Scene #6858: The Arms Dealer

Owner	Pose
Big Boss	The Nostradamus is a rather large yacht, built to hold about two dozen people outside of crew. Luxurious and painted to represent it, she has four decks: The lowermost Crew Deck, with engines and crew living quarters; the secondmost Main Deck, with living quarters and lounge; the thirdmost Bridge Deck, where the captain pilots the ship, more living quarters, and more lounge, as well as a meeting room. The top is the Sun Deck, holding the helipad and pool. The Nostradamus will be host to an auction. Heinrich Wolfe, famed arms dealer, is said to be selling an autonomous drone, a new design for his world. He's brought together some of the Multiverse's richest (and most unscrupulous) people to see what he has to offer. Those invited to the auction came on either at port or via helipad, where they were greeted with warm reception by valets, brought to a central area under umbrellas on the sundeck, and given hors d'oeuvres, delicious things, as well as access to a full-service bar while they wait for the auction to begin. Those infiltrating could have found a way in when the ship was in port, sneaking aboard with those coming in, or even taking an aquatic or aerial entrance somehow. There's various crew entrances and exits, and cargo is held in the bottom-most deck. After some mingling between guests, the meeting room, a large room with lounge chairs and a small stage-like area set-up specifically for this auction, is the destination for those looking to take part in the proceedings. Everyone involved was handed a black smartphone, which they'll use to bid if they decide to. No proxies - everyone bidding is here in person. Heinrich Wolfe has not appeared yet. They'll have a few minutes to mingle among each other, as bodyguards watch over people in fine suits and dresses. There's even some clearly Multiversal denizens, such as elves, an orc, and a man with blue skin.
Haguro	Somehow, Haguro's gotten her hands on one of the invitations! Just as well, since she's already had her curiousity piqued by the technology being unveiled, and getting more brilliant minds for the Concord and Luthe couldn't hurt. It's not until finding out that the location of this event is a yacht of all places, giving her some misgivings about how this might affect Haguro's particular interests in keeping the sea from getting even more crap dumped into it. For now, though, she's going to try keeping an open-mind and not just dismiss Wolfe as a monster right away. The Abyssal is dressed relatively well today, donning a white admiral's cap and wearing a matching white coat that looks a bit too large for her with the midsection unbuttoned to account for her gut-tail coming out of her. She moves around fairly slowly so as to not freak anyone out too much (hopefully), hanging out with the bodyguards in particular to ask about Heinrich's current employment situation.
Nova Terra	Did someone say aquatic OR aerial entrance? Why not both? The Griffin (no relation to G&K), a Terran Dominion stealth starship, cruises some distance above the ocean. It's quickly heading towards the location of the yacht where the fancy auction is taking place. Of course, it's unlikely that anyone is even aware that the vessel is here, given its stealth systems are in full operation and thus hiding it both from detection systems and the naked eye. As the stealth vessel reaches a point almost directly above the party boat, its hangar doors briefly open and something exits. It's Nova. Just Nova. The Ghost begins to plummet towards the ocean below, her altitude quickly dropping. Getting close to the surface, she concentrates her telekinetic power on herself to slow her descent to the point that her suit can safely absorb the coming impact. And with barely a splash, Nova enters into the water, sinking a fair distance before her momentum is finally gone. Now underwater, Nova's suit kicks in its life support systems to provide her with something to breathe while she begins to swim for the yacht. With such a gathering of dangerous and wealthy people looking to purchase weapons drone technology, this is an excellent opportunity to take out a whole bunch of threats in one go. And if done right, without anyone know who did it! As for how Nova intends to do that. Well, she couldn't bring along a giant bomb with her insertion. But she has her usual supply of pulse grenades. Which when combined with some secondary explosions should do the trick. Like say, the yacht's fuel storage. So Nova slowly swims towards the yacht, looking for a place to climb aboard so she can begin making for the engine room. Which Nova figures as the ideal location to achieve said secondary explosions.
Rebecca Chambers	Down in the cargo hold, a crate that was recently added into the area suddenly begins to move for some reason. After it moves a couple more times, the lid opens just enough for whoever (or whatever, as it could possibly be) to peer out into the cargo hold area as if surveying the general area. Other than this, there's no other signs of movement as the lid closes quietly. A moment later, the lid opens again, and once again whoever's in there surveys to make sure the coast appears to be clear, before the lid opens again, revealing none other than Rebecca Chambers, slowly stepping out one foot at a time, before quietly shutting the lid again. Pressing her back against a nearby stack of crates, Rebecca takes out her Beretta and loads a clip into it. She then peers around the corner made by the crate stack she's on, surveying to make sure there's no one around. "These drones," She whispers to herself, "They could be used by the Paladins to aid them." She doesn't say anything about Umbrella, since she's more focused on the possibility that her faction could utilize them. After a moment, Rebecca slowly proceeds towards the exit of the cargo hold, keeping her vision and hearing alert to avoid being possibly startled by anyone on patrol.
Staren	Even if Staren is likely to use the drone for goody-goody purposes, the Concord's money is as good as anyone else's, and the Hand is here by invitation. Although he's unlikely to buy rather than incorporate ideas into his own devices. His 'invited to someplace fancy' outfit continues to be a white robe and mantle, worn closed and with gold trim stylized to look like circuit board traces. On the back of the mantle is a sea green symbol of a medical cross inside a gear, with circuit-trace shapes cutting negative space out of it. He's also wearing black slacks and some kind of boots that pass for sufficiently formal. The messenger bag kind of ruins the effect a bit, but at least a cover matching the color scheme has been put on it. Staren doesn't particularly want to mingle with the high-society types here, though, so he's relieved to see Haguro among them, and makes his way through the crowd to talk to her until the presentation begins. "Hey Haguro, good to see you! Um... So when did you become an Abyssal again?"
