9710/Tuesday in N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Part 2

Tuesday in N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Part 2
Date of Scene:	18 January 2022
Location:	Colony Zero, somewhere near the North Pole
Synopsis:	Free to roam through Colony Zero for a few hours, Laura decides that explosions are the answer to their problems and blows up N.O.W.H.E.R.E. manufacturing facilities
Cast of Characters:	Conner Kent, Laura Kinney

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Conner Kent has posed:
There are a few gaps in Laura's super-ninja abilities she might have realized she has in the last few days. Weapon X never trained her to escape (gee, wonder why) and they didn't teach her much science except for a few areas that are useful to blow up things or kill lots of people.

So, she was frankly a few grades behind Tim and Nadia about how to deal with N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s super-tech prison. It is a prison, even if the cells are nice, the jailers and techies relatively polite and the experiments very mild compared with the crap Weapon X used to do.

Funny thing is they are now saying she might not be a clone after all. Well, some of the scientists say that, others are rolling their eyes when the first group mentions it. Then the start with the genetic technobabble and maybe having enhancing hearing can be annoying sometimes.

Fact is Tim and Nadia came up with a workable plan in a few -hours-, and have been it ready to go in a few days. Laura did help by snatching a few things when no one was looking in the lab. Security is not that great, they trust too much in their machines.

And now the smartsuit is hacked, the door out is hacked, and they actually have no guards outside. In fact in the whole level only a couple cyborgs do rounds every four hours or so. It is very easy to avoid them, she can hear them a hundred paces away.

Laura Kinney has posed:
While the Facility weren't big on escapology skills they did teach X-23 a lot about breaking into high security sites without anyone noticing you. And once you've got past the first hurdle of your cell... Well at that point it's really just the objectives which vary.

Besides she did have an escape plan long before Tim and Nadia. It's just going on one of the family trademark rampages leaves a bodycount that would upset the others...

But thanks to the wonders of team work she doesn't have to worry too much about her own plan for now. Out of her cell her own skillset suddenly becomes much more useful. And without any need to worry about her clothing giving away her position all that remains is to get out of sight. So monitoring equipment like CCTV systems won't pick her up.

Enhanced senses can pick up patrols, but they can also pick up air currents that would suggest a ventilation system. If the base has one to find. And that'll provide an ideal way to get around unnoticed.

As to where she's going? Well there's a limit to the disruption she can cause with just her claws. But a base generally has an armory and with the supplies she can find there.... Well there's no end to the problems she can cause.

Conner Kent has posed:
The ventilation/maintenance system was one of the first things they Outsiders investigated. It is a classic way to sneak around, after all. Supervillains tend to build lairs with maintenance chutes big enough to fly aircraft in them.

Apparently N.O.W.H.E.R.E. read the Evil Overlord Handbook and build the ventilation system too small for humans. And uses robots keeping it clean. Still good for Nadia, but Laura is not quite that small.

There might be maintenance spaces, though. At least they have staircases for emergencies. Which is a good thing because the elevators all have surveillance cameras and micros. It is also good much of the tech is not strictly 'super' tech, and are things Laura can identify fairly easily. Hopefully there won't be things like nano-robots with cameras or mutant/meta detectors in the hallways.

Some of the technology N.O.W.H.E.R.E. uses baffles Tim and fascinates Nadia. Which is probably very bad.

Laura Kinney has posed:
All isn't lost if the vents are small. They still carry scents around the base. And while X-23 may not have a map or the computer skills to hack one she /can/ follow her nose. Instinct and training will just have to make up for the gaps in her knowledge of the location.

She pauses and sniffs. Trying to pick out the telltale scents of N.O.W.H.E.R.E weapons. The cyborgs and guards must collect them from somewhere. So those scents will be strong in certain directions.

If she has to change floor... Well it's not an issue if they monitor the elevator cars. Laura barely uses those on a good day. Never mind on a mission. Her claws can cut most materials, allowing her to climb just about anything.

Conner Kent has posed:
The vents do carry some scents. Although one would need to have Laura's sense of smell to notice. After a few days she can be sure the living quarters are up, but down there are a lot of interesting scents. Chemicals she has never scented anywhere. And sometimes, only rarely, scents of fire, blood and fear.

