OPEN PLAYER PLOT: OPERATION LOST BOYS

[forcevisions]

WHO: Anyone
WHERE: A research outpost not far from New Amsterdam proper
WHEN: November 28
WHAT: The Displaced arrive to save the captured Morningstar agents, including one of their own.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Violence, mentions of interrogation/torture, etc.

> DEPARTURE BY TRAIN Early in the day on November 28th, Prompto and Poe will conspire to get an out-of-service train car onto the same tracks where the Displaced were guided by Cassius earlier this month. By all measures, the train car doesn't look operational. There are telling dents in the side, and it does not appear to be powered on. Yet those involved in the rescue operation already assembled are climbing on board like they know that this is their ride. Inside, the train is fairly battered. Some of the seats on the far wall seem to have been damaged when the train collided with something during the EMP, and the rattling of the crash took out some of the internal handrails as well. Once everyone is settled, though, the car begins to move. At the front of the car, Poe uses his power to move the train car on the tracks and out of the city. As they hit a checkpoint, the car doesn't slow down to be inspected; instead, it accelerates and blows right through the barrier, which makes for a pronounced jolt for all the passengers inside. Once the train is rolling outside of the city limits, the Displaced can grab scrambler masks that have been provided by Morningstar for use in infiltrating the outpost when they arrive. It is imperative, El suggests, that they don't allow their identities to be compromised. They will also remind the Displaced to keep this project under wraps, lest Morningstar as a whole has its operations compromised. This is a good time to solidify any plans about what to do when the outpost is reached. The train ride won't be especially long, but long enough for some tension to settle over the car. > INFILTRATE THE OUTPOST The outpost they arrive at is a less grimy version of what the Displaced saw earlier in November. The interior is almost identical to what was present there, with some wings repurposed as jailing sites. There are bright, fluorescent lights with white walls and a sterile smell throughout. Even cleaned up, these labs do not recognize any of those that the Displaced may have seen in their dreams. The description below is borrowed from the arrival log for reference: The building is six stories tall. The first floor has a lobby/waiting area, a cafeteria, and some office spaces. The second floor is the dormitory floor, which is where the employees would usually sleep if they chose to stay at the facility while working rather than returning to the city in between shifts. This is where the new arrivals woke up. Floors three through five are dedicated to lab spaces, which is where the actual research work is usually done. Most of these laboratories are going to be locked, but that won't stop Displaced from breaking into them if they want. Some of the lab rooms also have exam rooms. Displaced will be able to swipe lab equipment and medical supplies, such as syringes, vials/beakers, first aid supplies, scalpels, bandages, multi-lens microscopes, etc. The top floor is dedicated to offices for higher-ranked scientists, so think of it as the C suite. All floors also have bathrooms, of course, and the dormitory wing also has showers. ✦ Notably, this outpost is also empty of scientists. However, stoic soldiers stand guard at every door. These well-armed warriors are with the UNA, who has taken over the outpost. These soldiers are not an easy fight. In the fights with UNA soldiers, PCs might die and need to be revived in New Prague by Morningstar. ✧ DISTRACTION: Some of the PCs may choose to deal with the UNA by attempting to distract them using wit, charm, or apparent helplessness. PCs may search for a way to draw attention away from some of these doors to let others sneak past. ✧ INFILTRATION: Those who sneak past will find the jailing areas similarly guarded, and eventually, stealth and quiet infiltration is no longer an option. Rey and the other Morningstar agents are being held in well-secured cells, and UNA soldiers must be engaged in order to get past them. ✦ Inside the jailing sites, they find the missing agents in terrible shape. These Morningstar operatives have gone through extreme interrogation, and if they can get persuaded to talk sense--or talk at all--they might impart on their rescuers that the subject of that interrogation was most recently about the blue technology. However, most are catatonic, seemingly unaware of who they are or where they are, and some react negatively and violently toward anyone who displays the blue glow in front of them as the result of a conditioned response. ✧ Agents from the September raids will explain that Rey's arrival worsened the interrogation. Some of these agents may admit to confessing that Morningstar started helping a new group that emerged. It was clear in their interrogation that