Post
Mon Sep 16, 2019 11:35 am
#591
by Talvieno
((there may or may not be a couple mistakes here and there - I'm a bit rushed at the moment. things happening at home))
BETA
Caleb places the crate where Kinorvan indicated and takes a seat. "I'm Cole," he begins coolly, making a hand signal to his Frank and Saoirse. They bow their heads slightly, acting subservient, and begin unpacking the spiderbot. "The Lavloxeri division of the FMU sent us with this combat robot to trade for one of your prisoners, Kaquyu Adopan. They seem very interested in her."
The crate has now been turned upside-down, with the spiderbot resting on its top. Now free of the crate, it stands, its motors whirring quietly. Frank and Saoirse take a seat on the sofa, which leaves the armchair as the only open spot.
Frank isn't showing it, but he's a bit rattled - first by the fact that they're so deep in enemy territory, then by the fact that they're unarmed, then by the bright lights shining in his face, and then by the fact that Kinorvan is actually holding a pistol - ballistic, from the looks of it. He glances at Saoirse, trying to determine if Saoirse is panicking, but no - Saoirse looks calm and collected. She has a lot of self-control. Frank can't tell whether or not Caleb is worried, but then, he's good at this sort of thing. Frank is better at talking to people like Maki and his grandfather, while Caleb is a lot better at tense negotiations. Maybe he ought to ask Caleb a little more about his past sometime... but not right now. Right now, he's just noticed that Nilo, with a stoic expression, hasn't yet sat down.
Kinorvan has noticed as well - and the inmates are noticing he seems a little on edge. "Sit down," he says flatly - this time with a bit more force. He gestures sharply with his head towards the empty armchair, and then turns back to Caleb. "Spiderbot, right? Tasty. Ses said it was Opitek, he's not usually wrong." (Behind him, Ses beams from the praise.) "We'll deal: you show me how the thing works, and I call in the prisoner." He pulls out a small radio from a chest pocket with his left hand and speaks into it. "FMU's here for the prisoner. Bring her down. And, uh... Afon ifar kookarar, misi bashas."
A voice responds, "Vavinko."
Nilo still hasn't sat down.
"Sit down!" Kinorvan barks, pointing his pistol at Nilo, then the chair. "Do we have a problem, kalaki?"
GAMMA
"You're going to get us killed," Vynkor hisses reproachfully at her companion. "Give me some of that."
But both inmates suddenly fall silent - down the hallway, they suddenly hear a voice: "FMU's here for the prisoner. Bring her down. And, uh... Afon ifar kookarar, misi bashas." It sounds like it's coming over a radio.
Another voice answers - this one louder. "Vavinko."
The two inmates peer out of their hiding spot and see one of the pairs of guards split in two, as the previous speaker says a few words to his comrade and makes a quick exit down a side hallway. This leaves the other fysar out there alone.
Sukava and Vynkor look at each other. Is this their opportunity? Do they finally have a single guard they're able to take down?
But the guard begins walking swiftly in the opposite direction, pulling out his radio and speaking into it in a low, chattering hiss. "Febivo Keshor? Kanoka? Okhal hake. Kinorvan kekra kevani kri afon hiliil sotak ifar kichan - mebi kakvire vashah Adopan. Vormis afon kalal ran af sikagi ohkaka kofivas." The little fireteam hears him chatter a bit more, and some angry-sounding chattering coming from the other end.
((Disclosure: Flakes told me on IRC that he did indeed want Yuuji to give his PDA to Buck))
ALPHA
Looking up from his PDA, Buck whispers, "Looks like Vynk n' that new lady bit the dust... Them slates on the table are theirs. Damn aliens! 'Least I scrubbed them of any data - they're gonna get as much info from them as from a sidewalk tile now."
"She shall have a mention in my autobiography!" Brom whispers grandly. It's an impressive feat, actually - a grand whisper. No one present is quite sure how he pulls it off, other than through pure Bromism. "An excellent person, she hoped to spread my wisdom to those less fortunate!"
