While we were looking for ways to get around the Mister Johnson from
Lone Star job series, we had another one to attend to. It was one that I'd been
looking forward to for some time, actually, simply because of the sort of stuff
we'd be dealing with. The premise of the run was simple and intended to be
stealthy; we had to break into a manufacturing facility and sabotage the
production of a new product. However, we had to do it in a subtle way so that
it wasn't immediately obvious. What the Macquarie wanted was for the product to
fail at launch in a very public and embarrassing way.
So that would be simple enough in and of itself, but there was a catch.
Although the catch was what made the job so interesting, so maybe it wasn't as
big a problem as it seemed. Anyway, the problem was that the target was a
Proteus AG Arkoblock in the middle of Bass Straight, so it wasn't the most
easily accessible place in the world. Fortunately, we'd rented a minisub which
covered half of the accessibility issues.
The other half was another matter. Our research had revealed the existence
of a half-flooded sublevel that was currently not in use that would make for an
ideal access point. However, docking the sub with it would not be an option,
since that would set off all sorts of alarms. To counter that, we were going
toi swim over using SCUBA gear. Orcas loved this plan because it put her in her
element, but the problem was that neither Bas nor I were as ready.
Her response was to put us through a crash course of learning to dive
at a local pool. That kind of sort of worked; I quickly figured out what to do
and had at least reached a level of competence where I wouldn't immediately
drown. Bas... Spent most of his time zoned out on one of the pool chairs
hacking with his brain. So Orca and I threw him in the pool a couple of times
anyway. Okay, so that nearly drowned him and so we had to pull him out and..
Yeah. It didn't work out as planned, but Orca at least learned just how out of
it Bas is when hacking.
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| Not your average workday commute |
Several experiments in drowning later we were ready to go. A boat ride
got us to the insertion point, and then we were off in our minisub towards the target
itself. I was driving (obviously) and running primarily on sensors alone. Given
that it's Bass Straight and its level of churn, there was basically no
visibility at all outside, and we didn’t want to run with lights on just in
case it tipped somebody off. Also we didn't want to get too close to Tasmania just
in case it attacked us. On the other hand, this was a great time to stream my
Beatles mix tape.
That’s not to say we were alone by any means. There was plenty of
sealife outside, a good chunk of which were probably megaldons and other
horrible things that would eat us. I had no doubt that there was plenty of non threatening
wildlife such as seals, but I know the way these things go. The other things
the sensors were picking up was a lot of drone activity as we got closer to the
Arkoblock. Amongst other things, there were a good number of Proteus Krake
drones both on patrol and doing work. And as much as I'd love to steal one of
them for myself, I also knew that doing such would ruin the whole operation. Ah
well, next time.
We reached our insertion point and parked the sub. Bas suggested that
he should just hack himself into unconsciousness and let her drag him through
the water, which resulted in her explaining just how important breath control
was and how his plan was a fast trip to drowning. With that in mind, we sited
up and headed out, with Orca leading the three of us towards the hatch we were
after (okay, she had to all but drag Bas since he did fail his lessons). She expertly
opened it up and got us inside, with the three of us finding a nice, quiet and
dry section to work in. Stripping down our wetsuits and reading our equipment
we bought over, we set to work.
I activated Louie and Baxter (You would be amazed at what you can hide
a Fly-Spy inside when they're deactivated) and sent them out to scout the
place. We needed to find the exact location of the thing we were supposed to be
messing with, while also getting a slightly better idea of what we were up
against. Louie did a great job, evading detection while weaving his way through
the facility, finding just what we were after. Baxter... didn't. In fact he
flew into a vent and his autopilot had a brainfart and couldn't figure its way
out.
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| I would love to steal one of these |
None the less, that was enough for Orca and Bas to get to work. They
headed into the factory to get access to the exact piece of machinery they
needed to tweak while I stayed behind to keep watch over them and our exit (and
also try to extract Baxter, who had managed to make his own situation even
worse). Unfortunately, this situation lead to Orca and Bas having a bit of a
blue at each other as Bas suggested it would be easier of them to sneak through
if he was unconscious as she carried him. Lazy bum.
They managed to make it worse when they reached a security camera at a key
passage. Orca wanted to carefully sneak past it by carefully timing their moves
and avoiding its sweep. Bas wanted to just hack it, but that of course risked
setting off all manner of alarms and tipping everyone else off, plus he'd need
to be out cold to do such. Orca won out again and they got past the easy way
rather than the make it even more complicated then it has to way.
This is why I work with drones. They don't come up with dumb ideas, and
when they do, you can simply remote control them anyway.
Finally they got through to the terminal they were after which was where
Bas got to do his thing (and in an actually useful way to boot). All he needed
to do in the end was discretely alter a couple of variables in the quantity
control and that was it. It's the sort of thing that people don't even notice
until it’s too late and the product begins unexpectedly melting, and fit in
with the Macquarie’s request perfectly.
Having done the deed, the pair of them snuck back (while amazingly
managing to avoid further arguments) and rendezvoused with me. In the meantime,
I'd jumped in to Baxter and extracted him from the mess he’d dug himself into.
The three of us suited up again and headed out to the sub, making sure to leave
everything just as we'd found it. Soon we were all on our way back to our boat
without the slightest hint that we had ever been there. The debrief with Mister
Macquarie went well, with him throwing us the rest of the payment. So all in
all, a more or less successful trip.
Well, assuming that Orca doesn't punch Bas' head off...
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