Mission Log #3

[modaccount]

How It Works

Welcome to the third mission log in Annexed!

How Mission Logs Work: There will generally be two main missions per month, with different focuses tailored to different skillsets (usually stealth vs. fighting, though other skillsets will be tapped on). Each mission will be posted in phases, with a prompt for the start of each phase. The plotting post will give you a rundown of what the missions are, how they might go, and what might be discovered. Characters may partake in whichever pat of the operation they choose, whether it's a large prominent part or a more supporting role. Characters may participate in both missions, and as many phases as they wish.

Mod Guidance: Players may request occasional scene-setting when they hit a point where they're unsure what might happen next in a log or what their characters might encounter. There will be a "Mod Guidance" comment that players can reply to in order to request this kind of scene-setting.

Completion of Missions: There will be a submissions comment for anyone who's threaded out a portion of the mission. Once a thread has been completed at least halfway, please submit your character's progress and plans for the thread to the submissions thread. These submissions are the main way that the mod will decide how the mission went in the next month's wrap-up post, so they are very important!

Plotting Post: Here!

Insert Creative Mission Name Here

So far, the rebels have mostly been reacting to the Sylphid - they plan something and the rebels stop them. This month, the vibe around the Camp is significantly different because this time, they're making the first move. They're not just reacting, they're acting.

Remember last month, when the Witches put out a call for propaganda materials - for videos and posters and interviews and all the other footage and information that was gathered? Well, the Witches have cobbled that footage and those videos and interviews together into beautiful propaganda videos with special effects and a powerful message for anyone in the city who may be desiring freedom but who is too afraid to pursue it alone.

This month's meeting and mission overview will start off with a screening of three different propaganda videos that were made from the gathered footage and interview excerpts that were turned in by new arrivals and existing Witches alike. After the videos are screened, the Witch will be calling a general meeting at the Command Center where she will explain the situation and the steps to be taken to distribute the propaganda.

Mission A: Distributing Posters

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: piloting, riding magical creatures, air battle

This mission will focus on distributing the posters that have been created by the Rebels. The Witch has had printing presses busy making up the posters and flyers created by player characters and NPCs alike. These posters will be distributed through a combination of a fleet of cobbled-together magic and tech based flying machines, a bevy of flying animals, and the Skyclad on hoverboards along with anyone who wants to join them.

PHASE I: FLYING LESSONS
The first phase of the mission involves the methods of flying over the city to deliver the posters and flyers. Characters will be invited to familiarize themselves with a variety of flying methods that will allow them to transport the flyers and posters to the city and drop them in various areas around the city that have been identified by operatives as having rebel-sympathetic populations, primarily the lower-income areas around the edges of the city and the education district where students attend post-secondary education.

The first mission is relatively straightforward and is presented without much fanfare. There are three different methods of delivering the posters and characters will require some training. Hopefully, they will also come equipped with some mechanical knowledge, because some of the flying machines are in a state of disrepair. Hopefully, others will come with some amount of familiarity with riding large animals, as well, because part of the delivery system involves riding on the backs of flying creatures resembling manta rays that range in size from that of an average horse to the size of a small building. Thankfully, many characters already have experience using the hoverboards that the Skyclad use, and these will be available as well for quick delivery of posters and flyers.

Before the mission officially even runs, characters are invited to choose a method of delivery - flying machines, hoverboards, or sky mantas - and to come to the various areas set up to train in how to use them.

⇝ Hoverboards: While many are familiar with the hoverboards used in the last mission, this mission will require a higher level of agility, more intricate maneuvers, and a higher altitude than the previous mission due to the fact that they are traveling through a city rather than cleared leylines and will be dropping posters from above, at the maximum height that the hoverboards are capable of (around the height of a 30-story building). At this height they will need to weave around skyscrapers and hover vehicles that are used in the city, and avoid various other obstacles. The Skyclad have opened their training grounds and will divide volunteers into small groups of around 5-10 people to train them how to be more agile in the air, how to do some complex maneuvers, and to get used to how the hoverboards perform at their maximum height.

