Ask Corellia Interconnected Roots

[Terra Lanris]

I certainly hope you're right, she agreed. It would be a whole lot of work for nothing if they didn't find what they were looking for. But she didn't allow that thought to cross her mind. She didn't court failure, and backup plans would come later if need be.

Copy, loud and clear, she said into the comlink in her helmet, turning her attention to the area across the street where the records were kept. The sun was already down and the night would be deep by now. This meant it was her opportunity.

She took the fobs that Yvon handed her and set out from there. The entry point would be one of the employee entrances that Terra already knew she could get through with her skills. She made quick work of the electronic lock and slipped inside in short order, heading down the halls.

Two lefts and a right for the security servers, right? she asked Yvon who should have the blueprints on a screen for reference.

 

[Yvon]

Yvon watched Terra go, leaving them all to their lonesome and their screens. Just the way they liked it. Of course for the voice in their ear.

"Correct." Yvon stated as they surveyed the blueprints that had sliced from the city records. The map was likely accurate, and they had cross referenced several older versions of the buildings blueprints just to be sure. So far so good.

"I have no eyes until you get me plugged in, so watch out for cameras." Yvon warned, thinking for a moment. "I might be able to scramble a camera's signal for a few seconds by overloading your comlink frequency. You'll be on your own for a few moments afterwards until the comlink's system reboots though, but it might be enough to slip past." Yvon was pretty sure they could do it by keying the comlink to the correct frequency and outputting a burst of garbage signaling.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra nodded but then realized that Yvon couldn't actually see a nod and she needed to use her words.

Useful trick, she said as she started following down the hallway. Her hand brushed the pistol at her hip for good luck, but she reminded herself that she really wasn't here to kill anyone over her birth records... but stunning people? Well, that was just a bad headache, wasn't it?

She took the turns as planned before reaching the external of the security room. As one might expect, there was a security camera right outside the security room, and she groaned in the back of her throat.

Alright, well, here's the opportunity to try it, she said. Do I need to take my helmet off to keep from busting my eardrums? she asked.

 

[Yvon]

Yvon nodded at Terra's comment about the trick being useful. It wasn't like Terra could see them nod, and Yvon opted towards maintaining comm silence rather than responding. Instead she spent the time tapping away to write up a little bit of code for the aforementioned signal burst.

Yvon waited for a few moments, watching the screen until Terra spoke again. Things were going as expected, a single camera wasn't much of a hiccup. So far so good.

"That... might be a good idea." Yvon said, realizing that that was a likely outcome to having a signal burst screech right into your eardrum. "Tap signal me when you have your helmet off, count to two, tap signal on two. You might hear a slight screech from your helmet, but it might be inaudible. I'll run the sequence on the second tap. You'll have five seconds." Yvon wondered if they should wish the woman good luck before deciding against it. Didn't want to give any sign of insecurity.

Yvon would wait for the signal and hit the activation key the moment Terra tapped the comlink a second time. A nearly inaudible screech would emit from the helmet's speakers and Terra would see the camera's indicator light flicker as static washed over the monitor on the other side of the door.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra took mental note of Yvon's instructions, glad that the Echani had thought up an effective system for Terra to know when the burst had gone off. And quicker than Terra had.

Copy, she said, pulling her helmet off and holding it in hand. She counted in her head and tapped before heaing the screeching sound coming out of the helmet. Aaaand, glad I didn't have that on, she thought to herself.

She slipped her helmet back on and slammed her fist against the button for the door and pulled her pistol. The door slid open and she moved quickly, firing a stun bolt into the first person before they could turn around and into the second just as they were starting to turn.

Terra groaned, unhappy to have gotten to this point, but there was no turning back. She slipped the thumb drive into the computer servers.

You should be in, she said.

 

[Yvon]

Yvon waited a long five seconds, and then another longer few seconds before the comlink connection rebooted. They breathed a sigh of relief as Terra's voice filtered over the line.

"Copy..." Yvon said as their monitor pinged that they had connection with the security terminal. Fingers danced across the keyboard as they worked on the system key, and after a few tense moments that probably seemed longer to Terra than to Yvon, they were through.

"I'm in." Yvon said as the security system popped up on their terminal. In that moment they desperately wished they had invested in a larger screen for this job, but would make do with what they had. They scrolled through security camera feeds for a moment before finding the security room cam, where they saw Terra standing at the terminal, over a body of unknown aliveness.

