[D-Class Mission] The Ilysium Job

Theft was, needless to say, not their fortitude. It was mostly a petty pursuit, executed by those who couldn't devise a more thorough plan to gaining power, and was so often a pain in the ass to them that they strayed from accepting assignments that involved stealing in any way. That was, unless the object of interest was originally property of IMG to begin with, that was when things got interesting. There were a plenitude of organizations that sought to take the corporation down, after all, many upstarts complained of its influence and reach, tearing away at the very thing that sheltered their existence. Fools, yes, but they were certainly persistent, if nothing else.

Naturally, the request that had graced their attention involved all things previously mentioned. Sensitive information, stolen from IMG, had been sitting in a secure location for some time - otherwise it would have been retrieved long ago, after all. However, recently a few of the aforementioned competitors, although none could truly uphold the title, had shown some interest in the apparently ancient vase they were being stored in. Thus, they had been called on to retrieve the drives before they wound up in the wrong hands.

"Leo, I can do this alone." It was the first sentence exchanged between them, reading the request that had been forwarded their way. Not even officially posted by IMG, apparently an insider had managed to acquire the details. If nothing else, that meant whoever wanted the intelligence knew exactly what it was about. However, he passed over that thought almost immediately, instead addressing Eris's comment.

"No, we always said we wouldn't. Also, I want to see the fucking vase."

They sat at the counter of their home, Leo lazily mulling over a cup of coffee while she twirled a fork between her fingers. "Really? I thought I was the collector of vases in this house," Eris replied, gesturing to a potted plant placed on top of the marble, one of several arrangements within only a few feet of them.

"Yeah, well, I want to see what stupid shit they're passing off as oh, it's a pre-Blight artifact! Must be pretty important! these days," he retorted.

"That would be us." Leo rolled his eyes, though not capable of stifling a chuckle as she laughed alongside him. However, the amusement was soon drained from her face. "Seriously, though, are you sure you can do it? Look at the details." Yes, lethal force highly prohibited. Truth to be told, the phrase had been the very first his gaze had passed over, even before he had read anything about intel or vases. Of course, the second piece he had absorbed was pre-Blight, but that was far more irrelevant to the discussion at hand. The first true assignment they had been thrown ever since... and it specifically called for a lack of true bloodshed. A part of himself dismissed it as impossible, even though only a few months before Leo would have had no difficulties with it whatsoever. Then again, there was also the thought of if not now, when? and beneath it a far darker desire that he shoved back into its dusty corner.

Eventually he shrugged, deciding to be... optimistic, for once in his life. He wasn't in a particularly bad mood, anyway. "I can't sit around here for the rest of my life, Eris, as much as a part of me would like to."

Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing his visage, although eventually she was defeated. "Oh, fuck it. I'm sick of all these meetings, anyway."

A flight in Blackjack later, they stood outside the eastern entrance of the complex detailed in the mission request. A soft snow was falling, steeping the building in a further white. From its outside, it appeared to be nothing more than a storage facility, well kept but certainly nothing out of the ordinary that would warrant an assumption of advanced security. A clever baiting, if nothing else, Leo supposed. "You're not to even lay a finger on the living guards, got it?" Eris warned, interjecting into his theory.

He resigned with a sigh, the air escaped visible in the crisp wind. "I know."

"Yo, JJ, I'm on my way to a new mission. Forwarding the deets to you, now."

A groggy voice blips onto the comm, "You know this is my day off, dickwad."

"Yeah, but like... C'mon, babe, you really wanna lose out on this score?"
"Well, you're a newbie, and paid like shit, so... you know half of jack shit is still jack shit, right?"
"Trust me, babe. Read through it."

"I swear to god, if you don't stop calling me babe, I will send assassins after you." JJ responded, "I can do that. I know people."

"Jeez, chill!" Gio pleaded, "Just- Just read it. You'll see what I mean."

A long pause came over the comms as Gio arrived planetside. The location of the complex was still about half a mile out, but Gio would be continuing on foot from here. Better to end up a little sore than to be spotted landing on the mark's front yard. He was just getting out of the cockpit of The Black Domino when the comms crackled back to life: "So... you want me to fence a rare pot?"

"See, you get me." Gio shrugged, pressing his hand to his ear, "Anyone else would just tell me to do the job normal-"
"Do the job normal."

"Fuckin'... C'mon, JJ. Why you gotta do me like that."
"Because I'm your handler. And I have to handle you being an idiot, almost constantly."
"But can you do it?"
"Eighty-twenty."
"WHAT!? Oh c'mon-!"