⇝ Flying Vehicles: Characters who would rather drop flyers from more secure vehicles with a seat, or who have any kind of piloting experience, will probably be more drawn to the small fleet of flying vehicles that are available for the mission. The group of vehicles is parked at The Hangar, a large empty building located in the Electric Heart. The vehicles are a bit of a motley crew, having been scavenged from abandoned Sylphid magitech, and no two are alike. Some operate much like planes, others like small space shuttles, and others are completely magic-based, responding to the psychic desires of the pilot. Many of the vehicles are in poor repair and the existing mechanics will welcome the assistance of anyone with mechanical or magical know-how to get them fixed up and reliable for the big mission. They will also teach people to fly the machines, including the individual quirks of the out-of-date vehicles, so they can successfully fly them on the mission, including test flights!

⇝ Sky Mantas: The final method of flight for dropping posters and flyers are the sky mantas, a sort of domesticated flying beast that resembles a manta ray with bubbles of pure energy on their underbellies. Due to the fact that they are a local and native species that can be easily spotted in the wild, the sky mantas make for perfect recon assistants, with riders having perfected methods of camouflaging themselves while they ride on their backs. Each sky manta is domesticated and well-trained, dressed up with a saddle that characters can stand on, and a set of reins that will guide the manta in the desired direction. The sky manta stables will be open for anyone interested in riding one to distribute flyers and posters to take a crash course in how to ride them, guide them in the sky, and perform the few tricks the mantas are capable of. They are also invited to bond with the beasts, who are almost like flying horses, and who must scent and become familiar with a new rider before they will perform at their full capacity.

PHASE II: DISTRIBUTION
Once everyone is acquainted with and comfortable with their distribution method of choice, the mission itself will properly begin. Characters will be given large packages of propaganda materials, both larger posters and smaller flyers, which they will load into or onto their preferred method of flight. Both the flying vehicles and sky mantas will be able to carry large amounts of flyers and posters, but those riding hoverboards will need to take only what they can carry and return several times to load up on new materials from supply points set up in the wild jungle while the others will carry out the mission in a single slower pass over the city.

There will be a variety of obstacles that will beset the people distributing propaganda, including flying around the tops of skyscrapers, hovering vehicles, low-flying aircraft, birds, and other airborne obstacles that may get in their way. Beyond that, after the first propaganda has been dropped, there will be retaliation in the form of several magic using Sylphid that will band together and create adverse weather conditions - rain, snow, fog, thunder, and lightning will be making the sky hazardous for anyone flying. While this will ground some of the air traffic going on, it will mostly be causing problems for people delivering the propaganda. Not only will it get the posters and flyers wet, causing them to drop in wet sheafs that stick together, it will also create terrible visibility, the danger of being struck by lightning that almost seems to be targeted, and will cause slippery conditions for those who are riding hoverboards or sky mantas.

PHASE III: DOGFIGHTS
What's the one thing that's worse than terrible weather and bad flying conditions? Those things plus being pursued by enemy fliers. It won't be long until the Sylphid start catching on to the mission and very quickly they will be pursuing with their own methods of flight. The Sylphid will be calling in anyone with any kind of method of flight from superpowers and magic to hovercars to hoverboards to flying vehicles of various types to even the drones that were used in the last mission. Characters flying the mission will find themselves pursued through the terrible weather, being shot at with superpowers, magic spells, and traditional projectile weapons of varying varieties.

And then there are the Para-Sylph, a group of Sylphid who specialize in air takedowns. This crew, using upward of 15 fighter vehicles, will hover above rebels carrying out the mission and drop from their fighters in groups of two. The goal of these drop-ins is to incapacitate the pilots of whatever method of flight is being used. Prepare yourselves for an epic swordfight, gunfight, or magic duel at 30 stories up! The Para-Sylph are extremely well-trained and adept at fighting in mid-air, at taking people down quickly, and excel in the areas of stamina, fighting prowess, and strategy. They are a well-oiled machine, best avoided rather than engaged.

