EVENT #05: FIREWORKS FOR NEW YEAR PREPARATION

[vivalamods]

EVENT #05: FIREWORKS FOR NEW YEAR PREPARATION

With winter’s chill already setting in, Corsair laboratories are hard at work pumping out explosives for the operation to come. After extensive training, the crews of the Corsair airship brigade bring the infiltrators quietly to the Isles Above, all cabin lights doused to move stealthily to the drop point. There, Corsair specialists will disembark and plant explosives, as well as, perhaps, make contact with local workers and evacuate them if time permits. With all crews operating with quiet efficiency, the time is almost nigh to strike at the heart of the Empire itself.

Any mission marked Critical must have at least one log in progress by the end of the month to be counted as complete. Missing Critical missions will have major negative impacts on the Execution mission in the following month. Supplemental missions can be completed or not, completing them will go toward achieving optimal results during the Execution mission next month. As with Critical missions, Supplemental missions must have at least one log in progress by the end of the month to be counted as complete.

SUPPLIER MISSIONS

Create Explosives: Characters will need to create explosives and munitions for deployment.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: In order to get explosives that will make enough of a dent in the Imperial forces, Corsairs will need to develop them from the live rounds dropped above the vault. Logs can involve recovering salvage as well as construction of explosives.

Develop Precision Explosives: Characters will need to develop precision explosives to avoid undue damage to the civilians of Bluvink during the attack.
Priority: Supplemental
Challenges: This will require some research and development from suppliers to find explosives that will detonate at very specific levels in order to not cause the volatile materials within the Bluvink factory to ignite and cause wide-scale damage to the town.

Develop Communications Hijack: Characters will need to develop a tool that can hijack communications within the Empire.
Priority: Supplemental
Challenges: This will require recovering some Imperial communication technology from salvage or from the Vault and finding a way to dominate Imperial airwaves so they can’t shut down the Corsair propaganda.

INFILTRATOR MISSIONS

Set Explosives in Bluvink: Characters will need to sneak into the Bluvink factory and set explosives, preparing for them to explode during the New Year attack.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: The factory has regular guard rotations that can be figured out with proper observation, they will need to be avoided. The facility will also need to be properly cased so that the explosives can be set in places they will not be detected.

Set Explosives in the Vindess Mines: Characters will need to sneak into the Vindess Mines and set explosives, preparing for them to explode during the New Year attack.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: The mines have regular guard rotations and are constantly manned by serfs and servants. All will need to be avoided in order to set the explosives, and those manning the mines must be avoided at all costs.

NEGOTIATOR MISSIONS

Miner Negotiation: Characters will need to convince the miners to evacuate and to join with the Corsairs, as well as not tip off the Imperials.
Priority: Supplemental
Challenges: Many miners are distrustful of the Corsairs due to Imperial Propoganda, and several are Imperial loyalists even under the current circumstances. Several miners may need to be subdued in order to safely evacuate the area without their captors being alerted.

VILLAINS

Villain plots will be planned this month and will happen in the following month. Potential villains may post here to start workshopping potential plots that they may take part in next month.

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Comments

A

[freearcadia]

Harlock knows the basics of creating explosives, but he also had quite a bit of experience with disarming and dealing with potentially live munitions.

The pirate kneels next to Atom, behind one of the carefully concealed covers that was built by vaulters for past gathering collections. He turns so his good eye faces Atom. "You'll have better odds of timing our trip," he noted in a matter of fact way. "Focus on that, and I can do the carrying,"

It wouldn't be the first time he had to provide the needed carrying capacity for someone much shorter than him.

[upupatomway]

"Right." Atom gives him a nod and looks ahead at the field of mostly destroyed targets and craters of various sizes. Moonlight shines on twisted shrapnel shapes, but the occasional flare in the sky flashes brighter just before the rumble of an explosion follows.

Another flare flies, this one far away, and Atom waves to Harlock to follow him onward. His eyes light up as he scans the ground ahead for signs of the munitions. It appears the area immediately around the secret passage to the surface had been cleared by previous trips, but the ongoing fire of the Empire had re-dotted the material here and there. The closest one being close by.

Upon reaching the site, Atom kneels to brush some dirt and gravel from off the top of it, making it more obvious.

[freearcadia]

Harlock moves quickly, following after Atom's steps, quick but careful - the pirate wondered if this was how soldiers in 20th century wars had felt crossing no man's land, before brushing it aside, this wasn't the time to get distracted.

Once he saw digging, he moves in closer, taking a careful study of it - glancing over to Atom before even thinking of attempting to unbury it.

