Week 63: Brief Breifing in Canada

It has been a long month so far. Finding the Cyberlin had not been easy especially with no basis to start from but Ace had spoken to people and thrown himself head first into the intricate world of Underground espionage and WF counter espionage. He had escaped from a trap designed to root out and kill traitors by the skin of his teeth, and while the WF hadn't discovered his true motives it was enough for him to be finally publicly branded a Traitor, and that meant it was rather difficult to move around unmolested in territories of his former home. Bridges were burned, but perhaps it was for the best. It had taken a long time to get through WF lands without being seen, and longer still to check the accuracy of his sources. Long stretches of lying unmoving, waiting for patrols to pass. Long stretches of searching empty, open caves hearing nothing but echoes. He had only stopped once he thought he had found what he was looking for, and even then only to help a failed Dreamhacking mission that did not turn out in any way like he expected.

He stood now in a rocky outcrop by the edge of one of the many lakes that surrounded the city. He was dressed from head to toe in mountain camouflage, blending in with the rocks and snow of the surrounding landscape. By his side a 6ft Combat Replicant was similarity attired, complete with camouflaged sunglasses to hide his eyes from the sun and from the scrutiny of anyone who would look his way. Ace leaned back against a rock as his looked across the lake to the city south of him, and the cold grey Weapons factory towering above the city buildings like a blocky dagger through the heart of Yellowknife. Ace turned to his companion and spoke "You did send them the co-ordinates?" There was an almost imperceptible nod in reply. Ace checked the time on his watch, his heads up display disabled to save power "They are taking their time. I hope everything is alright." Although there was no need to say the words out loud, and he received no reply, he felt better with this semblance of human interaction. It was good to talk to people. It kept him sane.

A little later than Ace would have liked, a figure in thick camoflaged clothing approached, difficult for onlookers to spot but fairly easily noticed by Ace. It was impossible to tell if the person was a man or woman until she spoke, as her outfit covered all but a small part of her face. "Hello, Ace," Shinobu chimed as she pulled down her collar to reveal her grinning face. "Lovely weather we're having." Her cheerful expression then vanished with the wind, and the agent was all business. "Hugo and I had to split up for our investigation, so I'm afraid he can't be here. How's it been going on your side?"

It took Ace a moment to work out who this person was. To his side S.A.M worked hard to identify the person from facial features and it was a few moments before he did and silently transferred that information to Ace. The Replicant’s shaded eyes never looking away from the newcomer. For his part Ace's body language stiffened and his left hand moved slightly towards his Cougar, before he relaxed. "Shinobu. Good. I've spent more time face down in the snow than I ever expected, but I've found what I'm looking for. Still got plenty to do, and more to plan." He looked off into the distance, towards the weapon factory as he spoke. "What about you? Why did you decide to come all the way out here?"

"I've looked around, mapped out what I can of the security." Shinobu turned to match Ace's gaze towards the factory. "Grabbing what we can on this Cyberlin is going to be an important mission, both financially and politically. I wanted to do something to help, and Hugo needed someone with better infiltration skills to get good intel. A soft smile came over her face as she took in the snow-bleached landscape. "Plus I'd never been to Federation territory before. I wanted to see what it was like over here, how the people lived. It's... different."