[Plot] Biker Chicks from Maldon

[Narrator]

<"You may call me Ordior, if you need a reference point.">

[Nika Novak]

"<Sure. What is that, Latin or something?>"

[Narrator]

<"Or something,"> the man agreed. <"Do you require rest after your long journey?">

[Nika Novak]

"<A safehouse would not go unappreciated.>" she nods.

[Narrator]

<"Somewhere for you to prepare. And to freshen up. You may be somewhat trained in stealth, but after riding across the continent, your odor would alert even the laziest bodyguard,"> Ordior confirmed, as the car pulled up outside a small, unremarkable detached house.

[Nika Novak]

"<You ride a motorcycle across Europe for 3 days and see how you smell.>" Nika retorts. She couldn't care less about it, but this is a level of sort-of-rude banter she's used to from the barracks.

[Narrator]

<"We're up to date on the latest tech. We utilize the aeroplane now.

Rest here. We shall be back at 0300.">

[Nika Novak]

Nika just rolls her eyes and gets out of the car. Might as well rest up some and make sure her gear is in order.

[Narrator]

The safehouse was fairly bare -- barely more than a cot and a kitchen with some non-perishable goods in it, and a small cache of hand weapons and ammo.

It wasn't Symkarian. Or, at least, not what you'd expect from Symkarian intelligence, some of whom Nika must have encountered at some point during her defense of the princess. There was a fairly standard layout for official Symkarian safehouses, designed so that operatives would be immediately comfortable no matter where they were in the world. Things were just slightly off here -- the wrong supplies in the kitchen, the wrong layout of the rooms, a different brand of ammunition in the cache.

So. They weren't Symkarian intelligence, then. They had told her, way back when, that they were a group of 'concerned citizens'. Concerned citizens with high-tech limos and a series of safehouses, if this even was the same group she had encountered before.

[Nika Novak]

This was definitely not kosher. She checks the pistol, loads it and straps it into a chest holster. She doesn't really use them, her power is more versatile and powerful than a handgun after all, but it can mislead an opponent. Her gut reaction as to who has compromised Symkarian Intelligence is Doom, because why wouldn't it be. But something doesn't sit right about that and as she prepares herself a quick meal she realizes. Doom would not get these details wrong, he's much, much smarter than that and the consequences for failing him too severe for his people to mess that up. Unless he wanted it to be noticeable that this was not Symkarian. Stupid spy shit. One thing they're definitely not and that's 'concerned citizens' but for now the best thing Nika feels she can do is play along.

[Narrator]

At the very least, the pistol itself wasn't Latverian -- those were fairly obvious, and Doom liked to stamp his face on things. Then again, if he was secretly supplying the 'concerned citizens' with arms, presumably he wouldn't stamp his face on them, yeah? He'd keep it all secretive? Then again, why would he back non-government Symkarians, when he had proposed to Katarina? His forces were still on the border, waiting for the Karkov approval to enter the country and squelch the rebellion; what would be the need for secretly supplying some splinter group?

No, there had to be something she was missing; a piece not in place yet. And she wasn't built to be a superspy, dang it; she was supposed to punch things and have those things fall down, not try to outthink global politics.

If her plan was to just join up with the 'concerned citizens' and raid the summer home of the Svozilovs, she could turn to page 63 head outside, where Ordior would be waiting after she had chance to get a good night's sleep.
If she wanted to poke around a little more here while she was alone -- or thought she was alone, at any rate -- or do anything else under the guise of resting up, she had time.

[Nika Novak]

Someone more clever might have come up with ways to dig up more information, figure out who she was allying herself with or set up some kind of contingency plan. As is the best she can do is turn the apartment upside down to see if there's anything she might have missed or perhaps some indicator for who used this place before her.

[Narrator]

It didn't look like she had missed anything.

By which I mean, it didn't look like she had missed anything. The place was practically spotless. Nika had spent a little time in safehouses on various overseas trips and whatnot, and they were never spotless. Soldiers and spies alike could be fairly slovenly when they wanted to, and bugging out quickly meant that you didn't always have time to get things neat and tidy. This safehouse, however, might have just come out of a catalog. The appliances were brand new, the bed was brand new; everything spotless and fresh.

It is possible that, just by coincidence, she was the first one here. Just like it was possible that, by coincidence, there was a safehouse just in the neighborhood of where she had gone to when she placed the call to try to get arrested. Certainly possible. Coincidences happen all the time.

[Nika Novak]

They couldn't possibly have set this up this fast, right? Had they been waiting for her? For somebody else? Did she once against step sideways into something that was already in motion? None of it quite wants to fit together in her head, all she knows is that something about this isn't right. And yet, she feels the best way to find out what's lurking in the dark cave is to foolishly bravely stride right into it. And so she does her best to rest up and be prepared to follow Ordior in the hopes of finding out what is going on before it's too late.