[upupatomway]

Atom's eyes light again. Hmm. He lowers his head to the side to look at it from another angle. "It's large and pretty thick, but from what I can tell, this one never exploded or cracked. This is the outer shell with several munitions inside. We could try unscrewing the end and retrieving the munitions within, or unbury the whole thing and drag it back to the entryway nearby."

[freearcadia]

The pirate considers his options - in theory it is safer to carry it, but more time-consuming, and would slow them down. Retrieving the munitions is riskier, but also means they can move quickly if needed, and they would be less noticeable to anyone who much be prepping the field for more testing. Quietly, Harlock kneels.

"We should retrieve it, it is riskier now, but would let us withdraw quickly if needed, I can handle the disarming if you tell me what you see."

[upupatomway]

"Okay. Let's start by unscrewing the end. Just... need to unbury it a little more..." Atom quickly digs a little mote around the large shell, revealing the lip of the end. It might be hard to see in the moonlight alone, but the lip around the top is obvious to the touch.

Atom puts his hands around the bottom of what was dug out to offer some resistance. "It should be like a jar lid... A large, rather dangerous one." He laughs nervously.

[freearcadia]

He chuckled softly. "Yes, perhaps it's why Tochiro always had me handle this part of the process," Harlock's breath went shallow, there is a stillness in his frame as he unscrews the cap of the shell, before gently turning it.

"He preferred making these from scratch, but store-bought is fine for our purpose,"

[upupatomway]

"Is Tochiro one of your friends or a family member back home?" Atom asks him as he lights his eyes again, aiming them down at the shell so they serve as both a scanner and a source of light for the careful operation.

He points to the first layer of molded metal inside. "This appears to be a frame piece that helps to keep the munitions inside in place. Lift it slowly."

[freearcadia]

"My best friend," There's a softness to his voice, as he gives a moment's glance up towards the horizon before resuming. "He knows his way around machines like nobody else,"

A quiet exhale, a sharpening focus, he starts to gently lift, pausing when he feels a slight resistance, instead of forcing it, he carefully nudges it ever so slightly, not enough to jostle the content, but to get the frame to line up to lift it up in one smooth motion.

[upupatomway]

"Sounds like this kind of thing would be easy for him," Atom suggests. "Has he ever worked on robots before?" He hadn't forgotten that Harlock was one of the people who knew what a robot was when he introduced himself.

Atom watches closely for obstructions and uses his smaller fingers to feel under the frame for any caught pieces just in case. Thankfully his scans were accurate and nothing was sticking to the frame. Beneath the frame piece is the heart of the Imperial ammunition, containing explosives in the form of several cylinders containing the dangerous chemicals. Between each of the cylinders were minor projectiles, and down the middle was the fuse that had not successfully lit during testing. Atom points out the cylinders as the explosives they want.

[freearcadia]

"He's a once-a-century genius concerning anything mechanical or explosive, though he hasn't worked on a robot with a body quite like yours," Harlock replied once the frame was safely removed. "The robot we had in Arcadia's medbay or Emeraldas' android is not nearly as advanced, and Machine Men would rather go to specialist doctors."

He examines the fuse, following Atom's points, gingerly disconnecting them from the cylinders, holding his breath, letting Atom store them for the inevitable dash back to the vault.

[upupatomway]

"Machine Men? They sound different from other robots if they see 'doctors.' What are they like?" Atom asks. The name alone makes him wonder, especially with how many people back home would object to the mere suggestion to refer to even the most advanced robots as some kind of "men". The fact they see doctors instead of engineers sounds like they're regarded as closer to human for some reason.

Atom carefully packs away the cylinders Harlock frees, sliding each into one of the many pockets in the bag someone at The Vault had made specifically for retrieval trips to the test field. Everything had a little cushioning, like an egg carton, just to be safe.

[freearcadia]

"They are - people with mechanical bodies, that used to be organic." He replied a little teresely as he finished removing the last of the cylinders - letting out a long exhale.

"I will explain more later, it is a bit of a complicated subject." He slowly peers up, scanning the horizon, listening intently. "Let's move."

[upupatomway]

The subject is dropped easily, as Atom is left speechless by the concept for a number of reasons. His expression is obstructed by the dark, but the lack of follow up questions might be enough to give away his shock.

Harlock's words remind him of their task, and Atom nods quickly. "Right. Later."

His mind had almost run off at full processing speed down a painful road, but they had a duty here and now. Atom closes up the bag of munitions and turns to start scanning again, checking the ground and the horizon.

[freearcadia]

If he had noticed the shock, he gave no comment on it, as he listens attentively - there's a faint, distant rumble - machinery moving, nothing being fired yet, but it's apparently only a matter of time.