THE COVER OPERATION
09 Aug 2021Jav Marlo
THE COVER OPERATIONAYUMI’S LOG 04: 29th July 3307, Nu system, Estrada Manufacturing Base.
OK. Recording. This is Ayumi, checking on the defenses of the Estrada Manufacturing Base for a cover thievery. The base is on the first planet of Imperial system Nu, and icy body with 2Gs, that is still within the tolerance level of my Maverick suit, but renders the jetpack useless. I had to climb myself onto this roof instead of just jumping. This won’t be easy.
Ayumi at the Estrada Manufacturing Base
Let’s see what do we have here. This is supposed to be a low security settlement, but I can see lots of guards roaming along the yard. Probably private contractors.
A guard patrolling Estrada Manufacturing Base
Two guards are constantly watching the entrance to the Industrial Production Building. It won’t be easy to pass through them not being noticed. Perhaps I will need a diversion. Anyhow, that is my secondary target.
Two guards patrolling the Industrial Production Building at Estrada Manufacturing Base
My main objective is the command post. And only a guard patrols the entrance. Perhaps I could silently jump from over the roof right in front of the airlock when the guard turns around the corner.
A guard patrolling the Command Center at Estrada Manufacturing Base
Like that, I could open my way to the command room using the arc cutter and overcharging the doors. I can see only one technician inside. I should not have problems to reduce him.
A technician inside the Command Center at Estrada Manufacturing Base
Or even better, I can crawl to the other side of the command room and clone the security profile of the technician to gain access to the building.
Ayumi cloning the security profile of a technician at Estrada Manufacturing Base
Once inside I should be able to break into the security room and deactivate the alarm system. I do not want to trigger it when I download the data I am seeking.
Ayumi deactivating the alarm system of Estrada Manufacturing Base
Then, if I can reach the command center unnoticed, everything should be all right. I hope to find an accessible data port there.
Ayumi at the command center of Estrada Manufacturing Base
Employment history, faction news, internal correspondence, network access history, shareholder information, visitor registry, all should be useful. I will get everything I can find.
Ayumi looking for data at the command center of Estrada Manufacturing Base
The skimmer out there could be a problem too. I see no way to stealth my way towards the industrial production building with that thing hovering all around the place.
Ayumi observing a skimmer from the Estrada Manufacturing Base command center
That thing with its light multi-cannon can shred me to pieces. I could destroy it, but that would attract all the guards of the complex. No, there must be another way.
A skimmer patrolling Estrada Manufacturing Base
There is a chance that I could run under that tower over there for shelter and then crawl towards the industrial building. No, wait... Damn!... A sniper just took position on the tower. From there she can control the whole field. I am afraid I am going to have to renounce to explore the industrial building. No way to get there unspotted without the jetpack.
A sniper watching over Estrada Manufacturing Base
It does not matter. If I get what I want from the command center, everything should be OK. Now let’s focus on finding a way out of the complex.
Ayumi studying the defenses of the Estrada Manufacturing Base
There is no way to cross the main yard unspotted. But I see no patrols on the back of the command center. Makes sense. It was difficult to access the complex from that side. I had to climb my way in. But, once I am already inside, I just need to jump from the roof and run away using the building to cover my sight.
Ayumi escaping from Estrada Manufacturing Base
Then I just need to return to my ship and leave this place. Smooth and easy. No casualties. A perfect operation.
Ayumi on board the Katana landed outside Estrada Manufacturing Base
I cannot come back to Syromyatnikov Horizons. Not after last night. My damn scar attracts too much attention. Every bounty hunter on the Empire space knows the tale about what happened at the Kumo Tribute Day. It does not matter that I have proven dangerous hunting the most difficult bounties in the Nu system for a month. Sooner or later one bounty hunter will come too close attracted by my scar and try to learn how did I got it. Perhaps I should not have smashed the faces of those two guys against the table at the station's concourse. That brought even more attention... (Sighs) Screw them, they got it coming.
Ayumi being spotted at Syromyatnikov Horizons
But let’s focus on the business ahead. We use to be the owners of this place. I mean, not this settlement specifically, but Alacagui Holdings, my father use to be a member of the board of directors. Before we were betrayed by Damon Clarke and vanished from the Empire. Before Chancelor Anders Blaine schemed to sell us as slaves to the pirates of the Pegasi sector. Before I had to cut my face to escape the harem of the pirate lord Archon Delaine.
Ayumi on top of the command center of Estrada Manufacturing Base
I came back to the Empire after so much time in hopes of finding any trace of my family. There are no records. Any information regarding us, and old tradition patron family, erased for the Imperial records. Vanished. Like if we have never have existed. I found a dead commander in one of the moons of Achenar, stole her ID and forged myself a new one: Ayumi, the bounty hunter. I am a commander now.
Ayumi finding a dead commander on Achenar
I am sure that Anders Blaine, the Imperial Chancellor, is behind our demise. Working as a bounty hunter, I got myself money enough to buy an Imperial Courier and armed it with torpedos. I thought that, perhaps, I could reach Blaine’s personal transport during one of his displacements to the Senate in Achenar. But he has been secluded on his fortress system of Facece for a while. You need a special permit to go there. He is out of my reach, for now.
Ayumi on top of the command center of Estrada Manufacturing Base getting ready
And then I got this idea. They might have erased any trace of my family from the official records, but there must be any evidence that we once existed on the registers of our old company: Alacagui Holdings. The company has grown so much in the recent years, and now it controls so many assets, but I am sure that someplace, somehow, on the records of any of its installations, there must be some proof that the members of my family were the administrators of the business. Some proof that we were a noble family and they got rid of us... (Deep breath) I’ll better get ready, the patrols shifts are changing, it could be the opportunity I have been waiting. Let’s end with this.
Ayumi about to start her cover operation at Estrada Manufacturing Base