Mission B: ELECTRONIC INTERVENTION

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped (mostly)
Mission Focus: stealth, recon, sabotage, battle

This mission will focus on a stealthy invasion of the city to locate and overtake the broadcasting equipment and facilities in the city and infiltrate them. Once inside, characters will be asked to stop all transmissions on every channel and broadcast the propaganda films created by the Rebels. This will require significant stealth in order to infiltrate and some electronic know-how to work out how to broadcast the propaganda on the fly. They will eventually be pursued by the Sylphid as they catch onto the plan and make efforts to stop the broadcast in its tracks, and need to fight and/or flee the area as quickly as possible, either using hoverboards or hover-ATVs.

PHASE I: RECON
Strictly a stealth and recon mission, characters who are still chipped will make their way into the city and use the Sylphid internet and other methods to locate the broadcasting stations in the city. Since characters are chipped, this should be relatively straightforward and not come with a lot of risk. Characters can easily pretend to be tourists, fans of various shows, or new employees to ask directions, or simply use the city's equivalent of Google Maps to find the stations. Once the stations are located, characters will be asked to locate the closest manhole cover that's available and mark it on a shared map on the Rebel intranet, though any efforts to infiltrate deeper into the recording stations through stealth or charisma will be met with a lot of joy, and characters who manage that will be asked to make rough maps of the stations themselves.

There are three main broadcasting stations in the city to be located and scouted out.

⇝ NorthWest Broadcasting: Located in the outskirts of the city on the northeast side, this station broadcasts mainly local news, low-budget TV shows, and ads for neighborhood businesses such as corner stores, small car lots, and furniture stores. It is the least well-guarded of the three stations but also reaches the smallest (albeit perhaps the most amenable) audience, mainly being watched by low-income households that can't afford the more expensive stations, generally on the outskirts of the city. There is a manhole cover on the west side of the building where the plumbing from the building can be accessed. It could easily be accessed by people willing to give it a try - there are actually tours of the broadcasting station that can be booked for school groups and the like. Additionally, the security is very low, with only one patrolling security guard, and the receptionists at the front desk could easily be bribed or tricked into allowing access to the building itself.

⇝ The Ring: Located in the southwest side of the city in what is called the Inner Circle, this station broadcasts citywide news, weather reports, mid-budget TV shows, and ads from medium-size corporations in the city such as family restaurant chains, smaller bank chains, and video game companies. It has better security, with security staff on-site that are hired out from a local security company and reaches a larger population in the city, mainly on the Inner Circle, where the city's middle-class population thrives. There is a manhole cover on the north side of the building where the plumbing from the building can be accessed. It could be accessed by people with a little luck and skill on their side - while there are patrolling security guards, a good story could convince the receptionists at the front desk to issue a guest pass.

⇝ City Skyline: Located in the central ring of the city, on the block that contains most of the city's government buildings and major banks, this station broadcasts planet-wide news, high-budget TV shows and popular movies, and ads for major corporations in the city such as fast food chains, major banks, and electronics giants. It is the most well-guarded of the three stations and reaches the largest audience, being watched by anyone in the city who can afford it, and a neighborhoods outside the city as well. There are manhole covers to the east and west of the building where the plumbing from the building can be accessed. Getting access inside this building will be extremely difficult, as anyone permitted entry must present ID to be issued a guest pass that serves as a keycard for elevators, doors to the stairwells, and entry to some doors in the building. Even if characters manage to get a guest pass, they will still lack access to some areas of the building. City Skyline also employs its own in-house security guards, with a flock of them patrolling every floor in the building every half hour, asking to see and scan guest and other passes.

PHASE II - INFILTRATION
The next step after recon is to actually infiltrate the buildings, which is much easier said than done. This step would need to be carried out by chipped individuals as well, or groups of two or three where there is at least one chipped person. Where anyone without a chip would usually set off an alarm, anyone with a chip would be presumed to be a service worker of some kind by anyone watching the monitors, and as the sewers are less strictly monitored than the surface, this chipped signal could mask the signals of up to two stripped characters. Each building will have different security systems in place to make sure that no one is able to enter via the sewer ducts, which open into the basements of the buildings. Infiltration of the rest of the building would be guided by the situations listed in Phase I.

