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The information broker - Tenacity - 05-14-2008
//closed RP between the three above, unless otherwise stated
Captain Thorn sat back and relaxed at the table, propping his feet up and gazing around the dank interior of the Rochester bar. He kept one hand rested on the handle of his gun, there wasnt a man in liberty that could pull a draw faster than he could, and he was proud of it. Usually it was nothing more than practice shooting, a game of skill... today it was real though.
To his left was John Dekker, a mercenary he had hired some years back. Dekker served as his ship's gunner, and as a bodyguard of sorts when they werent in space. He wasnt a man you'd want to mess with - three incendiary grenades hung from his belt, along with two pistols at his hips, a shotgun slung across his back, and military-grade rheinland assault rifle in hand. That man sure loved his guns...
To his right was Jace Dillon, Thorn's XO. Jace was an ex-lane hacker, one of the best. He knew everything there was to know about security systems, information databases, trade lanes, and jump gates. He was the reason they were here, waiting.
Earlier in the day, an unknown ship, later confirmed as an agent of the Order, had breached into liberty space. Typically, Thorn kept himself, his ship, and his crew out of business involving such organizations, they were too dangerous, and today's situation was a prime example. While Thorn was making an exchange with a rogue patrol on the fringes of the Jersey Debris Field, Jace had intercepted information being accessed by the Order ship in question.
According to him, the Order had accessed any and all files in the liberty mainframe relating to their organization, with the intent of deleting said files. Jace's actions had interfered with their plans, the data he intercepted was automatically copied onto hard files, optical disks. All of it.
Now they were caught in the middle of a top-secret war between the liberty navy's most classified operatives, and the Order they claimed didnt even exist. The Order had threatened thorn with outright destruction if he didnt turn over or destroy the disks. Liberty threatened him with a life sentence on sugarland if he didnt hand the information over.
He had tried to negotiate, but neither faction was willing to deal with a figure such as himself. He was an information broker, this was his business... though usually less dangerous. Information was a commodity just like anything else in the galaxy, a commodity that could be bought, sold, traded... and now he found himself in a situation where no compromise would let him keep his life.
The one advantage to this was that liberty would not fire on his ship openly. They needed the information those disks contained, everything they knew about the order was contained on that tiny peice of hardware. If they destroyed his ship, they risked destroying the data as well... not to mention the countless years and billions of credits they had invested into obtaining it in the first place.
The bar was deserted, only the robotic bartender left to serve the empty room. Hell, most of the station was bare as well - the other junkers had loaded up in their CSV's and shot off into space, and most were pissed off at Thorn for inviting a member of the Order onto rochester in the first place. Nobody wanted to be around when one of their agents showed up... they just plugged their ears, closed their eyes, and waited till it was all over.
He didnt have a choice though. If Thorn met this agent in open space, his ship would most certainly be destroyed. They had the technology to completely decimate even his sturdy Firefly in mere seconds... at least here, face-to-face, he could defend himself. Not even a representative of the order would stand up to Dekker when he had enough firepower on his person to outfit a small army.
That was Thorn's only solace. If things went bad here he could still defend himself, but until the situation was resolved his ship would never be safe in open space again.
"Well," Thorn said, as he sat back and sighed heavily, "She'll be here soon, keep yer guns ready boys."
"Always." Dekker grunted, cocking back the firing pin on his rifle.
The information broker - jimmy Patterson - 05-14-2008
//due to the fact said order hacked said mainfraim with apprently nobody in new york to opse her i will not rp in what aperes to be a onesided(not to be rude but i dont even know anything about it as i had entered in the middle of your apprent negoation) story im sure others may and fyi considering how the navy had sbackups on optical disks you couldent of gotten ervrything//
The information broker - Eternal - 05-14-2008
Five hours after the incidend
--- Omicron Minor > Planet Toledo > Order High Command HQ ---
She was within the very same white room , with the four high ranking fleet admirals , yet again.Being so young and still being treated like an Order admiral was something the people here weren't use to.That is why her every move was being closely monitored by her supiriors.In other words....she was put on a short leash.
