North of the Wall

So, Broadcastle just got another big job. When I say big job, I mean a BIG JOB.
 
It;s the biggest we’ve ever had and it’s not going to be easy. We need to go North, to an ERF base in Scotland. Our client wants us to recover some data and destroy some assets as the base has been overrun by Amaranthians. There will even be a bonus if we can demolish the site and overload the reactor.
 
We know that there are Amaranthean scouts and outriders. Their numbers are also being bolstered by some of The Lost. However, they are not ‘guildies’ and we are given the instructions to shoot on sight. The base had several defences including servo droids, roof guns & laser defence systems. We don’t know if any of these are still active.
 
There is no data connection so we can’t spoof any ID’s to get us into their network. The comm relays and towers are down so will need to jack in locally.
 
In the main control room is the main data storage bank. We need to download the data to a DSD. The data/tech is about 100 years old so that’s something for me to be aware of but the data should be easy enough to download. Once we have the data we should be able to make the reactors overload by remotely hacking in.
 
After some discussion we get Leon to drop us off behind the wall in an amaranthian forest. As he drops us off he reminds us that if we need him he will need at least 20 minutes to come and get us as he’ll need to wait away from the wall and outside ERF territory.
 
After a slog through the forest we eventually saw the facility. Tall but curvy with sloping edges, there were trees growing around it. To get to it we would need to get past the old wall, fortunately it was somewhat dilapidated now and there were plenty of holes we could get through. We walked along an old riverbed as it was easier than trying to push through the undergrowth. I had expected more scouts and sentries outside the building but we only encountered two on the way in. We got lucky in that they were also facing the other way so we managed to slip by unnoticed. I did send out a micro drone to keep an eye on them, just so we knew where they were.
 
We were able to follow the creek bed all the way down and into the base. It must have used the river as a water supply, now the water had almost dried up were able to use the channel as an access into the base itself. The walls and floor were covered in green and kind of slimy so we had to be somewhat careful with where we were walking. It was also a lot cooler now we had moved under the shelter of the base.
 
As we walked we passed a number of bodies in various states of decomposition. Some looked to have been there for some time, others were as recent as 5-6 years ago. They looked like they had been wearing black fatigues and had ben killed by either a blow to the head or a sword.
 
As we were walking I was keeping my sensors active, looking for the familiar ping of electronic devices. I did pick up on something, it was a low band transmission, local, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it or tap into it yet.
 
We’d reached the far wall and were looking around when I thought I spotted something and pulled back the vines and green tendrils and there, covered by the overgrowth, was a door. Max managed to force the door open, as he did the hinges gave way and the door fell over. The sound echoed off the walls a little but it wasn’t too bad, the green growth muffled the sound a little.
I was still monitoring the static bursts in case they were linked to the comms systems. There was no change so either the bang hadn’t been detected or the static was nothing to do with the comms system.
 
The door opened onto a stairwell which, conveniently for us had a ‘B’ painted by the foot of the stairs. Looking up we could see what looked like four floors, however, it was difficult to tell as the fourth floor appeared to be a mass of rubble so it could potentially go higher.
 
We decided to clear the base on a floor by floor basis so we made a start with the first door. This lead to what appeared to be a barracks and commissary. We’d not been through the first door for more than two minutes when the first, things, came out of the dark. Fortunately for us they did not appear to be particularly intelligent and we were able to deal with them pretty quickly. I was able to find an access point into the systems. It took a bit of doing as I had to fix the port before I could try and plug into it. Once I did I only had limited systems access but I was able to turn the power on to this room so we weren’t in the dark. As well as the lights the TV came on. We saw fleetingly the image of a green eye on the screen and then it disappeared again. A recording also played ‘Welcome to Memphis Station’
 
Now the lights were on I was able to have a poke around. We found the body of someone who used to work here and I was able to take his access card over to one of the terminals. It didn’t give us much access, but it did give us a plan of the base and information on which areas were and were not accessible.
Floor 1 - commissary and Barracks which we already knew.
Floor 2 – Logistics and Armoury
Floor 3 – OPs Access
Floor 4 – INACCESSIBLE
 
We were also able to get access to maintenance requests. Scanning through two requests of noe were for two aircraft, One, a Valkyrie also had a notation of HO Package – or Heavy Ordinance. The second was for a Manticore which had a notation of munitions and low grade explosives. That could be interesting. Especially as all our client wanted back was the data. Anything we looted we could keep. The maintenance requests minor malfunctions, but from what I could tell, they were both still serviceable and, if we could get them going, could also be a good exit strategy if we needed it.
 
