"This is planet P3X-873."
The holographic globe that appeared in front of us looked thoroughly uninteresting. P3X-873 was apparently a desert world, someplace in between Mars and the worst parts of the American Southwest in terms of barren unpleasantness. The relevant facts and figures (thoughtfully provided in the space to the right of the globe- a neat trick, since the four of us were standing around it) only backed up that impression. No life, no valuable resources, .83G, barely breathable atmo, and average temp of 12 C. What a delightful place to go....now, since I'm fairly sure we're not going there to pick up eggs, milk, and bread, why *would* we be going there? If this were the anime, it'd be a Relic- no question. As it is, this could be anything from a Relic heist to a flash raid.
"As you can see, the planet itself is essentially worthless. It's too poor to mine, too barren to midform, too remote for the military, and too well-known for most criminal organizations. Its only redeeming value... is this."
The holo changed. In place of P3X-873 was a rather familiar image- a faceted red stone, smaller red stones floating inexplicably at its corners. A Relic. Great. At least we're not after something dangerous, like an unsealed Jewel Seed. All I have to do is not shoot it, and everything will work out.
"For the last two years, P3X-873 has played host to an independent archaeological team. Twenty-eight hours ago, we retrieved this image from their computer systems. It matches a class of Lost Logia generally referred to as 'Relics'.
Needless to say, the Doctor has an interest in them... which is where the three of you come in." Really, Uno? He wants ALL THE THINGS- we all know this. Why repeat it? She waved one hand, and the image changed again- this time, to an impressively detailed landscape.
"This is a model of the target camp." She pointed to the ridiculously large tent- the thing had to cover at least a city block!- in the middle of the camp. "And this is the dig site. Analysis of the expedition's logs suggests that the majority of their team will be thirty or more meters underground during work hours. If you strike then, resistance should be limited."
Uno pointed at another, significantly smaller building, fairly close to the main tent. "According to our drone scans, a highly concentrated magical signature is currently inside this building. The Doctor and I have been unable to conclusively identify it as the Relic, however. If the Relic has already been sealed, it won't show up on our scans; you'll have to either take a hostage, or search the encampment manually."
Another wave of her hand, and the model shrank to a fourth of its normal size. It then split into four duplicate models, each of which changed to a false-color rendering of the area, complete with a number of brighter blobs scattered around. What sort of scan is this?
"As you can see here, your opposition consists of twenty-two humans, eighteen of which are mages. None of them appear to be over B-rank. These scans were made over the last local day, and should give you a basic understanding of the local routine."
"This," Uno said, tapping one scan, "appears to be the camp at rest. Notice how the signatures are distributed across all the outer buildings, and how these two occupy the towers here and here." As she spoke, she tapped the towers in question, causing true-color images of them to pop up next to the model.
Shoving that model to the side, Uno pulled another scan to the center. "And this image," she said, "shows us what the camp looks like during digging hours. Two mages in the towers, four mages in their quarters, two normals in the camp, and everybody else in the central tent." She gave us a few seconds to record and evaluate the image, before swapping it out for the other two scans. "These images were taken in the time between the camp's sleep and dig cycles. According to them, this building here," she said, tapping a larger structure near the main tent, "looks to be a combination of social center and mess hall. The only signatures that aren't there are the six watchmen... which we've identified as employees of a small-time private security firm. High-level civilians."
Uno looked straight at each of us in turn. "Their watch follows a standard three-shift schedule. Shift change, as best we can tell, is immediately before each meal." She pulled the standard model of the camp back up, set the false-color scans of it back to quarter-size, and took a step back.
Tre looked over the four recorded images. "What time is it currently?"
Uno pulled up another display. "At the camp? Currently 2420. P3X-873 has a twenty-six-hour day, so you have one hundred minutes until the next shift change. The archaeologists should begin work seven hours after that."
Tre nodded. "Understood." She stood there for a minute or so, looking over the camp. Occasionally, she'd reach out, rotating the model, trying to get a feel for every angle of it. At one point, she even turned it on one side, so she could get a God's-eye view of it all. Finally, she double-tapped the model, letting it fly back to its original position.
"Assume that every mage in the camp has high-end civilian equipment. Overlay their hypothetical sensor ranges onto the map." A bewildering array of colored shapes appeared over the 3D image- I could make out spheres centered on the guard towers, but the rest of it was beyond me. Tre had no problem with it, though.
After a moment to ponder the new information, she tapped a spot near the edge of the camp. "Here. This is our insertion point. We go in at 0400 local time, neutralize the guards, and make for the Relic. If it's not in the storage building, this", she said, tapping a building with only one mage signature in it, "is our secondary target. We interrogate the resident, find out what they know, and retrieve the Relic based on that.
Do either of you have any questions?"
Nobody spoke up.
"Then you're dismissed. Report to the transport chamber at 0345."
