xp_logs | Mission: GERMANS: Planning

Betsy and Remy consider their limited options over an assault plan.

It was early. There was a great bit of work that needed to be done and she wasn't surprised to see Remy hunched over the table, already pouring over the details of their next possible away mission. "I thought you said we'd start at 5 a.m," Betsy said as she divested herself of two mugs of coffee, placing them onto the table. "You should've woke me." She stood next to LeBeau and stared at the building setup and then to him. "How long have you been down here?"

"Um," Remy pulled out his pill bottle and checked the number remaining, doing some quick math. "'bout five hours. You forget, chere. Remy don't need much sleep." He pushed himself back from the table and took a deep swallow from the coffee Betsy had brought.

"Then we would've been sleep-deprived together," Betsy sat down in the chair adjacent to him. She was impressed with the initial groundwork he'd laid down but there were still quite a few holes. "Right, so let's get to it. Show me what you've got here."

"I wish dat I had more. Look at dis fucking place." Remy tapped a couple of keys, and a 3D model of the complex sprung up. He was starting to get used to what these guys could come up with. As small and as new as the team was, they got results. "Overlapping security systems, independent generators, enough private guards to occupy upstate New York, not to mention an additional layer of security in the main biotech research centre. It's a nightmare of restricted access and cameras."

"Well, first off," Betsy started, her hand hovering along the corridors. "We'll need someone with proficient programming skills. This entire network is runned by one large control room here." Her hand rested on a particularly fortified portion of the complex. It was well-guarded but not impenetrable. "There's no way we can manage an outside hack with the level of firewalls they have guarding their operating systems. Whomever it is will need to be on the inside." Betsy leaned back into her seat, letting her right hand run over her face. "I'm no where near proficient enough to crack this system and unless you and Pete are holding out on me, neither are the two of you. We need a brain. Someone capable enough to handle this system without batting an eye and yet trained enough to make it on the inside on their own. That's our first hurdle."

"It's more den even just dat. Originally, Remy thought dat we could just slip Kitty in dere, but look at dis." Remy rotated the map and pointed to the interlocking electronic conduits flowing out from the system. "She goes through dat, and she'll disrupt de entire system. Catasrophic interruption activates de biohazard lockdown. De whole complex goes into hard coccooning, and de government and police are on dere way in minutes." Remy shook his head. "We need to get someone physically inside dat area to start. Dere's too many levels to bypass unless we have access from dat room."

"Do you think we should put out feelers for an outside contract to come in and help us out? Because at the moment, I'm drawing up a blank." Betsy grimaced slightly. "There's an idea but I don't feel comfortable using it let alone indulging in its possibilities..."

"Non. Going outside is a bad idea. Too much of a chance of something getting out, and blowing de whole cover right off de bat for us. Strucker is tight wit' de government. If we leak any bit of our involvement for dem to work on, we're going to be in a bad corner fast." Remy shook his head. "My German is perfect, but wit' my leg, dere's no way dat I can fake up a good reason past de front. Strucker's got a lot of stuff dat comes in by 'special couriers', like de bioweapon on de manifest. But dose people aren't crippled, and we can't trust Gavin to help us wit'out it getting back to his pere."

"How about Ramsey?" Betsy blurted out. She steepled her hands together and brought it close to her mouth, as if the act would keep herself from talking until she'd gathered her thoughts. "How about Doug? He's left the mansion and is looking for a new start. Perhaps not with us but we can give him that option when it comes down to it. He's come a long way these past four years and God knows I feel conflicted in even broaching this subject. We trust him and his capabilities. He can do this. Hell, he may be the best we have. And if he says no, we'll have to go with you as the go-between then and perhaps with some fudging on my end, you'll get by. Though I'll be absolutely honest, I think I'd prefere that more. I don't want Doug on this mission at all. I was the one that went to get him back in Denver, promising his family that he'd be safe with us, and let me tell you Remy, what we're doing here is far from safe."

Remy sat back for a moment, turning the idea over in his head. Like Betsy, he didn't like it much either. This kind of work involved a lot of training and the right mindset, neither of which Doug had yet. But he'd gone out even more green with Remy against Arcade and had done his end very well. Wisdom had hired him, afterall, and dammit, he wasn't a child any longer either.

"Doug knows how to put in a bypass shunt and get us wired in. And wit' his powers... you right, I don't like it. But he's de only one we have dat fits de bill across de board. Eventually we're going to be putting him in danger, Might as well do it sooner den later." Remy tapped on the side of the keyboard for a minute. "Oui, we use Ramsey. He's de age and look for one of Strucker's couriers. If we mic him, I can talk him through de front, and den he just disappears on de way in. Dere's an operator on de security room, but contact gas could have him out before he could do much."

