| From: | "Brian E. Angliss" <ANGLISS@******.BITNET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Maxim Raid, part 4 |
| Date: | Sat, 4 Feb 1995 16:00:33 -0500 |
From the last section of camera and audio log, you notice an
immediate change. This section is of what is called the White
level, the small part of the facility that is above ground. The
second thing you notice is the focus on several sections of the
building, specifically the room where AJ actually waits, drugged
and bound, but still obviously angry at the person sitting across
the way from him--Nicole Macha Velli, President and CEO, Maxim
Arms.
You have perhaps seen pictures of her on the trid, but this is
different. She is the ideal buisnesswoman here, clad in a
tailored and imported Italian charcoal grey with blue
shadowstripe buisness suit. The only thing that doesn't look
quite normal is the small calibre pistol, apparently a Beretta
200ST, in matte black. Judging by the way she's holding it,
she's not just a ruthless buisnesswoman but someone who's likely
seen the darker side of the corporate world, and with what you
know of her background as The Chameleon, she's been around. You
also seem to remember that Solitaire's body was found with a
single bullet wound in the back of the skull, from a Beretta
200ST.....
AJ, on the other hand, looks almost as bad as he did getting off
the plane from Germany. He looks like he can walk and talk, but
he looks like he's in some serious pain. Taking another look at
the cuffs that they have him in, you begin to understand why.
Electrified and set so that if he moves too fast, the
monofiliment will cut his hands and feet off rather than just
stop him from going anywhere. By the look on his face, he looks
like he's not gotten any sleep since Maxim took him, and there
may be some truth to that.
You can see that they are, at the moment, the only two people in
the office of the CEO, a very plush and well furnished office.
But you suspect that this will change very soon, as the alarms
have been going off for some time now.
Switching over to a second camera, you see downstairs, a cubicle,
with Buzz sitting there, jacked into a wall socket labled
"Security Only". Looking elsewhere, you notice that Ripley and
Sabre are still being escorted around by someone who is probably
just a simple VP, but in this case just happens to be the VP of
security, John Skulkin, when you hear a suddenly implaced audio
feed "John, intruders in Red 3. Escort your infiltrators to the
conference room and put it under guard. Then report upstairs.
NOW!" and you realize that, somehow, the person providing the
download patched into a secure, scrambled headware transmission
to the VP.
John: (into the headware radio) Roger. (to Ripley and Sabre)
If you'll excuse me for a moment. We are having a security drill
and I'm afraid that all guests are required to gather in the
conference room. Please follow me.
Ripley: Of course, I understand. (gives Sabre a worried glance
and follows with her right behind)
The three of them head into the conference room, where John asks
them to help themselves to the bar until he returns. You see him
leave, tap a code into the wall panel lock, and leave at a dead
run for Velli's office.
Inside the room, this is what you hear:
Sabre: Something went wrong. We need to cover for them, provide
a diversion if we can.
Ripley: And find Buzz and then get the frag out of here.
Ripley advances on the door only to get quite a shock, literally.
It's a disguised insulated security door, with a electrical shock
system built into the lock, apparently. And the jolt sends
Ripley into convulsions that Sabre spends a good minute stopping
and reversing the nearly lethal damage with her magic.
Sabre: Drek! Buzz, we have a problem here. Unlock the
conference room door, and de-activate the shock system too. It
damn near killed Ripley, but he'll be ok in a few....
Buzz: I'm on it....all hell broke loose downstairs in security.
Sabre: Yeah, we kind of figured as much....
Buzz: It's unlocked....uh, I have a problem.... In case
I....can't get back to you, I'm,.......in Cubicle 14 on
the.......
Sabre: Buzz? Drek! Lost him! Ripley, can you move?
Ripley: Huh? Uh, yeah....I think....I'm a little
disoriented....
Sabre: We've got to move.
And the two of them head off in search of Buzz, before they try
to find AJ themselves.
