ic Breaking the Bastion

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Hanover, on a rooftop opposite the Bastion Technologies building

6PM, January 6, 2021

 

A few hours after Chimera fought Freestyle at FCU Campus, she had arrived in Hanover. 

 

The weather had grown colder and darker. A silent rain was slowly falling.

 

Positioned on a roof across the street, Chimera looked at the Bastion Building, nestled between start ups and internet companies. From out here, it looked pretty ordinary. Just another little tech company in Hanover, one among many in Hanover.

 

She was not alone.

 

A shadow fell on her from above.

[Spacefurry]

Chimera stood on the dimly lit rooftop as the rain ran in rivulets along the rough edges of the techno-organics that twined around her. She stared across at the Bastion building lost in thought.

”Geez, I wish I had an umbrella.”

The rain was soaking her through the open spaces of the symbiote. She hugged herself to try to work some warmth back into her arms as she contemplated the best way to enter the building.

”Let’s call it what it is, breaking and entering.”

She sighed and mentally psyched herself up when she noticed something. A shadow was falling on her.

“Shitshitshit...”

Chimera spun around, raising an arm defensively.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

"Didn't I see you at that thing with Midas back in December? Really doesn't look like you're supposed to be here, huh?" 

 

Casper was pretty sure this was a good guy, but... yeah, who knew? She seemed damn nervous, so maybe not, or maybe this was just her first time doing something like whatever she was supposed to be doing.

 

Ghost floated down from above, landing at the roof next to Chimera and looking ahead at the building. He kneeled next to Chimera and looked ahead.

 

"Bastion Tech, huh? So, what're you up to, then? Turning bad? Looking for a lead or something?"

[Spacefurry]

Chimera blinked and looked up at Ghost. It took her a moment to recognize him from what he said.

”That’s right, it was the bank robbery.”

She nodded as she watched him float down. Realizing he was another hero had let her relax a little. She looked back across at the Bastion building when he joined her. She gave a small sigh and frowned behind the face plate that covered her mouth and nose.

”Could be nothing, but it’s the only lead I could think of. Earlier today, someone called Freestyle broke into one of the University labs and copied some experimental research. From want little I was able to gather from the head of the project, Bastion had been in contact with him and seemed very eager to get their hands on it.”

She put her hands on her hips.

”It feels like a pretty weak excuse to break in, but it’s all I have to go on.”

Chimera gave a weak little shrug of resignation.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

"Eh, to be fair, bank robberies tend to be Midas' M.O. in general, so... doesn't narrow it down too much (gotta wonder about why a guy like that wants to steal gold from banks of all places, but eh)." Ghost didn't sound uninterested, but he did seem kind of bored as he listened to Chimera's explanation.

 

So, Freestyle? He'd heard of her. Some kind of industrial spy on roller skates or something like that. Casper hadn't actually fought her or anything, but yeah, she was a bad guy alright.

 

"I've heard worse reasons." Ghost reached up to his goggles and adjusted them, activating the X-Ray. Some people were inside. "Sounds like a pretty standard grab and run on her part. Guess she got away from you or something like that?" He paused briefly, then stood up and stretched his back. He glanced briefly down at Chimera. She was new at this. That much was clear. Young, too, but at least she wasn't a kid. "Alright. So you got a reason, but not good enough that you wanna get caught, right?" He should just leave it alone. Chimera'd be fine. She'd learn, maybe get caught, maybe... Yeah, alright. He was not gonna leave it alone. "So, how do you wanna do this? What do you know about the place? Found somewhere you can get in there?"

[Spacefurry]

Chimera was glad the symbiote covered her cheeks as Ghost correctly guessed that Freestyle had escaped her. “Something like that.” She agreed.

 

On 4/23/2021 at 5:38 AM, RocketLord said:

GHOST

 "So, how do you wanna do this? What do you know about the place? Found somewhere you can get in there?"

She was looking across at the building she realized what he was saying. “Wha.. ah.” Chimera was caught off guard for a moment and looked over at Ghost. Looking back across the street she thought for a moment.

”Shoot. Come on think Jenny, what would a real hero do?” She bit her lip behind her mask as her brow furrowed.

”I doubt someone was careless enough to leave a window open. So, maybe the roof...” She started, sounding a little unsure at first. The covering over the lower half of her face opened reflexively as she bit her thumbnail thoughtfully. “The roof access will probably have an alarm.”

”Oh my god, I have no plan. What am I thinking? I’m going to look like a fool in front of him. Think. Think. Think...”

Chimera though quickly, thankful for the symbiote’s boost to her speed both mentally and physically.

”Once inside, gain access to the servers try to trace any queries on Dr. Kent’s research. Hopefully that will point to the next link in the chain. Maybe get lucky and find the thumb drive in the building somewhere.”

Chimera was careful not to use ‘we’ or ‘us’. She didn’t want to assume Ghost’s intentions. She glance sideways at him, trying to judge his opinion.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

"Roof's a classic," Ghost agreed. "But think things through. Bastion's a high tech place, yeah? An alarm will probably be the least of the things up there, y'know. Be on your guard, right?"

