Jump to content

Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Thieves in the Night


Mr Fox

Recommended Posts

Gwyn reports his findings back to Cam, "There is a maze of narrow alleyways out the back and a small bolthole concealed in the back wall to access it. However, I have some doubts about how well Omar would be able to move out there, or indeed if he could get through the bolthole at all."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 159
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Cam considered. "Good work all. Kyria, check them out thoroughly, but don't make mental contact. If they check out we'll make more clandestine physical contact. We don't want even apparent allies to know we have a telepath. That would open whole can of worms should they be captured and tortured. Find out if they are useful to us. They might not be able to help us with what we need, but we can always turn the Tok'ra on to them, we know they have at least 3 agents on planet that could help them out or perhaps give them some direction in their fight against their false gods. Don't spend too much time on them if they can't help us with our current mission. We can always come back later to make contact, but our purpose right now is to acquire a ship and get the hell out of dodge, we're on a time table. We've got 36 hours before we need to make our way back to the Stargate if we can't find a ship."

"Aradia, if you are feeling up to a little flying let's you and I check out that alley and find out where it goes and where it comes out. We may need it and I'd much rather enter and leave this place by the back way than be seen coming into the front of a house that was condemned because of traitors. Just being in here makes us suspect by nature in the eyes of Yu's minions."

((Cam will be casting out ahead of their path for sensors that might reveal their presence should they go through the alley. The last thing he wants is to be caught for something silly like tripping a camera set up to record who comes and goes through the alley.))

Click to reveal..

(23:29:17) ChatBot: (Raider) rolls 8d10 and gets 5,10,5,4,1,2,9,7.

3 successes to detect devices

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aradia and Cam covertly checked out the alley. It had many outlet points in the neighborhood; the perfect way to escape and scatter into the area. It was just as tight as Gwyn had reported, though both Cam and Aradia felt confident that Omar could at least use the main path of the alley. That might make him easier to track, but Cam rather pitied the Jaffa that attempted to capture him.

Click to reveal.. (Kyria's results)
Wen was miserable, his mental discomfort radiating through his mind like a spiked instrument. This had all seemed fun and right when he'd been talking over drinks with his cousin and his friends. But now, people were angry that he was even here. And this wasn't as glorious as he'd thought it would be; it was a bunch of nervous men stinking up a room with their anxiety, flinching every time a heavy tread was heard outside their building.

Why did they think they could oppose Yu anyway? He was a false god - anyone with a brain in their head knew that! But he was a powerful false god and he had lots of people without brains following him. Wen just knew that this was going to get him killed.

He turned back to the map on the wall, staring at the target. They'd argued long and hard about what to hit; many of them didn't want to hurt anyone. So the statue had finally been the one chosen. It was public, but not too public; the person who did the deed would have a chance to escape.

Nervously, he looked at the device on the floor. It would hide easily in the palm of a big man. It was hard to believe that something so little could obliterate the statue commemorating the fight at Yo's Hill. But Wen had heard amazing stories about the power of naquadah bombs....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Commander, the man's name is Wen. He and a few others are planning to blow up a statue that commemorates some battle of Yu's as a sign of...defiance? Wen knows Yu is a false god, but he's afraid of being killed and isn't so sure about all of this now that it's not as easy or glamorous as he'd thought it would be. He has a small naquadah bomb, something that could fit in a persons hand. If I can pull out when the attack is going to be, that could be a useful distraction. However, given the general paranoia level of most Goa'uld, it might also mean an immediate tightening of security around key areas, like the shipyard."

She'd closed her eyes before to concentrate better, and now opened them to regard the Colonel. "What do you want to do?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cam thought, then answered, "Yes, find out when and find out from their minds where they got the device. If they are going to do this immediately then we'll have to take action." He appraised Kyria, "How are you doing? Not tiring out on us yet are you? We need you to keep your strength up, but this could be important."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The young nova shook her head, "Nah, this is pretty easy so far. I'll let you know if I need to recharge at some point."

Click to reveal.. (Keeps Digging)
1d10=2, 1d10=9, 1d10=5, 1d10=10, 1d10=8

3 successes for more details

I forgot to put up a QP tracker before, she's used two uses of Telepathy so far (scanning the area and contacting a specific mind) so: 20/26 QP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Click to reveal.. (Kyria's results)
Wen took another drink, only to have someone smash it out of his hand. He started to glare at the one who had done it, but when he met the glowering eyes attached to that hand, his guts had turned to water and his complaint died on his tongue.

"You've had enough," the slapper, Chou said.