-Brief us on the mission status Mirage.
A womans voice was heard this time.It was admiral Tatiana , she rarely spoke first. *-Is this a sign of good , or bad news....* she tough.
- I loaded two allien based viruses into West Point Academy's main grid.They distracted the data bank's defences and gave me an open window of thirty-five seconds.Wich proved to be more then I needed to finish the job. All files with key words : Order , Nomad and Osiris , were erased but not before making a copy of then in my ship's onboard computer.
- Then the mission was a compleat succes , or there is something you are not telling us? - another voice asked her.
- I was intercepted by a LSF agend during the transfer.One lucky shot from his bomber would have been more then enough to disrupt the transfering. But luckily , I managed to take him out and thus the files were safe.
- That is good news...but you are not telling us the whole truth.Am I right?
She felt something , it felt realy close to shame but it was a mixed feeling alongside fear.Those feelings would have to be put somewhere else , there was no time for them now.One wrong move and she could easily loose the possition she wannet all her life.
- Yes , there is something else.During the transfer a third party , a neutral one , picked up my signal and was able to copy the files I took. That was a mistake and it wasn't up to...
-Silence! So the still exists elsewhere exept your ship ? How could you let that happen ?
- The singal was picked up with extreme luck , I used standart equipment to hide my download of the files , yet they were intercepted to that *third party*.
- I'm starting to think you are unfit for this job ! Proove me wrong. This was your mission , your responcibility and now...it is your mess.A mess that you will have to sort out on your own and within....24 hours. Get that infromation , learn if it was accessed and do what you need to remove any trace of it's existance , I don't need to tell you that we don't want those infected libertonias to get them back.Those files contain secrets that are not meant for curios eyes.
- Before the download I encrypted class *A* defence systems to the information , it should be impossible to crack the code without the password I put.The only ones who can do it are the LSF and if my plan works , they wont even know they had a chance to get the files back.
- Carefull not to fail , Mirage . We expect results from you , good results.But this kind of screw up's will not be tolerated and we might as well have your head next time! Are we clear ?
- Yes , sir . We will have them back.
Onboard the "Au'Rora".
Location.....uknown ...
Three hours later....
- This is not a good idea. How can you agree with such terms ? Alone ? In that place ? We might not be at war with those people , but they don't realy like us.And I'm sure most of them wouldn't think twice before handing your head to the nomad infested government for a quick buck... - The young man was tounting at her room. He was well fit and trained. His uniform showed that he was a member of the Au'Rora's security team , Dean Peterson.
-Quit it already....I though you knew me better...
- I know you very well... But going in alone is not a smart thing to do.Maby we can use "Shadow" and stay close to that wurm hole...I mean base.
- And you need to stop underestimating our influence on the general public and start acting like a member of The Order. You are pathetic. If I do nothing , I'll be killed on Toledo , so thats the best thing I can do. Also , Rochester Base is surrounded by a junk field and it is close to Manhatten. Cloaking the Au'Rora there is impossible , we will be detected as soon as begin bumping into flying junk.
- Then why don't we fire a "Scurge" type torpedo at that place.It will destroy the people who may have saw it and the existing files.
- Thats stupid...we have no way of knowing if they haven't made copies of it.So thats out of the question.These are my final orders for the arguement.The Au'Rora will stay cloaked close to the Alaska Jump Gate.I will launch from her with my ship and go to Rochester.I will see what I can do to get the files and learn how much they might know of them.Then I head back to your location.You load the new access codes to the Alaska Jump Gate so that we may not be folowed and thats that.Oh .... and don't bother me again.thats an order.I have to put something more...suiting for my visit to that base.
- Yes...m'am. Godspeed...
*Entering codes....*
*Codes de-crypting....*
*Entering personal voice recodnition password and eye print*
- Bre'Delakorsa Mirage - a tiny red beam skanned her eye.
*Access aproved.Opening vault*
Two heavy doors started moving in opossite directions.There was a glass crate inside.It was filled with white liquid.