The claws make easy to get in places where she really shouldn't, but also leave a clear handprint about her being there. Now, they didn't have a solid 'don't get caught' plan. In fact, there might be more important things, like escaping. Or calling for help. Ultimately, it is all up to Laura's decision.

Laura Kinney has posed:
It seems to be a general rule of Human design that important things either go at the very top or the very bottom. Depending on why they're important. The unusual science-y smells suggest down is where she'll find critical infrastructure and stockpiles of advanced weapons.

So downwards she goes.

A few stray claws marks here and there might not be ideal. But she can use that to her advantage too. Leaving false trails by cutting marks leading to areas she has no intention of exploring. And hey any damage she causes to physical security could help other Outsiders passing through.

She doesn't really pay much attention to the prospects of being captured again. The enemy forces include a precog. Re-capture is a constant threat. So her goals stay as fluid as possible. If she can find a way to communicate her position? Great. A way out so she can get help? Even better. The armory still makes a tempting target. Destroy that and the enemy is less capable of responding to any rescue & escape attempts.

Conner Kent has posed:
There seems to be less used labs under the level the Outsiders are kept. Then some storage areas, but also the hmm of powerful machines at one side of the complex. It is already larger than Colony 1 or Colony 2, and it does not form the same spherical structure.

There are no living guards in this area, but there is some kind of surveillance drones doing patrols. Far larger than the ones watching the outside of Colony 2, they are also obviously armed. Fortunately they don't seem to watch the maintenance ladders, but the corridors are watched.

Laura Kinney has posed:
It's always interesting the things people choose to store. Are they things which they know they'll need in the future? Things they don't use any more but which are too expensive to just throw away but aren't quite good enough to use? Does N.O.W.H.E.R.E just have a ton of garden furniture they're keeping out of the rain in the hopes of a nice Summer?

If she's really lucky they'll have things she can use. Chemicals for improvised explosives. Worst case she can always just claw cut holes in the walls and use the junk to hide the damage. Letting her skip the patrols while she closes in on the humming machinery. Either way it's potentially useful info.

Conner Kent has posed:
They have everything, and then some. It is slightly alarming in some ways. Pretty much everything a modern city would need for a century is there. Are they ready to survive a 100 year nuclear winter? Yes, they are.

Harvest told Tim and Nadia about an incoming war that will kill 3 billion humans. They seem ready to hunker down through it if it becomes an issue.

Searching through all pretty huge the storage room would take days, but if she follows her nose (and some indicators, which are in English) she can find whatever she wants. Including some modern weapons and explosives.

Laura Kinney has posed:
In a way the stockpiles of equipment are even better than an armory. Perhaps it's not state of the art N.O.W.H.E.R.E tech but it's poorly protected and it could be weeks or even years before anyone notices what she's taken. Food, water and clothing that's ideally never had tracking devices installed. Ammo, guns and explosives. Perhaps even a few grenades.

There's certainly more than she can take. Which means there's plenty to rig improvised traps with as she goes. Making it that much harder to hunt her down. Also damage caused to their supplies will force N.O.W.H.E.R.E to replace them. In theory.

Now substantially more well equipped she just needs to find locations within the base which will seriously hurt the group...

Conner Kent has posed:
Truth is none of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. advanced submachine guns is here, much less the plasma canons. Although the Outsiders have seen only one of those, so they might have very few. That is definitely a good thing.

But Russian AK-12 and Chinese QBZ assault riffles are plentiful. They are mothballed, but easy to assemble in a minute for Laura, if she wants some ranged options. The serial numbers hint they are a few years old, perhaps from the time of the Alien Invasion. Apparently that was when N.O.W.H.E.R.E. was founded.

Setting explosive traps is an interesting idea, but probably one of the drones will trigger one quickly. They don't seem very smart.

Laura Kinney has posed:
With enough explosives to cause some mayhem and firearms to increase her range of tactical options X-23 sets off towards the humming noise which suggests large or important machinery. Planting bombs in supplies will certainly make it tougher for anyone to find out just what she's taken.

If they care to check the vast chambers for traces of her at all.

The closer she gets the more care she takes. As, even if this part of the facility is largely empty, anything worth damaging to harm N.O.W.H.E.R.E is going to be protected by more than just mindless drones.

Conner Kent has posed:
It was hard to find even traces of people scents in the storage areas, but the same is not true the closes she gets to the more 'noisy' (relatively noisy) are of the complex. It is not labs, but a manufacturing plant of some kind. And it looks there is something of a night shift working.

