Log:Down Where It's Wetter: Special Delivery

Tactical Espionage Action

OOC Date: March 16, 2017
Location: The Coral Vanda Dock and Maintenance Corridors, Pantolomin
Participants: Zhu Yan (as GM), Sapphira Tavers, Defiance

Long story short: Zhu Yan and Sapphira Tavers make the galaxy's most tense package dropoff.

The whole story:

You know that Zhu Yan loves you when he takes you out to a nice beach slash ocean planet with clear blue skies, fresh air, and ladies in very minimal clothing everywhere you look. Welcome to Pantolomin, kids! Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and you did, no backing out now!) is to steal a sithload of credits from the Coral Vanda undersea casino, and to do that, you must complete the setup! Part of the setup, in this case, involves smuggling gear on to the Coral Vanda itself because let's face it everyone wants to carry enough guns on to the premises to arm a small nation.
For this mission, only the two most dashing, daring, and downright desirable individuals are up for the task. The Coral Vanda was currently docked in its compound a short distance from one of Pantolomin's largest and most beautiful cities. This is the insertion point for the team when the heist begins, and also where the initial deposit of gear needs to be stowed. It is essentially like most docks, with long walkways on either side of the vessel and plenty of entry points. There's some guards stationed about here and there, but otherwise the place looks empty. It was late at night and most sane folk had gone home.
"So, long story short, we need to circumvent the security, avoid the guards, and put this stuff inside a storeroom," finished Zhu Yan, clad in a dark wetsuit with a waterproof duffel bag over his shoulder. The pair were just outside the entry to the dock, looking across to the Coral Vanda inside. Stuffed into that bag was his Bryar and a holdout blaster, as well as gear from other members of the heist team that they would need. "We will swim in and find one of the four underside hatches, then get inside and go from there. Sorta follow?"

"Sorta," Sapphira responds, and her uncertainty is rich in her voice. She too is wearing a wetsuite, one no doubt provided by Yan. Sapphira wouldn't know one thing or another about getting one. Does Yan? Eh, they're here now. At least the skin-tight hood covers her bright red hair, so they aren't /that/ conspicuous. Sapphira has a backpack too, full of other materials that Yan insists they need. She's just ... trusting him on this. Wonder how good of an idea that is. "It's so beautiful here," the freckled young woman says, glancing around again. She spent much of the time here so far gawking like a country bumpkin at the white sands and blue waters. But Yan, at least, has her attention after another long moment. "So um ... go ahead then. I'll be with you. Just ... if we run into anyone? You have to do the talking." She blushes a touch, biting gently on her lower lip. "I'm the most transparent liar in the galaxy." Which makes them a very interesting pair.

"You get us in, I watch your back. That's how this goes. Have you never been on a heist before?" asked Zhu Yan, failing to consider that there were people out there who were not criminals and thus hadn't conducted any sort of organized heist in the past. Silly Yan.
The smuggler fastened the goggles and rebreather over his mouth and dipped into the waves, swimming low enough to be able to crawl along the bottom of the sea floor and up into the dock. The bags served as a wonderful tool in that regard with their weight making them heavier than the water. The rebreather was an interesting thing, with a short-range two-way comm link between the two crooks. Yan had picked the entire set up at a local surf store for a decent price. It was only a few minutes before they were at the entrance to the docks. Yan eased up and gestured to one side. "Over there is a small panel. Don't worry, the components are waterproof. Somewhere in there should be a regulator for the alarm system underneath. Sithspit security, I know, but it helps us. Can you disable it?"

"So we just need it open?" Sapphira wasn't quite as low as Yan, preferring instead to be able to watch him move, and be prepared to turn and swim away should he show any signs of concern. She's also a bit of a heavy breather when she's both nervous and excited, and in this scenario Sapphira is both. Such danger! Such adventure! She loves it. She might even chuckle at one point, or maybe Yan's going crazy.
The panel slides open, revealing all the waterproof components. Sapphira holds on to the side of the open panel, using one hand to poke through the buttons and, beneath that, wires inside. She laughs again. "Do we want it to open, or open in close in time to your favorite song?" Okay, maybe she's showing off a little. She settles just for opening it, turning to look once the way is clear. "Like that?"