*Begining removal of nyutoleen*
*Nyutoleen removed*
The crate was no longer filled with the white liquid.Inside was something she spend almost two years building and engeneering.
- It's been a while since I needed you....
![[Image: sarmormj5.jpg]](http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/4165/sarmormj5.jpg)
![[Image: sarmormj5.c55f8b0ab6.jpg]](http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=376&i=sarmormj5.jpg)
The armor was a perfect mach with her body.Aldo it seemed heavy and hard to move with on first sight.It was actually very light.
*Performing Exo-Suit type .... "A.N.G.E.L."....system maintenance *
*Host recodnized .... *
*All system running normal.Power supply reading green.*
- Ah..well...it's good to know that atleast some things still work as they should.
New York system , Rochester base
*Da'dunk* - that was the the weak sound of her ship docking on Rochester base.The base itself was small and the bar was close by.She was wearing a black robe , covering her entire body and a hood , wich hided her face.
*Pssuuuk* - the slide door to the bar opened and she entered the room.
No one in sight exept on one table , where there were several men.Each of them seemed to be in good condition , armed. She saw every thing she needed to know about them.Being armed and in numbers , ment that they were indeed scared of The Order.When she made a small step inside the bar , she worried that they might hear the metalic sound of her boots.But those concerns quickly dispersed when she looked down to the floor and saw a thick layer of dust on it.Thick enough to hide the sound of her footsteps.
The men saw her , each of them automathicly reached for his weapon and just put his hand over it.They were so predictable.... The bar seemed to be empty , there was no one here exept her and the several men.
Moment of silence. A clearing of one the men's thoat broke it and then one of them , probly the leader , said.
- Ah !! There you are ... we have been expecting you.
- Enough with the small talk , where is the infromation and have you been able to access it ?
edit - // There was one LSF agent. All the data I needed has been breached and deleted.It was upto him to try and stop me , wich he did and thus died trying.I never said that EVERY piece of information was downloaded , it is just something that I need.
The information broker - Tenacity - 05-14-2008
Quote://due to the fact said order hacked said mainfraim with apprently nobody in new york to opse her i will not rp in what aperes to be a onesided(not to be rude but i dont even know anything about it as i had entered in the middle of your apprent negoation) story im sure others may and fyi considering how the navy had sbackups on optical disks you couldent of gotten ervrything//
// The primary navy ship I was dealing with at the time was the Citadel de quebec, under the command of general isabelle kaitlynn. She can post in liberty's defense here once we reach that point.
//btw eternal, nice photoshop of selendis, yes i know where that armor is from =)
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Thorn motioned for the woman to sit at the empty chair across the table. He was quite aware from her cloaked appearance that this was no opponent to be trifled with or underestimated, but forcing her to sit down would put her in a very vulnerable position if she intended to get violent.
Still keeping his right hand rested securely on this pistol at his side, Thorn reached into his jacket with the other, retrieving a simple optical data storage disk. "Aye, I've got it hun."
He slid the disk back into his jacket, and looked up at the Order commander once again, "So now we negotiate, I hope you're better at this than liberty is."
Shifting in his seat, making sure his gun was loose in it's holster, he continued; "You're well aware of the circumstances here. I cant very well give this disk to you without retaliation from liberty, they know I have it and they want it back somethin fierce. Your organization is in a similar position, but I'm afraid you've got me at a disadvantage. I know little of the Order, and that makes you dangerous."
A slight smile spread across the lips of the hooded figure across the table.
"So, miss, considering the extremes of this situation on our hands, I'll set the terms. My business requires me to remain in this area of space, dealing with all sorts of folk from around Sirius. They want information, and I can acquire it; but I cant very well keep in business if I've got the Liberty Navy and Security Forces crawling up my spine every time I leave this base. Now, the data I've got hasnt been accessed by any parties yet, and frankly I have no idea if what you or Liberty are after is on this disk at all. That gives me an advantage, but also makes the information... the commodity... quite worthless with the exception of my life, and the lifes of my crew, being on the line. Understand?"
