It's taken a few days to gather all of the information, from Tasha's orbital photos to Raehab's hand-drawn maps and whatever else Yue, Riddle and Rapatia could scrounge. It took another day to combine them all into something accessible, which now floats on the crystal table. The city of Helheim is visible, along with the mountains that surround it and the lone road that provides heavily-guarded ground access.
Gabriel and Raehab look it all over with a military eye, while Rapatia and Riddle remain quiet for the time being. Tasha and Yue share one side of the table as well.
The mangled Vartan zooms things out a bit, and points to the neighboring valley. In the night shots from Sheol, it appears that the city is located there instead of where it is during the day. "Decoy lights here. Must be a link back to the city proper, yeah?" he suggests. "Maintenance tunnel at least."
"Unless there's local power? Or did you already work out the power consumption and the plant need -- do the thermals rule it out?" Tasha inquires, her head proped on her hand as she stares at the projections with uncharacteristic levels of focus. It's a side of Tasha the others see only now and then, the young woman pushing herself beyond the smartass jokes, the irreverance and the smiles straight to the heart of the business at hand.
"Too extensive a decoy," Gabriel notes. "And yes, they duplicate the thermal signatures. If it's local power, then someone has to be maintaining it. The main city completely shuts down at night it seems."
"There'll be some ground-to-air defenses to maintain the ruse," Rapatia suggests. "Not as much as the main city of course."
Tasha nods slowly, not distracted but concentrating and thinking. "And maybe patrols and vehicles? Fake vehicles?" She inquires, having gained some idea of military arrangements from her time on this world, Nora's memories, her studies, and her extensive exposure to military-types.
"And spotters dug into the peaks all around," Riddle says, pointing to the likely points. "Listening posts."
"Tricky," Tasha admits. A world away, a year back, she would have never imagined she'd be discussing military strategy. "Anything else?"
"Likely got multiple power plants too," Raehab says. "Every city on Abaddon uses geothermal energy. They will too. That means underground structures, exhaust and ventilation systems."
"They'll be patrolling those too, won't they?" The young woman reaches up and points at while manipulating the display, bringing a depection of Expedition City's version of the geomthermal ductwork. "We have some records from other cities; the internal pipeline mentioned guards along the tracks, and at entry points, but technology to survive inside the ducting itself is still rare on this world, isn't it?"
"They aren't expecting any sort of ground attack - their defenses are too heavy there," Gabriel notes. "The decoy and spotters are their primary aerial defense, along with altitude. They aren't set up to handle a small commando infiltration, so they probably will patrol any weak points and entries, including the ducts." He expands the city itself, until the buildings become clearer. "From Raehab's maps, this building is their church. The book translation will be there, most likely."
"They don't wear masks in the city," Riddle notes. "We know that much from Captain Herschel's debriefing. Anyone trying to go in through the front door will need to be human."
"Then I and anyone who doesn't appear to be human will probably need to wait in the wings for the infiltrator to let us inside; if we don't know how that will go when we set out we'll also need a method of communicating it without setting off their detectors. That's if we split up and try to use deception rather than stealth alone," Tasha muses, rubbing her chain with the hand her head rests on. "Have we chosen deception, then?"
"There's traffic between Helheim and the Kampfengruppe outposts, but the most frequent is with the Gateway settlement, where the Offworld Legion is stationed," Raehab notes. "An armored convoy leaves Gateway every week. Given the distance and terrain.. it probably doesn't reach the city before the next convoy leaves. I'd say it's a ten day journey."
"The key to planning is to remember that no one strategy survives contact with the enemy," Rapatia notes. "So.. we want human infiltration group, stealth commando group and big distraction group."
"That will make hiding part of the team difficult, won't it? Ten days of food, water, maybe air as well." The hybrid woman pauses, listens to Rapatia and nods. "A bigger team than we envisoned before, then. We aim for clandestine action and infiltration, we fall back on covert and if all else fails we fall back on overt action?"
"Depend on which have best chance," Rapatia notes. "Humans in convoy.. we try to get real Kampf for that. Stealth.. drop straight down from high altitude. Higher is better. Gots 'magic' to help with hiding part, yeah? Distraction keep them busy elsewhere. Insiders deal with security at book. Stealthers go in, grab it, get out."