"Or you go it alone and die horribly to... automated sentry turrets: fun!"

Gio deflated. When she was right, she was right. And 20 percent was still... marginally better than the actual pay for the mission, so she supposed... it wasn't a terrible deal, in the end. He pulled the hatch down, sealing the cockpit off from the chilly air. As he started his walk to the complex, he mulled over JJ's proposal. Eventually, he decided to press his luck while he still could. After all, if she ditched him mid job, he'd probably land himself in hot water.

"Seventy-Thirty?"
"Fuckin'... Fine. You can have your thirty." JJ sighed, "Just get me plugged into the system and I'll see what I can do."

Gio pumped his fist in victory, skipping for a moment before the weight of the cold really set in. Pulling his coat closer around himself, Gio advanced on the complex. The crunch of his boots was almost completely lost among the sound of wind whipping around his face, but lacking... any sort of hat or scarf, Gio found himself more or less wrapping his hair around his head in an... incredibly unfruitful attempt to stay warm. After a few minutes of this, Gio pressed his hand to the side of his head once more.


"Hey JJ?" Gio asked hopefully, "Could you remind me to buy... like a good winter cap, at some point?" 

Living on an ice planet for so long, having grown up on the Earthland equivalent of one, for that matter, had made him far more accustomed to frigid temperatures than most. Not that it was even terrible that night, it mostly had to do with the biting wind, dusting all with its winter embrace. In any case, the collar of his coat was popped to shield his visage, a gray and black scarf hanging around his neck although worn more so as a precaution than in current use. Leo preferred a bit of a chill to monotony, anyway, and they certainly wouldn't be lingering outside for long enough to hold true concern in the first place.

He cleared his throat, breaking the silence between them. "Right, then, up and over?" Leo asked, throwing his neck in the direction of the obstacle in front of them. The compound in question was perhaps about a story and a half tall, though from a brief flyover before its area seemed to make up for what it lacked in height. Clearly, a vase wouldn't be the only thing they would find within, perhaps other valuables were housed... or well, it could simply be a very important vase, although he was highly doubtful of the latter hypothesis. Then again, historical artifacts were easily sold for quite a pretty penny, especially those predating the Exodus. After all, it wasn't like there had been a whole lot of time to pack, quite literally, and an extreme scarcity existed because of it.

Ah, but they were not really after any glorified antiques, at least not for anything other than curiosity's sake. "Why not," Eris replied, her gloved hand soon reaching toward the ground as ivy sprouted from it, quickly creeping up the side of the wall. No sooner had it reached the lip of the roof did she begin to scale it, Leo following in close succession. Before clambering up upon the icicles, however, she raised her palm, an indication to proceed slowly as she pulled herself up ever so slightly, enough to get a passing glance of the rooftop. He soon did the same, untangling his feet from the vine in the process.

It... wasn't the scenario he had hoped for. Most of the area was blanketed in a thin layer of snow - it seemed like the heating system was a bit subpar, that could potentially cause an issue if a collapse were to occur - but far more important was the automated artillery mounted only a slim twenty meters or so from them. Two barrels were attached to the mechanism, a standard array, yes, but one that was a bit surprising considering the level of mission the posting had claimed to be, and on the other side of the building he could just make out another piece that was at least of similar design. "That turret is... larger than expected...." Leo muttered, retreating his head to a place that wouldn't be so prone to being shot.

"And more stupid than expected, apparently; it hasn't spotted us yet. I have an idea."

"Great, because mine is terrible." Even as he spoke Eris had begun to execute said plan, the vines she had conjured slinking forward into the snow itself, barely leaving a visual trace of disturbance although they could both track the flora's movements regardless. "Oh, that's smart," Leo remarked, in which she displayed a small grin. As expected, the turret's dismal scanners, probably dusted with the mild storm on top of it, didn't pick up the trail until it was too late. From the flakes erupted a writhing mass of greens, wrapping around the artillery as it was bound to a less mobile position. There was no attempt to disable the firing in itself made, as a few shots rang out from the barrels, yet now restricted it posed a much more menial threat.

Capitalizing on that, Leo and Eris split without a single other word uttered, him heading to the right while she took the leftward path along the gutter. As they both stepped onto the roof proper, the turret attempted to break free of Eris's magic, yet its programmed struggle was ultimately futile. Within a few moments, Dualist had materialized into Leo's hands, and with a downward plunge the machine was silenced, its compatriot blissfully unaware of their existence.

All that Gio could hear was typing. Just typing and typing and typing. JJ never paid any attention to him while she was typing, and to this day, Gio doesn't know if she mutes him, or just really commits to ignoring what he had to say. This part always took the longest. And honestly he really had no idea w-

Gio heard a familiar sound, deafening in the silent cold.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"WHA- me!?" Gio protested, "I've been sitting and waiting, like ya told me!"

"Well, someone did something, a turret activated, and now I'm locked out. Good job, champ."
"It wasnt me, J! I swear!"

There was sigh, and more clacking of keys. But then they abruptly stopped. The silence was as deafening now, as the gunshot had been before. Finally, a voice came over Gio's coms.

"I've got... ventilation diagrams and some junk data. That's it. You got me? I've got no eyes on cameras. No access to sentry turrets. Fuck, I dont even have a floorplan of the building, itself!"
"So.... about those vents?"
"I take it that means you're still going in?"

"Well, I gotta get you your seventy percent, right?"

Gio could hear JJ chuckle a bit before a blip on his communicator came up. Those vents... did not look roomy. Gio could already tell what this was gonna mean. He started to hop from foot to foot, in hopes of getting some warm blood circulating.

"There's an exhaust vent on the west wall. That's your entrance." JJ suggested, "oh, and also-"
"Ditch the coat?" Gio groaned.
"Oh yeah. Puffy shirt, too."
"Ok, first off, my shirt isn't puffy, its a crav-"
"Didnt ask. Don't care. Too bulky. Too many layers."

"Also super lame."
"Hurtful and untrue."[/font]

As they spoke, Gio quickly got disrobed, leaving him shivering in the snow, with only a tank top to keep his chest warm. It was not helping. So, rather than sit around here and wait to catch frostbite, Gio set to work, rounding the corner as he summoned a large translucent playing card which hovered two feet in the air, at an angle which sloped upwards towards the slotted rectangle of metal. After a few moments fighting with it, Gio managed to pry open the grate, crawling into the dark, chilled tunnels which ran throughout the building.

Eris's gaze lingered on him for a bit too long as Leo pulled his blade from the machine's wreckage, securing it at his side. "What?" he asked, in which she merely shook her head, whether in disapproval of him or her own thoughts was impossible to tell.

"Right, so there should be a maintenance hatch somewhere around here." Without further ado she began to kick up the snow on the roof, searching around the turret for a moment before she bent down on one knee, dusting off an area with greater detail. A small, circular panel soon revealed itself, a shallow inlet denoting the handle. Eris tugged on it for a brief moment, shaking her head. "Can you help me get this open?"

A small lump formed in his throat. "Oh fuck no, I'm not climbing in any tiny vents today."

"Since when did you ever," she retorted. "No, it should theoretically open up into a maintenance room of some kind, which should be slightly bigger."

"Only slightly," he groaned, moving to pull on the handle regardless. There was only the slightest amount of breadth given, as was typical of a standard lock, but although a small gap made no difference to most infiltrators Eris's vines slipped through, grasping through the unseen for some kind of purchase. Eventually there was a creak of a lever, and the port rapidly flew open, pulled back by his arm. Wincing at the backlash, he then peered into the room below, Eris already doing so. She brought a finger to her lip, then pointing at the individual dozing off below. Before he could do anything, Eris had already directed her magic in his direction, finding purchase around his throat even as the guard seemed to shutter awake. A quick squeeze and he was out again, or at least temporarily.

They soon found themselves inside the far warmer interior of the building, Leo closing the latch behind him. The maintenance room in question was indeed small, enough so that he had the immediate desire to leave though it was more so out of discomfort than any more irrational thought processes. Other than serving as a point of entrance, however, the area only had one other thing of note, a paper map of the schematics of the building, highlighting various devices that seemed to be frequent objects of repair. While neither of them had much experience when it came to technology, the rest of the outline would be at least moderately useful. It seemed like the complex was, well, quite complicated, as hallways twisted and turned with little sane intent in mind. A way to confuse potential infiltrators, in all likelihood, another problem to be posed. 

"Look there. Exhibition room," Eris said as he was still searching the details. Her nail, slightly longer than usual, had fallen upon the small print centered in the page. "Of course it's in the middle, that will make things complicated."

He sighed, although it wasn't entirely genuine to the strange rush of exhilaration twinging in his mind. "Let's get moving, then."

Gio never liked moving through ventilation shafts, though, it was never the tight spaces that set him off. It was the damn dust. Layers and layers of dust. And he was no dummy. Gio knew exactly what that meant. Slowly but surely, Gio was getting coated in skin flakes, hair and good old fashioned dirt. And about half of all his clothes were dry clean only.

