This was it, this was the determining factor. I was ready for all outcomes, a part of me longed for the outcome where they turned on me once I got what I needed. But I'm not here to start a war, at least not today. The armaments on the station locked onto me as my flight path narrowed down towards the hangar, there were no words. Just an opening, they were definetly ready for my arrival. The amount of people in the universe that had seen a Lane Hacker in person outside of Malta, nevermind someone with my title - was extremely rare. They likely had seen the L.S.F report, they already knew what was coming.
Professors, pulling up the shoulder live feed now. Recording has started, 1605 13SEP826, mission assessment indicates tasking and risk are extreme. Proceeding with an override under task direction by Professor Goro Yoshida of the Inner Circle for MISSION #77. Final firearms checks and weapons checks are complete. All equipment is ready and has been accounted for. Cardamine inhaler and emergency capsules in place. Pre-mission station scans indicate the facilities security measures are high but personell count is low. Proceeding.
I was wearing the space suit thermal undergarments under a tight layer of thin body armor resembling a wetsuit. Over that came my out robe-like outfit, fancy gloves and boots, and an external protection layer. The thermal layer was a bit more loosely designed so I'd have full flexibility. Utilities were all on the belt. Firearms? Just two, but I prefer blades anyways. Throwing stars, Sais, crafted with plasteel - never fails to work.
As my ship's speed came to a close inside the hangar I could see several men around the hangar with side arms and what resembled rifles - tracking my ship. I could also see a few more people standing on the hangar bay unarmed. It was the Director himself.
I opened the hatch, folded my helmet and attached it to my belt as I climbed out of the cockpit. Jumping down a nice 10 feet to the deck to shock everyone. Cardamine was a real PF booster.
I poked at my wrist terminal a bit, tuning on the audio and starting a hazard scan of the hangar bay. The readings came back with warning indications since the station was formerly Gallic-owned. 'Jackpot' I thought to myself as I walked over towards the director.
I was a short person compared to everyone in the room, but that didn't remove the stunned face from anyone. They were getting a one time opportunity that thousands of intelligence officers craved for.
Director, thank you for the invite. Let's get down to business, if you have any questions on the trip now's the time. I wouldn't try any security checks for obvious reasons, I'm here for the intelligence portion of my job as we've both acknowledged. Not the part that you've seen displayed by the public and on every transmission. Rest assured I have no interest nor am I permitted to take an interest in anything... Bretonian on this mission. Touch any of the gear or do otherwise, and on top of being shocked - you'll have to deal with the other part of my job.
I held a glanced and stood still, waiting for him to acknowledge.
The younger man was somewhat startled at the way in which the woman handled herself. Confidence, easy to mistake for arrogance, sprang from her like sunlight. She was obviously very sure of herself, something that put the Director on the back foot. Very well. He said simply. Thinking it better to avoid the typical snarling and baring of teeth that dogs undergo when meeting another of their kind. He led the woman down a series of corridors, eventually coming to a large room that was dominated by a machine, from the catwalk they could appreciate the size of it much more accurately, but the most important and probably interested aspect of the machine was what it could do. This is what they used to manually unlock the Jump Gate, or one of the things they used. The calibrations took months, but this is..I suppose, the analogue version of a super computer, dedicated to one task and one task only, breaching a Jump Gate connection. Of course, there is much much more to it, this machine alone could not have breached the gates, but it is probably the most important element to the equation. He paused, allowing his resident 'expert' to examine the machine.
The machine resembled one of the Ageira control relays for the Jumpgates, very rare, but not difficult to piece together if you could pop the whiteboxes. The "queen bee" of them all sat back at pueblo in a safe that I couldn't probably take down alone. I looked down to see the Bretonians glimpsing at at like they had any idea what it could resemble.
Something resembling a relay for this general area, it looks a bit rushed. Hard to tell if it's still operable from this vantage point but if EFL is half as smart as Ageira it would probably explode if anyone tried to activate it.
I pulled out and unfolded my helmet, holding sort of like a medicine ball infront of my chest while it captured the scene in front of me.
He nodded, Yes, a few. They're scattered about the station in various conditions. I imagine you want me to keep my people back, so you'll be in charge of these things for the time being. He said in a polite tone, happy to leave the details to the expert. He thought it better to admit ignorance, rather than try to assert some caveman level of authority over things he knew little about.
"Access the white boxes for me please" this was a real hassle, but I suppose if it would quench his interest I could make a statement or two. Maybe there was an opportunity in saying yes. I walked down the catwalk, keeping an eye out around the general area before we reached what seemed like the command center near the relay machine. The access ports were very basic, at a glance the security systems didn't seem like much.
I'll take a look at them in a bit if there's time, we probably wont have much of that before Agiera starts coming here in droves so lets walk and talk. Blue boxes, small samples, you got any of em?
I walked up, took out a device from my belt, and placed it on the machine, it stuck horizontally, glowing blue on contact. It caught everyone's curiosity.
I kept glancing up and down at the wrist console, seeing if my ship had been messed with in the slightest and seeing if the network was detecting any unfriendly guests on approach. Nothing so far, but that luck wouldn't last forever. Gotta go fast.