The sewers themselves have some dangers, mainly the presence of...well, what sewers are known to contain, which can carry some danger of disease, bad smell, nausea, and dizziness from the fumes. Other than just the waste product itself, large mutated rats can be found in abundance in the sewers, with sharp teeth and insatiable appetites, and any bite from these rats will need to be treated and the victim inoculated with a shot as soon as possible to avoid tetanus and various other diseases. Besides the rats, there are also spiders whose bite can cause mild poisoning that has effects of nausea, extreme dizziness, blacking out, disorientation, and extreme pain at the site of the bite, as well as hallucinations.

⇝ NorthWest Broadcasting: This is the lowest-security building and because of that has a lower maintenance type of deterrent - a pit with a large drain at the bottom. Once characters make their way from the manhole cover to the area where the sewer enters the building, they will find a deep, square cement pit half-full of sewage products. Characters will need to make their way over the pit without falling by climbing on pipes and other protruding mechanical pieces on the ceiling of the sewer, some of which are very hot due to the water system that also uses these tunnels.

⇝ The Ring: This is a medium-security building, and the security system is a little more dangerous and harmful. In this case, there is a consistent spray of acid from sprinklers on the ceiling. These sprinklers run every 45 seconds, and can only be blocked by a certain type of plastic, which has been used to coat the wall and machinery in the area to avoid erosion. Small umbrellas made of this type of plastic will be provided to anyone who chooses to take this route, but be careful - the umbrellas aren't very big and there's not enough room in the tunnel to stand up straight underneath them. Hiding under the umbrellas will require crouching and huddling underneath, which may not provide full protection. Better to get to the entrance to the building's basement before the spray starts up again...

⇝ City Skyline: This is a very high-security building, and the security system in the sewers is more advanced. In this case, there is a series of lasers which are constantly running, creating very tight space between them, at various angles that will require high agility to make it through. And these aren't just lasers connected to an alarm, either, they are well and truly weapons, capable of searing flesh and removing limbs if handled without care. There are a couple of methods to avoid them. Either extremely flexible characters can flip and maneuver their way through, or mirrors can be carefully used to redirect the beams of laser light. Careful not to lose a finger doing so!

PHASE III: BROADCASTING
Once the traps in the sewers have been navigated, it's time to deal with the internal security inside the buildings, most of which has been outlined above. Characters will need to dodge, bribe, or sweet-talk guards, hack security doors with provided electronic devices, and make their way to the broadcasting room. This will be a relatively easy task at NorthWest Broadcasting, but more of an ask for either The Ring or City Skyline.

Once characters have made their way to the broadcasting room they will need to subdue any Sylphid running the equipment and take it over. If you don't know how to run the equipment, though, it might be useful to leave one Sylphid alive and bribe or threaten them to explain how to switch out the tapes provided by the Rebels with the ones containing the usual broadcast. Once characters have worked that out, they can set the propaganda to repeat and retreat back through the sewers...or if they're brave, they can just exit through the front doors. Maybe not the best bet, though, after crawling through the nasty sewer system...

Of course, it might be tempting to make a broadcast of your own while you're in the system...for good or for evil.

Mission C: THE RESCUERS

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: battle

This is relatively straightforward as a mission goes. Anyone who is stripped or who didn't participate in the other missions, or anyone who has completed those missions, is welcome to help people who've already been convinced to join the Rebels by the propaganda. Each propaganda tape had a note at the end of where to go to meet up with Rebel forces, and there will be a significant amount of people, especially from the outer ring of the city, who are willing to pack up and leave almost right away.

At each rendezvous point the Rebels will have set up a large number of trucks to carry new recruits back to the Camp, and these trucks and rendezvous points will need a LOT of protection. Preferably with a lot of firepower. Because the Sylphid are going to catch on pretty quickly to where these points are, and send reinforcements. This will be a running battle relatively quickly, with armed Rebels protecting new recruits and escorting them to trucks, covering the trucks as they head back to the Camp and ensuring that the well-armed Sylphid aren't following them to the Camp.

NAVIGATION

Comments

[scarabwings]

She's close on his heels, keeping low and quiet, as though this sort of operation is entirely familiar to her. She flashes him a quick smile as he hefts the manhole cover open, and murmurs, "Go. It's easiest if I keep it in sight for as long as possible."