[Narrator]

That evening, the car would pull up back outside Nika's safehouse door., and she would be met by Ordior once again.

<"This is the layout of the Svozilov estate,"> he was explaining to her. <"We believe it to be fully upgraded with all the latest security devices. We are, however, arranging for a power blackout to happen at precisely 0:23, which should give us a window of approximately three minutes before their power systems kick back on.

This will, of course, alert the guards. It shouldn't be a full compliment, as the Princess is not supposed to be there, but getting the guards out of the building and into the yard would be quite useful for our agent slipping in. So if there were, for example, some large disturbance they had to investigate, we would find that very fortuitous. Am I making myself clear?">

[Nika Novak]

"<I'm the fireworks and potential fallguy, так.>" Nika says, checking her equipment over. Rods strapped to her lower arms and legs with struts to brace her hands and feet against. A dozen small tungsten rods strapped to her chest. Four sets of her restraining rods, two small rods connected by a strip of reinforced nylon, strapped to her belt. Six hollow projectiles filled with explosives in a secure pouch. Kevlar vest and bulletproof sheaths over her upper arms and thighs. Pistol in a side holster under her arm. She may not be going to war but she's certainly prepared to, which might explain why she did not take a flight to Symkaria and stroll through customs.

[Narrator]

<"We would prefer you not to fall; you're too useful for that. But that's entirely dependent on your own skill.">

[Nika Novak]

"<Let's hope so.>"

[Narrator]

The car drove on mostly in silence, passing through checkpoints with minimal fuss (another sign that these so-called "concerned citizens" were connected in ways above their so-called station), until it entered Svozilov territory once more, the anti-Karkov propaganda still fully in place, military units marching around, all very propaganda-y and whatnot. They had to pass several more security checks as they approached the summer estate of the Svozilovs; security was very tight. Was the Princess actually here after all? Was the security there to protect some information that couldn't get out? Or was this just regular propaganda; control by military might? It could be all of the above, even.

The car stopped at an intersection just outside the back walls of the palace, about 10 minutes before the planned powercut. <"I wish you good luck and safety. For the Glory of King Karkov.">

[Nika Novak]

"<For the Glory of Karkov's Symkaria.>" she nods and slips out of the car. Before the car is even gone Nika propels herself into the air by firing the braces in her boots straight up, followed by the ones on her arms snapping forward horizontally as she essentially airdashes over the wall and lands in a three-point crouch on the other side.

[Narrator]

For the moment, she's undiscovered; this not being a standard way of entering the grounds, and not something directly monitored. She knew, from the blueprints, that a motion detector system would activate if she got too close, so long as the power was on.

So it was good, then, that the scheduled power cut happened exactly on schedule, clearing Nika a path.

[Nika Novak]

Nika spends the few minutes waiting for the power cut memorizing what she can see of the back of the building. Exact camera placements, patrolling guards, anything to visually confirm what she knows from the layout. Then, when the power cut is scheduled, she pulls two of her explosive bolts out and fires them at two different cameras, one of which hopefully next to a window so the explosion will shatter the glass. Without looking at the ensuing destruction she sprints across the grounds, low to the ground and still keeping her distance from the building itself.

[Narrator]

The power going out had already triggered a response from the guards. Nika could tell they were well trained, quickly fanning out in predictable patterns to cover the most ground to make up for the lack of electronic surveillance. Very well trained, indeed.

Nika is able to find a camera next to a window, and the explosion does shatter the glass. The downside to a unit being very well trained is that they respond in predictable patterns to someone else who has been very well trained, and Nika has been very well trained. So she could fairly easily guess which guards would head over to the sound of shattering glass, and which would be left to their own devices, even as they were all reporting in over their comms.

[Nika Novak]

Nika pulls her pistol and fires off three shots in quick succession, aiming at one of the guards not investigating the explosion but missing intentionally, trying to draw his attention towards the sound of the gunshots. Holstering the weapon again she immediately heads off, letting her power flow into her arm-braces to pull her forward much more rapidly and quietly than a normal person would be able to move to try and close the gap to a now further isolated guard to take them out quietly with an elbow to the throat.

[Narrator]

More shouting as Nika fires her gun; the sounds of a firefight snapping the guards into further action. But, as Nika predicted, the shots led the guards to where she was, not where she was going, and at any rate, her power let her move faster than anticipated. This means she would be successful at taking out the one isolated guard quickly and quietly, before he even had a chance to warn anyone over the intercom.

[Nika Novak]

Nika hooks a carabiner into the unconscious guard's belt and uses it to drag him across the grounds, away from her position and hopefully out of the immediately patrolled area. Then she fires another explosive bolt at the furthest corner of the mansion she can see from here, hopefully drawing even more attention that way. Finally she send three more regular bolts into the fence away from her location, figuring they will trigger the proximity alarm once the electricity comes back on.

