RE: [IC][Story][Arc 1] The Big Raid
04-03-2021, 09:15 PM (This post was last modified: 05-19-2021, 07:03 AM by robkelk.)
04-03-2021, 09:15 PM (This post was last modified: 05-19-2021, 07:03 AM by robkelk.)
I Spy, with My Eye in the Sky...
Kemptville, Ontario, Canada
December 16, 2016
7:47PM ET
When Washuu-chan said "extended range," she wasn't kidding, Kazari mused as she looked at her computer display. The "Hatsuhara" drone that she received as a Halloween gift was still transmitting clearly to her laptop, despite being 100 kilometres away.
She sipped at her coffee (and made a mental note to buy some of the house blend before leaving the coffee shop) as the data kept coming in - ground-penetrating radar providing a three-dimensional map of the cave system that wasn't on any of the local maps, paralleling the Madawaska River, and thermal imaging showing where the underground heat sources were. Probably Unseelie cooking fires, she thought. They aren't warm enough to be anything else. Washuu-chan's instruments are so far in advance of anything I could buy. I must remember to thank her. Again.
She switched to visible light and zoomed in on one tunnel that abruptly ended near the surface. "That's definitely an entrance," she said as Michiru looked over her shoulder.
"There are at least two ... what are those? ... walking toward it."
Kazari zoomed in closer. "The two on the outside match Usagi's description of sluagh. Jacky called them elfs who were killed but didn't die. The one in the middle..." She couldn't continue. It was obvious that the third one was human, and not present by choice.
I hope we can rescue her during the raid tomorrow, thought Kazari.
I hope they give her a quick death before they eat her, thought Michiru.
Just then, Rob walked into the coffee shop, looked around, and walked over to Kazari and Michiru. "I've finished my grocery shopping," he announced. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"I'm just saving it off now," Kazari replied. "Give me ... three minutes to finish."
"That's long enough for me to get a coffee to take out."
"Would you get me a bag of the house blend, please?" She sent the recall command to her drone - by the time it would return to her, they'd be halfway back to Ottawa - and saved a copy of the data on a USB dongle that she passed to Michiru. Kazari was ready to leave by the time Rob had his coffee brewed and her coffee bagged.
Later, when they'd pulled over so Kazari could retrieve her drone from the car's roof, Rob asked, "Are you sure it was a good idea to give them a copy of what you mapped out?"
Kazari smiled. "If they can decode the encryption before we start the raid tomorrow morning, I'll be very impressed. I used MITHRIL's encryption routines to protect it from prying eyes."
"Not your own?"
"Tessa gave me hers for this operation; it would have been rude not to use them. After all, she's in charge." After a moment, she added, "And I'll use the same encryption when I email the data to her tonight."
Indianapolis, Illinois, USA
December 16, 2016
11:33PM ET
"Somebody's using a MITHRIL code!"
Leonard looked up, then looked at Gates. "Where?"
"Patience, dear boy, patience - it takes time to run an IP trace on this antiquated hardware. No AI at all - how do they cope? Ah, here it is: the source is Ottawa. The big one. In Canada. The destination is ... o-ho, something easy to remember! San Antonio. The Alamo, dear boy - remember it! Oh, this code's easy to break. We just have to use your libraries. Pretty obvious it's your sister's private code."
Leonard smiled as he gave orders to deploy covert agents to both ends of the intercepted data stream. It looked like AMALGAM finally had something worthwhile to do.
Kemptville, Ontario, Canada
December 16, 2016
7:47PM ET
When Washuu-chan said "extended range," she wasn't kidding, Kazari mused as she looked at her computer display. The "Hatsuhara" drone that she received as a Halloween gift was still transmitting clearly to her laptop, despite being 100 kilometres away.
She sipped at her coffee (and made a mental note to buy some of the house blend before leaving the coffee shop) as the data kept coming in - ground-penetrating radar providing a three-dimensional map of the cave system that wasn't on any of the local maps, paralleling the Madawaska River, and thermal imaging showing where the underground heat sources were. Probably Unseelie cooking fires, she thought. They aren't warm enough to be anything else. Washuu-chan's instruments are so far in advance of anything I could buy. I must remember to thank her. Again.
She switched to visible light and zoomed in on one tunnel that abruptly ended near the surface. "That's definitely an entrance," she said as Michiru looked over her shoulder.
"There are at least two ... what are those? ... walking toward it."
Kazari zoomed in closer. "The two on the outside match Usagi's description of sluagh. Jacky called them elfs who were killed but didn't die. The one in the middle..." She couldn't continue. It was obvious that the third one was human, and not present by choice.
I hope we can rescue her during the raid tomorrow, thought Kazari.
I hope they give her a quick death before they eat her, thought Michiru.
Just then, Rob walked into the coffee shop, looked around, and walked over to Kazari and Michiru. "I've finished my grocery shopping," he announced. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"I'm just saving it off now," Kazari replied. "Give me ... three minutes to finish."
"That's long enough for me to get a coffee to take out."
"Would you get me a bag of the house blend, please?" She sent the recall command to her drone - by the time it would return to her, they'd be halfway back to Ottawa - and saved a copy of the data on a USB dongle that she passed to Michiru. Kazari was ready to leave by the time Rob had his coffee brewed and her coffee bagged.
Later, when they'd pulled over so Kazari could retrieve her drone from the car's roof, Rob asked, "Are you sure it was a good idea to give them a copy of what you mapped out?"
Kazari smiled. "If they can decode the encryption before we start the raid tomorrow morning, I'll be very impressed. I used MITHRIL's encryption routines to protect it from prying eyes."
"Not your own?"
"Tessa gave me hers for this operation; it would have been rude not to use them. After all, she's in charge." After a moment, she added, "And I'll use the same encryption when I email the data to her tonight."
Indianapolis, Illinois, USA
December 16, 2016
11:33PM ET
"Somebody's using a MITHRIL code!"
Leonard looked up, then looked at Gates. "Where?"
"Patience, dear boy, patience - it takes time to run an IP trace on this antiquated hardware. No AI at all - how do they cope? Ah, here it is: the source is Ottawa. The big one. In Canada. The destination is ... o-ho, something easy to remember! San Antonio. The Alamo, dear boy - remember it! Oh, this code's easy to break. We just have to use your libraries. Pretty obvious it's your sister's private code."
Leonard smiled as he gave orders to deploy covert agents to both ends of the intercepted data stream. It looked like AMALGAM finally had something worthwhile to do.
--
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown