A.N: Arise, thread!
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[X] Part 1 – Hunting
In the end, you decided upon choosing the part of the plan that involved Hunting. There were several reasons for that: First, your skills were more geared towards that sort of operation. Second, the "tools" you would receive for the operation would definitely be powerful and versatile, exactly the kind of technology you want to know more about. Third, it was highly likely that you would also receive special information about the abilities of the targets, and even if not, you could get it in the operations, and this knowledge was exactly what you needed in order to make even better use of your ability.
After all, you managed to get a skill just from studying a bit of technology, so what if you had other types of resources to explore?
Of course, all that was based on you actually being able to succeed in the mission and make use of that success to obtain what you needed, and all that without arousing suspicion, because Inscrutable definitely had to have ways to keep track of what her "tools" were doing, and be able to override them. That was just common sense.
Your decision made, you just needed to convince the others.
"I believe we should go with part 1 of the plan." You told them.
Just like you expected, they felt reluctant about it.
"Isn't that... really dangerous...?" Susan asked, her face pale.
That seemed to be the opinion of the other two as well, even though Roberta looked like she was reluctant to admit it. Clara barely managed to raise her gaze to meet yours.
That was it, you thought. That was an opportunity to truly make this team yours. They were confused and vulnerable, and thus would be susceptible to a strong leadership.
"Let me ask you girls," You started "why was it that you joined this gang? What made you want to be part of the Inscrutables?"
Susan was the first to answer "I wanted position, power. Things I couldn't get through normal means."
Clara shook her head and spoke with a shaky voice "I just-I just wanted something different... To break away from my daily life..."
Roberta grit her teeth "I didn't want to be the weak one... Not anymore."
You looked at them and thought about what you could gleam from those people and from their responses. You could use this. You opened your mouth and talked:
"Susan, you said that you wanted position, right?" You spoke to said girl "Since you knew people in the gang, you should have had smooth sailing." You stopped for a moment "But now this isn't the case anymore. Things have changed too much, and soon connections will mean, if not nothing, at least very little. The best way to actually get power in the gang is to be useful, to excel. And we have such an opportunity right here."
Letting her think about it, you turned to Clara "You wanted a different life, right? I won't presume to understand what your normal life is like. Perhaps you're struggling, perhaps you are just bored, but that's not the important part." You paused for effect "But you wanted something different. And now things are changing for you. This should be a good thing, but they are changing too fast, and you are afraid of what may happen." You nodded "That is reasonable... So that is the reason why you should grab hold of the opportunity and shape the way you want things to be!"
And finally it was time for Roberta "And you... You want to be strong, don't you? You want to be strong enough that you can't be hurt anymore. Well, this is a chance to obtain that strength. I bet none of the powered people of this city feel any threat from normal people like you. They are secure in their strength." You stomped the ground "But they should be afraid. We now have the means to topple the powerful from their thrones and leave them lying broken on the floor. This is a chance that few people ever get... And I refuse to let it slip." You spoke with conviction.
"In my case, I always felt that the world was too messy." You said your true feelings "I wanted a way to obtain control in the face of so many beings of unnatural power, so many great organizations, so many secret plots and associations..." You clenched your fists "And I believe that I can do it. I believe that we can do it. We can truly do something amazing... We can overturn everything... But my biggest belief is that, if we shy away from that opportunity, we are always going to regret it. And I believe that would be the worst outcome of all."
You could see that your words were having an effect, so you kept going "So I want you to trust in me, and trust in yourselves. We are going to fight, and we are going to win. I promise you that nothing will be able to stop us." You extended a hand, palm down "Will you join me, and make our dreams come true?"
There was silence for a few seconds, but your eyes never left the three girls, and you radiated confidence. The first to put her hand on yours was Clara, then it was Roberta's turn, and finally Susan did the same.
"Thank you. I promise that you won't regret it." You said, and they nodded.
Personal Manipulation Level 7
- The skill to understand what makes people tick and how to make them tick your way. At this level, you can seize opportunities to manipulate people based on their emotional state, with a big chance of success.