"I'm rolling back the feed for the security room and setting it to loop. Same with the rest of the building." Yvon informed Terra as she carried out the actions. "Scrubbing incriminating footage from the system." Yvon said as they hard deleted the footage of the Terra stunning the security guard and the blip of static through which she had snuck into the security room.

Yvon pulled up the schematics of the building again, finding the main database server room. "The database server room is two floors up from your location, camera's show multiple patrols in between you and the target room." Yvon stated, looking through the schematics for alternate routes. "The blueprints show multiple service tunnels that circumvent the main hallways, see if you can find an entrance."

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra was quickly deciding that Yvon was worth every penny. Potential threats were dealt with, long term evidence was scrubbed, access to the building was theirs... it was just all around a good success.

In the few seconds that they waited for things to reboot, Terra pulled out zipties and began binding together the hands and feet of the guards... just in case they woke up before she was finished. It paid to be careful...

Excellent, she said, a hint of satisfaction in her tone at the report from Yvon.

Copy that, she said. Two floors up, service tunnels, avoid the patrols, she thought to herself.

Let me know if I'm going to stumble on anyone, she said. When she was younger doing things like this she was usually the getaway driver. In recent years working alone, she'd found herself doing more and more of the sneaking. She wasn't sure how she felt about it.

But feelings had no place in this right now. She needed to get moving because time was - theoretically - now against them.

She pushed out into the hallway, moving slowly down as she kept an eye out for any kind of maintenance tunnels or hatches. Her tail flicked about nervously as she went, but she kept her mind focused nonetheless.

Am I near any tunnel hatches? she asked.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon thought she heard a happy tone in Terra's voice but the Echani wasn't certain. Tones, inflection... words. It was so hard to read sentients that didn't portray their thoughts and emotions through body language. Not that they were one to talk, they had always been called stiff and unexpressive even among their own people.

"Keeping an eye out." Yvon gave confirmation that they would play overwatch as Terra snuck through the hallways of the government building. Swapping between blueprints and camera feeds, Yvon did their best to keep attention on everything that was relevant to the current stage of the operation. Following Terra's movements through the hallways. Watching nearby patrols. Cross referencing Terra's location with the maintenance tunnel schematics.

"Up ahead, on the right wall, just below ceiling height." Yvon confirmed the location of a tunnel hatch and hoped that Terra was somewhat acrobatic. They started the process of disabling the tunnel sensors before swapping to nearby cameras, eyes widening in alarm at what they saw.

"Make it quick, patrol heading your way. You have about thirty seconds before they turn the corner." Yvon exclaimed calmly, keeping their cool. If a patrol stumbled upon Terra the whole operation could be a bust if the tiefling couldn't take them down before they reported the intruder. Yvon would likely be safe, they could just sneak away and leave the authorities none the wiser. Of course then they wouldn't get paid. That was no good.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra looked around, spotting the tunnel hatch and how it wasn't really very easy to access. She moved back before taking a running start, planting a foot against the wall and hoisting herself up so she could hit the button to open the shutters.

Hrngbstbl, she groaned as she hoisted herself up, climbing into the tiny little space. She had to crawl on her hands and knees through the tunnel, but at least she was lucky enough to get inside before the guards came around.

She crept through and kept an eye out for anything that looked suspiciously like a server room.

Surely there could have been an easier way to do this, she thought to herself before squeezing up against another blast door that separated maintenance tunnel floors from each other.

I'm at hatch 218. Can you open it for me? she asked.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

"Hmm?" Yvon hummed questioningly into the com as Terra groaned out gibberish before realizing that it was just a grunt of exertion. They watched nervously as a pair of guards turned the corner, finally breathing a sigh of relief as the pair continued past the tiefling infiltrators hiding place.

Yvon tried to track Terra's movements through the tunnels, but there was a decided lack of cameras in said tunnels, so they just had to wait patiently until Terra spoke over coms.

"Copy, hatch 218," Yvon scrolled through systems until they located the blast hatches that separated the floors. "Got it." They said, and with a keystroke the hatch hissed open for the tiefling to ascend the next floor.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra dropped through the hatch, grabbing onto the ladder and descending to the next hatch, passing the next hatch and radioing it in to Yvon as well. As it slid open, Terra dropped down and right into the server room.

Plugging you in now, she said, pulling the datafob out and shoving it into the server's port.

Let me know when you've got the data. I'll check them when I'm back, she said, poking around the server room nervously as Yvon downloaded whatever data was on the drives.