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
The holographic globe that appeared in front of us looked thoroughly uninteresting. P3X-873 was apparently a desert world, someplace in between Mars and the worst parts of the American Southwest in terms of barren unpleasantness. The relevant facts and figures (thoughtfully provided in the space to the right of the globe- a neat trick, since the four of us were standing around it) only backed up that impression. No life, no valuable resources, .83G, barely breathable atmo, and average temp of 12 C. What a delightful place to go....now, since I'm fairly sure we're not going there to pick up eggs, milk, and bread, why *would* we be going there? If this were the anime, it'd be a Relic- no question. As it is, this could be anything from a Relic heist to a flash raid.
"As you can see, the planet itself is essentially worthless. It's too poor to mine, too barren to midform, too remote for the military, and too well-known for most criminal organizations. Its only redeeming value... is this."
The holo changed. In place of P3X-873 was a rather familiar image- a faceted red stone, smaller red stones floating inexplicably at its corners. A Relic. Great. At least we're not after something dangerous, like an unsealed Jewel Seed. All I have to do is not shoot it, and everything will work out.
"For the last two years, P3X-873 has played host to an independent archaeological team. Twenty-eight hours ago, we retrieved this image from their computer systems. It matches a class of Lost Logia generally referred to as 'Relics'.
Needless to say, the Doctor has an interest in them... which is where the three of you come in." Really, Uno? He wants ALL THE THINGS- we all know this. Why repeat it? She waved one hand, and the image changed again- this time, to an impressively detailed landscape.
"This is a model of the target camp." She pointed to the ridiculously large tent- the thing had to cover at least a city block!- in the middle of the camp. "And this is the dig site. Analysis of the expedition's logs suggests that the majority of their team will be thirty or more meters underground during work hours. If you strike then, resistance should be limited."
Uno pointed at another, significantly smaller building, fairly close to the main tent. "According to our drone scans, a highly concentrated magical signature is currently inside this building. The Doctor and I have been unable to conclusively identify it as the Relic, however. If the Relic has already been sealed, it won't show up on our scans; you'll have to either take a hostage, or search the encampment manually."
Another wave of her hand, and the model shrank to a fourth of its normal size. It then split into four duplicate models, each of which changed to a false-color rendering of the area, complete with a number of brighter blobs scattered around. What sort of scan is this?
"As you can see here, your opposition consists of twenty-two humans, eighteen of which are mages. None of them appear to be over B-rank. These scans were made over the last local day, and should give you a basic understanding of the local routine."
"This," Uno said, tapping one scan, "appears to be the camp at rest. Notice how the signatures are distributed across all the outer buildings, and how these two occupy the towers here and here." As she spoke, she tapped the towers in question, causing true-color images of them to pop up next to the model.
Shoving that model to the side, Uno pulled another scan to the center. "And this image," she said, "shows us what the camp looks like during digging hours. Two mages in the towers, four mages in their quarters, two normals in the camp, and everybody else in the central tent." She gave us a few seconds to record and evaluate the image, before swapping it out for the other two scans. "These images were taken in the time between the camp's sleep and dig cycles. According to them, this building here," she said, tapping a larger structure near the main tent, "looks to be a combination of social center and mess hall. The only signatures that aren't there are the six watchmen... which we've identified as employees of a small-time private security firm. High-level civilians."
Uno looked straight at each of us in turn. "Their watch follows a standard three-shift schedule. Shift change, as best we can tell, is immediately before each meal." She pulled the standard model of the camp back up, set the false-color scans of it back to quarter-size, and took a step back.
Tre looked over the four recorded images. "What time is it currently?"
Uno pulled up another display. "At the camp? Currently 2420. P3X-873 has a twenty-six-hour day, so you have one hundred minutes until the next shift change. The archaeologists should begin work seven hours after that."
Tre nodded. "Understood." She stood there for a minute or so, looking over the camp. Occasionally, she'd reach out, rotating the model, trying to get a feel for every angle of it. At one point, she even turned it on one side, so she could get a God's-eye view of it all. Finally, she double-tapped the model, letting it fly back to its original position.
"Assume that every mage in the camp has high-end civilian equipment. Overlay their hypothetical sensor ranges onto the map." A bewildering array of colored shapes appeared over the 3D image- I could make out spheres centered on the guard towers, but the rest of it was beyond me. Tre had no problem with it, though.
After a moment to ponder the new information, she tapped a spot near the edge of the camp. "Here. This is our insertion point. We go in at 0400 local time, neutralize the guards, and make for the Relic. If it's not in the storage building, this", she said, tapping a building with only one mage signature in it, "is our secondary target. We interrogate the resident, find out what they know, and retrieve the Relic based on that.
Do either of you have any questions?"
Nobody spoke up.
"Then you're dismissed. Report to the transport chamber at 0345."
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.