"Yeah, but how the hell did they get them?" Buck muses, shaking his head. "Unless... unless those two just strolled in here n' shouted who they are." But that's nonsense - that would make them as stupid as Beta, and that's virtually impossible! "Anyway, whatever these aliens did to find out 'bout them n' hunt them down could be used against the rest of us, too. Which reminds me, somethin's been naggin' me."
"Hmm? What's that?" Yuuji asks, puzzled about why Buck would be turning to him.
"Give me your slate," Buck demands. "Should've done this ages ago, damn it."
Yuuji glances around, wondering if he missed something. "Done... what?" Cautiously, he pulls out his PDA and hands it to Buck, making sure that nobody in the room gets a close look.
"Just give me a minute."
Buck grabs the PDA and starts digging around on it for info on the weird intrusion that Yuuji had mentioned earlier. In Yuuji's own words, previously: "It flashed some intrusion warning for a second and then went on as if nothing happened. My PDA might be compromised. I'm not sure. I'm not good enough at handling computers to check the thing over myself. If it was compromised, it also must have been a very quick attack, and thus probably too well hidden for me to find anyway. The same might happen to you if you poke around the network too much..."
It takes some time - the tracks are very well hidden - but Buck eventually manages to sort out exactly what's going on with Yuuji's PDA - and, by extension, his own. It was accessed from an outside connection labeled "HABBIKIN-FIMBAN-RSK5Z0XZI8". "Habbikin" is just a Fysarian datapad model, and "FIMBAN" is known in the hacking/computer community to roughly equate to "user". The rest of it is just an identification code - a code that most hacking software is able to block out or change, which makes it "interesting" that it's still there.
After digging through a couple databases, Buck discovers that the device in question is registered to one "Vambal Iinaknati", himself listed elsewhere as a gas freighter crewman and engineer - certainly not a hacker - which means that the PDA was likely stolen.
For a couple minutes, Buck puzzles over the results. If what he's found is at all accurate, it means that the hacker stole some random guy's datapad and, without any real software, managed to hack through a Tartarus Inc. PDA's security. Either they've had practice, or they're very, very good. Perhaps even a little better than Buck himself.
Meanwhile, Brom has gone back to the computer to research the other mission's planet and star system. What he's found is... not very unusual. The planet is apparently called "Eatlan". It's about 1.2 AU from its star (standard for a garden world), possesses plant life and a breathable atmosphere, and Gs are in an acceptable range (1.38Gs). The temperature's a bit warm and tropical, and it's apparently very jungle-y, but not much else is noteworthy. There is, however, a second garden world in the system - one that is curiously absent from most records - one called "Firized". Brom can't find much about it at all, other than the fact that a small pirate fleet vanished over it roughly 54 years ago, in 3098. No traces were ever found.
Brom and Buck are just turning back to tell everyone what they've uncovered when they hear a sound coming from the direction of Mr. Feb Keshor, sitting over on his sofa. It sounds like a voice emanating from a handheld radio: "Febivo Keshor? Kanoka? Okhal hake. Kinorvan kekra kevani kri afon hiliil sotak ifar kichan - mebi kakvire vashah Adopan. Vormis afon kalal ran af sikagi ohkaka kofivas."
Feb doesn't seem to be pleased by this at all, and gets to his feet, speaking into the device. "Kinorvan? Mokavi? Vokir efol ka koofali milagi?"
"Ifar FMU!"
Hearing this, Feb succeeds in being the angriest-chattering Fysar the little fireteam has heard to date. "Aviri mokar ka oval ohkaka?! Ka miven anuira meri!"
"Mevisha iviri."
Feb scoops up a couple devices from the sofa beside him and pockets them, talking quickly. He and the fysar on the other end share a few more sentences, and then they break contact. As soon as they do, Feb immediately begins shouting orders at the other gang members in the room. Savoske and the Bhezian get ordered elsewhere (along with the three fysar at the other end of the room), while Feb orders the hiltorel at the north end of the room to come with him - apparently telling him to arm himself along the way, seeing as the squid picks up a weapon. During all this, the name "Kinorvan" is growled frequently, along with what are apparently choice insults.
And with that, Febivo Keshor Mikiikah walks briskly towards one of the eastern exits, the squid by his side.
((this miniturn ends before Feb Keshor has actually left the room.))