mission impossible theme goes here [CLOSED]

[iaijutsu]

WHO: Saitou, Feliks, Aqua, Reki, Amelia, Madeline, and some hapless NPCs probably.
WHAT: The prison mission.
WHERE: A federal prison in ???.
WHEN: Forward dated to Saturday.
WARNING(S): None, yet; if we actually need a violence warning, this mission has just failed, but I'll update this. o/


Plans were set, preparations were made, and unforeseen circumstances were mercifully absent, and so early on Saturday morning, the telltale sound of the Blackbird taking flight could be heard on campus.

Final review of the battle plan was handled en route: they would split into two teams (one consisting of Saitou, Feliks and Aqua; one consisting of Reki, Amelia, and Madeline) inside. They had some intelligence on the basic layout of the prison, but with incomplete data and without a precise location, there was also no choice but to play some things by ear...


(Top-level comments for chatter on the flight over, and for the mission itself, are here for now. In a couple of days I'll add a top-level for the flight home and discussion of what they've learned - that thread will include the basic outcome of the mission if threading hasn't yet progressed that far!)

Comments

[aquawayfinder]

She glanced at the phone as it turned into a mirror. Was that something all phones could do? Focus, Aqua.

[iaijutsu]

Saitou nodded, straightening up his posture to something just shy of his usual - straight enough to suggest discipline but just lax enough to suggest that he was perfectly comfortable where he was and not a bit nervous, as befitted someone who worked around here and for whom walking in and out of the security checkpoints was a normal and everyday occurrance.

(He was plenty nervous. If this went wrong, if his first command was an absolute disaster...)

(This definitely wasn't the time to think about that.)

"If anything goes wrong, remember that we're not here for a fight. Getting ourselves out is the first priority."

[aquawayfinder]

Aqua nodded. This was not what she was used to, and so she was following his lead. Her posture was strong, but not the typical perfect, her shoulders and knees were loose enough to MOVE if she needed to. But that suited a guard.

She nodded when he spoke. "Sooner started, sooner done," was her only comment.

[niepokonany]

"Right, right..."

There wasn't even a hint of nervousness in his posture as they headed towards the first checkpoint -- though his usual carefree, bubbly disposition was missing, too. He had his hair in a loose ponytail, a natural-toned, matte lipstick on to make his lips stand out less, a fake earring in -- little differences to draw himself away from his usual, somewhat hard to miss image. For now, he was just a blue-collar guy, somewhat bored with his work, going through the daily grind.

Walking in silence didn't seem really natural, given that -- not while they were walking up from the outside, not quite on duty yet. "So, Keita -- whatever happened with that girl? The waitress? She ever call you back?"

[aquawayfinder]

Aqua glanced over when he spoke, watching to see how this would play out. Subterfuge was not something she had trained much in, but she understood enough to keep her expression casually bored. At least, she hoped that was the right answer.

[iaijutsu]

Trust Feliks to go for the kind of subject that Saitou would find it least natural to fake conversation about. (Then again, kendo and "that awesome sixteenth-century war treatise I finished reading last week" might be a lot easier for him to convincingly bullshit about, but they also weren't nearly as convincing a subject for "things normal people talk about with their co-workers.")

"Not yet." Uh. Why would someone not call back - "I think she mentioned working a few doubles last week, though. She might've been too tired to bother."

He casually flashed his ID at the checkpoint, keeping his gaze directed at the other two rather than at the guards they were passing, as though he'd done this so many times it was automatic.

[aquawayfinder]

Aqua followed his lead, flashing her badge as if more interested in their conversation than the task in front of her. Of course, she had no clue what to add, and the impression that even had this been real, she wouldn't have been expected to add anything.

As soon as she had flashed her badge, she snapped it closed and made like she was tucking it into a pocket that her illusion clothes had, but she did not. She palmed it instead and casually slid it into the top of her thigh highs. She didn't know if the ID would just vanish, or if she would need it again, but she certainly didn't want it falling to the ground when she put something more solid than she expected into an imaginary pocket. She also didn't fully know how his power worked, and it was best not to push it.

So sorry for the long wait! I was meeting every single person I know, and getting engaged ;;

[niepokonany]

As the gate guards gave their IDs a lazy, end-of-shift once-over, Feliks flashed Saitou a sidelong, teasing grin. Not a full-on smile -- he was more recognizable with his smile, frankly.

"Man, too bad. Maybe she just thought you weren't that into her -- you get so awkward, I swear!"

He nodded slightly as their IDs got handed back, tucking it into his pocket. "Oh, thanks."

gosh ket, hdu have a love life...!! shakingmyhead

[iaijutsu]

This conversation, really, felt like one they could just as easily be having on any normal day, out of disguise.

And Saitou had no doubt that was a deliberate move on Feliks' part, because if nothing else, it made the awkward flash of embarrassment coming from Saitou that much more convincing as he nodded to the gate guards and shoved his own ID into his pocket.

"I'm...not that bad."

I know, right? I'm pretty awful.

[niepokonany]

"You're pretty bad," he replied, cheerful as anything about it. The guard passed his ID back to him, and he tucked it into his pocket, maintaining his passive focus on all the little details of their disguises and props. "It's good, though, I still like you!"

He took a couple of steps forward, but didn't say anything to urge the others to follow -- no need to seem in a rush, and his "character" probably wouldn't be that eager to get to work.