[Nexus] MERC XV: All In One Package

[Lord Magtok]

Outside NO

"I was mistaken. My employer after nine shots of whiskey, and one of those three women has cat ears." The Magbot snarks, watching Harald dig himself an even deeper hole than he started with.

[Shadowcaller]

[Entering NO Main building]

Assuming the door opens for her, Cessie Mithar steps inside NO for the first time in her life, quickly followed by Garn who looks suspiciously at their surroundings. Looks like she have business here.

[Aric Kale]

"I'll leave it to your initiative. License holders don't have access to this base, though," Dipsnig clarifies.

That makes sense. Well, I will wait in the Inn. I've heard that it attracts a seedier crowd than Trog's, so more trouble is likely to be caused. Of course, that might change if they know NO is providing extra security...
Still, to The BDD I go. Thank you very much, Dipsnig Razortooth. With that, he bows, and unless the goblin offers any more words, he will head towards the Inn.

[GrandDM]

[Streets Outside NO]

"Not necessarily. They were designed as single-use jammers, to be activated by a specific signal and then dropped in by air to disrupt electronics. Someone could easily have picked one up and replaced it with a fake, and I'd never know. They don't report back."

The Magbot's comments receive no response, but there are slight indications in his manner that he's taking notes of what's said.

((Harald actually didn't plant the jammer; I'm setting this up to lead into the rogue-agent style plot I have planned.))

[happyturtle]

Streets Outside NO

"Mr Magbot, do you need me to call a tow truck?" Gyps offers solicitously. He thinks it'd be best to separate him and Harald. Then back to Harald. "Mr Harald, I must insist you not drop jammers over the city. It could cause a great number of deaths simply from the failure of life support equipment."

About this time, an unmarked car arrives - clearly a Peacekeeper out of uniform. The orc woman goes to the boot of her car and takes out a large box, heavily lined with lead.

"Hi Mary! Thanks for coming," he calls out to her, and gives her a wave. "Afternoon, Lamar," she replies. Assuming no one tries to stop her, she locates the jammer, drops it into her box, and closes it, and then uses her phone as a check to see if the jammer's signal is blocked.

[Morty]

[Entering NO Main building]

Assuming the door opens for her, Cessie Mithar steps inside NO for the first time in her life, quickly followed by Garn who looks suspiciously at their surroundings. Looks like she have business here.

The door slides open for Cessie, revealing the Main Room and Dipsnig himself sitting in an armchair, like he always does when meeting potential employers.

[GrandDM]

Streets Outside NO

"Mr Magbot, do you need me to call a tow truck?" Gyps offers solicitously. He thinks it'd be best to separate him and Harald. Then back to Harald. "Mr Harald, I must insist you not drop jammers over the city. It could cause a great number of deaths simply from the failure of life support equipment."

About this time, an unmarked car arrives - clearly a Peacekeeper out of uniform. The orc woman goes to the boot of her car and takes out a large box, heavily lined with lead.

"Hi Mary! Thanks for coming," he calls out to her, and gives her a wave. "Afternoon, Lamar," she replies. Assuming no one tries to stop her, she locates the jammer, drops it into her box, and closes it, and then uses her phone as a check to see if the jammer's signal is blocked.

"I didn't drop it, and as I said, that model was discontinued years ago. Plus, it was underground, which suggests that someone covertly put it there."

The lead has no effect on the jammer.

"If you let me at the thing for ten seconds, I can disable it for you and send the onboard data to that phone."

[Lord Magtok]

Streets Outside NO

"No officer, arrangements have already been made. Best of luck in your pursuit of justice. I'm sure Harald is entirely innocent and definitely didn't plant a jammer of his own design just below his business rival's building to interfere with their ability to compete against him. What motive could he possibly have for that?"

Magtok, and by his extension, his minions, still seem a little bitter after that exchange in the MagCave. It's unlikely this was an attempt at sabotaging them, as MagTruck transportation routes aren't so easy to steal that such a thing would've gone unnoticed, but if there's a chance to twist the knife, they seem more than willing to take it.

"To use your own words from the discussion in the MagCave, my master has asked me to warn you 'that in future you watch your tongue when talking to powerful individuals', Harald. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, Overlord of the Galaxy."

And with that, it's off, the entire MagTruck lumbering into a portal generated just a foot in front of it.

[happyturtle]

Streets Near NO's Inside Office

"No, Sir, but you did say you designed them to be dropped in by air. That might be considered an act of war, or at least a breach of the peace, and I highly recommend you don't do it," Peacekeeper Gyps says, in an apologetic tone. He cheerfully waves goodbye to the Magbot.