Not strictly necessary, with several months of practice under her belt, but definitely easier.

[purplexing]

It makes enough sense to him that he doesn't question it. Donatello nods, making sure Layla's got things handled before he slips down through the opening.

It's the smell that he notices first once he drops down to the bottom of the ladder. He knows sewers and all the scents that come with it. This one has those but it's faint in comparison to the unmistakable scent of burning ozone. It doesn't take too long to figure out why that is as he gets a good look at what waits beyond, the tunnel lit up in an ominous red by a string of glowing lines.

"You have got to be kidding me."

[scarabwings]

Layla waits a five count after he's dropped beneath the rim of the manhole, then follows, pausing to hook her fingers into the grooves of the manhole cover to pull it shut. Only then does she release her mental hold on the camera, and that so she can transfer her attention to the manhole cover to help shift it silently back into place.

It's not as dark as it should be with the cover shut, blocking out all but the thinnest rays of light from the surface. That uneasy realization precedes Donatello's incredulous remark by only a handful of seconds, and Layla pauses briefly in her descent to ask quietly, "What's wrong?"

Presumably not a guard post in the sewers - which leaves a remarkable range of possible trouble open.

[purplexing]

"I heard security was tight in this area but this seems almost overkill." Almost. "...actually I wonder why I never thought of doing this for security back at the lair. Oh wait, probably because inevitably one or all of my brothers would have sliced some part of them off."

Donatello realizes Layla's still not had a chance to see what he's seeing, so he steps to the side of the ladder to give her room as he turns his attention back to studying the criss-crossing red.

"Lasers. Pretty fancy for a sewer, right?"

[scarabwings]

"Very fancy," Layla agrees as she finishes her descent, turning to peer down the eerily red-lit tunnel. Not just lasers, but heavy duty ones, the sort of thing she'd expect to find in a high-end lab or machine shop, not in a sewer.

"Especially a working sewer. There has to be a cut-off panel for maintenance visits."

Probably on the other end, usable only from their destination - but even that would be useful. If they have to go out the same way they're going in, it would be easier not to have to circumvent security a second time.

[purplexing]

Donatello nods, his eyes scanning the walls and ceiling for any tell-tale conduits. "Well of course it wouldn't be that easy," he mutters, shaking his head as he's not seeing anything resembling a control box in their vicinity.

"So how are you at limbo?" he asks as he steps closer to the edge of the webwork of lasers to see how much space they have to work with.

[scarabwings]

"Five-time city champion back home," she says, keeping her tone light, though she scrutinizes the lasers closely. "But this looks like a whole floor routine. I don't suppose you have a high-grade mirror with you?"

[purplexing]

"I knew I forgot something!" he sighs, sarcastic, but given his normal tone it's difficult to really tell the difference. "Negative, although if random lasers are going to be a thing, I might have to invest in one. I mean, who carries mirrors around these days when you've got cellphones..." A thoughtful frown. "Granted they do not do nearly as well against lasers. This is awkward because usually I'm the only one with the lasers, huh."

Donnie taps a finger against his chin. "You might be right about the floor routine. It's hard to tell from looking straight on, but there is room to maneuver, if very tight in some spots. So far as I can see..." He drops down to the ground to try eyeballing the sources. "The setup looks like overlapping spirals, making it super-disorienting to look at for too long. I think we have maybe a couple of feet max between the farthest two lines in a space. Tight, but not impossible."

He points at the origin points along the floor and around the walls and ceiling. "If you start getting lost with all the laser lines, just look around the edges for the emitters and trace them from there. Guess the big question is who wants to go first?"

[scarabwings]

"I carry one," Layla replies, giving him a quick, wry smile. "There are some situations where a cellphone won't do the trick. It's just too small and not sturdy enough to be useful for this."

She scrutinizes the spiraling tunnel of lasers, hands absently skimming over her vest to make sure all her gear is packed down tight.

"I'll go first. If I burn a foot off, at least it'll show you where not to step, yeah?"

[purplexing]

"Huh, well look at you!" He grins back. "Yeah, no kidding. Not that I'd ever think to use my cellphone to redirect lasers, that's just insanity."