The woman nodded subtly. Thorn noticed that she was well trained, careful to give away little to no facial or body expressions which would hint at what she was thinking... He had seen similar training among government agents back in Kusari; training usually afforded only to assassins and spies.
"Considering that, here's my deal... I'll give you the disk, for a small price. You're going to keep the Order out of our business from now on, I trust you're a woman of your word... and I want it. Assurance, that is."
For the first time since the 'negotiations' had started, she spoke up, "Is that all?"
"Course not! I still got the issue of Liberty on my back. You're going to help me take care of that." Thorn boasted.
"And how do you suggest I do that?" She asked, quietly.
"You've got the resources, I want you to forge a copy of this disk, faux mind you. I dont expect you to give the information back that you stole, deleted, whatever. Just give them something realistic enough that they'll get off my back. You walk with this disk, and in turn I get something to hand over to Liberty that will convince them all is well; We have a deal darlin?"
The information broker - Heartless - 05-15-2008
Sius Malacos rested back on his chair in his office on Toledo. One arm rested on the other with its fist infron of his mouth.
-"Sasha, I have a mission for you"
Sasha Vorile, Sius's apprentice turned around from looking at the Nomad relics in the Office.
-"Hmm?"
-"Mirage has gotten herself into a little mess. I want you to follow her from behind, report to me and help her if you have to. The Au'Rora is one of the most advanced Osiris ships we have and even though Mirage isn't an elite Admiral from Bs|, she is still an important Admiral for the Order and her safety is my concern."
-"Yes sir! And Si, whatabout the Bs| battleships, we don't... have any..."
-"true Sash, but now that we have alot advanced technology, I've put in request for a battleship. The Kemosiri is out of commision and Bs| needs something at it's head. I'll worry about that. Now go, the Au'Rora has left alreadY"
Sasha nodded and began to leave.
-"Sash". Sius called, "Take care".
Sasha turned his head and nodded then left the office.
The information broker - Xing - 05-15-2008
You mean, you had a single fighter under your guns, ordered to fire, ordered the Falls to follow it, and even had a SA or two with you people and NEITHER of you shot it down?!
Lavoie was standing as a wall of concrete, as usual when faced with hard situation. The captain, who was actually older than the general he was serving, faced his superior with gravity, and explained in a very controlled voice.
Yes, my general. A fighter craft in evasive manoeuvre can easily dodge a battleship, maam. So goes for a gunboat. I cant speak for the competence of the SA pilots however. We did the best we could without success.
Well, this certainly does lack success. Why havent you told me sooner? She hadnt finished that she noticed Lavoie blushing slightly in fact, for barely a second or two, but what a rare sight! But there was nothing else to be said, as she blushed in turn, and both stayed shut as she continued to read through the datapad, terribly embarrassed. At least, the captain was a loyal officer to her. If anything, she could always rely on the man.
Right. And what did Mirage got out with this little fighter of hers?
Techs confirm its in the order of 0.1% of the total database of the LDD-14 complex. In practical term, nothing dramatic, but command is worried. They cant determine just what of the 0.1% Mirage did managed to get her hand on, and it could really be anything from a mere construction pattern of weapon platform to the newest top secret battle carrier they are building in a shipyard I never even heard about.
Well lets hope its not the carrier, huh? She said, sighing in exhaust as she rubbed her eyes, dropping on her comfortable command chair.
She frowned as she continued to read, and turned slowly the datapad to him, nearly hesitantly, unbelieving her eyes.
What. The hell. Is this? she said, barely trusting her eyes anymore.
Lavoie closed his eyes, and controlled himself before speaking. This really wasnt going to be fun to explain
Some information dealer. That apparently got something to do with it. And is obviously aware of things no one wants him to be aware of. Command wants to terminate him, yet, they are afraid of just how much he has gotten from the matter. He claims to have intercepted part of the files Mirage was pirating. And navy intel has reasons to believe he might not be lying at all, we did detected a secondary line connected to the LDD-14 unit a few seconds before it was force-terminated by the technicians.