Her fingers brushed over her pistol again, tapping nervously as she moved around the room, looking for any signs of anyone coming inside.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

The rest of Terra's travel through the vents went smoothly and she was soon in the server room. "Understood." Yvon replied as the screen lit up with a new input, the datafob giving them direct access to the Corellian database.

"I'm going to take a sizeable chunk of data to cover our tracks. Don't want them figuring out it was you by only taking your file." Yvon said as their fingers danced on the small keyboard, making short work of the databases firewall with a direct access point. They were quickly able to locate the target files, scanning the contents with a few flicks of their eye across the screen to make certain they were the right files.

Yvon started the download, making certain to nab the priority files in the first pass before copying over wide swathes of junk. Or at least junk for their purposes. There was of course an ulterior motive to ripping more files free from the database. All information had its price after all.

"The download is in process. It should just be a few moments." Yvon said through the com line before switching over to cams and keeping an eye on the entrance to the server room. The wait would only be a few moments, but it would likely be agonizingly long for Terra in the server room.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra kept waiting. Waiting and waiting. She was more than a little nervous about this and she didn't know why. Maybe it was thief's intuition or maybe it was just the waiting that killed her.

Her tail flicked back and forth, the movements becoming more pronounced and erratic as the seconds ticked by.

And that was when everything hit the fan. The door slid open and Terra just about jumped out of her skin. Her blaster came up and she fired, the first shot missing but the second finding its mark and sending the janitor back against the wall.

Unfortunately, the shot was not quiet.

I need to go, now. Are you done? she asked, already hearing the bustle and commotion just outside the door. Ready or not, she was going to have to go. In fact... she didn't actually need to recover the devices. They didn't have fingerprints on them and they weren't traceable.

I'm leaving, get me the best way out of here, she said.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon was busy ripping data from the database, following a chain of intriguing information that they thought Terra would be interested in. Birth certificates, custody battles, child support receipts. It was everything Terra had been looking for and more. They were so busy that they didn't catch the janitor entering the server room until it was too late. Flipping over to camera view, Yvon was just in time to catch the tail end of Terra stunning the man. Ouch.

"I have everything you need." Yvon stated, taking a break from the database and leaving the transfer on automatic as they searched for an escape route for Terra. Two options stuck out to Yvon.

"Two routes. If you follow the hallway straight down, there is an underground garage with surface access, could climb out or grab a joyride and ditch it somewhere else. Alternatively, left and then down a level will take you to a sewer entrance." Yvon scrunched their nose at the thought. They knew which one they would go for. An alert blared on screen and Yvon switched over to the security systems, tapping away furiously.

"I shut off the alarm before it could activate but the guards are alerted to a presence. Somebody must have heard your shots. I'll do everything I can to slow them down while you get out." Yvon said with rushed tones as they started locking down the building wherever Terra didn't need to go, shutting blast doors, activating security fields, etc.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Garage, she said without a second's hesitation. Not only was it better than crawling through sewers, it played right into Terra's getaway driver days. She had the skill necessary to make her getaway.

Terra hit the control for the door and came out blasting. Stun rounds slapped against the hall where she had heard the ruckus earlier. She retreated down the hall as instructed with blasterfire chasing after her... live blasterfire, not stun rounds.

Terra swore and ducked down just as one of the blast doors closed behind her, cutting her off from her attackers. She could only assume that was Yvon.

Kriff, thanks, she said, following the hallway down to the parking garage and burst in to grab the first vehicle she could. She picked an old looking vehicle - fewer security systems - and started working on hotwiring it.

I'll need the garage doors opened up. And if you could keep them off me for... just... a minute... longer, she said, focusing on the sparks she was getting from under the dash of the speeder.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon watched on cams as Terra blasted her way through the hallways, live fire chasing after her. There was a blast door ahead and if Yvon timed it just right. The blast door began to close as Terra flew through it, blaster fire sparking off the heavy metal on screen.

"You're welcome." Yvon responded thoughtlessly as they continued to focus on the job. The door to the garage sealed shut behind Terra at Yvon's command, further delaying the guards.

"On it." Yvon said as they tried to figure out how to delay the guards. Yvon executed a quick scramble of the door credentials to prevent the guards from easily opening it with their code cylinders. They locked down the rest of the garage entrances for good measure. Yvon hoped that would give Terra the time she needed.

The garage doors were next, and easily taken care of with direct access to the system. They only ran into a slight issue with authentication due to the earlier scramble, a problem that was easily bypassed. The garage doors would begin to open just as Terra got the speeder hot wired, and as a door down the garage sparked and shuddered halfway open, guards crawling through the narrow opening.