A tiny green light on the panel changed to red, indicating that the system was down. "Just like that," said Yan. He couldn't stop himself from grinning, and the grin itself was audible. "Now, the guys in the dock's security station will notice something's out and power it back on in a few minutes, so close up the panel and come on in. Let them believe it's just shorted out." For some reason, Zhu Yan felt less like a criminal and more like a mentor, teaching a youngling in the true ways of illegality. A scoundrel sensei, as it were. He decided he liked that title and would use it in future.
Zhu Yan only took a minute to get underneath the Coral Vanda itself, and he kicked off the bottom to float up a few metres to the underside, right next to one of the hatches. He pulled the lever, opening it up and creating an air pocket with another identical hatch above him and a security panel on the wall. "Alright. I got another access hatch here. Can you crack this one for me?"
In the dock itself, hidden from the eyes of the swimmers, a couple of guards were ambling about having just been told that the bay level security system was fluttering. They were a bit more alert to movement but weren't looking at the water.

Sapphira ohs softly, swimming along beside Yan, having no real clue what nefarious plots the man might be cooking up in that head of is. Another hatch. Another challenge to overcome. "If it's as basic as the last one was..." the redhead mutters, and indeed it seems to be. She opens the panel. "So will they shoot us to death if they see us?" A few flicks of the wrist, and then the hatch slides open, revealing darkness beyond. Sapphira looks over to Yan, and in the faceplate he might just be able to see that wild, almost childlike grin of glee and delight.

"Hm? Oh. No. They'll probably just stun you," said Zhu Yan, who knew the truth was likely to be entirely different but didn't want to scare the poor girl. He was the first through the hatch, tearing off his mask and rebreather and breathing in the slightly stale air typical of maintenance walkways. THIS was more familiar! "Alright, time for us to dump these bags somewhere safe and gee tee eff oh." And because he was polite, he stick a hand down into the hatch to help Sapphira in.
Footsteps were audible throughout the maintenance corridors. They were regular and relatively unceasing. Sounded like Yan and Sapphira were not alone down here.

"And we'll just stun them, right?" Sapphira's comm crackles as she waits in the water behind Yan. It's not until that helping hand comes down that she starts trying to haul herself up, and yes Yan is part of that equasion. She mimics his actions, pulling her goggles and breather off with a shake of her head and a sigh. There's an outline on her face of the indents of the mask. She wiggles a bit in her suit, looking this way and that. "I feel like I'm both naked and being slowly suffocated," she mutters softly to Yan. Her voice drops to nothing and she lifts her eyes to listen as the sound of footsteps echoes.

"You could have made this run in a bikini if you wanted. Doesn't make a difference to me," Yan said quietly, smirking the entire time. Trust Zhu Yan to hit on a married man's wife. "Yeah, set for stun, but we don't want to be spotted at all. These are innocent folk doing their job. No need to leave a mess." He said nothing about leaving behind family, friends, etc. Either he was focused on the job or just didn't care. From somewhere on his person he pulled a tiny little EC-17 blaster and flipped it over to stun. Scout Trooper special. Never leave home without it. "Okay, I picked out a storeroom that's not far from here, and also close enough to the main decks that we can get to it without being hyper-suspicious. It's a short walk, so follow me, and keep an ear out."
There was no change to the patterns of the footsteps throughout the corridors. Whoever was already here hadn't taken any notice of them yet.

Sapphira removes her own weapon from the bag, altering the setting as well. She blushes at Yan's talk about bikinis, and she squints at him. "So could you," she points out. It's not so much flirtatious, it's more a tete-e-tete. She will not be outwitted! Beyond that, however, she moves as quietly as she can, very close to Yan's back, shuffling along and letting him take the threat of all that danger.