That settled, the argument continued for a bit before the rebels decided to blow up the statue tomorrow. A man named Fui was chosen to plant the bomb tonight, close to dawn.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Wen isn't the one in charge, I think. There's at least two others there, Chou and Fui. Fui is going to be the one planting the bomb on the statue tonight, near dawn. We could make contact with Fui then, but I think we'd be better off to track down Chou instead."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gwyn shrugs, "In the absence of Vinny I guess I'm the best qualified to tell you that. However, this is pretty tertiary to why we are here. Ideally shouldn't we be gone before then? After all we are mainly here to get a ship and maybe some intelligence."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I was just concerned. If we use the attack as a distraction, the response we are expecting might be different, if instead of destroying a statue, if destroys several square blocks of the city... or more." Yseult turned her gaze on Gwyn, her brows raised questioningly. "How large was the device that Olivie was connected to? Not much larger than hand size, yes?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cam frowned then spoke, "If it is naquadah enhanced even a hand sized device could take out from several city blocks to a whole section of the city, bigger than hand sized and it could do a great deal of damage. I'd rather they not plant that bomb unless we can confirm that it will only destroy the statue and not a whole section of the city. Check out Chou first and make sure these guys aren't being manipulated by someone else. How did they get a naquadah enhanced explosive device?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gwyn turns to Yseult, "It was only about hand size yes, but that wasn't naquadah. That seemed to be accumulating energy on it's own by some method that wasn't entirely clear at the time. It's effect was much bigger than I'd expect from what sounds like an enhanced Jaffa hand grenade."

He turns back to Cam, "I'd rather they didn't have anything going off close in time to our snatch, regardless of size. Otherwise the snatch might get linked the bomb and cause us much more hassle for any future missions here. Especially given how tight those red trimmed Jaffa are turning the screws on this place."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cam nodded, "I agree. We don't have much time to spend on these guys, it may be that we just have Kyria do a little mojo on the whole group to make the do it next week, but I still want to know a bit more before we make any moves."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Whoa, um, I could maybe get that done, depending on how many there are, but I'm not a mental merry-go-round. One person at a time, and everyone takes at least a little effort. Better to find the leader and convince them and let the natural pecking order take it from there. As it is, I'm fine right now, but much more of this right now if I'm hopping to different minds and I am going to need some recharge time."

Click to reveal.. (Telepathy Roll on Chou)
(13:42:21) ChatBot: (Kyria) rolls 5d10 and gets 2,10,10,2,5.

2 successes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Click to reveal.. (Kyria’s Result)
Chou’s mind was easy to find, once Kyria knew which one his was. It was the hot one, a burning self-made hell of grief, rage and vengeance. Thoughts of revenge barely masked as justice consumed the foreground, while the image of three small, bloody bodies floated as a backdrop. It was, Kyria learned, that image which was responsible for all of this, a simple age-old story of lost love becoming the driving force for so much more hate than the love had ever fostered.

He hadn’t always been this machine of vengeance. There was the hint of a gentler, artistic man, who used brushes dipped in ink to create beautiful words on rice paper. But the calligrapher had died, burned away by the rage that left no room for art or beauty. Unlike his children, he wasn’t grieved for by anyone, not even the man he’d once been.

He knew that the explosion would be bigger than the others thought it would be. They were weak, they didn’t want to hurt Yu’s loyal subjects. But every one of Yu’s loyal subjects was the enemy; it had been loyal subjects, acting on Yu’s orders that had cost him his children. Even the argument that there might be potential allies in the rebellion killed didn’t move him. There was no malice at the thought of potential destruction, just a cold callousness regarding their potential deaths.

If anyone was pulling Chou’s strings, he wasn’t aware of it on a conscious level. He believed himself to be in charge of this ragtag group. He desired to shape them into a superb group of warriors. He knew it would take time. But time was all he had, anymore.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Chou could be a problem." The telepath frowned as she browsed through the mind of the rebel's leader. "He's not a revolutionary; his children were killed and he wants revenge on Yu and everyone that follows him, willingly or not. He knows the device is much more powerful than the others think it is. I don't think he's being manipulated, but unless we can provide him with a larger emotional return on his vengeance then approaching him is probably going to result in at best a refusal to help and at worst a suicide explosion if he thinks he's been caught. He's....pretty damaged. Enough not to care about hurting innocents or allies so long as he feels he's hurt Yu."