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra heard the rumble of the engine as it sputtered and sparked up, letting out a YES as she hopped into the seat and started gunning the engine. The door wasn't even fully closed by the time she started moving, tearing toward the exit that Yvon had opened.

There was more blasterfire from the guards squeezing through behind her, and her swearing got louder before she tore around the corner and out onto the street.

She didn't hesitate to pick up speed, weaving away from the building and into the safety of night.

I'm out. I'll be back later, she said. It would likely take several hours for her to get away, ditch the vehicle, and make her way back to the hotel, but she wasn't worried about that. She'd gotten what she came for and gotten out in one piece.

---​

By the time Terra made it back to the hotel it was almost four in the morning and Terra was exhausted but also excited. She was finally going to get some answers, but the adrenaline had started to ease its way out.

She walked in the door and plucked her helmet off, letting out a sigh and blinking her eyes very wide, trying to blink the fatigue away.

How'd we do?

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon didn't realize they were holding their breath until they could breathe again as Terra tore out of the parking garage and onto the open streets. Yvon started the garage door closing behind her as several of the guards hopped into speeders of their own. They wished they could make the door close faster, but settled for deactivating its safety features so the lead speeder came to a stop as the door crunched down on its nose.

"Good luck." Yvon replied. Terra would likely be out of contact from that moment on until she returned, which meant Yvon had some time to kill. Glancing at the screen, a smirk crept onto Yvon's face as they realized Terra had left them plugged into the system. With the chaos of the escape and Yvon putting the building into lockdown, the authorities had yet to discover her connection to the system.

Yvon kept the data flowing until the last moment, taking every bit of data they could and scrubbing their trail as to what had been ripped from the system until someone stumbled upon the datafob. Yvon would tap a few keys and the datafobs left behind would sizzle and spark for a moment, a thin trickle of smoke leaking from their casing as anything that would be useful to an investigation was burned away.

-----​

It was almost four in the morning and Yvon had spent the last several hours compiling. They had compiled a file for Terra that contained everything relevant to their search, starting with the parental records they had been looking for and anything else to do with either of her parents, or her for that matter. The woman had a bit of a juvenile record, Yvon figured Terra might be interested in what the local authorities had on her.

Yvon also compiled several data packets comprised of information that they thought might be worth something. Worth something to someone. Personal identity records could be sold on the darknet for a fair amount of credits, where other actors might carry out varying levels of identity theft. Government data was always of interest to the media, who weren't above buying a good story from the underground. And if the media wasn't interested, there were always other buyers.

Dark circles had started to form under Yvon's eyes as they waited for Terra's return and they were just pouring themselves a cup of caf, strong and dark, when the tiefling entered the room.

"Better than you hoped." Yvon said with a genuine smile, as faint as it was. They handed Terra a steaming mug of black caf before returning to their desk, grabbing a data chip off of it and holding it up for Terra to see. "Everything you wanted to know is on this chip." They would drop the chip in Terra's hand before glancing at the door warily. "Did you lose them?"

@Phoenix

 

[Terra Lanris]

Terra felt a wave of relief when she saw Yvon smile and the datachip held in the air. She eagerly took the offered drive, looking down at it for a moment before moving over to plug it into a dataterminal.

Oh yeah, they're gone. This wasn't my first game like this, she said. Her sealed juvenile records were related to speeder theft, after all. And she got better at it when she got older and it involved a lot less getting caught.

She started pulling up the data on the chip as she kept talking.

I ditched it about twenty klicks away and had to backtrack all the way here. That's why it took so long, she said. While she hadn't walked the whole way, she ahd walked for several miles before getting a public transport the rest of the way.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon raised an eyebrow as Terra explained losing the authorities and the trip back. "Long way to walk." They said with a grimace. Yvon wasn't about to walk twenty klicks if they could help it. They had done enough walking on that first day on Corellia to not wanna do any more.

The data scrolled onto the terminal for Terra view. It was by no means a complete telling. As detailed as public records could be, Terra's had been pretty sparse. There was a birth certificate of course, a few arrest records not belonging to Terra, child support reciepts, court filings and... a name.

"Does the name Din mean anything to you?" Yvon asked the tiefling, tilting their head slightly as they examined the woman's face for a reaction. Of course the name Din meant something nowadays, there was that new King Din in the south that had risen to the throne. Also a Tiefling. Also a Din. Yvon had done a little research, seen a few pictures. They searched Terra's face for any familiarity to the new king.

@Phoenix