Gideon Kaspar	"Commander, I really don't think these kinds of autonomous weapons will fit in with the current forces of S09." "Nonsense! Our branch is critically lacking in long range autonomous surveillance and weaponry, and the FAIRY program isn't going anywhere fast! It's a major tactical disadvantage!" "There aren't anything but autonomous weapons at the base. That's my point. T-Dolls are-" "Supposed to be enjoying themselves on the run up to Halloween. Have you decided on a costume yet?" "What would be the point of me doing something like that? It'd just bring everyone down." "Well that absolutely won't do. What's the point of having drones do the 31st mission if you aren't going to take the time to come to the party? That's your mission now! To come up with a costume!" Gideon Kaspar is one thousand percent at home here, pushing a scotch glass around the venue and making extremely good on the fact none of the food is coming out of his budget. Rather than schmoozing with anyone though, he's dutifully accompanied by a shorter woman in crisp and fashionable white, black, gold and cream clothes, with short silver hair and bright amber eyes, and tactical holsters strapped over her thighs above her tights and shined boots, and over the shoulders of her short, puffed sleeves. She's clutching a briefcase like a maid, apparently having refused all attempts to get her a drink. "I wish he'd hurry it up though. I can tell just by looking; most of these guys are small time. Lots of money, but no guts. Arms dealers in name only." "They do seem to lack a certain kind of menace." "What? You think I'm menacing?" "In certain moods." "Ouch Krys, that really hurt, you know that?" "No it didn't." "Haha! Not even going to play along huh?"
Big Boss	Haguro, as a member of the Concord in good standing, got an invitation, as did Staren. Gideon Kaspar, being a wealthy businessman In This Industry Specifically, also obviously got an invitation. The infiltrators get in, one way or another. Nova literally drops in, able to climb aboard the yacht near one of the life boat ports. Meanwhile, there's no one currently watching the area Rebecca is in - there's multiple crates and none are supposed to have live cargo - but there's guards near the crew quarters and the engine, and so heading there is Incredibly Risky for her. She can head up to the stairs... Right as Nova would reach them as well, which means the two may want to be cautious to avoid each other, if they spot the other. Otherwise, Rebecca would need to avoid some crewmembers coming up, and probably want to try and hide that gun, while Nova would need to find a way to get into the engine room when it has several bodies guarding it and patrolling it. Haguro learns from the bodyguards that Heinrich Wolfe works for himself, the guards speaking through terse tones as they keep their eyes on Everything. Soon, the valets and guards make sure everyone is in the meeting room, as Wolfe is ready. The man with salt-and-pepper hair hiding the fact he's in his 60s, wearing a fine Armani suit, steps onto the stage. His Austrian accent is very noticeable, as he gathers everyone's attention rapidly. "My esteemed clients and potential clients, welcome to the Nostradamus. Isn't she lovely?" He takes a pause, grinning, before continung. "I hope the service has been to your liking. But we all know you're not here for the yacht. You're here to see what I have for you. Therefore, I present my latest product, created by a certifiable genius in the field of robotics!" Not bothering to actually name the genius, Wolfe has a sliding door opened automatically with a push of a button, revealing a silhouette. "For millennia, we have used humans as our defense system. As our protection. As our soldiers. But, what if I told you, that could change? Instead of giving your weapons to a soldier, what if your weapons themselves could think, make decisions, solve problems on their own? No more need to pay for bodyguards - one time payment, and you have a personal arsenal for whatever you may need." Whirring starts up, as the silhouette comes closer. The bodyguard nearest Haguro frowns at the thought of becoming obsolete, but only barely. Wolfe waves a hand, as a viewscreen is also brought up. "I present to you, the Domovoi-class autonomous weapon! Coming in both ground movement and hover modes, it is equipped with fully-automatic machine guns, micro-missile ports, and a canister launcher, for your lethal or less-than-lethal requirements." "But don't just take my word for it. See for yourself!" The Domovoi flies out onto the stage, whirring. A silver round body on a hover-system, with one big eye. It has two machine guns, one on either side, as well as a canister launcher built-in and two micromissile pods, each seeming to carry three missiles. On the viewscreen, footage flits by of small arms fire just straight up impacting the Domovoi and being shrugged off, as well as each weapon being used against dummies of various make to extreme effect. The crowd instantly takes interest, but especially when speakers fire up. "Hello. I am Domovoi. I will protect you, on or off this yacht." The voice is young sounding, not child-like but not exactly mature. It's a little high-pitched, but not gratingly. Its large eye takes in all of the visual data, as do cameras around it. Heinrich Wolfe allows the people to take it in for a moment, before speaking again. "I'll allow a few moments of questions, before the bidding on this first model begins."
Haguro	Haguro looks over as Staren approaches and raises her hand in a brief salute, her gut-tail wriggling briefly in turn. "H-hello, Staren. Likewise. I.. Um. A few weeks ago, actually. It was..." She purses her lips, looking hesitant even as she continues more quietly. "... Iceberg." An uncomfortable noise escapes her, and then she pantomimes a long tearing line with her hand. "All of it just... From the bottom." She needs to find something less painful to think about quickly. The bodyguards provide her with some information that takes a bit of the edge off, and Haguro even seems surprised when spots a familiar face in the form of Kaspar and... And... Haguro knows she's seen that T-Doll with him before. She just can't put a name to the face. Perhaps later. For now, her attention shifts back over to Wolfe when he finally makes his appearance, sucking in a short breath when he talks about the yacht. Dammit, Sylvi. The demo video of Domovoi's capabilities comes and goes, and Haguro's not entirely sure how to feel about it. The bodyguard certainly seems to be having an easier time figuring out how to feel, at least, but she can't quite congratulate him on that. "Why that voice?" She finally speaks up when Wolfe opens the floor to questions. Her tone is terse, and but it's not so much that she's holding back as there's just something disconcerting about it in particular. "What does it run on? Is there any waste that it leaves behind while in use or... Um. Charging?"
Staren	Staren wonders who the unnamed genius could be. He briefly imagines Wolfe playing up the 'secret origins' of a drone with, say, Eggman's logo on it. Machines aren't a one-time cost -- they need maintenance and fuel or power. Also, aren't domovoi house servant spirits from Russia? Doesn't sound very weapon-y... Staren's ears splay and tail droops as he sees the videos. Nothing that strikes him as particularly innovative. And then it talks, in a manner almost reminiscent of a Tachikoma. He turns to ask the drone directly: "If you're supposed to be viewed as a machine instead of a slave, why did they give you a voice designed for empathy and anthropomorphization instead of something cold and robotic-sounding?"
Rebecca Chambers	Making her way towards the exit of the cargo hold, Rebecca stops as she approaches, looking around carefully to avoid any possible ambushes from guards waiting in sight. Wearing a green and white S.T.A.R.S. uniform is definitely going to call attention to her. Once she thinks the coast is clear, she looks around and sees that the crew quarters are definitely inhabited. And that engine room? Definitely not where she wants to go. "Only way to go is up," Rebecca says as she turns to go up them, only to pause and pull back as she gets a glimpse of someone up there. She doesn't know who it is, nor is she acquainted with Nova Terra, so the two of them encountering each other could cause some possible tensions. "Stay focused, Becky," Rebecca says to herself as she presses against the wall as flat as she can, looking towards the stairs and waiting for whoever's there to come down. As long as they don't see her, Rebecca will more than likely be all right and can resume sneaking up the stairs. That is, assuming no one sees her....
Gideon Kaspar	`Instead of giving your weapons to a soldier, what if your weapons themselves could think, make decisions, solve problems on their own?` Krysanthe side glances to Gideon. Gideon side glances to Krysanthe. Their gazes meet, briefly. Gideon downs the rest of his scotch in one go. Krysanthe coughs and tugs at her gloves and wiggles her fingers back into milimeters of ideal fit. "Oh! It's surprisingly cute! Not as cute as a T-Doll, but it could work. Maybe with a little projector . . ." "Isn't that silver colour a disadvantage?" "Oh come on, how hard is it to repaint it in reflective black?" "That big eye has to be a liability. It reminds me of a dinergate." "Then that just means Rose won't try to pull it to pieces." "Besides, how well would something like that hold up to particle beam fire? Or a magnetic cannon?" "Isn't the point not to get shot in the first place? We're not in the heavy mechanized armour business. You're not jealous of the cute little flying robot are you?" "I think it's the other flying robots that might be the jealousy risk." "Come on. That name --Domovoi-- it's clearly a clever joke." "Even you couldn't find a way to market something named after a domovoi with a pretty face." "Is that a challenge? Though, we're not here to buy for resale. The markup from an auction alone is going to be bad enough." Gideon does have his questions though. They're immediately what a pro would ask. What's its operational lifetime? Its maximum patrol range? Ground and airspeed? What are their network capabilities? What intelligence is provided for in operating as an attachment to infantry, or in larger squads purely made of domovoi? More importantly, what options are there for (re/)chambering alternative calibres and payloads? "Isn't that the weirdo from the expo back then? The one who kept asking about robot rights?" "Pretend to not notice. It's rude to stare at the handicapped." "Commander, I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to say that." "Haha, says who? The police?"
Nova Terra	Ocean water quietly drips from Nova as she climbs up onto the yacht. She quickly glances around to make sure that she hasn't been noticed yet. Looks clear. The surface of Nova's suit vibrates for several moments, shaking of the water still clinging to it. Blue light then washes over it as Nova cloaks, hiding herself from view. Nova begins moving in the direction that she believes leads to the engine room. She's been on enough yachts to have a decent idea of where it is. She stays slow, to avoid her cloak leaving a ripple or blurry effect in the air. If she should happen to come across any other operatives currently sneaking through the interior, Nova simply relies on her cloak to, if not leave her unnoticed, at least unidentified. It's perhaps a little unfortunate that there are other operatives working here. But that's not going to stop Nova from completing the mission. As Nova moves towards the engine room, she's able to pick up on the beginning of the events. She doesn't pay that much attention, especially as the information is pretty straight forward. Though Nova is briefly amused when the host thinks that a robotic army will be superior. Yeah, like that's never been tried and failed before. But time to focus on the matter at hand. Nova's first major obstacle is the guards outside the engine room. She can also sense the ones inside, patrolling. One problem at a time. Nova doubts she'll be able to get past completely unnoticed, which means the next option is to take them out. Quietly. Nova uses her cloak to sneak up on the first guard, drawing an invisible knife from her invisible boot as she does so. She attempts to wrap her arm around the guard's neck to start choking him and limit his ability to call for help. At the same time she throws the knife towards next guard's throat, hoping to lethally silence him too. Then proceeds to finish off the first guard with a quick twist of his head.
Big Boss	The questions start. First is about the voice. The Domovoi is confused to be interacted with directly, clearly not expecting it at this state, but responds politely. "My voice is modular. Settings exist to change it. I do not know the origin, sorry." Wolfe takes over with an ahem, a poker face hiding his feelings, and answers. "This initial model was given a default voice by the scientist, presumably in homage to his daughter. More 'cold and robotic' voices do exist, as does an option for none." About waste, Wolfe just smiles. "The Domovoi is cleaner than its rivals. I can't say it's a perfectly eco-friendly robot, but you're unlikely to have environmental protection services after you in a warzone in the first place, and the waste can be cared for." Gideon's questions get a genuine smile from Wolfe, happy to not have to deal with the 'weird ones'. He lists off the answers, which are all actually fairly beneficial - good operational lifetime, strong patrol range, good but not amazing speeds, strong networking capabilities. Some extra information is sent to all the bidder phones, showingthat the Domovoi can work alone or with human actors, and showing a range of rechambering and payload options - it's not modular weapons, but customizing it a bit is definitely possible. Whoever built this robot /really/ knows how to build robots, especially for war. The public specs (which are absolutely not full data) are impressive. Downstairs, Rebecca can finally safely get upstairs, where a guard is heading down the patrols. If she wants to try and disguise in plain sight, now's her chance to try and slip into another room, depending on what she's looking for and where she thinks she'll find it. Or, she can go full guns blazing. Nova, meanwhile, starts by taking out a guard. There's an extra mind somewhere in here, but where isn't exactly certain. As she takes out two, she can get inside...just in time to hear those minds start to change, and a pair of silenced shots. Coming through ventilation, someone's dropped down, starting to take out the guards with headshots. He's not expecting Nova, however, so she can take him by surprise - and see his Outer Heaven patch clear as day. The shots were tranquilizers - the guards are unconscious, not dead - and he has a series of grenades, some sort of rod weapon, and other equipment on his waist. His face is masked by a black balaclava, as he speaks into a headset, Japanese accent clear. <"This is Blackout Boa. Infiltration to engine room secured. Preparing to cut lights. Easy as taking candy from a baby, I'll tell you.">
Nova Terra	Oh look. Another another operative. What is this, a stealth operative convention? Nova doesn't fail to notice another mind arriving in addition to the guards inside the engine room, which she now has eyes on. And of course, soon enough they go down to those tranq darts. This could be a problem. She needs to plant her explosives, but doesn't want anyone to know they're there until it's too late. She'll have to take this one out. But before Nova can make her move, she notices the patch that the man is wearing. She pauses for a moment, her mind considering alternatives... Damnit, probably not a good idea to kill this guy. Time to improvise. "Damn, you Outer Heaven guys are everywhere." Blue light washes over Nova to reveal her once more, holding her empty hands up so the OH operative doesn't immediately shoot her.
Big Boss	Blackout Boa turns as Nova decloaks, pointing his gun straight at her. He takes a few moments, but the radio transmission gets him to lower his gun. He talks to her over radio, and then speaks up. "If you're here to take out the ship, you'll want to take out the lifeboats, as well. If you need an evac afterwards, I can have a helicopter pick you up with me. I'm going to cut the lights - you have goggles?" Then, he moves towards the fusebox. Wolfe, meanwhile, signals towards the auction. "Now, you may begin placing your bids in 3, 2, 1..." The fusebox is cut. The lights in the auction hall suddenly go dead, leaving everyone in darkness. Domovoi helpfully turns on a spotlight feature, trying to keep people at least not bumping into each other. Wolfe takes the microphone. "Everybody, please don't panic, it seems we've had a momentary outage." He signals to a guard, who moves to connect to one of the crewmembers. Who is currently unconscious. The guard will quickly realize something's up, and then will Wolfe, and then maybe will some of the audience... A panic is going to happen in a matter of moments, if someone can't calm it down, as Blackout Boa grabs a pair of nightvision goggles, and moves to head upwards back through the ventilation. He'll arrive up there soon, and as long as Wolfe's on the stage, he's in prime position to grab. <"Do what you need to do. I'll signal you when he's bagged."> Boa contacts Nova.
Staren	One ear turns toward Gideon and Krysanthe, but Staren doesn't comment. He just looks at the videos and at Domovoi thoughtfully. As someone who's dealt with Multiverse Shenanigans for over a decade, he's not going to be particularly surprised if it turns out that a humanlike AI made to be a replacement daughter has been forced into a warbot so Wolfe can sell it off and run with the cash before anyone finds out. But, y'know, it could also just be a perfectly normal warbot, and the Multiverse is still a place of logic and reason -- he shouldn't assume something is happening just because that's the story he'd be telling years later if today turns out to be a day crazy shit happens. He's had plenty of ordinary moments, exciting things aren't always happening just because he's around. Why, just Sunday he ordered a pizza and not only was there no mad wizard attacking people with food golems, there wasn't even a thug holding up the store. Just ask normal questions. If something weird is going on, eventually the answers will stop making sense. "So, how many of these are going to be made for the top bidder? Do they get an exclusivity arrangement? Who's going to supply replacement parts?" Oh wait the bidding is starting. Staren frowns slightly. Even if he were a normal buyer those would be important questions! The lights go out. Staren sighs and starts pulling handfuls of LED lights out of his bag and flinging them around the room. Now, where were entrances, exits, vents? Staren deploys some tiny insect-size spy drones to watch them for trouble.
Haguro	Everything Haguro hears and sees is largely inoffensive aside from personal misgivings that she's cramming down and repressing. She nods slowly, seeming satisfied with the answer Wolfe gives her and the data he distributes. Then again, with Kaspar right there, it could be a little awkward simply asking at risk of seeming like she's snubbing the other one. Then again, pitting them against each other would be the sort of thing a really smart person does! Alas, her confidence in pulling that sort of gambit off properly is lacking, and so she'll just have to pitch it at both of them and hope that doesn't sour the overall attempt. "Impressive, Mister Wolfe. I have to ask, then, if you've ever thought about mass production." She may have just mixed a few words together. Improvise! She looks towards Kaspar as well, trying to get his attention with a slight raise of her head and standing on her toes a bit. "Mister Kaspar, you too. With the resources of the Concord, mass-production of your designs could accomplish so much. You could focus your efforts on research and development, you could collaborate with all sorts of intelligent people like... Well. Like each other. What I'm saying is, would you two be interested in joining me?" There's another awkward pause, and then she's about to clarify what she means when the power just goes out. She waits around as it appears to just be a power outage at first, but as the power remains cut and people start getting antsy, the shipgirl clears her throat loudly. "Mister Wolfe. Can you give us a live demonstration of the Domovoi in this kind of situation?" There's a challenging tone in her voice, almost as if she's daring him to either show off his stuff or back down.
Rebecca Chambers	Nobody seems to be there. Perhaps they went the other way? Or maybe they're using stealth camoflauge? Whatever they are, Rebecca isn't going to be taking any chances anytime soon. She creeps up the stairs quickly, and looks around from side to side, attempting to think of the best course of action. Unfortunately, before she can think any further, the lights suddenly go out. "Oh shit!" Rebecca thinks, ducking into a nearby room that had its door open. "I didn't even bring my infrared goggles with me!" In frustration, Rebecca activates the flashlight on her Beretta. "Better than nothing," She says to herself. After a moment of getting her bearings and letting the light help her adjust to the darkness, Rebecca says, "I don't think they're planning any surprise parties." She looks around, realizing she's in the laundry room, and decides to take cover with her back to the wall opposite the door she came through, using a laundry basket as cover. "I'll wait and see what happens, then go from there."
Nova Terra	Nova doesn't get shot. That's always a bonus. With identities confirmed, Nova lowers her arms again, this time reaching for one of her suit's compartments. She pulls out a couple of her spherical pulse grenades, before twisting the first to seperate it into halves. She starts moving around the engine room, planting the devices at various spots. As Blackout Boa asks her about the goggles, she replies, "Sure do." She reaches up, pulling her visor down over her eyes once more in preparation. She continues planting her bombs, also accepting his offer of a ride, "And I did have plans for an evac. But I think your helo will work better. So yeah, I'll take you up on that." First bombs planted, Nova begins to leave the engine room just as the lights are cut, her visor switching over to a night vision mode. This will make getting around easier, though she's on a bit of a time limit now given she has a ride to catch. So she forgoes the cloaking in favour of speed, beginning to move through the interior halls and towards the deck so she can get to those lifeboats as was suggested.
Gideon Kaspar	Gideon has the given burner phone out. "Wait, you're really going to bid on one?" "No point in not even lowballing it right? Besides, if I have to, I'll just spend Kalina's bonus money." "Internet browsing when she was supposed to be processing combat reports, I assume." "Bingo! I'd like to have something I can wave right in front of her that can tell her itself how much it cost." Haguro actually flags him down. Gideon turns his head in search of the voice, smiling and running his fingers through his hair when he spots the owner. "The Concord huh? That's a generous offer, and I'm flattered to know I'm in demand with the pretty ones! For now though, I don't think so. Why would I want to spend my time sketching away behind a desk? This is my kind of life!" He raises his glass, gestures around the cabin with it, and puts his arm around Kyrsanthe's waist at his side. "Globetrotting, fine dining, gorgeous girls, and . . ." he intentionally trails off, lifting three fingers off his glass when Wolfe begins counting down, and lowering each one in perfect sequence. The lights cut. Gideon laughs once again, and this time it isn't a social laugh. It's the kind where he chucks his glass and lets it shatter on the floor, tilting back his head and laughing away as he pushes his hand across his face and back through his hair. "There we are! That's it! Here's the difference between an arms manufacturer and an arms dealer! Enough with this small time show!" The last, best part-!" Gideon snaps his fingers twice, and Krysanthe hits the buckle on her briefcase, letting it clatter to the ground, leaving a heavily customized GEN II Vector in matching colours to her outfit clutched in her grip. Wordlessly, she raises it to her eyes, which now glow amber in the dark. "You were right." "Again." "Again. Activating thermal imaging. Connection established with all dummy units." "Authorization granted for use of Zener tactical network asserts. They're not going to be breaking in to steal the floor model." "Affirmative. Please stay behind me." "Haha! That's my favourite place to be!" High penetration thermal and scans start sweeping through the surrounding areas, Krys keeping to her stance as she slowly heads towards the stairs, searching for the heat residue from footprints, handprints, spent casings, or electronics. She's also searching for any active wireless signals with the e-warfare module.
Big Boss	People start moving. Lights are turned on. Staren's questions don't get answered. His drones go up into vents and exits, and he can start picking up things - probably Nova's mad dash, Rebecca carrying a gun (if he heads towards the laundry room), and - oh, that drone in the vents nearby just went out. Outside, Nova is spotted by a guard moving during the chaos, whose first movement is to shout at her. Noticing her speeding through, however, he pulls out a pistol and begins firing, which those in the conference room can hear. Gunshots. Nova has an opportunity, luckily, to move for the lifeboats in the process. There's two ports from them, on opposite sides of the yacht, not hard to reach. Tagging grenades in while taking out the guards approaching her position shouldn't be difficult. Krysanthe sets up her gear and heads for the stairs. She'll be able to trace the thermals of the shootout happening nearby, as well as quite a bit of footsteps - Rebecca's, Nova's, etc. Blackout Boa didn't leave any, since he's been crawling through vents all day. Wolfe is about to respond to Haguro, when a grenade comes flying through the vent. A canister. "Grenade!" He shouts, unable to make it out well, as the guests start panicking. It detonates, but not with violent explosive force. Gas fills the room, a strong sedative moving to take people to the floor, unconscious. Those with robotic bodies may be more resistant than plain humans, but it's potent stuff. Wolfe collapses to the ground, and Domovoi speaks up. "We're under attack. Operating on non-lethal- oh, no, canisters not set up. Too many bodies for assualt mode. Directive required." Domovoi speaks up, but Wolfe can't respond. Out from the vent after the gas has faded is Blackout Boa, in his tactical gear, rolling out and into cover as bodyguards shoot at him before succumbing to the sleep gas. There's a submachine gun on his belt if he gets into a fight, but it's clear he's moving towards Wolfe, and is disregarding everyone else. It's an exfiltration.
Rebecca Chambers	Upon hearing the gunfire, Rebecca realizes that the situation is not good. She decides to abandon the mission rather than risk something far worse than what she bargained for. "This is Rebecca, I'm aborting the mission." She says into her communicator inside her ear, before looking for a way out onto the deck. Once she gets there, she presses a button on her wrist device and waits for a moment, before the sound of a helicopter is heard above. A moment later, a line is dropped, which Rebecca grabs onto. As soon as she's gotten a hold, she is pulled up into the helicopter and then the chopper flies away quickly. Inside, Rebecca looks at the pilot and say, "I don't know entirely what happened, but we didn't get what we came for." "At least you tried," The pilot replies. "There's always a thousand ways something can go wrong, you gotta be ready for them." "Just as well," Rebecca comments. "They probably weren't that good quality."
Nova Terra	Nova's footsteps, nor Nova herself, wouldn't actually show up through Krys's thermal detection as the Ghost suit actually maintains its own temperature to match that of its surroundings. But the gunfire blooms would certainly be detectable. Speaking of the gunfire. Nova whips her hand up as the guard aims at her, using her mind to force his aim up, the bullets firing into the air harmlessly. Nova continues her charge forward, jumping to plant a foot on the railing before launching off it towards the guard. She brings her armour plated boot whipping around into his face. Nova lands again, briefly turning to look in the general direction of the main auction floor. She can't see it, but she can hear and sense the commotion inside it. Judging by what she would do in Boa's place, Nova figures it won't be long until the operative moves to evac with his captive. Though the sudden arrival of a helicopter makes Nova wonder if Boa is early. But a quick look at the person being hoisted up suggests it's a different one. There really are a lot of people here. Nova still has time, but it's limited, so she doesn't dawdle. She attaches another set of explosives to the first lifeboat before beginning to cross to the other side of the yacht. As another pair of guards get in her way, Nova drops down beneath their gunfire, sliding across the deck on her knees as she reaches up to retrieve the psiblade on her back. The weapon lights up with psychic energy as Nova reaches the guards, sending a slice towards the first before rising up trying to stab the glowing weapon through the second.
Haguro	"That's... Understandable. If you ever change your mind, then, Mister Kaspar." Haguro gives the T-Doll commander and the Vector-wielder a brief nod and smile, barely flinching as they prepare to fight... Something. She seems rather calm herself right until the gas grenade comes in, forcing the Abyssal to actually start moving instead of just watching Wolfe go down unceremoniously. Holding her sleeve against her face to filter some of the gas, Haguro turns her turrets towards a nearby wall. Switching to non-explosive rounds, she starts firing at the walls with shot after shot after shot, aiming to just clear a straight line towards the outer edge of the yacht. They need an escape route, and blasting holes in the wall should get them some much needed air! "Domovoi, gather as many of the guests as you can and..." She stifles a yawn. "... And follow me. Staren, Kaspar, Miss Krys. I'll secure an exit. I don't think we should stay here long if the power's out." Haguro doesn't wait for an affirmative or anything. Instead, she's just charging at the holes she's blasting into the walls, trying to get out of the yacht so she has enough space to transform into her own freaky warship form!
Gideon Kaspar	"That's a shame. What good is a robot that can't decide to shoot a man for an offense of honour, huh? Truly, these corporations have yet to grasp the true beauty of the capitalist warsmith's art!" Gideon declares while waltzing out of the room. He snatches up a full bottle off the bar, then a second one, and carries them out the door with him. The girl with the submachine gun held tight to her body in her ballistic gloved-grip advances smoothly ahead of him at an exact four foot distance, sweeping the halls and checking the corners. She makes a hand motion, and Gideon fishes out the 'tactical monocle', using one hand to uplink to her thermals and playing the data over one eye in real time, while using the other to uncork the bottle and take a long, straight swig of the vintage inside. "Not bad. Man knows his liquors at least." "Dummy units arriving." "Form up, echelon delta pattern. Out to the deck. Unless he gets in the way, kill anyone still walking who isn't Staren or Haguro." "Understood. With pleasure." It seems Gideon has no interest in trying to 'save' Wolfe from whatever Outer Heaven wants from him. This is the real world of arms dealing. What happens instead, as he struts to the deck with Krysanthe ahead of him, past the crew level, is the door to the left of him kicks open, and a girl with short silver hair and glowing amber eyes forms up on his nine o'clock, weapon ready. The stairs to his right rattle, and a girl with short silver hair and and glowing amber eyes forms up pn his three, weapon ready. As he ascends the stairs, two more girls with short silver hair and glowing amber eyes form up at his rear, weapons readied. Five identical Krysanthes surround him in frontal V and rear line formation, laser sights trained down each corridor and junction they pass. Emerging out into the open air, Gideon finishes mixing his fresh glass, swirling it around in his fingers. "Oh, and we're taking the Domovoi with us. You know how it is. Business is business. Execute all orders." "Affirmative." "Affirmative." "Affirmative." "Affirmative." "Affirmative." Belowdecks, the drone is immediately hit with the hijack signal from the Zener black box equipment carried between the squad, aimed at overriding the vulnerable drone on standby and directing it up to the deck in lieu of any standing orders. All five T-Dolls spread out into a chevron around Gideon, and as he raises the glass to his lips, offhand still in his pocket, they all open fire on the helicopter, riddling Rebecca's ride with hundreds upon hundreds of high-powered anti-android bullets. He doesn't even know who she is or whom the ride belongs to.
Staren	Staren makes sure to stay out of direct sight of that vent while drones in the room watch it. As gas fills the room, he holds his breath, but after several seconds he's clad in a formfitting spacesuit; the labcoat, back to its normal appearance, is closed over it. He has his laser pistol out, but takes notice of the fact that people have only been knocked out, when that grenade COULD have been a much more lethal explosive. But there were gunshots... "Hey!" Staren calls out to the Outer Heaven agent. "What's your deal?" He rolls his eyes as Gideon goes for the drone. The dude cares about his robots, so hopefully he'll give it a good home. Staren's not equipped to contest and isn't sure. This is just becoming more and more of a mess fast... At least Haguro's readying escape and helping clear the air. But again, if they're not killing people maybe moving them isn't so urgent. He attempts to radio Domovoi and offer it nonlethal weapons if it's got some hidden capacity to actually USE stuff he hands it and is a smart enough AI to make such a decision.
Big Boss	Rebecca gets to her helicopter safely, but then it's blasted into by Gideon's fire - probably something she'll want to deal with. Nova takes out a guard with her hand-to-hand skill and rapid movement, as she plants the first bomb. She can get to the second lifeboat probably easily enough with her slicing and dicing with the psiblade. To get to the other lifeboat, though, she'll probably have to interact with Gideon and the Krys squad. Haguro starts blowing holes through the walls. The yacht is sturdy, but not too sturdy to prevent Haguro from releasing the gas, which doesn't wake people up, but will help Staren and her not get knocked out. She's able to escape and turn into a big ship. The Domovoi is still considering what to do when it gets the signal, and heads outwards. It bypasses Staren entirely, moving towards Gideon's directions. The AI itself resists being subverted, but it accepts the order without any others, taking the hacking signal as a change of ownership. It ignores Staren's offer - it has orders, after all. In the distance, another helicopter is approaching. It's a military-style helicopter, with machine guns and rockets, as the female pilot speaks up over her radio. <"This is Pequod. Will be there shortly! Just, get in and do what you need to do, over."> Staren shouts out to Blackout Boa. Blackout Boa stops to notice he's in a suit, considers grabbing his pistol, and then decides to just grab Wolfe and haul him over his shoulder. "Blackout Boa, capture specialist for Outer Heaven. Mission accomplished."> He says before he's even out. If Staren looks like he's about to shoot or stop Blackout Boa from leaving, a smoke grenade is thrown out to distract him, as Boa moves to head above. Boa's destination - the helicopter. But he'll have to get past the killsquad, first, so he lights up his radio as he moves.
Rebecca Chambers	Thinking she's safe, Rebecca starts to lean back, only to find herself dealing with abrupt turbulence as it's blasted by Gideon's fire. "Dammit! What now?" "They're attacking us," The pilot responds. "I'm trying to stabilize us." "I'll teach them a thing or two!" Rebecca says as she grabs a nearby rifle and opens the side door to the helicopter. "This won't be easy, but it should send a message hopefully!" She proceeds to fire a few semi-automatic bursts of gunfire at Gideon. "Get us out of here!" Rebecca yells at the same time, trying to escape while showing Gideon she's not entirely helpless. Although whether Gideon wants more is anyone's guess.
Staren	Staren shrugs. He's not fighting Outer Heaven for this guy. He may as well proceed with rescuing people... ...But he's one guy and there are so many. Dammit. <"Gideon, can you spare some T-Dolls for helping get these folks out of the gas? Doesn't seem like anyone here wants to fight.">
Haguro	Steps one and two complete! Now that Haguro's outside in her ship form, the sleeping gas won't knock her out. She's still yawning somehow despite being... Well, a SHIP, but that's probably just a remnant of having been humanoid moments ago. What gets her suspicions raised, then, is when Domovoi is decidedly not bringing the guests to her deck. Sure, said deck is covered in weird-looking turrets because of all the strange mouths and tentacles and generally monstrous-looking parts, but still! Doesn't that sort of gesture mean anything these days? "Domovoi. I'm in position. Bring the guests this way and toss them on board." Spotting the helicopters, one of which is being fired on by Gideon's squad, the Abyssal turns her turrets upwards. She doesn't fire just yet, though, watching the two flying machines and switching to anti-air rounds while waiting for Domovoi and anyone else that needs an escort out of there. As she finally contacts Blackout Boa on the radio, though, things start making a little more sense than before. No way she's getting involved in that fight between Gideon and the mytserycopter. She'll just chill over here awaiting people to ferry out of this oceanic suck zone.
Gideon Kaspar	The second Rebecca opens the side door, a "Shooter identified." ripples through the formation of perfectly coordinated android girls, tactical programming already picking up on her sight alignment, platform speed, windage and elevation. Rebecca sights for Gideon in between them --in the middle of his drink-- aims, and fires. Gideon only withdraws his hand from his pocket to hold up one finger when Rebecca yells back at him. He's not done with his third round. "I read your thoughts." One of the Krys units shifts her stance and slides right in front of Gideon in the blink of an eye; the one across from her sharply dropping her stance to a kneel so the first can fire over her. A trio of rifle bullets slam into the dummy unit's collar and shoulder, breaking into sparking fragments; her blouse tears and thin red smears appear on the skin beneath. Both coordinated units return fire, alternating strobing muzzle flashes tearing up the air as little blasts of light and metal fragments run straight up the firing lane away from Gideon and back into the chopper; the T-Dolls are shooting Rebecca's bullets out of the air, doing the ballistics exponentially quicker than humanly possible, until it's down to shooting the rifle itself in her hands, aiming to blow off the magazine and crack the assembly in half. Gideon lowers his empty glass. "Teach me a lesson? You're a hundred thousand hours of combat time short of teaching me or my girls anything!" Given that it's a military helicopter lifting off and escaping, and the squad doesn't possess anti-air explosives though, it only takes a few seconds longer for the vehicle to peel off and ascend to an un-shootable altitude, and short of killing the pilot, it'd still take a lot more pounding to bring it down mechanically. Instead, the formation smoothly swerves around to put the damaged Doll in the rear rank and three between Gideon and the helipad door instead. A hail of fire shreds the exit stairs instantly. No, a 'hail' is inaccurate. It's like a thunderbolt. A concentrated, instantaneous, perfectly focused column of destruction --one that sheds blistering heat and screams death and thunder in a ship corridor. Calling it 'suppressing fire' on Boa would be absurd. He might as well be suppressed by a hurricane. The guns are steel-shredding beasts; they ammo seems bottomless; their reloads as so quick that he can't even pick up any sound of a lull in fire. The exit is in tatters; the door crashes off its hinges and the last few steps crumbling away in pieces. "Don't worry, I'll end it so fast you won't feel any pain at all." Krys calls out to the human she'd sensed trying to leave, more relaxed than she'd sounded during that entire presentation. Brass audibly rolls with the swaying of the ship in clinking carpets outside, livening up the silence.
Gideon Kaspar	"Hello there! You have ten seconds to give me a reason not to ask Krys to fill the second deck with incendiaries!" "We're not doing that already, Commander?" Not until we have- ah, there it is!" Gideon raises his arm as the Domovoi shows up, calling it to his side and patting it on the top of the chassis like a loyal puppy. "Huh, Wolfe? That's all? He's just a dealer, not the inventor, right?" Gideon laughs. It intensifies halfway to gutbusting when Staren calls in for help. "That's what it's like with greenhorns! This is the business! The real deal! Anyone who gets gassed out on an auction house floor is just a suit with a briefcase full of guns! They have no right to call themselves arms dealers! Besides, if they're not dying, then what's the problem? The drone's mine fair and square, right?" "This is meaningless. The standing orders are to kill him if I see him, right? So I'll continue the mission." It's a three for three on helicopters arriving, but then this is a yacht with a helipad right on it. Even the owner expected a ton of people to show up by private chopper. The thrum of blades quite clearly belongs to a G&K corporate ride though, with an entire second squad of girls stanced for firing from the side as it starts to lower. "Please don't start any fires until we're on the helicopter. Until then, hmmm, it is October, so, do as you wish!"
Nova Terra	Nova makes her way towards the second lifeboat, rounding some of the deck structure. She comes face to face with Gideon and his escorts. "Oh crap." Nova darts back behind the structure to avoid the obviously gun happy T-Dolls. Realizing who that particular person was, Nova briefly considers her options. With Wolfe in hand an extraction quickly approaching... "Crap." Looks like the second lifeboat is a no go. Nova takes one of the flashbangs attached on her leg. She arms the thin cylindrical device before throwing into the direction of the dolls. It goes off with a blast of light and energy, to briefly disrupt their senses if they don't escape the blast radius. Hopefully that'll buy some time and also lessen the supressing fire on Boa. Nova herself backtracks after throwing the flashbang, looking to make her way back to where that Outer Heaven extraction is going to be.
Big Boss	A lesser trained soldier would be dead. Blackout Boa is faced with /way/ too much firepower. As soon as the bullets start firing, he falls back towards the closest cover he can get at the stairs, trying not to get obltierated. Bottomless ammo. Shifting Wolfe in his arms, he makes a dash for it, taking several shots to his body armor when Gideon speaks, and heading straight overboard. He's pretty injured, but Wolfe is fine. He's rude - he doesn't even reply to Gideon, but he's clearly afraid of the soldiers. That's why he grabs a grenade. This one is not a sleep grenade. It goes flying, detonating in the middle. It's not frag either - chaff. It's meant to disorient them quickly, but would have a side effect on electronic cameras and sensors - if any of Staren's drones are nearby, they'll get hit by it and have trouble reading things over there. Pequod pulls up, and Blackout Boa grabs onto a rope that's dropped. He's expecting to get shot at, so he pulls up quickly, diving in. The question is whether or not Pequod can get out of their without being torn apart, as Boa shouts to Nova. "Detonate it!" There's no contest on Domovoi. Furthermore, if Gideon checks Domovoi's data or asks, he finds out that Wolfe was a bit cocky - he hadn't yet wiped the information on where Domovoi was created and tested. It's still there!
Nova Terra	Nova runs across the deck, probably starting to come under considerable fire at this point. Bullets whiz around her, some finding purchase as they slam into Nova's suit. The Ghost grunts from the impact, briefly knocked off balance as even though the bullets don't penetrate, they still have a hell of a kick to them. As Nova gets the signal to detonate, she does so. As she runs, she presses a control on her wrist display. The various planted explosives light up. Moments later, Nova jumps off the edge of the deck, reaching out to grab hold of one of those ropes dangled from the retreating Outer Heaven copter. As she is lifted off into the air, Nova looks back to watch the results of her work.
Staren	Staren flees when this turns back into a gunfight, making his way to Haguro for now while Gideon and Wolfe sort out their differences. <"If this was expected then how come noone else was ready for it?!">
Big Boss	As everyone retreats to a ship or to a helicopter, Staren can start to drag people to Haguro, but he won't be able to get everyone for one important reason - the ship explodes. It doesn't consume everyone in a massive fireball, but the engine going out takes it down quickly, and there's far too many people, unconscious, to save, including crew members. The living crewmembers are mostly taken out with the lifeboats' explosions. So while the Elites are able to get out, as well as a couple rich and powerful people who will be Very Grateful, the Nostradamus has gone down. It'll be an international incident. Though, since it was part of an illegal arms deal, it probably won't leave governments mobilizing directly, but...well, there'll certainly be a call of terrorism for some.