Very advanced modular fabricators are at work here. Laura sees laser cutters and plasma furnaces, and micro-electronic assembly lines. A few techies wander the area, sometimes stopping a machine to change the programs, or discarding some piece of high-tech armor or circuitry that is not up to the standards.

Laura Kinney has posed:
A factory. A very advanced factory. Not the sort of thing X-23 was hoping to run into, but from the way people are rushing around it's clearly important. She takes a little while to monitor the situation, getting a feel for the eb and flow of the technicians, and splitting off explosives into efficient little portions.

A few get planted in locations that're away from the people, rigged to go off first with a lot of noise but very little damage, before she starts to slink into the room. The most complex machines getting charges put in key locations. Whatever systems N.O.W.H.E.R.E use to build their advance technology must require very specfic parts. Things they perhaps can't get anywhere else. And denying them a critical resource might not hurt in the same way as cutting the power or the environmental systems but it'll limit how much harm the group can do.

When it's finally time to set off the fireworks it's done in a staggered pattern. A few non-lethal blasts to drive the technicians out. Then the shaped charges on the machines go off to do the real damage. Laura doesn't stick around to watch though. It's bound to bring swarms of guards & drones rushing to investigate.

Conner Kent has posed:
Laura is still halfway setting up explosives when there is some kind of disturbance by the entrance of the manufacturing area. A group of cyborgs show up, and one of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s superhumans. Warblade.

A couple of the techies go to talk with him, as the cyborgs fan out. "Some electronic locks picked," mentions the meta-human to the guy that must be the head tech. "Unauthorized access to the storage area," too.

"Do you think one of the kids from the Shifting Fields escaped?" Asks the tech. Warblade hrms at the question, "maybe. Those losers aren't subtle, though. I think we would find more busted doors and heads."

Laura Kinney has posed:
Company complicates things. Her plans for widespread sabotage get scaled back to those machines that X-23 has already rigged to blow. Of course this does save her some explosives. Which get planted along her escape route. Ready to blow up anyone following her.

If they'd like busted doors and heads... Well they'll be sure get them.

And of course if they are following the route Laura used to enter... Well those harmless charges might end up being a little closer to Warblade than Laura's plan not to kill factored in.

Conner Kent has posed:
Unfortunately Warblade and the cyborgs stand on the way out of the factory. Escape route is blocked. At least momentarily, they are advancing, but also sweeping the area. Warblade and the head tech seem to go into a small office aside, to argue. Laura can hear them. The metahuman wants the technicians to go, while the other man wants to complete their shift, because they are already delayed and someone called Dr. Centerhall is putting pressure on him.

And a couple minutes later, one of the cyborgs seems to have found one of the planted explosives and investigating.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Ah well. No plan survives contact with the enemy. The moment one explosive gets found X-23 triggers the other explosives. Forcing the technicians decision. They'd have to be absurdly dedicated to their work to stay in a room when things are exploding. And the pattern of blasts will drive them into the metahumans.

The floor of the chamber seems too solid to cut through. So she'll have to get creative to get past Warblade and his cyborgs. A conveyor belt leading through the wall, while a bit close to those hunting her, confirms at least there is somewhere to escape to. Making it her primary target.

Less cutting means less time for anyone to spot her while things are blowing up. Plus if there's no need to rig a trap behind her then she can save a small amount of explosives for a rainy day.

And if she's lucky in the confusion no-one will think to keep searching.

Conner Kent has posed:
The first bomb explodes on a cyborg's face, but besides making her fall on her ass, there is little effect to the armor. It makes alarms start sounding, though. All over the complex.

Of course the second explosion sends the technicians diving for cover. But the cyborgs pull out firearms and start searching. Warblade stays pretty calm, muttering a 'go figure, big surprise,' before heading out.

Laura is going to have to be very quick if she wants to avoid him!

Laura Kinney has posed:
Well, the aim was never to kill anyone. So long as the machines get more damaged than the cyborgs that's the key thing. And if not... She'll just have to hope all the devices under construction get ruined. Sabotaging an evil lair after a prison break was never going to be easy.

Hopefully her mayhem will at least draw guards away from everyone else!

As for being quick. Well that's one of her trademarks. X-23 might not be Flash level fast but compared to a normal Human? Well there's really no contest at all.