What a nightmare Isabelle whispered. Alright, dismissed. Come back to me in an hour, I need time to decide myself. She tightened her teeth, speaking the next few words in a hiss, and find myself a damned good excuse for high command
--
Isnt this dangerous, maam?! Lavoie said, unbelieving his ears.
Look Alexander, you know very well Ive earned my ranks through the hard way most doesnt even try to. She showed her five general silver stars on her chest, these doesnt mean I was just a desk job slave, you know.
Lavoie felt himself smiling faintly. The Kaitlynn, both the senior and his daughter, were such strong heads when it came to action
But, command will kill me for letting you do that! They cant afford to lose such an important asset like yourself, you know way too much to be
She shook adamantly her head as she returned to her work: that was, dismounting a compact AT-989 blaster rifle and putting it in its case.
Dont tell me you intend to bring that as well?!
Alexander, Ive been on the field probably more often then youve ever had. I know this job, and trust only myself to do it. It will be damned delicate, and I am the only White Wolf squad trained soldier in this ship. As a matter of fact, I dont have the luxury of time to contact the White Wolf command, so Ill have to do it by myself. Now, please, do contact this information dealer. Tell him I want to talk with him. Face to face.
She added, as she took out her heavy set of armour plating from another crate,
Its that, or well go by commands original plan, which was seek and destroy. Let him know I am doing him a big favour, because Im going to accept meeting him nearly anywhere he wishes.
The information broker - Tenacity - 05-15-2008
A beeping sound echoed through the bar. Jace scrambled at his jacket pocket and fumbled up a data pad. Thorn kept a close eye on his guest across the table.
Jace spoke up a few seconds later, "Uh... cap, we might have an issue here..."
"What the hell is it this time?" Thorn barked, agitated at his now less than satisfactory situation.
"I just recieved a scrambled communique from the Liberty Navy... one of their generals wants to meet you, face to face."
The Agent sitting across from them started to get up, and Thorn instinctively drew his pistol, faster than the eye could follow. He pointed it at her, his grip steady. Thorn had been in war before, he had no qualms about killing someone that intended to cause him trouble or harm.
"Watch yourself miss, you start gettin jumpy and people start getting hurt." He warned. She slowly sat back down.
"If Liberty finds me unguarded, they will kill me, without even giving a second thought to the matter..." She said with a stern voice... though there was an ever so slight hint of fear carried with it.
"I'm not in a mood to let anyone die here, so keep your cute little backside planted and let me handle the feds." Thorn said, smirking at her. He turned his head slightly towards Jace, still keeping his eyes... and his gun... focused on the woman, "Jace, tell the general to meet us here. Rochester is nuetral ground for everyone... but if liberty comes here with the intent to cause a ruckus, people are going to die, and I'll be damned if it's us."
Jace nodded and typed away, sending the message back to the Liberty source that had contacted them.
Thorn shifted his full attention back to the Agent, "I think it's about time we solved this problem once and for all. Frankly, I'm a mite tired of the order and liberty quarreling with one another... it's bad for business, and a hunch tells me the local populace would agree."
The woman leaned forward a bit and spoke with a clear tone of anger in her voice, "You're going to get me killed!"
Thorn chuckled, "darlin, I dont intend to let anyone die here; you, me, or the fed. Now relax, before you strain somethin."
The information broker - Xing - 05-15-2008
As soon as she received the confirmation, Isabelle nodded and gave the orders to her AI pilot. She was now sitting in her newest shuttle, a custom armored transport. (since the last time command gave her a boosted rhino combat shuttle and she handed it back from St-Mitchell incident in very much a piece of scrap metal, they thought it would be better to invest in something a bit more resistant...)
Captain Lavoie' holo image came in,
"Isabelle, I must insist, this is complete madness. You are dealing with criminals, and alone! Let us bring an escort unit or something at least!"
Isabelle hesitated a little while, then nodded slowly.
"Fine, deploy Blizzard and Storm squadrons on the border of the debris field. But they are not to engage in hostile activities unless I personally give them order to do so, is that clear? You will maintain stationary orbit on the dark side of Manhattan meanwhile. I don't think it will come out clean, so I'll take my precautions."