The turtle looks at the nearest points before glancing at Layla, grimacing. "Not something I need a visual of!" Seeing her pat herself down, he supposes it's probably a good idea to not have a baggy hoodie on for this. He tugs it off, folding it before stowing it behind the ladder. Hopefully no one came down here for maintenance while they were dodging lasers.

[scarabwings]

"I'm sure someone's tried," she says, with a rueful little laugh. It seems like the sort of thing that could breed exactly the wrong kind of experimentation.

She steps towards tunnel of lasers, exhaling slowly and rolling her shoulders to bleed off tension that will only hamper them here.

"Call out if you see them start moving," she says. They look fixed, and thank every absent god for that, but jokes about losing limbs aside, that isn't something she cares to be wrong about.

[purplexing]

"I wish I could refute that with confidence but I know you're probably right," Donnie sighs, rolling his eyes. It's good to keep up some humor at least.

Especially with that kind of a notice. "Not that I'm one to believe in such things but I sure hope we aren't just jinxing ourselves," he shudders, looking back at the closest points for any signs of that kind of a mechanism. He'd get closer but he wants to give Layla as much room as she needs.

"Can't see any kind of segmentation to hint at the possibility of rotational axes..." he says, trying to sound confident about that.

[scarabwings]

"Think we'd have to be overconfident to call down a jinx on our heads," Layla says, keeping her tone light. She studies the first gap between the lasers, then bends at the waist, twisting at an awkward angle to get herself between them.

She will definitely need to add better mirrors to her kit, something that won't be burned through in seconds if she tries to deflect something this high-powered.

It takes several torturously slow minutes to traverse the tunnel, and by the time she does, her skin feels too hot, lips parched, and she can't smell anything over the reek of burned hair where a few wisps had escaped her careful binding.

Given they're still in a sewer, that last part might be a blessing.

[purplexing]

Donnie lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, letting his shoulder sag with relief at that before he pumps his arms up in a silent cheer once Layla appears to be clear of the lasers.

Briefly dread sets in as he realizes it's now his turn. This is by far not as fun of a challenge as walking up the main cables of New York's famous suspension bridges with a hundred-plus pizza boxes stacked on top of your head. With a gulp, he studies the first entry gap as he replays Layla's own path through the webwork of lasers. That's only so handy given that the farther she'd gotten, the harder it was to keep track of where she was between the blazing lines of red. He takes a deep breath and then makes his first move.

It helps that he's fairly slim compared to his brothers. There'd be no way Raph would get through this, and Leo would inevitably trip and slice something off. Mikey'd be the best bet and Donnie wouldn't have been surprised if his little brother would have managed to bounce and weave his way through in one smooth pass. Donnie's more methodical, calculating every move and angle as he slips between the lasers, tucking in here, tippy-toeing there, adjusting his position for the best possible way to get through the next set. That's more than enough to keep him from thinking too much about feeling like he's getting sunburned from each narrow pass. At one point he nearly overbalances, barely managing to keep from windmilling his arms as he feels the unpleasant heat uncomfortably against the thin, magically-warded covering over his shell.

Keeping tensed for so long makes things more exhausting but he finally crosses the last few lines to meet Layla on the other side.

[scarabwings]

Watching him navigate the maze of lasers feels almost as tense as working her way through it herself has been, and it's an effort of will not to call advice or warning. She'd likely only distract him, and that would have the exact opposite of the desired effect.

Still, she has to bite the inside of her cheek almost bruising-hard when it seems for a moment like he might lose his balance, lost in the web of lethal heat.

"All right?" she asks once he makes it through, and offers a small canteen of water. It's not much against the heat of the lasers, but it's better than nothing.

"No controls on this side, either," she notes. "They must be inside."

[purplexing]

"Y-yeah... Just give me a second." Donnie looks immensely grateful at the water, taking a couple of gulps. It's not a big pool to dunk himself in but it's better than nothing.

The lack of controls for the laser web of death has him groan. "I guess it'd make sense having them inside. Probably part of the security system. If we find a computer I can get into, then it shouldn't be too hard to disable."

He rolls out his neck and his shoulders with a wince, trying to work out the tension from earlier. "In any case, we still need to get inside. I might have to hurt someone if there's any more laser features in this building."