the UNA was not involved in the June firefight because they only then put together that the Displaced were involved in it. They're only aware because they were tasked with cleaning up after it. ✧ Some of the agents taken during the raids will still be resentful of the Displaced, and this will help convince the UNA that the Displaced are separate from Morningstar. Once the agents are freed, the Displaced can make their way back to the exit of the outpost, where Poe Dameron waits in an armored truck liberated from the UNA. This flying truck is meant to transfer large numbers of UNA soldiers for load-outs, so despite the Displaced and rescued agents' numbers, it will be sufficiently spacious to fit them all. Though it flies, it's smarter to stay low in the interest of staying off trackers on their way to New Prague, where they can hopefully wait out the heat of pursuit by the UNA. > NEW PRAGUE When they arrived in New Prague, El contacts local Morningstar agents to escort them to a safehouse. Notably, El will warn the Displaced that no other parts of Morningstar know about zeir identity as an AI. El is hoping that the Displaced will keep their secret, but is more concerned with helping than with keeping them separate from the New Prague Morningstar chapter. These Morningstar agents will bring the Displaced to an abandoned chain convenience store at the edge of town, Zesco. The convenience store is located near the edge of the city, and it's meant to be a temporary stop. The upper part of the store is just an empty space, though there is a wall where it's clear that there were once icee machines. All of the Morningstar agents will be held under an abandoned convenience store. ✦ The inside of the safehouse is like most safehouses, but since it's meant to be temporary, there aren't any clothes or food in place to help someone out. There will be Morningstar agents who come in to supply these things throughout the stay, showing up about an hour in to help out. ✧ It will be apparent that this safehouse is not one of the ones that's typically used in New Prague, but instead one of the miscellaneous ones that they've had around. Unlike New Amsterdam, most of the safehouses in New Prague weren't compromised. Of course, there is a high likelihood that this safehouse will be decommissioned after all of this. ✧ Notably, the New Prague agents are all quite impressed that the missing New Amsterdam agents were able to be saved at all—previously, NPC Morningstar cells had believed rescue to be impossible. ✧ Anyone who kept their scrambler mask on during the infiltration of the outpost is allowed to leave the safehouse and explore New Prague. Anyone else … can do that if they want, but it's not a good idea! The safehouse won't be fun, but jail will be worse. Please reach out to the mods if you do this. ✦ Beyond the safehouse, New Prague is a large, beautiful city housing around 30 million people. Unlike many of its brethren, it pays homage to the "Old" Prague in a number of ways: there are impractical cobblestone streets, and the architecture adheres to an older, gothic style throughout the city. In fact, there are ordinances that demand the city continues to look as if it harkens to an older past and time. Above all else, New Prague is very green: there are trees everywhere. Throughout the city, there is a large, man-made river that cuts through to the underground, causing there to be beautiful falls underneath the main city itself. This river is called the New Vitava River, once again paying homage to the Prague of Old. The New Vitava River is maintained to the degree that there is no littering in it, and there are strict local rules about doing anything lewd in it. (That includes using it as a toilet. Don't do that!) There are bridges all over the city to easily cross from one side to another, and all public transit has been constructed to adhere to the river and also offer its citizens views of it on the regular. ✧ The weather here is just as extreme as it is in New Amsterdam, so anyone who's not been checking the news will find that the world really was screwed over by Cassius. ✧ Food throughout the city is just as eclectic as it is anywhere else. Visually, it looks like they want to remember Prague, but culturally, it's just as varied. This isn't an Eastern European city in anything but aesthetic. > THE RETURN The train ride back to New Amsterdam will resemble the ride to and from New Tokyo, but it is a considerably shorter trip. There is no stop for the train at New Amsterdam, so they will need to devise a way to get off the train without dying in the process - this will be difficult, but not impossible. This should not be too much of a surprise, as some of the New Prague Morningstar agents will join them on this train ride, and will explain the situation. Once they're outside the city, these agents will get them back into the city, as they've done this rodeo before. They can sneak in easily through the opening made by Cassius earlier in the month, which if it has been found, has not yet been addressed.