He raised an eyebrow at that You're not the most reassuring Hacker are you? he quipped sarcastically Yes, we found a number of Blue Boxes, likely intended for the lane just outside. They are in the other room. He found himself struggling to follow her technical speak, not wanting to appear disinterested and therefore rude, but not really understanding what she was on about either. What is it you are hoping to find? He asked, cursing himself for attempting to appear smarter than he was.
Back in Mactan HQ a sizeable team was working intensely, analyzing every bit of information that Wolfe was sending them.
Occassionally they sent instructions back to her about which module to survey next or some extra clarifications she might have omitted sending over. Amidst them all, a man of short-medium built was carefully inspecting each computer terminal, before walking to the next. One could compare the scene as an orchestra, with Professor Yoshida being the maestro at the center.
However in this case they were not playing music but unlocking the secrets which the defeated Gauls left behind. Secrets which was not the first time the Lane Hackers attempted to unveil. In fact, they came close not too long ago when a Gallic Princess required their assistance.
"Wolfe, you are going too fast. Also, give more room to your host. Use your femininity."
The Professor said in a laconic voice text which was transmitted automatically to his operative in the Jump Gate Construction Site. He was not at all pleased with her decision to pursue this inspection ahead of schedule before the rest of technicians had arrived. Wolfe obviously didn't want her competitors to gain an advantage in case some of the technicians were secretly working for another candidate. She took a risk, hoping it would pay off. But likewise, the consequences would be on her head if she failed or underperformed.
It wasn't going as well as they hoped considering many critical modules had been destroyed however Victor Steiner had been cooperative so far and held his end of the bargain. Despite what Wolfe would discover, the Professor knew he owed a large favor to the SIS.
Ageira was ruthless, the Professor expected that it was a matter of time before they laid claim on the construction site by using their puppets on Liberty's government, Bretonia was in no position to resist their demands. Even so, the Lane Hackers were still one step ahead of their archenemies.
And amusingly enough, Ageira didn't even need to know they were there.
Was I on a fast pace? Yes, I most certainly was, but it was because I knew the seconds would count before the universe came knocking at the Director's door for these specs, and the blue boxes. Still, Professor's advice was the professor's advice, I was here after-all, and they were not.
Reassuring people that aren't in my chain of Command isn't really my forte, yes. If you would prefer the reassurance though, I'm here, and everyone else that has knowledge of these systems isn't. Your odds of success are much higher with me here and not the rest of them. See everyone's going to come bashing your door in a matter of hours Director. What do you think the Liberty government is going to do once they catch their breath? Your own Cabinet? Parliament? Maybe even some of the people on this station.
I don't understand how you both get along, how you can forgive them. They're going to keep fishooking you with this technology as long as they can. It's a real shame, you've been stabbed in the back by so many people. I've heard you lost some real decorated personnel over New London. Now the next blade that'll enter your back is the one from your closest friends as the world believes...
And here they say we're the bad guys.
The scan came back. Nothing. Interesting, now I knew we could take a look. First, it would be best to appease the people upstairs though. I forwarded the findings to the Inner Circle through the wrist PDA, turned back away from the director as if to do something else.
Take a look, it's very limited, but it's something. Not much past the network in Leeds and this gate. I'll tone it down a little before we move forward.
I turned back towards him, tinkering with the PDA as if there was more to be done before looking back up at the Director. Still holding a very focused look in front of a few others traversing the area.
How many are you willing to spare, the more you give the greater your odds of a breakthrough, and the greater the reward from our end. We don't have much time, so we're gonna have to talk this out here and now.
He smiled coyly, As many as you need. It is our Government's opinion that to be discovered with this technology would lead to a serious political and diplomatic incident with Liberty, if the Lane Hackers were discovered with it however, no one would be overly surprised. And should you forward your findings back to us, then no one would be any the wiser.
They entered the rear room, which was more along the lines of a storage shed. As far as most rooms went this one was not as large as one might expect, but it was built to hold a considerable amount of material. Gallic efficiency at it's best. It looks small, but the reality is they elected for this design as it didn't give it away as a storage compartment from the outside. We could have happily bombed this station and everything within would have been lost. Clever eh? a simple optical illusion. The Blue Boxes are just here. He said coming to a stop out side a container marked ZX-14. When they detonated the EMP, it killed the containers security systems. We would have had to fake a bio-metric scan too get in to all of them, along with god only knows what else. But, with the circuits fried, that problem took care of itself. A couple hours of drilling and ta-da, she's open. Take a look for yourself he said swinging the now punctured door open for her to look inside.
I had to resist the urge to chuckle at the whole situation, it might have been more complicated for the Bretonian's if the Gallics just left everything on. Hell, it might have been more complicated for me as well if they did. Whatever, the simpler the better. No need to complain.
Sweet. You've probably just made one of the easiest and best decisions of your career, rest assured.
The appeared oddly small as I walked through the door. The whiteboxes had a bit more hardware, and at least gave off the impression they were more sophisticated. Maybe that's because they were. Steiner was careful to stick close, I had to hold back from getting too zoned in.
Confirmation samples are here. Proceeding to secure.
I approached slowly, same thing.
Standby I'm just going to take a few pictures of these as well and then I'll pack and be on my way. Shoot away with any other questions.
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