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| sparth.com |
Some communities spiral out of the mega cities, but the majority of the population lives in networked hive city/industrial complexes. Almost everyone is a corporate employee of one sort or another. There is little private commerce. The exception being eateries which are the most common private businesses, as all other goods are sold from various company vendors.
The group set about planning how to infiltrate the NovoHaas corporate headquarters located closer to south pole. The building was on the periphery of a smaller city among other industrial buildings. Its entrance was limited to outside traffic through two main tunnels; one for larger vehicles and one regulated to passenger rail and foot traffic. There was an aircraft landing pad for visiting VIPs and about 200-300 yards of clear ground surrounding the building which rested next to a frozen channel.
Investigating the company, Syn discovered that security was tight and would require extra effort to get through various areas within the building. The headquarters had limited outside access with high security, and unofficial visits would be very difficult to arrange. The building itself served as both headquarters and also as a research facility. Interestingly, more dignitaries and social visits were arranged by aircraft landing on the roof rather than through the light tunnel traffic on the ground.
Additionally, the USIN link to NovoHaas was limited. Hacking security would have to be on site as outside network traffic was regulated to simple communication and on different servers from the NovoHaas mainframe. Internal communication which needed to be directed outside would go through PUSIN used to communicate with other NovoHaas company facilities. Syn identified PUSIN as a likely weak link they could exploit.
They decided to work in two teams. One team would try and infiltrate NovoHaas directly in a synchronized effort with another team hacking into the orbiting PUSIN node. Some preliminary legwork indicated that there would be a visiting delegation from another company at the end of the week. Syn also identified the local food company that would cater the event. Some hacking of the food business system (with its paltry network security) allowed her to successfully forge delivery manifests and information on uniforms and vehicle decals that the company used.
Roxie successfully reached out to her criminal contacts which led her to some individuals that could help with obtaining a transport truck, as well as uniforms and containers that could pass as catered food. The general plan would be that Deek would ‘deliver’ the food carts holding both Roxie and Rom. He then would drop off the truck and take a rented flier to NovoHaas HQ for extraction. To help with the flier rental and coordinating the truck drop off, a local criminal alien named Karo assisted Deek.
The team prepared a few days for their operation and early in the morning just before sunrise, they began their infiltration. Syn and Grog flew the Scalawag up to orbit and then made an EVA to the orbiting PUSIN node using a light sled. They hacked into the PUSIN and managed to reboot the security, just as Deek dropped off the food delivery to the HQ. He then went about dropping off the truck to the huge, fur covered alien, Karo at the airfield to switch into the flier.
With the security system in reboot, the team inside used altered security passes to find the Project Lightfoot hardware and hack into a mainframe server. Using a multikeypass crafted by Syn, this device could be used to help decipher the encryption keys that the corporation used. Meanwhile in orbit, Syn began a remote backup of the encrypted data through the PUSIN node. The team on the ground began to make their way to the roof landing pad.
At the airfield, Deek dropped off the truck for Karo, only to find the lumbering, thick-furred alien was flanked by a pair of criminal comrades. They figured that the group was likely going to break into the corporate building and steal something. They decided it was an opportune time to let Deek’s group do all the work, while they ran off with the stolen goods. With a gun as his side, Deek piloted the flier to the extraction point (but a subtle shift during a pat down meant his pistol was still under his bulky arctic jacket).
In orbit, Syn triggered a defense system during the hack. Remote drones clambered about the surface of the PUSIN satellite node, as Grog fired off laser rounds. Syn was finally able to complete the download. The pair took the sled to the orbiting Scalawag and eventually headed back to the surface starport.
Just as the airship landed, upper floor security was notified of the break in, and a trail of opened doors and elevator lift trips with a particular set of keycards. They pursued the pair first demanding answers, then firing off rounds as the pair fled. The criminals stepped out of the ship and Deek saw his opportunity to take control of the flier and shot his opponent in the cabin. A firefight erupted and the group managed to get rid of both the security and the double-crossing criminals. The outgunned Karo lept off the building roof to land in deep snowdrifts below. His hairy form likely allowing him to survive on the surface of the planet while he skulked away.
With automated anti-aircraft guns blasting, Deek deftly piloted the aircraft back to the main starport. Hours later they disembarked and quickly boarded the Scalawag. With the coordinates of Blenavursai set, the ship jumped to the nearby system. While in jumpspace, Syn decrypted the data and the group forced open the sealed container to determine what Project Lightfoot exactly was.
They discovered a portable fusion reactor the size of a backpack attached to a belt and metal conduit webbing. Along with the exosuit webbing was two slim, handheld devices. The suit could teleport the wearer between these two devices, arriving within meters of their proximity. Syn discovered the teleportation device would eventually cause irreparable cellular and genetic damage to the user. Interestingly, much of the original research for the device was obtained by espionage efforts against an Imperial military research facility. Speeding towards Blenavursai, the group grappled with what to do with this technological treasure in their possession and the decrypted data on the device.