And that was the cherry on top.
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You informed the contact of the decision, and she sent a message via the laptop and then handed it to you.
Looking, you could see that the laptop was now clear of almost all information, with the only thing still remaining being a notepad file titled "Location 1". You opened the file and saw that it contained very little text, only an address and two strings of eight random characters, presumably passwords.
Looking up, you could see that the contact was watching you.
"Almost done?" She asked.
You thought for a moment "All done." You said.
You didn't have any trouble memorizing that small amount of information.
The contact got the laptop back and set upon getting rid of that information as well. You turned to your team mates and said:
"Let's go see what those tools are all about."
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The address was located on the commercial part of the city, nearer the border than the center. It was a medium sized house of a single floor. Its door was locked with a keypad lock. You three separated and went there on your own, and you arrived second, just after Clara.
The other two arrived soon after that. You entered the first of the two passwords and got it to open, finding out that the inside was a pretty normal house, complete with kitchen and bathroom, meaning it could serve quite nicely as a base of operations if needed.
However, the most important part of the place was a hatch heading downwards which had its own keypad log. Everything made sense as soon as you saw it. That should be the hiding place of whatever tools had been set aside for their particular mission.
That was in fact one of the first things you noticed after entering the house, and you were really anxious to see what was inside, but you held back and led the group into checking the rest of the house first, just in case. Still, eventually you did put in the second password, and the four members dropped inside the hatch.
The place they were in was somewhat similar to an underground parking lot, in which it was a closed space with vehicles and a tunnel leading upwards into the outside world (from what you could tell, it would exit a little bit outside the city itself).
But instead of cars of something similar, the vehicles inside were in fact advanced military robots that were designed to be piloted from the inside, eight in total. Each of them was as tall as a truck and as broad and long as a tank. Their design was only slightly humanoid, with two "legs" ending in threads, two "arms" that were more like weapon platforms and a stocky "head". Everything was very blocky and reliable looking.
You immediately got suspicious. Simple and reliable were two words that did not mix together with Inscrutable's usual inventions. Small things like the shield generators were still fine, but anything bigger was pretty much always a kludge, and each new model was completely different from the previous one. Those, on the other hand, each had a completely identical base design, with their weapon platforms being the only difference between each of them. Had Inscrutable's preparations included getting an outside weapons supplier?
You put the thought to the back of your mind, as it wasn't relevant at the time. Instead you walked towards the platform that surrounded the robots and climbed its stairs. There you found an envelope containing an external drive and a note saying 'Check the drive for instructions'.
Knowing that it would probably be a bad idea to try and move the robots without checking those, you reluctantly got down from the platform and led the group back into the surface part of the house. There was a computer there, and it very emphatically did not have any network connection, making it perfect for looking at the information on the drive.
You commandeered the chair in front of the computer, leaving the other three no choice but to crowd around the desk to try to see what was going on. The drive contained two folders: tools and info. You checked tools first.
In it there were eight numbered folders along with a notepad file titled 'read this first'. You followed the command.
Apparently, each of those folders contained the specifications for one of the robots inside the storage. Their group was allowed to choose four of them, one for each member, to take possession of for the missions. The other four would be 'returned', apparently.
Looking at the specification, you saw that in general, the robots were all pretty similar, with the same average levels of resilience and mobility, as well as the fact that their secondary tools all had the ability to interface with the proper personnel-type equipment, which would be provided to the gang members that would serve as extra manpower for the operations, fifteen per robot.
The main differences between the robots were in those "secondary tools", which were in fact the main utilities of the robots. Looking over them, you had to decide which four robots your group would be taking into battle.
They would be... (Choose four)
[] 'Shield Type'. Capable of producing energy shields from thin air, up to a distance of 12 feet away from it. Interfaces with shield technology to power up nearby personnel shields, as well as fuse them together to create broader or thicker defenses.
[] 'Heavy Weapon Type'. Equipped with four energy cannons, each one designed for a different kind of destruction. Piercing, material dissolution, explosion and thermal. Interfaces with energy cannons, allowing for better aiming and focusing multiple beams together.