She smiled softly to him,
"Thank you for your concern, Lavoie."
"Can't let friends of our family getting killed, right? Good luck Isa. Get back in one piece, Lavoie out."
The armoured transport furiously landed aboard the station, as Kaitlynn specified to the AI system piloting it she was in a hurry. She hesitated slightly - should she come in her combat armour and rifle? It was obvious security on station would request her to come in unarmed. As such, she was much better off without the heavy set of armour which would restrain her movement if she needed to fight, as she was actually as capable to kill with her hands and legs. As such, she wore her revealing combat suit, that still showed her decorations and the general stars, marking her as a high ranking officer, as she descended the access ramp. Security checked through her, and finding no weapons of any kind, let her pass with an escort.
A while later, she was made to wait behind a door, waiting for the master behind the shut doors to allow her in.
"Whoever he is better not shove me a gun in my back or that'll start very bad" Isabelle thought for herself.
The information broker - Tenacity - 05-15-2008
Dekker made a nodding motion as the door to the bar opened, alerting Thorn to the presence of more 'guests'.
One of the Rochester security guards bumped the individual into the room, and closed the door behind... her?
Thorn grinned and addressed the newcomer, "Well well, the general here is a lady as well... If the two of you didnt want to kill me I'd be getting you drunk at the bar." He motioned with his pistol towards the only free seat left at the table, spacing her evenly from him and the order agent; "Go on, take a seat."
He relaxed a bit as she sat down, and he rested his pistol against it's holster once more. If either made a move he could still shoot them from beneath the table, and even if they were armed Dekker could reduce the two of them to Harvester Lubricant with his assault rifle before they could blink.
Thorn motioned towards the cloaked figure at the table, "general, meet... hell she hadnt even told me her name yet." He shrugged it off, "Meet an agent of the Order."
The general's mood instantly changed, quite clearly assuming a defensive posture towards the agent.
"Now now Miss liberty, no violence or I'll have to shoot you both, and I'd hate to deprive this galaxy of two beautiful specimens such as yourselves."
She seemed to settle back down.
"Now, ladies, lets get to negotiations."
The information broker - Xing - 05-15-2008
"Very well." Isabelle said, trying to supress her frown. She looked suspiciously at the agent of the order sitting next to her, and wondered what to think of.
For a time, she did thought the Order might have been the one in the rightful path while Liberty command, separated in two parts with the northern fleet scattered in disorganised battlegroups seemed truly like the corrupt and inefficient entity criminal organisations seems to made them look like.
Yet, through her many personnal experiences, she knew the Order, if at its origin a noble cause, was nowaday a mere regroupment of greedy paramilitary dragging recruit with a cause they didn't believed in obviously since a long while. For she saw clearly what the order was doing: stealing liberty built technologies, upgrading it with doubtful alien technologies, then selling it to anyone offering credits on the blackmarket.
And these people considered themselves savior of humanity?
A joke, right?
She looked with slight disgust at the weapons pointed on her and shook her head.
"You may as well keep these things down instead of aching your arms in such position. My body can't move faster than a blaster bolt anyhow."
She crossed her arms on her chest as she thought of what was coming next.
"Let's get straight to the facts. You have taken posession of Liberty property through illegals mean, and we want it back. The whole of it. Might I begin with the suggestion of not trying to take me as hostage to get the prices up, because that won't work. I am a soldier, and as such am fully ready to die if need is to be."
She made a polite smile as she relaxed a bit her body,
"Liberty won't be ingrate however. Hand them over to us freely, and I might convince high command to accept a certain amount of credits to be deposited for... cooperation with the authorities. However, the prices must be reasonable. You do realise we won't be scammed that easily by any thief - because that's what you people did - and as such, we wont leave you many choices."
"High command original orders were destroy, and it took me some convincing to keep them at a neutral stance for the while. I wish to take what we want in a peaceful way so everything goes around without any leaks. I hope that makes my position clear, sir."
She sighed, eyeing slightly her Order counterpart with a certain curiosity.