[scarabwings]

"If there are lasers inside, I'm coming back with explosives," Layla says. She's probably joking. Mostly.

"We'll make getting you system access a priority. As soon as the broadcast goes out, we're going to want to make a fast retreat."

The tunnel continues on a little ways beyond the grid, then makes a sharp bend before the next access hatch. Fortunately, it's the correct one - and well-labeled, if the lasers themselves hadn't been a dead giveaway.

[purplexing]

"Oh, I can get behind explosives." He is not joking.

Computer access in general seems like an ideal priority either way. Donatello gives Layla a nod at that. A quick and easy egress is something he will never object to.

That the tunnel goes on a bit more makes him leery about another network of lasers, but this is one thing he's glad to be wrong about once they finally come across the access hatch. "Never thought I'd say this but I'll be glad to be out of the sewers."

He steps ahead to investigate the hatch. There's a simple keypad console beside it. After taking a moment to eyeball it he slips out a multitool from his beltpouch to jimmy the panel open, studying the wiring inside. "Granted alien circuitry isn't completely backwards or reversed from what I know, I should be able to trigger an override... like so."

He gives a pair of wires a quick twist to reverse their positions before he can zap himself, bracing for the possibility either way. To the side, a metallic thunk sounds from the hatch and a green light switches on by the keypad.

[scarabwings]

Layla lets out a low whistle. She's decent enough with technology, and has more than a little experience with breaking and entering, but that had been faster by far than she'd have been able to manage.

"If the rebellion doesn't pan out, you could make a decent living as a burglar," she says.

[purplexing]

The turtle smirks as he tucks his tool away and steps over to haul open the hatch. "Pay would probably be better... Anyway, we're kind of doing something similar already. Just that instead of taking away, we're um...leaving something behind. Reverse-burglaring."

He tugs the hatch open, glancing in before gesturing with a sweeping bow. "After you?"

[scarabwings]

"You're too kind," she says, eyes snapping with amusement. She scrambles up through the hatch, edging out of the way as she takes in her new surroundings. It looks - unsurprisingly - like a large facilities closet, with what she assumes are the electrical boxes and central HVAC mechanisms for the building.

"So far, so good," she calls down quietly. "No more lasers up here."

No computer terminals either, but that would be entirely too easy.

[purplexing]

He wouldn't have expected computer terminals either, not that he would have objected to it. "No lasers is good," he says, clambering on up then.

A quick look is taken around at the contents of the space they've found themselves in. Never hurts to know if anything might come in handy in case things went really wrong. Of course, if things did go wrong then fiddling with any of this wouldn't really help their objectives.

"We should be inside now, so...if our intel is correct..." Donatello brings out his tablet from a belt pouch, pulling up the building layout with a few screen taps and swipes. "That door should put us out in this hallway. And we'll have to make our way to the broadcasting room...here."

[scarabwings]

"Which means we're probably past the lethal parts of the security system," Layla says, with a touch of relief. "The Sylphid aren't any more physically resilient than the people they possess, so even if they're willing to risk any incompatible staff, they won't put anything hazardous where they might have to deal with it on a regular basis. We'll just need to be careful not to trip any alarms or alert the guards."

She gives the layout a closer look. "That's the security station there, yeah? It'd mean overshooting, but if we hit that first, we can make their lives a little harder when it comes time for us to make a break for it."

[purplexing]

It's a relief Donatello shares, nodding as Layla brings up such points. "The sewers were the most vulnerable entry point and the most unreasonable position to set standard guards at so I doubt we'll have any more lasers to worry about." Topside should be an otherwise typical station... "Agreed, things will be considerably more difficult if we get caught."

He hums thoughtfully as he looks to where she points out, a small grin tugging at his face. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Probably for the best because I'm pretty sure once things start broadcasting, they're going to be onto us."

[scarabwings]

"Probably," she agrees. "And considering the lasers, once they're alerted, they'll be responding with force. If we could set up a remote override to close off this section of the building for a few minutes when we trigger it, that'd be ideal - we might still have to deal with a guard or two on our way out, but they shouldn't have the numbers to overwhelm us."