The other Peacekeeper removes the jammer from the lead box. "Go ahead and turn it off, but we'll still have to take it with us," she says.

[GrandDM]

Streets Outside NO

"No officer, arrangements have already been made. Best of luck in your pursuit of justice. I'm sure Harald is entirely innocent and definitely didn't plant a jammer of his own design just below his business rival's building to interfere with their ability to compete against him. What motive could he possibly have for that?"

Magtok, and by his extension, his minions, still seem a little bitter after that exchange in the MagCave. It's unlikely this was an attempt at sabotaging them, as MagTruck transportation routes aren't so easy to steal that such a thing would've gone unnoticed, but if there's a chance to twist the knife, they seem more than willing to take it.

"To use your own words from the discussion in the MagCave, my master has asked me to warn you 'that in future you watch your tongue when talking to powerful individuals', Harald. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, Overlord of the Galaxy."

And with that, it's off, the entire MagTruck lumbering into a portal generated just a foot in front of it.

Depending on how good any sensors trained on it are, they might notice a small swarm of nanites entering the portal by means of sitting on the truck. If they enter undetected, they'll stay on the truck until it reaches the MagCave and then attempt to spread out through it. If successful, they'll start collecting data, and one nanite will leave periodically to upload all the information to Harald.

If discovered, they all promptly disintegrate, leaving no recognizable remains nor any indication of who they came from (although Magtok will probably guess.)

Streets Near NO's Inside Office

"No, Sir, but you did say you designed them to be dropped in by air. That might be considered an act of war, or at least a breach of the peace, and I highly recommend you don't do it," Peacekeeper Gyps says, in an apologetic tone. He cheerfully waves goodbye to the Magbot.

The other Peacekeeper removes the jammer from the lead box. "Go ahead and turn it off, but we'll still have to take it with us," she says.

Harald takes the jammer (after pulling on some rubber gloves to make sure no fingerprints get on it) and examine it closely.

"Let's see..."

He reaches into his left pocket, frowns, and, putting the jammer under his arm, grabs hold of the pocket and pulls it all the way up to his shoulder.

"There it is."

He pulls out a strange tool, which he presses a button on. The end glows gold and he slices the jammer open easily. A mess of circuitry spills out which he rapidly sorts through.

"This is the tracker... disabled, I notice, expertly done too... and here we have the power supply. Old model, a bit radioactive, so I'll get that out of here as fast as I can."

He pulls out a fist-sized orb that glows gently and tosses it behind him, where an arm extends from the bowels of his ship and catches it. The jammer is now disabled. He pulls another tool from his pocket and opens the tracker up, extracting a tiny chip, barely a tenth of a millimeter across, with a pair of ultra-fine tweezers.

There's a beep from a holoscreen that pops up next to him. He hits a couple of buttons and a full copy of the data arrives in the aforementioned Peacekeeper's phone.

"Anything else? I'd like to get back to my lab and see what I can get out of the data."

[Lord Magtok]

Leaving the Streets Near NO's Inside Office

The nanites weren't registered for this tele-jaunt, and not recognized as a part of the cargo being brought along, so unfortunately for them, they won't be joining the truck, even if they are clinging to it. They're liable to crushed between the truck and the impassable portal, or simply swept right out of the way.

[happyturtle]

Streets Outside NO's Inside Office

"No, Sir. That will be all." Peacekeeper Gyps says. And he'll give the jammer to Mary so she can take it back to base.

[Shadowcaller]

The door slides open for Cessie, revealing the Main Room and Dipsnig himself sitting in an armchair, like he always does when meeting potential employers.

[NO Main Room]

"Ah, mister Razortooth. I had not expected to meet you in person. Do you usually greet potential clients like this?" The sorceress asks as Garn stops right next to her, staring at the goblin.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

Common Building- Recreation Area

"You know, I expected you to be more jolly. Fine, looks like I'll have to weather the storm of human resources on my own. If I don't make it out alive, promise you'll tell my story"

[Morty]

[NO Main Room]

"Ah, mister Razortooth. I had not expected to meet you in person. Do you usually greet potential clients like this?" The sorceress asks as Garn stops right next to her, staring at the goblin.

"Most of the time," Dipsnig says. "Besides, I saw that you were approaching, and thought that a Councillor might merit a personal meeting."