"I am way too sexy. You'd drop dead at the sight of me." BANTER. It sustained Zhu Yan. It empowered him. And it caused the footsteps patrolling the corridors to stop dead.
Sithspit.
"Just heard something odd. Going to check it out," was the voice from the distance. Male, a bit high pitched. Formal, so probably security or a rent-a-cop. Goddamnit Yan! When will you learn the important lesson that talking shit = getting hit?!
"We gotta move," Yan whispered, and started moving faster to their destination.

Sapphira pales at the announcement the security guard makes, not even knowing that he's making it. It's rather impressive, considering how pale she is in general anyway. But there's no banter now, and Sapphira is so close to Yan, if she stumbles forward she'll land on him. And that's how close she stays, just far enough back not to get kicked as they move quickly. She's a quiet runner, though, that little body making few if any sounds at all.

Zhu Yan moved quickly, though he wasn't as quiet. What he was doing, though, was using a trick he'd picked up on the holonet and matching his footsteps with the ones he hears. Whatever he's doing, it seems to work, as the pair of them approach a storage room door, there doesn't appear to be any pursuit. "Okay, can you crack this door for me? We'll drop the gear in here and then we head back out the way we came in."
In the distance, the sound of footsteps stop. There's a bit of humming, and then, "I don't know if it was anything. May have just been hearing things." But the guard is on alert now. The trip back may be hairy.

Sapphira is moving quickly when Yan gestures to the door. She ducks around him, crouched low (as if that'll help, but it feels better) and flipping open the panel. It's a little longer than the last few ones she was able to open, this door designed to keep wayward passangers out - a real threat! Still, it opens quickly, and she steps back to allow Yan in first. "That sounds like a good idea," she mutters quietly to Yan. "Go ahead."

Zhu Yan didn't need to be asked twice. He ducked inside, found a gap between dusty storage crates, and dropped one duffel bag between them. He gestured Sapphira inside, and at the same time picked up a few pieces of old crate to lay over the gap, hiding the new entries.
This may have been a terrible plan. The guard had resumed his patrol path. And the footsteps were getting louder. They didn't have much time. Right now, it was all a gamble as to whether the guard's path took them past the storeroom. ONLY ANOTHER RANDOM CHANCE ROLL WOULD TELL!

Sapphira, moving quietly, slides into the room and begins to wiggle out of her backpack, jumping up and down a little and gesturing to Yan to pull the backpack off her. She doesn't bother to speak. What is there to say? Nothing that's going to help; it'll all just get worse. Her eyes are mixed with excitement and fear, and she glances up wordlessly to Yan. What's the next step of the plan, Yan?!

She was having trouble with the backpack. Sithspit. Forget listening for this guy. They needed to hide. Yan pushed Sapphira further into the room and hit the door release, causing the thing to seal itself shut. Then he hit another button to lock it. As long as the guard didn't look too close to the panel, they were safe.
And trapped.
"Well sithspit," Yan whispered, not knowing whether or not the room was soundproofed. They normally all were but he didn't want to risk it. Now, at least, he had time. So, with that in mind, he pulled the duffel off Sapphira's back, placed it carefully in the gap, and put the panels on it. "Now we wait for a couple of minutes." He was sweating. His heart was beating a mile a minute. That was close. That was too fracking close.
As it stands he needn't have worried. The guard turned down an earlier corridor, but Yan didn't know that.

Sapphira wriggles out of the duffle, letting out a soft feminine grunt as it finally comes free. She turns, wiping her hands over her wet face as she looks at Yan. He's in charge, right? He knows what he's doing, right? RIGHT? "Will we hear him go by with the door closed?" Sapphira asks, leaning forward so she can whisper very softly to the man. You know, in case the doors really are paper thin.

Zhu Yan had no idea what the frack he was doing right now. Admittedly, this was his normal state, as the ratio of planned-to-improvised was skewed ridiculously in favour of the latter when it came to anything he tried to do. But, he had a newbie onboard, and it would not do for the scoundrel sensei to appear to have lost control of the situation. He pressed his ear against the door, put on a look of concentration, and whispered, "Yeah, I will, but it'll be close." In reality, Yan was trying to time it but that left it up to chance, and if he was unsure, the newbie became unsure, then came panic and worry and all sorts of bad things. "Another minute," he whispered again.

