Genosha: The End of the Beginning: What Is Secure?

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The next team moves in on the security room inside the Citadel.



The Citadel was imposing; a massive complex that housed a whole government system. Taking it out would decapitate the Genoshan government, but it would also kill thousands of innocent people. The front of the Citadel could have been a mall; a new, high tech service centre for the citizens of Genosha to process their new boating license or drop off tax forms. Guards patrolled regularly, the occasional person could be seen passing through a checkpoint on their way out of the complex, not so different from other government buildings around the world. It almost made the menacing backdrop of the military base worse. The way in they'd plotted was innocuous; a rest area for employees that just happened to butt against the higher security part of the complex. As a staging area, it looked harmless.

Wanda's experience with "it looks harmless" generally never ended well. The lack of anything unsubtle enough to advertise itself simply meant that once they breached the main building itself, there was probably a slog to get to their goal. She huffed quietly to herself as she slipped further into the shadows, away from the building and towards her waiting team.

The fact that she found them easy enough simply meant they'd wanted her to find them and she held three of her fingers and nodded towards the direction she'd come in. The most recent patrol had disappeared around the corner and that left them three, perhaps four, minutes until the next set wandered past their positions. Unlike the other teams, they didn't have to breach the outer perimeter, relying on speed and stealth to get in.

She preferred not to bank on anything that relied on "perhaps." Jubilee was silent as she followed Wanda, her footsteps making no noise in the soft soled shoes she'd put on, sometimes it was just easier to go with what worked best then to have to work harder because steel caps would crush a bone better. That she'd leave to Wanda and Remy this time around. She was already unrolling her lock picks as they headed toward the door and it was the work of seconds to get them through. Having only minutes once again made her grateful to Remy's Thieves guild friends who had been such hard asses with her training.

Remy checked the small map Doug had uploaded to his tablet, once more checking a path they knew by heart. Unfortunately, much of their knowledge of instead the Citadel was guess work and extrapolations off of small clues and hints from less secure projects. It could be the security centre for the Citadel they were tracking, or the payroll servers. Like everything else on this mission, it was a gamble they had to take.

Being nearly six feet tall in bare feet meant that whatever sneakiness Wanda had, it had been taught, not natural. But what did come naturally was the speed the long legs gave her and once she saw the others in, once she made sure the new patrol wasn't fast approaching, she booked it across the open space and slipped in through the door as Jubilee shut it behind her. As her eyes adjusted to the lights, she saw that they were in the bottom of a stairwell with a door to what was probably a hallway in front of them and stairs up to their right.

A moment of concentration and she shook her head in the negative, indicating she'd seen nothing in the chaos strings to indicate that other people were immediately near-by.

Jubilee had been spooling out the map she'd memorised hours before in her head as she moved, and she now moved past the other woman,gesturing for her to wait before making a dash for the end of the corridor and into the blind spot of the first of the cameras they'd need to neutralize in order to get to the security room. Doug had given her a small device to splice into the camera that would set it on a repeat, and she wedged herself into the wall corner, moving herself upwards to reach the underside of the camera. As the power light hiccuped once, indicating the camera was compromised, Remy waved them forward. The were moving into more secure areas, and random patrols were a constant danger. He kept to the rear, moving in wraithlike silence born from decades of infiltrations. His mind filed away details as they passed; cameras, intersections, service corridors and blind spots. If only he'd had another week, even a few more days to plan.

They reached a door that opened into a manmade chasm. The security centre had been placed beside the main service access-way, that rose like a volcano mouth through the centre of the Citadel. Dozens of metres overhead, they could see the bottoms of elevators, massive power and water lines snaking up to junctions and a criss-crossing web of catwalks and maintenance stations, all housed in a hollow core that protected it from impacts and earthquakes. No expense had been spared. The shift change had been only moments before, and as they had hoped, the full security team wasn't at their stations. Only a handful had appeared so far. The main entrance was a secure door, but the service catwalk that led right to the glass wasn't, only a five foot traverse between their service door and the ledge.

For a moment, Wanda's mouth refused to close all the way but she quickly clicked it shut. She always let the flippy / faster people go first - not only was she happy enough to bring up the rear but it mean that she could provide enough fire power to keep them covered if things went to hell.

Jubilee pondered the distance, shrugged and took a running jump at the gap, rolling when she hit the catwalk and catching the edge as her body dropped off the narrow walkway.

She hung suspended for a moment, looking down at the long drop before flipping herself back onto the walkway. Remy simply doublechecked the distance before he leapt, his augmented agility easily sending him across the gap. He stepped to one side as Jubilee regained her footing. "Next time, check de jump twice." He said quietly, admonishing her but to low for Wanda to hear. As she turned

around, he pulled the washing line from her fanny pack and clipped the line to her belt and his before tossing it over for Wanda. If she missed the jump, they'd be able to haul her up, all with supplies purchased at the Genoshan version of Home Depot.

Catching the line easily, Wanda wrapped it around her forearm before gripping it tightly with her hand to ensure that she wouldn't lose it right when she needed it. A few steps back gave her a little more room before she launched herself forward - she might not be able to easily do somersaults but she was strong and that hopefully would ensure that she didn't have to be dragged up by Remy and Jubilee like a fish from a lake.

A jump got her over the gap but the others did have to reach for her to steady her as Wanda's heels slipped over the edge for a moment.

She gave them a tight grin in thanks.

Remy motioned to his right, sending Jubilee crouching along under the glass windows of the security office. He had wondered why they'd leave potential accessways open until he'd seen the small alternate elevators running along the interior access way. They could move squads all around the Citadel through the reinforced interior without exposing them to fire, and bypass any defensive positions an attacker had set up. Remy had to keep constantly re-assessing his professional opinion of the Magistrates. Small countries usually meant less capable military forces, but the Genoshans where as clever and well trained as any he'd ever seen.

With Wanda and Remy moving to the left, they were now ready to move. Jubilee as the distraction while the other two breached the station, brought down the guards, and then sow chaos in the Citadel's internal security to help the rescue. Once in place, he nodded to Jubilee to blow the glass.

Jubilee nodded back before pulling her power up and sending it out to break the glass in wild, multi-coloured bursts of plasma that were both loud and destructive at the same time, all the better to create the perfect distraction.

Despite the suddenness of Jubilee's attack, the guards responded with only a little bit of surprise - they were professional, top of the line and reacted accordingly. But that was perfectly fine because while they focused on the woman with the fireworks, Wanda and Remy would be able to slip past them and into the station. Wanda was on the go as soon as the shouting began, keeping as low and out of sight as she possibly could.

The first staccato bursts of gunfire covered any noise as they slipped into the guard station. The main security room was just beyond, and if it was timed right, the power would be going off any second. A charged card broke the neck of the guard closest to Remy and he and Wanda attacked from behind, neutralizing the guards in seconds.

Jubilee vaulted over the windowsill and into the room, coming to stand a little ways away from Remy, wondering why that had been so easy. But there wasn't really time to question these things, they needed to get the security here neutralised as quickly as possible.