 

He would have found a good wall to go through, of course, but the kid had to figure it out on her own. Wouldn't do her any good if she'd just rely on him getting her through things, right?

 

"Trying to find a thumb drive's kind of needle in a haystack approach, but sure. Better than no plan." Yeah, right. Like he ever tended to plan that far ahead. Sound good and mentor-y, now. 

 

Ghost cracked his neck once. Oh, that felt good. Needed to be ready for this, then. "Alright, then. Let's go."

[Spacefurry]

Chimera grimaced as Ghost pointed out the flaws in her train of thought.

”I’m not expecting a big glowing arrow pointing to it like in some kind of game.”

She conceded.

“But it’s at least an objective. Or if I can trace the emails back to a sender, it’d be a starting point.”

She took a deep breath and stepped up to the edge of the roof top and readied to climb down.

 

On 4/30/2021 at 10:38 AM, RocketLord said:

GHOST

 

 "Alright, then. Let's go."

Chimera hesitated for a moment. She hadn’t been sure what he was going to stay or leave her to her own chances. She smiled in relief that she wasn’t going to be alone this time.

The techno-organic symbiote covered her mouth against and she let herself over the edge and made her way down to the street. 
Moving quickly, she crossed to the Bastion side of the street. She tried to keep her eyes open for external cameras as she looked for the best way up to to the tech company’s roof.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

Casper looked after Chimera as she climbed down. Should he just get this over with, ghost them into the place and find whatever she was looking for, but... Nah. She had to do this, right.

 

While Chimera made her way across the ground, Ghost flew down after her and held out a hand. 

 

"C'mon. I'll get you up there."

 

If she accepted, he would ghost her and fly them both up to the roof.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The Bastion building seemed rather mundane from the outside. Nothing seemed especially out of the ordinary. If Chimera didn't accept Ghost's offer, she would find a fire escape on the side of the building, inside a small alley. She would at least be able to use that to get to the roof.

 

The roof itself was sparse. A door in a small building, leading inside. A few vents making sure the building was properly ventilated.

 

There was a keypad by the door.

[Spacefurry]

6 hours ago, RocketLord said:

GHOST

 

"C'mon. I'll get you up there."

“Huh? Oh.”

Chimera looked a little embarrassed, but took Ghost’s offered hand, letting him get her to the roof. She could have used the fire escape she had spotted, but if he was going to offer his help it would be rude to refuse.

”Thanks.”

She said once up top. The door was there across from them, set into a small building on the roof. Mounted beside it was a security panel. Chimera didn’t move for a moment as she looked around.
”I’d be surprised if there wasn’t at least one camera watching the door. As soon as we show up on a security monitor, the clock will start ticking.”

She said seriously, eyeing the keypad. Taking a deep breath she quickly crossed the roof to the door. She took a moment to get a closer look at the pad then glanced back at Ghost.

”Don’t suppose you know about bypassing these things?”

Chimera asked jokingly as she examined the door, trying to decide the best way to force it. The actual locking mechanisms were usually the strongest part. But a lot of people don’t think about the hinges being weak points she thought. For a moment she actually thought she might have to try pulling the whole frame out of the wall.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Once they reached the top of the building and got up close, it became clear that the roof was not as empty as it first appeared. While not everywhere, the roof seemed to have several pressure pads spread along it, particularly near the door. There were a few cameras as well.

 

Luckily, both heroes could spot them and manage to move around them, escaping notice for the most part.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

After he had dropped Chimera off at the roof, Casper moved towards the cameras, taking them out one by one as he moved through them, before returning to Chimera at the security panel.

 

"I mostly just move through them and short them out." He shrugged. "Kind of a thing I can do, reach in and pull things out."

 

He looked at it. He could do some of that, but... "Give it a shot, just, y'know... don't step right on those pressure pads."

[Spacefurry]

Having avoided the pressure pads as Ghost took out the cameras Chimera had time to turn her attention away from the possible need to tear the door from its frame and take another look at the key pad. She examined the pad, there was a small display set above the number keys. It wasn't much to see, but it gave her a bit of information, namely just how many key inputs in the passcode there were. Squinting at the keys she could see dust clinging to a few of the buttons, probably caught by the natural oils left behind when people touch things. Chimera smiled behind her mask, if the keys were correct this just got much easier.

"With 10 digits there are 10,000 possible combinations for a 4 digit code. But if you can narrow down the numbers used you can reduce those possibilities dramatically."

Tapping on specific keys she begins inputting codes with incredibly speed, speaking casually as she does so.

"Even just removing one or two numbers cuts the possible combinations almost in half. But if you can narrow it down to just the 4 digits used, with no numbers being repeated, you're left with only 24 possible combinations."

She continues to tap away.

"It's like narrowing down a pool of suspects until you can place the proper person in the proper place."

Chimera chuckled at her own play on words, as bad as it was, and hoped she wasn't wrong in front of the professional hero watching her.

"Why does it feel like my father is watching over my shoulder?"