Sapphira nods. It seems like she might say something, like she might have some new witticism to replace the nervousness in her belly. But talking means death. So the two just stand there, awkwardly. Well, Yan just stands there, ear against the door. Sapphira? She paces a little, two steps in one direction, two steps in the other. Not much room in this particular space. She chews on her lower lip; she knots her hands together; she bends and straightens her knees so she moves in a little bob. Nervous tics.

Fifty seven. Fifty eight. Fifty nine. Sixty. "Alright. He's gone," Yan said, not knowing at all whether or not he actually was. He readied the EC-17, raised, it, and hit the button. Filling the corridor was the dulcet tones of silence. Phew! That gamble had paid off! Thank you, Random Number God! "Let's go, go, go!" he hissed, starting the walk towards the exit hatch and keeping a constant ear out for the sound of footsteps.
The guard was long gone. His footsteps were nowhere to be heard.

Sapphira, once more, is half-climbing up Yan's back. This time it's because she's unarmed. That gun was way too big to be nicely hidden away in the safety of the wetsuit. So she left it with the other weapons and materials. Once more, though, her steps are quite quiet as she moves, keeping one hand on Yan's back as she looks this way and that, down other cooridors, and otherwise trying to discern the guard and her fearless leader all in the half-dark of these underbelly corridors.

They made it back to the hatch around about the time that the footsteps started becoming audible again. They had time. "Down the hatch," Yan instructed his student of the day. The hatch was left unlocked and Yan popped it open. He gestured Sapphira to climb down with one hand while putting the rebreather mask over his face with the other. "One last obstacle. The dock security was turned back on. We need to shut it down again to get out. Head down there and turn it off and I'll be right behind you."

"Okay okay," Sapphira says to Yan as she yanks on her own mask. As if he's rushing her. Because this is nothing, right? She's with Yan, he knows his business! What could possibly happen?!
Kerplunk! She's in the water, and there's a brief moment of disorientation before the woman manages to find the panel again. Once more, with one hand she holds on to it, waiting for Yan to be fully clear of any door that might close while she's fussing with this thing before she places the last wire. There's a sudden, bright flash. So bright that Sapphira has to cover her eyes and look away. When she looks back, the light is green. But the panel has been blackened with some sort of quick, thermal underwater event. Sapphira just stares, wide eyed. "Foshfeathers," she swears under her breath, but Yan will pick that up clear as day.

Kerplunk! Into the water goes Zhu Yan. He hadn't swum very far before the curse came across his ears, and he turned back to look. Oh. Oh crap. "Come on, Sapling. No time to worry." He turned back, intending to get her to turn off the security sensors to the dock itself, but he saw the low red light was still present on the panel. "It's our lucky day, kiddo. No one's turned the sensors back on yet. Let's go." And with that, he kicked and swam along the bottom as fast as his dadbod would take him. The Random Number God was truly on his side today!

"But we can't do this now, someone might see this before we do everything!" Sapphira protests, sounding truly quite heartbroken that she's ruined /everything/. "If they have any maitenence guys, and they have any scheduled reviews before it goes out, we're humped..." She's so dejected Yan! So sad! Sapling has destroyed them all...

"Less bitching more swimming!" exclaimed Zhu Yan, having now crossed the former barrier of the dock's security sensor. "Come on, kiddo! Part of a heist is improvising! You get to wear a pretty dress! You can even get Tarion to look at you in the dress and maybe say something nice instead of 'That looks expensive'!" He planted his feet in the sea-bed sand and waved backwards towards himself, slowly because of water interference, beckoning the poor girl towards him.

And Sapphira comes up behind, still dejected but at least no longer bitching. It's been the most exciting heist of her life so far ... and she made a kerfuffle. Sad Sapling.