"That makes sense to me," Tasha agrees, nodding more energetically now as things begin to fall in to place. "The infiltration team will, of course, consist of at least Yue. Yue may need a guide; she doesn't have our familiarity with this world. Well, your. The stealth team will favor fliers and mobile, but heavy-enough, weaponry. That means advanced weaponry and powered armor, so that's at least me. The distraction team isn't as limited, right? They'll favor military-types, the heaviest weapons, armor, and enough mobility to escape? Maybe vehicles -- stolen or otherwise -- for theft as part of the distraction?"
"Distraction doesn't have to be military," Gabriel notes. "It just has to be a distraction. Fire, system failure, avalanche, earthquake.."
"I'd prefer to be on the stealth team, Tasha," Yue says. "I do not fit the Kampf standard for human. Riddle might, if she dyes her hair and pretends to be the weaker sex."
Normally Tasha would have made a joke; not today. "I'll defer to you on that, then. You know how best to use your abilities. The risk with Riddle as I see it," and here she glances at the woman, "is that she's a somewhat well-known ambassador. The disguise would need to be good, otherwise I know Riddle can handle it." She then turns to Gabriel and spreads her hands, lifting her head. "I'd forgot about that. An 'innocent' distraction would also be less likely to rile them up, which would cause problems for the other teams, wouldn't it?"
Gabriel seems to brood.. but then grins and winks at Tasha. "Actually.. I have a distraction in mind, thanks to those other photos you took."
Tasha's brows arch at the grin. "Should I be worried?" She asks, her ears slowly canting back.
The others seem to share that expression as they look to the Karnor.
"I'm worried," Tasha admits a second later, seeing the reactions.
"We need to go to the libration point to plant the hyperspace transceiver," Gabriel notes. "The debris there will help to hide it. And also give us a chance to find something interesting enough to drag back and drop near Helheim. The reentry of the junk can mask the shuttlecraft as well, where Tasha and Yue will jump from."
Tasha blinks at the idea. "Not what I was afraid of, but still very scary," the young woman admits, then she folds her hands and lets her head rest on them again. "A meteroid would be distracting; depending on how big it is it might be all they can do not to notice. That would also cause the citizens to take shelter, wouldn't it? Like during Kaiju attack? That means we shouldn't have to worry about hurting civilians nearly as much. Even the military might pull its people in, dispatch some to investigate? At the very least it will shake the city -- literally and um, ... figuratively."
"It may land relatively intact," Gabriel points out. "That's a treasure trove of materials they'll be able to use. As for where.. we'll have to figure that out after we find an appropriate hulk. You'll need to carry Yue out of the city though. Once you're down, any magic you bring will be working. We'll have to set up a rendesvous outside the city.. how far can you fly in armor and carrying someone small?"
Tasha uncoils her hands enough to thumb back at herself with her one talon. "I flew across a continent not a month ago, and a quarter of that with unpowered armor; don't worry about me. If I have to fly all the way back to The Pit, I will."
"I'd like a seatbelt," Yue notes. "What's the backup if we get caught?"
"Tasha beats people up," Gabriel says.
At the answer Tasha simply shrugs, a grin playing at the edge of her muzzle not entirely backed up by sentiment.
"Bribery works wonders," Rapatia notes, and winks at Raehab. "And we get Riddle in.. she make sure you get out."
"I'm not that well known," Riddle points out. "The Kampf don't deal with the other nations or the Pit. And we're pretty sure they don't have spies. They can't afford to pay them."
"I'd better bring a big gun, just in case. It's not like anyone will mistake me for being anyone else, either, even in my armor. I'll need to modify a suit to look generic and see if we can equip Yue similiarly. Revealing who we are may not cause any obvious backlash, but they may still try to get to us covertly, for revenge. We can't check every human for ties to the Kamp," Tasha notes, speaking an old concern in a new form. She had once feared the revenge against Hakeber for her plotting and now the arrow of the clock has turned in time, pointing at her. "Of course if we use paid spies and other infiltraitors, that might be an issue for anyone else who can be determined?"
"There's no risk-free approach to this," Riddle points out. "If you get caught, and they recognize you.. then they'll be in a bad spot. They can't just execute you. Everyone knows what the JEF can do after the battle with Tesla. Add to that the fact that whatever just fell out of the sky as a distraction had to have been engineered as well. They'll see that they could be wiped out and it would look like an accident."
"And given the choice between being forced to negotiate or just letting you go, letting you go is the least embarrassing option," Rapatia notes.