I was also able to get a list of the working cameras and on-site defences. The data wasn’t exact but it was enough for us to be getting on with and gave us a much better idea for where we needed to get to and the best way to get there.
 
We headed out to the launchpad to check on the state of the vehicles and make sure they were air-worthy. They looked good so we headed back in to head up to the Armoury. The room was full of cages stacked with weapons caches. Even I was getting excited. Some of them were pretty beaten up and probably couldn’t hit the side of a barn, others looked in pretty good nick. The cameras were still following us but I couldn’t pick up on anyone else in the base so I decided to have another go at hacking into the systems to see if I cold figure out who was controlling the cameras.
 
I managed to get into the systems but I tripped something in the system as I did and all the lights went out. I took a minute to go back over what I’d done and where it had gone wrong. I adjusted the programme and re-ran it and managed to get in this time. I was about to get into the system and put the lights back on when I felt a massive shock, the wiring was old and dodgy and I must have caught the wrong wire and took a blast of energy from the system. I felt the robot version of sick and ran a quick diagnostic, I was lucky, although I had taken some damage I was still fully functional and it was nothing that couldn’t be sorted out once we got back to the base. Although I made a mental note to be careful if I was physically poking around with the wiring again.
 
Poking around we found some more guns, ammo and armour. We filled the backpacks and headed up to the next floor, where we expected to find the data stacks we needed to download the information from. The cameras were still tracking us but I’d not been able to find anyone controlling them so I had to hope that they were programmed with motion tracking.
 
Once up the stairs we followed the cables and into the main computer room. There was a large bank of machines in the centre of the room. Unfortunately there were also a lot of bugs. There was no way I could get to the main console to start downloading the data until they were dealt with. While the others used their guns to try and deal with the bugs I took over the turrets in the room and disabled them. The last thing we needed was for the turrets to activate and either hit us or the stacks.
 
Now the bugs were dealt with I turned my attention to the stacks and trying to hack my way into the system. Just once it would be nice when we got a job like this if someone could just give me a username and password. As I got into the system there was a burst of static and the screens flickered to life. ‘My name is Icarus’ came an electronic voice from the ether.
 
I was scanning looking for the data we needed when I found the data fortress. Unfortunately I also found a rogue AI in the system. However, I was one step ahead of it and managed to download it into the DSD into a quarantined section so it was out of the way and I could take it back to the base and decide what to do with it.
 
I set the data copying over to the DSD and turned my attention to the reactor. I needed to bring it under my control so I could overload it on the way out and destroy the base as that was one of the mission objectives.
 
Once the data finished downloading I pulled the DSD and shouted the others to move. Max had already gone ahead to start firing up the aircraft in the hangar. We’d decided since it looked like they were air-worthy it was a shame to blow them up. I think we’d been on such a killing spree through the base either there was nothing left to kill or what ever was left didn’t want to risk getting in our way and we were able to get back to the hangar in one piece. When we got there Max had already got the manticore online and I jumped into the pilots seat. He was in the Valkyrie and I heard the engines kick in as Max throttled up to take off.
 
As we were flying out I was concerned that we’d be picked up on the radar and any of the still active turrets would be able to fire at us. I checked the display in time to see the radar blips drop off. A second later and a message from Chase popped up on my screen “I’ve got a job for you, come see me when you get back”
 
Once we got back to the base we got the technicians out to fix the damage I took in the base and Ilyara arranged for the information to be handed over and we got paid.
 
And you know what payday means.
 
Payday means shopping.