"So, responsibility over ethics?" Betsy joked, poorly. She felt strained, her body taut with uneasiness but she resolved herself to what was necessary. "Doug, it is. And what about once he's in and gained control. What are your ideas for strike teams? Leaders and mission objectives? We need to be clean and decisive. We have no measure for mistakes here."

"Dere's two objectives I see. We need to get Kevin MacTaggart's DNA samples out of von Strucker's hand. According to de people we been talking to, it's got de potential to be incredibly dangerous; like some kind of genetic superweapon. Most of de initial cultures should be in dis lab bay here." Remy highlighted a cluster of rooms. "De main processing center for de labs demself is dis computer bank outside of de main labs. All of de information is supposed to be dumped here, if our contact is right. It's cold storage. No outside access of any type to any other system. So we need someone to get into the memory here, pulled all de data out and trash it, making sure dat we're not missing anything else dat dey might be using dat DNA for."

Betsy reached for her coffee mug and took a sip. She peered over the cup and at Remy, placing it back on the table. "And which would you feel comfortable running?"

"Neither." Remy said, obviously not pleased. "Dis is going to require speed and mobility, and Remy don't have either right now. I'd be a liability in dere. Plus, Wisdom's tied up wit' something else he keeps hinting darkly 'bout. De cupboard is pretty bare."

Remy took a look back at his list of assets and sighed. "How 'bout Wanda? She's got de experience. Send her in wit' Kitty and dat Marie-Ange through a wall here, dey clear right to de computer lab. Dere's not supposed to be any security on it at night. Doug gets in, unlockes de doors along here, you and 'manda can sneak in, pick him up and hit de lab."

"The Dynamic Duo stuck together again," Betsy said with a shake of her head. "It's better that you don't come along then, save yourself the misery of having to listen to the two of us talk around everything just for the sake of it. Betsy looked up at the hologram and tilted her head sideways. "What about our comms? Will they work once we're inside? Or are you thinking a psi-comm system for this one as well? Only problem is with one psi working, if I get dislodged by a mad coat rack, everyone will be working blind." Betsy turned to look at Remy. "I wonder if they've made a DR scenario based on that lovely free for all. Your telepath has been engaged by the furniture and subsequently taken out. What do you do? Engage the sofa or run for your life?"

"I have no doubt Cyclops is designing one." Remy snorted. "Once Doug puts in de patch, Remy can piggyback dere own communication system to run our comms. I figure dat we get a surveillance van outside of de place, and I'll run all de uplinks from dere."

"I hate to say it but we might actually have a decent plan in the works," Betsy commented. "So, let's cement the details and actually make this one work with the least amount of difficulty possible. The faster we're in, the faster we're back home complaining about the ruddy interior design and bad coffee."

"Next book of wallpaper samples someone sends to Remy is getting blown up." Remy muttering, rotating the map. "Dis is one of dose desperation plans, you know. Shorthanded, under-equipped... fuck, dis profile is ugly."

"This is why I live with you," Betsy said with a chuckle. "Always one for optimism. But its what we're good at. The others, I'm not so sure. If we weren't desperate, I wouldn't even think to using them. Too innocent. Their world view isn't as cynical and jaded as ours can be. A mission like this has a tendency to stick with you, change you for the worse or better. But I rather like our friends the way they are now." She shrugged and stared somewhat sadly into her coffee cup still entwined in her hands. "What can you do?"

"We trust dem." Remy took a sip from his mug, scowling that it was going cold. "Dey know de risks de best dey can. Dey going to face dem. We can hover as much as we want, but dey all adults. Dis is de job. Anything else is unfair to dem."

"Perhaps," Betsy said quietly. "But for once, I'd like to take fairness and chuck it out the window. Alright, we do this and I'll keep my trap shut. But if this looks like it ain't going to work, you give the signal to pull out. I won't do it but I'll expect you to."

"No one is feeding anyone into de meatgrinder, Betts. If dis goes bad, running is 'bout de only option we've now got." Remy sighed and made a couple of notes. "Reminds me. Wisdom's got to get dat training setup on de boards. People like Doug and 'manda need to get de proper combat training for when something doesn't work out."

"And in this case if it doesn't work out? Do you have a backup plan?"

"Of course. You'll like it. It involves explosives." Remy grinned, flicker quick, before they both bent back to their work.