"'Join the JEF: We can wipe you out and make it look like an accident!' We should make that one of our recruitment posters," Tasha remarks, turning to glance at Gabriel for a moment before looking back. To Tasha, it seems like she's somehow gained dominance over the world despite her effort to avoid it; control born of power. It stings like another lesson, one she doens't have time to think about in depth. "At least for a time? We'll have to reply in kind, if that happens. Maybe they won't forgive us, but it's better than letting them fester in thier powerlessness. I know what that leads to." She then nods, decisively. "Then we know the risks. Should we look at team composition? Or return to operation route planning?"
"Keep in mind that we wouldn't actually attack them," Gabriel notes. "That's just how they think of people outside their group."
"I guess I'm with Raehab then," Riddle says. "He can help me recruit someone on the inside, as well as help find a person for me to replace in the convoy."
"Isn't what they think more important than the actuality? I remember being lectured by Silent-Ones about this," notes the young woman, who shifts and leans back in her chair, brows arching. "It's their Book. It might be worse than an attack. They're obsen- ... obsentis ... " Her eyes roll. "Obstentesibly a theorcracy." She then turns to Riddle and nods. "Raehab and Riddle for infiltration, Yue and I for stealth, and Gabriel and his meteor for distraction. Do we have anyone else? Volunteers?"
"That should be enough," Gabriel says. "I'll pilot the shuttle too. And I'm sure they have more than one copy of their translation. So long as you don't take one that's up on a pedestal or something they may not notice for some time."
"There's one more problem that I see:" Here Tasha leans forward, then brings up two displays of what appear to be notes. The first is hand written, neat, and cramped: Much of the text is redacted, but they speak of the Book and there are thoughts on the language involved and its nature. The second set of notes are more haphazard, as if they're some combination of thought-flow and actual data, speculating on the Book, its contents, and even the materials and nature of its construction -- both speak heavily of alien structure, the possibility of obscure language and even non-native materials. "How do we know which is the real copy? I cna probably guess a fake if it's nothing about the dominance of humans and how their citizens should obey their leaders, but beyond that there could be difficulty. I might be able to rely on other, um, connections to the Book but that's just speculation. It seems like I'll need to bring Hakeber physically or else have her pool our information and prepare something f
or comparisons along with Fred, an analysis program."
"There's almost no chance that the original, Progenitor-created book is on Abaddon," Riddle claims. "Translations are just that, translations. Regular books. The only unusual thing is that the Kampf are unlikely to have digital copies. They may not even be printed copies but hand-copied. They won't have anything special about them, physically."
"That helps," Tasha agrees, nodding to Riddle's words. "I'd have liked to have seen the original, but it's probably still on Fafnir. That answers my concern, then." The young woman then turns to her mate and from him sweeps her gaze across thsoe gathered. "Then, is there anything else to discuss?"
"You'll need crash-course in reading Bosch," Riddle says. "You can probably take care of that on the flight out on Bellerophon, but I imagine you have time still. We need to arrange for me and our allies to be in place at the proper time. At the very least we'll need to know the travel times involved for the convoy and for your spaceship."
"Then it sounds like we have a lot of numbers to crush and general planning to do, whcih we should get to." Tasha looks around one more time, then reaches over and flips the display off before pulling the datacrystal and pocketing it. "I should also put in with the Titanians to retrieve Eli," she notes to the older Karnor as she rises from her seat. "We'll need him for aftewards. The flight out will be a good test for that, too."
"We should be able to contact him directly once the relay is in place," Gabriel notes.
"That's good," Tasha agrees as she picks up her things, shouldering a dufflebag and then setpping over to stand beside Gabriel. "Want to get some lunch, then get to work?"
Sending mail via the Dainty Mauler is tricky. It isn't as if the message can be delivered directly to the Dark Horse, which means it has to be sent to a go-between that the crew would check in with regularly. For now, that would be Kem, since he actually has an address on Caltrop Station. The other challenge is getting the Titanians to do it though.
It's also tempting, while in the neighborhood, to try and get a better look at the Kampfengruppe's activities. But the only unmasked people belong to the Offworld Legion - the actual human Kampf members rarely leave the proto-dome.
"I may not get used to the smell of metal," Liza tells Tasha once they enter the mercantile area outside the dome, where the other nations have set up booths and businesses.
"It must be hard for a vegetarian," Tasha agrees, noting the difference scents between their choice of cusine. "We're going to find the Titanians first; if we miss the chance to reach them it will complicate things. Afterwards, we'll be looking around a bit." Her secretary already knows the details of the 'looking around,' which is both a euphamisim for spying and also a solid indicator the hybrid has become the kind of person who uses euphamisims for spying. "Oh and if you see anything you like, let me know. We don't get a chance to shop much, do we?" She gestures broadly at the stands as they make their way towards the airfield.
