Consider me jealous. You won't need the goggles, then." She pulls out a neatly folded climbing harness, legacy of some mission or another. "Check if that's any use to you."

Annah takes the harness and turns it over in her hands, testing the joints and appraising the craftsmanship. "It'll do," Annah says, understating that it is obviously well made. "Light, too. With all yeh've said, hopefully we won't need it, but depending on where something's stored or mounted, I'd rather have the rig ta fetch it from above."[/b]

She also opens the box, examining the smoke bombs, and checks with Telrim whether they burst on impact or need to be activated. Either way, she seems to wave her wrists and two or three disappear--expert legerdemain, nothing mystical, and it's probably best not to think too hard about where in her bizarre patchwork outfit/armor she's hidden them. She does tuck the mask and additional bombs into a pouch attached to the back of her hip, behind and above one of her punch dagger sheaths.

"What have yeh got ta fight with? Best be sure we ain't steppin' on each other's toes if we've got ta defend ourselves. I tend ta fight up close--but if yeh provide a distraction, I'm good at hitting the vitals when they ain't expectin'--or knockin' 'em out, as we ain't tryin' ta make a mess."

Telrim shows her how to trigger the bombs before throwing them, and watches with interest as several of them vanish. One of these days, she has to obtain a host with that kind of skill. If only for a while.

"I can certainly demand their attention," she replies to the question. From the pouch she draws out the object that's obviously taking up most space. It's roughly recognisable as a gun, but the proportions are off: it's snub-nosed and slick in its dark metal casing. Telrim shifts its weight into her arms with the ease of long familiarity.

"This is a ranged energy weapon with, as I said, the option to either stun or kill." It hums very faintly as she activates it, the sound varying with her movements as she runs a habitual check. It can do much more than kill, after all. "Luckily for us both, I'm not a bad shot."

"Fancy yerself quite the cutter, don't yeh?" Annah smiles. "Alright then. I'm ready when yeh are."

"I can do what's required." But she smirks for a moment, as she powers down the weapon. She extracts her own gear from the pack: the straps to sling the Dracon beam comfortably at her side, and a pair of night-vision goggles which she pulls on, pushed above her eyes for now. The rest is already tucked into her jacket pouches.

Everything in place, she slings the pack over her shoulder, checks the PINpoint co-ordinates, and nods to Annah. "Grab onto my shoulder."

It'll take only that and a momentary flash to land them in an alley behind the building they want.

Annah pauses, as she does not come from a very "touchy" society, but certainly understands a lot of teleportation magic (or tech) requires contact. She reaches out and wraps her hand around Telrim's shoulder. Her touch is unusually warm.

As they arrive, Annah immediately begins looking around taking in her new surroundings. She pauses to look up a moment, as well. She's been to planes with proper skies, but she still finds open sky slightly disconcerting, used to the torus-shaped Sigil curving in and around on all sides but the center of the ring, where the "sky" there is dominated by the view of the Spire. She quickly stops gaping, certainly not wanting to be taken for a Clueless Tourist, and goes back to assessing their position, entrances, exits, and obstacles.

She points at the larger of the buildings they stand between. "That's the place, aye?"

Telrim understands that feeling, to a degree - the Yeerk sense of boundaries is very questionable, but physical contact is rarely gentle, even when well-meant. She's momentarily surprised by the heat of Annah's touch, but there's no time to dwell on it.

The sky they arrive beneath is tinted orange with reflected light, no stars to be made out. Perhaps that's a comfort to anyone outside at this hour. Telrim doesn't know.

"That's it," she agrees, gaze flicking around to check for humans. Above their current position is a set of tall windows; she points further down to where the alley widens out, and there's a set of bigger doors into their building. "That's where they take most of their deliveries. We can get in there and find the circuit breakers to shut down the rest of their security, unless you have another idea."

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A Talk Among Shadows [for likeashadow ]

I often feel that way about California ;)

To be fair, I hear it's not /always/ being blown up by aliens :p

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I am so sorry.

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