She seemed to be more 'there' for a moment as she regarded Cam. "We could use the distraction and let it stand as is. There would be large civilian casualties and blow to both Yu's pride and the population's sense of security in his power." She let that sit for a few seconds, then continued. "We could approach Chou's followers and attempt to convince them of the truth of the situation and gain control of them to use to our own ends, including control of the naquadah bomb. I don't think this would be difficult, but it will leave us with the question of what to do with those people when we're finished and what, if anything, we want to do about Chou." Again the short pause for people to digest the idea. "Or we could approach Chou and offer him a better target or plan or both and again use him and his actions as a cover for our own objectives. We might be able to deal Yu a rather harsh blow if we're willing to take the risk. I know that isn't our primary objective, but the opportunity is there now."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I would prefer to keep innocent deaths to a minimum." Omar said after Kyria spoke of Chou and his motivations. "Though I like the idea of using the explosion as a distraction for our plans. Maybe we could move the bomb, without Chou's knowledge, and place it somewhere that would hurt Yu and help us."

Omar had been silent for a long time as he contemplated his earlier hesitation. It was very unlike him to hold back in the face of brutality and injustice, and he wondered if this mission was the right one for him. Was it even right of him to come to this universe? There were still so many questions he needed answers for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Considering for a moment he finally spoke, "Kyria, I agree with Omar that civilian casualties would be better avoided, but you are right this could work to our advantage and could be a good blow to Yu. The problem is that we have three Tok'ra allies somewhere in Yu's realm and knowning the Tok'ra they are probably positioned close to Yu."

He mentally scanned the what he knew of the city in his mind but could only come up with two useful targets. The munitions factories, or Yu's palace.

"Ok, Kyria, scan Chou's mind please and see if he knows of the area around the section of the city where they manufacture the weapons. If we could damage those factories that could be a major blow to Yu and all of the System Lords. If he does know the area see if you can get him to move the target to one of those factories and give us a few more hours. Instead of sunrise, see if he can arrange the explosion for sunset tomorrow, that should minimize the potential civilian casualties and maximize our chances to make a clean escape."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Softly, slowly, Kyria ramped up Chou's anger and rage. It was a easy fire to stoke, eager to burn hotter and brighter. Slowly, she twisted his thoughts – Was a statue in the middle of a park such a good target? He could do so much more damage somewhere else. – around to where Cam wanted them, making him see how much better it would be if he changed his mind. The timing of the attack was harder to manage, but Kyria finally convinced him to take the extra time to make sure it happened without a hitch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cam acknowledged Kyria's report of success with thanks. Calling everyone back together he announced, "Ok, we need to move to the shipyard. We've got to secure a ship and we're on a time table now. We need to be in place and ready to take off when that bomb explodes, it will be the distraction we need to get out of here hopefully. There will be a lot of ships trying to take off all at the same time."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cam waited to see nods from his people then did a couple mental calculations, "Ok, we've got roughly 24 hours before the bomb goes off. The idea here is to hit the ship yards and space port to see what ships are available. Once we're there we'll need to do a couple things. We'll need to find a ship, Kyria I'm going to need your help on that. We'll need to find a computer or a person with access to know what ships are currently on the surface or in orbit. Once we have that knowledge, we can pick one and work on infiltrating. We may also need a place close to the ship to hole up for a few hours so everyone keep your eyes open for a good hiding place. Aradia, I'd like you to take a good look at any birds or animals you see, or high ranking Jaffa we pass in the streets or meet. You might be called on to imitate at a moments notice."

The discussion lasted a couple more minutes with questions and answers then the group took the back way out carefully emerging onto another street when no one was coming and moving purposefully in the direction of the shipyards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kyria nodded and began her search of the minds of the city again, only this time she was able to focus forward towards their destination instead of opening herself to the whole city. She walked silently behind the others, only just enough attention on her body to keep her moving with them.

Click to reveal.. (Telepathy roll)
1d10=6, 1d10=6, 1d10=8, 1d10=8, 1d10=8

What an odd roll.......

3 successes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Their eagerness to get started was thwarted by the small necessity of getting information. Kyria hunkered down to it, but it still took hours and left her with a throbbing head; plundering that many brains left her feeling tired, even if she was able to do it efficiently and retain some juice. But in the end, she found exactly what she needed.

Pian Donghai was a technician in the shipyards. He lived alone and was physically frail from a childhood disease. He was often sick, so wasn’t expected at work every day. It also made him feel inferior around his co-workers, so he had never reached out to them socially. He could walk into the yards and no one would be surprised if all he did was nod to people in passing; this was actually what he did every day. Because he felt isolated, he focused on his work, sometimes coming in on days off to tweak an engine or recalibrate crystals. Right now, he was home sick, suffering from his frail physique. Kyria was able to grab his access codes from his fevered mind, too.