"But.. these places are just selling cheap stuff from Abu-Dhabi," the Lapi notes. She's got a book bag slung over her shoulder, holding her organizer and a copy of one of the Silent-Ones 'missionary' books that she's been reading since the visit to Star City. "I will be on the look-out for pretzels though," she assures.
The airfield is busy, as usual, since it's "Fish Day" at the Dainty Mauler. This means large grilling devices, giant monster space fish and a mild carnival atmosphere.
Tasha smiles at that. "It's not a trip to an Abaddonain bazaar without pretzels," she agrees. "Some day I should take you Expedition City, they have indoor bazaars called 'malls.'"
As Tasha and Liza pass from the merchant district in toe the wide open of the airfield, the hybrid woman gestures ahead at the gigantic ship which dwarfs the Melchior and Bellerophon combined. "The Dainty Mauler, or Precise Killer depending on who you ask. A Titanian battleship, a starship; an example of who they were before they lived on Sinai. Oh, and it's "Fish Day." We'll be looking for a big Titanian woman, the captain, first mate, or anyone who can reach them. The woman's name is Bumper. Just ask yourself, "which one would be Tasha's mom if she were a Titanian." That'll be her." And so they continue along across the dry, cold field as the behemoth looms ever closer.
Liza hurries to keep up on her shorter legs. "It looks like a sailing ship.. kind of," she admits. "Not like the Titanian stuff in Titania. Where are the giant Titans?" she asks. At least one Titanian is in his usual spot: Blammo, manning (wolfing?) one of the giant turbo-grills. His armored chefs apron has several dents in it.
"The Titans on Sinai, the ones these Titanians know, and even my own Titan share a common history. Titan is a universal word; Titans are the echoes of the gods made from metal and faith," Tasha explains as they walk, gesturing up at the shop again. "For the Titanians, who are named after they, metal and faith are who they are and what they admire. The god-machine, the forge. It's part of who they are just as much as 'Titan' is part of 'Titanian.' As for the ship, it travels through space -- I told you about the void between worlds?" Her hand falls, then she turns as she notices Blammo. Turning direction, she heads his way.
"Hoy Blammo!" The half-Vartan calls out, giving him a wave.
"Hoy, Rustpuppy!" Blammo replies, waving a very large battle-spatula. "You bring daughter?"
"Yah remember old bunny? Surprise surprise," Tasha replies with a laugh, then she gestures to Liza as then approach the large man. "This is Liza, my secretary! Liza, this is Blammo; Blammo and I found our Titans together. Big adventure."
"You secret?" Blammo asks, bending down and offering his hand. Luckily, Liza has enough experience with Titanians to not show any fear. "Yes. Rustpuppy has lots of secrets, but I am the best one," she tells the big wolf.
Tasha makes a very hush-hush finger-over-muzzle gesture, then walks over and gives the big man a hug just like that. Leaning back, she notes, "Other secrets today, is Bumper, the Captain, or First Officer around? Need to send a message."
"Bumper like massage," Blammo claims, and points to a tent-like booth near the front of the ship. "She over there doing mucky-muck stuffs."
"Hoookay," goes Tasha, who isn't sure she wants to interupt 'mucky-mucky' stuff, nor see it for that matter. "I'll justgo over there. If I run back over here really fast, take my, um, hide me or something -- save Liza first." She waves her hand for Liza to follow, then begins towards the tent grabbing a fish off the BBQ as she goes.
The tent is well away from the grills and crowds, but still smells exotic. Either spice, perfume or booze. Possibly all of them, plus tobacco. There isn't anyone outside guarding the flap, but neither is it wide open.
"You're about to experience one of the problems of adventure: the danger fof the unknown. Also: Titanians," Tasha whispers to her secretary as she edges up tothe tent as if it might leap out and bite her at any second. "I don't know what Blammo meant and he won't explain it or doesn't know how. The last time that happened I ended up with fangs and a weird shade of pink-red for my fur. Bumper is scarier than most Titanians, but she's also my mentor. I am equally likely to be welcomed or have something hit my head and end up waking up somewhere new." She reaches the tent edge, then leeeans in as she starts moving the curtian, peaking with one eye. "Or both? Maybe crying. Lets see ... " And with that she looks inside.
There's a lot of smoke, and figures around a low table with some odd gurgling apparatus on it. There isn't much light, except what gets through the canopy fabric. Everyone is sitting on the ground it seems, as well. The bigger shapes are probably Titanians, but there are others that could be anything.
Secretly hoping a Harrower will reach out from beyond time to discuss the specifics of extra-universal geometries rather than have to step inside the tent, Tasha waits a moment and sees nothing is going to save her, then turns to Liza. "Wait here, if I don't come back or start screaming or, I don't know, something bad go back to Blammo. I'll, um, catch up. Probably." With a deep breath, the young hybrid woman ducks and slips in to the dark, trying to keep a low profile.
"Who there?" Rushfighter asks.
"Nobody. Spooky wind noise. Fish ghost," replies the intruder, who suddenly has serious doubts about her survival invading Helheim.
"Rustpuppy?" Rushfighter asks.. and then a shadowed hand reaches over to grab Tasha.. who then finds herself sitting in the Titanian's lap, and being offered a pipe that's connected to the central device by a hose.
"Y-hrk!" Goes Tasha, who is carried like so much pile of actual puppy through the air and in to a strange lap. She doesn't need to sniff around to know whose it is, and so settles in and lays her ears back. The pipe is accepted and she huffs it, looking a bit huffy herself.
"Yah," the young woman admits a second later, sounding more than a bit cowed for the experience.
At least the smoke is.. relaxing. As her eyes adjust, she can see a Silent-One, an Eeee and a Vartan in the tent along with Rushfighter and Bumper, all happily stoned. From the way they're dressed, however, they look to be well off or possibly important. But then, Tasha knows the Silent-Ones do business with the Titanians - and that the Confederates sold the Overlook to Bumper, apparently.
The smoke explains a great deal, largely through the language of happy. Tasha blinks a few times, feeling less embarassed and settling in. She leans back against the woman she knows is there, holding the pipe in both hands as she studies faces. It feels like an hour before she remembers why she came. "Uhm," goes she. "Hi. Oh. Message, right: Need Eli back. Help mebbe?" There's more huffing.
"Which one Eli?" Bumper asks. Her breath smells spicy.
"Smart one, science ... guy. Never goes out. Flirts with robot. Eli. Oh. Wolf," is the answer. Tasha sniffs at the breath, then sits up to see if there's food to go along with the smell.
There's a plate of little round.. things. They might be meat or something else, but they look spicy and have some sort of glaze on them. Like the hookah, they might be from Abu-Dhabi as well.
Tasha reaches for one. "Hey what's going on anyway?" She asks as if she hadn't just barged in to a secret meeting of people more grown up than she.
"Hokay, yah.. not you boyfriend one," Bumper recalls. "Where at?"
"Secret meeting for grown ups," Bumper notes casually. "Business stuffs. Hush hush, shhhh.. you prolly not 'member any of it anyway if you do its right.."
The treat is snatched. This necessitates some juggling of tube and snack, but Tasha manags it. "Green gift ship you not mean to gift. Like it though, got you good. Get Eli? For, uhm ... old ... things." A pause, then. "Mmmrm, spicey."
"So.. snatch 'im?" Bumper asks.
"Yah or uh .. ask ... nicely? Oh, uhm, he in charge and ... hey cookie." Another treat is grabbed off the table. "What? Oh." More hookaing, then, "Where was ... Oh. Moka. Moka in charge. Put. Not ... first squeaky fish. Lose ship, fly everywhere. Moka. Eli back. Moka boss."
"You real lightweight with this stuff," Bumper tells Tasha. "Got letter for him? He find us, yeah?"
"Stupid tube break me by fixing," Tasha explains about being a lightweight. "Used t'be good, n'nymore!" There's a snort of disgust, followed by, "Ooh, letter:" There's some squirimg, then rustling, then a data crystal is placed in Bumper's hand.
"Hokay, I keep safe," Bumper says, before sticking the crystal into her bra. Which is pretty safe. Titanian underwear can stop medium caliber bullets.
"Hokay, good," notes Tasha, who stretches her legs out and looks increasing unlikely to get up.
"Are you going to be a while visiting, Miss Tasha?" Liza asks from outside of the tent flap. "Should I go get us some pretzels?"
"Hi bunny," goes Tasha, who appears to be slowly melitng in to comfortable Tasha-goo. "A while. Get pretzels, 'nuff to share. Uhm. Tired now." A pause for a cavernous yawn; she didn't get much sleep since her return, she remembers. "Wake later." And some time after that, the world vanishes like smoke in the wind.