 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The second combination worked. Which proved to be lucky, since the screen had previously displayed 3 tries remaining after the first failed code.

 

With the door now open, Chimera and Ghost was faced with a rather mundane set of stairs that led into the building. They terminated at the top floor, a long hallway with several offices on either side.

 

They could hear muffled voices from one of the offices to the left.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

"Sure. If you got unlimited tries." Ghost pointed to the blinking display, before it ended and allowed them to open the door. Of course she was lucky. Figured. Hopefully that wouldn't go to her head.

 

Ghost placed a hand on the door handled and opened it, revealing the stairs. He motioned with his head for Chimera to go first. She was taking the lead, he was just backup, after all.

[Spacefurry]

Chimera blinked at the display and grimaced behind he mask.

”Idoit. Why to look like a noob.”

”Well... ah, right.”

She cleared her throat and stood. When Ghost motioned her to take the lead she nodded and stepped into the stairway. Quietly and cautiously she descended, finding herself at the end of a hall.

”Okay, just need to find the right office.”

She says in a lowered voice as she glances around for cameras. Slipping down the hall, moving from door to door she paused long enough to look for a name plate and listen for the voices that were coming from one of the offices on her left. Paying more attention to and job titles or department indicators that may be on them. Trying the handles of rooms she didn’t hear anything from.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

It wasn't easy to make out what the voices were saying, but one was clearly a man, with a deep, rumbling voice, and the other was a woman. Her tone was lighter, playful. Sounded almost familar.

 

The doors were labeled with names and titles. Neither of the heroes recognized any of the names, and the titles were usual stuff like director of this or that, senior researcher, head of this and that and so on. The door with the noise had the name Miles Travers, and the title CEO.

[RocketLord]

GHOST

 

"Go for the noise, that's the classic." Ghost's tone was dry. Sure, kid made mistake, but she was doing fine. Everyone was nervous with someone more experienced looking over their neck, but he didn't feel like she should be left alone here.

 

He adjusted his goggles, letting him see through the walls.

 

"There's a guy in there and a girl on skates. Sound like someone you know?"

[Spacefurry]

Chimera glanced from one door to the next before Ghost spoke up. She glanced back at him with obvious surprise, then towards the door the voices were coming from. Her brow furrowed as she concentrated on the voices for a moment.

Then the anger set in.

Chimera moved over to the door, her fists were clenched and her shoulders were tensed. Then, in one swift motion she kicked at the door.

[RocketLord]

GHOST 

 

Ghost looked at Chimera. If she could see his eyes, he would seem surprised as he tilted his head slightly, trying to understand what she was going to do and then... she just went and did it.

 

"Hey! Don't!" 

 

Too little, too late, she was already there, kicking down the door.

 

Kids were bad enough. Kids with a grudge? Even worse.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The door didn't really stand a chance against Chimera's kick, swinging wildly open and into the room.

 

It was an office with a desk, a computer, some chairs. One of the walls had a bookshelf absolutely filled with books on business and technology. 

 

An older African American man stood leaned over the desk, dressed in dress shirt and jeans. He looked tired, but suddenly awake after Chimera's sudden appearance. 

 

Freestyle stood in front of the desk. "Oh, yes." She quickly moved her helmet down with one hand, while she reached for the disks with the other.

 

"Not in here!" the man yelled with the voice of someone that had to clean up fights too many times.

 

Freestyle didn't listen. She threw the disk at Chimera, hitting her shoulder where it stuck to her and sent a violent shock through her body.

Edited June 15, 2021 by RocketLord

[RocketLord]

GHOST 

 

Oh, great. Bystanders. Innocent or not, he would way too easily get caught in the fight, and... yeah. Nobody gets hurt, not if Ghost can help it.

 

While Freestyle engaged Chimera, Ghost flew around them and grabbed hold of the man, then pulled him down into the room below. 

 

"Stay right here until we sort things out, deal?" 

 

He probably wouldn't, but you never knew.

[Spacefurry]

Chimera barely even acknowledged the older man behind the desk, her attention on Freestyle. The woman had made a fool of her earlier today and she was wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“Found you.”

 

On 6/14/2021 at 5:12 AM, RocketLord said:

Freestyle stood in front of the desk. "Oh, yes." She quickly moved her helmet down with one hand, while she reached for the disks with the other.

 

...

 

Freestyle didn't listen. She threw the disk at Chimera, hitting her shoulder where it stuck to her and sent a violent shock through her body.

 

Maybe the disc was faulty or maybe Chimera was just that angry, but she just shrugged off the jolt. She grabbed the disc, yanked it off and crushed it in her hand. Letting the pieces fall to the floor as she opened her hand.

“Not this time.”

Chimera didn’t seem to even notice Ghost as he grabbed the man and disappeared through the floor. She growled and rushed forward with incredible speed. Her hand lashing out to grab for Freestyle.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"HEY!" Freestyle did not like that! She tried to twist out of Chimera's grip, turning and moving her body, pushing back against her captor, but it just wasn't enough.

 

At the same time, the man tried to push past Ghost, instead passing right through him as he tried to run into the hallway.