"So" came JJ's voice muffled by a mouthful of chips, "How's the view look, can you make anything out on ground level?"

He didnt know why JJ even bothered asking. He had barely even made it in, and according to her schematic there wasnt a vent for another twenty feet. Besides, inside an echoey metal tube wasnt exactly the best location for Gio to engage in lighthearted conversation. Although, with her next statement it became clear exactlywhat she was doing.

"Oh right. You're probably busy. And I'm bothering you, aren't I? I should probably respect that you cant talk right now."

"Mmm. Yeah. Boundaries." She crunched, "Yeah, that's kinda important in a professional relationship."

Gio did his best to ignore her. He was already forking over waaaaay more money than she normally got from his jobs. As far as he was concerned, he had already apologized for waking her. Seriously, though, who takes a day off in the middle of the week!?

"Take a left."

Stepping out the door, they were greeted by harsh silence. Few things screamed louder than it, however, the brilliant lights illuminating the corridor, a silent watch although no eyes were on them. Cold, sterile, though they were no longer in the winter air it was the same, worse even. He hated the spotless walls and floors, no mark or blemish to be seen, expanded upon. There was a sudden urge to create a flaw of his own, to rip apart the bland features, but Leo suppressed the instinct. This was a test, for himself, for her. Eris's apprehension was clear, at least to him. Normally he would have tried to offer some comfort, even a word or two, but there was nothing to be done when he was the problem. The doubt slipped into his mind, a serpent slowly coiling its way around his heart. It was a mistake, coming here, he could tell already.

They weren't even particularly good at stealth to begin with. Yes, a proper thief probably would have taken a ventilation shaft to the room, but there was no way in hell Leo was going to do that; he doubted he would be able to fit in one anyway. There was, of course, their usual method of distraction, blending in, utter and complete deception, but how was that possible when he couldn't even trust himself to be alone, not to mention there weren't exactly a plethora of guards milling about? His thoughts were halted by the rapid discharge of plasma, however, followed by the embrace of greenery as Eris threw up flora to block the projectiles. Their target was a small turret, much more akin to what Leo had expected, that had dropped down from the ceiling, apparently having detected their presence. Well that was just lovely, if their location hadn't been known before it certainly would be now.

The machine still needed to be dealt with, however, and so he pulled his revolver from its holster, firing in its direction. First shot arcing wide, he aimed again, the second striking true. Tangled wire and a blasted barrel was all that remained as the repeating fire halted, scorch marks now detailing the featureless hall. "So much for stealth," Leo said, in which she exhaled sharply in response.

"Yep. That's no good."
"Status update?"
"Just heard another gunshot. Highly unlikely it's a glitch, now. There's someone else in here."
"OK... um... fuck. Right." JJ directed, "Just- keep moving. Next area looks like it opens up."
"Are we seriously going to just ignore the fucker just firing off down there?"
"No. But do you really think there's much you can do about it where you are right now?"
"Of course not. You're stuck in a three foot wide shaft without any sort of weapons."
"I have my c-"
"I hAvE mY cArDs!"

Gio growled at JJ's dismissive comment. Sure, it wasn't a gun. Whatever. But they were effective nonetheless. And he had more control over what they could do. With a gun, you could easily accidentally kill someone. But if you're throwing a chunk of metal, at least you could hold back. Although... depending on what the hell this guy was up to, maybe holding back wasn't exactly the best plan. Clearly he wasn't holding back, down there.

Gio peered down through the grate, trying to get some level of insight into what he could be getting into. But from where he was looking, it seemed like the area was empty. At least, that's how it seemed until he heard approaching, hurried footsteps. Though, rather than rushing into the fray, it seemed that this guard had no intentions of meeting whoever was firing off their gun in the warehouse. Instead, he turned down a hall, disappearing from sight. For now, he was safe from the intruder, and Gio as well. But there was no telling what he would be up to from there. The dossier had stated the defense systems were "human assisted" so maybe, he was off to man the nearest turret station? Impossible to say.

All he knew was that he was far enough away from the shooter that-
"FUAACK!"
The ventilation shaft gave out underneath him, sending him tumbling ten feet down to the concrete below. With a groan, he rolled over onto his back, attempting to assess the situation as quickly as he could. It seems that the guard had sealed the door behind him. And hopefully, he hadn't heard the cacophony of sound. Of course, Gio was not that lucky, as the whirring of servos could be heard, a nearby turret training on Gio. As the weapon charged a blast of plasma, Gio threw out a Trump Card to absorb the incoming attack.