Comments

[gasping]

No nicknames.

[ she's firm about that. blondie, barbie — they never come from anywhere good, but only to belittle her, to make her feel like she's nothing but the way she looks. now, more than ever, caroline wants to be herself. which, in turn, requires treating other people as themselves. even if she's not totally sure what that means for carol. ]

Are you an alien?

[ she did say she was part of an alien squad. so maybe she is? ]

[flyfightwin]

[no nicknames she says, and carol gathers that it's not a joke or even worth pressing so she drops it without another word.]

No? I mean not exactly. I uh... there's a race of aliens, called the Kree. [carol's pure and unadulterated loathing for the alien race comes through in her voice.] They abducted me and gave me a transfusion. So I'm not quite alien but not exactly human either.

[and this doesn't even take into consideration her now inactive powers from the accident with the tesseract.]

[gasping]

[ caroline knows a little something about transfusions. well, not transfusions exactly, but what you need in order to make a transfusion happen. that's her cover story, anyway, courtesy of el — weekly transfusions of b-positive earn caroline a cryobag's worth of pouches in order to stave off some horrible, miserable disease.

what does she care? she just wants the blood. but mention of said transfusions (take a shot for every time she thinks the word now) does perk her attention. ]

So you have weird blood now? [ oh, and she knows someone else who has weird blood too! carol and clarke could start a support group. ] Me too.

[ #bonding ]

[flyfightwin]

Yeah. It's blue. [she thinks of yon-rogg and frowns. once upon a time she thought of him as more than just her commander. he was a trusted friend, a confidante. now she shakes her head at the memory of his face, hopes that somewhere he's rotting in his failure to keep her subdued.] I've got a permanent reminder of being brainwashed for years.

But it does have it's ups, I guess. I'm stronger. Faster.

[gasping]

[ it's a familiar story. maybe years is a stretch, but caroline remembers things much the same way — being fed on, manipulated, pushed around, taken advantage of. but waking up to those memories had been better, hadn't it? the ups, as carol puts them. ]

Wow. [ 'yeah,' echoed back, would have been too much like a broken record. ] Kind of lame if I just say 'same', I guess.

[ after a beat, caroline shrugs; a free hand pushes open the door to the facility, now creakily hanging on just one hinge after so many back-and-forths. there's almost nothing left. no sounds of scuffles, no cries for help... just awkward, uncomfortable silence. even caroline's enhanced hearing struggles to make out anything more than the breaths of their companions on other floors. ]

I think that really was everybody.

[flyfightwin]

I wouldn't say so. [carol wonders just where their experiences overlap and where they differ. caroline hasn't divulged much other than to say that she's also been run through the ringer by parties that have left her with long-lasting scars. she wants to ask. truly she does, but that's a personal matter and who knows how recent the ordeal was for her. no sense in bringing up fresh wounds. they have enough to deal with don't they?

unlike caroline, carol doesn't have enhanced hearing, so while it's quiet, she can't be sure that they've actually cleared the building. puzzled by caroline's relative certainty, she tips her head and purses her lips.]

How can you be so sure? We're barely back inside.

[gasping]

[ it's a fair question. caroline doesn't have a lie at the ready, though, so she doesn't immediately provide an answer. instead, she simply stares back, eyes blinking as her brain tries to come up with something.

nothing comes, though, because there's no good lie that justifies why she should be able to hear so clearly through concrete and rock and god knows what else. even caroline knows that. ]

I guess it's my ups. My blood's weird, but I'm stronger now. And I can hear through walls.

[ her blood's weird because she's technically dead and kept alive by centuries old witch magic that she only just learned about, but hey, who's counting? ]

[flyfightwin]

[honestly, caroline could've lied, said it was part of her powers that come with that funny blue glow, carol wouldn't have thought anything of it, but the honesty is appreciated. she doesn't like liars for obvious reasons. carol nods.]

Guess that answers if you had your own run in with the Kree.

[she's not sure if caroline lives in the safehouse or not, but new amsterdam doesn't have any shortage of multi-unit high rises. carol would know, she lives in one. thanks fake id.] Gotta be weird though having that super hearing in such densely packed living situations.

[gasping]

[ the one blessing of living in a literal brothel: the necessity of soundproofed walls for good business. ]

You learn to tune stuff out. [ or go crazy. it had been one of the first things stefan had taught her to do. ] I mean, if I had to listen to everybody's heartbeats all the time, I'd probably lose it.

[ a beat. ]

I haven't really told anybody that here.

[flyfightwin]

Yeah, I guess you've got to.

[she knows and understands a thing or two about secrets. carol won't be sharing the information with anyone else unless absolutely necessary.]

Lips are sealed. I assume you don't want me spilling it to just anyone. If I'm wrong though...