June 19, 2013

Billie's Journal - Meeting Jack Barnard

Seattle, 04 Feb 2052
Henry's leg was pretty chewed up by the ghoul, so he needs to rest up for a bit and Dances is keeping a close watch on him to make sure he's not been infected with HMHVV. In the meantime we continue to work on a way to get into the Jack Barnard's island fortress retreat. 

None of the plans we come up with work until someone suggests that we just walk on in. It's ballsy and has a good chance of going very wrong for the volunteers. But Zero says she is willing to give it a go and that means Finlay is going in with her. I'll take up a sniper overwatch, Henry will handle magical support and Dances will be ready to provide close cover and healing. It's not a good plan, but its the only one we've got that might work.   

Seattle, 05 Feb 2052
My side is healing up slowly and Dance's care has at least gotten Henry back on his feet, although he's still limping and favouring his left leg. We suit up in the forest camo armor we picked up at Crime Alley. It's got built in thermal dampeners to reduce our heat signatures and non-conductivity protection against tazers.

Seaside sails us over to the island, arriving before dawn and well out of sight of the corporate retreat. We then head overland, through dense woodland, until we reach the edge of the property. We split up, Dances, Henry and I going to ground in the woods, while Zero and Finlay strip off their camo armor to reveal the corp outfits underneath. 

I can't get a good position that allows me to cover both the main entrance to the house and the copter pad simultaneously so I pick a spot that lets me cover the house but where I can quickly shift my field of fire to the helicopter pad. As I said its not a great plan.

Finlay and Zero step out of cover and make it about 10 meters towards the house before they are intercepted by a flying drone. It warns them they are on private property and tells them to leave. They hold their ground. Finlay announces to the drone that they are there to see Jack Barnard. Hopefully that will be enough to get their attention as it is not public knowledge that he was going to be here.

The drones mechanical voice is replaced by a equally unfriendly human one, but at least it allows them to proceed towards the house. As they approach, two sentry turrets emerge from the ground. I switch my attention to one of them but even with the explosive ammo loaded into the rifle, I doubt I could do much damage to the heavily armored turrets before they turned Finlay and Zero into a red mist.

They stop to drop their weapons, then are allowed inside. And then we wait. All the windows are mirrored and the entire building is protected from electronic intrusion. There are even tremblers on the windows to prevent snooping with a laser mic. The only positive is that the thermal dampeners keep my body warmth trapped in the suit, so I am nice and warm.

We wait for about an hour, then Finlay comes out onto the balcony for a few minutes. He transmits some information to Dances, specs for headware mostly and confirms that they are okay and in negotiations with Jack, before heading back inside. None of us break radio silence.

About an hour later, Finlay and Zero emerge from the house with an ice-cooler, about big enough for a head. We withdraw from our positions once they make it safely back into the woods and move quickly back to the extraction point. Only when we are back onboard Seaside's fishing boat do Finlay and Zero fill us in. The box contains a head from (one of) Jack Barnard's clones. Seems that the head is about the only part not useful for organ replacement. I guess if the brain is dead there ain't much point in bringing you back.

The specs Finlay provided are for an induction jack and some headware memory. Dances contact at the street clinic can provide that but Dances needs to do the implant himself. He negotiates with his contact to have the facility to himself for the time he reckons he will need to do the surgery. 

Only problem is that we can't go back to Seaside's just yet. Finlay and Zero agreed a timeframe with Jack to make it look like we attacked the house at dawn tomorrow. So we are going to have to spend the time sailing around on the Sound until then. Seaside calls Russell to come pick up Dances and take him back to shore so he can work on the head. 

Seattle, 06 Feb 2052
Sometime before dawn, Russell returns with Dances and the head. It looks like the pictures of the dude and Dances has done a fine job of installing the ware without leaving any scars. We can at least now land and plan phase two, the delivery.