[] 'Hyper Mobility Type'. Designed to allow mobility under any environments or conditions, this model is equipped with multiple different propulsion jets, some allowing for unparalleled 3d mobility while others granted supersonic straight line speed. Interfaces with jet cycles, allowing the creation of a platform for transporting other units.
[] 'Restraint Type'. Equipped with a variety of functions designed for limiting mobility, some anti-personnel and some anti-vehicle, all depending on the matter generator, which was programmed to create nets, slick substances, road blocks and similar. Interfaces with specific anti-mobility tools, allowing for greater strength and range.
[] 'Light Weapon Type'. Designed as an anti-personnel unit, this model is equipped with a variety of ballistic weapons, covering all ranges, with both lethal and non-lethal options. Interfaces with personnel level ballistic weapons to allow for more precise targeting and unit command.
[] 'Stealth Type'. Capable of both light and thermal cloaking, as well as equipped with sound suppression systems and close range weapons, this unit was designed for both intelligence gathering and assassination roles. Interfaces with personnel cloaking devices, allowing for longer operation, as well as long range sensing.
[] 'Melee Type'. Designed as a frontline combatant and siege breaker, this units secondary mechanisms are composed of mobility, strength and defense enhancers, as well as a customizable laser melee weapon. Interfaces with personnel enhancing belts, allowing for greater enhancement, and temporary supercharges.
[] 'Anti-Tracking Type'. Capable of a variety of jamming tools, as well as sight impairing ammunition such as smoke bombs. Ideal for hit-and-run operations. Interfaces with specific anti-tracking tools, allowing for better control and focusing.
Regardless of what they chose, they would receive the interface equipment, and the gang would send members to fulfill the roles of rank-and-file.
The info folder was pretty similar to the tools one. There was an explanation file, and folders for each of the superhumans in the city, with the exception of Inscrutable herself. You nodded as you looked at the files, the information contained in them was a lot broader and more complete than what you had managed to acquire through your original research.
There was information about the places where they were commonly sighted, as well as their activities, including the sort of places and situations where Mystic Mind would usually attack, and the places and types of crime that would attract the response of the heroes fastest.
Rampage and Mystic Mind had their living locations marked (a small apartment on the commercial zone for the former, and a trailer that spent most of the time on the periphery for the latter). While the two heroines were a lot more circumspect, with Swordsmaster's home being "somewhere in residential zone, north section", while Shadow Crusader's was an even more vague "probably in the periphery zone".
Light Mistress information was a surprise. You had thought that your research had simply not been thorough enough, but apparently she was simply incredibly secretive, using multiple routes of both escape and infiltration, and it didn't help that her criminal acts were too random to form a pattern.
Besides that, the other noteworthy point of information was the contact number that could be used to hire Rampage's services. However, it was noted that he tended to ask for advance payment for his jobs, and refused those that seemed too dangerous.
To sum up the more general information:
- Swordsmaster tended to respond more quickly to attacks on businesses, as well as attacks on the north area of the commercial zone. There, her response time was around 3-5 minutes, with it increasing the more distant the target was to the north zone.
- Shadow Crusader only appeared at night, but her response times were unreasonably fast, depending on the issue. If there was destruction and chaos anywhere in the periphery zone, she was guaranteed to appear in 1-2 minutes, while robbery and other "calmer" crimes caused her to be delayed, yet her slowest was around 4 minutes.
- Rampage was currently in one of his "rest" periods in between attacks, usually enjoying his time on bars, clubs and brothels in the commercial zone.
- Mystic Mind tended to not be too fat away from her trailer, which was under constant surveillance. Her behavior was pretty unpredictable otherwise.
- They had nothing on Light Mistress.
The boss would be expecting results, so within one week, it would be best if you managed to disable at least one of those four. That would give you enough time to get your rank-and-file ready and train for the operation.
Now, as for what the operation would be... That would depend on what mechs you chose, of course. There would be time to plan things out properly after that was decided.
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A.N: Next post will have more detailed information about the tools you chose, to make it easier to plan.