And with the hornets nest stirred, a delayed distraction set and a potential egress that won't trip any alarms (or at least make everybody assume it'll be from the already broken window) she makes her way towards the building itself to find a gap or a lone guard to take out so she can slip inside unnoticed. She trusts Ordior and his 'concerned citizens' about as far as she can throw them and if she wants any answers at all she's going to have to find out what this other operative is actually here for.

[Narrator]

Gaining access to the building proper isn't too difficult; a significant chunk of the buildings' guards are outside, dealing with one or three of Nika's distractions. There is no gap at any regular entrances; again, they're too well-trained for that, but they're spread thin by the explosions, and Nika is able to find a side door guarded by just one poor mook. She was certainly noticed, for about a half a second before she could clock that guy, too.

The room she entered was otherwise guard-free, though she could hear some patrolling in the halls. From her memory of the blueprints, anything particularly interesting would probably be upstairs -- the Princess' private quarters and office would likely have any information the 'other operative' was looking for. Whoever THAT was.

[Nika Novak]

She drags the guard inside with her and takes a moment to strip them of their jacket, pants and cap to pull them on herself. It wouldn't hold up to more than a cursory glance, especially if the guards did the correct thing and familiarized themselves with each other, but it might give her a pass if she bumps into the other operative. And in her new outfit she makes her way to look for the stairs, or perhaps an open gallery she can propel herself up to.

[Narrator]

The outfit didn't quite fit; a little too small for Nika's frame, but it would do for a short while, at least.

Changing outfits also gained Nika an earpiece and a microphone, so she could listen into the comms. There was confusion, certainly, but not disorder; sharp, clipped Symkarian voices reporting on what they found at Nika's various distraction sites. They were working fast, efficient, and highly trained; Nika would only have so long before they started looking for her indoors.

But she did still have time, and the operatives she passed at first were marching quickly to their posts, not spending too much time to examine Nika specifically. She slipped by them without too much notice.

That did, however, leave the two armed guards at the top of the first stairwell she came across; guards who definitely would pay attention if she started to climb the stairs. There was also an open balcony, though climbing up that would likely create a ruckus as well.

[Nika Novak]

Nika makes her way to the balcony, walking swiftly as if she was just patrolling over there to keep an eye on things. And in a moment when there were hopefully no eyes she ducks around a corner and uses her arm-brace to propel her straight upwards to quietly land on the second story balcony.

[Will Stanton]

Nika thought she was rather quiet, but, over her intercom...

**<"Did anyone just hear that?">**

**<"Disturbance on balcony 3, anyone in the area?">**

[Nika Novak]

Nika frowns, then takes the mic she lifted from the guard and gives it a good smack against the wall, not enough to break it but hopefully wrecking it's quality. Then she holds it to her mouth and says.

"<I'm on it.>"

[Narrator]

That, at least, gets the guards off her back for a moment or two, though they'll probably be looking for a report sooner rather than later. Still, any port in a storm, right?

Though, the odd thing was, Nika could hear something up here -- the faintest rustling from a room down the hallway; a room which was supposed to be the Princess' office. Another guard, approaching her position?

[Nika Novak]

Or her co-infiltrator. Nika hurries down the hallway as quietly as possible to check what's going on.

[Narrator]

Nika silently slipped the door to the Princess' office open just wide enough to see a woman in black accessing the princess' computer. This was probably the other infiltrator, unless the Svozilovs made a habit of having secretaries wear stealth outfits on a regular basis.

[Nika Novak]

Nika holds both her forearms up and parallel to her body, then lets her power flow into the two rods braced to her to lift herself straight up above the door, halt her movement just beneath the ceiling and keeping herself there. She can feel her power get almost jittery, not made for keeping things still her handholds keep wanting to move up and down but at least for now she can keep a grip on them. Copying files couldn't possibly take very long, right?

[Amy Chen]

Copying finals, indeed, doesn't take very long, but then came the woman rifiling through the desk for hard copies, straining Nika's endurance to the test.

The woman paused for a moment, straightening up, her hand slowly reaching for a pouch on her belt.

[Nika Novak]

Fuck this.

Nike drops down and before even hitting the ground has pulled a bolt from her holster to fire at the belt-pouch.

[Amy Chen]

The woman leapt to the side, Nika's bolt thudding into the desk as she jumped clear.

She pulled out a collapsible blade, the sword glinting in the light of the room as she turned to face Nika.

"This is your idea of a diversion, is it?"

[Nika Novak]

"Change of plans. I'll need you to hand over whatever it is you're stealing here." she says, pulling another two bolts and holding them between her fingers.