[Deathkeeper]

Common Building- Recreation Area

Admittedly, Krayger's been pretty genial to someone who broke into his workspace. He's been smiling, at least, as creepy as that possibly looks on a bovine.
"I still say you should just go out the window. Although honestly I haven't the foggiest idea where you'd get that idea, unless your entire knowledge of my race comes from cartoons. Everyone knows a minotaur's only setting is 'dour.'"
Yes, it seems he can joke.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

[Common Building- Recreation Area]

Lovejoy's probably enjoying this conversation far too much, it's probably better for him to lay low until the heat dies down anyway. So staying put and shooting the breeze might be beneficial. Accepting that flimsy excuse he continues "I like to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. With rare exceptions. If I default to "merriment" for your race it's not out of ignorance, but out of optimism."

[Deathkeeper]

Common Building- Recreation Area

"You...get disappointed a lot in that regard, don't you, kid?" he says. He's trying to think of peoples he'd actually be right about, and he can think of gnomes (sometimes), hobbits (and all variations thereof), and ponies, along with a few kinds of fairies. That's kind of it.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

[Common Building- Recreation Area]

Lovejoy has to concede the point, and he does with a wry shrug. "You got me there. For example; security guards? Underneath their pleasant exterior is a real mean streak. One of them whipped a battery at me"

[Shadowcaller]

"Most of the time," Dipsnig says. "Besides, I saw that you were approaching, and thought that a Councillor might merit a personal meeting."

[NO Main Room]

"Well, I'm afraid I'm not here on council business. You are after all no longer a council member. I do have no less than two contracts for you however." The sorceress crosses her arms over her chest. "First of all, I have found myself in need of people who could aid me in a archaeological quest. Normally I'd ask Watchtower but this is a strictly personal matter and really have nothing to do with watch at all so I wanted to hire you instead. The mission is simple enough, i need some people to attend me as I visit the ruins of a civilization I have been researching. This isn't tomb robbing however, I do not want anyone to take anything from the ruins, I simply wish to study the texts and take photographs. I wish to learn how this civilization created their golems see?"

[Morty]

[NO Main Room]

"Hmm, that's easy enough," Dipsnig says, bringing up his holographic archive and editing something in. "I should find two or more people willing to take this job. What's the other one?"

[Shadowcaller]

[NO Main Room]

"That one I would wish to speak with you privately if that's alright." She replies.

[Morty]

[NO Main Room ==> Dipsnig's Office]

"Let's discuss it in my office, then," Dipsnig says. He'll get up from his chair and lead Cessie downstairs, to his rather goblin-sized office.

[Shadowcaller]

[NO Main Room ==> Office]

Cessie follows Dipsnig and Garn follows Cessie down to the office. I assume there chairs are still human-sized chairs so Cessie can sit down however.

"Alright, what I want help with is some traditional spying. As you might be aware Watch and AMEN are at war and I feel that we need more Intel on AMEN's movements. Normally this would be watch's job but there are a number of reasons which has made me decide to make this to stay between us and the one you're having doing this job. So I'm not only paying you for the contract itself, I'm paying you to keep it secret as well.

Now the contract itself should be much more simple than infiltration. I want you to keep an eye on all the entrances to AMEN and see who enters and leaves the base and directly inform me about it. I might also request you to follow some of these members depending on the circumstances. Any questions on that?"

[Morty]

[Dipsnig's Office]

Dipsnig is silent for a while, pondering the offer.

"Spying on AMEN is a dangerous business. But I think we can keep their base and other facilities under observation, for the right price. Tailing their members might be more tricky, but doable, with luck."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dipsnig's Office]

"The prize is no issue as long as you can do the job. NO is supposed to be experts on spying after all, correct?" The sorceress looks into the goblins eyes.

[Morty]

[Dipsnig's Office]

"From a certain point of view," Dipsnig says, without blinking. "We can write up both contracts now and I'll contact you about any progress."

[Deathkeeper]

[Common Building- Recreation Area]

Lovejoy has to concede the point, and he does with a wry shrug. "You got me there. For example; security guards? Underneath their pleasant exterior is a real mean streak. One of them whipped a battery at me"

Common Building- Recreation Area

"A battery? Why was one of those lying around?" he asked, in what is likely meant to be a quizzical expression.

[DJ Yung Crunk]

[Common Building- Recreation Area]

"For their little flashlights, I suppose" Lovejoy lifts up his shirt slightly to display a welt above his hip. "Will you look at this? I know it doesn't look like much but when the fabric rubs against it it's a pain like you will never believe." He lowers his shirt again putting on a very obviously fake cringe, made all the more absurd by a Thespian hissing between his teeth. He's laying it on thick, alright.

[Deathkeeper]

Common Building- Recreational Area

"Sorry, kid, but you can't complain to me about pain until you've been impaled a few times. So hope you can never complain to me." he says, chuckling.