On another view, you see exactly what happened to Buzz. It
appears that he got discovered at the door, or near it, and
dumped. Something doesn't look right, though, as he's writhing
in pain, clawing at his head, probably where his C^2 deck is
implanted....You hope it didn't get burned, as that would likely
kill him or drive him insane in the process. But regardless,
something happened to him that he didn't like, and you see Sabre
and Ripley, with weapons still concealed, running through the few
wage slaves milling around in the halls, wondering what the frag
is going on. Most of them, however, are smart enough to get out
of the way of the pair as they approach Buzz's cubicle and enter
it, to find Buzz much better, but still looking tired and
confused. In the audio, you catch some mumbling about
"worm....viral....." before Sabre nails him with a stimpatch that
punches him out of his confusion almost instantly. But he'll pay
for it later, if he and the rest of them live that long.
Buzz: I saw AJ. Velli's office, upstairs. Just the two of
them. The back direct access corridor was open, but there were
guards converging on the area.
While he's doing this, Buzz is pulling his pistol and moving
toward the door, with Sabre and Ripley not too far behind.
Checking the corridor, they move off up the corridor, toward the
conference rooms again. This time, however, they take a quick
detour and Buzz stops at a Maglocked armored cabinet. Whipping
out a passkey, he runs it though the lock, which groans and makes
some sick sounding beeps, then opens. Inside is some security
hardware and what appear to be Security IDs. Buzz grabs three
and hands them to Ripley and Sabre.
Buzz: These'll keep the gas and guns from thinking we're enemies
and killing us.
The three, now dressed more or less like official security
members, head off toward, of all places, the front door and the
only stairway up to the second floor. But due to the IDs, they
literally have no difficulties getting through the guards, who
appear to think that these three runners are more important
security members, SRDF or higher even. They head over and hit
the glass stairway running, and almost slipping and falling on
the turn at the top. And then again, they are off at a full run
toward the main security offices for the building, then past them
and on to a locked security door. Ripley and Sabre take up
covering positions while Buzz kneels, takes a sec to look over
the lock, and then makes some quick modifications to his passkey
before running it through the lock and opening the door.
Inside is a series of open doors that look as if they are
designed to seal and flood the area with gas, laser fire, and
monofiliment traps. All in all a rather unpleasant hallway for
those people not wearing security IDs.
Buzz: Come on, AJ and Velli are right up here, in her office.
Sabre: Hold it! It's too easy. Slow up!
Seeing the wisdom of Sabre's words, Buzz slows up and approaches
the corner carefully, and reports no-one on the other side,
before the "secret" door access to the office. Peaking through a
peakhole, Sabre reports that she can't see anything and then
she's almost totally enveloped in fire.
Ripley: FRAG! Elemental!
Ripley attackes the now manifest elemental with his knife, as
does Buzz, and with the additional willpower of Sabre who lets
out a scream muffled by the sound of flames that forces the
elemental to either return to Astral space, or kills it. You
cannot tell, but either way, it's gone. But Sabre's previously
very nice looking outfit is charred and still smoking in places.
And she decides that perhaps thier element of surprise has been
lost, and bursts through the door.
Following Sabre comes Ripley and Buzz, crouched low to avoid any
incoming fire, and there is some. And it's not pistol shots,
either, but assult rifles and SMGs. And the rounds are chewing
up the armored wall behind the three attackers. Furthermore, you
notice a Quad advancing up the corridor that they just left,
weapons out and ready. Within the room, this is what you hear as
Buzz, Ripley, and Sabre curse, hiding behind the desk. The only
thing you do notice is that, before hitting the floor behind the
desk, a couple of rounds from the three actually came close to
hitting Velli, in the head no less, but were stopped by the
raising of a magical barrier that hadn't been there an instant
before.
Velli: Please come out. If you don't, I'll have to replace the
desk, and it's an antique. And you'll die in the process. If
you give yourselves up, there's actually a very small chance you
might live to see the sunrise. After all, I still have your
Phaeton downstairs, Ripley. And you really ought to consider my
offer. If I kill you all, then it'll be my downfall eventually.
And I plan on living a long, full life yet, so some of you at
least will be released. Well?
Buzz, Ripley, and Sabre look at each other, and then at the two
Quads that effectively have them pinned down, and then drop thier
weapons, slowly standing.
+++++Temporary End Download+++++ ]<<<<<
-- ? <**:**:**/**-**-**>