It was everything they needed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She relayed the codes to the rest of the team, rubbing her temples in a psycosemantic attempt to ease the dull ache of running through her quantumn (and the minds of the city) over the past few hours. She glanced up Cam, "I can still help, but I'm not going to be much of a heavy hitter until I get a chance to rest."

This had turned out to be an ugly little mission, directing people towards self-destructive paths, preying on the weak and defenseless, and she was ready to be done with. She'd meant what she'd said earlier, about not being able to save everyone in a war, but that didn't make it any less depressing. "Let's get this done and head back as quick as possible."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cam led the group through round about ways around the city toward the ship yards. Several times during their travels they could see evidence of abuse of the people, perhaps not outright beatings like that first one, but shops open but with no one watching their contents and everyone around looking fearful to even be seen near them, even the children in the streets seemed quiet and subdued.

It took hours but the tense group finally entered the ship yards. The city proper was separated from the ship yards by a tall wall very reminiscent to the Great Wall with Jaffa patrolling it's tops and like the real Great Wall there was a gate fort at the opening to the shipyards. All who would enter had to pass through scanners and be questioned by vigilant guards. It was a scary moment, but the Jaffa did not question when Cam gave the cover story, "We escort these to the ship of their master." It must have been a common enough sight because the guard captain didn't even pause but waved the group through.

There was a definite sigh of relief once they were past the fort and into the streets beyond. Most of the building near the wall fort seemed to be warehouses trade goods either coming or going. It was late afternoon by then and most of the thousands of workers were in the process of leaving for the night. That only left a few hours to go before the bomb would be going off, but hopefully it would be enough. The group spent time moving against the crowds and by the time they made it to the area closest to the ships the day crew was gone and the buildings were mostly empty of people apart from the occasional Jaffa guard or Jaffa patrol.

Cam picked a fairly small building on the edge of the shipyard and went inside. He had his Zat ready to shoot any guards they might find but there were none on hand as the building seemed to be empty of cargo. The office area did however, have a terminal.

"Ok, I'm going to jack in and try to find us a good ship. Major Hawke, take a couple of our jaffa and patrol the building as if we were guarding it and don't fire on anyone if you can help it. If anyone comes to investigate Zat them and we'll have Kyria do her mojo to make them forget we were here." Looking to Aradia, "Ari, do your thing and fly up to the roof and keep an eye out to give the Major some warning should anyone approach."

Finally he looked to Kyria, "Get some rest. We've only got a few hours left before that bomb goes off and I'd like you to be ready when we hit one of the ships in case we need to do some quick scanning." Looking to the rest, "Ok, I'm going to interface with the computers here, pull me out if something happens before I'm done."

With that Cam pulled out his datapad and connected to the terminal while simultaneously sending his consciousness into the system, logging in as the tech that Kyria had discovered and using his codes to bypass security.

Click to reveal..

He's looking for what ships are docked and how many crew they have aboard. Once he has that he'll narrow it down to the best targets and sort by ship type.

Gou'ald Tech 1 eliminates the penalty for using Goa'uld tech.

(06:09:04) ChatBot: (Cam) rolls 10d10 and gets 9,6,10,7,3,8,1,7,9,7.

(06:09:13) ChatBot: (Cam) rolls 1d10 and gets 4.

7 successes on pulling up list of ships and what crew they have aboard.

+ Prodigy Engineering:

(06:13:05) ChatBot: (Cam) rolls 5d10 and gets 3,10,6,8,3.

(06:13:09) ChatBot: (Cam) rolls 1d10 and gets 9.

4 successes on Int roll adds 4 extra dice if ST allows:

(06:13:52) ChatBot: (Cam) rolls 4d10 and gets 7,9,3,6.

If allowed that brings the total up to 9 successes on getting the info they need.

Cam will then sort through that info and pick the best target.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gwyn hands Kyria a canteen of water, and wishes he had thought to bring some painkillers with him, but they would have been out of place if they were captured. Having done that small deed for their overworked telepath he rechecked the attunement of his gear and started patrolling the ground floor of the warehouse, although most of his attention was outside the building rather than what was going on inside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kyria gave Gwyn a dazzling smile of thanks and let her quantum-depleted body slide down the wall inside the small building. She took several long and refreshing swigs of the water and then laid her head back to rest. She watched the others with languid eyes as they moved about, not really thinking or moving. Hopefully there'd be enough time to recharge before the bomb went off; she'd hate to become a liability to team now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...